New Film emulsions Index covers the complete range. Standard-8, Single-8, Super-8, and 16mm.
In Super-8 and 16mm the choice of film stocks has never been larger or more varied. At the time of going to press you have a greater selection than ever before with an emulsion to suit virtually every lighting condition and situation, and more in the offing!
Super-8 emulsions are available in both reversal and negative stocks. All can be transferred to video if required. For this purpose The Widescreen Centre offers an excellent Cine to Video VHS, DVD and Mini-DV service.
Super 8 Filmstocks
NEW! EKTACHROME-64T NOW IN STOCK! £11.99 per cartridge!! Offered at this special price from The Widescreen Centre!
Here's the good news for all Super-8 users. This new Kodak stock, based on the tried and trusted Ektachrome formulas, is economically-priced, process-paid from The Widescreen Centre. Rated at 64 ISO/ASA, it's bound to be in demand, replacing, as it does, the older Kodachrome-40. the additional speed rating should prove a boon to all movie enthusiasts.
TELECINE:
The Widescreen Centre is also offering a full TELECINE service on this process paid stock (including conversion to DVD, MiniDV, DVCam etc). Please see our TELECINE SERVICES AND PRICES.
One of the most sort after stocks on 16mm and 35mm is now available as a Super-8 colour negative stock. This has a speed rating of 200 ASA. If your Super-8 camera is of the ‘XL' variety (indicating that it has a 220 degree low-light shutter) the sensitivity is almost doubled. The film offers excellent latitude and a finer grain than is normally associated with this speed rating. Available in standard 50ft. silent cartridges, Vision 200T is a colour negative stock balanced for use in artificial light. An ideal emulsion where final transfer to video is required.
KODAK Vision 500T Colour Negative Film
Newly introduced and already becoming deservedly popular filmstock with the professional user. The film is a colour negative film from Kodak. Like all modern filmstocks the film has a much larger exposure latitude and sharpness of image. The film is a negative and can only be viewed after telecine, but as the film is primarily used for television broadcast there is no problem here. The film is only recommended for use in cameras that are in good condition and we do not recommend that it is used otherwise.
Note: The processing of Vision 200T and 500T film, and all other Super-8 films (with the exception of K-40) is normally an extra and is not included in the purchase price. Non-process paid films can be handed in, or posted, to the Widescreen Centre's, at 48, Dorset Street, London W1U 7ND. A post back service is available if you are unable to collect by hand.
Black & White Super-8 Film
This offers you many advantages, including mood creation, sharpness and very low light sensitivity. This has been the great ‘discovery' of the pop music world and of the makers of TV Commercials over the last few years. So much so, that many prize-winning adverts have been originated on Super-8 rather than video, even though the final medium was the broadcast variety.
All Black & White Super-8 film stocks are supplied in the standard 50ft. Cartridges. Available in silent stock, but a magnetic stripe can be added after processing if sound is required for projection purposes, or transfer to video. Black & White Super-8 movie film is available in the following tried and tested emulsion speeds.
A fine grain, low contrast film that gives you best Super-8 originals if high quality prints are required. Rated 100 ASA but can usually be pushed (speeded up) by one or two stops at the processing stage (costs extra - ask for details).
is a grainier, medium contrast low-light film with a speed rating of 200 ASA. Gives a good ‘feel' to your movies with excellent exposure latitude. Can be up-rated by 1 or 2 stops (at extra cost - ask for details) if required.
Standard-8mm Film (also known as Regular-8 or Double-8)
Standard (or Regular) 8 film is available from The Widescreen Centre!
For the finest possible definition, far outstripping in quality anything offered by today's video cameras, plus the widest possible range of film stocks look no further than 16mm.
The Widescreen Centre, London Branch, normally keeps the more popular packings on the shelf in the 100ft (30m) daylight loading spools Kodachrome-25 and 40, and Plus-X and Tri-X but a 48 hour service enables them to obtain other speeds, lengths and types to order.
A Splicer is a Filmakers most essential Tool
The Widescreen Centre now offers a wide range of this important item of cinematographic equipment.
Splicer's using Tape
Whether you use Standard-8mm, Super-8mm, 9.5mm or 16mm, there's a CIR tape splicer to suit your needs. Each one is crafted to produce excellent splices at the lowest possible running costs, because the tape comes ‘off-the-roll' and is then cut and perforated by the actual splicer. CIR splicing tapes are known for their quality and economy.
Splicer's using Cement
Muray is a respected name in the world of cine, and like its compatriot Beaulieu, is made in France. We have in stock two versions of their excellent all-metal bright chromium and grey die-cast finish cement splicers. Solid as a rock, they'll last you for years and give you an economy that tape splices cannot begin to match.
Muray Super-8 cement splicer, complete with instructions £10.55
Film Cement for the above, per bottle £8.17
Other useful accessories
Cable Release 50cm long, for all cameras having the standard mechanical input shutter release socket. Gives you run and run-lock.
The Monoview is an accepted directors companion that reduces everyday colours to shades and tones that correspond - approximately to that of black and white film stock. It enables you to get a pretty good idea of what the final scene will look like, tonal-wise, when used for previewing Black & White scenes.
