# Film Destroying



## GoonjoshGoon

Do any of you guys have any experience with "destroying" film?  Ive heard about boiling it,  soaking it in alcohol,  and even microwaving it?   What kind of resuslts can you expect from this?  is it better to do with a cheap roll of film?   Can you do it with black and white film?   Also,  how long does it take for the film to dry completely so it will be safe in your camera and not mess it up  (will it ever be safe to use in your good cameras or do you use cheap cameras for this?)     And one last question,   do you destroy the film before it has been used,  or after it has been exposed?

If anyone has some examples or pictures of what they have done that would be extremely helpful


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## TheHabit

look at this page theres some galleries somewhere on it i believe

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157605709943215/?search=expired+film


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## c.cloudwalker

Wow, I did a bunch of crazy stuff to film once upon a time and if I remember correctly, one image ended up on a book cover and another on an album.

But I did so much weird stuff in the darkroom, I couldn't really tell you much of a precise nature unless I went and found my notebooks in the archive. Sorry.

I can, however, tell you that the one on the book cover was just a 35mm film neg that I bunched up in my fist until it cracked (split open) and it looked very nice printed. But it was the first one i had tried and I was never able to get such a nice result again. Pure dumb luck in a way.

I do remember experiments with temperature extremes, burying films in my darkroom trash can for contamination, etc but nothing specific.

I know it was always after shooting but that does not mean you can't do weird stuff before.

The point is that if you want to be Mr. Weird, go right ahead. It's fun, a lot of fun. But don't ask for recipes... make up your own. Try anything.


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## Josh66

I've kinda wanted to try something like this, but I haven't really shot anything that I thought it would look good on, and was also willing to destroy...


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## Josh66

So, I gave this a shot a couple weeks ago...

These were shot on Lomo Redscale film.

Burned them with a cigarette, then crumpled them up in a ball...




01261102 by J E, on Flickr

Didn't burn this one, just tore it up a little.



01261103 by J E, on Flickr

edit
Forgot to mention - both also shot with a Lensbaby with plastic optic.


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## Josh66

GoonjoshGoon said:


> Can you do it with black and white film?


I see no reason why you couldn't...



GoonjoshGoon said:


> And one last question,   do you destroy the film before it has been used,  or after it has been exposed?


I don't know how you could do it before exposing/developing without exposing it to light...  Everything I've ever seen was done after developing.

The only thing I can really think of that you could do before you develop it is expose it to heat.  I would think that would give you results similar to expired film.  You would get some color shifts, and who knows what else.  I guess it would depend on how much heat, and for how long.


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## kalliela

I would imagine to damage it after it's been exposed. I saw a guy take some shots then, crap I can't remember, I think he cut the film a little and placed it in some kind of container. I don't know if he put lemon juice or alcohol or what..with some loose change he threw in there..I don't know why. He was just throwing random stuff in the can. But the prints turned out cool. Idk. I need to look it up. I think it was on that Art 21 show. I like "destroying" prints myself..tried one with bleach..it ended up cool.


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