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Flashing Camera Films to
Lower Contrast
“Flashing” means to deliberately fog film by giving it a
u n i f o rm exposure before processing. The amount and
type of exposure will vary with the “look” desired. This
slight exposure lowers the film’s contrast (to some extent),
primarily in the upper scale (shadow) areas, and allows
for more detail in the shadows. The results are similar
whether the film is pre- or post-flashed in a laboratory
or on the camera (equipment supplied by camera
m a n u f a c t u rers).
Flashing is often done to establish a closer match
between films of diff e rent contrast characteristics that will
be intercut. Other reasons for flashing are to cre a t e
pastels from more saturated colors
—
enhancing shadow
details that have less fill light, etc. Effects such as changing
the color of shadows can be made by selective fil t e r i n g
(non-neutral light sourc e ) .
The amount of flash will affect the result, but fla s h i n g
intensity has its limits, and too much will distort the image.
Flashing is often measured in percentages by the cine-
matographers and laboratory personnel. There is no
absolute consensus about what these percentages mean.
This is usually perceived through past experience, and as
with most other creative techniques, it is important to
work closely with the laboratory and gain experience
t h r ough contacts and testing.
Exposed Film
—
What Now?
A Final Thought About Laboratories
P e rhaps now is a good time to draw on the experiences
of a lot of professional cinematographers that may off e r
a few hints about dealing with the laboratories where you
take your films for processing and duplicating. You need
to establish a good line of communications with your lab.
Doing so will help this step of your production go
smoothly.
Know your needs
—
Know what you need from a lab
and then talk about those needs with several labs before
you make a choice. Consider such things as editing,
dubbing, special effects, animation, etc., so the lab can
help you accomplish these tasks the best way possible.
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