Yes to the extent that the actor, Ben Affleck, playing George Reeves of TV Superman fame actually says in a conversation just off set in a break that his drab clothing in terms of colour was designed to look right on a B&W TV screen The blue and red just didn't "cut it" on B&W In the conversation it may have been discussed what the colours were I have a feeling that some of the costume was a drab brownSets and costumes were often made in colors and tones to look good in black and white, I once saw the set of the old TV show from the early 50s I Love Lucy, it was all in black and white.
So DF can you afford to buy Warner Bros, RKO Pictures etc to solve your problemIt was all the factors mentioned above and more. Lighting, set design, makeup, film, processing, lenses, filtration, costumes – everything.
The late Terry King of the Royal Photographic Society suggested FP4+ developed in Universal PQ Developer to create good mid-tone separation, especially for Platinum printing. I have taken his advice and it works very well for me.....and why I cant get my photos to be the same? I want more mid-tones, so I pulled my FP4's but with minimal differences.
Was movie film so different or was it the lighting ?
I sit and watch these gems from the 40's/50's and marvel how good stills could appear...
The movie makers back then were for the most part masters at lighting. The film was different too, had more toe and shoulder than the t grain films of today. Filters were used quite often to render tones natural looking. Have you tried shooting with a yellow filter to see how you like the tones? You do have to be more aware of the lighting if you want amazing images.
I filter with yellow in the printing process - color head diffuser anywhere from about 30 to 100. It has some evening out effects but the prints lack a certain crispness & clarity that unfiltered prints have.
The late Terry King of the Royal Photographic Society suggested FP4+ developed in Universal PQ Developer to create good mid-tone separation, especially for Platinum printing. I have taken his advice and it works very well for me.
Since Universal PQ is also a print developer, it can be quite active -- which leads me to wonder if 'pulling' film is the opposite way one would want to go to get that mid-tone separation you are missing. Seems to me one would want to develop normal to push, depending on one's highlight situation.
Not sure if it's of any value, but I use Studional/Rodinal Special which I believe is also a PQ developer, gives me some really nice results at 1+30 dilutions in 35mm to extend developing times.Dan, it will depend on what process and its contrast needs -- since I print alt processes that need the contrast boost, I use it up to the print concentration of 1:9 (I've been known to use Dektol straight and 1:1 for scenes of low SBR, too.) For silver gelatin printing I have heard others use Universal PQ successfully at its film dilution of 1:19 or a little more dilute. This image was developed in Dektol (Girders, Golden Gate Bridge, 4x10 Carbon Print)
Getting the lighting, exposure, and development just right. Makes a world of difference.
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