Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

Feb. 1947 MOTION PICTURE FlLM FOR PERMANENT RECORDS 169 ment for a $5,000,000 film facility, storage principally. Legislation has already been approved by the Senate, and is pending before the House, covering this project. However, we hope that many people will store copies of the same film in many parts of the country, because it is only through scattering of records, books, and other record material can we hope they will survive another war; bombing will be a factor. MR. GEORGE TALLIAN: Is there any attempt made at the present time to treat film chemically before it is stored, or do you just put it away as is? MR. BRADLEY: Attempts are being made and practices are being approved to treat the film in the laboratory to bring the salts up to a state of solubility, and therefore enable the maximum amount of hypo to be removed; and after that it will be a question of housekeeping in terms of temperature and humidity. But the question of coating and impregnation, embalming, and other techniques to put on the outside of the film has been considered and tested by the Bureau of Standards. I find I must be very cautious in what I am about to say because I realize that commercial interests are at stake; so I will merely say this: chemically we have found that none of those things add to the life of the film. As to mechanics and to wear and tear on the film, that is another matter. MR. CRABTREE : During your many years of experience at the Archives, what percentage of the films have you had to duplicate because of incipient or partial decomposition ? MR. BRADLEY: I could not give you an exact percentage, Mr. Crabtree, but a considerable body of that film has deteriorated in our hands, because we were not able to duplicate because of lack of funds, equipment and personnel. We found in many cases, when the film was brought out of storage, unwrapped and unwound, the moisture in the air immediately precipitated deterioration ; overnight, almost. Mr. Gregory, my former assistant at The National Archives, can bear witness to this fact. We have developed tempering techniques, bringing the film out and letting the temperature rise slowly by radiation. Care should be taken to prevent exposure of the film to the ah until the temperature of the film is in balance with the temperature of the air; otherwise, moisture condensation on the surface of the film will result. MR. CRABTREE: To what extent do you plan to store the film at low temperatures— say around 50 F — and to what extent do you plan to isolate the films in individual compartments as against mass storage in a unit vault? MR. BRADLEY: On the nitrate film of high record value, we intend to store it in cabinets, reducing the unit of risk to a minimum, perhaps, one reel instead of a vault full of reels. We intend, for the same film of high record value, to maintain temperatures of about 50 F and about 50 per cent relative humidity. That is about as low a temperature as people can work in. We will have the tempering cans in which we will bring the film out of the vaults, set them in the workroom, and let radiation lift the temperature so it will be safe to unwind the film. Film of less record value can be stored without the cabinets. However, our entire program contemplates the transfer of record film to acetate stock as fast as funds will permit, so all of the Government record film will ultimately be on the safety stock, which has a much longer life than the nitrate film. MR. CRABTREE: Has any estimate been made as to the life of the film in storage?