Blackwrap, Cinefoil & Photofoil — Rosco Black Foil (AU & NZ)
Blackwrap · Cinefoil · Photofoil · Rosco black foil · AU & NZ
The most useful black on set.
When you need to take light away — flag spill, kill a bounce, black out a window, wrap a hot fixture or cut a shadow — you reach for black. Rosco makes the two blacks crews use every day: matte Blackwrap / Cinefoil / Photofoil foil that bends by hand and holds any shape, and E‑Colour 276 Blackout for windows, negative fill and cookies. Here's each one working on set — and every size, ready to add to cart.
Negative fill · in use
Take light away, add the contrast back
The most powerful thing black does on set isn't adding light — it's subtracting it. Rig a black flag on the fill side and you soak up the soft bounce that's flattening a face, so the shadow side falls off and the shape comes back. Foil does it at fixture scale; E‑Colour 276 Blackout does it as a full flag. Here it's shaping the light inside a car with no room for a big flag stand.
- Kill the bounce that flattens a face — instant contrast
- Foil for tight spots, Blackout on a frame for big flags
- Matte, frosted black absorbs light instead of throwing it back
- No colour shift — you're removing light, not tinting it
Clearing up the names
Blackwrap = Cinefoil = Photofoil
Same material — matte black-anodised aluminium foil for controlling light. The only real difference is the size of the piece and who's using it. Choose by size, not name.
Blackwrap / Cinefoil
The film-and-theatre trade names for the wide rolls. "Blackwrap" (GAM/Rosco) and "Cinefoil" are identical black foil, sold in rolls to wrap barndoors, build snoots and flag big sources.
Photofoil
The photographer-friendly name for the compact, tube-packed 12" and 24" lengths that roll up and drop in a camera bag or backpack. Same foil, ready for location stills.
Which one you need
In your bag? Photofoil. Kitting a truck, studio or lighting store? A wide Blackwrap roll. The material, matte finish and heat resistance are identical.
What it fixes, fast
The set problems foil solves in seconds
✗ Light is spilling onto a wall or into the lens and flaring the shot.
Rosco fix: Fold a flag, clip it to the barndoor and cut the spill exactly where you want — moulded to any angle by hand.
✗ A glossy prop, set piece or surface is throwing a reflection on camera.
Rosco fix: Line it or tent it with matte foil to kill the specular bounce — no glare reading back.
✗ You need a tight, hard-edged pool of light and have no snoot.
Rosco fix: Roll a snoot or punch a slot in seconds — the foil holds the shape you fold, no hardware required.
✗ Light is leaking around the barndoors and edges of a hot fixture.
Rosco fix: Wrap the fixture edge to seal the leak and tighten the beam — heat-resistant, so it sits happily near tungsten and hot LED.
✗ There's a gap around a door, window or set join letting light through.
Rosco fix: Mask it with a strip of foil — a fast, light-tight seal you can mould to any shape.
✗ You're on location with a camera bag and no grip truck.
Rosco fix: A tube of photofoil does the lot — flags, wraps and snoots that pack down to nothing.
How it works
One material, endless jobs
Flag & cut
Shape a beam and stop light going where it shouldn't.
Wrap fixtures
Tighten a beam and seal leaks around barndoors.
Build snoots & gobos
Roll a snoot or punch a pattern by hand.
Kill reflections
Matte-line boxes, props and sets to stop bounce.
Compact sizes
Photofoil — for the bag & backpack
Tube-packed lengths that roll up small. Grab-and-go light control for photographers and small crews.
Photofoil 12" × 10' (30 × 305 cm)
The classic camera-bag roll — enough matte foil for flags, wraps and quick snoots on any stills or small-crew shoot.
Photofoil 24" × 10' (61 × 305 cm)
Double the width for larger fixtures and bigger flags, still packed in a tube that travels.
Full rolls
Blackwrap & Cinefoil rolls
Wide rolls for sets, theatres and lighting stores — the workhorse sizes crews get through daily.
Blackwrap 30 cm × 15.2 m
The everyday 12" roll in the long length — the most-used width on most sets.
Blackwrap 60 cm × 7.6 m
Twice the width for wrapping larger fixtures and cutting bigger flags in one piece.
Blackwrap 90 cm × 7.6 m
Wide-format foil for large sources, big flags and lining set pieces.
Blackwrap 122 cm × 7.62 m
The widest roll for the biggest jobs — full-width masking and lining, no joins.
Total blackout
When foil isn't enough — kill the light completely
Foil flags and wraps; these Rosco blacks black out and stop bounce for the jobs that need it.
Rosco Blackscrim (R3421)
Black open-weave scrim to knock down and diffuse without colour shift — control where solid foil is too much.
Rosco Roscoscrim (R3809)
Reversible silver/black scrim — block or bounce from one roll for fast, reversible control.
E-Colour 276 Black Foil / Blackout
A true blackout material on a roll for sealing light out of frames, gaps and windows.
Black out a window · in use
Turn day into night in seconds
Shooting a night interior in a daylight room? Press E‑Colour 276 Blackout into the window frame and the daylight is gone — a fast, light‑tight seal you can put up and pull down without ladders, tape scars or a blackout curtain rig. The same trick with foil seals the smaller gaps around a door or a set join.
- Kill daylight for a night scene — no permanent blackout needed
- Temporary and repositionable — up in minutes, down clean
- Foil seals the small leaks; Blackout covers the whole pane
Cut a cookie · in use
Throw a shadow, break up a flat wall
How the pros use it
One matte black, three jobs on set
Field guide · Rosco E‑Colour 276 Blackout
Kill a window, subtract light, cut a shadow
Working with Rosco ambassador Richard William Preisner, Spectrum breaks down the three moves a black on set is really for: press Blackout into a window to remove daylight for a night interior; skin it onto a 4×4 or 5×5 frame (or waterfall it off a grip arm) for negative fill that adds contrast back; and cut a pattern into it for a DIY cucoloris. It's waterproof, tapes to walls and floors, and packs lighter than poly.
“Because Blackout has a frosted matte finish, it absorbs light wonderfully.”Joel Svendsen — RoscoRead it on Rosco Spectrum →
Courtesy of Rosco Spectrum
Good to know
Blackwrap FAQs
Are Blackwrap, Cinefoil and Photofoil really the same thing?
Is it heat-resistant? Can I wrap it on a hot light?
Is it matte on both sides?
Which size should I get?
Can I reuse it?
I need to black out a whole wall or floor permanently — is foil right?
Permanent black
Blacking out a surface for good?
Keep a roll on every trolley.
Photofoil for the bag, Blackwrap for the truck, scrim and blackout for the jobs that need it. Add your sizes to cart, or tell us what you get through and we'll sort quantities.
Kitting out a truck or a store?
Tell us the sizes and how much you get through — we'll price foil, scrim and blackout by the carton. Exclusive Rosco distributor for Australia & New Zealand.