Movie Makers (Jun-Dec 1928)

DECEMBER I92S CARING FOR Your FILMS SINCE the advent of amateur movies much has been written about taking and projecting them. Several articles have recently been published giving instructions on editing and titling the pictures after they have been returned from the processing station. But very little has been said about the care of these completed films. This is probably one of the most important phases of an amateur's movie career, as the proper preservation of film determines the degree of future enjoyment. In the first place, several things may happen to film to damage it. If such damage is not serious it may be repaired. If the projectionist is careless, however, and continues to project a partially damaged film without either mending it or taking it to a dealer to be serviced, whole sections will, in time, have to be removed, very often necessitating the deletion of some priceless bit and practically ruining the entire film. If the damage is not too great it may be desirable to have a duplicate print made, but with the new Kodacolor film it is impossible to make duplicates and hence greater care should be taken of these than of ordinary black and white pictures. One thing that can happen to a film is improper threading on the projector. When threading be sure that the perforations are engaged squarely on the sprocket teeth. Otherwise the film will run off the sprocket and ruin from sixteen to twenty-four frames by making a ridge through the center of them. This can be easily avoided by releasing the motor after threading the film and turning the mechanism by hand for a few frames until the film is properly threaded. If anything is amiss the mechanism will turn with difficulty and there will be a cracking sound made by the film running over the sprocket teeth. When film is allowed to dry out it becomes brittle. In this state the pull-down claws crack the corners of the perforations. On each subsequent projection these cracked perforations tear down a little more until finally the bottom piece tears out. This is more likely to occur on projectors having a single claw pulldown than on those having two claws, due to the additional strain on the one set of perforations. When this happens the top or bottom film loop at the gate will disappear making the picture nothing but a blur on the By Sydney Armstrong screen. The projector will also make a loud clicking noise. Stop the projector immediately and readjust the film loops. Also it is well to locate the broken perforation at the time and mark it by sticking on a small piece of adhesive tape so that the torn perforation may be taken out later when the film is rewound. denotes po&ition of fop of picture in projector oate tz V D 3 3 J perfect perfora.t~.ot as or,f,n»t/j punched. partially torn ' tvith pfece bent up broken pa r. Complete 1^ Shormj area, between tvo ILLUSTRATING FILM DAMAGE Films should be inspected occasionally to see if all the splices are sticking and also to see if the film has become torn. By doing this a break may often be avoided which, happening, might ruin anywhere from a few inches to several feet of film and possibly spoil an otherwise pleasurable evening of projecting. Scratching is another potential trouble, although the possibility of scratching film may be materially lessened if it is cleaned at regular intervals. No matter how careful you are, dirt is bound to collect on film during projection as the moving film catches dust particles floating in the air. These particles in time pile up at the gate and scratch the film as is is drawn over the hard pile. Scratches usually appear as thin black lines on the screen running in one place for varying lengths of time. It is impossible to remove these scratches and eventually, if they become too numerous, they ruin the film. To reduce the possibility of scratching, the projector gate should be cleaned frequently with a brush or soft cloth. This will remove all lumps and particles of dirt that have lodged there. The film itself should also be thoroughly cleaned. A small bottle of Carbona and a piece of can ton flannel are good materials for this purpose. Place the film on a rewind, attach the free end to the empty reel and give it a couple of turns to hold it. Moisten the canton flannel with Carbona and hold it around the film with one hand in such a way that a slight pressure may be exerted on the front and back with the thumb and forefinger. Rewind the film slowly so that the Carbona will have a chance to evaporate. Upon completion of the operation, a glance at the flannel will show a surprising quantity of dirt. Films should be cleaned at least twice a year, or more often if they are projected frequently. When films are allowed to stand for any length of time some of the solvents of the film base evaporate and the film dries out and becomes brittle. This brittleness causes breaks during projection or, what is still more serious, perforations will tear out at intervals. Then the film must be looked over carefully before projecting again else the loops between the sprocket and film gate will disappear and the picture become a blur on the screen. The film can be kept in a soft and pliable condition if it is stored in the cans for regular 400 foot reels. These cans have an absorbent pad in the bottom and the cover fits on securely enough to keep the moisture in close contact with the film. The pads may be moistened either with water or a humidifying solution. If water is used this must be done frequently as the water evaporates quite rapidly, though too much water will cause the emulsion side of the film to become sticky. It also becomes necessary to look at the film each time it is projected to see if more water is required on the pad. On the other hand a humidifying solution gives a balanced atmosphere and the pad only needs moistening about every three months to keep the films in good condition. After humidifying, film should be allowed to stand in the closed can for twenty-four hours before projection so that the moisture will have a chance to penetrate it completely. Neglect of these precautions is the chief cause of blurry pictures and broken film. I am sure, if you give your films only the reasonable care suggested above, paying especial attention to their cleaning, that they will give you satisfaction for years to come. i^mi^>s