Question to Ted Snow

[Ted Snow]

I use a Bell & Howell 466 projector with variable speed. I experimented for several months modifying my projector for transfers. First thing I did was take the gate out of the projector…the little piece of metal that has the square hole in it that frames the film. When I project the film…you can see the full frame of film along with part of the previous and next frames (above and below). What this does is enable you to capture the full frame of film, where as the gate normally cuts off at least 20% of the film all the way around the edges. You can then zoom in on the projected image with your video camera (I now use a Sony VX2100). Regular 8mm film will just about fill the screen perfectly when you get it zoomed right. With Super 8 I have to create a “letterbox” look by adding two tracks above the video track. Both tracks have a solid black color added to it, then I use track motion to position the solid black color blocks to where they cover up a portion of the top and bottom of the video image…actually one for the top and one for the bottom. This is because with Super 8 film the height/width ratio is a little different than it is with Regular 8. A frame of Super 8 is a little wider in relationship to the height. So when I zoom in to capture the left and right edges of the frame of film, I use the tracks above to “cover up” the portions of the previous and next frames.
I have pretty much elimidated any flicker from my film transfers. The trick to this is to NOT use a factory projector bulb which is normally 100-150 watts (which was intended for projecting the image 15 feet away on a screen)…plus the fact that they are very expensive and are rated for 25 hours of use. I removed the DHL bulb and fabricated a mount so I could use a 50W MR16 halogen bulb (cost a whopping $2.50 and are rated for 3000 hours). I actually hard wired it to where the original bulb socket was wired so that when I flip on the “lamp” switch the MR16 comes on.
Hot spots are hard to completely avoid since the “dynamic range” of video is much less than film. An example is a shot that is kinda dark but someone has a white t-shirt on. The t-shirt will usually get blown out, but with the right camera settings this can be minimized. The settings on the VX2100 I use are:
Steadyshot…OFF
AE (auto exposure)…Sunset/Moon
White Balance…Indoor
And always use manual focus.

As far as cleaning and lubricating I use those pre-treated furniture polish wipes. A set of film rewinds are pretty much a must have if you transfer film. I picked up a pair on Ebay for $20 a while back. I run the film through one direction using the wipes (lightly pinching the film between my fingers with the wipe). I then rewind the film back the other direction but this time using a clean t-shirt to wipe off any excess.

I use a white piece of cardstock paper for my screen (I’ve read that a light grey works better for contrast but I haven’t been able to find any locally so I use white). The projector is set up about 2 1/2 feet from this screen. The projected image is about 8″ wide. I have my camera on a good tripod just behind and above the projector. Once I get the camera “framed” to the image I stick a “sticky note” paper on the screen with a couple of “X’s” marked on it to focus to. Once the camera is focused then you can fine focus the projector image by watching an external monitor. It’s much easier to focus the projector this way as opposed to looking at the small projected image on the screen. But you do have to get the camera focused correctly first.
I hope this helps you get started. I just finished up a job of 8mm film from back in the early 40’s and they turned out absolutely wonderful. My customer was quite amazed at the quality.

Ted

[Gary Kleiner]

Ted,

Thank you for the detailed explanation. You have certainly put a lot of work into it.

Gary

[Lee Albright]

Laszlo,
Greetings from the Rocky Mountains!

I don’t mean to but in on your conversation with Ted Snow but I just had to ‘Hi’.
It was you who taught me almost everything I know about cinematography.
Do you recall the workshop in Camden Maine that you taught in the early eighties?
I was one of your students!
Your easy going way of explaining lighting, composition, camera angles and continuity has made a lasting impression on my career as a filmmaker.
I am grateful to have had such an excellent mentor.
Thank you.
Cordially,
Lee Albright
Albright Films

[Ted Snow]

I have put a lot of work into experimenting with my setup. The first couple of batches of film I transferred was for family members and I had several spots that flickered, even while riding the speed control and lots of hot spots on faces, etc. I used a Sony TRV350 when I first started transferring film and thought they looked pretty good. But since using the VX2100, you can see details that were completely lost using the single CCD camera…a wrinkle in a dark suit, etc.
And thanks for the compliment Gary.

[Laszlo Kovacs]

Hi Lee Albright,

Greatings to the Rocky Mountains!
🙂

>Do you recall the workshop in Camden Maine that you taught in the early eighties?

I’m afraid you’re mixing me up with somebody.
I never was over there,and in the early eighties I just finished my highschool.

However I’m very glad that once you were so much impressed
by a hungarian man – one of my fellow countrymen,
sure he was, by the name…

This is frequent name, if you know a hungarian
you have a high percent probability his name
is just like mine.
:))

Have a nice time,

By(t)e
Laca

[Laszlo Kovacs]

Thank you,
thank you very much Ted!

I tried a “screen” way, my screem was two
sand-blasted piece of glass, and my camera
stood opposit the projector.
This could be a wrong idea…
I’m going try the “wall” way, as you do.
Maybe this could reduce also the hotspot.

I learned a lot’!!

Thank you again Ted!

By(t)e
Laca

[Ted Snow]

Also, you don’t need it to be real dark as one might think. The darker the room is where you are trying to transfer…the more the chance of blowouts and hotspots. Experiment a little with ambient light to see what works best for you.