[Frameworks] Etching and Film

Sat Apr 2 14:00:48 CDT 2022

Jonathan,
Sounds like an interesting project.
I have used 16mm and 35mm film for this kind of thing. A sharp etching
needle or exacto knife and some 16 or 35mm film are all you need to make a
matrix to print from.
 Using a technique called drypoint, you can scratch the image into the base
layer of film. It can be blank film or found footage. Prints of films on
Estar base work a little better since the base is a bit more receptive to
the mark making (not so brittle). With patience and a magnifier you can
trace images frame by frame although you might want to treat it as you
might a frameless, hand painted film. You can also treat the film itself as
a collage element since the intaglio process of inking an wiping will
reveal and enhance the three dimensionality of the sprockets and the film
thickness. The film can be collaged with an acrylic medium onto a support
like matboard and printed as a collograph to get multiples or simply placed
loosely on a support base or already etched place and printed by inking and
wiping as in monoprinting. With care, the actual relief surface can be
inked with a roller.

The  etching process uses acid  resist and this might be interesting to
experiment with too. painting or stamping or spraying a resist of some kind
onto film emulsion or found footage and then etching it to see what happens
to the exposed emulsion or image. Of course, this could be done with bleach
too.
Bleach being a caustic base would lift the emulsion. I have not
experimented with Nitric Acid or Ferric Chloride which normally are used to
etch zinc or copper but would be interested to see how it reacts with the
emulsion.
A very interesting idea. I hope I have not been too technical.

Ethan Berry
Professor, Studio Capstone Coordinator
Montserrat College of Art
23 Essex Street,
Beverly, MA 01915

On Sat, Apr 2, 2022 at 1:00 PM <frameworks-request at film-gallery.org> wrote:

> Send Frameworks mailing list submissions to
>         frameworks at film-gallery.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>
> http://film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>         frameworks-request at film-gallery.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>         frameworks-owner at film-gallery.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Frameworks digest..."
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Film and etching (Jonathan Walley)
>    2. Re: Film and etching (Eric Theise)
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Jonathan Walley <walleyj at denison.edu>
> To: Experimental Film Discussion List <frameworks at film-gallery.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2022 11:49:35 -0400
> Subject: [Frameworks] Film and etching
> Hello Frameworks community,
>
> I’m hoping to tap your knowledge on filmmaking matters. I’m working with a
> student on an independent research project that is primarily “academic”
> (i.e. reading and writing scholarly stuff). However, it has taken a turn
> into filmmaking, as this student wants to work directly with film in the
> interest of producing better ideas and writing on the subject, something I
> heartily endorse. She is especially interested in etching, and is in an
> etching class in which they’re working with all manner of chemicals and
> doo-dads (a press, for instance).
>
> I wonder if anyone here has experience with this sort of thing - i.e.
> subjecting celluloid to the processes and machinery of etching. Of course
> we are exploring scratching on film, but we are both more interested in
> going further with a film/etching analogy. Anything at all would be
> helpful, because while I am familiar enough (for the purposes of this
> study) with cameras, processing, etc. (the student is using my own Bolex),
> I am at sea when it comes to this.
>
> Ideas, references (films or texts), warnings, etc. all welcomed.
>
> Thanks in advance!
> JW
>
> Dr. Jonathan Walley
> Associate Professor
> Department of Cinema
> Denison University
> https://denison.edu/people/jonathan-walley
> Cinema Expanded: Avant-Garde Film in the Age of Intermedia (Oxford
> University Press, 2020)
> <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cinema-expanded-9780190938642?cc=us&lang=en&#>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Eric Theise <erictheise at gmail.com>
> To: Experimental Film Discussion List <frameworks at film-gallery.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2022 17:05:26 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Film and etching
> Hi Jonathan,
>
> One approach to etching and film, which I may be the sole practitioner of,
> is to print etchings onto very fine Japanese papers and then to contact
> print the etchings, as a negative, to print stock. I did this using soft
> ground etchings, a long sheet of glass mounted over a fluorescent light
> tube, and strips of mat board used to hold the stock, paper, and gels in
> place during a flashed exposure. There's a more detailed description on the *Hojas
> de Maíz <https://erictheise.com/films/hojas-de-maiz/> *page on my website.
>
> Not exactly what you're looking for as the etching is separate from the
> filming but it does preserve and take advantage of the textures inherent in
> intaglio printmaking – qualities of line, shading given by aquatint – plus
> the fibers of the paper itself.
>
> Eric
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 2, 2022 at 4:51 PM Jonathan Walley <walleyj at denison.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello Frameworks community,
>>
>> I’m hoping to tap your knowledge on filmmaking matters. I’m working with
>> a student on an independent research project that is primarily “academic”
>> (i.e. reading and writing scholarly stuff). However, it has taken a turn
>> into filmmaking, as this student wants to work directly with film in the
>> interest of producing better ideas and writing on the subject, something I
>> heartily endorse. She is especially interested in etching, and is in an
>> etching class in which they’re working with all manner of chemicals and
>> doo-dads (a press, for instance).
>>
>> I wonder if anyone here has experience with this sort of thing - i.e.
>> subjecting celluloid to the processes and machinery of etching. Of course
>> we are exploring scratching on film, but we are both more interested in
>> going further with a film/etching analogy. Anything at all would be
>> helpful, because while I am familiar enough (for the purposes of this
>> study) with cameras, processing, etc. (the student is using my own Bolex),
>> I am at sea when it comes to this.
>>
>> Ideas, references (films or texts), warnings, etc. all welcomed.
>>
>> Thanks in advance!
>> JW
>>
>> Dr. Jonathan Walley
>> Associate Professor
>> Department of Cinema
>> Denison University
>> https://denison.edu/people/jonathan-walley
>> Cinema Expanded: Avant-Garde Film in the Age of Intermedia (Oxford
>> University Press, 2020)
>> <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cinema-expanded-9780190938642?cc=us&lang=en&#>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Frameworks mailing list
>> Frameworks at film-gallery.org
>> https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org
>>
> --
> Frameworks mailing list
> Frameworks at film-gallery.org
> https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://film-gallery.org/pipermail/frameworks_film-gallery.org/attachments/20220402/bdaa3652/attachment.htm>