Although these films have faded quite badly, there is still a lot to appreciate. Isolating these frames reveals a view of swirling celestial settings unnoticed when we focus on the trees and roofline as the film zips through the projector.
Showing posts with label archiving finds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label archiving finds. Show all posts
9/11/13
8/1/13
16mm Home Movie, Convention c. 1950
Adventures in archiving.
Sometimes we encounter a film in this condition. Its at the beginning of the reel and there's no way of knowing how much is missing. We like to save every frame - who knows what information would be lost if I just cut off the damaged section? So my job is to make sure the remaining frames can still be viewed by the digital scanner. Here I've cut the leader to match the jagged edge.
Now, let's see what this home movie is all about:
...and it looks like a convention! I don't have a viewer to watch the whole film but I'm guessing that this will be a rather gendered environment in 1950.
Oh yeah - wearing a party hat onstage with the dancing girl.
And of course a shot of the cars in the parking lot. Quel surprise. I wonder how they would feel to know this film was repaired by a lady using lady fingers and her lady brain, hmm?
6/6/13
Yojimbo 16mm print
As usual, the leader on the print reveals more information; its just like finding a secret message from previous owners and handlers.
3/18/13
10/20/12
Happy Home Movie Day
Happy Home Movie Day!
Come celebrate at the Pacific Film Archive on Saturday, October 20 (which could possibly include some of my summer project) or at the Oakland Museum on October 26. Or show your own collection to your friends and family. Brush off the dust - memories are for sharing even if they originated with someone else.
8/3/12
Bonnie & Clyde 35mm print
I love these paper liners, with the wrap-around string and cardboard fasteners.
A close-up of "cigarette burns" which clearly are not made with cigarettes. They are raised burn marks to indicate the end of a reel. This is rather scratched, as the tail end of a reel is more likely to endure handling damage.
Here's a much cleaner frame, showing the rich Technicolor print. There are so many different shades of green visible.
Leader artwork - a sadly neglected aesthetic aspect of film prints.
7/3/12
the art of home movie packaging
Checking in a new collection for the digitization project; meanwhile I'm checking out this beautiful packaging:
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