cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

, flashing is the exposure of the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

or digital sensors to uniform

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

prior to exposing it to the scene. It is used as a method of contrast control to bring out detail in darker areas. This adds a bias to the overall light input recorded by the sensor. When used for artistic effects, it can be used to add a

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

cast to

shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...

s without significantly affecting highlights. Flashing is usually described as a percentage of exposure increase to the film's base fog level. While the flash itself is often a neutral color temperature, the flash exposure could be any color: the color of the flash will be imbued disproportionately into the shadows of the image.

General

The effect is produced by adding a small and even level of exposure to the entire image. Since exposure levels increase

logarithmically In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 o ...

, this tiny level of additional exposure has no practical effect on an image's mid-tones or highlights, while it shifts the darker areas of the image into the practical sensitivity range, thus allowing darker areas of the image to show visual detail rather than uniform blackness. Flashing can be applied to the

film stock Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent p ...

before, during, or after

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

of a motion picture, although always before the film is processed. When applied before or after shooting, this is generally done by a film laboratory. The level of flashing needs to be tested beforehand and subsequently moderated appropriately against the light levels of the scene, or else it risks having minimal impact if too low or making the shadows "milky" when too high.

Historically

Adding a general overall exposure of light to an photosensitive material to alter the material's response to a captured image is a long-known technique. Photographer

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...

describes the use of "pre-exposure," to make details visible in a darker area of an image, in his text ''The Negative'' (rev. ed. 1959). For more, study astronomic photographic techniques when silver-halide emulsions on glass plates were the available tool. With modern digital sensors that can capture high dynamic range, it is rarely used.

Pre-Flashing

This only applies when the film stock is exposed to low amounts of light in a laboratory.

Pre-Flashing during acquisition

On-set flashing solutions include

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during ...

's Panaflasher, which is mounted in between the camera body and the

camera magazine A camera magazine is a light-tight chamber or pair of chambers designed to hold film and move motion picture film stock before and after it has been exposed in the camera. In most movie cameras, the magazine is a removable piece of equipment. Many s ...

throat,

Arri The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...

's Varicon, which functions as an illuminated filter and can be viewed directly through the viewfinder for manual setting of the flash level and the Burning Eye AV EELCON a modern multi color led based illuminated filter similar in use as the

arri The Arri Group () is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. Hermann Simon menti ...

Varicon made to be used on Arri LMB style matteboxes.

Post-Flashing

This can be used to either bring up shadows or bring down highlights depends on if used on a negative or an interpositive.

In Cinematography

Cinematographer

Vilmos Zsigmond Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (; June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wave ...

used flashing very deliberately while filming Robert Altman's '' The Long Goodbye'' (1973). Zsigmond sought to create a sense of pastel light and subdued contrast appropriate to the film's retrospective 1950's Los Angeles mood. The MGM 2002 DVD re-release of ''The Long Goodbye'' includes an interview with Zsigmond in which he discusses his aesthetic goals for the film and his use of flashing to achieve them. In the March 1973 issue of ''

American Cinematographer ''American Cinematographer'' is a magazine published monthly by the American Society of Cinematographers. It focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, covering domestic and foreign feature productions, television productions, short films, mu ...

'' magazine (the text is included on the DVD), Edward Lipnick discussed Zsigmond's technique in detail. Lipnick credits cinematographer

Freddie Young Frederick A. Young (9 October 1902 – 1 December 1998) was a British cinematographer. He is probably best known for his work on David Lean's films ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965) and ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), all th ...

with earlier use of flashing in cinema. Zsigmond worked closely with Skip Nicholson, then

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

's Manager of Photographic Services, to establish an acceptably predictable system to set the level of flashing to be used for a reel. For some scenes with deep shadow areas in which identifiable image detail was required, a flash "level" described by Zsigmond as "100%" was employed—though it is not clear that Zsigmond's measurement system was that noted in the preceding paragraph. But, as Lipnick says at the opening of his 1973 ''American Cinematographer'' article, "Exposing your negative to varying amounts of light after you have shot it and before you have developed it, without being precisely certain what the results are going to look like, wouldn't seem like a technique designed to reduce the anxiety level of a cameraman shooting a major feature."

In Photography

It is also used in fields such as

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

to bias CCD image sensors into a linear region, improving their low-light sensitivity.

Paper-Flashing

When developing a photographic print, it is also possible to flash the printing paper to darken the highlights.

In digital workflows

Now, digital image-processing technology can pull details out of shadow areas without risking destroying the

dailies In filmmaking, dailies are the raw, unedited footage shot during the making of a motion picture. The term comes from when movies were all shot on film because usually at the end of each day, the footage was developed, synced to sound, and pri ...

or rushes. However, current digital image chips are still limited in the light intensity range over which they can record detail. Depending on the scenario it might be still be beneficial to use pre-flashing devices to lift up the general exposure to lift the darkest parts above the threshold where excessive sensor noise is present.