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For the love of Super 8mm – big name directors first films on the shoestring medium

Matthew Cooper Director – For the love of Super 8mm – big name directors first films on the shoestring medium

My feature film debut as a director Markham featured a lot of super 8mm film, and I thought it would be nice to write a blogpost today, about super 8mm and its role in the careers of lots and lots of big name Hollywood directors.

The kids don’t know, but back in the day, directors starting out didn’t have mobile phones that record hi-def video or editing software that is pretty high spec (and often free). 

In-fact, directors starting out didn’t have phones or DSLRs and in most cases couldn’t even shoot on video because it was too expensive to buy the kit.

Matthew Cooper Director
Creative Director for hire

So, directors such as Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and Jim Cameron made films on Super 8mm.

Super 8mm was (and is again) a film stock; it was made by companies like Kodak and Agfa.  Super 8mm film was designed to be played back through a projector, on a big screen at home.  It was a very cut down, small format (often called shoelace or bootlace because it was so thin – 8mm- compared to 35mm film, the standard film format for Hollywood films at the time).  Super 8mm was designed as a format that could be used by amateurs to record vacations and holidays, or weddings and other family events.

Super 8mm film, came in a cartridge (sound or silent). The cartridge was an easy load design and manufacturers  all over the world made cameras that could shoot this film – from low spec point and shoot super 8 cameras- to very high spec semi-pro cameras.  

Once you’d shot the film, it was posted back to the company who processed it into a positive print and then returned it to the users – the processing times could be anything from 3 weeks or longer, from time to time, the film you’d shot could go missing in the mail, or even lost at the lab!   You were given a unique processing number for each roll of film.  In the unfortunate event that the film got lost – all you received was a free blank cartridge.

Each cartridge held about 50 metres of film, which shot at 18 frames per second, would last about 3 and a half minutes, shot on 24 frames per second the film would last just under three minutes.

Matthew Cooper Director
Matt Cooper Director

For all the faults of Super 8mm filmmaking, it was the best medium to learn the skills a director needs, from the 60s right up to the mid 90s lots and lots of directors and wannabe filmmakers shot on Super 8mm.  Gradually video and digital video got more affordable, and Super 8mm died temporarily – it’s back now, and available again form Kodak as part of the analogue resistance.  It’s now much more expensive and harder to get hold of, but its making a steady return (Kodak have even promised a new camera – but this has gone on for years, without a firm release date yet).

Many of the old Super8mm cameras are still in fine working order, and can be purchased on eBay.  Models by firms such as Bauer and Nizo can be quite pricey still – but a good Bell and Howell or Eumig model (from the 80s) are still affordable for most people.

Editing these days will be done on software – back in the day, if you wanted to edit your super 8mm film it was done by cutting and splicing the film by hand – frame by frame. A real skill that lots of young directors cut their teeth doing (me included).

So, here’s a fun thing – a few big name directors’ Super 8mm productions are available online to see.

Let’s start with James Cameron – his short ‘Xenogenesis’ shot on Super 8mm and made in 1978:

How about Richard Stanley? – Director of ‘Dust Devil’ and the recent ‘Color out of Space’  – his film “Incidents In An Expanding Universe” is below, and feels like a very 80s UK art school student type project:

Sam Raimi made ‘Within the Woods’ a Super 8mm version of ‘The Evil Dead’ was he was in his teens. He used to go from investor to investor and project the film on their office walls.

Below is my little short showreel on Super 8mm – ‘Point Blank 1990’ made in 1990 when I was 16.  The film took nearly 6 months to put together in the end.

I’m really pleased that Super 8mm is back available and being used again – I shot a short funky film recently – it’s below.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service, Script reading service and script development service are highly sought after.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

You can contact Matthew directly to purchase his ebook The UK Soap Opera Script Writers Handbook.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham was released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.

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The cinematographers who influenced me…

The best cinematographers are German, or were Dutch and worked in the new German cinema of the 70s.

As a freelance film director for hire, I think I’ve been influenced by cinematographers almost as much as I have been influenced by directors.

Certainly two cameraman had a very big impact on my visual style – these guys both started their careers in the new German cinema of the 70s and 80s and both guys finished their careers working in or around Hollywood.

