straight 8

+ what camera should i buy/where can i buy one?

super 8 cameras are easy to find and can be picked up for next to nothing, but you usually have to pay a bit more for a fully featured and tested camera

quite a lot of super 8 cameras won't automatically meter all modern film stocks — it makes life much easier if you can get one that will. super8wiki.com lists the specs of almost all super 8 cameras. check out our cameras page too

+ TELL ME ABOUT FRAME RATES.

the standard frame rate for super 8 is 18fps (frames per second). for the main straight 8 competition all films are projected at 18fps, and last 3 min 20 s.

if you want to shoot slomo, you neeed to run film through quicker (overcrank). this burns more film and is how you s-t-r-e-t-c-h time when your film is played back at 18fps. so shooting at 24fps will make the shot 33% slower. some cameras go higher than 24fps - 56fps and 80fps are really cool but at 80fps a shot lasting 10s in your film will be filmed in just 2.25 seconds.

NB - for our straight 8 shootout (company competition) our base speed is 24fps so you'll need a camera that does 24fps if you want to shoot in real time. that's why those films are max length 2m30s as opposed 3m20s for our annual straight 8 comp.

and of course if your camera runs at 12 or 9 frames you get a sped up effect, like cheap cop programmes when they had car chases.

then there's stop frame. one frame at a time either in your own time with each press of the trigger, or in a timelapse with a frame taken every second/minute/hour/year/etc

+ what other features does my super 8 camera need?

it depends what will best help you tell your story! many people are fine with just a lens and a trigger. however, some popular features include:

• manual aperture (iris) control - this lets you take a light reading with an external meter and set your exposure manually. it's helpful if you're shooting in overcast/contrasty conditions, or if you want a darker or brighter shot.
• variable shutter angle - most feature films are shot with what's called a 180° shutter, which means the shutter is open for half of each frame. super 8 cameras are often 150°, so they're open slightly longer to maximise the light on the film. some cameras have a variable shutter, so you can choose the balance between sharp footage and low-light.
• timelapse - mentioned above in the frame rate section. lets you take a single frame every second/minute/hour/etc
• lap dissolve - this feature lets you do a 'dissolve', a shot the smoothly fades into another shot
• high speed shooting - some cameras have high-speed modes so you can shoot slow-motion. see the frame rates section above for more info
• crystal sync - put simply, super 8 cameras generally don't run at exact framerates, more like 17-19fps than exactly 18fps. crystal sync, used for sync-sound filming in the past, make a super 8 camera run at an exact framerate (often 24fps not the usual 18fps) and keep a consistent speed.
• autom. b - specific to some nizo cameras, autom. b is a timelapse mode where the camera works out the length of long-exposure shooting by itself, leading to well exposed images with a variable frame rate.
• macro - a lens feature rather than a camera feature. let's you shoot super close up images, with objects just centimetres from the lens

+ what's the best super 8 camera?

we can't pick a favourite child! some excellent high-end super 8 cameras include: canon 814 & 1014; nikon r8 and r10; nizo 561, 801 & professional; beaulieu 4008, 6008 & 7008.

we're all big fans of the canon 814 series and the nizo s800/801/professional, but we also shoot zenit, elmo, nikon, etc.

the main thing is to get one that's been tested or give it a good test yourself, and check that it has the features you need.

+ ANY CAMERAS TO AVOID

super 8 is not the same as '8mm'. people sometimes get excited that they picked up a funky old 8mm camera and then realise they can't use it for straight 8. 8mm can be cool and you can still get it from some suppliers, and get it processed. check out double 8 too but again no good for our competitions. don't look for sound film. it did exist but that's now a thing of the past. for our comp you make your soundtrack separately, without having seen your film. which is literally half the fun of it

+ WHAT ELSE SHOULD I BEAR IN MIND

test the camera if it’s new to you or you haven’t used it for a while. to make sure it works and you can work with it to get the best out of it.

