KONO! ALIEN 200 with the Weis Team in Japan
We’re back with another experimental photography project, because it’s always good to keep things spicy! This time around, I shot a roll of KONO! Alien 200, an effect film that runs through a pre-exposure process called "The Reanimator" before hitting the spool. Advertised as a “high-quality pre-expose process for great results,” the film left me with mixed feelings when I finally got my negatives back. While I fully understood this wasn’t a color-accurate stock, I definitely wasn't expecting a heavy redscale effect similar to Harman Red. I was really hunting for that extraterrestrial green vibe to match the alien graphics pre-printed directly onto the film strip. After scratching my head for a few hours over what to do with the scans, I decided to take matters into my own hands. And through a bit of digital developing, I completely transformed that redscale palette into the greenscale look I was originally chasing.
If you want to try this out with your own redscale scans, I’ve included a free Lightroom preset at the bottom of this article, but before we get to the download, let’s talk about my overall experience with KONO! Alien 200.
I originally figured the little alien heads would pop best against a dark background, so I shot the majority of this roll at night or in low light. As it turns out, while that’s partly true, it is completely unpredictable which frames the graphics will actually show up on. Remember when I said experimental film photography is basically gambling? Well, this roll proves we're right back at the casino.
If I ever shoot another roll of this, or anything else from the KONO! Effect lineup, I’d probably overexpose it by a full stop to pull in as much light as possible and lay off the flash a bit. Naturally, you’ll also get better results shooting landscapes rather than portraits to have the graphics in the right orientation. Finally, skin tones don't exactly play nice with these extreme color shifts, but if you embrace the weirdness and are just in it for those funky Alien heads, you'll have a blast regardless.
My opinion: Ultimately, I’d classify this as a party film. It’s the exact kind of roll you load into a point-and-shoot and just blast through on a casual city day trip or a night out with friends. I certainly wouldn't pack it for a hike or waste it on beautiful natural landscapes. As fun as the experience is, it feels a bit like a one-trick pony, a fun novelty you try once to say you did it and then move on. Regardless, it was an interesting creative experiment, and I’m glad I gave it a shot.
Finally here is the download for the Lightroom preset ➡️ greenscale.xmp
The film casino is real!
🎞: KONO! Alien 200
📷: Nikon F100
📍: Osaka
