Preparation For Duplication
An Introduction
It is widely accepted by the general public that an old film is identifiable as being old by the presence of numerous and obvious scratches and physical defects. Yet, at the same time old film images can be treated so that most scratches can be eliminated and a pristine image seen, especially if time and cost are not considered. It is often difficult to be certain about the age of a scratch but there is no doubt that many early films were shown to an audience with obvious and to our modern eyes, objectionable scratching and marks.
Strange as it may seem to many film preservation technicians there is a serious academic school of thought that considers that scratches are part of the visual inheritance of the cinema. It is certainly true that all film eventually has scratches and that the very act of projection, rewinding, or any handling whatsoever always adds to the scratch population of a film image, however careful the operator, clean the area, or sophisticated the equipment. Scratches have been the torment of the film industry since the days before duplicating stocks, when a damaged film negative meant the scene, or the entire film, had to be re-shot from the beginning. Today modern film is cleaner and has fewer scratches than ever in the past, but not because the film is tougher - indeed while modern emulsions are indeed tougher, sometimes "pre-hardened", the base is much as it was 30 years or more ago. What has changed is the film industry's tolerance to scratches as the ability to prevent or remove them has improved - laboratories have become cleaner and wet gate printing and digital video "noise" [actually dust and scratch] reduction [DNVR for television] has become almost universal and certainly expected by audiences and TV producers.
However, there is still an academic attitude that sees film scratches as being an indicator of age, a patina of time that is acquired by a mature product. Needless to say, the industry still struggles to eliminate the demon scratch and archives still insist to their laboratories that they should remove as many of the original scratches as possible and certainly not add to the population. Nevertheless, it is an open question if or to which extent a film restoration process should eliminate characteristics of an old film which we now consider as defects but were inherently part of the production process at the time when the film was produced. If we can agree that film restoration's main aim is to bring a film back to its original characteristics, these might include "defects", which are also artefacts produced by film history or by the history of that specific film. On the other hand, it is also true that this need must come to terms with the fact that a restored film must be shown to an audience who is definitely more demanding that the one the film was originally meant for, maybe 30 or 50 years ago. These are delicate ethical issues upon which a general agreement and consent is still missing, but you must be aware of them when you are confronted with a film to be restored or preserved.
Working Conditions and Basic Handling
Film is far from indestructible and quite apart from the fact that all film decays in some way or another over time; all film is of such a delicate structure that any handling introduces defects. If a film is wound once from end to end, some damage will be done and this will cause some effect on the image. Fine scratches from transport systems and wound in dust particles, pressed in dust and dirt from the pressure of the windings, fingerprints [heaven forbid!], all contribute to the eventual degradation of the image on film.
Film can be printed more than 100 times in the best conditions before the resulting print need be unacceptable [depending on what you believe is unacceptable]. There are various treatments that can counteract some of these effects but the primary responsibility in a laboratory is to maintain the conditions such that all risk of film damage is at a minimum.
A description of the correct working conditions is to be found in the Section dedicated to Film Handling. If you have not read it yet, it is highly advisable for you to do so now.
Please, take me to Basic Handling / Working Conditions.
Damage Due To Unsuitable Equipment
Archive film can be seen to suffer from a wide range of physical defects caused by the use of unsuitable, faulty, or incorrectly installed equipment in the past. An archive restoration unit can do just as much damage if their equipment is equally poor. Some common problems were are:
Misaligned winders
If a pair of vertical winders are mounted so that the film does not pass
straight from one to the other, it can be scuffed or chafed along its edge by
the edge of a spool or turntable. This can cause scratches, or a broken
perforation to catch on the spool and thus aggravate that damage. Many
laboratories use horizontal [also called flat bed] winders wherever possible
and where synchronisation is not needed. It is widely believed that these are
less likely to cause problems and produce a more even hand wind.
Sprockets
If the sprocket teeth are allowed to become worn and hooked and the
sprocket continues to be used, the teeth can catch and tear perforations
instead of sliding smoothly into and out of them. If film is shrunk and if the
film is wrapped a long way around a sprocket roller, the teeth at the ends of
the wrap-around inevitably foul the perforation and cause strain, distortion,
or tear. This applies to the sprocket roller on any piece of apparatus.
Synchronisers, frame counters and other hand-operated devices are a major area
of concern.
Misaligned footage counters and synchronisers
The film should pass in a straight path from feed side to take-up side with
no sideways travel or misalignment. The resultant damage could be torn
perforations since the perforations not properly engage the sprocket teeth. The
film is pushed sideways so that the film rolls off the sprocket and the teeth
then dig into the picture area.
Bent spools
Always use spools and winding plates, which run true. If bent, they can
easily touch the film surface intermittently and cause abrasion, or they can
catch in any broken perforation and aggravate existing damage.
Gloves
There are two reasons for using gloves when handling film: in order not to leave fingerprints on the film and not to damage your hands. Cotton gloves are ideal for both these requirements, while those of rubber or plastic will give problems due to perspiration, don't slip easily on the film edge, can create static, and are easily cut by the edge of the film.
There are certain circumstances when it is permitted or preferable to use bare clean hands when winding film. Some old film, especially nitrate film, is very rough at the edges and splices may have jagged corners. Cotton glove are, in these conditions sometimes a greater risk to the film than smooth hands. However, this decision and glove-free handling should only be carried out by experienced technicians.
Very occasionally, a skilled assembler will physically attack the emulsion surface to remove dirt stuck on but only as a last resort. The back of a film is never touched.
Following Sections
Shrinkage
Brittleness
Buckle and Edgewave
Scratches
Mechanical Damages
Repairing an original material
Why To Repair?
How Much and How to Repair
Mechanical Damages
Splices