Artist Film Workshop JK Optical Printer session
I organised a session to use the JK optical printer when visiting Melbourne in June with the kind folk at AFW. Using an Optical Printer is a process similar to animation in that frame by frame you make a copy of the source material which can be re-framed, speed up or slowed down while photographing it so you can manipulate the original.
I wanted to make a step printed version of the snake print I made. A ‘slow motion’ version so the abstract shapes can be seen and contemplated for longer. On a Steenbeck you can play any material at least half speed easily by moving the controlling the lever at half speed. The lever has two natural positions it can be in without holding it there. But if you hold it between stop and full you can make it play the material at about 12 fps. Doing this with the snake skin I knew it would be interesting to make a slow motion print. If I am to make a live performance with the material having alternative speeds could be a feature of the performance and allow for more intersections with a potential sound track.
Carl Looper had written a new computer program allowing for intricate patterns to be programmed into the computer controlling the JK machine. Unfortunately he was unable to meet me so another AFW member Melody gave me a 15 minute introduction into how to thread the projector and set-up a Bolex with a motor. Melody explained by pointing to the various components not wanting to take too much of her time I gathered enough information to lace up the machine in her absence.
My next hurdle was there was no Bolex available to connect to the motor. Only relatively late models have the right connection to connect to a motor which can drive the Bolex as well as the advancement of the projector side of the optical printer. Kindly, Melody loaned me her Bolex and I treaded everything up manually. I have been aware of the principle of optical printers for some time. However having someone explain the direction of travel and the an estimate of exposure with similar stock was very helpful and no doubt speed up my learning process. The process is that you advance the source material which is laced up on the projector frame by frame and then frame by frame shoot and advance the Bolex which is set on rails and photographs the source material passing through the gate in front of it. With Melodies advice about exposure or amount of light on the projector which was set at 10 to 12 I made a bracketed test where I tried with the aperture set at 5.6, 4 and 2.8. Once I got into a rhythm with this I found it was the sound of the mechanisms which where giving me a sense of rhythm and connection to what I was doing as much as one driven by touch. I pressed a button on the projector mechanism, the film slips forward one frame and then by pressing the Bolex button I shoot one frame. A slow process if you wanted to do this on a long piece of film and in that sense the snake skin was a good process to start with as it was a short loop of 2 and half meters I was photographing. The bracketed test looked good across 5.6 to 2 so I decided to set it at 4 and start with 5 frames for every one and then 4 till I reached 2 frames per one which should equal 50 % speed. I shoot about 60 feet and processed it in D76. The material hanging up on the rack again reminding me of the original snake wrapped around the tree.
At home I laced up the print on my scanner. The scanner again works by photographing frame by frame but the camera finds the frame by a laser which detects the sprockets. The print film is clear so the scanner was not able to recognise the sprockets and after an hour I gave up. I will have to wait to see it on the Steenbeck or projected on a 16mm projector to what I have made in motion.
Working at AFW and the benefit of casual conversations I had there again remind me the value of an artist run lab. To be in company with others curious and committed to film a form not always forgiving was re-energising.