Low-tech, still Super
Greek artists found their divine inspiration in the muses. Norwood Cheek, 35, of Silver Lake drew inspiration for his filmmaking career from a less ethereal source: a remake of “Rocky†his cousin shot on Super 8 that he saw when he was 15. To view the film, Cheek and his extended family crowded into a basement and watched as the neighborhood kid playing Rocky chugged a giant glass of raw eggs before pummeling his opponent in a makeshift backyard boxing ring.
“It was the first time I’d ever seen somebody that was my age make something that wasn’t a home movie,†Cheek says. “All I talked about from that point on was that I wanted a Super 8 camera.â€
He got a camera for Christmas that year and from those low-tech beginnings went on to build a successful career as a music video director. Of the more than 60 videos he has directed for bands such as Superchunk, Ben Folds Five and Soul Coughing, more than half have been shot on Super 8.
On Tuesday, Cheek, director of the Los Angeles Flicker Film Festival, will bring the second annual installment of Flicker’s Attack of the 50 Foot Reels event to the Egyptian in Hollywood. Each of the featured films has been shot on a single 50-foot reel of Super 8 that was edited in-camera, then handed over to Flicker for processing. The screening will be the first time anyone will see the finished films, including the filmmakers, who were selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
In 1994, Cheek started the Flicker festival in Chapel Hill, N.C., a bimonthly event that showcased short films shot on Super 8 and 16 millimeter. In addition to showcasing the work of aspiring filmmakers, Cheek hoped to promote Super 8 filmmaking and encourage people to discover the simple joys of shooting on it -- such as easy-to-use thrift store cameras, in-camera editing, and the lack of a need for lighting or film crews. Plus, the films are easy to project.
In 1997, Cheek moved to L.A. and brought the Flicker festival to Spaceland in Silver Lake, where it has taken place more or less bimonthly ever since.
Two years ago, a film student Cheek schooled in Super 8 in North Carolina held a Super 8-only event and billed it the Attack of the 50 Foot Reels. A second, spinoff festival was born.
Chris Wagganer is a past Flicker participant whose work will appear in the upcoming Attack. “I was one of those teenagers who shot Super 8 movies in high school, and I’d kind of lost touch with that as I got into video in my late teens and 20s,†he says. “I’d kind of forgotten about Super 8 until I met Norwood and learned about Flicker.â€
Cheek gives away rolls of Super 8 film to the filmmakers at every event and edits a sourcebook-zine, the Flicker Guide to the World of Super 8. Satellite Flicker festivals spawned from the original now take place bimonthly in Chapel Hill; Richmond, Va.; New York City; Austin, Texas; and New Orleans. Twenty Flicker screenings have taken place in L.A., and more than 200 have happened nationally and abroad.
“The Attack has made something simple even more simple,†says Lowell Northrop, an independent filmmaker also taking part in the upcoming Attack. “If you can get your hands on a Super 8 camera, there’s no excuse for why you can’t do the Attack.â€
In 2001, Cheek held his own Attack of the 50 Foot Reels in L.A. It featured work by filmmakers ranging from hobbyists to film students to Hollywood players such as Peyton Reed, director of “Bring It On,†and John Schultz, director of “Drive Me Crazy†and “Like Mike.†Some filmmakers provided CDs with dialogue and music for their films, while others had actors add live narration or voice-overs.
Reed’s film “Wendy†was about a man spending the day with his girlfriend -- who happens to be a puppet. Cheek’s film “Satisfaction Guaranteed†was both scripted in reverse and shot with the film reversed to present a disjointed experience of a man eating a meal backward.
In a technological irony, this year’s films have been transferred to video for the first time so they can be projected on the Egyptian’s big screen, but spreading the gospel of Super 8 remains the festival’s charge.
“Super 8 is the underdog,†Northrop says. “It’s disappearing ... I’m glad there’s somebody in this town who hasn’t bought into the idea that slicker is better.â€
*
Plan of ‘Attack’
What: Flicker Film Festival’s Attack of the 50 Foot Reels
When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Cost: $8.
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