Bleach bypass
Encyclopedia
Bleach bypass, also known as skip bleach or silver retention, is an optical effect which entails either the partial or complete skipping of the bleach
ing function during the processing of a color film. By doing this, the silver
is retained in the emulsion along with the color dyes. The result is a black and white image over a color image. The images usually would have reduced saturation
and exposure latitude
, along with increased contrast and graininess. It usually is used to maximal effect in conjunction with a one-stop
underexposure.
Bleach bypass can be done to any photochemical step in the process, be it original camera negative
, interpositive
, internegative
, or release print
. For motion pictures, it is usually applied at the internegative stage, as insurance companies usually are reluctant to have the original negative bleach bypassed in the event that the look is agreed to be too extreme, and the cost of the process for each individual release print is usually cost-prohibitive. The effect, however, will render slightly differently at each stage, especially between the negative and positive stages.
Bleach bypass generally refers to a complete circumvention of the bleach stage of development, and is the most commonly offered service among labs. Technicolor
's ENR and OZ and Deluxe Labs' ACE and CCE processes are proprietary variants which allow the film to be only partially bleached, giving the cinematographer
a more finely tuned control over the effect rendered by the process.
While originally a laboratory technique, a similar effect can now be achieved digitally through digital intermediate
color grading
.
's 1960 film Her Brother
. Kazuo Miyagawa
as Daiei Motion Picture Company
's cameraman invented bleach bypass for Ichikawa's film, inspired by the color rendition in the 1956 release
of Moby-Dick
, printed using Technicolor
, and was achieved through the use of an additional black and white overlay. Despite this early foray into the technique, it remained overlooked for the most part until its usage by Roger Deakins
in 1984
. The effect has subsequently become a regular development tool in labwork, and has remained in widespread usage ever since. Some notable practitioners include cinematographers Rodrigo Prieto
, Remi Adefarasin
, Darius Khondji
, Dariusz Wolski
, Oliver Stapleton
, Newton Thomas Sigel
, Park Gok-ji, Shane Hurlbut
, Steven Soderbergh
(as "Peter Andrews"), Tom Stern
, Vittorio Storaro
, and Janusz Kamiński
(notably at Steven Spielberg
's Saving Private Ryan
).
Bleach
Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
ing function during the processing of a color film. By doing this, the silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
is retained in the emulsion along with the color dyes. The result is a black and white image over a color image. The images usually would have reduced saturation
Saturation (color theory)
In colorimetry and color theory, colorfulness, chroma, and saturation are related but distinct concepts referring to the perceived intensity of a specific color. Colorfulness is the degree of difference between a color and gray. Chroma is the colorfulness relative to the brightness of another color...
and exposure latitude
Exposure latitude
Exposure latitude is the extent to which a light-sensitive material can be overexposed or underexposed and still achieve an acceptable result. Since the acceptability of the result is dependent on both personal aesthetics and artistic intentions, the measurement of exposure latitude is, by...
, along with increased contrast and graininess. It usually is used to maximal effect in conjunction with a one-stop
F-number
In optics, the f-number of an optical system expresses the diameter of the entrance pupil in terms of the focal length of the lens; in simpler terms, the f-number is the focal length divided by the "effective" aperture diameter...
underexposure.
Technique
Original camera negative
The original camera negative is the film in a motion picture camera which captures the original image. This is the film from which all other copies will be made. It is known as raw stock prior to exposure....
, interpositive
Interpositive
An interpositive, intermediate positive, IP or master positive is an orange-based motion picture film with a positive image made from the edited camera negative...
, internegative
Internegative
An internegative is a motion picture film duplicate. It is the color counterpart to an interpositive, in which a low-contrast color image is used as the positive between an original camera negative and a duplicate negative....
, or release print
Release print
A release print is a copy of a film that is sent to a movie theater for exhibition.-Definitions:Release prints are not to be confused with the other types of print used in the photochemical post-production process:...
. For motion pictures, it is usually applied at the internegative stage, as insurance companies usually are reluctant to have the original negative bleach bypassed in the event that the look is agreed to be too extreme, and the cost of the process for each individual release print is usually cost-prohibitive. The effect, however, will render slightly differently at each stage, especially between the negative and positive stages.
Bleach bypass generally refers to a complete circumvention of the bleach stage of development, and is the most commonly offered service among labs. Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
's ENR and OZ and Deluxe Labs' ACE and CCE processes are proprietary variants which allow the film to be only partially bleached, giving the cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
a more finely tuned control over the effect rendered by the process.
