Super 8 Filmmaking in Leeds

Guest post by @cherrykino

Cherry Kino is running some 8-week Super 8 courses in Leeds from February, and with Kodak’s announcement last week that they were filing for bankruptcy protection, I thought I’d share a little of my perspective on the current state of cine film in the UK.

Kodak’s announcement sent tremors throughout the analogue kingdom. Has it really come to this? Could Kodak’s dismal prospects hasten the end of our beloved cine film? For me and countless others who adore ‘real’ film, it’s hard – and even painful – to imagine a world without it. With the digital take-over well underway, and almost every cinema turfing out their once-beloved 35mm equipment in favour of digital servers, this could well be the case. Film festivals are noticing a rapid decrease in the number of 35mm film prints playing on the festival circuit and a huge increase in HD files and digital formats, and there was widespread furore in 2011 when Soho Film Lab were taken over by the American company Deluxe, who promptly decided to cease 16mm print production because it was not in their economic interests, to the dismay of numerous British artists who use 16mm film. This gave rise to a campaign to try to change Deluxe’s mind, forefronted by British artist Tacita Dean, whose 35mm Unilever Series commission entitled simply ‘FILM’ is currently on at the Tate Modern (and well worth a visit). The campaign failed to change the lab’s mind. And of course Leeds lost its very own Northern Film Lab back in 2009 when it became yet another victim of Yorkshire TV’s cuts. But is it really the end? Cine film is getting a lot of press lately, but is this recent surge in publicity simply the animated death throes of the medium, or is something else going on here?

The way I see it, film is actually experiencing something of a re-birth. Granted, this could be partly because it is becoming ‘rarer’ and therefore perhaps more desirable, and there is without a doubt something of a nostalgic ‘retro’ interest in cine film, in the same way that vintage clothes are such an enduring trend (the Spielberg-esque film ‘Super 8’ has been criticised by many to be ‘nostalgia porn’ over the medium). But I think there is more to it than that. In my view, it comes down to materialism. I mean that not in the sense of a ‘materialistic consumerism’ but more in the sense that in this so-called ‘digital age’ people are more and more drawn to things that they can materially connect with – the virtual world has taken over, but the material world is putting up a wonderful resistance, with film as one of its aesthetic foot-soldiers. Aesthetics comes from the Greek ‘ais thesis’ meaning sensation, and this brings me onto the idea that the aesthetic possibilities offered by cine film are not simply visual, they can also be felt. Ok, this may be a step too far for some of you reading this, but let’s just consider the fact that film itself is tactile, it has a physical tangibility (made of gelatin, silver, and acetate or polyester), the light particles hitting the film emulsion in organic ways (rather than pixellated), and the images therefore have a material basis in a way that the digital image can never have. Could it be that film offers us the chance to engage with the visual world in a specifically material, sensual way and therefore opens up a realm of creative potential and action in a Britain dominated by digital cameras and the ‘all-seeing’ social control of CCTV which plagues our cities?

To use cine film is a material pleasure. Sometimes a great material frustration too, it’s true! But, first and foremost, it is a uniquely fulfilling way of working with images, and creates a strong physical engagement between the filmmaker and the film material. In a strange way, you become responsible to the film, and it becomes response-able to you. The filming process – for me at least – becomes one of presence, where the filmmaker is in the moment, attending to the camera’s many different settings (focus, aperture, frames per second speed, light meter, and so on) and aware that every second passing is actually a physical length of film, that has a cost, and that will need to be chemically developed and then edited. Recording images on film is not a throwaway act – it carries with it a lot of responsibility after the event, and a lot of work to help those images reveal themselves. The wait before you see the images is also, for me, part of the pleasure! The ‘catch it all now and edit it later’ digital temptation is simply not there with film, and this, I think, results in a deeper connection with your material, and in fact a deeper connection with what it is you are actually filming. And let’s not forget the fact that film lasts longer than digital – digital media become obsolete at a staggering pace and, at the moment, film outlives it by far. The cost of using real film does not have to be high at all, and there are countless ways of making cine films very cheaply or even for free (there is often outdated stock offered for free, or found footage to be re-worked), and one colour Super 8 cartridge only costs a few quid more than your average packet of 20 cigs (if you buy it from www.7dayshop.com!). Or, if you want to, you can spend loads on it! For me, it has become a permanent habit, but it’s one I feel so incredibly lucky to have – I smoke less and film more!