Super 8 and 16mm reels and cans are normally available off-the-shelf. Also available Black and White film leader for Standard-8, Super-8 and 16mm. Everything for the movie maker and lots more!
Ebullient Head of Super-8/16mm Processing, Jake Astbury, tells all!
It was my third trip to the Big Apple, this time to shoot film for ‘Nowhere Productions'. Luggage? 5kg of film stock, a sturdy Manfrotto tripod a 16mm Bolex and a Super-8 camera. A seven-hour flight to JFK, a struggle through passport control, the N train to Brooklyn. And I finally arrived at Sunset Park near 45th street Brooklyn. The view of the sprawling Manhattan skyline was incredible.
I used a wide range of stocks due to the nature of the project. Day & night shoots of interior and exteriors, recording the light changes over a long periods. I shot high speed Ektachrome reversal stocks 7250 and 7251 16mm for daytime interiors which give beautiful colours and have a high contrast ratio. Interior night-time I used 7279 Vision 500T, working at 12fps locked off using available street light through a 25mm lens open at 1.4. I also did some double exposure with the 7279 shooting at 24fps at the correct f-stop for the first exposure due to the low light levels of the interior. Then for the double exposure I notched down a stop under for the exterior.
Super-8 was a major part of the shoot for all the time-lapse footage to be shot in Manhattan using Ektachrome 7240 for interior and Kodachrome 40 for the exterior night-time work (yes you did read that correctly). Kodachrome colours are so saturated and used in a Bauer Royal with auto B setting the results look great. Car headlights streak, people blur and the neon signs look gorgeous, though the majority of our shots were taken in back alleys at 2am lower eastside with a about 4 seconds exposure given to every frame. So patience was a must. The Super-8 7240 was shot using filters. A ‘Grad' filter was used in bright conditions to darken the sky view from indoor window shots. (These ‘Grad' filters work with brilliant effect when used with Tri-X creating a strong atmosphere within the framed image) I also used a yellow filter for early evening golden sunshine.
Back on the streets, it was quite unique not to be approached by some "Jobsworth "official telling me to take my camera elsewhere, (many times in London I've been stopped). I had the luxury of standing in the middle of Broadway with cars passing either side of me at midnight doing time-lapse using Super-8 K40. A Taxi stuck in traffic had two shifty characters in the back. They were distressed by the presence of my camera. I told them that the camera was switched off and that their taxi was blocking my real shot (actually the camera was taking a frame every 2 seconds, but the noise of the traffic covered me). Later on I was surrounded by people at a penthouse party wanting to know what kind of digital camera I was using. Super-8 is taken seriously in New York as a medium for both Professional and experimental work. I was even introduced to someone who knew me from the The Widescreen Centre.
Later into the night I was holding on to my camera for dear life sitting in the front seat of a sports car doing 90mph on roads that were clearly marked half that. The driver a friendly local from Brooklyn who I'd met at Riche's Gym near 45street. He had taken a shine to the Director my friend Karen of Nowhere Productions. I did manage to grab some brief shots when we occasionally screeched up to the lights using the Super-8 Surveillance film Rated at 400asa open at f.2 shooting at 4fps. The shots I got looked good due to me shooting at the widest end of the lens (7mm) which gave the shots some steadiness. Rating Vision 200 film at 400asa gives the Image more contrast, but push processing and telecine is expensive so make sure someone else is footing the bill for your filming, as was the case with me. I love shooting the Vision 200 film as opposed to Ektachrome because of its finer grain structure. The Ektachrome 7240 stock has a noticeable grain which is ideal if you wish to use this graphic quality to express a mood but detail in the image can be lost in the grain. The 7240 also looks a lot better if overexposed manually by a 1/3 of a stop. Also the Ektachrome is reversal so a Telecine isn't required to view the rushes unlike Surveillance Film. Shooting Vision 200 negative stock gives far better results in telecine if overexposed by about a stop. But shooting a test roll is always recommended.
I get hundreds of phone calls from Production companies who need to purchase Super-8 film stock. They say their director just wants ‘normal film stock'. What is normal film stock? There is only the film stock which is right for the job. So factors such as film speed, negative or reversal, grainy or fine grain, contrast or high colour saturation, B/W or Colour. All these factors should be considered as each of the Super-8 family of stocks have so much to offer cinematically.
The Director wanted last minute exterior shots of Manhattan. She grabbed my 16mm camera and whisked me away on the N train. But she forgot my Light Meter. My Bolex does not have auto exposure. However, this is not a problem for me these days as I often spend time in London with just my Light meter looking at the varied changes of light through the day. Judging exposure by eye becomes easy. The results of the last minute filming were spot on except for one shot where I'd opened the lens to focus and forgot to close down. However for Studio work or working with performers I much prefer to have my light meter to hand.
