Commitment is an independent filmmaker’s most valuable resource. Without a lot of money to grease the wheels of production, a low budget film producer must rely on creativity and determination to get their films made. If a person wants to get their film made badly enough, there is not much in this world that can stop it from happening.

Making a film on your own with your own money is a very daunting task. It can also be very rewarding. When you decide to take on the awesome responsibility of writing, directing, and producing your own independent film, you better know what you are getting into beforehand. Once you set the ball in motion, there is no going back. You either succeed and your film makes to the film festival circuit (which is a major accomplishment in and of itself), or you crash and burn halfway through the film production process and your film vision never sees the light of day.

The next time you watch a movie I suggest that you pay particular attention to the credits at the end of the film. Take a look at how many names scroll across the screen and this will give you an idea of how much work goes into the making of a motion picture. Then take away all of the names on the screen and picture your name in front of every credit for every job and this will give you an idea of how much work YOU will have to do to make your own movie.

When I first graduated from film school I hit the ground running. I landed a decent job as the Director and Animator on an independent film that had Pat Boone’s name attached to it. I was hired to film clay animation stories about The Bible. I worked on that job for about four months and was paid fairly well for my efforts. I decided that the best thing I could do with the money I saved was to make another film. I would take the knowledge and money I gained and use it for my own benefit. I decided to make my own movie with the idea in mind that I would enter it in on the film festival circuit and hopefully win some awards. If that happened it would almost certainly be a boost for my fledgling film career.

I wrote a script for a short film that involved a combination of clay animation and live action, and I was ready to make a film. My plan was to use all of my knowledge and talent and do almost all the work. For the parts that I could not do myself I would hire friends and business associates at a substantially discounted rate. These people agreed to work for cheap in return for a little creative control, a credit for their demo reel, and possibly exposure if the film does well at any major film festivals. I only had to hire them for the filming of the live action scenes and for some of the post production work (like sound design, mixing, foley sound effects, etc…). The animation I would do entirely on my own.

I contacted a couple of friends of mine that managed camera and sound equipment rental houses. They set me up with a 16mm camera package and a DAT (digital audio tape) package to rent at discounted prices. I rented these packages on a weekend (to get the extra 2 days for free) and I started filming the live action part of my film right away.

I worked extremely hard that first weekend. I basically filmed most of the time with only about two to three hours of sleep each day. When I was not filming/acting/directing, I was setting up lights, moving furniture, making meals for everyone, setting up props, distributing and apply makeup, rehearsing with actors, fixing costumes, and performing script rewrites on the set, to name only a few things. By the time Monday morning rolled around, I was mentally and physically exhausted, but I still had to bring back the camera and sound equipment packages by 10:00 am or I would be charged for another day of rental. You do not have that luxury to just sleep in and not worry about it when you are making an independent film on a shoestring budget. There is no rest for the weary when you are making your own movie. Time is money, and you do not have a lot of either one of these resources.

I returned the camera and sound equipment packages just in time on Monday morning. Then I went straight to the film lab and dropped off my film. I then made an appointment for the following week (the soonest date I could get) to see my dailies (developed film), and counted the days until the day of my appointment arrived.

I arrived at the film lab a half hour early for my appointment to see my dailies. As I sat in the lobby waiting for my big moment, I began to get very nervous. Unnerving thoughts began to fill my head. What if one of the rolls of film somehow got damaged in the lab? Maybe the machine that develops the film broke when my film was running through it and all of my film rolls are scratched? What if the cameraman I hired was not as good as his demo reel implied and all my rolls are under or over exposed? What if the guy who took my film at the front desk of the film lab is a disgruntled filmmaker who only took that job so he can ruin other people’s film when they hand it over to him? What if there was a mishap in the film vault involving fire sprinklers and all my rolls of film got ruined? Of course, all of these are irrational thoughts, but nonetheless they are the kind of thoughts that go through the mind of an independent filmmaker as they are quietly waiting in the lobby of a film lab facility prior to their appointment to see the fruits of their efforts.

