Here’s a teaser for a wedding film that I’ve been working on over the past month, filmed partially on super 8 mm. It was such a fantastic and fun experience documenting this incredible day for Jessie and Scott, and this entire project has been quite a journey (and learning experience). I decided to hire a third cinematographer to film on super 8 mm, which was shot on an old camera and we had no idea how it would perform. Fortunately, the footage turned out great and the super 8 mm adds quite a nice, unique touch to the rest of the film. We were actually filming another job last week with the same 8 mm camera and it broke :[. Be sure to always have a back up on hand when shooting on old film cameras. It’s really great to be shooting on film again and I can’t wait to get my hands on a 70 mm camera and some 70 mm film one of these days!

The venue, Longhouse Reserve, a remarkable sculpture garden and museum in East Hampton, NY only hosts one wedding a year so I’m happy I got to be a part of it.

A total of 5 cameras were used to film this project: Bauer Super 8 mm camera, Canon 5D mark II, 5D mark III, Nikon D800, and the GoPro HD Hero. I also used the Manfrotto Video Fluid Head monopod and absolutely loved it. That thing is an absolute workhorse/necessity for documentary shooting on long days, especially if you need to shoot down from up above. I highly recommend it. I also used the Zeiss 85 mm f1.4 lens for the first time and wasn’t a huge fan of the focusing ring. It took a lot of turning to pull focus with that lens and probably will only use it when shooting in more of a controlled environment. My favorite lens that I used on this project is the Canon 100 mm 2.8L macro lens, and it’s by far the sharpest lens I’ve used. It also has image stabilizer which really makes a difference when shooting film on DSLR cameras. The downside to this lens is that a focal length of 100 mm is very limiting and not very versatile for documentary work. 

Enough geeking out for now. I hope you like what you see so far.

PS This film has been a collaborative effort and would not be possible without the hard work of my dedicated team. It’s all about collaboration!

Additional cinematography by Gates Bradley

8 mm film and time lapse photography by Adrian Totolici

Special thanks to Ira Lippke Studios

Here are some still images by Ira Lippke and Jason Walker for Ira Lippke Studios: http://iralippkestudios.com/blog/jessie-scotts-wedding-in-east-hampton/