Closing The Ring: Richard Attenborough/ UK-Canada

Richard Attenborough has done it again. ‘Closing the ring’ is one of the most beautiful films I have seen in a long time. This film is about the value of love and the loss of it, inability to grieve, loyalty among friends and above all, the heartache and suffering brought on by war. Shirley MacLain and Christopher Plummer have excelled in their performance. Christopher Plummer showed his adoring fans that he could still win hearts, just as he did all those years ago as the handsome captain in ‘Sound of Music’! ‘Jimmy’ (Martin Mac Cann) was a delight to watch along with Pete Postlethwaite. Richard Attenborough shows us that there is no shame in falling love and keep it live, no matter what your age is. ‘A film that touches your heart and tells you something’, that’s what ‘Closing the Ring’ does and therefore, an example of good cinema truly at its best. Question & Answer time with Lord Attenborough after the screening was sheer delight.

The Darjeeling Limited: Wes Anderson/USA

A light hearted film that tells the story of three brothers who haven’t seen each other for a year going on a train journey through the deserts of India. They are trying to bond with each other and with the beautiful but unknown conditions in India. Wes Anderson’s film brings comedy, conflict among siblings and some hilarious moments. These brothers who love each other don’t like each other very much and their odd behaviour comes as no surprise once you meet their mother (Angelica Houston), who gives a great performance along with Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson. A good laugh and a film you don’t want to miss.

I’m Not There: Todd Haynes/USA

‘I’m not There’ means just that! It’s a biographical journey into Bob Dylan’s life, portrayed by six actors, but Bob Dylan, as the title says, is not there! If you think an 11-year-old black boy, Marcus Carl Franklin, who is splendid as Bob Dylan is odd, the worse is yet to come; but that’s surely the best, Dylan played by a woman! Cate Blanchett in black and white turns up as Bob Dylan and you don’t for a moment suspect that it’s a woman. She is just magnificent and puts the other ‘Bobs’ in the shade. It’s confusing and chaotic if you are not a Dylan fan, but entertaining till the closing credits. The music however is real stuff and as the closing credits roll in, songs like the original ‘Knock knock knock’n on heaven’s door’ keeps you on your seat.

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford: Andrew Domonik /USA

Definitely ‘a Brad Pitt film’ and everyone else fades away in the background. The film is based on the legend of Jesse James, ‘the gentleman outlaw’ who became an American icon. Brad Pitt has shown his acting ability yet again, only more so this time. He has graduated in the ‘Jack Nicholson School of acting’! A film worth watching and the cinematography is at its best. Perhaps the film would have been even better, if it did not stretch that long after the assassination of Jesse James; great film, in spite of this and not to be missed.

In Memory of Me: Saverio Costanzo/ Italy

As the film is set in Venice one expects to see at least a bit of this beautiful city; but that was not to be. The camera has eyes for the outside world only when a large ship slips by the window of the seminary. ‘In Memory of me’ is a very intense film that goes into the inner depth of spirituality and the conflicts encountered. The story is about Andrea who is accepted into a Jesuit seminary, isolated in an island. The recruits undergo very strict training to prepare them for the disciplined work that awaits these soldiers of Christ. The rituals are repeated in a methodical fashion everyday and that includes cleaning of the corridors of that magnificent monastic building. The inmates’ personality is analyzed to such an extent that they start to doubt their own spirituality and whether such mental cruelty is justified.

The silence that lingers in the magnificent corridors is mesmerizing, to say the least! We have heard of severe Mother Superiors, but the Father Superior in this film is frightening. Some find this fearsome training unbearable and decide to leave. Andrea too reaches his turning point, but finally realizes that he is made for better things and God has a purpose for him and decides to follow Him. This film is a lesson in itself in how one gives himself to God, then loose that faith and ultimately regaining the love of God and the faith. An intense film that makes one think.

Things We Lost in the Fire: Susanne Bier/USA

It tells the story of Audrey (Halle Berry), her loss and how she tries to rebuild her life after loosing the love of her life in a tragic accident. Her envious life with her husband ‘Brian’ and the two beautiful children are shown as flashback. Audrey decides to seek help from her husband’s childhood friend, Jerry (Benicio Del Toro), who is a drug addict and quite dangerous at times. Though she did not like him to be her husband’s friend in the past, she felt drawn to him now as they both had one thing in common- the love they both shared for Brian. She asks Jerry to move into the converted garage that was refurnished following a fire at the house and Audrey and the children form a bond with him. Anyone would wish to have somebody like Jerry in a situation like this, but not a drug addict though! Complications set in and the emotional turmoil in dealing with the sense of loss, drug addiction, rehabilitation and the society’s role in all this are portrayed very well.