the lens is one of the most important components. the rest can be simple and basically mechanical but the lens is a series of glass optics and is responsible for getting your scene recorded on celluloid for others to see later. a fast (low) f or t-stop is a bonus. this is the widest aperture it will go to, eg 1.4 on a canon 814. how contrasty is the lens, what’s the bokeh like? all nice things to experiment and okay with.

the focal lengths are also important. is it wide enough / long enough for my shots? if you’re used to 35mm film photography the focal lengths need to be approximately multiplied by 6 to equate. so a 7mm focal length on super 8 is a bit like a 42mm on full frame

some simple super 8 cameras have a fixed focus lens where you don’t need to focus at all and everything will be sharp from about 1m to infinity. the kodak m22 is like that or the zenit quartz with the zoom lens screwed off. however focal depth is a big contributor to cinematic storytelling so don’t think it’s all good not to have to worry about focus.

close focus is another thing to care about. every lens has a minimum close focus distance measured to the film plane (circle with a line through it denoting where the film gets exposed in the gate). no matter what you do nothing will be sharp at less than this distance. unless you add a diopter. so if it’s imperative to read a note or see the time on a watch, you may be surprised without a macro lens or adaptor or diopter how far away you need to get the film plane from the subject. eg 1.2 metres. people often make this mistake. read a previous straight 8er's close-up shooting tips here

take a look at our other super 8 tips in the 'tips' section below

+ what is super 8 film?

super 8 is a motion picture film format developed by kodak in the 1960s. it's the most accessible format of real film that you can shoot on — cameras and film-stock are relatively cheap, readily available and easy to use. nothing else looks like super 8 film

super 8 film doesn't record sound, so you need to make your soundtrack separately

+ different types of super 8 film

most super 8 film available at the moment is made by kodak. they have 5 films: 3 colour negative films (Vision3 50D, 200T, 500T), 1 colour reversal film (Ektachrome 100D) and one black-and-white reversal film (Tri-X - 200). only the three colour negative films can be used for straight 8

+ which film is best?

they're each good for different reasons. as a general rule - the lower the film speed number (50, 100, 200, 500), the smaller the grain of the film and the sharper the footage looks, but the more light you need to shoot.

+ where to buy film / how much

head to our film outlets page where we keep a (fairly) up-to-date list of places to buy super 8.

a roll of film usually costs around £30 GBP + postage. colour reversal film is more expensive.

+ where to get film processed / how much

it depends what you want it for! there are loads of options from hand-processing in coffee to pro processing and scanning in the same chemicals as 70mm blockbusters

scanning tends to range from £30 up to £120 a roll depending on the lab and the quality.

+ TIP 1 - KEEP IT CLEAN

the edge of frame in your viewfinder will probably slightly smaller than the final scan. so your film will with a little more in frame than you saw through the viewfinder. very nice if it’s a wide shot of the scottish highlands, but not so great if someone is on the edge of frame holding a bit of kit - or worse picking their nose.

so check by eye that it’s all looking good a bit beyond your viewfinder frame.

+ (Don't) think about the sync

most super 8 cameras don’t run at exactly the speed you set and worse still the speed drifts and varies as the roll winds. it's only usually a couple fps variation, but if you’re trying to be clever with timings or attempted sync this will wreak havoc with your masterplan. if sync is crucial find a crystal sync or lock camera. if you can!

although that won't necessarily fix things entirely as super 8 cartridges have a few blank frames at the beginning. some people say it's 6, but we reckon it varies slightly from cartridge to cartridge. so our advice is not to make a straight 8 that relies on perfect sync!!

+ Don't trust the film counter

we don't trust super 8 film counters - the dials that tell you how much film is left. we're sure some of them are accurate but we normally find the film has run out before the counter says it should. so, if you're shooting a straight 8, time each shot (the film lasts a total of 3m20s at 18fps) and shoot a slightly shorter film so you don't accidentally lose your killer reveal at the end because of a dodgy frame counter.