While originally a laboratory technique, a similar effect can now be achieved digitally through digital intermediate
Digital intermediate
Digital intermediate is a motion picture finishing process which classically involves digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics. It often replaces or augments the photochemical timing process and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie...
color grading
Color grading
Color grading or colour painting, is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image, or still image either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. The photo-chemical process is also referred to as color timing and is typically performed at a photographic...
.
Use in movies
Bleach bypass was first used in Japanese filmmaker Kon IchikawaKon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director.-Early life and career:Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture. In the 1930s Ichikawa attended a technical school in Osaka. Upon graduation, in 1933, he found a job with a local rental film studio, J.O. Studio, in their animation department...
's 1960 film Her Brother
Her Brother
Her Brother is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, where it won a prize for Special Distinction....
. Kazuo Miyagawa
Kazuo Miyagawa
is generally recognized as having been one of the finest Japanese cinematographers.Miyagawa is best known for his tracking shots, particularly those in Rashomon , the first of his three collaborations with preeminent filmmaker Akira Kurosawa....
as Daiei Motion Picture Company
Kadokawa Pictures
is a Japanese movie studio.-History:One of the most famous studios in Japan and founded in 1942 as , it is best known for having produced the giant monster Gamera film series and the Daimajin Trilogy. It also produced the Zatoichi and Nemuri Kyoshiro film series and the television series Shōnen Jet...
's cameraman invented bleach bypass for Ichikawa's film, inspired by the color rendition in the 1956 release
Moby Dick (1956 film)
Moby Dick is a 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. It was directed by John Huston with a screenplay by Ray Bradbury and the director. The film starred Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Leo Genn...
of Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
, printed using Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, and was achieved through the use of an additional black and white overlay. Despite this early foray into the technique, it remained overlooked for the most part until its usage by Roger Deakins
Roger Deakins
Roger Antony Deakins, ASC, BSC is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers. Deakins is a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers...
in 1984
Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government...
. The effect has subsequently become a regular development tool in labwork, and has remained in widespread usage ever since. Some notable practitioners include cinematographers Rodrigo Prieto
Rodrigo Prieto
-Life and career:Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His grandfather was mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country's ruler because of political differences. The grandfather escaped with his family to Texas and then to Los...
, Remi Adefarasin
Remi Adefarasin
Remi Adefarasin, B.S.C., , London) is a noted British cinematographer. He is educated in Photography & Filmmaking at Harrow Art School. Started his career as camera trainee at BBC-tv's Ealing Studios...
, Darius Khondji
Darius Khondji
Darius Khondji A.S.C. is an Iranian-French cinematographer. He has worked with such well-known directors as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, David Fincher, Bernardo Bertolucci, Alan Parker, Roman Polanski, Sydney Pollack, Woody Allen, and Wong Kar-wai.-Biography:...
, Dariusz Wolski
Dariusz Wolski
Dariusz Adam Wolski is a Polish-born film and music video cinematographer. He is best known for his work as cinematographer on the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and on Alex Proyas' cult classics The Crow and Dark City. Many of his collaborations include working with film directors like Tony...
, Oliver Stapleton
Oliver Stapleton
Oliver Stapleton, B.S.C. is an English cinematographer.-Life and career:He graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1970 with a degree in psychology and from the National Film and Television School UK while working in South Africa and England.One of his first efforts was the student film...
, Newton Thomas Sigel
Newton Thomas Sigel
Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC is an American cinematographer who mainly works with Bryan Singer. His father, Irving Sigel, was a noted psychologist who worked for the Educational Testing Service.-Filmography:*Latino...
, Park Gok-ji, Shane Hurlbut
Shane Hurlbut
Shane Hurlbut, also credited as L. Shane Hurlbut, is an American cinematographer. Originally from Ithaca, New York, he grew up near Cayuga Lake, and graduated from Southern Cayuga High School in 1982. Hurlbut studied film at Emerson College, graduating with a degree in film and television in 1986...
, Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
(as "Peter Andrews"), Tom Stern
Tom Stern (cinematographer)
Thomas Evans "Tom" Stern, ASC, AFC is an American cinematographer best known for his work on films directed by Clint Eastwood...
, Vittorio Storaro
Vittorio Storaro
Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. is an Italian cinematographer.In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild judged Storaro one of history's ten most influential cinematographers.-Biography:...
, and Janusz Kamiński
Janusz Kaminski
Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has photographed all of Steven Spielberg's films since 1993's Schindler's List.-Life and career:...
(notably at Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....
).