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A film format is defined by the position and size of 3 elements on the film base: picture, sprocket hole and sound track. Standard 8 and Super 8 are formats with the same width of film. And these 2 formats have one sprocket hole by picture. But the size of sprocket holes and picture are different. Standard 8 and M Format 8 have a same picture size, but the sproket hole is diferent. M Format has a sprocket hole less wide than Standard 8, because the optical sound track wider goes on the space between sprocket hole and the edge. Presentation of film format. In the thirties, Standard 8 was created from the 16 mm as a cheaper format. This format came in spools of 16 mm wide and 7.5 m long. The film was more sprocket holes than 16 mm film, twice the number of perforations. First, one side of the film was exposed. After, the other side. And in the laboratory, the film was cut down the centre and presented one roll of 8 mm wide film and 15 meters long. In the fourties, Universa Camera Co marketed the Univex cine camera that run with film of 8 mm wide and 9 meters long. This film was a Standard 8 format, but it went cut in rolls. This system was called "Straight 8" and, a few years after, "Single 8". Then the first presentation of Standard 8 in rolls of 16 mm wide was called "Double 8". In the sixties, Eastman Kodak launched a new format in 8 mm gauge, the Super 8, that was a evolution of Standard 8. This company also presented a Double Super 8, that was the format Super 8 presented as th Double 8 in spools of 16 mm wide. A year after, Fuji Photo Film launched a different Super 8 system called "Single 8". This system was a different presentation of the same format. Film was in a different cartridge, type cassete. And in 1977, the Polaroid company launch the Polaroid Polavision in a new cartridge, but the format was the same. 8 mm evolution. In 1932, Eastman Kodak
launched a new format, the "Cine-Kodak Eight". The format characteristics
were defined from 16 mm format. The company's idea
was to use the same equipment to produce and develop the film. Then the
movie would come out cheaper and it would have a greater number of consumers. This format has two
presentations: Double 8 and Single 8. There were also In 1955, Dimaphot company in France marketed the 16/8 Panoramique, a cine camera ready to shoot in two ways: the camera held vertically or horizontally. The vertical mode was to shoot in 16 mm format. And horizontal mode was to shoot in a new panoramic 8 format. The film gate was changed and reduced to expose only half 16mm film. The frame was twice the size of a standard 8 mm. Dimaphot called new format of widescreen as "Super-Huit". Nothing further was reported about the equipment used. In a print advertisement, it says that the projection requires a 16 mm projector (1). In 1961, John A Maurer proposed a 8 mm format. He was an engineer that worked primarily in the small format area, specially in 16 mm. This was Standard 8 modified to accommodate a quality sound track. He redesigned the format with smaller perforations, and he put a optical soundtrack wide between de sproket holes and the edge. The frame is a 16% bigger than Standard 8 frame, but lower Super 8. About 1965 (2), the Viewlex company, manufacturer of still and movie projectors, marketed a projector for the M Format (3). It was the only model for this format and was produced in a few units. About 1967, In Italy, a variant of the M Format was implemented. The San Paolo Film edited a catalog of movies in black and with optical sound. The frame was the same than the Standard 8, but the sprocket hole was more short. On the space between the perforation and edge, the sound track was more wide. Two projectors were made for this format and were made by two manufacturers of 16 mm equipment, by Fumeo and Microtecnica. In Italy, this format was called as "Emme" or "8 Mauer" (4). In 1965, Eastman Kodak launched a Super 8 format with 4 format presentations. And in 1966, in China, this format had a sequel: the 8.75 mm. The Ministry of Culture needed a lightweight equipment to bring the cinema to the remote regions. The rational use of film was that the chinese engineers divided the 35 mm film in 4 strips. In the early eighties, the chinese authorities stopped production in this format when the television became the predominant (5). Around 1965, the Kenner toys company marketed the Real Sound Movie Projector: "the movie projector that actually talks". The film is 11,5 mm wide: Standard 8 mm + 3.5 mm optical sound track. This format, created for toy cine projector, is another example of creative capacity (6). At the nineties, 16:9 format from the Super 8 was created by Beaulieu-Ritter. 9008 series was marketed with 2 models. |
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It's easy to see the differences between formats by the width of the film
base, called gauge. But when you have several film formats with the
same gauge, you need to have the clear concepts. We going to define 2
concepts: film
format and presentation of film format.
presentations of the
film in cartridge for Double 8 and Single 8. This format was marketed
competing with the 9.5 mm format, the first home format launched in 1923 by
Pathé Frères. The small frame of Standard 8 had a resolution poorer than 9,5
mm. But after the war, with the commercial power of its sponsors, the
Standard 8 was taken up by a wider public.