Halle Berry has given a magnificent performance. Benicio Del Toro was dazzling and he has given his best ever. It was a delight to see Halle Berry at the screening, looking gorgeous in a brilliant blue backless gown! Susanne Bier (Director) and Halle Berry answered questions from the audience after the film: a beautiful film not to be missed.

Richard Attenborough, Wes Anderson, Susanne Bier, Saverio Constanzo, Andrew Dominik, Shivajee Chandrabhushan, Shamim Sarif, Amitab Bachan, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Halle Berry and Adrien Brody were among the celebrities who attended the screening of their films. It was truly a festival of films, films that touched the audience and made them think. The two weeks of the festival was a stage for meeting the best filmmakers from all over the world, listen to them and see films of extreme diversity.

1. Know What You Want

First of all, you have to know what you want. Ask yourself what realm of filmmaking do you want to venture in or what kind of films do you want to work on in the future? Do you want to be an independent filmmaker or a simple film artist? There are so many film schools in the country as well as in other parts of the globe and each has its own expertise. Knowing what you want in the first place would allow you to focus your research and thus refine your choices for good film schools. Also, this would help you save time and effort in searching for schools as you have already eliminated those that may not fit your interest and criteria.

2. What Are Your Considerations?

After deciding on what area you want to concentrate, you should also identify your major considerations in choosing a particular film school.

- the affordability of film courses
- the facilities of the film school
- the accessibility and proximity of the school
- the film school’s reputation and quality of education

3. Don’t Skimp On Your Education

Remember that a good film education is really expensive so do not just choose a film school that offers the cheapest film courses. It is important to consider the quality of education and the reputation of the school above all else. Remember that with that school, you are building a career that is supposed to be a life-long profession. Short-term film courses, say a 2-yr filmmaking course may be a lot cheaper than a 4-yr course and is quite helpful as most provide hands on training and a lot of project work. If you want to really excel in this field, however, you might opt for a longer course as it is more comprehensive.

3. Identify Where You Want To Study

Knowing where you want to cultivate your skills and intensify your interest in filmmaking is essential in selecting the right film school for you. This would refine your search as well since you would have to concentrate in looking for film schools only in one particular area or locality. New York is one of the best places to study film. It has the most developed art scenes for film and a number of reputable film schools. If affordability of the film course is one of your major considerations, you can choose a film school in Chicago and Milwaukee, which are known for having the most affordable film schools in the country. If you want to make it to Hollywood, better start your search for the best film school there in Los Angeles and nearby cities. There are lots of renowned film schools there that offer short and long term film courses.

4. Explore Colleges and Universities

Now that you have refined your criteria: the area in filmmaking you want to concentrate in, your major considerations such as the affordability of the courses, the school’s reputation and the place, you can now do some research. As you explore your options, consider the things you have identified earlier. It would be better if you list down every film school’s advantages and disadvantages so you can easily compare and contrast them. Also, as you examine the school’s film courses and their special attributes, you can add some more considerations to your list and see which of the film schools you have considered meet the most of your requirements.

5. Narrow Your List

After going through several colleges and universities, narrow now your list by eliminating those that do not meet your criteria. With your short but well researched list of the best film schools, you can be more confident now of making a right decision. But before you finally select the film school, seek for other people’s advice and recommendations, especially those who are well familiar with filmmaking.

If you do end up loading your laminator incorrectly, adhesive may end up being deposited onto the rollers. It is very important that you do not allow this to happen. Otherwise, you will need to scrub the adhesive off the rollers before you can laminate any other documents. Adhesive may be deposited on the rollers if

* You try to laminate with only one roll loaded on your machine

* You try to use two different widths of laminating film at the same time

* Either roll of laminating film is loaded upside down (with the adhesive towards the roller). The shiny side of clear film should be in contact with the heat rollers and the dull side with the adhesive should face out.

* One or both rolls of film are allowed to completely run off the cores of the laminator.

