renee's blog

Continuing the condition report from last week, I inspected four more films on the rewind this week. The following is a quick report of my findings: Film 24, Untitled Training Film This is a short film in a really small metal can (maybe 4 or 5 inches across). The film was Kodak safety B&W, with optical audio. The film suffered from a little buckling, a few torn perforations, and fading image (at least I think its fading- some frames look cloudy.) The film is soft and, like most of the film I have looked at, the damage is at the beginning of the reel. As far as the context of the film, it’s difficult to say what this was a training film for. Many of the frames portrayed what looked like a man’s uniform, wrapped in cables, hanging from a building. Hmmmm…. Film ? (didn’t write the number in my notes), The Heating of Capped Steel Another Wilding Picture Production Kodak safety B&W film, audio optical This film did not have leader so suffered from residue adhesive on the film f...

I started assessing the actual film from the collection this week. Like Sean, I was able to view the film by using a pair of Moviola rewinds and a light table. Because I do not foresee having enough time to view all of the footage, I’ve selected films that were stored differently to be viewed. In hopes of comparing differences in composition or deterioration, I selected films from a metal can with a metal spool; a plastic can with a metal spool; and a plastic can with a plastic spool. My findings are as follows: Film 9 The Hot Rolling of Steel Sheets A Jam Handy Production Old metal can, metal spool Positive print, Eastman Color Film Variable Area Soundtrack There are cement splices Film was soft and did not indicate shrinkage Few scratches Film was faded and tinted Film was dirty Film 8 Yeah A Wilding Production New metal can, metal spool Positive reversal stock, Eastman Color film Audio same as film 9 The film was dirty, but otherwise in great condition Film 6 The Search for a ...

This week started as last left off. I continued assessing the film from the Gaughan collection. Like last week, I was only able to assess the “exterior” condition of the film- the can, the spools, the look of the film. My findings were similar to the first half I had inspected last week. Most of the cans were metal and all of the film was wound on metal reels, including on that was stored in a plastic can. A few of the cans were new and in good condition, the others were older, some were rusty and worn, all were dusty. Most of the reels appear to be in good condition. A point I forgot to address last week was that many of the films lacked leader, so the end of the film was taped to itself. This causes a sticky residue on some of the film where the tape had been applied. I made a note to attach leader…hopefully I’ll have a chance to do sol Other points I did not address last week include information about the film. For instance, they all optical audio, they are duplicate pos...

I began assessing the preservation of the films in the Gaughan Collection this week. First off, the storage conditions are pretty ideal. Temperature is kept at 60 degrees and the humidity around 30%. The films are kept on (relatively) dust-free shelving above ground level and are in the dark the majority of the time. I was able to do a preliminary assessment of half of the film in the collection. By preliminary assessment I mean: evaluating the exterior content of the film -the cans they are stored in, their spools or cores, the type of film it is, basically anything I can do without actually viewing the footage. So far, my findings are as follows: Almost all of the films are stored in metal canisters, probably the ones they were originally set in. A few are kept in plastic containers. Most of the metal cans are worn, dusty, and a few are rusting. A couple of the metal cans are new and are in good condition. All of the plastic containers are in good condition and are most lik...