Super8 Mini Pyro 1985

Experiment made in 1985 with a Super8 movie camera modified to run at over 10x normal speed (around 200fps) and a small breakaway model building (around 9" tall) made of balsa wood. Real black powder was used (in a tiny quantity!), and it was not constrained by any packing as I didn't want power, I wanted the visual effect of a ball of flame and a dense cloud of smoke. As you can see, I reassembled the model and filmed it exploding again.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• filmmaker
• reel
• experimental
• short
• film
• pyrotechnic
• sfx
• special
• effects
• miniature

[biffmercury]

I'd love to know how you modified a Super 8 camera to run at 200 frames per second. Nice looking stuff.

[McToddRidesAgain]

Basically, you need a crap Super-8 camera to start with! Mine is a Royal Super-8, a nasty fixed-lens job that was so cheap, it was actually thrown in free when I bought a projector twenty-odd years ago...

All I did was cut the side open where the motor was housed, and fit a somwhat more powerful motor with a gear of the right size to mesh with the main drive gear in the camera. Whereas the old motor ran off 6V (4 x 1.5V batteries), I run the replacement motor off a 9V transformer.

[Beandude202]

@Django5198 With an explosive :D

[Django5198]

That was really awesome! But how did you actually make the building explode?

[reticulan5]

I remember there was a scientific super 8 camera for sale to universities etc that could shoot 250 fps.

[plusplusplusplusp]

That looked really cool -- you should make some more if you get the chance.

[monnie110]

That came out great!

[bluworm]

Looks as good as any 20th century b-movie effects I've seen. I'm thinking about effects in the Republic serials, for instance. Good job!