Film Lab
The world’s premier motion picture film lab
FotoKem has been helping filmmakers shoot and finish motion pictures on film since 1963, and our passion for celluloid infuses everything we do. Which might be why acclaimed directors such as such as Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Denis Villeneuve, Jonathan Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Sean Baker, Gia Coppola, and Yorgos Lanthimos and leading cinematographers such as Greig Fraser, Hoyte Van Hoytema, Darius Khondji, and Linus Sandgren continue to partner with us to bring to the screen some of the most creative and beautiful motion pictures of all time.
From motion picture film processing in 16mm, 35mm, and 65/70mm, to release printing and beyond, FotoKem’s film lab is where the beating heart of traditional film meets pioneering new digital workflows, bringing your creative vision to life on celluloid.
Kill Bill – The Whole Bloody Affair • One Battle After Another • The Smashing Machine • Sinners • Anora • The Brutalist • Oppenheimer • The Phoenician Scheme • The Last Showgirl • Killers of the Flower Moon • Bugonia • Maestro • Winning Time • Succession • Fallout • Poolman • Twisters • Euphoria • Westworld • Kinds of Kindness • The Idol • Fingernails • Strange Darling • Dandelion • Swarm • Saturday Night • Hurry Up, Tomorrow • Jurassic World Rebirth • The Knife • Lurker • Jimmy & Stiggs • The Iron Claw • Little Death • Trap • Challengers • Queer • If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
The home of large format film & specialty formats
FotoKem is the top film lab for filmmakers shooting and/or printing 65mm/70mm (the highest resolution motion picture canvas ever created) as well as unique formats such as VistaVision. Our motion picture film lab offers the widest range of 65mm/70mm post-production services on the planet, including negative processing, optical and digital conversions, high resolution film scanning and film recording; and we’re the only lab in the world still printing 70mm. We’re here to help guide your film workflow from concept to theatrical release print.
motion picture film processing
The expert artists, innovators, and technicians in our motion picture film lab have kept the beauty and simplicity of celluloid film alive and vibrant for generation after generation of filmmakers for over 63 years. We offer film processing for 16mm Color and Black-and-White Negative, 35mm Color and Black-and-White Negative, 65mm Color Negative, and cross-processing in all three film formats.
optical printing
FotoKem’s film lab provides optical printing to and from all 65mm film formats, including format conversions, anamorphic conversions, reductions and blowups. We use an Academy Award™-winning multi-format optical printer for most 65mm conversions, and have additional, dedicated optical printers for other common 65mm to 35mm conversions.
color timing
We offer expert color timing and photochemical finishing on 16mm, 35mm, or 65/70mm.
film printing
Printing options during production include Timed and 1-Lite Daily Prints. Printing finishing options include Check Prints, Proof Prints and Answer Prints. We provide standard and wet-gate printing in all formats. High-speed “loop” release printing is also available for 35mm. We also provide 16mm / 35mm / 65mm interpositive and internegative printing.
film scanning
Our 16mm and 35mm motion picture film scanners provide true 4K scan-once workflows. Our 65mm film scanners offer 4K dailies and 8K mastering scans from all 65mm formats.
negative assembly
Our negative assembly process includes inspection, cueing, optical track syncing, splice repair, and condition reports.
film cleaning
We offer immersive and hand-cleaning of film elements in all formats.
sound
FotoKem’s film lab manages your optical and DTS time code soundtracks, for 16mm, 35mm and 65/70mm formats.
skip bleaching
Also known as bleach bypass, skip bleach is a silver retention process that can be performed at either the print processing or negative processing stage to increase contrast, darken shadows, and reduce the color saturation of images.
What is skip bleach?
When black-and-white film is exposed to light and processed, the silver halides on the film are converted to metallic silver, resulting in the image. For color film, those same light-sensitive silver halides are contained on filter layers with color couplers. When the silver is exposed, it affects those halide crystals surrounding the color couplers, and forms a dye during processing. In normal processing, the negative passes through a bleach bath to remove the silver, since it’s served its purpose, and is no longer needed. However, if the film does not go through that bleaching bath – if it “skips” the bleach – the silver stays.
Think of it like leaving a black-and-white photo on top of a color image. The resulting image contains the blacks of the color image plus the blacks of the black-and-white image on top, resulting in blacks that are very black, and colors that are slightly muted. For example, a vibrant red is rendered by black and white film as gray. So when your image has that gray on top of the red, it desaturates the color while simultaneously giving the image higher contrast.
What’s the difference between bleach bypass on a negative vs a print?
