About six months ago I bought an old Bolex film splicer on ebay. Prior to finalizing the transaction, I failed to notice that the seller was in Cape Town, South Africa. Needless to say delivery took a while and shipping cost almost as much as the item itself.
This month I finally got around to using it during some little film editing projects I'm working on. Nothing big deal, just some regular 8mm that I've been shooting to prep it for telecine. I'll do the "real" editing with Final Cut Express.
While working with my own 8mm film I found a fragment of 16mm film on the floor next to my work space that must have fallen out of the Bolex splicer. It's an interesting fragment and I have looked at it probably more than is warranted by the specifics. It's 16mm so was it shot by an amateur or is this the work of some kind of documantary maker? Are these frames planned shots or more like out takes of a "created" scene being set up? Was it shot in South Africa or from one of nearby regions / countries?
After scanning the film I enlarged the second frame from the top (the top frame inexplicably cuts off everyone's heads, reinforcing the idea that this is probably an out take).
Just had to quickly post this piece on Project Basho. When not in my own basement darkroom, I spend as much time as I can in Philadelphia there. A week from today (July 10) a Friends of Project Basho show is opening and I'll have two pieces in it. Unfortunately I won't be able to make the opening but check it out.
