Thermocinema* is a sequence of frames printed on a thermal paper roll.
Images are printed on receipt paper as a thermal layer applied to the paper reacts with the heat emitted by the printer. The resulting image is effectively a collection of "microburns" on paper.
Images are printed on receipt paper as a thermal layer applied to the paper reacts with the heat emitted by the printer. The resulting image is effectively a collection of "microburns" on paper.
Thermocinema is a sequence of frames printed on a thermal paper roll.
Images are printed on receipt paper as a thermal layer applied to the paper reacts with the heat emitted by the printer. The resulting image is effectively a collection of microburns on paper.
While receipt paper seems an analog image carrier, it is in fact inferior to traditional film. Thermal paper merely simulates analog qualities, it is a printout of an initially digital source. Thermal paper is not photosensitive; it cannot be used for direct photography. It cannot capture natural light or actual events happening right now. The image is printed in a black plastic box via digital protocols, resulting in a black-and-white ultra low-resolution picture.
However, given the total monopoly of film, any alternative to tangible image carriers deserves attention.¶
Moreover, the disadvantages of thermoсinema can oddly be seen as advantages if one accepts these limitations as a basic convention - the worse the better. The reduced image and its materiality make thermocinema a unique tool for creating experimental cinema.
Images are printed on receipt paper as a thermal layer applied to the paper reacts with the heat emitted by the printer. The resulting image is effectively a collection of microburns on paper.
While receipt paper seems an analog image carrier, it is in fact inferior to traditional film. Thermal paper merely simulates analog qualities, it is a printout of an initially digital source. Thermal paper is not photosensitive; it cannot be used for direct photography. It cannot capture natural light or actual events happening right now. The image is printed in a black plastic box via digital protocols, resulting in a black-and-white ultra low-resolution picture.
However, given the total monopoly of film, any alternative to tangible image carriers deserves attention.¶
Moreover, the disadvantages of thermoсinema can oddly be seen as advantages if one accepts these limitations as a basic convention - the worse the better. The reduced image and its materiality make thermocinema a unique tool for creating experimental cinema.
- Image Characteristics
Talking about the special features of images printed on thermal paper, we should first of all note that a thermal printer prints exclusively in black: black dots form patterns of varying density on white paper, creating the illusion of grayscale tones. These patterns are like image quantization algorithms – specifically, dithering algorithms. The aesthetic of such images leans both to engraving and to narrow-format grainy film pictures. Thousands of black dots, trying to mimic shades of gray, create fragile noisy images on white paper
Printing inaccuracies resulting from varied temperature regimes, as well as the uneven paper saturation with the thermo-reactive solution, generate random defects in the printed image. Even adjacent frames exhibit numerous micro-differences. During playback, one can observe how the dithering grain and print artifacts form a synergy, creating a unique, dense visual noise.
This noise becomes a strong expressive power, as it atomizes the image, emerging from noisy chaos – or dissolving it there.
This noise becomes a strong expressive power, as it atomizes the image, emerging from noisy chaos – or dissolving it there.
Reduced image
Any image printed on thermal paper originates from a digital source. It establishes thermal cinema as a tool for working with archives – both personal and found footage. Yet, the nature of the image fundamentally alters the conventions of this experimental film genre. Thermocinema neutralizes the eclecticism of the found-footage. Any footage, regardless of its original cinematic or video provenance, becomes uniform, stripped of its original quality.
Due to its low resolution, the image undergoes significant degradation, casting off its original attribution and contextual ties. It is reduced to a minimalist representation of its subject. This defragmentation transforms any video into raw material for creating new films through thermocinema.
Any image printed on thermal paper originates from a digital source. It establishes thermal cinema as a tool for working with archives – both personal and found footage. Yet, the nature of the image fundamentally alters the conventions of this experimental film genre. Thermocinema neutralizes the eclecticism of the found-footage. Any footage, regardless of its original cinematic or video provenance, becomes uniform, stripped of its original quality.
Due to its low resolution, the image undergoes significant degradation, casting off its original attribution and contextual ties. It is reduced to a minimalist representation of its subject. This defragmentation transforms any video into raw material for creating new films through thermocinema.
If a movie is made specifically for thermal printing, the ultra-low resolution of the final image renders costly cinematic equipment obsolete. There is no longer a need to use professional cameras or lighting. Even a mobile phone camera – indeed, even that of a basic feature phone – proves entirely sufficient for capturing footage for a future thermofilm.
Reduced image allows not to follow conventional norms of frame construction. The conventionality of the ultra-low image resolution releases it from many other conventions, liberating the editing and even the shooting itself.
‘Seamlessly’ combining the filmed footage with any found-footage one can freely assemble ‘solid’ visual-narrative constructions using any kind of material.
Reduced image allows not to follow conventional norms of frame construction. The conventionality of the ultra-low image resolution releases it from many other conventions, liberating the editing and even the shooting itself.
‘Seamlessly’ combining the filmed footage with any found-footage one can freely assemble ‘solid’ visual-narrative constructions using any kind of material.
Thermal Layer Chemistry
Due to its materiality receipt tape obeys laws of physics and chemistry. Thanks to the thermal layer applied to the receipt paper, the roll actively reacts with alcohols, solvents and heat sources. If a thermocinema roll is immersed in various aggressive environments, paper tone changes. Thus the already noisy image is enriched with an additional layer of chemical distortions.
Thermal layer superactivity and paper absorbency make possible various manipulations with the tape as a whole and with each image on it separately
Due to its materiality receipt tape obeys laws of physics and chemistry. Thanks to the thermal layer applied to the receipt paper, the roll actively reacts with alcohols, solvents and heat sources. If a thermocinema roll is immersed in various aggressive environments, paper tone changes. Thus the already noisy image is enriched with an additional layer of chemical distortions.
Thermal layer superactivity and paper absorbency make possible various manipulations with the tape as a whole and with each image on it separately
