New guy needs help

[Dr. Baylock]

Hello all!

I have gone through something like a pre-midlife crisis recently. I came to the realization that life is simply too short to trudge your way through. I've got to do something meaningful to me. So, I've gone back to school, and am going to pursue a dream of filmmaking. I was very happy as a kid making my own little pulp movies, and now I need to return to that. For now, Super-8 is still alive and kicking, and holds a wonderful feeling of nostalgia. However, I am not up on some of the more current aspects of the digital revolution, and so with your permission, maybe someone out there can help.

First Question:
Is there a simple way to color tint B&W film? I'm not sure if this would be a better way than simply using gels on the lights. I'm wanting a soft blue to simulate nighttime. Sort of Day for Night, but with that specific color in mind. Thanks to anyone who can offer advice.

[etimh]

Hi Dr. Baylock,

Your question is a little bit confusing because you ask about tinting B&W film but then you mention blue gels, which sounds like you're trying to acheive a color film effect.

If you plan on working with color film, gels might be a away to go to get the basic effect you're looking for.

If you're strictly looking at B&W film, check out a great article in a new magazine called "smallformat." I've put the link below and in the current issue you'll find an extensive piece on hand-tinting your black and white footage. Hope this helps some.

Tim

smallformat:

www.smallformat.de

[oldasdirt]

You could always shoot a color negative stock and have the transfer facility color it to what you're looking for.That way you have all of the color information intact so you can choose how much,if any chroma you want to keep while adding whatever tint you may want.

Sounds like a cool project.We used to have a film club and we showed old silent movies and added color gels to the projector to convey mood.