Track Optics

Mark A. Cella is a distinguished fellow of film studies at California State University in Los Angeles. He’s a published writer on Cinema History and Film Theory. He has directed over 35 shorts and documentaries, including the award winning “Marlboro House”, which took top prize at the 2006 Slamdance short competition.

Optical Track - An intermediate step from going from your mix master to your final print is to have an optical track struck. An optical track is photographed onto a blank piece of special high contract stock by the facility where the mix is done, or by the lab. The optical track is a separate roll of film from the original negative and is combined with picture when a print is struck. (The track itself still remains a separate element from the A&B Rolls, it is printed in a separate pass through the contract printer.)