How to Make a Red Film With the Transparent Film

Add color to a photographic image to create a dramatic mood.

Capture the essence of a scene or create a specific look on film with the addition of color to a clear lens, a see-through gel or a transparent film. Utilize different color gels to change the mood of a scene, in both photography and cinematography.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Transparent film gel
• Colored film gel
• Wooden clothespins

1. Select the exact color you want to use in your scene, based on the subject matter. Take the sheet of transparent film and a red sheet of transparent gel and clip them together. Attach the two sheets to the barn doors in front of a fill light.

2. Clip the transparent sheet and the red sheet to the barn doors with old-fashioned wooden clothespins. Barn doors open north and south, east and west. Close the barn doors halfway. Clip the film sheets to the east and west doors, then to the north and south doors. Pull the doors open for more light.

3. Substitute non-flammable red material for the colored film gel in an emergency. Do not attach it to the light. Instead, reflect the light off a red bounce board or a large sheet of red foil wrap. Assign an extra person to watch the light reflect off the object to ensure no fire hazard exists.

4. Increase the intensity of the red transparent film effect by using a red filter on the lens. Ask the camera house to include one in your camera package.

5. Enhance a source light with a red gel filter or a red camera lens. red light image by EvilGirl from Fotolia.com

   Cover the camera lens with a small piece of red gel, if you do not have a red filter or enough to cover the fill light. Place the 4-by-4-inch red gel sheet between two clear camera lenses.

Tips & Warnings

• Test the effects of the red gel on the lights or on the lens with a 35mm or disposable camera. Use your camera phone as a last resort, since a digital image varies dramatically from a film image.

• Avoid reflecting lights off flammable blankets or jackets.

References

• Kinoflo: Lighting Systems
• The American Society of Cinematographers: The Film Book

Resources

• Lee Filters: Lighting Products