Being careful to not allow one of these things to happen, here are some simple steps for loading film onto your school laminator. Please keep in mind that you should always replace both rolls of film at the same time.

o Turn the main power switch on. If the laminator is already hot, turn the main power switch to off and allow it to cool down before turning the machine back on.

o Remove the feed table from the laminator so you can see both rolls of laminate that are mounted on the laminator.

o Cut the remaining top and bottom film webs between the supply rolls and the heated rollers. Be very careful not to cut the heat rollers in the process since this could ruin them.

o Raise the safety shield to its full upright position and pull the top piece of film down.

o Remove the existing film from the laminator. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to use the reverse function of the laminator to slowly back the laminate out of the machine. Be careful during this step to make sure that no adhesive comes in contact with the heated rollers on the laminator. You may need to reinstall the feed table to complete this task. Just remember to remove it again after the film has been removed.

o Remove the bottom roll of laminating film by sliding the right to release it from the hex shaped brake hub. Loosen the locking screw on the left retaining collar of the film supply shaft and slide the collar off. Pull the shaft partially out of the film tube and then push it back in to knock out the left core. Pull out the shaft all the way out of the tube and remove the remaining core adapter.

o Slide one core adapter into the right side of the new roll of film ensuring that the film will unroll properly (from the bottom). Slide the film shaft into the core adapter and tube from the right side. Place the other core adapter on the shaft protruding from the left side then replace the retaining collar. Tighten the locking screw.

o Lower the bottom idle bar.

o Unroll 2ft of film and push the idler bar back into place and drape film over the bottom roll of film. Place the bottom roll of film back into the round hole of the right side frame and the left side into the hex shaped brake hub.

o Remove the top film supply roll from the laminator and repeat steps 6 and 7 from above. Ensure that when you install the film onto the roller that the film will unroll from the bottom after the film supply is loaded back on the laminator.

o Unroll 2ft of film and drape the film over the top idler bar and completely over both heat rollers

o Slide the feed tray under the bottom film web that is draped over the bottom roll of film. Reinstall the feed table so that the bottom film is resting on the tray.

o Slide the threading card between the feed tray and the laminating film that is laying on the tray. Gently push the threading card into the nip area of the heat rollers. The card should now be guiding both rolls of film into the heat rollers

o Lower the safety shield and press the RUN button on the laminator. Watch the leading edge of the threading card to ensure that it enters the nip area of the heat rollers and is being pulled into the laminator. Push STOP once the threading card has exited the rear of the laminator.

For most people, time, skills and/or equipment are the issues which cause them to search out a company that can do it for them. Before you do that, you need to understand what type of 8mm film to DVD processes there are and which one best fits your needs and budget.

Before we jump into the different 8mm film to DVD processes, let’s go over some basics. Video has several characteristics that determine how good it is. One of the most important characteristics is the number of lines of resolution. The resolution determines how detailed and sharp the video is. If you’ve ever watched a standard definition video channel on an HDTV and then switched to the HD version, you notice that the HD version is much sharper and detailed. The reason is that standard definition video has 480 horizontal lines while HD has 1080 lines.

In a similar way, your old 8mm movie films have a maximum resolution. The maximum resolution for an 8mm film to DVD transfer is limited by the film grain size and the size of the frame. Research has shown that 8mm film has the equivalent of 700 lines of horizontal resolution. So, a standard definition 8mm film to DVD transfer will only be able to capture 480 out of the 700 lines of resolution on your film. A high definition 8mm film transfer will be able to capture all 700 lines of resolution on your 8mm film since it is a 1080 line video format.

In addition to resolution, the type of film transfer is equally important to the final video quality you receive from your 8mm film to DVD transfer.

There are a few basic types of 8mm film to DVD transfer processes. More than 98% of the companies out there today use a real-time transfer. That is, they capture the film at the same speed that the film normally runs at. So, if a 3 inch reel runs in 3.5 minutes, the capture takes just 3.5 minutes. There are several ways to perform a real-time 8mm film to DVD transfer. Some shoot the film on a screen and record it with a camcorder. Some use mirrors and a camera. Some transfer the film to VHS first using equipment from the 1980′s and then transfer that to DVD. Because of the transfer speed and nature of a real-time capture, the resulting video frames are usually slightly blurry and the colors are faded compared to the film. In general, any type of real-time transfer will result in video that is 30-50% worse than the film’s current condition.

A second and much newer 8mm film to DVD transfer process is called frame by frame. A frame by frame process means that each 8mm film frame is captured like a separate digital picture. Most frame by frame machines are high-end $50,000+ machines that scan or project the image directly onto a CCD device. Reading each frame one at a time ensures that all the details are captured from the film. A frame by frame process will result in video that is 30-50% better than a similarly configured real-time process.

