Home Movies (1950)

HOW TO CLEAN FILM. FAN AND OPEN WINDOW PROVIDE VENTILATION. Uaiuabfe care of them for long life in the film. The best way to wind film tightly is to put a little pressure on the feed reel while winding. Never rewind at excessive speed. Take it easy. Film rewound at high speed gathers static electricity and acts as a magnet for all the dust in the air. The day may come when you will find yourself an on-the-spot cameraman of a news-making event, but remember i hat the film is less salable if it has been projected even once. If you think that you have something good on film, I recommend that you send it to a laboratory and have a duplicate print made before you even look to see what you have. When you get the original and your dupe back from the laboratory, lock the original in a safe place and work with the dupe. Project it, handle it, see if you have something worthwhile, and in the meantime you know that your original is unmarred. Many projection machines owned by people who have put a great deal into i heir hobby are neglected to the point where it is impossible to view a film even once without scratching it. It is easy to care for a projector and prolong the life of your film for years, by checking the machine periodically. Watch Perforations Film perforations are easily nicked or strained. This damage may occur at any time. It can be caused by too tight a belt or spring on the take-up reel of the projector, by worn sprockets, or by bent reels. Improper lubrication, loss 6f a loop, incrustation of dirt on the film gate, or emulsion piling up on sprockets or in the area around the aperture are things to be avoided. Once the perforations are damaged too much, projection becomes impossible. Therefore, maintenance of your projection machine should be given top priority. Remember, scenes, such as your children on their third birthday cannot be taken again. Make sure that all sprockets revolve freely. Avoid excessive amounts of oil. Find out from your dealer, if necessary, how to remove the projector film gate and keep the surface highly polished. Acetone Cleaning If the take-up reel is driven by a belt or a spring, be sure that it is adjusted properly, neither too tight nor too loose. Use a small brush for cleaning each of the sprocket wheels and any surface with which the film touches. A little acetone will often help to loosen any emulsion that may have stuck to any surface of the projector. Do not use acetone while any film is exposed. Acetone dissolves film, which makes it excellent for cleaning splicers. The accumulation of emulsion deposits on rollers or picture apertures has about the same effect on the picture area as a diamond drawn across a piece of glass. This deposit becomes extremely hard under the heat of the machine. Once film is scratched there is nothing that can be done to repair it. Special attention should be given to the film loops when threading either a projector or a camera. There is no way that perforations can be torn any faster than to have the loops too short. Most projectors and cameras have guides to show the proper size of loop. Follow these carefully, then turn the projector over a few times by hand to make sure that the claw is properly engaged in the perforations. Most projectors have a knob that permits winding the film a few frames by hand. Any film that has an excessive amount of moisture after development is known as "green" emulsion. A combination of heat and moisture causes the gelatin to soften, giving it a sticky or "tacky" condition. Film exposed to humidity rapidly absorbs moisture. This is a common source of film troubles. • continued on Page 38 INSTEAD OF CINCHING film to tighten it, put a little pressure on the feed reel, when rewinding film by hand or motor. HANDLE FILM by edges only. White cotton gloves are worn in film studios. Clean projector gate and sprockets. Do not lubricate except in accordance with manufacturer's instructions. 19 i