Nitrate Film Burn #2 in HD at Rayle Archive & Screening Room
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- A full 20-minute reel (2000 feet) of 35MM Nitrate Motion Picture Film manufactured in 1938 is burned at Rayle Archive & Screening Room (N.C.). This test burn was to demonstrate the way in which nitrate film will burn, both in a short open strip of film and in a tightly wound reel (mass) of film. As you can see, once the 'mass' of the reel of nitrate gets fully burning, the output of burning gases accelerates to almost a 'thrust effect' (similar to a jet or rocket engine) turned upwards. Film Archivist, Geoffrey Rayle, talks about the film, its nature, and the burn, both before, during, and after the actual fire. The film was burned in an 'open' metal film storage can. If the can had been closed (or confined in an enclosure of some kind), the burn could have resulted in an explosion, rather than just a fast, thrusting burn. (The film being burned is Reel #2 of the 1938 feature film 'Lady In The Morgue' --a.k.a.--'Corpse In The Morgue'.)
Woah, I knew it was flammable, but I didn't expect THAT. It roared.... wow. I'm kinda glad we don't have that kind of film anymore and understandable that it has to be scrapped in one way or another.
Absolutely incredible. That was an ENORMOUS amount of energy. I never would've thought such an intensely hot and large fire could've been sustained for such a long time from just 20 minutes of film. Completely astonishing.
Imagine a huge warehouse like the disastrous 1937 Fox vault fire - multiply this energy release by a few hundred thousand.
I ran projectors from 1984-2012 (WAY after nitrocellulose film was used) and I had an old-timer tell me how dangerous of a profession it was to be a projectionist. A projectionist was surrounded with this stuff all day, and the screen was lit with an arc lamp, before xenon bulbs were the norm.
Plus he told me how toxic fumes were another serious danger that could take you down in an enclosed booth before the fire did. I have always been fascinated with what it actually looked like when ignited.
-Thanks for sharing this!
There is a modern projection related danger in Imax theaters. The bulb used is a highly pressurized glass like crystal vessel that can explode very violently. Special protective equipment must be used to handle those bulbs.
@@plateshutoverlock Very ironically, I had a smaller (2,000 watt) xenon bulb bulb explode in my face while swapping one out. I was extremely dumb and also lucky. I had no chest protector, gloves or even a face shield on. After that, I was super careful and always took precautions when removing them.
Now imagine having that film running in the projector behind you.
Yes, but they would pack the walls of the projector room with blue asbestos so that if the film cathed fir only the projector room would burn and nor the whole cinneme
@@norwegiannationalist7678 ah yes, the asbestos made it "safe" lol. Maybe by 1930's standards when safety wasn't a thing
Running it at high speeds mere inches away from a 6000 W bulb.
That it an important part of the plot of the movie "Cinema Paradiso".
Wow, this was impressive. If one reel burned like that imagine how a booth full would behave.
That's why if the booth closes it's fire shields, it's time to get the hell out of the theater. It will eventually spread out of the booth and start igniting everything else.
Despite what the 9/11 truthers say, the fires that melted the steel beams and caused the collapse was ultimately from the burning paper and office furnishings. The kerosene from the planes had already burned up shortly after impact, so the fire was fueled most of the time by the aforementioned mundane items. So imagine what a rack of burning nitrate film can do to a small steel booth.
@@plateshutoverlock Holy shit, you replied to me after 11 years. I actually vaguely remember making the original comment. I can't believe it's been that long.
This video show of 35mm nitrate burning is the best demonstrate presentation even shown. Thank you. I have many 35mm nitrate of 1940's cartoon shorts and now fully preseved in new cans with clear plastic wrapper. I usually opens all cans to emit out the oder smelling after when being stored for long time.
Don't forget the chain effect of one burning reel igniting the stored reels nearby, likely not kept in fire safe boxes or a vault but just an open shelf rack.
With those many reels flaring off, I doubt even a fully closed steel booth would stop the fire from spreading elseware, only contain it long enough for theatergoers to evacuate. Nitrate film is so flammable that burns underwater
Who else came from Inglourious Basterds ?
I did. Lol
Same
Yes!!!
Mind-reader.
Here after watching the nitrate film scene in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. The burn rate of the nitrate reel in this clip is extraordinary.
Great demo! I've been reading about the studio fires of the past and this makes it all very real. I would have loved to see some of the closeups that guy was getting.
