Gerrty, The Grain Digger!
One of my favorite things about The Celluloid Collective is how much I get to experiment, especially as an educator. When we started the collective, one of our big goals was to bring film back from the dead, and this is one of our first ventures into this arena.
Film can be scary, and expired film plagues the recesses of the internet. You are are either told not to even try, or if you do its not worth the effort. While we disagree with those sentiments, you do need to know what you are getting into and thankfully we have been doing extensive testing to make sure these stocks will actually render results.
A little bit of history:
The Grain Digger started its life as Kodak 2484 pan film, originally formulated and used in the 80’s. From our research it seems to have been used by the military to capture missile launches and night photography. With a base ISO 800, and easily pushed to ISO 2000, this film was letting its users see into the night way before a digital sensor would settle on 2000 as the base ISO.
The Future
All art forms allow for multiple entry points and we believe expired film is a great starting point for new shooters. With film stocks increasing in price, some of which are over $20 a roll, these expired stocks can help to build confidence in new shooters without breaking the bank. These stocks are not as scary as you might have heard, especially if you add a little more light.
All of our stocks are extensively tested and The Grain Digger is no exception. The Grain Digger embraces film grain, and puts it on full display. This low contrast, high ISO film allows you options to push and pull during development. We tested this film at ISO 800 and ISO 100 to see the adjustments. We suggest rating at ISO 100 unless you plan to push and experiment.
It is our pleasure to introduce Gerrty, The Grain Digger. Grab a roll before its all gone!
Check out sample images and go behind the scenes by clicking HERE.
