I was amazed to hear that nitrate, stored in optimal conditions, actually has a longer shelf life than safety stock. That's the complete opposite of what I've understood for so many years. Film is overall so fragile and inherently transient, so tragic for such a beautiful medium.
Two years ago at the Marconi archive at Sandford Mill in the UK we were running film on a digital telecine. A teenage boy stood looking at it running through, pointed to the film and said "What's that?" We had to explain to him about film. Keep up the great work, films history, storey and the reason for social change can do easily be lost to time.
Even in the 1970s I was aware of the fact that NTSC video was barely 500 lines of resolution at best. Even back then a film archivist told me that it would take a medium of at least 200 lines to retain the detail of a 35 mm frame. Hard to believe that people would think that the video medium was good archival medium
This is a great video. I went to the Kodak theater in Rochester NY two years ago to see their nitrate film festival. It truly has a special look compared to modern film and as you state it's the best surviving element available so it must be preserved. I salute you as a film lover and historian for doing what you do, I really appreciate it. I was going through my grandma's old box of photographs just this week and found her wedding stills from the 1940s in 116 format on some black and white negative stock. There was no edge code and then it dawned on me that I was holding 80 year old nitrate film in my possession that was in surprisingly good condition. I trimmed off a tiny strip of the unexposed edge and lit it outside in a metal bowl and yeah, it burns quite intensely. However, I follow the CMI cold storage method of bagging film with moisture traps and it is safely in my freezer at -13 F until I can get a good film scanner to make a viewable copy of it. Not only is it the highest quality element as it's the literal camera negative, it's a tangible piece of family history that I will not throw out and will preserve for the rest of my life. Properly stored, it will easily outlast me.
Great to hear you enjoyed the video, and thank you for sharing your story on your recent family record discovery :) There is nothing quite like coming across a treasure like yours in an old dusty box hidden away. Even better when it is featured on a fascinating format such as nitrate film, what a find! Thanks again for your kind words and we really hope you get the chance to view your taonga some day soon and keep it safe for your family history for many years to come. Have a great day | Noho ora mai
My dad was was born in 1919 and Old enough to have been around when Nitrate film was used exclusively. and I remember as a kid, him explaining to me that the nitrate film was so flammable, that if it were to get stuck in the film gate, the heat of the light source [ usually a "Magic Lantern" ] would cause the film to overheat, and start to bubble and melt and then ignite into a really hot flame and burn like gasoline. and he had seen a few movie theaters burn to the ground because of it. and that is why movie theater projectors were housed in a metal armor with the stack running up through the roof to the outside. because the fire could be better contained this way.
I own 1 reel of nitrate 35mm. It is a reel from the feature film Irish Eyes are Smiling, IB Technicolor. A stable print with no problems. I wind & re-wind the reel twice a year.
I have worked with nitrate 35mm for over twenty years, over three hundred hours of projection and checking,repair. I like it more than triacetate film, no vinegar stench. More silver, longer runs on a print. Most projectionist in the early 1950's were against the transition to safety film. Keep preserving!
I used to own an 1897 Lumiere print and other than some slight warping, it had barely aged over the course of 120 odd years. I wouldn't be suprised if it lasts another 120.
I'm glad they are preserving Nitrate film and keeping some copies so when better technology comes along the film will still exist to be restored. But granted there is the flammable nature of Nitrate film storage.
Thanks! Although the view count isn't large at this stage, we are getting some very positive responses which is great to see. We too are surprised there is not too many more videos out there on this fascinating topic. Glad you enjoyed the content :D
Bad idea to storaging these Nitrate films in the lid-tighten cans. It can be decomposed unexpectedly. Just give them plenty of everyday air breezing at them to go thru, the better. Drilling holes on the cans makes it worthwhile.
Thanks for the comment Robert, It is hard to tell just from the video but we don’t store them in airtight cans - our cans are designed to breathe to avoid exactly what you are talking about. A great bit of additional information that was left out of this video, thanks for sharing your knowledge :)
I actually experiment with shooting photos on unexposed vintage 35mm nitrate stock and have a fair amount of it in my freezer, some dating back to the 1930’s… in my experimentation I actually ended up finding a reel that WAS exposed and had 1930’s era 4 perf silent footage that had never been developed! I only found this out after developing a short test strip. Now I have no idea what to do with the rest of that film LOL
With modern projectors, storage systems, and safety measures, nitrate film could easily be remade today, and it could last until the year 2300. Also, it would still be of better quality than anything made nowadays.
