[Frameworks] "The Toxic Camera" query

[Tom Whiteside]

Heath -
                Interesting inquiry. I will mention simple static electricity, which of course is NOT "non-light electromagnetic energy" but has been an issue with film for a long time - if you load your own film (ie, load raw stock into magazines or daylight reels in a dark room or black bag) there has always been the possibility of accidentally creating static electricity. This sparking creates tiny lightning-like flashes on the film. Whatever else you shoot later is there, too, but superimposed on it are those delicate little traces of "lightning bolts." When you don't want them they are a drag, but sometimes they are quite lovely.
                Also, if you haven't already seen it I highly recommend "Radiophobia," a documentary about Chernobyl and Pripyat. I believe it was made on the occasion of the 20th anniversary, so probably came out in 2006 or thereabout.

                - Tom Whiteside

Durham Cinematheque
Durham, NC       USA

From: FrameWorks [mailto:frameworks-bounces at jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Heath Iverson
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 8:45 AM
To: frameworks at jonasmekasfilms.com
Subject: [Frameworks] "The Toxic Camera" query

Dear Frameworkers,

I'm a doctoral candidate working on contemporary British artists' cinema. At the moment I'm doing some research on Jane and Louise Wilson's "The Toxic Camera," an installation which, in part, commemorates the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. The installation is framed as a response to Vladimir Shevchenko's film, "Chernobyl: A Chronicle of Difficult Weeks". Filmed in the immediate aftermath of the accident, Shevchenko's film was damaged by the ambient radiation--leaving the film's emulsion visibly pockmarked by the collision with decaying atomic particles. At various points, the Wilson's digital video seems to simulate the material damage in the Shevchenko film--sometimes literally mimicking a pocked marked emulsion, other times apparently "translating" this analogue damage into other digital distortions in the image.

My question: does anyone know how these digital effects were technically achieved? Obviously, there are all kinds of digital filters that emulate a "film look," but I would like to know exactly what the Wilson's process was in production of their video's effects. Perhaps someone has their contact information?

A secondary question: Can anyone point me to any other films in which the emulsion registers non-light electromagnetic energy, that is, radiation outside the visible spectrum. I can think of certain films that intentionally make use x-ray photography, but I'd be interested in other examples, especially in accidental instances.

Best wishes,
Heath
--
Heath Iverson
PhD Candidate in Film Studies
University of St Andrews
99 North Street
St. Andrews, KY16 9AD
Scotland, UK

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