Both guys have passed on now, but their work is still celebrated.  They are Robby Muller and Michael Ballhause.

Muller, to me, had a style so cinematic it taught me to see – his German films with Wim Wenders are famous for their imagery. But later in his career, his work with directors like Alex Cox, William Freidkin and Jim Jarmusch showed he could fit into American films, and see America like no other cameraman.

Ballhause started his career with Fassbinder in Germany, working fast, on low budgets with strong visual ideas, but he ended his career in the USA, and added amazing cinematic style and imagery to the worlds of Martin Scorsese – certainly Ballhause’s work on Goodfellas, and The Color of Money showcase some of the most stylistic camerawork from that era in American films.  

When I took on the camera work in my own low budget film debut as director Markham , the work of Ballhause and Muller was always on my mind.

Below are two videos celebrating these maestros…

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service, Script reading service and script development service are highly sought after.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham was released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can contact Matthew directly to purchase his ebook The UK Soap Opera Script Writers Handbook.

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Matthew Cooper Director – Deal of the Dead

Matthew Cooper Director

We finished and released our first micro budget feature film last month – Markham which is getting decent DVD sales and on demand screenings on Vimeo.  Almost straight away I’m moving onto my next low budget feature – the slightly more ambitious Sci-Fi/Horror Deal of the Dead.

We’ve learned a hell of a lot of things from the making of Markham, and these lessons are all being ploughed into Deal of the Dead, the biggest lesson being most of Deal of the Dead is being shot in one location, in Leeds (the location is being kept under wraps for now). The location covers just about all the exterior shots we need, and is available for night and day shoots without much hassle.

Markham, in contrast was shot in Staithes, Whitby, Liverpool, Morecambe, Leeds and Kefalonia (and that’s not even the complete list).  So much time was spent moving from one location to another – we’re not doing that again, on a low budget.

While Markham had some gory special effects, Deal of the Dead is hugely effects heavy, from practical make-up effects to stop motion animation, and we’re doing all of this in-house.   This is the bit that alongside working with the actors excites me most as a director.  We’re setting up a kind of old school mini ILM- it’s fun.

As well as directing I’ll also be operating as the main director of photography.

We’re hoping that on Deal of the Dead we’ll be able to secure a slightly wider release and distribution deal once the film is completed – so watch this space.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire, and UK script consultant.  He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb and you can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.

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Matthew Cooper Director looks at Frozen Ground (2013)

As a freelance film director for hire, script consultant and script writer for hire I thought it was interesting that this week the number one movie on Netflix was Frozen Ground which was made in 2013 and went quickly to DVD at the time it was released.   Not a big hit, not really well known, yet it was the number one movie on Netflix and is still high in the charts as I write this.  The question I guess is why?

I actually saw Frozen Ground in 2013, and I remember it.  Based on a true story, it was gritty, had some good location photography and decent low key performances from Nic Cage and John Cusack. This true story of a serial rapist and killer was disturbing and unpleasant – but the film tried to keep things real and have some semblance of taste out of respect for the real victims (or at least I felt it did, and I felt it on the second viewing too – that the film kept a level of distance from some of the killings as these were real people).

Was the film memorable? I remember the cold location photography, and it was unusual to see Cusack playing a really bad guy – an evil man.  Apart from that, it was an okay, very watchable film based on a very unpleasant real case.  The film is well made, but it’s not some sort of undiscovered gem (or is it?).

 So, why did it fly in at number one?  Was it the presence of Cage and Cusack?  Was it the trailer? Was the thumbnail picture on the Netflix glallery? Was it the subject material – let’s face it Netflix loves a serial killer true story?  Was it a mix of all this?  Was it a film that suddenly, out of nowhere suddenly found its audience on a streaming platform in the middle of a pandemic?  I think yes, to all of these, and I think we might see more of these ‘breakout’ older, lesser known films suddenly smash Netflix.

The director of this film Scott Walker has only one feature film credit – this film, and back in 2013 Frozen Ground was due for a wide cinema release after testing well with audiences and receiving pretty decent critical feedback.   But for various reasons the film never had the release (two studios merged) and the film was dumped.  Leaving director Walker kind of stranded, he would have become a footnote if not for Netflix, and now seven years later, director Walker is suddenly a hot property and his phone is ringing off the hook.

