The super 8 camera is an interesting camera choice for those who want to bring a different style of shooting into their movies. With limitations such as short shooting time cutting at just two minutes and thirty second and working with film itself, Super 8 can be a bit intimidating to approach to beginners. The truly revolutionary part of these cameras where not only the style that your recording would come out it in, but also that you could insert recording film inside without having to feed them through and instead of feeding the film through the camera in a dark room.
In the documentary Superstonic sound, Don Letts and his son Jet a dubstep producer take a look at music influences from their origins and cultures around them. Shot partially in super 8 and HDV, we are given looks at the British music scene and how music effected both a father and son. We are taken to scenes such as the Notting Hill Riots to the Club Roxy where he first began. The shots that are taken in super 8 give a feeling of the past and present connecting by mirroring the footage of some areas in HDV and also with the super 8 camera.
The real test here is how you choose to use it. While digital can be way more forgiving, the true test of using limited film footage can push a film crew to their limits and produce films out of their comfort-zone. Alot of common scenes that use super 8 are dream sequences or scenes in the past. Super 8 cameras like any tool serves its own purpose and what that purpose will be is totally up to the director.
