« Entry Level Final Cut Pro and After Effects Editor Needed in DC | Home | Screening at the University of Maryland: “A Stupid Movie for Jerks” »
Hand-Cranking Film To Get That “Old Film” Look
By Frey | September 6, 2007
I get emails asking about hand cranking footage every-so-often. I have to say that I have never personally shot anything while hand cranking, but there is a certain fascination with hand cranking and getting that hand cranked look…
Believe it or not, when they were shot, the early films were usually very clean and rarely had dirt, hairs, or scratches. But, after they were shot, the films were often shipped around to many different locations and projected many different nights for several years and rarely cleaned. So most of the dirt, hair, dust, and scratches came from the projectors and lazy projectionists.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way right now: Most Non-Linear Editors have filters that add the look of hair, scratches, etc,. to your video to give the video a look of an old film. But even though they add the look, they really don’t look anything like the older films really did. They use algorithms to add the scratches and hair and dirt and it looks like an algorithm. It just doesn’t look “real”.
So, the best way to get an authentic Hand-Cranking look is to go out and actually hand crank the camera. Most cameras made in the very early 1900’s were hand-cranked, and these older cameras come up on ebay from time to time. You can also modify some of the more modern cameras to hook up a hand crank (it takes time to do this though). Sometimes a Konvas or Arriflex will pop up on ebay that has a hand crank. Extremely new cameras are probably too expensive to do this with, so if you’re looking to modify a camera - you might want to choose one from around the 1960’s.
From what I understand, the “flicker” everyone has always associated with the old handcranking methods wasn’t really due to the cameraman’s hand cranking not being perfectly timed so much as it was due to very poor quality control standards in post (ie, mixing the chemicals that processed the film).
So, here’s your assignment, should you be willing to accept it (you have to hum the tune). Seriously, if you are interested in a hand-cranked look - Get a camera. Put a hand crank on it. Go out and handcrank some footage.
Also try to shoot the same stuff with a wind up motor (use a Bolex, Filmo, Krasnogorsk K3, or a 35mm Eyemo) or maybe even a rheostat motor (btw: rheostat motors come with the older 1950/1960’s Konvas cameras - newer Konvas come with both electric and crystal sync motors). Get it all processed with a 1st light transfer (if you’re going to video). Watch it. Take notes.
All modern films are extremely flexible, so you’re probably not going to see much flicker in anything but the most extreme of trials anyway. You probably want a B&W reversal film - since reversal films will likely show problems with speed a little better, since they have less latitude.
I think that you’ll notice that once you get into the proper rhythm of handcranking the film, you’ll find that you won’t notice much of a difference between the handcranking footage and the footage off the wind up cameras, since the wind up cameras tend to vary their speeds as well.
So, I have to put the standard DISCLAIMER here: Of course, this is all pure conjecture on my behalf and to be taken with a grain of salt. But if you go out and shoot some tests, please feel free to post your results in the comments section below.
Interested in Film Making, Acting, and Photography?
Then subscribe to the RSS feed!!
Topics: film |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.