Wow, I had some old Pathe 9mm films (sprocket holes down the center) that I transferred to VHS in the 1980s. I'm glad that they didn't catch fire!
they were all on saftey film : 8, 9.5 and 16 was always on safety stock !
good stuff! very interesting to see - it must have been terribly nerve-wracking to handle!
Came here from Inglorious Basterds
If a 20 minute film can burn that strong, imagine 350 nitrate films
Especially when it has been unwound. That's when it will go out of control very quickly when set alight. Although it may take a few seconds for the whole film to catch fire when wound up, once it goes up, there's no way to extinguish it really.
that looks like tons of fun
Here after reading about "Fox Vault Fire 1937" OMG
nitrate film is made from nitrocellulose, which is more commonly known as guncotton. As the name implies, it was used as an explosive.
It burns much more rapidly, indeed explosively, when pressurized. I wonder if anyone has ever tried loading cartridges using old nitrate film cut in narrow strips (similar to the "spaghetti" loads used in British 308 WWII ammo? It should work, but each reel would require extensive testing with proper equipment to determine working pressures and loads.
i just bought 2 old rolls of film at a car boot sale in spain and one was deteriated so i had a look on the internet for research....thank you for the info,theyre now in a skip and not flying home with me.
This was an amazing demonstration!!! It also inspired a topic on my channel. Really good job you did on this. Keep up the good work!!
I can't speak for the maker but I came across this video as I wanted to see exactly how older nitrate films burn. Knowledge is fun, duh! :D
Wow. Just wow.
I have an old newsreel on nitrate. I was going to have it transferred if there are no existing copies, but I don't know if there are or not.
Just copy it digitally. Better safe than sorry.
Tarantino wasn't lying
Fascinating video, thanks.
From the moviegoer's point of view, with everything else being equal, would there have been any visually appreciable difference between a film shown on nitrate vs on later stocks?
My mom said it had finer grain. She went to film school so maybe thats right.
Kodak Nitrate Films & Munitions Supply Co.
Terrifying---it's like fireworks.
Damn. I dont think I've seen anything burn quite like that.
L-ion battery fires are very fierce like that, and like nitrate it is extremely hard if not impossible to extinguish. Water makes it worse, dry powder may retard it, but L-ion also creates its own oxygen. L-ion batteries are everywhere from your phone, cars, toothbrush, cordless tools etc. They start off with emitting dark smoke and keeps getting more intense until an explosive eruption, like a blow torch takes over. Aircraft safety is a major concern carrying this type of cargo or in the cabin. Nitrate film should never be shipped by air.
Insane!
Digital is 50X more flammable!
Thanks again. You reply reminded me of a review I read decades ago; someone saw a Fu Manchu movie projected on nitrate and said the chrome torture instruments in one scene literally gleamed like nothing he'd seen before.
One more question - did the stock also make a visual difference on color films? I assume at least some early color movies were shot on nitrate but I may well be wrong.
R.I.P London after midnight
It looked like that fire was going to jump out of the can and start walking around like an old Max Fleischer cartoon.
Kermode wasn't joking
WOW.
Looks and sounds like a rocket engine.
where?
L-ion battery fires are very fierce like that, and like nitrate it is extremely hard if not impossible to extinguish. Water makes it worse, dry powder may retard it, but L-ion also creates its own oxygen. L-ion batteries are everywhere from your phone, cars, toothbrush, cordless tools etc. They start off with emitting dark smoke and keeps getting more intense until an explosive eruption, like a blow torch takes over. Aircraft safety is a major concern carrying this type of cargo or in the cabin. Nitrate film should never be shipped by air. Would not be surprised that it gets carried as it would only be labelled as 'film'.
Was this film saved ?
Watch and listen from the beginning of the video.
Yes, it can be viewed here on TH-cam: th-cam.com/video/64N0Q2Rs-wE/w-d-xo.html
Cmon... admit it.. You don't really need to test to see how celluloid (nitrate) film burrns... You burn it because it's fun, don't you ? ;)
It's the cheapest way to dispose of it. This is something you absolutely can't just throw out into the garbage. Once it's burned up it should be safe enough to bin.
What we see here was likely the exact method used to dispose of those films when saftey film replaced the nitrates.
This is why VHS invented
Hi-ho Silver, away! :-)
Anyone see the red light in the eoods at 3:17
Here from Cinema Paradiso
SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BUT KEPT FOR POSTERITY MADNESS
NOOOOOOOO! THAT WAS A GREAT MOVIE TO BURN IT
well some folks I know got in serious sh** for throwing arcade games and pinball game (cabinets !! ) off the roof so why not scorch some dead film
I was making joke, why so angry?