So now it’s over. I’ve just sat through one masterpiece, four commentaries, two documentaries and seven featurettes. I’m Kubrick-saturated, but feeling strangely unsatiated. Surely, it’s the same movie I’ve always worshipped. And surely all those slick “extras” and refined visual enhancements have added something to my Strangelove experience – right? Still, as I lie here surrounded by remotes and other digital knickknacks, a voice inside my head complains that the whole blam thing was just too easy. Everything was given to me on a silver plate at the touch of a button. All this “added value,” all this control has only given my MTV-fed brain another reason to go numb. I’m suddenly possessed to pull out my own 30-year-old 16mm print of Dr. Strangelove. Fifteen minutes later, the projector is on, the screen is down, the amp is revved up – and the film goes on again. But something’s different this time. This time it’s an event. Despite the fact that it’s 2 a.m., my brain is wide awake and sucking in the movie like it’s the last one I’ll ever see. Once the film starts running through the projector, I must abandon myself to the old analog rules: no casual pausing, rewinding, no enhancements or extras of any kind. It’s a thrilling sensation. Even though the projector is easier to operate than the DVD player, something about its exposed physicality prevents me from messing with the unspooling reels. The size of the screen, the incredible detail, the colors (or blacks and whites), the crackling soundtrack – all this makes for a profound viewing, one that jogs the brain into full attention. Don’t get me wrong, DVDs are great. They’re small, cheap and often mastered from the best available sources – in short, a dream come true for average viewers and archivists alike. Still, we film lovers often forget that the method of exhibition is as much a part of the filmmaking process as writing, directing and producing. And because we live in a society that values progress but doesn’t necessarily know how to define it, we simply assume that today’s method is the best. In fact, the changeover from one technological platform to another is usually more of a trade-off than a step up. In the case of transferring film to DVD, this trade involved letting go of the sensual, tactile, flickering experience of celluloid imperfection. Just as certain music aficionados forego CDs in favor of the warm pops of vinyl, a growing number of filmmakers are reaching back into the junk piles of “obsolete” 16mm in-home technology. Joe Dante and Tim Hunter both have extensive 16mm film collections, and Quentin Tarantino has recently built himself a full-blown home cinema complete with candy counter and uncomfortable seats. The lure of 16mm technology is decidedly not about convenience. It’s about rediscovering yesterday’s technology and loving it better the second time around. Sixteen-millimeter prints were originally manufactured for schools, embassies, government workers, the military, airline in-flight entertainment and a host of other outlets, as well as a small coterie of movie fanatics. The prints cost an arm and a leg back then, leaving only the wealthy to dabble in collecting them. The projectors were expensive too and frankly, the sheer logistics of setting up these systems frightened most people off. Sadly, even those meager days of glory were short-lived. The rampant use of VHS, DVD, Tivo and other new-fangled digital systems basically killed the in-home 16mm revolution before it could leave Hef’s bedroom. Today, for about 500 bucks you can kit yourself out with a real “home cinema” that will make your state-of the art DVD player and large-screen TV look pitifully soulless and overly manufactured. eBay is the place to start (www.ebay.com). You can pick up an Eiki SSL-0 16mm projector (my recommendation) in great condition for about $100-$150 (retail price used to be about $2,000!). Next, you’ll need a shorter lens for projecting a larger picture (the standard two-inch lens that comes with the projector will only give you about a four-foot picture at 15 feet; a one-inch lens will thus give you a picture around six feet by six feet and cost approximately $80). If you fancy showing Cinemascope movies (freely available on 16mm, too), you’ll need a scope lens, which can either be attached to your standard projection lens with an adapter or simply positioned in front of the lens with a small mount. Expect to pay around $75-$150 for one of these. Next you’ll need a screen. Try www.avmall.com. Here, 150 bucks will get you a brand new, six-foot-by-eight-foot “pull down” unit you can bolt to the ceiling. Hell, just use a clean matte-white wall. The results can still be excellent. A $10 hi-fi lead (mono quarter-inch jack to L+R stereo phono-plugs) will take the sound from your projector into your home hi-fi. Add a ground-loop insulator from Radio Shack (a small $20 unit which will remove any hum from the system) and you’re ready to rock ’n’ roll. Of course, you’ll need something to project and eBay is where you’ll find the prints, too. There are many other sources but this’ll give you a reasonable idea of the going price and general availability of a title. The average used print goes for around $75-150. Some are less (I recently found a good color scope print of Catch-22 for $45 and an excellent black-and-white original of Repulsion for $85), some are considerably more (a mint-condition IB-Technicolor print of Shane, for example, sold for $2,000). Ask the dealer some basic questions before you bid. Ideally, you’re looking for original prints (a print made from a clean negative, not a dupe) with good contrast and a clean soundtrack, with no major scratches or splices. The next thing to take into account is what stock the film has been printed on, especially if it’s color. LPP is a low-fade stock, which keeps its color pretty well. Eastman has a tendency to fade over the years until only the pink is left; IB-Technicolor is a dye process, which retains the original color indefinitely (plus you’ll never see colors like it anywhere else). For more detailed advice and information on all this and much more, try logging on to www.16mmfilms.com. It’s free and the site’s search facility will usually turn up an answer to any question you have. Nothing from the shelves of any of today’s high-end consumer media outlets can capture the unmatchable thrill of watching a favorite B-movie in 16mm. Even if it is a bit pink and scratchy, you’ll be hard pressed to say that you enjoyed it any less than your pristine anamorphic DVD copy. You’ll be too lost in the moment, mesmerized by the rapid passing of frames projected on a sheet in the back garden with a bunch of friends.
CHART’S DO-IT-YOURSELF HOME CINEMA
Eiki SSL-0 16mm Projector $100-150. One-inch Lens $80. Scope Lens $75-150. 6’ x 8’ Projection Screen $150. Hi-fi Lead $10. Grand Loop Insulator $20. 16mm Film Print $75-150./per
SITES TO VISIT www.eBay.com www.avmall.com www.16mmfilms.com
Paul Chart wrote and directed the highly original, black-comic thriller American Perfekt. His psychological horror script, The Reincarnation of Martin Gregory, will be released in theatres this December.
