In the last days of motion picture film the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-operative (NIFCO) ran what may be its last Super 8 film workshop in the summer of 2012. At the end of last year, news came that processing 8mm and 16mm motion picture film would no longer be a viable option for film makers in Canada. I was lucky enough to be a part of the “last batch” with long time film mentor, Roger Maunder.
My Super 8 short film was done in collaboration with HIV/AIDS activist and educator, Robyn Pardy. It is “part 1” because we hope this will be the opening sequence to a larger film project about the history HIV/AIDS, the people involved and the epidemiology in Newfoundland and Labrador. The rest of this project will, undoubtedly, be shot on digital HD motion picture cameras. Maybe a new Red Epic?
This was shot on a 70’s era Sanyo Super 8 movie camera with Ektachrome 100 Daylight film and transferred to digital for editing in an AVID editing suite at NIFCO. Audio tracks were recording separately with a Sony digital audio recorder and the original music score was done by Debashis Sinha in Toronto.
Thanks go to Roger Maunder for mentoring the Super 8 Workshops, Brad Gover for post-production guidance, Anna Petras for herding cats, Debashis Sinha for the score and especially Robyn Pardy for letting me follow her around with a vintage Super 8 movie camera. The girl knows her buses!
Check out NIFCO and the great work they do at www.nifco.org.
You can find more of Debashis Sinha’s music, video and sound art installations at www.debsinha.com
