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Supporting Document A: Redefining Preservation Task Force
Keeping Cool and Dry: A New Emphasis in Film Preservation
Just as film itself has a history, so does film preservation. Today the National Film Preservation Board is suggesting that our national preservation policy change to reflect new technical knowledge about film decay. Research shows that film needs better storage to survive, and that film in all stages of decay can have a longer useful life with small improvements to its environment.
Our new policy should broaden the definition of 'preservation" beyond its traditional meaning of copying old film stocks to newer ones. It should view preservation as a "whole film" enterprise, integrating previously separate issues of storage, access, and selective restoration into a coherent, cost-effective approach. The other purpose of "whole film preservation" is to develop a balanced use of resources to save films in all formats and types in large archives and small collections.
Film long ago ceased to be only for the movie theater; as film technology became simpler and more accessible, it entered many arenas of education, industry, documentation, and personal expression. Our challenge now is to appreciate the fullness of film's variety, to locate and consolidate important fiction and nonfiction films, and to prevent their further decay. The reward will be more films for ourselves and future generations to study and enjoy.
The New Film Preservation Challenge
Current realities in film preservation have been shaped by the history of film itself. From the 1890s to 1950 most professional cinema films (35mm format) were made on cellulose nitrate plastic supports. Nitrate base film can become chemically unstable, and many films that were stored in unfavorable conditions deteriorated beyond use before they could be copied. The focus of preservation activities came to be a systematic program of nitrate duplication as a preemptive measure, before deterioration occurred. The goal of copying all nitrate was a rallying point for preservation, and in some collections it was attained. Nationwide, however, the rising costs of duplication soon outstripped available resources, and it became clear that the scale of the nitrate problem was far too large to deal with in that way.
Supporting Document A: Keeping Cool and Dry 33