[FIRST BY TEXT ME RECORDS]
I am Ryerson's motion picture lab
operator. The official title is film production and preservation technician
I have this very unique role of running our film students' motion picture lab. In particular this lab
probably has a lot in common with the origins of motion picture processing because we process black and white film here the
first-year students just have access to black and white motion picture stock. Our machine is designed just to do black and white film
So it's actually a fairly simple process the advantage of this
1969 model processor
Is simply that it would it would mechanize the transportation of film through these chemical baths
I think in the early days you'd see images of motion picture labs, that simply have
wooden racks the film sort of wrapped around it in a helix and you'd move the film from one chemical tank to the next with
a machine like this
There's a continuous ribbon of film that goes through all of the tanks and one after another
And by the time it gets out of the machine it's dried off and it's ready to project. When film is pulled
from one chemical tank into the next a certain amount of chemicals carry over on the surface of the film itself
There's this little component. It's small but it's quite crucial and it's
it's a set of squeegees that will inhibit chemical carryover. So you don't just end up contaminating every tank of chemistry
each time you run. This
Processing machine is so old that the company long lost interest in supporting it and so the squeegees that would fit our processor
haven't been made in a couple decades at least. What we looked into was making new 3D printed mounts
modifications of the one we already had on the processor
but just a little bit different, a little bit wider in their measurements so that we could use a different manufacturers' squeegees on our processor
Most of the work that we do in the fabrication lab revolves around digital fabrication
technologies. A lot of it is 3D printing, laser cutting and then some three axis CNC processes as well.
So when mark discovered that the squeegee mounts for his ARRI processor were no longer being produced
He came came over the Fab Lab to discuss with me the possibilities of using our technologies to
solve his problem. Using Rhinoceros 3d which is a 3d modeling software
we were able to recreate the existing component very specifically and through a series of
measurements and calibrations we were able to redesign and actually improve the existing part
We took it over to simplify 3d which is a slicer software used to prepare files for 3d printing
In simplified 3d we were able to adjust the parameters of the physical print that we were going to create
To find the right amount of material and infill that would give that squeegee mount the right
flexibility while also the strength in order to process the films that Mark was running through his film processor
At the best of times it could be a bit difficult to understand as a filmmaker especially a new filmmaker how to engage with the lab
It's a real luxury
I think for the students here to be able to have a lab that is quite open doors with them and makes
the processes behind the curtain a little more accessible little more easy to understand