The typical method is to bleach bypass the print. Feature films like Seven (1994) bleach-bypassed the print to get richer blacks and desaturate the colors to heighten the film’s feeling of dread. The movie 1984 (1984) used skip bleach in order to add to its bleak, oppressive atmosphere. Another version of silver retention is the ENR process, named after Ernesto Novelli Rimo, a chemist at Technicolor Rome who devised the initial chemistry. In the ENR version, instead of leaving all the silver in the film, the process adds an extra developing tank so that the silver cannot be fully removed by the bleach and the fix. Contrast varies depending on how strong or dilute that developer is. With skip bleach, the image can have full contrast. With ENR, the process can be varied. Ladyhawke (1985) was the first feature film to use the ENR process; another film that used it was Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997).
Bleach bypass can also be applied directly to the negative. On a print, bleach bypass affects the blacks the most. On a negative it does the reverse, affecting the whites the most, making them very white. This process could be used, for example, on a shot in the desert where the filmmakers want the entire background to blow out. When bleach bypass happens to a print, it doesn’t add a lot of grain because it’s in the blacks, but when it’s used on the negative, the silver is in the whites, where it shows up very easily, so the whites end up looking noisy and grainy as well as bright.
How difficult is it to maintain a consistency in the look when developing prints?
It’s not difficult for FotoKem and it doesn’t matter how many prints are made. We can either bypass the bleach altogether, or we can drain the bleach and put water in the tank instead. Either custom set-up typically incurs an expense.
Do I need to compensate my exposure if I intend to use bleach bypass?
Important: we highly recommend you do camera and processing tests before attempting anything that affects the original negative. Generally, if you intend to apply bleach bypass to your negative, you will want to compensate for your exposure because you’re leaving that silver on the negative, which will affect exposure. Put another way, you’re going to have a heavier negative so you’ll want to slightly underexpose. And although we rarely want to intentionally underexpose film, this is one instance where underexposing by perhaps a half stop is called for, because the skip bleach will probably add 1.5 stops. You’ll then have a negative one stop heavy, which is okay. If you decide to take out the effect, the issue of underexposure will be limited. When we time negative to make a bleach bypass print, we print on the bright side because the extra silver will darken down the print.
cross processing
FotoKem’s film lab cross-processes Color Reversal (Ektachrome), Portra and B/W Reversal (Tri-X) as negative using ECN-2 chemistry and D6 chemistry respectively.
What is reversal cross-processing?
Cross-processing is a deliberate mismatch between the film stock and the lab chemistry. Typically, a cinematographer will shoot on a reversal film stock (like Kodak Ektachrome, which is meant to be developed in E-6 chemistry) and then the film lab will intentionally process it in the chemicals designed for standard color negative film stock (ECN-2 chemistry). This is what creates the unique look.
How does cross-processing work?
Running reversal film stock through a negative process yields a negative image with higher color saturation, greater levels of contrast, and increased grain. Cross-processing involves taking reversal film and running it through a negative developer instead of a reversal developer. The process turns reversal stock into a negative stock. FotoKem’s film lab has actually received several jobs like this over the years by accident, when customers shooting negative stock accidentally loaded reversal into their camera.
Why would a cinematographer choose cross-processing?
Cross-processing creates a stylized aesthetic that’s difficult to achieve in any other way. Its key visual effects include an intense color shift where the colors change dramatically (for example, shadows and blacks might pick up an aggressive magenta or cyan cast), high saturation, and deep blacks and bright whites.
What are the two main versions of cross processing?
Reversal Film (E-6) in Negative Chemistry (ECN-2) is the most common. It results in a negative with big color shifts (often heavy on the reds, pinks, and magentas) and intense saturation. The negative is then scanned to create the final image. Negative Film (ECN-2) in Reversal Chemistry (E-6) is less common, as it results in a positive image with high density and often a dominant green or yellow cast.
How much control does the DP have over the final look?
On set, the cinematographer needs to make precise exposure adjustments and select a particular film stock, but the final color shifts and contrast levels are determined by the chemical reaction at the film lab.
Does shooting cross-processing change the way the film needs to be handled on set?
Yes. The film’s effective ISO changes once you run it through the wrong chemicals. The DP has to “rate” the film differently (for example, shooting a 200 ISO stock as if it were 50 ISO) to ensure the emulsion receives enough light to compensate for the chemical change. FotoKem will require specific instructions prior to processing to achieve the desired effect.
Can’t a colorist just create the cross-process look digitally?
While a colorist can simulate the color shifts and contrast using digital tools and LUTs, many cinematographers feel the simulation lacks the authenticity and organic texture of true photochemical cross-processing. The chemical reaction creates a unique, tangible grain pattern and subtle color blending that is distinct from digital emulation.
special processing (push or pull)
Push (over-develop) and Pull (under-develop) processing is used for a variety of reasons, including exposure compensation, and is usually effective up to +2 or -2 stops.
