Pushing for a Gritty Look

[Eduardo Mayen]

Im thinking of shooting a short on 7217, just because it's the Vision 2 stock with the contrast I like the best. Unfortunetly I can't get a hold of any old Vision1 stock because this is a student shoot and Kodak doesn't have it available for us. So, in order to get more texture and character out of the stock I have decided to push it two stops. Since I can't really shoot test either, I'm curious to know what kind of things I should keep in mind when pushing. Do I underexpose it 2 full stops? How much does the Latitude of the film change? Normally I could underxpose by 4 stops and still get detail on the shadows, what would happen now? Any info will help?

[David Mullen ASC]

As you underexpose, whether or not you push to compensate, you are recording less shadow detail. Pushing does not bring it back, it only takes what got recorded and increases that density further, increasing contrast and grain.

 

Also, a two-stop push may not yield exactly two-stops worth of increase density, so it's safer not to underexpose by quite the same amount as you push. Besides, if you underexpose by 1 1/3 stops, let's say, and push by two stops, you will have a little extra density in the negative for printing down, which improves your contrast and blacks.

[John Pytlak RIP]

Im thinking of shooting a short on 7217, just because it's the Vision 2 stock with the contrast I like the best. Unfortunetly I can't get a hold of any old Vision1 stock because this is a student shoot and Kodak doesn't have it available for us. So, in order to get more texture and character out of the stock  I have decided to push it two stops. Since I can't really shoot test either, I'm curious to know what kind of things I should keep in mind when pushing. Do I underexpose it 2 full stops? How much does the Latitude of the film change? Normally I could underxpose by 4 stops and still get detail on the shadows, what would happen now? Any info will help?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I would not overdo it, especially since you want the normal contrast of 7217. Try underexposing by a stop, and then pushing 1. That should give a bit more grain texture, without much change in tone scale. At 4-under, you would lose all shadow detail, and even with a push-2, the best you would recover would be very grainy and have "milky" blacks with no shadow detail.