Film Underground, Exposed
Filmmaker Renée Lynn Reizman went to One Take Super 8 with a three-minute film and no expectations. She left with a new appreciation for Syracuse's art community.
We arrived early at the abandoned storefront on Warren St. to set up the electronic music for my film. I expected a dilapidated building — the Facebook event called it "a vacant storefront downtown" — but found a pop-up theater instead. Between rows of fold-up chairs, two old projectors whirred as they warmed up, the white glow illuminating the otherwise darkened room. A volunteer already manned the snack bar, and he stuffed popcorn into bags and poured hot cheese onto nachos while we set up our equipment. My musician and I plugged in the microphone and sampler while I checked my watch: One hour remained until show time. There was still so much more to do.
The annual One Take Super 8 Event is sponsored by Syracuse Experimental, a group of people within the Syracuse community who dedicate themselves to the promotion and creation of film in experimental formats. Now in its fifth year and open to anyone in the Syracuse community, One Take Super 8 allows aspiring filmmakers to borrow an old-school Super 8 camera and make a short film, usually around three and a half minutes long. The catch is that the filmmakers can neither edit nor view their films before the screening, so every piece shown surprises both the audience and the creators.
Like many of this year's 26 participants, I was a newcomer to the event. I never used a Super 8 camera before, but after a quick workshop
Each filmmaker drew from different inspirations, some of them quite abstract. The experimental rendering
Equally wonderful, if far more fantastical, was Marguerite Mitchell's film Escape. In it, a young boy gets lost in a book and finds himself battling an evil wizard to win the heart of a princess. The vibrant colors and tight
In some ways, that cycle could operate as a metaphor for the event itself, or at least my experience of it. At One Take Super 8, I found myself in an artistic community that I never heard of before that night. During intermission, groups of people wandered around, drifting from small clusters of conversation to congratulate each other and buzz about upcoming art events. Everyone seemed to recognize each
But if all goes according to plan, Syracuse Experimental will host another One Take Super 8 Event next year. That means that more novice filmmakers will come set up early, share their inspiration, and take up the fantastic cycle.