As it turned out, everything was fine. My dailies looked great and that only inspired me to keep the ball rolling with my film project. I put every ounce of effort that my body and soul possessed into that project, and it paid off. That film (Mike And The Magic Lamp) won several awards at several film contests that year (1998) including a Silver Award at the Houston Worldfest in the same category that had seen past winners with such names as Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, and Quentin Tarantino. It was a perfect springboard for my film career. I have made several films since then and all of them have led to bigger and better projects. My latest film is a ninety minute science fiction love story. I already have a couple of distribution offers for this film, and I have yet to enter it in a single film festival. I should be able to make a very decent profit if it does well on the film festival circuit, and I owe it all to my iron resolve to make my film career dream a reality. Where my budget was lacking, my determination picked up the slack.

Copyright 2006. Michael P. Connelly

1. Infrastructure – The first thing that separates a good film school from run of the mill film schools is the infrastructure. The classrooms, the studios, editing rooms, sound mixing studios, outdoor shooting facilities, library, computer labs and film screening facilities are the primary requisites of a film school.

2. Faculty – Of course the quality and experience of the faculty members are important for any educational institution and there is no exception in case of the film schools. Efficient faculties will always make the difference as you will be learning the art and science of film making from them.

3. Equipments – Film making is a craft where you need hands on training for effective learning. That is why the equipment like camera, sound systems, editing machines, everything should be available with a film school.

4. Comprehensive Course – The courses at the film school should take care of every aspect that is important for film making. It is not that the acting schools will teach only acting for the aspiring actors and camera techniques to those who are studying cinematography. The course should cover all the areas of film making that will give the students a comprehensive idea.

5. Options of Courses – The film school should have different courses for different functions of film making. The courses should include film direction, film acting, film editing, sound engineering, art direction, cinematography, script writing and so on.

6. Contemporary Curriculum – The curriculum of the institute should be in tune with the best film schools around the world. The courses should incorporate contemporary style of film making and latest techniques that are being used globally.

7. Association with Industry – The institutes should have close ties with the film industry. Thereby the students will get the chance to learn from the people who have the first hand experience of making film.

8. Diploma Films – The diploma films produced by the film schools is another deciding factor of the quality of education that the institute provides. So before selecting a film school one should carefully study the diploma films and the chances of making films at the institute after successfully completing the course.

9. Alumni – The alumni of any institute speaks a lot about the standard of learning facilities at the institute. So, you should try and find out how the past students have done after leaving the institute.

10. Film Archive – The film archive of the film schools are very important as that will give you a chance of seeing as many films as possible. When you enroll with a film school that has well stocked film archive you get a comprehensive idea of the world cinema.

11. Production Facility – The production facility of the film school should be of professional standard equipped with latest and finest machinery. It will let you learn the fine points of film making right at the school and you will ready to work professionally right from the first day after you leave the institute.

12. Short Films – The institute should have proper infrastructure and ambience for making short films and should promote the films at different film festivals that will eventually help you showcase your work.

13. Further Studies – The institute should have scope of further studies in the fields of film making and acting. The acting schools should have the advanced courses like master degree and PhD courses that will eventually help you make it big in the field of film making.

14. Student Exchange Programs – The scope of student exchange program with other acting schools and international film schools will give you the much needed exposure to international film education and technologies.

15. Career Opportunities – The institute should have proper infrastructure and network to help the students in their career. Whether it is promoting the diploma films of the students or arranging campus interviews, the film school should provide a platform to launch the new talents.

Learn about the working of photographic equipment such as film reels and film processing tanks.

Sifting through our favorite photo albums is like traveling back in time by going down memory lane and reliving those precious moments spent with our loved ones. But what keeps our memories from fading away? Of course the camera–one of the best human inventions of all times.

Quiet a lot of work is involved before we finally get to see our everlasting fond memories on paper.

Film Reel

Once the film roll is complete and ready to be developed, it is loaded/ spooled onto a film reel in a darkroom. This step involves extra carefulness as portions of the film might not get developed if it has been improperly loaded. A film reel actually looks like a picture on a reel that would rotate and the photographs would show up, one after the other, on a cinema screen like the way cinemas showed movies long time back or like the Hollywood old film reel pictures as depicted in today’s movies.

Basically film reels are used for holding the roll film firmly so that it can be properly developed once inside the film processing tank. The roll takes the form of a spiral so that the film surfaces do not touch and it is uniformly spaced to let the chemical flow freely and touch every part of the film. The reel should be dry as any sign of dampness makes loading difficult.

Film reels are available in either plastic or steel and also in varied sizes to accommodate different films. Steel reels are more durable while the plastic ones are easier to handle by amateur photographers.

