CineMagic #08 (1980)

Award·wlnnlng filmmaker Blade Galentine deacrlbes his lateat animation epic now In production In this month's "Producer'a Bulletin BOIIrd ... Blade won Firat Prize in laat year's contest In the 8mm Horror / Fantasy division for GodzUr.'s Interulew.

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ClrfE/ltAGlC proffles Animators Paul Vltoua and MlIr.e Aatonucclln this Issue. Their fllm. ne Fantoclnnl FDUles. won the award for Best Film of the Y_r at the School of Visual ArU In New York City. The film alao received a special citation for anImatioD. At leftla a behind · the ·scenes look at ODe of the miniature _u that .... con· .tructed for the m.. Latex cbafllcte.-. play the leading rolea In FoUl... . The ex-tn.. are made of d.y. The _t Is of New York City'. famous Times Square area. The camefll I. seen here mounted on a .peclally constructed motion · control device Ylt __ .nd An · tonuccl made ao they could track through the set as they anlrnated the characters. Story beglns on p.ge 23.

Ray Harryhausen, long famoua for bntasy films (Jason and the Argonauts, Se"enth Voyage olSln· bad, etc.). dlscus.es the problema of atop· motion and fantasy film · making with a apeclal preview peek at his newest fUm. Clash DI the Titans. At right: Harryhaullen expl.lns the detailing of the ..Medu .... aculpture.

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CONTENTS Number 8

Editor's Bench _ _ Presto: Fllm to Video Transfers! _

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Producers' Bulletin Board

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Clash of the Titans: Preview _

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need to drag Qut and screen, rearrange the i i room furniture or dim the

lights-have your fantasy film

Ray Ha rryhausen describes the animation problems in his next feature film.

transfered to video tape for playback on your living room TV. By Don Dahler. Latest news of our readers' productions.

FUmmakers'1 2 F oru::m:.::;;;;;;;;;;; Beyond the Corner Drugstore

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A look at some or the "professional "

lab services available to the Super-S user.

By James Caldwell.

Books _

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Books for fi lmmakers-valuable sources of information and tech· niques for the filmmaker.

Cinemagic Marketplace _ __

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Classified advertising and

2 3 announcements. ProfUe;.:::;;; Close-up _ 3 4 A regular department devoted to readers' comments and correspondence about fantasy filmmaking.

Going Backwards'14 Made Easy Create your own "bionic" leaps and special effects by filming the action bac kwards. By Kirk Brady.

Paul Vitous and Mike Antonucci . animators on the move, describe the creation of their awardwinning film The Fantocinni Follies. By John Clayton.

Simple techniques for producing realistic lacerations and knife cuts that look disgusting ly true·to·life. By Kevin Shinnick .

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.(j}.'I4E:!# ...............

Editor's

B_EN_C_H _ __

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O'Q(JINN STUDIOS, INC. 475 Perk Avenue South

New York, New York 10016

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Norman Jacobs/Kerry Q'Qulnn

LAST CHANCE ••• ••• to enter the CINEMAGIC / SVA Short Film Search-1980!

Aa80cIde ............: Rita Eisenstein

E4. l'osUMs\cr. SendfOl'm 3!l79100r;EMA0fC. po. eo.. 142. Mt. """,1o.1l.610!iwingwOl Jldn·' beablelotcll if the original film wa~ Super·B or 16mm! With the unfortunate stigma attached to Super-B, in terms of what is accepted as "professionaL·' the videotape route can reatly open some doors for budding special ·effects aces. Even if you don·t own a cassette deck. or can't alford to buy one (the price for a deck ranges between $650 to $1200. depending on where you buy it and the model), you can have your films transferred, even if it's for profe ssional reasons only (to use as a resume of your abilities. as rve cited). 1\ friend, or ellen a loca l lab or video operation, will more than likely let you view the cassette transfer once. to check for quality, Once you know you have a good copy. you're free 10 send it to prospective employers. or friends, around the coun try. Of course, owning a cassette deck is desirable and offers a lot beyond just being able to see your own Super·a films on TV. It's a terrific medium for sludying films of a particular director, or speclal ·effects perwn-ifs quick and easy to look at a portion of tape over and oller and you generally start seeing things in a film you never knew were there. This can be particularly true of your own films: A flawed scene can elude you during normal projection; but watching the same

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Leftl Q ... allty Film ~ba' aet-up for 16mm upe tranafers. Owner Pete Garey focuses projector whUe .Jeff Roy(e monitors Sony 1640 (amera In this aerial Image set-up. Above: The Sony 1640 (amers.

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scene many times in a row will reveal the flaws to you, even more so than on an editing viewer, which is usuaJJy being hand·cranked. True projection speed is the best way to view a particular scene or sequence and with video, this is possible.

