TL;DR I took a class where we learned 16mm color filmmaking on a Bolex Rex-5. We got a 100-foot roll of film (about 3 minutes), 3 hours to shoot, and edited our films by hand.

So here’s the story for those of you who have been curious about this little project…

I was looking for a hands-on program to learn more about film (more generally, capturing moving images with a camera) and this summer, I came across Mono No Aware and their community workshops in traditional filmmaking.

The time commitment was doable (4 2-hour sessions + film capture day), the price was right ($395 at the low end of the sliding scale), and, I mean:

INTRO TO BOLEX 16MM FILM MAKING ON COLOR NEGATIVE FILM & EDITING FULLY TIMED COLOR WORK PRINT

Experience a professional work flow that begins and ends on 16mm film. Learn to operate the Bolex Rex-5 camera, capture on color negative then edit and project your own fully timed color work print on a vertical editing system, project your finished film on film!

I’m obsessed with doing the oldest version of a thing. I want to feel the thing in my hands, I want to crank a lever, I want to push a button that makes a thing a thing whir and clatter.

So it was fate, obviously.

Mid-October, in our first session, we learned about film, film stocks, the Bolex Rex-5, and how to load it.

After this class, we had 2 days to email our teachers a few sentences about what our 3-minute film would be and where we were planning to shoot (this was the part, the deciding on things deadline, that had everyone panicked).

I sent them something about an idea for a kind of fantastical biography and that I planned to shoot in my apartment.

In session 2, we learned about focus, lenses, focus, and light metering. We talked about the specifics of the ideas we meant to execute and I ruled out some ideas.

Our homework was to put together our shot lists and do any storyboarding. I gathered the images I intended to shoot inspired by this Halloween skeleton that my sister encouraged me to buy at Walgreens, among other things found and gathered.

In late October (when Venus in Virgo made a lovely trine to Jupiter in Taurus) we loaded our cameras and set out with our filming buddy to shoot our shots in about 2-3 hours each. Trial by fire.

My buddy and I were nervous. Like - you really don’t know if you did something wrong until your film gets back from processing weeks later.

After my shoot, I knew that I was probably going to have focus issues and light meter/exposure stuff because I got confused about both but I love learning in this way (and what a bonding experience!).

In early November, we gathered to watch everyone’s unedited footage (clap clap clap) and learn how to use the Moviscop viewers, rewinds and Ciro splicers.

We were encouraged to schedule time outside of class (one remaining 2-hour session) to edit our films so I made sure to do that. I know myself, there’s no way that 2 hours was going to be enough.

The editing process was one of my favorite parts. I, somewhat chaotically, cut the whole thing up and then pieced it back together. My classmates noted how wild this choice was as I taped my film to the wall.

But I wanted to really go through the whole vertical editing process. I wanna go the long way. It’s thrilling, I learn more.

We had to turn in our edited films by the end of our last session and then we had another couple of days to send any audio to go with it.

I had written an outline with some snippets of text (that morphed as things took real shape). So I finalized the thing, recorded it over coffee on a lovely morning (with Venus in domicile in Libra) and sent it over.

Later in the month, we got a cute premiere at MoMA.

So yeah. That’s what this thing is and how it got made.

It was a joy. I’m obsessed. And it was one of the best artistic experiences I’ve had since moving to NYC.

Hope you thought it was neat or something. Saving up for a Bolex brb.