You cannot put sound directly on 8mm film. Super 8 Sound film stock has a magnetic sound stripe. You simply record the sound as you are shooting. Or even add sound later if you have the proper projector.

My suggestion is to transfer your film to digital video, transfer that to your hard drive and add sound in your editing program.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

That's about what I figured. We (I'm the friend) should still record dialogue simultaneously shouldn't we? The tone and the sync will be more genuine, right?

oh, BTW, my camera is a kodak super 8 "Instamatic M18 movie outfit"

Note that you won't get sync sound with super-8 unless you have an expensive camera. Cheap cameras are loud and the speed varies so the sound will likely get out of sync fast.

The Instamatic M18 isn?t a sync camera. You cannot record sound on a seperate machine and maintain sync so don?t waste film by recording a clapper.

My original advice still stands. Go ahead and record sound as you shoot. Then transfer everything to DV. You?ll have to sync by eye. It?ll be very time consuming, but it CAN be done.

How about doing a one reel test?

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

I should just invest in better equipment before shooting anything "decent", shouldn't I? I got this one for about $15 including shipping on ebay. I didn't want to spend alot on equipment before I had the slightest clue what I was doing.

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"He's a twitcher. TV says we gotta shoot'em in the head."

Well, Robert Rodriguez made 'El Mariachi' with a non-sync 16mm camera and a cassette recorder, so it can be done: but it helps a lot if you're shooting in a foreign language so people won't notice if the words don't quite sync to the lips :).

Alternatively, shoot non-dialog movies. If you can tell a story well with no dialog, then you'll only do better when you can add words where they're required. Most shorts I see fail in a large part because they have far, far more dialog than they should... I've cut ten minutes of unneccesary dialog out of thirty-minute movies before.

Yeah I figured a non-dialogue would be the easiest, plus I could claim I did it for "artistic" reasons. This one we're workin on might even be better without dialogue (plus I was drawing a blank). We're doing a horror/suspense short, heavy on the gore.

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"He's a twitcher. TV says we gotta shoot'em in the head."

With the camera I have, and a no dialogue format, can I make a film that won't immediately be dismissed as garbage? Can it be done?

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"He's a twitcher. TV says we gotta shoot'em in the head."

The camera has very little to do with filmmaking.

A poor filmmaker with a bad script, no talent and a cast of non actors will most likely make a bad film even with a top of the line Panavision camera.

I?ve seen some pretty terrible films made with great equipment.

quote:

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can I make a film that won't immediately be dismissed as garbage?

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I don?t know. I seriously wonder if there is anyone on this messageboard who knows if YOU can make a film that won't immediately be dismissed as garbage.

My question is: Do you have the talent to rise to the challenge your camera limitations present?

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

quote:

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Originally posted by certified instigator

quote:

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can I make a film that won't immediately be dismissed as garbage?

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I don?t know. I seriously wonder if there is anyone on this messageboard who knows if YOU can make a film that won't immediately be dismissed as garbage.

My question is: Do you have the talent to rise to the challenge your camera limitations present?

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I am fully aware that no one here can attest to MY abilities, I was asking about the camera, and if it's capable of doing anything decent. I'm not in this to make crap I burden my friends with at parties. If I'm wasting my time with this particular camera, I want to know.

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"He's a twitcher. TV says we gotta shoot'em in the head."

Well the filme wont be able to be projected on 70ft high screens but short of that, anythings possible. Sometimes granyness is a good thing depending on your subject matter.

Make Love Not War!