Jump to content

flashes of blue on film?


Recommended Posts

Hi I recently saw some Ultra16mm footage I shot last summer

it was a test for a wedding video company looking to offer 16mm film to their clients

 

I shot about 50 feet of fuji 250t it was a 4 month old recan from a short film I shot earlier in the year

Anyways the film didnt get processed right away it sat in a fridge for about 3 months then the wedding video company got around to getting it developed and transferred a few weeks ago

it was transferred at pro res 422hq 1080

Anyways when I was watching it, every couple of seconds the image would flash blue

then disappear

Does anyone know what this could be?

At first I thought maybe I accidently flashed the negative when loading, but I know I was real careful, and I always thought when that happend you get red flashes not blue?

 

any ideas? could it be that the film sat un-processed for 3 months or maybe something happened at the lab or transfer house?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi I recently saw some Ultra16mm footage I shot last summer

it was a test for a wedding video company looking to offer 16mm film to their clients

 

I shot about 50 feet of fuji 250t it was a 4 month old recan from a short film I shot earlier in the year

Anyways the film didnt get processed right away it sat in a fridge for about 3 months then the wedding video company got around to getting it developed and transferred a few weeks ago

it was transferred at pro res 422hq 1080

Anyways when I was watching it, every couple of seconds the image would flash blue

then disappear

Does anyone know what this could be?

At first I thought maybe I accidently flashed the negative when loading, but I know I was real careful, and I always thought when that happend you get red flashes not blue?

 

any ideas? could it be that the film sat un-processed for 3 months or maybe something happened at the lab or transfer house?

Hi Daniel,

it is very possible that condensation got in while the film was in the fridge after shooting. If a film gets wet in this way, when the film is un-wound prior to processing static flashes can be generated as the wet film peels off from the wind. I think these are typically blue. A fridge is a very humid environment. When you buy film from kodak, you can be sure that the film container is air tight and that the tin was packed in a humidity controlled environment. In that state, it is safe to put in the fridge. After shooting, however, this is no longer the case. I wouldn't store exposed film in a fridge for this reason.

regards,

richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Could be a light leak. Make sure your eye is against the eyepiece rubber. Tape the mags. You might want to do a light-leak test by shining a light all the way around the running camera with film. Time it so that each quadrant of the lighted circle is 5 secs duration. This way you could figure out the leak source.

Another way would be to put a 9volt battery with bulb attached inside the magazine and go into a darkened room. Slowly manipulate the magazine in all directions while looking for any light exit points. Light coming out means light's going in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a weird cyclical flash on some 500T recently. It wasn't blue, but it looked like the film was overexposed back and forth. It was weird, and I asked some folks about it that thought it could have been a roller. No one had seen it.

 

I keep 100' rolls in the fridge and I got to thinking, they're not sealed like Super 8 carts are. They're only wrapped with that paper ribbon inside a plastic box.

 

Is it possible that 16mm film in the fridge can get humidified?

 

Also, the day I shot that footage it was ridiculously humid, summer in Dallas/90 degrees and raining. So bad that my lens would fog up any time I would pull the camera out.

 

I wonder....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...