NYFW on Super 8

Released: June 2023

My annual pilgrimage to New York Fashion Week continued in September of 2022. I brought an 8mm Bolex and a Nizo Super 8 camera. The Bolex footage didn’t turn out that good but the Nizo footage was fun so I put together this little film.

I shot this with a Nizo S8T from 1966 using Kodak Vision 3 500T film. Most of the scenes were taken outside the Tommy Hilfiger show held near the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn. It was pouring rain that day and pretty dark so I was convinced nothing would turn out. I was pleasantly surprised.

• Scanned & Developed by: Niagara Custom Lab

• Music: Need You Tonight by INXS

• Camera: Braun NIZO S8T Super 8 Camera ( 1966 )

Toronto on Super 8

Released: May 2023

In October of 2022 I shot a bunch of random footage on the streets of Toronto using a Minolta XL401 Super 8 camera with Kodak 50D film. I wanted to try and capture moments along Queen Street West.

When I got the footage back I played it over and over again looking at what needed to be cut. Once I narrowed it down to the best scenes, I started looking for a song to match the footage too. I enjoy these little projects. Shooting film is lots of fun.

• Scanned & Developed by: Niagara Custom Lab

• Music: West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys

• Camera: Minolta XL401 Super 8 Camera (1978)

New York on 8mm

Released: December 2021

In September of 2021 I returned to New York City to shoot street style during New York Fashion Week. This time I brought along my vintage 8mm camera from 1937. This wasn’t the first time I tried shooting 8mm in New York. Back in September of 2019, before the pandemic hit, I tried shooting footage using a Bolex P3 Zoom Reflex from 1964. Unfortunately all that footage was unviewable due to a mechanical error. Standard 8mm is not the same as Super 8. It predates Super 8 by 30+ years. No light meter, no auto focus. I use a lightmeter app to calculate the proper f-stop to match the film speed I’m using. This film was shot at 24fps, but I think the speed is actually a little faster than the camera is indicating. Many of the scenes appear to be in slow motion.

About the Camera

This Bell & Howell 8mm camera was released in 1937 according to this database by Collectiblend.com. I purchased this camera along with various other film material including home movies from the 1950’s. This camera uses 8mm film, a format that was released by Kodak in 1932. They stopped producing 8mm film in the 1990’s. If you are looking to get into 8mm film, I highly recommend checking out filmphotographyproject.com for more information.

Drone Footage

The first Drone, and probably my last, was the DJI Spark. This was before the Canadian government imposed strict flying rules in 2019. I haven’t used it since. I remember taking this drone everywhere in my backpack, always looking for an opportunity to fly. I even took it on a trip to Utah in 2018.

The two films listed above were recorded entirely on the DJI Spark. I edited the footage using Adobe Premiere and color graded the GE Tower footage to get a more stylized look.