HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this film may interest you.
This is a compilation that the owner has put together using 4x 200' films. The first three films are related, the last film is not related to the first three.
The first three short films are about three different countries or places in a documentary style while the last film is unusual short film (in Black & White with sound) about the terrors of the jungle, but the focus isn't really on the big cats but instead the little monkeys, hundreds of them! A peculiar little film this one.
Now, on with the detailed description ...
COMPILATION (4x Short Films) - Super 8 Film
Identified on the reel as REEL ONE
Castle Film (the first three films only)
Film 1: Island Of Malta (documentary style)
All about Malta, it's history and points of interest
Film 2: Colorado The High Country
Colorado USA, from a historical and modern day (1970's) perspective, quite a jovial almost humorous style of documentary voice over.
Film 3: Exotic Nippon
Japan, the country of contrasts between very old customs and a thriving modern society/
NOTE: I had (perhaps still have) another copy of this film viewed recently and this is a BETTER copy from a colour aspect.
Film 4: Terror Of The Jungle
This is an odd little short film, shot in Black & White with sound. At first I thought this was going to be a "Oh watch out for those nasty tigers in the jungle" but no ... it opens with LOTS of little monkeys running all over the place, having fun and causing some mayhem for some human jungle dwellers. Yes there is a tiger lurking around (with lots of growling sound effects) but the "star" of the film is these pesky little monkeys. Great scenes of them en-mass crossing over a river, jumping from rock to rock. A strange little film, not only the way the film's story has been told but the production is a bit different too.
Labelling is on one side of the reel, using dynatape.
600 feet 8" smokey Black unbranded reel (marked as Made In Japan)
Leader film is fitted, but no film clip.
WARNING: FULLY loaded reel, the owner really packed the film onto this reel and it is FULL - careful handling is required.
First three films are Colour
The last film is Black & White
Sound on all four films
NO case is supplied, but I have well packed and protected these now - it will not be sent as a "loose reel"
USED
CLEAN
Film stock is undamaged
NO whiffs of the dreaded "vinegar Syndrome" e.g I could NOT detect any vinegar type smells coming off this film
NO personal names have been written on the reel
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
The film reel looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged. The White leader fed through the ELMO projector fine.
I test viewed the ENTIRE reel as I needed to check that each film was as stated on the labelling and to make an overall judgement of the picture/sound quality.
Film 1: Quite Red colouring but I can see some Greens/Browns but not Blues. Actually the presence of Green is quite noticeable, such as the beach side scenes where the water is a Greyish/Green colour not blood Red!
The sound quality and level is fine
Film 2: Colorado The High Country
Quite Red, more so than Film 1 but those Greens are still present which means that the overall tones tend to be almost like a Brown not just Red, but there are no Blues present at all
Sound is a little muffled but still understandable. The voice over is not a straightforward boring style but there is often some comedy in his remarks
Film 3: Exotic Nippon
Better colour than the other copy I advertised recently, there are far more Greens in this copy and the picture isn't too bad but once again, the Blues really are not there to be seen so you end up with a sort of Reddish, Brownish overall colouring with bits of Green popping up here and there. This is not too bad a picture but with a leaning towards the Reds dominating, however the night life scenes and exotic (nightclub cabaret style with not a lot of clothes on) dancing towards the end of the film really are quite a hoot.
Sound is good, no issues here at all
NOTE: The owner also had a cut out of the original box front included with this reel, it will also be passed onto the new owner of this film reel.
Film 4: Terror Of The Jungle - Black & White with sound. Mainly a musical background but at times there is some dialogue. A strange short film. At first I thought the title was referring to the large cats such as tigers (and they do feature in the film) but the film seems to deal with the devilish monkeys, lots and lots of them. Playing, running, being naughty. The film looks to have been "staged" meaning that some of the scenes just don't look realistic and the monkeys running a long the ground or up the trees just looks strangely "jerky", as though various pieces of film have been altered (motion has been sped up) and edited together to create this film.
The sound is fine although towards the end it gets a bit uneven in audio level, just right near the end of the film
The quality of the Black & White picture is fine, no issues with the contrast and it is quite a decent looking Mono picture with perhaps just the slightest move towards a bit of Yellow.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of each reel as it is played ... now my digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that - like I said, this is one OLD camera) and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs... in real life, the pictures are quite an improvement to the photographs you can see here.
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen.
In my opinion, after this running this ENTIRE reel, I am happy that the film reel contains the short films as stated on the reel and that the film stock appears to be in quite good technical condition.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after-all doing this on behalf of another person) and I have decided to repack the film with a little extra care ... a couple of packets of Silica Gel have been added within the reel and then sealed in clear plastic. This reel has then been placed into a very stiff cardboard base and once again, sealed in clear plastic.
