KALVAR, aka VESICULAR FILM

         The movie business has always been filled with as many peculiarities as innovations, but here’s one that qualifies on both counts.  Kalvar was the trade name given to a form of vesicular film, an emulsion that was sensitive only to ultraviolet light.  While that doesn’t sound so strange on the surface, here’s the kicker – it was developed by heating the exposed material.  No chemicals or darkrooms were involved at any point in the process.

         Created at Tulane University in the mid-50’s, its original purpose was for document storage and the copying of microfilm and microfiche.  In short, the unexposed Kalvar was sandwiched with the original and exposed to UV light.  The Kalvar sheet was then placed on a heated drum where the image was developed and fixed, resulting in a negative that could be used to create a direct positive print through subsequent steps.  Both were extremely robust compared to the silver-halide films of the day.  The system was also cheap, efficient and durable.  This must’ve sounded irresistible to Hollywood, so in 1961 MGM partnered with Kalvar to form the imaginatively named Metro Kalvar company.  Together, they marketed 16mm and 35mm vesicular stocks for black and white negatives and prints.  A color process also existed but proved untenable due to the huge amount of light required for exposure.

         Interesting as it is, there’s a good reason why you’ve probably never heard of any of this.  Due to nagging technical and aesthetic issues, Kalvar never caught on with the film industry and was soon relegated to the dustbin of history.  Though it remains available today through special order, the shift to computerization of documents has further made vesicular film obsolete. 

         Given our constant search for new looks in cinematography, you’d think someone would’ve unearthed this technique by now.  Though it’s been on the scene for almost seventy years, I more likely think Kalvar’s short tonal range has told us its moment has passed…