It’s estimated that 100 million people have now seen Frozen Ground in the last few weeks. That’s a huge, gigantic audience for a film, an unexpected bonus and manna from heaven for Walker.   But, the key take away here, is that Netflix should take note of this.  Frozen Ground is old content, a good film, not seen by many, and there are a lot of undiscovered films (often made by major studios) that never got the attention they deserved (stuff like Miracle Mile and Sorcerer) these films, presented to new audiences on a platform that didn’t exist when the films were made could become huge hits for Netflix if treated in the correct manner.  Netflix must take note.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

Matthew’s directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham was released in 2020

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Matthew Cooper Director – Markham – buy the DVD

Matthew Cooper Director

My feature film debut as a director Markham  was released last week, sales have being going well – both on DVD (scroll down this page to buy the DVD) and on demand screenings on Vimeo

Now that the film is finished and released, I’m hungry to start work on my next project asap. I’ve already been working on some test SFX shots.

My next project will be another zero budget horror film (part of what I’m lazily referring to as the Covid Trilogy).

Also, in the last week, almost by coincidence I’ve had a few fairly nice jobs come in as a  script writer for hire and script consultant – scriptwriting pays my bills and helps to fund the low budget films I’m working on at the moment.

We haven’t as yet, done much PR for Markham.   But there’s some coverage in the pipeline hopefully, at the moment we’re testing the sales and fulfilment of the DVD, we’re literally learning about indie distribution as we go along. 

Hopefully, these lessons might pay dividends with the next film.

Keep checking back on this website, as we move into production on the next film I’m going to start a regular blog that actually follows the production, so people can see the process, the problems and some of the fun we have with making a low budget movie.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire, and UK script consultant.  He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb and you can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.

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Matthew Cooper, Director—looks back at Hollow Man (2000)

My feature debut as a director is due out in a few days or so Markham–will be available from 31 August.

I’m starting to move onto my next project as a director, and in the meantime I have some work as a script writer for hire which is my real bread and butter business at the moment and how I earn my living.

While waiting for Markham’s release I’ve been studying the careers of some of my favorite filmmakers–the people who really influenced me.   One of those directors is Paul Verhoeven, who made one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made–RoboCop (1987)

Verhoeven was a Dutch director who made it in Hollywood by treating sci-fi action pictures with a huge amount of humour and intelligence.

Hollow Man–his take on the invisible man story was a big flop back in 2000. Recently The Invisible Man (2020 starring Mad Men’s Elizabeth Moss) took similar territory and scored with a more financially successful reboot, but personally, I found Hollow Man to be a LOT more entertaining.

Hollow Man seems to have a kind of stalled Verhoeven’s career in the US. Maybe he’d had enough, or the studios didn’t trust him after a couple of mis-fires (including the famous bomb ‘Showgirls’).

Recent reboots of RoboCop and Verhoeven’s Total Recall have bored me to tears–the originals are soo much better and even feel more modern than recent remakes despite being made nearly 30+ years earlier.

Verhoeven himself has stated that he wants to look into the past now as a director, and work on true life historical pieces—like his own Black Book (2006)  I realised looking at his career on the IMDb that I hadn’t seen any of his films since 2006 – this is something I need to correct, because Verhoeven is a major talent, from his early films in Holland to his work in Hollywood, he seems largely to have been ahead of the game in many respects.  I’d take Hollow Man, Total Recall, Starship Troopers and RoboCop over just about anything else made in Hollywood at the time.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire, and UK script consultant. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Five films that I can always watch

As a Freelance Film Director for hire, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of films that have influenced me one way or another.  And not just films, great TV, or documentaries, music videos and even great advertising too has impacted my visual style and the look and feel of things I direct.  Some of these influences will be lodged in my subconscious, and some are up front.

Among the influences that are upfront will be from some of my favourite films.  I could easily put together a list of 100 or 200 hundred films that I love, that grab me, that appeal to me, that make up my filmic influences.

