Film Ahoy!

I got my camera two weeks ago and it's a real beaut. Everything seems to work fine. I got some discounted film from Kodak because they offer a sweet student discount on their website. Ektachrome 64T is the only color Super 8mm film still in production by Kodak. I got two cartridges because the shipping was too much to justify just buying one. So much for a discount when the shipping is $12 flat rate.

Last Thursday, while Tick was in Liberty, Indiana for the evening, I humped the camera to class and spent my sweet time wandering back, looking for cool things to shoot. With my new Johnny Depp sunglasses and the Super 8 in hand I felt very artsy. I headed up the slant walk looking for squirrels (apparently squirrels is a hard word to spell). I figured I could get pretty close to one, since Oxford is the Squirrel Capitol of Southwest Ohio. Go ahead, look it up...

Some of you might say, "I did look it up and that's wrong," but that's because you looked it up in a book. Next time, try looking it up in your heart.

So I'm crouched down in the grass behind a bench, zeroing in on this particularly interesting squirrel, who's hopping around and digging and all of a sudden his head snaps up and he stares right into my soul. I swear he squinted at me. It made me really uncomfortable, like he knew I was filming him, and did not intend to sign any release forms.

On my way home I had the camera on the tripod, thrown up over my shoulder, enjoying the day and thinking about how cool I must look with this neat camera. I came by the library and passed a girl who was holding what appeared to be a Grade-A digital camcorder, strap around her neck, headphones plugged in to monitor sound, a big old microphone sticking off the front and over each shoulder she had a nice, big digital SLR camera. I thought we might exchange a "hey, nice camera" look, but she didn't notice me. So much for feeling like the coolest kid on campus.

Today I finished off the last 20 feet of film in Liberty, where I went to help Sam finish up her project with one of the high school students. This is the project in the creepy, abandoned opera house, which is even stranger in person. Hopefully the film turns out and I'll be able to post a quick tour.

I'm not sure if I'll send off the cartridge to have it developed, or wait until I film the other one. I'd kind of like to just develop one in case the camera doesn't work and nothing shows up. No sense in possibly ruining two. Of course this whole Super 8 thing is by no means a practical way to shoot, but it really is fun. I'll have to come up with a script for the next cartridge, rather than just shooting squirrels and creepy buildings.

Hmmm, maybe squirrels in creepy buildings.