My organisation Cherry Kino runs analogue filmmaking courses and workshops, and over the past 3 years I have seen the demand for these steadily increase. People have even travelled from as far afield as Italy and Germany to attend a weekend Super 8 workshop! The atmosphere at these events is really special – people are eager to learn, to go out with a camera, to shoot the film and to hand-process it themselves, taking notes and emailing me afterwards to ask about different things. This is not the sign of a dying medium. What constantly inspires me at the workshops I run is that people are eager to learn not just so that they can ‘have a go before it disappears’ or as a retro fashion accessory, or for something to do on a rainy day, but because they want to learn the skills and techniques so that they can continue to use them for years to come, whether in their art practice, for personal use, or as part of their business. The number of music videos, art projects and gallery installations made on cine film seems to be growing every day, and shows no sign of letting up. Even though Super 8 cameras are not made any more, there are still absolutely loads of them around ranging from the most basic to some serious top-end beauties, and they are constantly offered on ebay. Friends often pool their resources and get a filmmaking kit between them of a camera, projector, and processing chemicals.

Super 8 has always lent itself to the amateur filmmaker – it was brought out in the early ’60s and was specifically aimed at the home movie maker, which led to a huge explosion of people using and experimenting with cine film, and also immediately made filmmaking much more accessible to women. I think that the recent revival of interest in Super 8 has a strong DIY flavour, where the filmmaker is responsible for every stage of the process themselves, from shooting, developing, editing and projecting, and I think this is partly because of a desire to connect creatively with the materiality of images and their creation. Through organising many screenings on Super 8 and 16mm, I’ve noticed that people will often come to a screening precisely because the films will be shown on real film, on cine projectors. This is an experience that many people crave, and it is gaining new admirers day by day. Film projection is a completely different creature to digital projection, and that’s not to say one is better or more valid than the other, they are simply utterly different. I am not living in a bubble and imagining that film will be around forever – things change, factories shut down, businesses fold – but I am certainly not about to subscribe to the belief that the show’s over for film. Haven’t people been saying that for the last 40 years?

Next week I have been invited to attend a workshop at the artist-run WORM film lab in Rotterdam, as part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where we will learn how to make film from scratch by creating the emulsion and literally painting it onto the clear acetate film base in the dark. Clearly independent film labs and people keen to see film continue are thinking about new ways for that to happen, even if it means taking matters in hand and making the film stock themselves! One group, Bioskop, in the South of France rescued 16mm and 35mm machines and have now created a fully functioning industrial yet artisanal lab, where artists can learn to use the machines themselves. There is one enthusiast who has actually made his own machine for coating film, and many people are experimenting and innovating in loads of different ways with film, for example by creating hand-cranked or bicycle-powered film projectors, and expanded cinema projections, yielding fresh possibilities all the time. Film is an artistic and material medium which has given rise to a totally vibrant culture. This culture of taking film into your own hands, away from the purely industrial and towards a more personal mode of filmmaking, has existed underground since film’s very beginnings. In fact most of the early cinema pioneers, before film became industrialised, could be considered experimental film artists. This ‘underground’ tendency to engage on a personal and material level with film has periodically made sustained appearances in ‘mainstream’ culture, and it looks to me like that is happening right now, and long may it continue!

Cherry Kino is running some 8-week intensive Super 8 courses starting in February to spread knowledge and passion for this gorgeous, creative, accessible and versatile medium, including using top-end Super 8 cameras, full hand-processing sessions (including processing film in coffee!), filmmaking without a camera, editing, and creative projection. The films made on the course will be shown at a public screening in Leeds, and all course participants will be offered a special guided tour of the incredible collection of analogue cine cameras and projectors at the National Media Museum’s research centre. Check out the Cherry Kino blog for full details and how to book – http://www.cherrykino.blogspot.com. If you would like to request a bespoke workshop on Super 8 or 16mm, or for more information on Cherry Kino, you can get in touch at: cherrykinocinema@yahoo.com.

Cherry Kino specialises in promoting and facilitating the use of Super 8 and 16mm film, offering bespoke filmmaking workshops, equipment hire, film projection and curatorial services, and is based at East Street Arts, Patrick Studios, St. Mary’s Lane, LS9 7EH.