David Speight's recent projects
Speightscope - The Movie!
“Venture” is a seven (7) minute Super 8 “Speightscope” movie David Speight produced at USC in 1986. The movie was shot on three Super 8 cameras and shown on three projectors for CNTV 290 Introduction to Cinema class.
In this simple “Boy wants sexy girl – boy finds love” episode, the general critical consensus of the class was the storyline got lost in the effects. One reviewer wrote, “the story seemed to get lost in the technical frills…” Amazed, they all wanted to see more 3 screen scenes regardless. A class professor wrote, “Speightscope was one of the two most entertaining films of the semester.”
For this “venture,” I (David Speight) had the idea the first week of class but wasn’t sure how to pull it off. After hours of drawing up blueprints to incorporate 3 cameras into a special tripod, some test footage was shot mid-semester, with 2 cameras. It was hard to get a third while keeping this all a secret (so no one else would steal the idea.) The process was originally called SuperSpeight (Super-spate.)
A “Speightmatte” was created to shield light from the cameras, hold filters and create special wipe effects.
Editing was done with a single editor and projector. Frames were painstakingly counted to line up the shots. I only had two projectors for the rehearsal showing, but I knew there would be another in the classroom.
On that day in April 21, 1986, I snuck into the classroom early to put up a big sheet (for extra wide screen) and test the 3 camera alignment. It was quite a feat to keep all 3 projectors and a cassette tape in sync. They still are far from perfect. Up until now, the only people who have ever seen this film projected with all 3 screens in pseudo-sync were those classmates and cast that attended that day.
TRANSFER QUALITY:
Years after the initial showing (1999), I had the idea of transferring it to computer. As a test, I projected each reel on the wall and videotaped with a Hi-8 camera, then transferred that to AVI files on a computer. The sound cassette was also transferred. At that time there was no affordable software to finish my test, so it went back in the closet. Finally, almost 40 years after the original showing, the Super 8 films have faded to nearly clear celluloid. So, I took the only available copy (that Hi8 test) and stitched those frames together again.
I have tried to keep this as close to the original showing as possible, only adding minor edits. For example, YouTube would not license “Egyptian Dance” by Elmer Bernstein, so those twenty seconds of sound were replaced with “Harem Dance.” Hope you enjoy my infamous USC 290 SPEIGHTSCOPE experience.
Music included:
” No, No, Nanette Overture” by the No, No, Nanette Orchestra No, No, Nanette (New Broadway Cast Recording (1971))
“Karu” by Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford (1985) Virgin Records Ltd
“Peter Gun Theme” by Henry Mancini performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (1958)
“Hey Hey We’re the Monkees” by The Monkees (1965)
“Tea for Two” No, No, Nanette (New Broadway Cast Recording (1971))
“Waiting for a Girl Like You” by Foreigner (1981)
“Harem Dance” by Roger King Mozian