+ timing out your straight 8

it's hard to accurately time out a straight 8. most people use a stopwatch to time how long each shot took, some strap a phone to the camera so they can hear when it's running, others get a friend/assistant director to call start and stop at precise times, a few just wing it.

but whatever tact you do, human reaction times mean you'll probably run slightly out from what you're expecting. this is another reason not to shoot right up to 3m20s (see above), particularly if you have a key shot at the end.

+ WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRAIGHT 8 AND STRAIGHT 8 SHOOTOUT?

both are truly global and both involve making a short film on just one cartridge of super 8 and using only your camera to edit. and seeing the film for the first time, fully completed. here’s what is different about our two types of competition…

straight 8's annual competition is open to anyone anywhere. check out the status in this site's main menu. if you may want to enter in future, sign up to our mailing list. in a nutshell: you make a film on one cart of super 8 it can last up to 3mins 20secs (18 frames per second). the best ones - selected by us and our jury - are shown at the cannes film festival and those and more are also shown at other great screenings. you don’t see your' film before its premiere. if your film is not selected we offer full and frank feedback and you get your digital copy back and can arrange to get your original spool too. full details on our site

straight 8 shootout is a newer straight 8 format for creative companies to compete at straight 8 rules for charity, with slightly different rules. see shootout to see if there's a current shootout competition in action. if you may want to enter in future, sign up to our mailing list. in a nutshell: companies enter and make a film on one cart of super 8 and it can last up to 2mins and 30secs (24 frames per second). only a limited number of companies can enter because: ALL the films are shown at the premiere regardless of how well they worked it or whether anything came out on the film at all. the entered companies vote democratically for the winners who donate prize money to the charities of their choice. full details on our site

+ when will i get to see my film?

no one is allowed to see their film before its premiere, if it's selected. look at the dates page for the latest info on screenings

after the screenings, all entries will be uploaded so that you can download yours digitally

+ do you colour grade our straight 8 scans?

yes and no!

we add a single best-light grade to the overal film, this'll include a bit of a curve, slight colour correction and black-and-white levels. but this is applied to the film as a whole. nothing is applied to individual shots or sections, as tempted as we might be! so this does mean that if you really nail your exposure throughout, the likelihood is the end result will look punchier than if your exposure varies throughout.

why do we do this? straight 8 used to be shot on colour reversal, where the scan matched what you saw when you projected the film. with negative stock, all scans need inverting with the right colour cast and levels. but it's important to us that straight 8s are as close to 'straight out the camera' as possible, so no fiddling with or helping specific shots!

+ can i enter my films to other festivals?

yes! we love it when straight 8 films get screened at other festivals. it’s your film, not ours so you retain ownership - we just ask for non exclusive rights to show the film ‘under the banner of’ straight 8

+ who enters straight 8?

check out our straight8ers page. the level playing field created by straight 8's rules makes it a great chance for people with everything to prove and nothing to lose. some of the greatest straight 8 films have been made by first time filmmakers. and we love that. and if you are a filmmaker, well you'd love this opportunity to return to your roots, scare yourself, enjoy total film-making freedom: you get final cut. all be it in-camera. we don't mind if you use a pseudonym — we just want you to have fun

+ can i put on my own straight 8 screening?

yes please! we want to have as many screenings in as many places as possible. if you’d like to put on a screening or would like to suggest that we screen somewhere please get in touch

+ i have a question about copyright

first off - make sure you've carefully read the full rules of the straight 8 competition you're entering. in there is a legal copyright paragraph that you must agree to and abide by when you make your film.

and more generally, we often get asked about whether something specific can be shown in a film. we always advise to play it safe, but one way to think about it might be 'if this was featured prominently in my multi-million-pound movie, would I probably have to pay for permission to do so?' if the answer might be yes, rule it out.