The White Bus, Southend is a wonderful thing.
Thanks to them I’ve got involved with Southend Film Festival, met many friends in the local film-making community (digital and film) – and often attend their weekly film screenings at the Old Waterworks.
The main reason for this blog post is to thank White Bus projectionist John Salim.
JS works professionally as a film processor and is very kindly allowing me access to his film lab (an amazing Tardis-like custom built shed at the bottom of his garden). Thanks to JS I’m able to hand process BW 16mm film (I’ve moved from my usual D76 mix to some JS’s home-brew of chemicals he’s perfected over the years.)
JS will be using his automated processing tanks for my colour reversal footage, (this trickier to hand process due to the chemicals involved.)
He’s also given me expert help and advice re 16mm, super 8 filmmaking and given me some tip top light meter buying advice. As well as this he managed to mend a broken telephoto lens (using his crazy precision Japanese tweezers) and create a mini lightbox (using a garden security light) enabling me to photograph slide film, (I have to wear shades as the security light’s so bright).
If you are after absolute perfection in regards to film of still photo processing, goto John Salim Photography.
I also just want to thank Paul Cotgrove and Mark Joseph who are currently helping me re. archive-scanning leads – plus Kev Faulkner for selling me my first 16mm sound projector.
>> Quick Detour:
On the subject of White Busses…
In 1967, whilst TP was making The Flexipede in the ‘White Heat’ of the Institute of computer Science, The Ministry of Technology built seven mobile cinema units to tour the country, promoting modern production techniques to British industry.
The seven Bedfords were operated by PERA (Production Engineering Research Association). Films would be played within the cinema, with supporting displays shown in the trailer that accompanied the towing unit as they toured the nation’s factories.
The White Bus Cinema is not associated with this! – but it’s evocative of the late 1960’s and TP’s ethos, humour, process and tangent-making, so I thought I’d mention it.