What is special processing (push processing or pull processing)?
Special processing is a technique where the filmmaker asks the film lab to deliberately change the standard development time of the film. It’s a creative choice used to manipulate the final image’s contrast and effective sensitivity (ISO). The two options are Push (increase development time) or Pull (decrease development time).
What does it mean to “Push” film, and why is it done?
Pushing means increasing the time the film spends in the developer chemicals. This is done to achieve a more aggressive, stylized look. The film’s contrast is increased, the grain becomes more visible and gritty, and colors are often more saturated. Pushing is also necessary to allow shooting in very low light (for example, night scenes or dark interiors). The cinematographer intentionally shoots the film at a higher ISO than its rating (underexposing it), and the extended development time in the film lab compensates for that lack of light. A common request is “Push one stop,” meaning the film was shot one stop underexposed and is being pushed in development to compensate.
What does it mean to “Pull” film, and why is it done?
Pulling means decreasing the time the film spends in the developer chemicals. This is done to achieve a softer, gentler look. The film’s contrast is gently reduced, highlights are softer, and the visible film grain is finer and smoother. Pulling is typically used in scenes with extremely high contrast, such as harsh daylight, bright snow, or direct sun, to salvage detail. The film is intentionally shot at a lower ISO than its native rating (overexposed), and the shorter development time prevents the bright areas from “burning out.”
How does special processing permanently change the film negative?
Special processing physically alters how the dye and silver are formed in the emulsion, a permanent change before the film is ever scanned. For push processing, the extended development time forces development to occur in film that received less light. This results in an image that is higher in contrast, denser in shadows, and has noticeably increased grain. For pull, the shorter development time leads to a softer, gentler contrast curve. This effectively reduces the appearance of film grain and creates a much wider dynamic range, meaning more subtle detail is retained in both the shadows and the highlights.
How is a “stop” of special processing defined by the lab?
In this context, a “stop” is a unit of measurement for the development time adjustment, calculated to be the chemical equivalent of one stop of light. For example, a “Push 2” means the film was exposed two stops darker than its box speed, and FotoKem’s film lab will compensate by chemically developing it longer to bring the image to an acceptable density. The standard limits for most color film processes are typically +3 stops (push) to -1 stop (pull).
Is this the same as adjusting exposure in a digital color grade?
No. Special processing (Push/Pull) is a chemical process that permanently changes the physical structure of the film’s grain, contrast, and density curve. The changes are organic, permanent, and unique to the chemical bath. A colorist only works with the result of this chemical process. Digital exposure adjustment, conversely, involves brightening or darkening the already-scanned data, and it cannot organically create the texture and unique chemical contrast response that a true push or pull process creates.
film restoration & remastering
FotoKem has been entrusted with the restoration of classic titles such as The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, and South Pacific, and we’ve remastered countless modern and classic films, such as Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and Minority Report; Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Simple Plan; and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Our artists and technicians can repair nearly any damaged negative or print elements, from perf and frame tears to water damage, scratches, discoloration, flicker, weave, mis-registration, and more.
film archival & film preservation
16mm / 35mm / 65mm archive-quality preservation / 3-color separations
What are 3-Color Separations?
The purpose of the 3-color separation process is to overcome the inherent instability of the dyes in color film, which are prone to fading over time, by preserving the image records on highly stable black-and-white film stock. The technique essentially reverses the principle used in early Technicolor photography, working from a single-strip color film negative or digital source:
First, a scan of the original color film negative or digital source is film recorded three separate times onto three individual strips of standard black-and-white film, one through a red filter (which creates the cyan record), one through a green filter (which creates the magenta record), and one through a blue filter (which creates the yellow record).
After development, each of the three strips holds a black-and-white image representing one-third of the original color information. These are known as the separation masters.
Because the color information is encoded using stable metallic silver (the same material used in black-and-white film) rather than less stable organic dyes, these three masters are considered “inert” after processing, and can be stored for centuries under proper conditions without the color fading or shifting.
Then when a copy of the color film is needed in the future, the process is reversed: the three black-and-white separation masters are retrieved from the archive and scanned. When digitally combined, the three latent images recreate a full-color image that faithfully matches the original film, effectively bypassing any dye fading that would have occurred to a conventional color print or color negative record of the film.
workflow consultation
Not sure where to begin? The FotoKem film lab team can help you find the perfect film workflow for your project, from camera to processing to color, prints, and deliverables. And while you’re shooting, our Production Services team will be reviewing your images as they’re printed or scanned, troubleshooting technical issues or challenges that might come up. Just drop us a line to get started.
