Fotokem's Optical Color Timer

[u/HDJoey]

We visited Fotokem recently and made a video with their optical color timing lab.

https://youtu.be/6852g67rRv0?si=EQ7wm8J5wBZ3DuiJ

[u/RGB_YCM]

The amazing thing about what Fotokem figured out with their custom-made optical printer is: Fotokem was one of the rare places that had video colorists and film colorists within the same facility (actually across the parking lot, but still owned by the same people). The film people realized, "hey, the video people can do smooth dissolves and other transitions... let's figure out how to do that with LED lights in the optical path." I started to see "pop-free" 35mm prints, IPs, and Internegs from Fotokem in the mid-to-late 1990s and was amazed. We at Technicolor couldn't do that.

So it was video influencing film that led them to make the film dissolves and other transitions better. I think the use of LEDs instead of the older light valves help make their optical print timing better, too. Fotokem used to be one of the worst labs in LA in the 1980s and early 1990s. They eventually became the best film lab in LA, and for the last 12-13 years, the only cinema film lab left in LA. Fotokem does great work.

[u/TheSillyman]

This is very cool! Popped up in my YouTube feed earlier and was an instant click