American cinematographer. (1954)

Amateur CINEMATOGRAPHY Care And Handling 0{ Film In The Tropics Some pointers that wii! insure complete film safety for those planning a filming expedition to tropic climes. By JOHN FORBES Too often the amateur venturing into tropic lands for the first time to make movies suffers irreparable loss of valuable footage because of ignorance in caring for film — both unexposed and exposed — when in tropic climes. This is perhaps the most important consider¬ ation when planning a filming venture, be it a vacation trip or a carefully pre¬ pared filming expedition, which will take you and your camera and film into trop¬ ical regions. The dangerous element in the tropics is the combination of extreme heat and equal extremes of humidity. Where the climate is both hot and dry, the ama¬ teur filmer’s problem is reduced to the relatively simple one of protecting his film from direct sunlight, keeping it as cool as possible. Where there is both heat and humidity the film must be guarded against damage from mildew, which has a deteriorating effect on un¬ exposed emulsions. When exposed film is kept for long periods in high temperatures, a chemi¬ cal fog is generated; and in addition the latent image is deteriorated to such ex¬ tent that in many cases it is scarcely visible after development . All motion picture film intended for use in the tropics, or which is to be transported through the tropics, should be purchased in the special hermeticallysealed tropical packing. It is advisable also to purchase your film supply in small rolls, i.e., in 400 or even 200 foot rolls rather than in 1000-foot rolls — so that only the film necessary for any TED PHILLIPS’ highly successful motion pictures of Jamaica in 16mm Kodachrome were due i„ no small par, to infinite care in protecting his film supply from the effects of heat and moisture of the tropics. given day’s shooting need be unpacked at one time. On the tropical location, care must be taken to keep all exposed and unexposed film in dry, cool storage, and never in contact with damp ground or in places where the hot rays of the sun can fall on the film container. Film magazines, where such are used, should not be loaded until immediately before use, and should be wrapped care¬ fully in waxed paper where some time will elapse before using. Exposed film should be packed in dry black paper, without rewinding. The filmer should exercise care, when loading and unloading film from his camera, to make sure that perspiration does not fall on the film or on the paper in which it is wrapped. The best pre¬ caution against this is to wrap several layers of cheesecloth about the wrists and forehead, which will absorb pers¬ piration during the film-handling period. The hands, of course, should also be kept dry by wiping them frequently. All camera accessories should also be kept away from the direct rays of hot sun or other excessive heat. This is es¬ pecially true of lenses and filters, which are easily ruined by intense heat or di¬ rect, strong sunlight. After movie film has been exposed, it should be dehydrated or dissicated (the moisture removed) befort it is canned and packed for shipment to the labora¬ tory. However, this does not mean the film should be dehydrated to the point that it becomes dangerously brittle. If it does, it may crack or break, and it is certain also to develop static marks when unrolled. There are two general ways of dehy¬ drating film, writes Jackson J. Rose, ASC., in the latest edition of his “Amer¬ ican Cinematographer Handbook and Reference Guide.” The procedures are as follows: 1) Take black paper (the kind used by film manufacturers in packing film) ( Continued On Page 93) American Cinematographer February, 1954 89