Getting the Transfer Done Although I was aware that certain outfits around the country did Super·8 to tape transfers, I became sparked by the idea through the advertising campaigns of the Fotomat Corporation. With double·page

ads in such magazines as Videopiay and the local 7VGuide, Fotomat depicts a pile of Super·8 movie reels with the words "How to get all of this ..... and then a photo of a llz·inch cassette and the words " Into this." They make it sound so easy, and they offer quality and results better than your original movies. Good. I check· ed off Fotomat as the first place to have a transfer done. My second source tor transters was right in my own backyard (Baltimore). Quality Film Labs, the only full·service

film laboratory in Baltimore, is a small, friendly operation run by owner Pete Garey. Pete has a small staff of assistants who are attentive, courteous and knowledgeable. [ had been dealing with Quality for several years in film, but they had only recently installed a full line of video equipment (both for Super·B, 16mm and slides). Was the video service of the lab as good as the film senilce? I would find out. Check off the second place for a transfer. At first, I thought a comparison of

Left: Jeff Royce monlton • traDafer at the Sony ~/.o· lncb tal"! deck. Beblnd bl. b.nd I. lbe Pana.omc '!:o ·lnc.b tape deck. 10 tbe backgrou.nd. Pete Qarey adJu.t.. the Sony 1640 col· or camera. Below: Pete Qarey. ow_r of Quality FUm Laba In BalUmore •. th....d. up. 16mm fUm for videotape tranafer. Tbe projector baa a .peclal flve · blade .butter and .yn· cbronou. motor to ellml· nate "ban"ln the taped Image. The device In front of the came... I. a mu.lti· plexer. wblcb take. the Image from the projector and _ad. It Into the eam· era. A piece of ground g .... ln the multiplexer I. a m_n. of common focus for both the camera and the projector. When the ground gl..... removed the _rtallmage from the projector I. picked up by the camera.

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Fotomat service and transfers with Quality's service and transfers would be suffi· cient for this artide. Then a friend of mine was in town from New Jersey and informed me th(!t Sony also offered Super·S to

video transfers. Under the name SIT Vi· deoc2lssette Duplicating Corp., Sony's facilities wete in Jersey, near my friend. Terrific. I gave him oneofmyfilrnstotake ~k

tnlhp01'lrdpnSIi'lIf'I'lndhlm IntoSfT

for II transfer. Check off the third transfer

source. 8ubmitUng Your FUma Of course, my friend from New Jersey

made my submission to SIT easy. Bull handled the submissions to Fotomat and Quality Film Labs. Here is a blow·by·blow of submlWng the films and receiving the

completed video cassettes.

Fotom.t As I said, Fotomat's advertising makes the transfer process sound simple. And I expected it to be simple. But It turned into a nightrnllre, beginning on a Monday. I went to my closest Fotomat booth and told the girl I'd like to submit two films for video trllnsfer (for your reference, these two movies were Mr. Clay, a B&W Slngle·8 sound film running at 18 fps, and Horrors {rom theld a color, Super·Bspoof at 1B fps). The girl looked at me rather strllngely and finally said that she waSll't aware what I meant. 'The tape transfers you do!"I in· sisted. She still didn't know what I meant, and begged off by saying that she was "new" at the booth, being on the job only a month. I asked if they trained her and she said, " Yes. but iI's hard to keep track of all the services they oner." She suggested that I try al'lOther booth down the road. I ventured "down the road" (a five·mile drive), a little irritated, to the nellt closest Fotomat booth. Again, [ got the same story from the Fotomate (what Fotomat calls their female booth employees~ I was really aggravated at this point. and zoomed back home. I grabbed one of the TV Guide ads for the Fotomat transfers and called a toll·free number which they offer concerning the transfers. A very pleasant and courteous young woman took my call and apologized for my bum ellperience at the two booths. She also copped an excuse for " how new" the whole Super·B to video process was and how iI's caused some "confusion. " I didn't buy this for a second, since I had been see· ing the Fotomat ads for almost a year. At any rate. the girl on the toll·free line told me to go back to the booth lII"Id reo quest a "video transfer kif' which, she said, had all necessary information and forms for submitting films for trllnsfer. Bright and early on T uesdtly I ventured back to Fotomat booth -2 (choosing to bypass booth -\ and the one·month em· ployee altogether). I pulled in and requested the video transfer kit. The girl suddenly knew what I was talking about,

but she didn't have anyofthe kits in stock. She said she could have one within two days, or I could try another booth. My col· lar was smoldering a bit at this point, but I grinned sarcastically and drove to yet another Fotomat booth (another several miles of driving, mind you). This booth had one kit in stock, which the girl handed me. She told me t hat I'd find the order form Inside the kit: that I should rill it out and bring it back with my movies. I said, "Noway-1'Il fill ltout right here and now, if you don't mind." But I couldn·t. There was no order form inside this particular kit! (Expletive deleted!!!) The girl apologized and informed me that she would have an order form for me the first thing the nellt morning. I grumbled that this was being done for a national magazine article and that my Fotomat ex· perience was becoming more and more frustrating, but the Fotomatewasn't fazed. On Wednesday morning [finally got my handson the promise