16mm Bleach Bypass

Stuart C · August 18, 2005

Hi All,

What are your thoughts on bleach bypass with 16mm (or Super 16) ? Is it considered a no no due to the smaller frame size?

Thanks,

Stu

BANNED Patrick Tong · August 18, 2005

Sorry.....What is the meaning of "bleach bypass"?

Thanks :P :P

Patrick Tong

16mm new babies

Hi All,

What are your thoughts on bleach bypass with 16mm (or Super 16) ? Is it considered a no no due to the smaller frame size?

Thanks,

Stu

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Glenn Hanns · August 18, 2005

Sorry.....What is the meaning of "bleach bypass"?

Beach Bypass is a chemical process where the bleach stage of development is skipped. It increases contrast, grain and alters the "look" of normal film. BB is often used on 16mm with great effect, just be aware of the results before shooting. Ive used it to shoot day for night to increase contrast and its also been used for "dream effects' where you want something different from the main film. Underexpose your neg 1 stop when shooting and do some tests.

Cheers, Glenn.

Matthew Skala · August 18, 2005

I have had great success with bleach bypass on 16mm. I used Fuji F400 stock to shoot a short film and Bleach Bypassed all of it. A lot of detail was retained in normal high contrast situations and the bleach bypass really punched up the blacks and gave us a really rich tone. Some of the shots did get a little too grainy but we were going for that look, so it was fine. The print was beautiful, the telecine transfer could of been better but I guess that is what happens when you cant be there to supervise it.

A lot of people will tell you to underexpose for Bleach Bypass but I found with this Fuji stock that it was better to expose normally. And it was to my advantage to work with a stock that had a wide range of latitude similar to Kodaks 5229/7229.

Steven Budden · August 18, 2005

Bleach bypass? Does that do anything on reversal?

So all of the steps are the same during processing, just the bleach step is skipped?

Any sample footage? I'm interested in getting more grain out of the medium.

Thanks!

Steven

John Pytlak RIP · August 19, 2005

Bleach bypass? Does that do anything on reversal?

So all of the steps are the same during processing, just the bleach step is skipped?

Any sample footage? I'm interested in getting more grain out of the medium.

Thanks!

Steven

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Bleach bypass is not possible with a reversal process, as the bleach step is integral to achieving the reversal image.

To enhance grain with color negative, bleach bypass is one tool. Using higher speed (larger grain) film, underexposure, and push processing are other methods that can be used singly or in combination to get more graininess.

Matthew Skala · August 19, 2005

Bleach bypass? Does that do anything on reversal?

So all of the steps are the same during processing, just the bleach step is skipped?

Any sample footage? I'm interested in getting more grain out of the medium.

Thanks!

Steven

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There are different percentages of Skip Bleach. You can skip it completely 100% or you could skip only 75%, 50%, 25%, etc. Most labs have different options.

David Mullen ASC · August 19, 2005

There are different percentages of Skip Bleach. You can skip it completely 100% or you could skip only 75%, 50%, 25%, etc. Most labs have different options.

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You're thinking of the ENR-type print processes that allow any percentage of silver retention. Since that involves adding additional b&w tanks to the processing line, only a few labs offer this and it's only for prints.

Skip-bleach generally is either a 100% option or a few places offer a half-way process because the bleach step is sort of a two-step process. It is NOT a process that can be fine-tuned to any degree desired, unlike ENR.

John Pytlak RIP · August 19, 2005

Yes, bleach bypass is usually an "all or nothing" situation. Simply reducing the bleach time to achieve partial bleaching risks non-uniformity and streakiness, as the bleach doesn't always reach the silver grains at the same rate if bleaching is not "done to completion".

Steven Budden · August 19, 2005

Thanks. Actually, I was thinking in terms of hand processing. Because the bleach is the most caustic solution I have to deal with, how ideal if I could skip it for a look I'm going for anyway!

Steven

August 21, 2005

does anybody know an example of a film that skipped the bleach bypass process?

Stuart C · August 21, 2005

does anybody know an example of a film that skipped the bleach bypass process?

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Hi,

Thanks to everyone for the above info.

The film I've mostly been looking at is "Ned Kelly"- Australian film with Heath Ledger. DOP was Oliver Stapleton- good article about BB written by him at this link:

http://www.cineman.co.uk/bleach.html

cheers

Dominic Case · August 22, 2005

The film I've mostly been looking at is "Ned Kelly"-

That was bleach bypassed at print stage.

Not to be confused with BB on the negative.

Go back to "Pitch Black" from a few years ago for a dramatic demonstration of the effect on negative - or at least for one style of effect on negative. Bleach bypass can give many different results, depending on how you use it with stock choice, lighting, exposure, grading, etc. And that's just when treat the negative. Different effects again if you treat theprint - or the IP!