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Some of the various film and modified lab processes cropping
up on current movie and music video productions have intrigued me-specifically,
skip-bleach with color negative film stock, and reversal film stock
cross-processed in a negative film developer. A recent trip to Rochester,
New York as an Eastman Kodak guest, along with directors of photography
like Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC who shot Three Kings and X-Men,
piqued my interest even more. During casual conversations on cinematography,
Sigel offered interesting insights on the cross processing of reversal
film stock. On video shoots, he would expose 100-foot bulk loads of
still film and have it cross-processed in a negative film developer.
While in skip bleach processing, the negative is developed normally
except that it forgoes the final bleach bath to remove the processed
silver. This silver-effectively a mask-adds density to the negative,
resulting in increased speed as it desaturates colors. Contemplating
a skip-bleach test of my own, I decided to test both procedures and
shoot side-by-side images of what could be a commercial.
Upon first approaching Steve Willard at Spectra American
Color Lab, he mentioned that the C-41 developer is very "vigorous."
When the 5285 (and the Fuji 8540 Velvia) is processed in this manner,
the image emerges as very contrasty with huge color shifts. Because
of the contrast, it has been mentioned to appear as a "color"
Kodalith. Though unsure of the new EI, Willard remarked that cinematographers
generally rated it faster by one-third to two-thirds of a stop. (Since
the 5285 is rated 100 daylight, the rating would be EI 125 or EI 160.)
Our tests indicate almost a two to three stop speed increase. With more
testing related to a specific project, I would probably use EI 500 or
EI 650: thus placing the middle of the exposure in the center of about
a two-stop range. The gamma on the sensitometric curves is very steep,
indicating very high contrast. Also, the Blue emulsion is in the center
with the Green emulsion on top (i.e. most density) until merging close
to Dmax. Color choice, overall set contrast and the desired look would
be a major consideration in deciding to shoot 5285 cross-processed in
the C-41 developer. On the color chart, the blue chip approaches Dmin
at EI 800, and appears on the color chart as virtually black. The blue
chip can actually be printed as indigo, but other trade-offs arise in
terms of color shifts. While the blue has almost turned black (Dmin),
the yellow is almost transparent (as it's approaching Dmax). The cyan
has shifted blue while the green, magenta and reds appear very saturated.
Such information can be used to help the lab and production understand
the sought after look. It does appear bizarre, but it's quite wonderful-as
seen in the clips. By the way, I read densities up to 4.00 (Status M)
on the densitometer, but these densities go beyond most lab printers'
practical range; this density also runs past the range of many of the
older telecine machines. Finally, if a print is made at the LAD Patch
printer light, the mid-tones will shift red. (This happened in early
prints of "Woman with Orange Stained Glass." Timing out the
red in her face made the orange in the glass approach Dmax, becoming
white, as it appears here.) A timer must be involved because the Red,
Green and Blue emulsions aren't the same speed and don't track parallel.
I am considering a follow-up test that uses a magenta and blue combination
filter pack. Mark Van Horn, at FotoKem, suggested using a CC 30 magenta
filter to hold back some of the green emulsion's density. To increase
the Blue emulsion's density, I would add, say, an 80B Blue Filter. Such
a correction would allow the resulting negative to be printed in a lab's
normal printer range, and also facilitate a telecine transfer. 5285 VS 100D Reversal: ECN2 Partly due to the wide availability of the ECN2 negative
developer process, this stock and developer will probably be the most
popular cross-process. With this particular method, the yellow actually
photographs closer to normal, the cyan still shifts blue, and the blue
still approaches black-yet some blue/purple detail does remain in the
color chart. With skillful art direction, a paler blue would reproduce
much darker. Reexamine the characteristic curves and note that at just
below "normal" exposure, the blue disappears into Dmin, which,
for print, is black. Some of the blue might be brought out on a telecine,
particularly one with a Power Windows type application. The yellow is
still less dense than on a normal control exposure. Check out the grain
definition of the wood around the chart: this shift is interesting on
all the images. Useable contrast depends on the emulsion being looked
at: the Red emulsion has eight stops of range; the Green emulsion has
three stops of range; and the Blue emulsion holds a two-stop range. The
characteristic curves clearly indicate what is visible on the color charts.
In studying the black-and-white chip chart, one may notice whites shifting
to cyan. When the Red, Green and Blue emulsions aren't parallel, the gray
chips indicate the color shifts indicated on the chart from toe to head.
In this process, the gray could be timed neutral at any given gray density,
but that color timing would shift the colors with greater, and less, density.
