View source for Bleach bypass

{{Short description|Chemical effect}}
{{more references|date=December 2018}}
[[File:Bleach bypass Example Greg Keene crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Example of a bleach bypass emulated photograph]]
{{Alternative photography}}
'''<span lang="en" dir="ltr">Bleach</span> bypass''', also known as '''skip bleach''' or '''silver retention''', is a chemical effect which entails either the partial or complete skipping of the [[bleach]]ing function during the [[Film developing|processing]] of a color film. By doing this, the [[silver]] is retained in the emulsion along with the color dyes. The result is a black-and-white image over a color image. The images usually have reduced [[saturation (color theory)|saturation]] and [[exposure latitude]], along with increased [[contrast (vision)|contrast]] and graininess.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chapter 2. Bleach Bypass Looks - Color Correction Look Book: Creative Grading Techniques for Film and Video [Book]|url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/color-correction-look/9780133818482/ch02.html|access-date=2021-03-21|website=www.oreilly.com|language=en}}</ref> It usually is used to maximum effect in conjunction with a [[F-number|one-stop]] underexposure.

== Technique ==
Bleach bypass can be done to any photochemical step in the process, be it [[original camera negative]], [[interpositive]], [[internegative]] or [[release print]]. For motion pictures, it is usually applied at the internegative stage, as insurance companies usually are reluctant to have the camera negative bleach bypassed, or the interpositive (a "protection"/"preservation" element), in the event that the look is agreed to be too extreme, and the cost of the process for each individual release print is most often cost-prohibitive. The effect, however, will render slightly differently at each stage, especially between the camera negative and interpositive stages.

Bleach bypass generally refers to a complete circumvention of the bleach stage of development, and is the most commonly offered service among laboratories. [[Technicolor]]'s '''ENR''' and '''OZ''' and [[Deluxe Entertainment Services Group|Deluxe Labs]]' '''ACE''' and '''CCE''' processes are proprietary variants which allow the film to be only partially bleached, giving the [[cinematographer]] a more finely tuned control over the effect rendered by the process.

While originally a laboratory technique, a similar effect can also be achieved digitally through [[digital intermediate]] [[color grading]].

== Use in film and television ==
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Minority Report bleached.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Still from the 2002 film ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'', which used the bleach bypass technique.]] -->
"Bleach bypass", as used in this context, was first used in [[Kon Ichikawa]]'s film ''[[Her Brother]]'' (1960). [[Kazuo Miyagawa]], as [[Daiei Film]]'s cameraman, invented bleach bypass for Ichikawa's film,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/4955| title=Kazuo Miyagawa: Japan's Greatest Cinematographer|work=Museum of Modern Art|date=April 12–29, 2018|access-date=May 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nikkansports.com/jinji/1999/seikyo990808.html |script-title=ja:日刊スポーツ・訃報・宮川一夫氏 |language=ja |access-date=April 20, 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114174517/http://www.nikkansports.com/jinji/1999/seikyo990808.html |archive-date=November 14, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tokyolab.co.jp/50th/05.html |title=東京現像所：the 50th Anniversary：TOGENの歴史 |language=ja |access-date=April 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114163558/http://www.tokyolab.co.jp/50th/05.html |archive-date=November 14, 2007|url-status=dead }}</ref> inspired by the color rendition in the original release of ''[[Moby Dick (1956 film)|Moby-Dick]]'' (1956), printed using [[dye-transfer process|dye-transfer]] [[Technicolor]], and was achieved through the use of an additional black-and-white overlay. Actually, this is a throw-back to pre-1944 Technicolor, which incorporated a silver-containing "blank receiver" with the silver image printed from the green separation negative, but at 50% density, upon which the color dyes were imprinted by utilizing "imbibition"; this concept may have been employed here, but at a different density.

Despite this early foray into the technique, it remained overlooked for the most part until its use by [[Roger Deakins]] for the movie ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film)|Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''.

The effect has subsequently become a regular development tool in laboratory work, and has remained in widespread use. Practitioners include cinematographers [[Rodrigo Prieto]], [[Remi Adefarasin]], [[Darius Khondji]], [[Dariusz Wolski]], [[Walter Carvalho]],  [[Oliver Stapleton]], [[Newton Thomas Sigel]], [[Park Gok-ji]], [[Shane Hurlbut]], [[Steven Soderbergh]] (as "Peter Andrews"), [[Tom Stern (cinematographer)|Tom Stern]], [[Vittorio Storaro]], and [[Janusz Kamiński]] (notably on [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]''<ref>{{cite web | access-date=September 8, 2008| url=http://www.sproe.com/s/spr-4.html | title=Combat Footage | publisher=Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia}}</ref> and ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'').

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bleach bypass}}
* [http://www.theasc.com/magazine/nov98/soupdujour/pg3.htm "Soup du Jour: Bleach Bypass"], ''[[American Cinematographer]]'', November 1998.

{{Photography}}

[[Category:Cinematic techniques]]