Some films stay with you (often from childhood) these films are core influencing films, the things that shaped you as a director. These films often never get old. For me, the following five films have played a big part in my influences.

Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket–Stanley Kubrick (a giant) most people agree that Stanley was operating on a level way beyond most directors of his era, and his work continues to be a massive influence in cinema.  He was a clever man, sometimes cynical,  he liked to retain control on all aspects of his films.

Full Metal Jacket is THE Vietnam movie, and it also maybe the film about a boots on the ground war. It’s a film that shows the training of men who will invade and kill the natives of a foreign country, so far away from their own.

It’s a brutal film, but also, at times, a hilarious one. Visually, a Vietnamese city was created in London, and Kubrick used his customary small crews to shoot, and just keep shooting, Kubrick picked scabs and looking for insight beyond the obvious.  This isn’t just a war movie, it’s a film ABOUT WAR. The film looks at the insanity, the absurd and the fear and the death.  It’s a highly intelligent film–about Love and Hate, and how neither had a place in ‘Nam.

The Empire Strikes Back

I grew up with Star Wars, but Empire Strikes Back takes it to the next level. The film is a joy, in story terms, and in how it was shot.  A globe trotting crew, the use of stop motion, practical effects, old school matte painting.  A joy to look at.

But it doesn’t forget the characters, performances and romance of the series.  All play better in this film than in the first. Ford, Fisher and Hamill are more relaxed here and fill out their characters a lot better.

All in all its the film that inspired a generation and we should thank Lucas, Kershner and don’t forget the behind-the-scenes team (like Phil Tippett) who made this magic happen.

To Live and Die in L.A.

This is a film that looks amazing  like ‘The American Friend’ listed below, this film was shot by cameraman Robbie Muller–his use of lighting was a massive influence on me.  It’s a tough, nonstop cop picture by the director of The French Connection.  Dirty cops, ruthless but stylish villains. The film was a box office bomb at the time, but its reputation has built through the years.

Look how the action is shot, not a frame wasted, brutalist, brutal and beautiful.

The American Friend

Bruno Ganz was always a joy to watch, combine his sensitive performance with Robbie Muller’s photography and throw in a globetrotting thriller plot, with a sideline in looking at how American film has stolen our eyes in Europe. I can dip in and out of it now, each frame a lovely pregnant picture filled with longing.

Wenders shoots Europe like an American director and he shoots his American films like a European.  It’s as much about film itself as it is about the characters.

It’s a film that can teach you to see.

Grosse Pointe Blank

Funny, great dialogue, surprising action, and superb music.  A touching love story that kind of sneaks up on you (no it doesn’t, we drove here). It’s also a summation of 80s and 90s romance clichés, which it rapidly shoots holes through.

It’s a much greater film than many realise, and it’s funny.    

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a scriptwriter for hire, and UK script consultant. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a scriptwriter.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Markham – available for pre-order on Vimeo now

My feature film debut as a director, the low budget horror Markham is now available for pre-order on Vimeo here.

Markham is a snip to buy on Vimeo at just £4.59

Markham will soon also be available to buy on DVD – so keep checking back.

It’s been a mad ride getting here. We started shooting Markham over 18 months ago with a tiny budget, no script, and only a vague idea of what the story was.

Through shear hard work the film developed through a complicated shooting process that required a lot of improvisation from all of the actors. A lot of material was shot, that we never used as we fine tuned the plot in the editing process.

Markham has been described as a film that deconstructs horror tropes and so far the film has had excellent feedback.  

Considering the low budget, and the process we went through, I’m fairly pleased with the end result, and myself and the same team are moving onto two new horror feature projects with very low budgets – call it the Covid Trilogy!

I’m also preparing another two feature films for me to direct, and we’re hoping to raise some funds for the other two.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service, Script reading service and script development service are highly sought after.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

You can contact Matthew directly to purchase his ebook The UK Soap Opera Script Writers Handbook.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham will be released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.

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Markham – locked and ready for release

As well as being a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years, it now appears that I’m in the feature motion picture business, as my debut as a director – the horror film Markham is now locked, finished and set for release at the end of August.  It’s been quite a journey.