The shoot in total was colour, but I did manage to get time to grab some moving memories in B/W. I set up my tripod and Bolex in Sun Set Park using a 75mm lens which was just perfect for the view before me. Using Tri-X 7278 in early morning sunshine I exposed a 3rd of a stop under at f16. This gave me very hard lines on the skyscrapers and deep shadows creating an almost comic book graphic style to the image. I also shot some Plus-X Super-8 at Coney Island. This stock looks beautiful slightly under exposed giving luscious fine grain B/W images ideal for urban landscapes. A point to remember: Reversal stocks have very small latitude and do require great care when over or under exposing so the results aren't always pleasing. It is always wise to shoot test rolls of stocks, which are unfamiliar to get the required result.
It was exciting to work with two different gauges for the same shoot, which will add a rich texture to the film. The Super-8 is going to be blown up to 16mm and the Reversal 16mm will be optically copied. In terms of preference in shooting 16mm and Super-8 they are both excellent in what they're best at. Super-8 allows for candid and inconspicuous filming. The gear is usually light and people rarely feel threatened by someone using these cameras, especially in some parts of the world where it is unwise to look like you're making a commercial film. There are five stocks available from Kodak and all of these perform well at their correct speed, but allow for push processing. However K40 is an exception, as this stock cannot be pushed by Kodak but looks great if you rate it as 80asa in bright conditions. This will give extreme saturation of colours.
Super-8 can also be shot in widescreen using an Anamorphic Lens. This adds huge production value especially when shot in cinemascope ratio. The cameras usually have a wide range of features built into such a compact piece of equipment. Overall Super-8 is a highly valuable tool to the Industry and Independents and still could be pushed far more in its use experimentally.
16mm. I love everything about this gauge except the weight of the gear. The wide range of both negative and reversal stocks available cover every lighting situation and look. It's considered a pro gauge and feature films are shot in this format. Through I've used modern cameras, I always return to my Bolex for its magic & historical look. It produces such beautiful images shot through Switar lenses. Double exposure with Bolex creates very exciting imagery. 16mm looks stunning projected and due to the films tactile nature it also allows for hands on experimentation because the film frame is far easier to view with the eye without any viewing system. Super 16mm is also a very popular variation on the format allowing you that extra width in your film frame. But I still prefer shooting in a wider format, so I must invest in getting an Anamorphic Lens Adapted to my Bolex.
All the equipment I used on this shoot was second hand. However we do sell a new 16mm and Super-8 cameras at the Widescreen Centre which I've used for various jobs in the past. In 16mm we have the Krasnagorsk Clockwork camera with full kit and 17-69 Crash Zoom at £555.00 In Super-8 we have the Quartz Clockwork camera the 9-38 zoom plus many features at £179.00. The tripod I used is a Manfrotto MN144 with video head at £155.
The Widescreen Centre supplies five different types of Super-8 off the shelf daily. We also keep a smaller range of 16mm stocks, but additional emulsions can be ordered for the following day.
Now is the Time to Shoot in Widescreen
Like aliens and spaceships, or heroes and villains, widescreen goes hand-in-hand with special effects as if the two were made for each other. This is not surprising, since one of the reasons for the use of widescreen is to get that extra Impact!. And now with the advent of widescreen TV. it has taken on a whole new meaning. In it's ultimate versions, as typified by such large presentations such as IMAX or Cinema-180, people actually feel giddy and sway with the film when they watch such things as a roller coaster ride.
From June of 2000 all films submitted for TV presentation are required to be shot in 16/9 widescreen format. And the modern method to achieve this is to use an anamorphic lens.
This system is derived from the interesting optical effect known as 'anamorphosis'. Don't let that word frighten you, the effect produced is exactly the same as you have seen in the cinema when a film is announced as ‘Filmed in Panavision' or ‘CinemaScope'. Basically you use on additional lens which is technically known as an anamorphic which has the ability to compress a wider angle of view horizontally only on to your film or video. You then reverse the effect by decompressing that very same image at the presentation stage.
There is more than one format (or screen shape) available but these are roughly divided into the following:
2.35:1 which is used in the cinema, this is derived from the standard screen frame by compressing the image 2x.
The professional motion picture industry also use a variety of non-anamorphic (or masked) widescreen formats such at 1.88:1 down to 1.66:1.
1.77 is the aspect ratio that has been decided upon by the TV. industry from which is derived the now-standard 16/9 format. But don't worry about the mathematics because that's about as technical as you need get at this stage.
The Widescreen Centre offers a number of different anamorphic or ‘squeeze' lenses and the following is a brief summary of what is currently available.
The 16/9 format is today's TV shape.
The WIDESCREEN-16/9 anamorphic. A lens that is suitable for most camcorders, palmcorders and smaller cine cameras. We've even used it with digital cameras. We supply this with a standard 52mm screw thread on the rear, but the size can be 'stepped' with rings to other diameters.
The Widescreen ISCORAMA-54. A much larger A-lens that will cover some of the monster zoom lenses that you sometimes find on larger motion picture and video cameras. This lens has the added advantage that it is large enough to use with 35mm slides. A lens that definitely requires a supporting mount.
OPTICAL PRODUCTS
PRESENTATION PRODUCTS
3D & VIRTUAL REALITY
