Remember Film Strip Projectors?

[Jerry Mouawad]

I am a theatre artist working on a piece that incorporates visual media.

 

I was going a route to purchase 5 video projectors, a large computer and software to mount a large (at least for my budget) - "image driven production"

 

I was about to abandon the idea when I thought I would scale it down. I mean scale it way down.

 

I began to think of it as a primitive analogue piece. Overhead projectors with acetate strips pulled by a human and thus projecting the images onto rear projection screens. Then I began to think of the old film strip projectors. I thought I would buy five film strip projectors (hope you can still buy lamps for those) and use 5 human operators.

 

My question (for those of you still with me) - Can you make a contact print with a 35mm film? For example if an artist creates a 35mm by 1000cm image (like a pencil drawing) Is there a way to create a contact print without the film frames. Can you expose the artwork directly onto color reversal so that it's one long image (no frame lines?)

 

I hope I'm in the right forum, if not - sorry.

[Brian Pritchard]

I am a theatre artist working on a piece that incorporates visual media.

 

I was going a route to purchase 5 video projectors, a large computer and software to mount a large (at least for my budget) - "image driven production"

 

I was about to abandon the idea when I thought I would scale it down. I mean scale it way down.

 

I began to think of it as a primitive analogue piece. Overhead projectors with acetate strips pulled by a human and thus projecting the images onto rear projection screens. Then I began to think of the old film strip projectors. I thought I would buy five film strip projectors (hope you can still buy lamps for those) and use 5 human operators.

 

My question (for those of you still with me) - Can you make a contact print with a 35mm film? For example if an artist creates a 35mm by 1000cm image (like a pencil drawing) Is there a way to create a contact print without the film frames. Can you expose the artwork directly onto color reversal so that it's one long image (no frame lines?)

 

I hope I'm in the right forum, if not - sorry.

A normal 35mm motion picture contact print will give you what you want. If there are no frame lines on your original then the print will not have frame lines. You will find a problem getting a reversal color print, firstly there is a problem getting reversal print stock and secondly finding someone running an E6 process. There is a lab in London that could do it, Film & Photo, 0208 992 0037, I don't know where you are based so I don't know if that helps.

 

Brian

[Tim Carroll]

My question (for those of you still with me) - Can you make a contact print with a 35mm film? For example if an artist creates a 35mm by 1000cm image (like a pencil drawing) Is there a way to create a contact print without the film frames. Can you expose the artwork directly onto color reversal so that it's one long image (no frame lines?)

 

If you can stick with black and white it would not be as difficult. You would need someone with a black and white darkroom and it would be best to draw the pencil sketch on velum.

 

Draw your image on velum. Using an enlarger and a contact printer (an easel/frame with a large piece of optically pure glass covering it), lay a strip of unexposed 35mm film on the easel, then your pencil drawing on top of the unexposed film, then cover with optical glass. Expose. Develop.

 

Now take that 35mm negative and use it in place of the pencil sketch and repeat the above procedure. After you develop the new piece of film, you will have a positive of the original.

 

Might work.

 

Best,

-Tim