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There are plenty of loopy concepts on the market relating to experimental images. A number of exposures. Movie Soups. Capturing your rolls backward. However have you ever ever heard of anyone loading two rolls of movie right into a digicam on the similar time? Me neither, and that’s precisely why I’m going to do it!
The thought in a nutshell is to determine a approach to get a coloration roll and a black and white roll of 35mm movie loaded into my Nikon F3 so that every press of the shutter exposes each movies on the similar time. After they have been developed I may presumably stack or layer the developed negatives for a cool impact. Hopefully.
Going into this experiment I figured I’d have some issues to unravel. The primary could be getting the proper publicity for the again roll, as a result of the sunshine has to not solely expose the entrance roll, but in addition journey by the entrance roll to reveal the second roll behind it. After discovering out how a lot mild discount happens when it travels by movie, I’ll offset every movie’s iso to match nonetheless many stops I would like.
One other apparent drawback is that movie cameras are designed to deal with one roll at a time, and effectively, that’s not what I’m doing right here. So going into this I anticipated some binding points, or perhaps even some ripped movie. It’s value noting that the winder on the F3 is so diesel I’ve torn movie leaders off a single roll earlier than not to mention including the extra resistance of two rolls.
Lastly, I assumed that doing this is able to mess with the picture sharpness of each the back and front rolls in some capability. Sandwiching two movies right into a digicam will transfer the entrance movie barely out of alignment from the airplane of focus, and the again movie shall be obstructed by the entrance roll presumably delivering mush pictures.
So let’s simply set the bar good and low right here; do I count on tack-sharp photos? Nope. If I come away with a couple of frames that have been lined up and uncovered right through, I’ll contemplate {that a} win.
Loading the 2 rolls
If cramming two rolls of movie into one canister sounds actually awkward and like an enormous ache, you’d be proper. It’s.
I attempted a couple of other ways of getting each movies rolled into one canister. I figured one of the best ways to forestall the 2 sandwiched movies from getting caught when advancing was to verify the sides lined up completely. Doing this at midnight could be practically inconceivable, so I needed to give you a approach to begin the rolls into the canister with the lights on.
Practising connecting two sections collectively
What I ended up doing was utilizing an empty canister to switch the roll of Fujicolor 200 into briefly whereas nonetheless connected to its personal canister. This non permanent switch was executed in a darkish closet so the movie wasn’t ruined, however then I may entry the top of the Fujicolor’s roll within the mild to line up and tape on the second movie. This different roll could be Tmax P3200 black and white, and when within the digicam shall be positioned behind the roll of Fujicolor 200, towards the stress plate.
After all the things was lined up and taped collectively, I went again into the darkish closet and wound as a lot of the 2 movies into the one canister as I may match and minimize off the surplus. Utilizing this methodology I used to be capable of load about 20 frames into the canister utilizing two 36-exposure rolls. Surprisingly, turning the spindle with two back-to-back rolls was slightly stiff, however not inconceivable.
Connecting the 2 rolls collectively
With each movies loaded into one cassette, it took a couple of makes an attempt to get the chief proper. At first, I attempted chopping a double-leader beginning each movies on the winder, however that ended up creating a niche on the advancing spindle and a ripple between the movies. What ended up working was chopping the rear movie chief off straight and taping it simply behind the opposite chief of the entrance roll.
The explanation I selected to place the colour movie within the entrance and the black and white movie in direction of the again is that I believed this is able to ship a greater finish outcome. I wouldn’t have to fret about coloration shifting like I might have if the sunshine traveled by the black and white roll first.
OK, so the digicam is loaded, and the onerous half is full!
There have been some failures
After some preliminary assessments with my mild meter, I measured a few 3-stop mild discount by movie.
For my first try, I grabbed a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400 and Fomapan 400 to stack. To get my 3-stop distinction between the movies I made a decision to shoot the Ultramax at field velocity and pull the roll of Fomapan (Holga) to iso 50.
Sadly, this primary run turned out to be a bust. Whereas the colour Ultramax pictures turned out superb, the black and white roll didn’t have any pictures uncovered. It appears to be like like I would wish extra mild to make it by the entrance roll of movie.
