The Future of Gauge Film

25/1/2013

So with the discontinuation of 100D, the price rises on Super 8/ 16mm B&W and Neg and Kodak's hesitance to keep supplying us with 16mm film (for which they gave no reason) it's fair to say Kodak has dealt us 3 crippling blows in quick succession in little over a month. I would be fibbing if I said I wasn't worried. I built a snow Totoro this week to help calm myself down and consider the future. Please read on to find out where I'm at.

Truth be told we're already feeling the effects of the 100D discontinuation and price rises. It's been the first time in a long time that we haven't been able to meet our two week turnaround on our colour developing due to a lack of film to process (usually it's the other way around). Secondly I honestly don't think people will purchase Tri-X or Neg carts at Kodak's new list price of £21,73 so I have refrained from purchasing all Super 8 stock from Kodak. Lastly there will be no new 16mm stock in the store in the immediate future as for what ever reason Kodak don't seem to want to sell it to us and their prices are steep. So in Feb we're back to selling S8 colour reversal only (the stuff we got from Wittner this month). It's fair to assume if colour doesn't sell at the new prices nothing will (fingers crossed it sells). If it does sell I'll look to Wittner for B&W and Neg stock come March. As an optimistic side note the Standard 8 film services will still be going steady but unfortunately not many folks use Standard 8. So what on earth can one do to keep the store up and running throughout these difficult times?

A Change of Pace

Seeing as I'm less busy at the Lab, the most proactive approach I've come up with is to hire myself out as a camera operator for various events for other filmmakers. If I could get the hirer to purchase film, processing and telecine from me as a package deal this would be cheaper for them overall, postage costs would be minimal as well because I could bring and take all film stock to the event/lab personally. I would only have to post the processed films and dvd disk to the hirer when everything had been developed and digitized. After It's been shot, developed and digitized the hirer can edit the raw film as they see fit. This approach would give me time to develop, dramatically improve overall turnaround time and give me some extra cash for services rendered. I have all the equipment necessary to do this kind of work and I'm extremely handy with it. I have 3 high end Super 8 cameras, shoulder support, monopod, tripod, nice wide angle lenses etc... I could do your standard coverage or do something more specialist like time lapse shots.. Remember I don't only shoot and process my own film regularly but also have the privilege of watching other peoples endeavors on a weekly basis (a schooling in itself).

CONCLUSION

This isn't really how I imagined this year beginning. Everything was going wonderfully up until last December but alas I love shooting film as much as I love processing it and if my shooting skills can help keep the lab open then so be it. So if anyone requires a camera operator for a particular event I would jump at the opportunity to work with you. If anyone could recommend how much I should charge for my services per job that would be great as well. I'll get to work on "A camera for Hire" section of this website but if anyone needs a primary or secondary film camera operator soon then please drop me a message. Please recommend me to individuals that do this kind of work so they can keep me on record.

All the best
Kevin

5 Comments

John

26/1/2013 03:45:20 pm

I really feel for you kevin, your young and you need an income and in this day and age it is difficult.

I really do wish you all the luck in the world on your endeavour to keep within the film industry, but the way things are going it might be best for you to follow the pack and keep to digital photography.

I know it sounds harsh, but like everything else we or 99.9% of the general public follow the trends that are current at the time. so its no surprise that cell film is dying out..

Its all down to ease of use and im sure you will agree with me on that front. I know a young guy, (24) who is fascinated with film, but there is no way he could use or afford it at the moment.

He is working with DSLR stuff at uni but he and his pals were totally fascinated when I shot the super 8 stuff when my young lad played the guitar on a shoot they were doing.

Im old school myself and i am as guilty as the next man/woman for abandoning the cine world and in hindsight i wish i had shot more during the 80s and 90s when my lads were growing up, but like most i went to video.

I do think there is a market for cine film, but I also think that Kodak have been advised to drop cell film by the peeps who have taken over the company, so it might be the last death for film as we know it. (I hope im wrong).

Anyway, I have my 3 rolls of std 8 and my roll of 64T and it makes me think more of what to shoot.

All the best to you Kevin.

Much respect.
John.

James Davies

27/1/2013 11:16:46 am

Hi Kevin

Just a few thoughts really:

I think your telecine offering will be well received, being possibly the only film sales/processing/telecine provider in the UK, should put you ahead of the game.