I save film to Digital then M-Disk. I prefer to think that 1000 years is a long time. M-Disk will out last all film and is not affected by heat or cold or other elements. Also M-Disk doesn't need to be keep in a control environment. It's the perfect choice in my Digital transfer business. If you make a capture of a film with a superior lens to digital, you can be assured that quality won't be and issue. We of course are not talking about Wolverine Pro consumer Digitizers.
nga taonga = the goods (?) Is there a more nuanced translation of your organization's name? Enjoyed the video, will subscribe. But you need to have *all* of the narration done by New Zealand women. I LOVE that accent!
Glad you enjoyed the video! Our organizations name Ngā Taonga translates to = The Treasure, (Ngā = The, Taonga = Treasure) and is referring to all of New Zealands audiovisual treasures we care for as an archive :) We are happy to hear that you are enjoying the accent, some of our more camera shy staff members are hesitant to lend their voice to our videos and your comment is a nice reminder that hearing a local voice is valued. We shall pass on your kind words :D
in my opinion the best is PET (Polyester). I hate it that Kodak still makes it's new film stock on that Vingear stuff (Triacetate). IF you film today, as I'm doing, you want it to LAST. Silly answers of "it can hurt the camera" (PET has MUCH more tensile strengh) is idiotic.
We do this in case Turner Classic Movies ever wants to recapture in 16:9 instead of 4:3. 😮 Bet a lot of cinematographers are spinning in their graves cause of TCM
Old fashioned nitrate film is extremely dangerous, not only because it's so flammable, but because the fumes released by it will kill you within seconds/minutes. It may be "better" film compared to safety film but the danger it poses isn't worth it.
I was amazed to hear that nitrate, stored in optimal conditions, actually has a longer shelf life than safety stock. That's the complete opposite of what I've understood for so many years.
Film is overall so fragile and inherently transient, so tragic for such a beautiful medium.
Two years ago at the Marconi archive at Sandford Mill in the UK we were running film on a digital telecine. A teenage boy stood looking at it running through, pointed to the film and said
"What's that?"
We had to explain to him about film.
Keep up the great work, films history, storey and the reason for social change can do easily be lost to time.
Even in the 1970s I was aware of the fact that NTSC video was barely 500 lines of resolution at best. Even back then a film archivist told me that it would take a medium of at least 200 lines to retain the detail of a 35 mm frame. Hard to believe that people would think that the video medium was good archival medium
This is a great video. I went to the Kodak theater in Rochester NY two years ago to see their nitrate film festival. It truly has a special look compared to modern film and as you state it's the best surviving element available so it must be preserved. I salute you as a film lover and historian for doing what you do, I really appreciate it.
I was going through my grandma's old box of photographs just this week and found her wedding stills from the 1940s in 116 format on some black and white negative stock. There was no edge code and then it dawned on me that I was holding 80 year old nitrate film in my possession that was in surprisingly good condition. I trimmed off a tiny strip of the unexposed edge and lit it outside in a metal bowl and yeah, it burns quite intensely. However, I follow the CMI cold storage method of bagging film with moisture traps and it is safely in my freezer at -13 F until I can get a good film scanner to make a viewable copy of it. Not only is it the highest quality element as it's the literal camera negative, it's a tangible piece of family history that I will not throw out and will preserve for the rest of my life. Properly stored, it will easily outlast me.
Great to hear you enjoyed the video, and thank you for sharing your story on your recent family record discovery :)
There is nothing quite like coming across a treasure like yours in an old dusty box hidden away. Even better when it is featured on a fascinating format such as nitrate film, what a find!
Thanks again for your kind words and we really hope you get the chance to view your taonga some day soon and keep it safe for your family history for many years to come.
Have a great day | Noho ora mai
My dad was was born in 1919 and Old enough to have been around when Nitrate film
was used exclusively. and I remember as a kid, him explaining to me that the nitrate film
was so flammable, that if it were to get stuck in the film gate, the heat of the light source
[ usually a "Magic Lantern" ] would cause the film to overheat, and start to bubble and
melt and then ignite into a really hot flame and burn like gasoline. and he had seen a few
movie theaters burn to the ground because of it. and that is why movie theater projectors
were housed in a metal armor with the stack running up through the roof to the outside.
because the fire could be better contained this way.
I own 1 reel of nitrate 35mm. It is a reel from the feature film Irish Eyes are Smiling, IB Technicolor. A stable print with no problems. I wind & re-wind the reel twice a year.