Film Reel Brands

Companies such as Peterson, Kindermann etc manufacture film tanks and reels for developing films.

Paterson positions itself as a user-friendly brand by offering the auto-load reel with a smooth finish and a twin ball ratchet system that make film loading very simple. 

The 35mm stainless steel reels manufactured by Kindermann are marketed as chemical resistant, easy to clean and unbreakable as they are made from strong chrome nickel steel. It also guarantees to prevent damage as the reel is designed in such a way that there is negligible contact between the film edge and the reel.

Film Processing Tanks

Once the film has been loaded onto the film reel, it is developed using a light tight container called a film processing tank. The photographic film has the tendency to get damaged if exposed to daylight while developing, but with a film processing tank it can be developed in a daylight setting hence these are also referred to as ‘daylight tanks’. The various chemicals required for developing the photographs can be poured inside through the opening in the tank’s lid.

Similar to film reels, the film processing tank comes with different tank varieties and reel sizes to cater to both 35mm and 120mm film. The varieties include stainless steel and plastic tanks. For beginners it is advisable to use plastic tanks as they are cheap and user-friendly. However when processing temperature needs to be controlled, only stainless tanks can be used. Moreover a steel tank can be used either wet or dry unlike plastic tank where the film sticks and gets ruined if the tank is wet.

The core steps for developing photographs are summarized in the following steps:

Prepare all the necessary equipment (tools, chemicals etc);

Spool the film onto the film reel in the dark;

Transfer the reel to the film processing tank sealed by a cap (once safely packed inside, film can be easily developed in daylight without getting ruined);

Pour the developer in the tank and start the agitation process till required;

After agitation is complete, wash the film;

Hang to dry in a dust-free area;

Cut the dry film into strips for printing.

In order to search for film tanks and film reels on sale, photography magazines or websites maybe consulted.

BOPP testing is very important for BOPP quality control. BOPP(Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene) cigarette film, with is excellent moisture barrier property, optical performances, heat seal property as well as high heat seal strength, reasonable shrinkage rate and good stiffness, is the first choice for cigarette film. The testing items of BOPP are the judgment for BOOP film performance. In order to better control the quality of BOPP cigarette film, Labthink, integrates the testing demand and introduces the relevant BOPP cigarette film testing methods and items, so as to bring useful helps for the cigarette companies.

A. Moisture Barrier Property Testing of BOPP Cigarette Film

High moisture barrier property performance is a must for cigarette package so as to avoid deterioration caused by moisture. At present, this factor is not fully noticed by the cigarette manufacturers. Labthink PARAM TSY-T1H is developed according to ASTM E96, ISO 2528 and other standards to test moisture transmission rate for materials. The lower WVTR the better. But, higher barrier property means more costs. Therefore, the common data is less than 10g/m2.day or 5g/m2.day.

B. Thickness of BOPP

Thickness of BOPP cigarette film is the basic film performance index. Uneven thickness would influence the tensile strength and permeability as well as the following procedures. Thicker cigarette film would have better stiffness with better visual performance. But, the cost would also be great. In order to find the balanced solution, high precision thickness tester is needed. Labthink PARAM CHY-C2 is the lab thickness tester with the precision up to 0.1um. When testing thickness in different directions, deviation must be controlled within 3% usually. Meanwhile, the edge thickness of BOPP film has to be measured.

C. BOPP Cigarette Film Tensile Strength, Elongation and Elastic Modulus

Cigarette package requires high tensile strength of BOPP films, which can greatly reduce the breakage during packaging process. Generally, 140N/mm2 vertically and 200N/mm2 crosswise are required. Elongation rate is for analysis of incision easiness of films. Cigarette packaging industry is different from other industries. Higher elongation rate is not better. Max. limitations of 200% vertically and 80% crosswise can guarantee easy incision and assembling smoothness. Other industries require those two indexes. But cigarette package requires more detailed requirements on incision easiness during high speed production. Therefore, Elastic Modulus testing is also put forward. Labthink PARAM XLW(PC) Auto Tensile Tester is the professional tester for film and its tensile strength with Elastic Modulus testing. Low Elastic Modulus would lead to worse stiffness, unsuccessful production procedure and inferior incision easiness as well as package breakage and film obstruction.

Commonly, Elastic Modulus is required to be above 2000N/mm2 for cigarette film. However, when testing Elastic Modulus, testing conditions and temperature must be emphasized. Otherwise, the results will fluctuate greatly. Therefore, testing condition must be stated.