Markham is an experimental, rubber reality horror feature that was shot for a zero budget, and used improvisation in nearly every scene.

As well as being the director, and DOP, I also act in the film under the name Thomas Cody, I did this because of the way the film was shot, and the lack of budget.  It meant that the actor ‘Thomas’ was always available when Matthew Cooper the director was… It helps with scheduling!

As an actor, I try to do as little as possible and be as naturalistic as I can. I’ve been around and worked with some great actors in my career as a script writer for hire, so I picked up a few things from people like Ewan McGregor, Brian Bovell, Dean Smith, Tom Gibbons and writing for some soap actors like Dominic Brunt (in Emmerdale, he’s an amazing actor and very underrated) has taught me the odd thing about acting and performance.   So, I can get by as actor, but what people don’t recognise is that acting can be, physically and mentally exhausting.

So, the strain of acting, coupled with being THE DIRECTOR of the film is double whammy.  I also, don’t particularly enjoy being in front of the camera, which I was a lot in Markham.  I like to be behind the lens to check the shots (and often make last minute adjustments).  And again, to save money I also acted as the director of photography (DOP) so that’s three roles I was often doing in each shot. All three require terrific concentration.  It was miles tougher than I expected or even considered.

The film, so far has had good feedback and a warm response, especially from fans of the horror genre.  My performance even got a few mentions, but gladly I’m dwarfed by the pro actors we used such as Ashe Russell, Tony Coughlan, Dan Martin and Gareth Parry.  All these guys knew what they were doing (thank god).

I won’t be in a rush to act again, but it’s always useful to know that while I’m not comfortable in front of the camera, I can serve up some prime ham if needed.  

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Markham – notes on making a zero budget horror film

My feature debut as a director Markham is all but finished as of today.  It’s been around two years in the making.  With no budget and no script Markham has been an experiment to see if we could actually pull of a film of any worth, starting from scratch.

Well we did. Markham is a tight, arty, experimental little horror film, with a cool look, cool music, some very good acting and some great locations. 

It’s Grindhouse in a way as well, parts where shot on film, it’s experimental, and wouldn’t be out of place alongside a lot of Shameless films  or  Arrow films releases. 

But what have I learned from making a zero budget horror film?

Okay, when Peter Jackson made Bad Taste, he did it, in a style similar to how we made Markham.  Shooting on a part-time basis as and when cast and crew where available, without much of a script to go along with – it took Peter Jackson FOUR years to complete the film, and now I know why (it’s taken nearly two years to complete Markham).

When I started shooting Markham I thought it might take six months.

Working without a script is a crackers idea, especially in low to zero budget filmmaking.  Initially when we started out, me and the actors just shot scenes that were interesting visually and we improvised the characters, and narrative, eventually a fitting plot emerged. This is an interesting and creative way to work (Kubrick worked like this sometimes).  But, it means it will take years to finish and you never know (as a director) what you’ll need – from a simple coverage POV – right up to major scenes that are required that only become apparent later.

The first lesson for next time, is to write a script and stick to what’s written.  There’s always room for experimentation but have the blueprint in script form first.

Another thing I’ve learned never to ignore is sound, especially when shooting on location.  A lot of ADR work was required in post production that would have been better avoided with more attention to paid to the sound recording on location, although admittedly recording dialogue on the open sea, in a raging storm is always going to be hard. 

Difficult locations is another point of learning. We picked some spectacular coastal locations to use in Markham.  But we didn’t consider how difficult they were going to be to get there, or actually shoot in these out of the way, and often dangerous places. 

The locations look great, but I should have considered the impact on production of where we shot.   We filmed in places never used in productions before – these were startling virgin locations for UK film.  But there were reasons why nobody had shot there, and they became clear to us as we used the often dangerous locations ourselves…

Finally one of the main things I’d say I learned at this stage is that IT’S COMPLETELY feasible to now shoot a low budget film, post produce it and edit for very little money and have an end product that’s completely serviceable.   The film is going to be released on DVD and on VIMEO at the end of August, but I could easily in future put the film on AMAZON PRIME myself.

The whole process has been a massive learning experience for me.  And I can’t wait to do it all again…

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.