Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Can you buy just black film

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Posted by Jeremy M Smith (Member # 4913) on 08-10-2008, 01:54 AM:

Just wandering can you buy just black film as I have to keep trying to steal black film with no sound track off trailers and film. it is very hard to find long enough peices.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-10-2008, 02:11 AM:

Of course you can buy plain black film.

Posted by Jeremy M Smith (Member # 4913) on 08-10-2008, 02:26 AM:

where from

Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 08-10-2008, 04:44 AM:

quote: Jeremy M Smith
where from

Jack Roe (CS) Ltd

Black Mylar with Frame lines
FSPMY35BKF for 100ft Roll

Or Black Polyester with Frame Indicator
FSPMY35BKFI for 100ft roll

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-10-2008, 04:48 AM:

Call Atlab Image and Sound. They'll get you whatever you need.

Posted by Jeremy M Smith (Member # 4913) on 08-10-2008, 05:01 AM:

Yea they just takes months here to get anything [Frown]

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 08-10-2008, 06:22 AM:

Any good cinema equipment dealer will stock "leader for lens changes." BB-100 from Hadden is a good example. No sound, no frames. Louis

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-10-2008, 11:40 AM:

The best commercial leader available on the market (other than the stuff I make but don't sell publicly) is from Jack Roe and I think it is called blackhole leader or something like that...or you could purchase some 35mm fullcoat magnetic film and use. Both are very scratch resistant (literally you can drag it around the floor) and they truly give you the look of the douser being closed and exciter/led being off.

The BB100 isn't very good leader, as it isn't truly opaque and scratches easily, but it's the better product of what most dealers sell. The B100 stuff is pure crap and other brands have marks in the soundtrack, etc.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 08-10-2008, 03:22 PM:

Make sure to steer clear of black film that has framelines all the way across, including in the soundtrack area. If your automation doesn't mute the sound in time for a changeover or startup, you'll get a loud buzzing out of the auditorium speakers as this frameline leader goes through!

Seems to happen a lot at the Bradford Cineworld; when they changeover from flat to scope - anyone know what equipment and film they use?

Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 08-10-2008, 04:03 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
The best commercial leader available on the market (other than the stuff I make but don't sell publicly) is from Jack Roe and I think it is called blackhole leader or something like that...

Think I know what you mean as we used to order that stuff from PLC Video in London and is great stuff for Feature Change Leader etc.

I see Jack Roe also stock it as "Black And White Polyester Spacing"

Code: FSPBW35100P

Posted by Paul Gordon (Member # 3320) on 08-11-2008, 11:44 AM:

Processing raw film stock makes the best black leader. So if you know someone at a film lab that may be a good bet...

Posted by Patrick Dunn (Member # 3333) on 08-11-2008, 11:35 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
Both are very scratch resistant (literally you can drag it around the floor) and they truly give you the look of the douser being closed and exciter/led being off.

I have no clue what the regal uses near me for their leader, but sometimes before the first green band goes on screen sometimes you may see up to a full second of a bunch of green and red scratches up on screen. It looks like they did drag it along the floor.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-12-2008, 12:24 AM:

That would be the generic B100 or BB100 type of mylar leader.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 08-14-2008, 05:34 PM:

That reminds me of what I used to see at the Sheffield VUE cinema. As I've mentioned before, the Simplex Millennium lens turret is slow and needs a significant amount of spacer film to cover the changeover.
After the last trailer, there would be about 1.5 seconds of film scratches before the automation kicked in and changed lenses. Honestly, it looked like the film had been dragged over a gravel surface several times!

The background color of this spacer film was usually slightly off-white, or sometimes dark green. Perhaps this is the leader of which you speak?

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-17-2008, 12:49 PM:

Agreed with Brad about mag full coat. The Zonal or Pyral stuff which has an antistatic coating on the base side is pretty tough stuff for making up platter leaders, and it's also possible to get it with a mark between every fourth perforation on one side, making it dead easy to cut in rack.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-17-2008, 02:01 PM:

quote: Thomas Pitt
The background color of this spacer film was usually slightly off-white, or sometimes dark green. Perhaps this is the leader of which you speak?

No. The B100 is definitely black. It's just that, as noted above, it can scratch easily.