Does an infrared film exist for motion pictures??

[anthony le grand]

Hello,

 

All is in the title, I like IR films a lot for Black and white photography/cinematography but was wondering if it exists for colours as well? I've already seen it for still photography in order to create irrealistic colours, especially with a orange or red filter but never for motion pictures.

Do you guys know if it exists somewhere?

Also, if the answer's yes, do you know movies that were shot with it?

 

Thanks,

Anthony

[Joe Taylor]

Hello Anthony,

 

Back in 2003 I was shooting 100' loads of 35mm color infrared through an Arri 435. Otto Nemenz out of La and Salt Lake City had modified a gate for both color but primarily B&W infrared films. To have the 100' loads processed was a big challenge since most labs only process their motion picture stock with machines that have infrared lights. I was able to get a lab in Colorado to do the processing.

 

The results are quite stunning. If you've seen color infrared photos you can imagine what they look like with movement. About half of the 400' I shot was time-lapse. The results were not always perfect but the shots that do work have a magic of their own.

 

However, I believe that Kodak quite making all infrared films. So even if you wanted to shoot stills, you'd have a tough time finding the film. Even people who are hoarding some stock have only a small amount of time to shoot since infrared stocks pretty much expire the moment they leave the shelf.

[Katherine Enos]

How about contacting Kodak to determine if a special order would be possible. At one time I was told it was available by special order; perhaps it can still be had that way. Though it would have to be carefully handled, you could parcel out the stock to other interested parties.

[anthony le grand]

Thanks for your answers.

Joe, I would love to see something you shot, timelapse with IR film must be impressive. Was this film a negative or a positve?

 

Unfortunately, even in B&W, only Ilford still makes infrared films for still photography. But I'll try to contact Kodak about that.

 

I'm wondering if there is a way to approch the colors of an IR film with a 'normal' negative or positive. In B&W, it looks a bit like a classical negative with a red and a green filter mixed. I doubt this is possible but maybe...?

[Charles MacDonald]

Unfortunately, even in B&W, only Ilford still makes infrared films for still photography. But I'll try to contact Kodak about that.

EFKE B&W infrared seems to be still made for stills. I am not sure if they are capable of making it in movie lengths

. http://www.fotokemika.hr/products/0/black-...rared-type-tilm

[Carlton Rahmani]

Check this out:

 

 

I've been doing some experimenting with this, improvising my own lens-fitting filters, and I can tell you that the results seem to look a lot like the infrared B&W daylight pics I've seen--sky almost black, all the plantlife showing white, etc.

You get better color results if you don't use the fourth filter. But, overall (and I'm still goofing around with this), it might have what you're looking for.

Also, I thought I'd let you know that I HAVE NOT tried this with film--only digital video.

[K Borowski]

Doesn't Kodak still make 35mm color aerial films?

 

If not, I think they make 70mm, which would mean that just slitting one roll (20,000 feet or 200,000 feet minimum though) would be feasible.