[filmscanners] Re: New Fuji Films

["Arthur Entlich" <artistic-1@shaw.ca>]

Personally, as much as I like punchy color in film (and I do), I think
we are deceiving ourselves in thinking that it is "accurate" as a
portrayal.  I honestly think this is a remnant of the '60 and the
"ahem", mind-altering substances we used (as a group) which increased
out serotonin levels and made us think black light fluorescent colors
were "natural".

I look at my Kodachromes and they used to seem to accurately capture the
colors of the "real" world.  Now I look at them (and they have been dark
stored and have not faded) and when I compare them to current film
stocks they look downright "drab".

Even the new filmstocks often end up further color saturated when they
go to my computer and printer. Yes, I like those colors a-popping, but I
do also recognize that its because I miss those good ol' acid days, not
because that's how nature looks. Also, as we age, our lenses yellow and
become less able to pick up the blue range of the spectrum, so we tend
to select films that exaggerate these areas of the spectrum.

You know those "older" people wearing purple clothes and blue hair...
they don't know it, in most cases. They think they are wearing earth
tones, and neutral white gray hair.  The blue is there to counteract the
yellowing of their vision.  Just ask anyone who had cataract surgery and
had uncolored lenses installed rather than yellow ones.  They often end
up tossing half their wardrobe and changing their hair color.

Many ophthalmologists won't even give elderly people clear lenses during
a cataract replacement because the person finds it either too shocking
or can't cope with the imbalance of one eye to the other, if one is
changed at a time.

Art



Frank Paris wrote:

>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
>>[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk] On Behalf Of Arthur Entlich
>>Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 11:27 AM
>>To: frankparis@comcast.net
>>Subject: [filmscanners] Re: New Fuji Films
>>
>>
>>So, from what you are saying I surmise, it records grays
>>well, as washed out as the real thing ;-), and then, as it
>>brightens up, it exaggerates the color and makes it
>>radioactive ;-)  Sounds "interesting"... Ahem.
>
>
> Actually, I would describe it this way. "I'm bringing back the
> memories." The colors of nature seem very vivid to me and Velvia is what
> I have discovered revives those memories better than other films. On a
> gray day, Velvia 50 seemed to do it better than the new 100. However,
> the 100 images are definitely smoother.
>
> The expression, "sounds interesting" has no content so I have no idea
> what you mean.
>
> Frank Paris
> frankparis@comcast.net
>
>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe by mail to listserver@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe 
filmscanners'
or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or 
body