Be aware, some companies claiming a frame by frame transfer are doing a real-time transfer and then are extracting each film frame after the real-time capture. Because the capture process is real-time, it will still produce video that is 30-50% worse than the current film’s quality just like any other real-time process. These companies are trying to capitalize on the “Frame by Frame” slogan and price without giving you frame by frame quality.

So, at this point you’ve learned that 8mm film to DVD transfers can capture at standard definition (480 lines) or high definition (1080 lines). You’ve also learned that a frame by frame transfer can be 30-50% better quality than a real-time transfer. So, looking at it this way, there are now four 8mm film to DVD transfer process combinations. In order from least to best quality we have:

1) Real-Time Standard Definition (least quality)

2) Real-Time High Definition

3) Frame by Frame Standard Definition

4) Frame by Frame High Definition (best quality)

You’ll find all four processes being used today and you’ll see the price reflect that. Real-time standard definition processes go for 10 to 15 cents/ft, real-time high definition for 16-21 cents/ft, frame by frame standard definition 21 to 28 cents/ft and frame by frame high definition for 40 to 60 cents/ft

Besides these 4 different 8mm film to DVD transfer processes above, you’ll notice that a few companies have started to offer restoration services. The reason is that over 90% of the 8mm film today has colors that have shifted, exposure that is now darker, is grainy and scratched. These are natural side affects of the aging process. In addition, there may have been exposure or other types of issues that were originally recorded on the film to begin with.

Companies will have a wide range of abilities from no restoration at all, to a limited scene level color corrector, to full frame by frame restoration using dedicated film restoration machines.

If you want to pursue doing the 8mm film to DVD transfer yourself, there are a few options you can try. Elmo used to make a telecine transfer machine. They sell for about $2000. It produces about 240 lines of resolution per frame and only transfers to VHS.

Goto also makes a telecine machine called the TC-20. You can use a digital camcorder to capture the images through a firewire connection to your computer. This unit costs around $1300. You should be able to read in 480 lines of resolution on this type of transfer.

Even though the Goto machine will produce better results than the Elmo, both will produce the least quality of the 4 processes outlined above. But again, these may be good alternatives for you if you have a lot of film that you want to transfer.

Don’t forget that you’ll most likely need a splicer and splicing tape to repair your film before the transfer. You’ll also want to look into getting a film cleaner to clean the film as well.

There was a time when there were only few film festivals and people were not enthusiasts enough as the studios controlled every aspect of film making. However, with the rise of Indie films every state in the country had its own film festival. In California alone there is around twenty or more film festivals.

There was a time when films did not happen at all unless they were under the sponsorship of the some studios. There was no chance at all for a little guy getting his or her film out there. But now the whole thing has been changed. The little guy can show his films anywhere he want, this gave a call to the rise of independent film festivals all over the world.

The first few film festivals where people submitted their films were the Sundance, The Tribeca, and The Toronto Film Festivals. Later however there came lots of other film festivals where people could submit their films and show their talent. This is rather like a lottery; if you don’t play you can’t win. If you don’t enter your film you can’t get it shown. You must continue to present your motion picture as many times as you can until you finally get approval into a festival.

Always remember that film festival board may have 800 submissions and only 40 spots for a film to be shown. So in the beginning you might get few rejection letters until you get your first acceptance letters. Many a refusal letter has given the reason that they had far too many submissions to even view them all. My advice to you is that once you have your film done and you have the very first date they are opening for submissions then put forward your film. Don’t wait until the last minute.

Make sure that your film has entered the right festival. I am not sure about the category, but you can get your film into the general drift. Also do not forget to read your application cautiously. It may require your entry to be mailed, done online, or even in person.

While presenting an independent motion picture, be very careful about the timings. If it is too long then do some trimming work. Just to be on the safer side if the film is say about 10 minutes long, make it 9 minutes. Do not let them a chance to give you a rejection letter for any cause.

Rejections can be a bit funny at the same time tricky. The “Slamdance” film festival came about as an answer to the rejections from “Sundance”. The Sundance Festival shows its plays in Park City, Utah at the same time in Park City, Utah Slamdance also shows it plays. This is a purposeful attempt to show the films that have been over looked or rejected by Sundance.

Go ahead and do your own search of film festivals and check out their application processes. Do these research sooner rather than later. Don’t wait until the last minute.

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

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.

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.

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

Copyright (c) 2008 Daniel Lafleche

So, you have an indie film and you want to find distribution.

Never have so many options for distribution been available; never has it been so confusing to decide what is right for you and your film. The industry is experiencing a transitional moment; everyone knows online downloads are the future, but nobody knows exactly how it will play out. As well, distribution has gone online too, offering a plethora of choices for the indie filmmaker and producer. What to do, what to do.