I have worked with nitrate 35mm for over twenty years, over three hundred hours of projection and checking,repair. I like it more than triacetate film, no vinegar stench. More silver, longer runs on a print. Most projectionist in the early 1950's were against the transition to safety film. Keep preserving!
I used to own an 1897 Lumiere print and other than some slight warping, it had barely aged over the course of 120 odd years. I wouldn't be suprised if it lasts another 120.
I'm glad they are preserving Nitrate film and keeping some copies so when better technology comes along the film will still exist to be restored. But granted there is the flammable nature of Nitrate film storage.
This was a really cool video, I'm shocked it doesn't have more views. Very interesting topic.
Thanks! Although the view count isn't large at this stage, we are getting some very positive responses which is great to see. We too are surprised there is not too many more videos out there on this fascinating topic. Glad you enjoyed the content :D
Very cool. I’ll be seeing films projected on silver nitrate next month in Los Angeles and wanted to do research on it. This was super helpful.
Happy to hear this video has helped with you research, enjoy your upcoming screening!
Bad idea to storaging these Nitrate films in the lid-tighten cans. It can be decomposed unexpectedly. Just give them plenty of everyday air breezing at them to go thru, the better. Drilling holes on the cans makes it worthwhile.
Thanks for the comment Robert, It is hard to tell just from the video but we don’t store them in airtight cans - our cans are designed to breathe to avoid exactly what you are talking about. A great bit of additional information that was left out of this video, thanks for sharing your knowledge :)
I actually experiment with shooting photos on unexposed vintage 35mm nitrate stock and have a fair amount of it in my freezer, some dating back to the 1930’s… in my experimentation I actually ended up finding a reel that WAS exposed and had 1930’s era 4 perf silent footage that had never been developed! I only found this out after developing a short test strip. Now I have no idea what to do with the rest of that film LOL
Great piece guys 👌, keep brings more
Thanks! Glad you liked it, another video on this coming very soon 👍
With modern projectors, storage systems, and safety measures, nitrate film could easily be remade today, and it could last until the year 2300. Also, it would still be of better quality than anything made nowadays.
I save film to Digital then M-Disk. I prefer to think that 1000 years is a long time. M-Disk will out last all film and is not affected by heat or cold or other elements. Also M-Disk doesn't need to be keep in a control environment. It's the perfect choice in my Digital transfer business. If you make a capture of a film with a superior lens to digital, you can be assured that quality won't be and issue. We of course are not talking about Wolverine Pro consumer Digitizers.
💯💯💯 I love this
Thanks! Glad you liked it 🎞
nga taonga = the goods (?) Is there a more nuanced translation of your organization's name? Enjoyed the video, will subscribe. But you need to have *all* of the narration done by New Zealand women. I LOVE that accent!
Glad you enjoyed the video! Our organizations name Ngā Taonga translates to = The Treasure, (Ngā = The, Taonga = Treasure) and is referring to all of New Zealands audiovisual treasures we care for as an archive :)
We are happy to hear that you are enjoying the accent, some of our more camera shy staff members are hesitant to lend their voice to our videos and your comment is a nice reminder that hearing a local voice is valued. We shall pass on your kind words :D
How does Nitrate compare to Polyester based prints, though? From what I've heard Polyester is the safest and very durable
in my opinion the best is PET (Polyester). I hate it that Kodak still makes it's new film stock on that Vingear stuff (Triacetate).
IF you film today, as I'm doing, you want it to LAST.
Silly answers of "it can hurt the camera" (PET has MUCH more tensile strengh) is idiotic.
We do this in case Turner Classic Movies ever wants to recapture in 16:9 instead of 4:3. 😮
Bet a lot of cinematographers are spinning in their graves cause of TCM
Answer: So I can keep my job
nitrate film is good. digital film sucks.
but preserve chaplins spirit in crystal clear.,
god defend new zealand.
Nitrate film is dangerous! We should digitally restore it before it gets destroyed though, safety film is 10 times better
Old fashioned nitrate film is extremely dangerous, not only because it's so flammable, but because the fumes released by it will kill you within seconds/minutes. It may be "better" film compared to safety film but the danger it poses isn't worth it.
@@CadgerChristmasLightShow so true. Safety > everythin
The "t" in "often is SILENT.
~funny you - did you ever hear of accents?
Nitrate film has been BANNED for cine use in the US since 1929. Try reading a BOOK!
no - early 1950's as I'm informed.