After sharing that short feature yesterday on the last roll of Kodachrome, it seems appropriate to share this once-super-popular song written about the same film.
Simply titled, “Kodachrome,” it was written by American musician Paul Simon after the first breakup of Simon & Garfunkel.
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In 2009, when Kodak announced that production of Kodachrome film would be coming to an end, legendary photographer Steve McCurry saw an opportunity, and asked if the company would give him the final roll. Given his reputation and the many famed photographs he’s taken on Kodachrome, it’s no surprise Kodak said yes.
As a tribute to this final roll, a crew from National Geographic decided to follow McCurry and document the momentous last 36 frames that would ever be shot on that film — the video above is the result. Read more…
Like everyone else who heard that Kodak was discontinuing Kodachrome in 2009 — and that Dwayne’s Photo would not develop the slide film after 2010 — I shot as much Kodachrome film as I could acquire, before that “last developing day” deadline.
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The final nail in the Kodachrome coffin came at the end of 2010 when the last lab that processed the film, Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, ceased its support. In Kodachrome’s final years, every roll sent to Kodak for processing from around the world was sent to Dwayne’s. This mini-documentary created by Xander Robin offers an interesting glimpse into Kodakchrome processing at Dwayne’s Photo before it came to an end.
New York-based design consultancy Mélangerie helps customers make custom View-Master wedding invitations that display photos in full-color Kodachrome. All they need are 7 high-res photos and a short snippet of text for each one. They’re pretty pricey though: 100 invites will set you back $3450.
Melangerie on Etsy (via OhGizmo! via Laughing Squid)
DreamWorks won’t be making a movie about the death of Kodachrome film after all — Fox will. Turns out the director of the movie, Shawn Levy, had a first look deal with Fox that gives the film studio first dibs on Levy’s projects.
It was the result of an honest error [...] producers initially brought the pitch to Fox 2000, which passed. Believing that represented due diligence under Levy’s Fox pact, producers next went to DreamWorks, which went for it (though sources say no money changed hands).
But 20th Century Fox caught wind of the deal, decided it ultimately liked the project and, citing its deal with Levy, yanked it back onto its development slate, where it stands today. [#]
The film is rumored to be about a father and son who take a road trip to process their final Kodachrome rolls before development ends.
(via Variety)
Kodachrome may be gone, but it’s far from forgotten — DreamWorks is planning to make a movie centered around the closing of the final Kodachrome lab in Kansas. Author Jonathan Tropper got the idea for the movie after reading an article about the film’s demise in the New York Times, and pitched the idea to the studio. His script involves a father-son road trip in which they attempt to reach the lab and process their Kodachrome rolls before their memories are lost forever. Shawn Levy is being named as the potential director for the movie.
(via SilberStudios)
Image credit: KODAK Kodachrome 64 25 slide film cartridges by Whiskeygonebad
Kodachrome film officially died at the end of last year when the last developer — Dwayne’s Photo Service — stopped accepting the film. Before that final nail in the coffin was pounded in, 53-year-old Jim DeNike drove from Arkansas to Dwayne’s in Kansas to have 1,580 rolls developed. The total cost for the 50,000 slides? $15,798. All of the photographs were of trains.
For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas (via PCMag)
Image credit: Kodachrome by John!!!
Yesterday the last certified Kodachrome processing facility — Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas — finally stopped supporting the legendary film. They decided to create a t-shirt for mourning photo-geeks that sports the classic Kodachrome colors. If you’d like this tiny slice of Kodachrome history, you can get it for $13 over at Dwayne’s Photo.
After Kodak announced the end of Kodachrome’s production in June of 2009, the number of photo labs that developed the film began to dwindle until finally only Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas remained as the lone certified Kodachrome processing facility in the world. Today, they will be processing their last roll of Kodachrome, bringing the film’s storied career in the photo industry to an end. CBS News Sunday Morning did a neat feature looking back on the popular film.
