Pushing for Contrast and Saturation

[Daniel Tan]

Hi all,

 

I am working on a 16mm short film. The choice of stock will probably be Kodak 200T. The director and I decided to go for a high constrast and a very saturated look. I am thinking about pushing the film in order to achieve the look. The increased grainiess will be OK. I have done that with 200T on the previous project and feel that it will work well on this occassion too. But I also understand that we could manipulate the constrast and saturation in post. What are my concerns between these two choices?

 

Unfortunately I have no opportunity to do tests.

 

Thanks.

 

Daniel

[John Pytlak RIP]

Push process will cost more than normal processing, and once you do it, you can't change your mind on the increased contrast and graininess. But if that is the "look" you want, starting out with a pushed negative will get you most of the way there.

 

If you want increased saturation, do not underexpose.

[Anthony Schilling]

How about 7285 100D? a saturated, contrasty film.

[John Pytlak RIP]

How about 7285 100D? a saturated, contrasty film.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

7285 would also be a good choice:

 

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products...1.4.4.6.4&lc=en

[Rolfe Klement]

can you achieve the look in TK if the film was exposed with a 2 stop push in mind- so if I take a film push by 2 stops (underexpose by 2) then overexposure by a 1/3rd to get better density (so underexpose by 1.6 then ask for a 2 stop push) -

 

Or are you tied to the first neg bath being a push - as opposed to a print decision

 

thanks

 

R

[John Pytlak RIP]

can you achieve the look in TK if the film was exposed with a 2 stop push in mind- so if I take a film push by 2 stops (underexpose by 2) then overexposure by a 1/3rd to get better density (so underexpose by 1.6 then ask for a 2 stop push) -

 

Or are you tied to the first neg bath being a push - as opposed to a print decision

 

thanks

 

R

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you underexpose by 1 2/3 stops, you are going to lose shadow detail. A push-2 process will give the negative more overall density, so it prints/transfers at about the same lights/settings as a normal negative, but you will not gain back the shadow detail the underexposure produced. Push process also increases contrast and graininess.

 

Use a film with an EI appropriate for the light level you have, rather than underexposing and push-processing, unless a lack of shadow detail, higher contrast, and more graininess is the "look" you want. Push-2 is rarely used, and even push-1 is infrequent, since Kodak VISION2 500T Color Negative Film has such good latitude and tone scale.

[Rolfe Klement]

I have shot a couple of things with a +1 and a +2 push and love the look but basically my question is about costs -

 

it costs more to get film pushed developed than does normal development.

I dislike the look of correctly exposed film "crunched" in Telecine to look like a 2+ stop push on a 1.6- underexposure

 

I want to know if it is possible to take film "exposed to be pushed 2 stops" - and get the look without it sitting in the bath longer - so bath normally then get the look in TK - but even writing it it seems impossible cause you need the extra time in the bath to get the chemical reaction

 

I just shot some underwater stuff - here is a single frame [1.6- under exposed then pushed +2] and it looks like this

 

 

For me it takes normal situations and with a bit of clever art direction creates a focused stage - but it needs to have a motivated use - and it costs more

 

Thanks

 

 

R

[L K Keerthi Basu]

Dear John,

 

Is push processing is the only method to get the contrast and saturation in color. What the main problem we get in push processing is graininess we all know about that, this will be great when it is purposely wanted for graininess. How to achive the same contrast and the saturation in color without getting the graininess. Please explain whether there is any other methods.

 

L.K.Keerthi basu

[Sam Wells]

I've routinely pushed 7274 one stop, it's fine.

 

You can go from there where you want in Tk/post. I don't know if push 2 is worth it, not that I want to stop anyone from having fun with chemistry :D

 

But, as this is 16mm, you must be aware, even midtones can betray the grain.

 

 

ps the push is at the lab I usually use - Colorlab - is a temp change, not extended development.

 

-Sam

[John Pytlak RIP]

Contrast (gamma) can certainly be changed during digital post production of the scanned film image. Even with a normally processed negative, you can manipulate the contrast by photographic techniques (e.g., B&W separations with process adjustment, negative or positive masking, bi-pack printing a negative and duplicate negative, etc.).