Both in nice condition, classic British timelapse railway films from the 50s and 60s in Super 8:
London to Brighton at 500mph -
Lee
Is this the famous "London to Brighton in Four Minutes" (1955) which BBC TV used to show as an Interlude in the days before competition with ITV and constant hyping of upcoming shows? If so, it's also available (in low res) at
With one stop at Pudsey? I haven't seen this one, but I do remember Spike Milligan's "Edgware to Morden in 30 Seconds".
(East Finchley to Morden via Bank - 17.25 miles or 28 km - is one of the longest continuous rail tunnels in the world.)
It's not the same film, but it is obviously fairly similar! The introductory shots are different, and the trains visible from the cab aren't the same...and it stars a different driver. It uses the same techniques to fill the gaps as described on the website. I think it is slightly more recent, as there are some shots of production series 4-CEP units at the start, which were not common until about 1959, but then the main part of the film shows a steam-hauled train with blood and custard Mk 1s, less common after about
1956.
I quite fancy doing a railway timelapse film myself, actually. I work for LUL, and I'm tempted to see if I can get permission to do Finchley Road to Amersham at 2fps!
Lee
"Lee Osborne" wrote
John.
D'oh!
Marcus
16mm or S8? Remember to do some shots of the driver to cover the film changes!
Hopefully you don't have to hand-crank the camera! I assume you'd use digital video.
D&E Videos at
Oh no no no. I'm a real film man! Super 8 with a cable release....see the recent "Real Film" thread. None of that digital rubbish here, thank you very much!
Lee (photographic Luddite)
I've been using a Nalcom with intervalometer for timelapse. Very nice results. Now all I need is a cab ride!
'Film is made of silver - video is made of rust.'
Well - being chemically accurate - processing film removes the silver and tape used for digital video is generally evaporated metal particles (not rust).
But its a good old joke!
TM
LOL! I've got a clockwork Kodak single 8, circa 1950, that used to be my father-in-law's. It takes a 16mm film spool that you have to flip over half way through. Haven't used it in years - the film costs a fortune, that's if you can find it.
Look at it this way. Firstly, a Super 8mm frame contains four times the detail of a domestic-standard video frame. Next, if I wanted to duplicate the cine facilities I have: a variety of cameras for academy and 'scope, full editing facilities, big-screen projection; it would cost me about £5000. Good cine equipment is readily available, secondhand, very cheaply. The interest on the £4500 difference in equipment cost pays for all the film I use - and some new toys from time to time. Moreover, it ain't going to go obsolete every few years, the the films I take will have an archive life of around 100 years.
So, toss out the video gear, and come and join us!
Blow the dust off it and fire it up! Although the film is expensive, it is actually not that hard to get, and you will probably be blown away by the results. There are quite a lot of regular 8mm diehards out there, that swear by it and consider Super 8 to be a bastardised modern abomination!
Motion picture film is a joy to shoot, especially because it involves all the same techniques as shooting regular slide film in still cameras, something I was very familiar with before I started.
Lee
P.S. I'm glad this thread is growing! My auction proceeds will go towards fresh film to shoot my own movies, so it's all for a good cause...bid now!
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