16mm VistaVision-style format

[John Savard]

I've seen this question asked before. Nobody seems to have heard
of this film format.
However, I very distinctly remember reading about such a format.
It was in a book from the 70s or 80s on independent film-making.

The purpose of the format was to allow shooting with image
quality near to that of 35mm film, while allowing the camera used
to be light and convenient - basically, the camera would be
the size of an ordinary 16mm camera, but the _lens_ would be
the size of a 35mm lens.
And in my source, it was noted that a very famous movie from
1978 was shot in that format.
Debbie does Dallas.

Someone else must also have seen this book!

John Savard

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by John Savard
I've seen this question asked before. Nobody seems to have heard
of this film format.
However, I very distinctly remember reading about such a format.
It was in a book from the 70s or 80s on independent film-making.
The purpose of the format was to allow shooting with image
quality near to that of 35mm film, while allowing the camera used
to be light and convenient - basically, the camera would be
the size of an ordinary 16mm camera, but the _lens_ would be
the size of a 35mm lens.
And in my source, it was noted that a very famous movie from
1978 was shot in that format.
Debbie does Dallas.

2-perf 16mm would be pretty problematic since you'd need a very different
camera mechanism. It wouldn't just be a matter of filing out the gate and
pull-down arrangement. Might be POSSIBLE to modify a camera with an
intermittent to do the job, but it would probably be more expensive than
modifying a 35mm for Techniscope, and would cost about the same amount in
raw stock costs.

I could see someone building a one-off camera just for fun, but it would
be a hobby project more than anything actually useful.

Debbie Does Dallas is in Academy ratio 35mm. Please use the 1:37 plate
when projecting.
--scott

[John Savard]

Post by Scott Dorsey
Debbie Does Dallas is in Academy ratio 35mm.

Yes, the prints sent to theaters were, and that's why they were shot
using this special format using 16mm stock instead of ordinary 16mm.

The cameras were manufactured to handle that film format, not modified
by a repairman - also, while most cheap 16mm cameras indeed use a
mechanism that would not be easy to modify in this way, some higher-quality
16mm cameras, or ones based on different designs, such as those made
behind the Iron Curtain, don't have the same issue, so I've read.

John Savard