This article is the first of a 5-part series that looks at all of the avenues open to you as a filmmaker and distributor. We’ll offer some tips on how to find your film a home.

Regardless of your film’s ultimate destination, your goal is to find a license buyer for your film. Who are film buyers? We’re talking about broadcast TV (cable, satellite, and terrestrial), home DVD companies, VOD service providers, and mobile content providers.

Let’s start this series by examining the psychology of this rare and overworked professional. Here are five things you should know about Film Buyers and 5 tips for putting the best face of your film forward.

1. Film Buyers want a ‘story’. This little bit of terminology here might create some confusion. We’re not talking about the plot of your film or the subject matter of your documentary, but a story that will sell the film–on paper. You should be doing everything in your power to create that story. To do this, you have to distance yourself from the film you know and love and ask yourself: What will sell this film to somebody who does not know and love it the way I do? The answer to this question is the ‘story’ you will use to sell your film.

The most obviously valuable raw material for a sales story is…star power. Film stars often fail to attract their audience, but nothing makes film buyers feel more peaceful than the presence of some known names in the mix. If you are bereft of any bona fide name power, do not fear, you have other options. Festival play and any press generated are also incredibly important. You should be knocking yourself out to find some kind of festival and press exposure for your film. Even if it’s not a top festival or a top publication, festival and press play will take your film from having no story at all to having a first chapter. Hype is over-hyped, but your film is going to look more valuable to buyers if it has a story. If you can say, “This film already had some exposure. This film has been reviewed. This film has played at a festival. This film has a response. This film has an online presence. This film has the beginnings of an audience or a niche audience,” then you have a story buyers will want to cuddle up with.

If you are looking for ideas you should check out the industry trades. Look at how distributors market their films, and figure out how to do this on a small scale. You want your story to be a comfortable and familiar one. “But my film is original, beautiful, heart-breaking, unique…and my marketing must be the same,” you say. This brings us to the next point…

2. Film Buyers think in dollars, not passion. When selling your film, don’t rely on your own enthusiasm and passion to make the sale. Again, channel your enthusiasm into a narrative the film buyer can understand, a narrative about how and why this film is going to attract people to it. Has this genre of film had any recent notable successes? Does your film intersect with any issues or topics that are garnering attention? Save your passion for your filmmaking, and focus your remaining energy into crafting a professional marketing campaign and learning the highly efficient language of film buyers.

3. Film buyers are overextended, have short attention spans, and don’t want to waste time. Film buyers are professionals. Hook them fast with a comprehensive one sheet (or sell sheet). The circumstances in which you are pitching your film are going to vary, but one thing that everybody will need at some point is a one sheet as part of their promotional package. Here is the crucial thing: your sheet should be short and to the point. This sheet is a cliff notes to the strongest features of your film. Do you have a few positive reviews? Great, use them in the press kit, but on the one sheet just use the best line from each one. Do you have some seasoned talent? Stick their names on the one sheet with 1 or 2 of their best-known films, but save full biographies for later. Any film can create a ton of paperwork, but nobody is going to go through it all. Don’t bury the selling features of your film and assume buyers will get to it. With that in mind, don’t assume a buyer will watch a screener. Most buyers accumulate hundreds and hundreds of screeners every year and many of these remain unwatched. Save your screeners for buyer’s who show interest, or even for buyers who you have a good feeling about.

4. Film Buyers want to work in their comfort zone. To save your time and your buyer’s time, you should always do research beforehand, especially if you are making the first move. Are you targeting a buyer that makes sense for your film? Why do you think so? What else had this buyer/company done that makes you think the company is right for your film. Again, these points can be, if not part of your one sheet, an introduction to the story of your film. You will look professional and on the ball, you will stand out if it seems like you have done the research and are personally addressing a buyer’s specific skills, past successes and proven strengths.

5. Film Buyers are freaked out. By and large film buyers are a worried bunch, cowering in the ruins of the decimated music industry and wondering if their business is going to disappear out from under their feet. Film and music are different animals, and the future of film in the era of online exhibition is still not completely foretold, but the mood is certainly wary. The film industry is in transition and everyone is handling it in their own way, some better than others. You’ll see conservative streaks, but also canny entrepreneurs looking to exploit the changing terrain. Overall, though, most buyers want to minimize advance spending. This practice, in itself is not suspicious, but for your own protection do your homework and make sure you are dealing with a reputable company and a company that is in a stable financial position.