Redscale Film in Your Toycam

Redscale film is achieved by basically placing the film upside down through the camera. This forces light through the red sensitive layer first, and thus gives the photo a reddish feel. To do this yourself you will need two normal 35mm film. Note one film will eventually be discarded. For this article I am specifically dealing with 35mm film, but using 120mm is also possible. Unravel the first film completely and cut the majority of the film off at the base, ensuring you leave at least 4cm remaining. Cut the leader off the second film (so the film is the same width) and lay the second film dull side up, and the first film shiny side up. Sticky tape them together ensuring there are no irregularities. Now for the fun part, in a dark bag or dark room wind the second film into the first film canister (scissors work best to wind it). Cut the film, and now you have your own red scale film. To tidy up the film, make an indent in the film with scissors, this helps to load the film easier.

I have heard that you can load the film from one canister to another by modifying a camera slightly, that way you do not need a dark bag or room. Unless you know how I would not attempt it. Try and let the canister sit for a few minutes, this will allow the film to maintain its new shape when you try to load it. The only down side to this method, besides the loss of a whole reel, is the fact that you have to remember to overexpose the film by a stop, this is due to the fact that the reel is now loaded in reverse, so light has to travel further through layers to show effect.

Making your own red scale film is definitely not the only way of achieving this effect. There is photoshop, red cellophane and red scale film. Maybe not cellophane. The easiest way by far is to just buy the film. The two most common forms out at the moment are Lomography Red scale and Rollei RedBird Red scale. The Lomography red scale has a 100iso, while the Rollei has 400iso. The difference being that the Lomo should be shot mainly in full sunlight, while the Rollei can be shot in more varied light conditions. Red scale provides a rustic and retro feel towards the world. Its use is only limited by your imagination.

ll you’ve to do is load the film into a canister with the wrong side facing up. This means that the wrong side will get exposed instead. The result is like this … 

Photo from ndroo.com