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Push processing inphotography, sometimes calleduprating, refers to afilm developing technique that increases the effectivesensitivity of the film being processed.[1][page needed] Push processing involves developing the film for more time, possibly in combination with a higher temperature, than the manufacturer's recommendations. This technique results in effective overdevelopment of the film, compensating forunderexposure in the camera.
Push processing allows relatively insensitive films to be used under lighting conditions that would ordinarily be too low for adequate exposure at the requiredshutter speed andaperture combination. This technique alters the visual characteristics of the film, such as higher contrast, increasedgrain and lower resolution.[1][page needed] Saturated and distorted colours are often visible oncolour film that has been push processed.
Pull processing involves overexposure and underdevelopment, effectively decreasing the sensitivity of the processed film. It is achieved by developing the film for a shorter time, and possibly at a lower temperature. Film that has been pull processed will display the opposite change in visual characteristics. This may be deliberately exploited for artistic effect.
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When a film's effective sensitivity has been varied, the resulting sensitivity is called theexposure index; thefilm's speed remains at the manufacturer's indication. For example, anISO 200/24° film could be push processed to EI 400/27° or pull processed to EI 100/21°.
Andy Warhol's 1965 8-hour art filmEmpire, was shot on ASA 400Tri-X16mm film stock, which was then push processed to ASA 1000 to compensate for the dark conditions of filming theEmpire State Building during the night.[2]
John Alcott won an Oscar "for his gorgeous use of natural lighting" inStanley Kubrick's 1975 period filmBarry Lyndon, set in the 18th century, where he succeeded in filming scenes lit only by candlelight through the use of special wide-apertureCarl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 lenses designed for the low-light shooting on NASA's moon landings, and then push-processing the film stock.[3]
Larry Smith, the cinematographer for Kubrick's 1999 filmEyes Wide Shut, used push-processing to increase the intensity of the color.[4]
Paul Thomas Anderson and Michael Bauman used this technique on their35mm film stock for the 2017 filmPhantom Thread, also filling its frames with "theatrical haze" to "dirty up" the look of the film.[5]
