[MacDV] Re: History of 8mm (Pt. 2 of 2)

[Danny Grizzle]

On 12/13/02 11:45 AM, "David Drumheller" <david at dcdrumheller.net> wrote:

> Thank you for your account of some of the history of the 8mm movie formats.

Thanks for all the nice comments, and apologies for tons of errors &
misspellings. I certainly didn't do full fact checking, editing, or freshen
up my research. These posts were intended as orientation, not a
comprehensive history.

Anybody really interested in Super 8 should try to obtain the books written
by Lenny Lipton. His "Super Eight Book" is excellent both for format
specifics and historical background.

"Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema" is also outstanding. Lipton had a
special interest in stereo movies, and the opportunity presented by Super 8
to do outstand work, owing to the fact that two small cameras could be
operated together at near the correct intra-ocular distance, something that
was impractical and cumbersome with Hollywood-produced 35mm 3D movies.

Both of these books are very sold on the human physical basis which
underlies perception of motion. I've never seen anything better. Super 8 is
dated, but the human body has not changed. For this alone, these books are
as good and useful as ever.

Amazon has a service to obtain used books. Right now, both these titles are
out of print, with Amazon listing them at $53.97 for the Super Eight Book,
and $80.00 for the Stereoscopic Cinema.

Every year or two, some Hollywood feature pulls some wild special effect out
of the hat and amazes everyone. One example: The Matrix. Most of this stuff
is nearly old hat, only jazzed up by capabilities of computers. I bet the
two Lipton titles above are prized possessions of most special effects
wizards in the industry, because they lay a real foundation. As such, I
think they would benefit people today interested in 3D modeling, even if
they are just working on common 2D motion graphics.

"Out of Print" is a term of the past in publishing. Anymore, many titles are
print on demand. It is a shame that the Lenny Lipton books are out of print.
Out of print status, anymore, is more an issue of ownership and copyright
than anything else. You would think that Lenny Lipton, if he is still
around, would have no problem making these works available via a print on
demand publisher, unless there are entanglements with a publishing contract
that predates modern technology.

BTW - I served several years as a SMPTE Officer. Each year, SMPTE publishes
a membership directory, and Lenny Lipton's name was always there. My
membership lapsed in a computer snafu at SMPTE, and I've never re-upped, but
any current SMPTE members on the list might check their most recent
directory, and see if there is contact info on Lipton.

The other odd-ball writer who is fun to read is Mark Schubin in Videography.
His articles tend towards free-association of engineering facts, something
like the PBS series "Connections" peppered with obscure & esoteric
historical footnotes. I like to read his stuff, and sometimes understand it.

Lenny Lipton's writing style is very clear, easy to approach for beginners,
and fast moving. Besides his work writing about filmmaking, he is also known
for writing the song, "Puff the Magic Dragon" -- either a child's fairy tale
or a anthem to dope smoking, whichever way you want to look at it. You would
never associate the author of such fantasy lyrics with the author of first
rate filmmaking books with factual basis to satisfy any engineer, but it is
one and the same man.

Danny Grizzle