7 Great Ways to use 16mm Film in Your Next Project

There are some things 16mm film is good for and other ideas that just will not work well. In this episode I give some interesting ideas for using 16mm hand developed film.

[truefilm]

Some suggestions if you don't mind my "ramblings" :-)

16mm Black and white (needs of course carefully chosen
actors, clothes, props and clever lighting - but nothing out-of-budget or logistics which are too cumbersome/time consuming): making either all-out
homages or montages/pastiches of silent movies, film noir, any kind of
'20s through '50s B-movies (horror, crime drama, sci-fi, melodrama,
etc.)
B&W or color: "photography in movement" such as seascapes
(waves crashing), Trees, sea weed etc. moving in the wind, street live, etc. - as long as not only the camera moves. :-D
And always great for: weddings, family footage, travel, adventure, having fun with friends, if you are in a band or have friends who are: great backstage or sound check footage, especially open air during daylight (I'd chose a wide angle lens, about 8mm through 16mm focal length, with great depth-of-field and forgiving even with hand held camera and people moving in unpredictable ways or even talking directly to the camera), or any kind of story/montage that doesn't need words and music can be played over.

I won't tackle it in the near future, but the E-6 color reversal process is probably a good choice to try at home (Wittnerchrome/Agfa 200D is readily available in 16mm - and if you can get it (very sought after and usually expensive even if expired): the gorgeous looking (discontinued in 2009) Kodak Ektachrome 100D E-6) - and cross processing other material with the E-6 process (such as certain types of Kodak VNF - I am not an expert though, just researching and learning all the time).

Sure: if footage is very clean and sharp (16mm can look fantastic and highly cinematic by any standards!), one can do a lot of projects. Working around certain limitations is abig part of the fun.

Just my thoughts and input. Thanks for the inspiration! Looking forward to seeing your projects come to life!

[freemanslim]

Awesome channel! Please upload more of these neat videos Sir.

[gustavlittorin]

Waow! Love this!
I love talkning about film and learning more about it!
I got a chance to use 16mm on a schoolproject back in high school and now im hooked!
I used it in part to make a subconcious dreamland the crossing it with digital when in the "Real world"! It was awesome to see the affect of that crossing!

[petepictures]

My kind of guy. Thank you sir, I love your channel

[MewxPro]

Recently bought a Cine Kodak Model B. Once my film comes in, I'm gonna make a slapstick silent film.

[ah-ray]

Hey, when I'm done shooting a role of 500T, how do I store the film for later processing?

[ewhays]

Period pieces, in your case, could be easy.

[glennartstuffs-freejazzfil]

This is more a guide to how to use 16mm with Bolex or Krasnagorsk type cameras that take 100 ft rolls, or how to use self processed or outdated stock, not a guide to using 16mm in general. If you can shoot with a more professional camera that takes 400 ft rolls (like an Arri SR2, an Eclair or a CP16) and get it professionally developed, then you can still shoot for sync sound and have clear picture which can be HD quality (and with better colours). I feel like you should've mentioned that because this video almost makes it seem as if the self processed/expired style footage is all that 16mm is capable of and that simply isn't true. People still shoot feature films and some popular TV programs, like The Walking Dead and Doc Martin, on 16mm; it isn't just a medium for experimenters, as good as it is for that purpose.