Also, where color tonality exists-like in skintones -the shift can be
more radical. In "Woman with Orange Stained Glass," the skintone
changes with the process, from rich and full-toned (5277 Normal) to loss
of detail as the density approaches Dmax (5285 X Processed C-41). Filmstocks
and lab off-processing truly expand opportunities for personal expression
with images. Vision 5277 (320T): Normal and
Skip-Bleach
Characteristic curves for 5277 should be familiar to most-it's
tested to be accurate at its EI rating of 320 tungsten. When skip-bleach
processed, the film's speed effectively doubles to EI 640. I suspect that
an exposure of EI 800 would appear fine, perhaps with a little more grain.
(Again, the normal one-third stop increment exposures was not undertaken
for a more accurate appraisal.) At two stops over EI 640, the emulsion
has effectively reached Dmax. Though some latitude persists to print some
highlight detail, it's not much. The three emulsions track parallel, resulting
in an image that doesn't shift color in shadows or highlights. In comparing
similar densities of the two processes and T-stop being used, one aspect
should be noted in particular: at N-4, for example, the shadows become
texture without much detail. Observe "normal" density (.32-.73-1.01)
and check for a similar density in skip-bleach. With the skip-bleach process,
the same textured shadow would occur at about N-3. Highlight detail can
be evaluated with the same approach. In "normal" density, N+3
is 1.29-1.85-2.19 while a similar density with the skip-bleach process
is about N+2/3. Clearly, the process impacts highlights much more than
the shadows. Since this test is empirical, and quantifiable, it allows
one to effectively set up a test geared for a final determination of lighting
ratios, colors to be used, make-up and so forth.
In this test, the 5277 exposure index is increased by only
one stop. The 5298 rating is altered by two stops for an effective speed
of EI 2000. All the 5298 emulsions are slightly below the LADs, but this
EI was chosen for several reasons. (An EI of 800 would probably put the
density fairly close to the LADs.) The test was shot with the higher EI
to ascertain the difference between the two stocks-the 5277 with about
one-third stop added density and 5298 with about one-third stop less density
than the LADs. The images turned out quite pretty, and though added grain
had been expected, it wasn't objectionable and only enhanced the look.
The only concern was whether the blacks would gray out or become muddy.
Fortunately, such was not the case, although on an early timing, the scene
was printed up and the blacks did become muddy. The selected EI 2000 is
a good indication of how one meters, or uses the EI, to achieve a look.
Where one places the center of the scale impacts the stock's dynamic range
and the presence of grain. 5298 has slightly higher contrast than the
5277, yet under skip-bleach processing both have a total of about seven
stops of useable contrast range. When the 5298 is exposed at EI 2000,
there are two stops of latitude over N, but only four stops below N. If
rating the stock at EI 2000 for a production, I would make sure that the
face's keylight always approached N+1, and that no important shadow detail
fell much less than N-2.
This scene's exposure makes it read a little "hot"-I wanted an ethereal feeling, and was curious how the various processes would handle it. Even after printing 5285 onto an internegative 5285, the reversal qualities remain: highlights lost detail fairly quickly and printing "down" the image only made the highlights less bright with lost detail. The image quality is softer than expected but beautiful, nonetheless. This example presents the wide range of representation possible with just these few off-processes. The 5285 X Processed C-41 was totally blown out at the head of the shot, but as the woman rode on, she became visible and resolved into the closer shot printed here. The cross-processed negatives were timed to skintones, and color negatives printed at the processes' LAD Patch. Woman by Tombstone
As the face modulates from N+1.5 to N-2.5, the difference in the stocks and processes becomes more pronounced. Beyond the contrast, major color shifts occur in the orange window. The orange tone appears somewhat natural in the normal 5277, the skip-bleach 5277 and the 5285. But in the 5285 cross-processed C-41, the orange approaches Dmax (white) as red hues were timed out of the girl's face. The darker skintones in the two 5285 cross-processed images probably result from the increased gamma- i.e. the shadows have much greater contrast and approach Dmin more quickly. This sample shows that one would need to flat light the subject to hold enough information in the two to three stop useable contrast range-unless one was purposely after such a look. Woman in Front of Picture Window Here, the light spills fairly even over the subject and
background, and all exposures have a relatively full range. In the images
of 5285 cross-processed, the woman's face becomes more of a graphic image
with her dress approaching more two-dimensionality, much like a Fauvist
painting. Shifts in yellows are particularly apparent in the yellow stained
glass. Final Developments 5285 100D Reversal Stock |