D. The Heat Seal Strength of BOPP Cigarette Film

BOPP is required to have high heat seal strength and wider heat seal scope by the cigarette industry, so as to improve packing speed and proper operation. If the heat seal temperature is higher, it would lead to wrinkle because of increased BOPP film shrinkage. Therefore, proper heat seal temperature should be chosen so as to avoid unstable heat seal, wrinkle and other phenomena. The heat seal style of BOPP cigarette film is heat-pressure seal, that is, to heat seal at certain heat seal temperature, pressure and period. The heat seal testing is to test the minimum heat seal separating force after heat sealing. It is widely applied in the cigarette industry that Labthink PARAM HST-H3 Heat Seal Tester and PARAM XLW (PC) Auto Tensile Tester are used together. The heat seal strength of cigarette is normally required to be above 2.0N/15mm. Now, with the development of cigarette packing machine, low temperature heat seal film becomes more popular, which requires the heat seal strength above 1.5N/15mm.

E. BOPP Cigarette Film Coefficient of Friction Testing

The smoothness of BOPP cigarette film is one important index for BOPP films with is the testing requirements coming along with the high speed packing.

There are four kinds of situations that need coefficient of friction testing, namely, the coefficient of friction of the film and the metal side of the machine or the transfer belt; the inside side between films; the film inner side and the cigarette outer package; and the outer film side and the outer package. Of these four coefficients of friction, the first should be low so as to better transfer the cigarette package and improve packing speed.

The inside coefficient of friction should be a bit higher than that of the outer film and the machine metal side for precise location of film and cigarette package so as to improve heat seal quality and packing effects. The coefficient of film and outer paper box should be low for smooth insertion of cigarette packages. The testing speed is 100mm/min, or 150mm/min in US Standard. Labthink PARAM MXD-02 Coefficient of Friction Tester complies with many standards including US standards and international standards, and gets wide applications. Since the reference for cigarette film coefficient of friction varies, e.g., metal panel, cigarette box, inner and outer sides of films, etc., the coefficient of friction is normally between 0.2-0.6.

F. The Heat Shrinkage Testing for BOPP Cigarette Film

BOPP film heat shrinkage is mainly used for the evaluation of heat stability under different conditions or different factors. For rigid cigarette package, such rigid package has good support effect, around which high shrinkage film can be applied so as to achieve even and beautiful visual effects. Therefore, rigid package requires the heat shrinkage of BOPP cigarette film to be up to 8% to 12%.

But, deformation cause by high shrinkage rate is a problem for ordinary flexible cigarette package. Generally, the shrinkage rate is controlled within 3%-7%. For heat shrinkage testing of BOPP cigarette film, ASTM D 2732, or GB/T 13519 is applied. Take Labthink PARAM RSY-R2 Film Free Shrink Tester as an example; mark the vertical and crosswise lines on the specimen with clear indication of direction. Put the specimen in between the frame, and immediately emerge into 120±2C constant temperature medium for 20 seconds. Then, emerge the specimen into the prepared normal temperature bath for 5 seconds, and take it out. Lay horizontally and measure the vertical and crosswise size within 30 minutes. The measurement should be with accuracy up to 1 mm. At present, some companies heats 1 minute, 5 minutes or other conditions under 120C with different testing results.

G. BOPP Cigarette Film Abrasion Resistance Testing

With stricter requirements for abrasion resistance, inferior abrasion resistance performance would greatly influence the beauty of the cigarette package. The testing of abrasion resistance is to avoid scratch on the surface of the product caused by the contact of film surface and the machine; and to avoid wounds caused by film and outer package. Labthink PARAM MCJ-01A Rub Tester can be applied for the test. Take a piece of clean offset paper of 50mm width and 80g/m2 onto the rub tester. Cut a piece of BOPP cigarette of certain size and put on the rub platform. Set the rub times and start to see the abrasion.

Above all, there are many BOPP cigarette film testing items. When testing, relevant standards must be applied; or unified testing conditions for data comparison. Labthink, is willing to have further dialogues on BOPP film and its quality with professionals of the industry.

Labthink Instruments Co., Ltd.

No. 144 Wuyingshan Road, Jinan 250031, China

Tracy Bao  info@labthink.cn

Tel: 0086 531 85061153  fax:0086 531 85812140