Kodak Ultramax 400 at iso 400
Kodak Ultramax 400 at iso 400
Kodak Ultramax 400 at iso 400
I can see from the publicity on the Fomapan negatives that there was undoubtedly a difficulty with the 2 movies not staying flat or aligning correctly within the digicam as effectively.
Let’s do this once more
Okay, so spherical two. I wanted extra mild to hit the again movie so I elevated the iso distinction between the back and front movies. This time I used a roll of Fujicolor 200 and Kodak Tmax P3200. I rated these pictures at 100, overexposing the Fujicolor barely whereas growing the roll of Tmax at 3200.
To repair the binding subject, I in the reduction of the rear movie so there was just one starter chief (the Fujicolor) getting superior by the sprocket wheel. I believe the issue was that when each movies have been connected to the winder it was making a bow and an area between the back and front rolls.
After loading and taking pictures 18 frames of the Fujicolor/ Tmax rolls I used to be joyful to see this time was successful! Sort of…
Fujicolor 200 at iso 100
Fujicolor 200 at iso 100
Fujicolor 200 at iso 100
Kodak Tmax P3200 at iso 3200
Kodak Tmax P3200 at iso 3200
Kodak Tmax P3200 at iso 3200
With this try once more the entrance roll of coloration movie got here out superb, however now with a 5-stop distinction between the 2 rolls I had precise pictures on the again roll of black and white. These pictures have been nonetheless a number of stops under a “appropriate” publicity, however nonetheless, they got here by!
Within the sharpness division, I didn’t see that a lot of a distinction within the Fuji pictures, however the Tmax was a unique story. There was important blurring mixed with extreme blotchiness of the grain from underexposure. Mainly the black and white pictures appeared like I used to be like taking pictures a pinhole picture with out utilizing a pinhole digicam.
Additionally, I used to be given a pleasant reminder that I would like to vary the door seals on my F3…
A blurry scorching mess with no shadow element? Seems avant-garde to me!
Combining the Photos
To merge the 2 negatives in Photoshop I stacked them collectively as layers after which used the remodel device to get the alignment as shut as I may. I positioned the colour layer on prime and altered the mix mode to “coloration” to composite the photographs collectively.
The ‘coloration’ mix mode in Photoshop ignores variations in luminosity between your adjustment layer and your base layer so it transfers the colour from the Fuji unfavourable onto the Tmax unfavourable, identical to it could have been contained in the digicam.
Fujicolor 200
Tmax P3200
Merged picture
Nevertheless, as a result of the Tmax pictures have been underexposed, immediately merging the 2 movies diminished the general brightness. The shadow areas appeared a bit bizarre and mushy from making use of coloration on prime of one thing that had no element.
I acquired a significantly better outcome utilizing a number of the contrast-based mix modes as a result of they alter the luminosity of the merged pictures. ‘Mushy mild’ appeared much like the ‘coloration’ mix mode when merging the 2 movies however helped even out the distinction in exposures between the 2 rolls. ‘Pin mild’ and ‘Onerous mild’ mix modes created one thing that nearly jogged my memory of a cross-processed picture.
An alternative choice I attempted that appeared fascinating was not utilizing mix modes however simply adjusting the opacity of the colour layer right down to about 50%.
Fujicolor 200
Tmax P3200
Coloration Merged at 50% Opacity
Going ahead
After I was initially planning this experiment I puzzled if the ultimate stacked pictures would create some type of neat separation or 3D impact. Whereas the method didn’t ship excellent outcomes that bounce out of the body I’d nonetheless contemplate it successful.
It’s value noting that there’s in all probability a extra technical approach to go about doing this, however I take pleasure in tinkering round and simply messing with issues till they work. A giant a part of the enjoyable for me with any movie experiment is all about trial and error.
After all, there’s nonetheless loads of room for enchancment right here, however after just some makes an attempt, I’m capable of get pictures on each rolls with out them jamming up the digicam. In order that’s an superior start line in my ebook.
In regards to the Creator
Chris Kuhn is a photographer and video creator on the YouTube channel Movie is extra enjoyable the place he paperwork his many film-related experiments. You will discover extra of Chris’ work on his web site, YouTube, Fb , and Instagram. This text was additionally printed right here and shared with permission.
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