Archive for March, 2010
Why Cult Films Are Called So
‘Cult films’ have become a specific category of films. When a filmmaker makes a film, s/he is not always sure of the fate of the film at the box office. Most importantly, no film-maker makes a film with the intention of making it a cult film. And after the initial release of the film they do not even release for quite some time that it may turn out to be a cult film. This may sound a bit confusing. Let us first understand the meaning of the term cult.
The word ‘cult’ has many different meanings. Here, the word means something that has become very popular with a group of people. So, cult films are those films that are liked by a group of people for a very long time to come. The fan base of specific cult films may keep on increasing with the coming of new generations and these films keep gathering publicity through word of mouth, DVD rentals and some other mediums. These are also talked about in the media quite often for their particular characteristics, not good ones though which these films hardly have.
In fact, cult films achieve popularity for very different reasons that include poor quality of these films that people find hard to resist. They may watch it over and over again for poor acting, incompetent direction and production, bad dialogues and campy special effects of the movie. These factors influence some viewers mind in such a way that they start liking the film for being outrageously bad in almost every aspect. The actors who play important characters in cult films also generally become cult figures and have tough time dealing with the films publicity that does not go down well with many others.
Typically, cult films fail to generate any heat at the ticket window when these are initially released. However, some people find their critical reviews very interesting and become devoted fans of these films. This way cult films, although bad in performance, start getting undue attention. In fact, many times cult films stay in the minds of people much longer than major blockbusters. Also, through continued DVD rental and sales cult films generate a lot of money later on. Due to this, cult films are said to have legs.
How Do I Transfer My 8mm Film To DVD
For most people, time, skills and/or equipment are the issues which cause them to search out a company that can do it for them. Before you do that, you need to understand what type of 8mm film to DVD processes there are and which one best fits your needs and budget. Before we jump into the different 8mm film to DVD processes, let’s go over some basics. Video has several characteristics that determine how good it is. One of the most important characteristics is the number of lines of resolution. The resolution determines how detailed and sharp the video is. If you’ve ever watched a standard definition video channel on an HDTV and then switched to the HD version, you notice that the HD version is much sharper and detailed. The reason is that standard definition video has 480 horizontal lines while HD has 1080 lines.
In a similar way, your old 8mm movie films have a maximum resolution. The maximum resolution for an 8mm film to DVD transfer is limited by the film grain size and the size of the frame. Research has shown that 8mm film has the equivalent of 700 lines of horizontal resolution. So, a standard definition 8mm film to DVD transfer will only be able to capture 480 out of the 700 lines of resolution on your film. A high definition 8mm film transfer will be able to capture all 700 lines of resolution on your 8mm film since it is a 1080 line video format. In addition to resolution, the type of film transfer is equally important to the final video quality you receive from your 8mm film to DVD transfer. There are a few basic types of 8mm film to DVD transfer processes. More than 98% of the companies out there today use a real-time transfer. That is, they capture the film at the same speed that the film normally runs at. So, if a 3 inch reel runs in 3.5 minutes, the capture takes just 3.5 minutes. There are several ways to perform a real-time 8mm film to DVD transfer.