Celluloid Film History: How Celluloid Film Works

Celluloid film is a flexible plastic sheet used to capture images. First used as photographic film, celluloid film quickly became the film stock of choice for recording and capturing motion pictures and animation. Celluloid is a type of transparent thermoplastic that was much sturdier than the glass plates and paper roll film used to produce the very first moving pictures.

The development of celluloid completely revolutionized the creation of moving images.

• Invention of celluloid: Celluloid was developed as the first synthetic plastic in the 1860s and 1870s.
• Dilution of celluloid: In 1882, chemist John H. Stevens found that celluloid could be diluted with acetate to produce flexible, transparent sheets.
• Development of celluloid film: In 1888, John Carbutt processed the new, flexible sheets into the first commercial celluloid-based photographic film, but his sheets were too stiff to roll. The next year, Henry Reichenbach and George Eastman of the Eastman Company (later Eastman Kodak) developed an even more flexible film that was much easier to use and could be stored on rolls. This film featured a highly flammable cellulose nitrate film base, called nitrocellulose celluloid or nitrate film. Despite some horrific projection-booth accidents, this film remained popular for decades.
• Invention of safety film: By the early 1900s, Eastman Kodak had invented a less flammable celluloid film made with an acetate base. Celluloid safety film was quickly adopted for home use, but wouldn’t become popular with the film industry until the 1930s
• Digital revolution: In the twenty-first century, digital methods began to replace analog film.

Motion picture films are recorded on celluloid film by exposing the gelatin emulsion on the film’ to light, which causes a chemical change in the crystals that can then be developed into a visible image. The images on the film can then be projected onto a movie theater screen using a movie projector to display the moving image.

Although most of the film industry has pivoted to digital, some Hollywood filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan, still advocate for the use of celluloid film.

• Distinct look: Celluloid film often has a distinct soft, grainy look that is difficult to capture on digital film. Many filmmakers prefer this look for their cinematography.
• High-quality images: Capturing images on film can deliver an almost instant high-quality image with a high dynamic range. Digital cameras may vary in their image quality based on the hardware used.
• Physical editing and exposing: Celluloid film gives filmmakers more physical control over the development of the image, allowing them to manually control the frame rate. It’s common for movies to be made on 35mm film, which refers to the film gauge or how many images are shown per foot of film.

Celluloid film may be a classic, but some of its disadvantages have since been solved by digital film.

• Hard to store: Celluloid film requires large reels of film stock to be produced and then stored. Film must be stored in dark, dry locations or else it can become damaged. Even with perfect storage, physical film may degrade over time.
• Difficult to copy: While digital film can be copied almost instantaneously, copying celluloid film essentially requires photographing each separate frame and then casting it onto another reel of film.
• High cost: Filmmakers may go through many reels of film before they edit their movie into their final cut. After that, the movie must then be copied onto even more reels of film. Storing a film digitally is much more affordable to movie studios.

While celluloid film is made by exposing chemical film strips to light, digital cameras capture images using sensors that record image data and store them digitally. Digital cameras don’t require a physical film roll, and it isn’t necessary to develop the images or use a projector to view them.

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