cross processing super8 film

[dharmabum1949]

Hey everybody, Ive been asking a lot of questions lately but i was looking through my 35mm photo portfolio and came across a few interesting pictures I took last year. I had altered the colors of the print by cross processing, a technique in which you develop slide film (E6 process) in a Negative devoloping system (C-41) or vice versa. Im wondering if anyone has experience or comments with this process in regards to super 8 film. For my 35mm stuff i used kodachrome film but my understanding of super 8 kodachrome is that the colors are not present in the film itself but are added when the lab processes it, this makes me think that i would need to try using ektachrome in a c-41 or possibly a color neg film in an E-6 process. Any ideas or suggestions would be a great help Thanks a lot

[Greg Crawford]

Your right!

You will need to shoot on Ektachrome.

American Cinematographer has done lots of articles on films, commercials and music videos that have used cross prossing.

Plan on running a film speed test with your first attempt. It has been my experience that your ASA reading will go up. But be sure to test before you shoot anything important.

Find a lab before you commit to this project. Cross processing is pretty common in
35 and 16 mm. And as always expect to pay a premium price for cross development in Super 8.

good luck, report back your results.

[calgodot]

Forde Labs in Seattle does cross-processing of Ektachrome. They are one of the best labs to handle S8.

http://www.fordelabs.com/db_technique.php?ID=5

Cross-Processing

Color reversal films (Kodak VNF-1) form dyes in processing using the same Kodak developing agent as color negative films use. So it is no surprise that Kodak VNF family reversal films (7239, 7240, 7250 and 7251) can be cross-processed as color negative and yield an image - after a fashion.

When processing color reversal films as negative, the usual goal is an unusual image, and that is exactly the result. Red and green gain contrast while blue contrast decreases, and a subjectively different look is created. The Spike Lee film, Clockers, used 7239 (in 35mm) cross-processed as negative.

As with bleach-bypass processing, the user should experiment with some test footage. The starting exposure index when cross-processing is one half of the recommended normal, i.e. 80 instead of 160.

One note of caution. Color negative products have their characteristic long dye life built in at the manufacturing stage. Color reversal films require treatment in processing for long-lived color dyes. Without this processing step, reversal color dyes will begin fading immediately and will have lost significant density in a few months. With Forde Labs cross-processing, you can expect long dye life, as Forde Labs adds the dye stability step for every cross-processing run.