In 1988 we didn’t have still stores to grab reference frames. We used to record a section of film to 1” videotape manually, I would then cue this for the colorist and he would use a vision switcher to compare the live film with the tape. Directors often asked me to put the VTR into record and just ‘play’ with the film. This meant spooling the film fast, running it off the machine showing the sprockets, and the tail fogging. I liked the effect so started keeping the recordings. “Scratch FX” was born.
As a roll of film got loaded into a camera the tops and tails would get exposed, we call this fogging, especially great in Bolex cameras using 100ft rolls. Light leaking into the film magazine also gave great results. This was often a mistake but I saw this as a cool effect and would stay back and record these short sections to tape. A few directors even encouraged me to scratch their films, normally by unspooling the film on to a dusty stairwell! Another common technique was to scratch the film with a scalpel just before it went threw the Telecine gate. Sometimes the film would literally fall apart creating some great effects as the sprocket holes fell across the scanning beam. I wasn’t popular with the early morning colorists who often wondered why they had shredded film scattered across their machines.
My collection was growing so I started looking at ways to expand it even more. I bought a Bolex 16mm film camera and managed to get some short end rolls from Kodak. As a cinematographer I broke all the rules, loaded badly, opened the magazine whilst filming so letting light in. I even exposed the negative after shooting by opening the film can. It was great fun.
So how could I capture film burning in the projector gate. I thought about hiring a cinema and filming the screen as the film burned, but couldn’t find any projectionists keen enough to jam their machines whilst creating a smoke filled room!
So I purchased an old 16mm projector and jammed that creating a great film burn, which I filmed with the 16mm Bolex. My problem was I hadn’t expected to create so much smoke which subsequently set the smoke alarms off. After calming down the security guards I tapped the smoke alarms up with bin bags and continued to film. The whole process was not without flaws but the hit and miss results sometimes through up some great surprises.
I made the effects available on Digi Beta and started to see them cropping up all over the place. Then a client of mine asked “What about making some tape effects”
The TV Video and VHS Shash was recorded between 1995-98 and once again it was a case of breaking all the rules. Recording NTSC tapes in PAL machines, pulling sync leads on VTRs and generally trying to wear VHS tapes out until I got some great dropout effects.
After collecting dust for the past 10 years I have decided to re package and sell the “Scratch FX” series again. 125 individual ProRes clips that can be used in any system anyway you like.
The best part about these clips is they are real and timeless, no two designers or editors ever use the effects the same way.
125 Royalty Free clips are now available for all uses from TVCs to Indie Films
Promo reel and details here
