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Info Wanted: Has anyone done a Super 8 preservation of Star Wars?

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Have there been any preservation projects of the Super 8 prints of ANH?

I have come across someone on another board who has a Super 8 print of A New Hope. Link to original thread at StarDestroyer.Net.

<div class=“PostQuote”><span class=“Italics”>Darth Fanboy wrote:</span>
My uncle’s father used to run a hotel that had old Super 8 movies, one day he was throwing out some old stuff of his and my aunt rescued a copy of Star Wars in the old Super 8 format. Film is in excellent condition and the box is in great shape also. I can’t find out much about what it is worth value wise but since I don’t plan on selling it it is a moot point. My brother was given the copy of the original Godzilla movie.</div>

I think it could be worth it to preserve these prints. If the print is in as good a condition as the OP says it is, we may have some high quality reference frames for other OoT projects.

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

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There have been several official releases of Star Wars on Super-8.
These editions are very short, either 4, 8 or 17 minutes long.
I think it is likely that the reel/s in question is one of these. These reels are not too rare.
The full film has also been transfered to 8 and 16 mm film on occasion, but these reels are very very rare.

However, I have heard that some shot in these short editions might be unique to Super-8, not available in any other format. If this is true, then that itself would make it worthy for preservation. Some fan-editor might want them.
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According to ToysRGus, here are the possible versions of SW in Super8 format:

Video and Film / Super 8
A New Hope
Ken Films
___ SW Super 8 Film--B&W
___ SW Super 8 Film--Color, Silent
___ SW Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 17 Minutes
___ SW Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 17 Minutes, Spanish Language
___ SW Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 4 Minutes
___ SW Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 8 Minutes
___ SW Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 8 Minutes, Spanish Language
Empire Strikes Back
Ken Films
___ ESB Super 8 Film Part 2--Color, Sound 17 Minutes
___ ESB Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 17 Minutes
___ ESB Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 17 Minutes, Spanish Language
___ ESB Super 8 Film--Color, Sound 4 Minutes

More info from: davisdvd.com
http://www.davisdvd.com/images/starwars/sw_super8_2.jpg

A New Hope
Release Format: Super 8
Release Date: 1977
Studio: Ken Films
Comments: These Super 8 reels featured selected scenes from the film
Other Comments: Available in five different versions: B&W/silent, color/silent, color/sound (100' - 4 min), color/sound (200' - 8 min), color/sound (400' - 17 min)

Empire Strikes Back
Release Format: Super 8
Release Date: 1980
Studio: Ken Films
Comments: These Super 8 reels featured selected scenes from the film
Other Comments: Available in four different versions: color/sound (100' - 4 min), color/sound (200' - 8 min), color/sound (400' - 17 min), color/sound (400' - 17 min part 2)


Even a miniDV cam of this thing would be interesting, imho. Would answer the question of how short you can make SW!
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I have a Ken Films Super 8 version of Star Wars (sound/color) and it seems to have a Star Wars trailer spliced onto the beginning. I don't have a projector to check it out on, but from what I can see from the frames, it appears to be the first "teaser" trailer - the one with the 'heartbeat', and 'coming you your galaxy next summer'. I thought it was kind of strange that the trailer was on there- I didn't know that trailers were made in the Super 8 format (unless the trailer was on all the Ken Films Super 8 reels, I don't know).

I also have a kid's toy, that's a hand-held 'projector' that you hold up to your eye. It has cartridges, each containing a bit of 8mm film with a different (brief) scene from Star Wars. You insert a cartridge, hold the viewer up to your eye, and turn the crank on the side....LOL.....the things we did before home video.

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I did actually get a a quote from a company willing to transfer the two ESB reels I have. It was a couple of hundred quid and so I decided not to do it at the time. But if we could get a fund together, maybe we could get this done.

What do you think?

JD

Creator of Star Wars Begins, Building Empire and Returning to Jedi
Follow me on twitter @jamieSWB. Please support me at - http://www.patreon.com/jamiebenning/

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Originally posted by: Jambe Davdar
I did actually get a a quote from a company willing to transfer the two ESB reels I have. It was a couple of hundred quid and so I decided not to do it at the time. But if we could get a fund together, maybe we could get this done.

What do you think?

JD
About a year or so ago, I had a place in Houston do a transfer to DVD of some 8mm family films I had plus a 16mm Jefferson Starship film which I believed at the time held the footage shot for the Holiday Special (it actually turned out to be a different, but still rare, video from 1976). Cost me something like $35 for about 9 reels of 8mm and $50 for the 16mm reel, plus a bit extra for the digital master I requested for the 16mm film. The results were cool, but were done in the semi-old-fashioned way of projecting the film and recording it (though on digital media), rather than scanning all the frames. While being quite watchable, it's pretty soft on the focus and has that "projected" kind of look. I think I'd like to look into doing the 8mm films later with the frames scanned in for a much better image. It will be much more expensive, I'm sure, but these family films are priceless and I'd like to have them in the best quality possible.

So I guess the question is, what kind of transfer are we talking about here for the Star Wars 8mm reels?

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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After Jambe revealed the audio variations on ESB for his Building Empire DVD it got me thinking "Why hasn't anyone done this yet?". It's a worthwhile project with some obvious flow on benefits. So i've tracked down some good condition Super 8 reels (two of Star Wars and two of Empire) and I'm currently in discussions with some companies now to get quotes on a decent transfer.

I have two reels of each movie, but they're all labelled pretty similar. Ken Films, Selected scenes, 17 minutes, Colour Sound, Super 8. The Star Wars have the codes F-64 and F48 on them, ESB F-63 and F-64. Does anyone know if they contain the same footage?

“I love Darth Editous and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” ~ADigitalMan

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I don't know the answer to that question.

But i will say that you should ensure that the companies are not just going to point a camcorder at the screen whilst the projector outputs the film. You will just end up with very flickery footage.

It would be far better to get the reels to a proper telecine company. But, alas, that costs.

JD

Creator of Star Wars Begins, Building Empire and Returning to Jedi
Follow me on twitter @jamieSWB. Please support me at - http://www.patreon.com/jamiebenning/

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Originally posted by: boba feta
After Jambe revealed the audio variations on ESB for his Building Empire DVD it got me thinking "Why hasn't anyone done this yet?". It's a worthwhile project with some obvious flow on benefits. So i've tracked down some good condition Super 8 reels (two of Star Wars and two of Empire) and I'm currently in discussions with some companies now to get quotes on a decent transfer.

I have two reels of each movie, but they're all labelled pretty similar. Ken Films, Selected scenes, 17 minutes, Colour Sound, Super 8. The Star Wars have the codes F-64 and F48 on them, ESB F-63 and F-64. Dows anyone know if they contain the smae footage?


I know that there were 2 different Ken Films Super-8 versions of ESB, each having different scenes (talking about the long versions- not the short). I think there were also 2 different versions of Star Wars.

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I would enjoy these just for pure nostalgia. Back in the 70's this was how we saw SW outside of the theater. This would bring back memories.
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A member of the Doom9 forums called rfmmars does this kinds of transfers for a living and he's pretty damn good at it. I can ask him if you guys want.