In a nutshell this blog will seek to map my exploration of an idea..... Taking readily available 35mm motion picture film, both fresh and old and re-purposing it for use by any 35mm still's photographer.
Sounds simple but alas there are many layers to be solved (these are just the ones i know of!)
Firstly, the most prominent issue is that colour movie stock has a carbon black layer called Rem-Jet.
I believe this layer enhances anti-halation and helps reduce static during shooting. This layer is removed in motion picture films native development process, ECN2 with a high PH bath and water jets before passing on to development stages. But for the film to become usable in C41 colour process familiar to most still's photographers it must be removed before even being shot! You might think it ok to just use the film and then drop it in for processing..... The Rem-jet will ruin the colour chemistry and damage the negative in the process and probably make you very unpopular with your local lab.
I must come clean early on and say the biggest impetus for this journey is the incredibly successful CineStill film from America and the abundance of affordable rolls of 35mm motion picture film I come across.
My feeling is that is must be possible to create a process that leads to rolls of film that are substantially cheaper than the retail price of CineStill's 800T. Of course I could be wrong!
In part I also want the process to be robust enough that any colour film stock can have it's remjet removed be spooled up for still use. This would open up a world of millions of feet of film stock to be played with.
Watch this space......
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