Stock used in Pierre Clementi's "In the Shadow of a Blue Rascal"

[Austin Lancaster]

Hey all,

I'm writing a review of Pierre Clementi's underground classic In the Shadow of the Blue Rascal. (Full film here.)

I thought I might ask a question here about how the images might have been produced technically, as I am not a filmmaker. There are images that have these extremes of red and blue. A friend suggested the effect might be achieved through film stock, but didn't have any further details.

According to a source, the camera Clementi owned was a 16mm Beaulieu.

Curious if anyone has any insight? My goal is to describe in very brief terms (1 sentence) what kind of technique produced them.
 

[Gautam Valluri]

Wow never knew of this film before but it looks fascinating! It's definitely originated on 16mm, that supports the rumoured Beaulieu R16 theory.

Judging from the high contrast, the saturated reds and the milky white highlights, I'm tempted to say colour reversal stock, maybe 16mm VNF? Or it could be a 16mm->35mm blowup that added all that contrast?

You can look up the most popular stocks in circulation in France in the 80s, it could be Kodak, Fuji, Agfa or even Orwo. But if your intention is to recreate this look, or explain how it was done, you could try:

1- shooting on 16mm Ektrachrome.

2- shooting on Vision3 200T and optically blowing it up to 35mm 200T (definitely not interpositive stock). 

Edited May 4 by Gautam Valluri
Corrections

[David Mullen ASC]

It looks a bit like a transfer from a print (from a negative), possibly a 35mm print from a blow-up. By the 1980s, there wasn't much 16mm color reversal being shot in Europe but it's possible -- the dull whites do remind me of a dupe from a reversal original. But that could also be from transferring from a print.