A Basic Guide to Threading a 35mm Mitchell Standard/GC/Fries Mitchell Film Camera

I have been fortunate enough to find new homes for several Mitchell Standards, GCs, and Fries conversions recently. A common question I get about these cameras is, now that I have it, how do I put film in it? This is a reasonable question.  And as I looked around online for a video to demonstrate this process, I wasn’t able to find anything. What I did find was my dear friend Sam Dodge’s video where he demonstrates threading a Mitchell NC. (I take some issue with Sam’s loop forming. They should be long enough to go through the movement smoothly, but they should not touch the camera casting.) These cameras are similar, but they do not thread the same way. Searching my extensive library of Mitchell material, even the oldest Cinematographer’s handbook that I have didn’t really explain the intricacies of the threading process. So, I sat down at my desk and started to make a list of all the things that need to happen, from threading the magazine, to threading film in the camera, and decided that the easiest way to try to explain this was to make a video. I don’t have access to a full studio any longer, so despite the limitations of my current space, presented here is a demonstration of how I was taught to thread a Mitchell Standard/GC/Fries conversion.