Anyone ever order from 8mmfilmstock.com?

[Bud_Clay]

Does anyone have any clue what their reputation is?  Good?  Bad?  Scam?  

I ordered some rolls of 8mm from them nearly 2 weeks ago.  A week ago I emailed them asking where my package was and they said it would ship the next day due to it being back ordered, (didnt even bother to tell me this at all to begin with).  I'm still not receiving it.  I suppose there are still a few days left to their credit.  This just seems like really sloppy business.  

I was wondering if anyone might know of some cheap & efficient online services for purchasing 8mm film.  And also if 8mmflmstock actually is a legitimate business.

Thanks.

[Cecil]

are they the ones that cut 35mm film into 8mm? if so then ive heard good things about them

[Pubrick]

are we talking about snuff films?

[Bud_Clay]

are they the ones that cut 35mm film into 8mm? if so then ive heard good things about them

I'm not aware of them being able to do such a thing if so.  Dunno.....

[Sal]

Yeah...I saw portions of Saving Private Ryan a classmate cut together for his experimental film on super8, and that was a trip, let me tell you.

[Ghostboy]

That's Super 8 Sound (or Pro8mm, I think they go by both names now). They take various Kodak 35mm stocks and cut them down to size, so to speak. It's a great idea; unfortunately, it costs about as much as 16mm, so there's not really a point to it unless you already have a Super 8 camera and want to shoot some really nice looking stuff with it.

[Bud_Clay]

That's Super 8 Sound (or Pro8mm, I think they go by both names now). They take various Kodak 35mm stocks and cut them down to size, so to speak. It's a great idea; unfortunately, it costs about as much as 16mm, so there's not really a point to it unless you already have a Super 8 camera and want to shoot some really nice looking stuff with it.

How is this possible? You shoot on 35mm quality film that's sized to fit your Super 8 camera?  I thought the film was simply based on it's size, and the camera determines the quality.

[mutinyco]

Super-8 isn't exactly high demand stock. Like B&W, there hasn't been much upgrading throughout the years. I think what Ghostboy is suggesting is that they take premium 35mm stocks, and as he said "cut 'em down" to fit super-8. That way you're getting a higher quality stock.

Yes, because it's smaller it won't look as good as 35mm. But because you're using better stock, it'll look a lot better than traditional super-8.

[Bud_Clay]

I wonder if that would look any better than just shooting 16mm.

[mutinyco]

They make the same stocks for 35mm and 16mm. Primarily, we're talking about the Vision stocks. They were a mid-90s upgrade that's really revolutionized the image quality of film. Richer colors, tighter grain, higher contrast. They're also higher speed, in most cases, and can shoot in extremely low light levels without losing quality.

Some D.P.'s, however, don't really like them for the exact reasons stated above. People like Vilmos Zsigmond really prefer degraded images. He likes to push film and flash it too. People like him argue that these new stocks have been developed more for commercial use than anything else. Remember, commercials and videos are usually pretty slick with bright colors, etc.

On the other hand, you name a great looking film from the past half dozen years and it was probably either shot on Vision or printed on Vision. The one holdout still seems to be the old 93 stock with an ASA of 200. It has a certain look, though a bit grainier. A.I. and Memento were shot on it, for instance.

[Bud_Clay]

They make the same stocks for 35mm and 16mm. Primarily, we're talking about the Vision stocks. They were a mid-90s upgrade that's really revolutionized the image quality of film. Richer colors, tighter grain, higher contrast. They're also higher speed, in most cases, and can shoot in extremely low light levels without losing quality.

Some D.P.'s, however, don't really like them for the exact reasons stated above. People like Vilmos Zsigmond really prefer degraded images. He likes to push film and flash it too. People like him argue that these new stocks have been developed more for commercial use than anything else. Remember, commercials and videos are usually pretty slick with bright colors, etc.

On the other hand, you name a great looking film from the past half dozen years and it was probably either shot on Vision or printed on Vision. The one holdout still seems to be the old 93 stock with an ASA of 200. It has a certain look, though a bit grainier. A.I. and Memento were shot on it, for instance.

Was Magnolia shot on Vision?  That's one of the most incredible looking films, so I'm guessing no.  I tend to go for the grainier films myself.  What was Kubrick shooting on?

[mutinyco]

Can't guarantee it, but Magnolia looked like a lot the interiors and night sequences were shot on Vision 500T, can't be certain about the daylight exteriors. Looks like it was run through an ENR bath, too. ENR is a process Vittorio Storaro had developed at Technicolor Rome after Technicolor stopped printing "Technicolor". By that, I mean Technicolor prints were traditionally just that -- images printed on transparent strips the same way an image is printed in a magazine in CMYK, though I can't guarantee they used those colors.

Point is, they were literally prints of the films. Nowadays they're not really printed, they're developed rolls of actual film. The colors aren't as vibrant. The rerelease of Apocalypse Now Redux had REAL Technicolor prints used and they were exquisite. What ENR does is resilver the prints -- or negatives, depending on your preference. When film is processed the silver nitrate is stripped from the actual chemical make-up of the celluloid. ENR is a bath that reattaches the silver.

By doing this you heighten the contrast and bleach the color a bit. David Fincher's films are a perfect example of this. When he used it on Se7en everybody's heads spun. Now it's pretty commonplace and digital intermediaries are taking over.

Eyes Wide Shut was shot using the older Eastman 500 EXR stock. It was grainier, and since Kubrick pushed EWS 2 stops to achieve the degraded image,preffered the old EXR -- the Vision stock was too tight and when pushed tended to run a bit blue.

[mutinyco]

Yep, I was right -- Vision 500T. Go to:

http://www.ptanderson.com/featurefilms/magnolia/articlesandinterviews/elswitcw.htm

[mutinyco]

I just checked the site. Yes, they are selling Vision 200 as one of their stocks...

[Bud_Clay]

I know PT Anderson developed the film in his bathroom.  Is that how he got the unique look to it?  By using an ENR bath? That's just incredible...

Eyes Wide Shut was shot using the older Eastman 500 EXR stock. It was grainier, and since Kubrick pushed EWS 2 stops to achieve the degraded image,preffered the old EXR -- the Vision stock was too tight and when pushed tended to run a bit blue.

I don't know if it was the lighting or the film used in Eyes Wide Shut but I was most impressed with the way colors from the Chistmas tree or the night would just invade the apartment's walls.  I really wish Kubrick would have written a book on Lighting.