Stating the obvious, but I think analogue filming with digital storage/manipulation/display is the way ahead, I'm doing it with all my still formats, really is the best of both worlds; seems to be plenty of hidden quality in film that never revealed itself through projectors or prints, but can now be realised using digital scan and playback through retina type screens.

Personally, I would like to be able to buy Standard 8 in 100ft rolls with processing from you now I have a Bolex H8. I'm just about to buy a roll from Wittner, but I'd rather get it from you. But, I'm using it for fun rather than anything serious, so I guess you need filmmaker type customers to make 100ft worthwhile.

100ft with processing from Wittner works out at £7.18/min. From you on 25ft rolls its £7.97, so around 80p/min cheaper if I use 100ft lengths, more convenient for telecine and projection too.

I think blogging about the value of cine is worth doing. I bought a standard 8 camera a few months back, bought some film from you, then told my friend Jon, who went and bought a super 8 camera and some film from you, then my girlfriends dad, who liked my camera, just bought a standard 8 camera etc etc. need to spread the word, Cine cameras on eBay are amazing value! The Bolex stuff is nicer than Leica (I know, I have a few), the quality and value is off the scale.

Some "outside of the box ideas":

How about selling some camera/film/processing/telecine packages, would make a cool gift, with vouchers with discounts for further film.

How about wedding cine filming - seems everyone is after something novel for their wedding these days, classic cine look.

What about running a regular gauge film "film competition"? Encourages film usage.

How about running some film training?

Look into that Foma stuff, love their 4x5 film.

That's enough for now, hope some of this helps, hang in there, bad months happen, Kodak seem shortsighted but don't burn your bridges just in case, it will pick up I'm sure!

James

Kevin Timmins link

6/2/2013 02:40:49 am

I James,

I did write a lengthy reply to this a while ago but it seems as it didn't post. My internet keeps dropping off. PM me for details on 100ft process paid rolls.

All the best
Kevin

Simon FD

28/1/2013 12:28:19 pm

Hi Kev

I would like to echo the comments from John and James and offer my support (for what it's worth) to your excellent service.

The fact that Kodak seems to be being so awkward is not helpful and I can't for the life of me work out why they are doing so. It seems as if they have realised there is still profitability in film but they're not interested in the hobbyist and are instead focussing on the professionals.

I'm guessing this is a numbers game. It would be interesting to know just how many Super 8 users there are around the world and in the UK. I mean if we're only talking a couple of thousand Super 8 shooters globally you can see the logic.

Where does that leave us?

Well i'm determined to carry on! I've got a few rolls of 100d and Tri-X to shoot so i will send them to you to process if you're happy to do so.

While the Super 8 world finds its way i think you should focus on your tele-cine sevice. I for one have about 15 rolls to transfer and will be looking to do this over the coming months. You could also try to tap into the market for transferring people's old home movies as i think this seems to be reasonably lucrative and may help to finance your other services.

I also agree with James on the analogue shooting/digital editing workflow as being the way forward. I've shot plenty of still film with some of the prints being a bit underwhelming but they spring to life when scanned and edited on the computer. In actual fact much as i love projecting reversal film my ideal world would consist of being able to buy/shoot/process/transfer Super 8 in one easy package from single supplier.

Lomography seem to be making this work with still film and it's great to see how excited people have been about shooting real film, scanning it then sharing the pics on the web. Wouldn't it be great if this could happen with movie film?

I would just like to say Kev that you have made my hobby so much more enjoyable and above all easy to do and I really appreciate the effort you have put in. Of course you have to consider your own position and if things aren't viable we'll all understand………but

Hang in there!

Even if things look dark now and you have to take a bit of a break I have a feeling that Super 8 (and the other formats) will never completely die and that it could come back as a super cool product in the next year or so (like lomography and the boom in Vinyl Records)…..at least that's what I'm hoping.

All the best

Simon

6/2/2013 02:46:51 am

Thanks for that Simon, really appreciate it. I will of course be happy to process any films you have. It's a difficult time to be sure but I'll do my best to make it work! Telecine is coming as well in March so that will help out no doubt.

Best
Kevin