Diamonds Are Forever, But Will Movies be Gone With The Wind?

There is an assumption that films, like diamonds, are forever. But the earliest filmmakers were nickelodeon showmen concerned chiefly with the nickels their products earned, and the U.S. Patent Office didn't deem moving images worthy of copyright protection until 1913. Early producers including Klaw & Erlanger and Vitagraph, to protect their business interests from rampant piracy, found a loophole by making paper prints of their celluloid films and copyrighting those sequences of still photographs on paper, inadvertently creating the first preservation copies.

In 1952, archivists at the Library of Congress contacted the Motion Picture Association of America asking for help. The only record of some 5,000 films produced between 1896 and 1912 were those paper prints at the Copyright Office. MPAA wasn't interested, but Kemp Niver, who handled security, volunteered to investigate. Niver installed a jury-rigged optical printer in his garage and subsequently converted some 3,000 paper prints back to motion picture film, allowing them to be viewed again after decades in hibernation.

When asked what motivated him, Niver replied, "� these motion pictures were the start of a new form of communication, a transition from the spoken word to visual literacy�if a piece of film dies, a human thought dies with it. I thought, if I could do something to preserve that thought, isn't it worth doing?"

Unfortunately, Niver was a voice in the wilderness during most of the history of the industry. Film historians estimate that some 90 percent of the silent movies and half of all narrative films produced prior to 1951 are lost. Survival rates for early newsreels and other non-fiction films are thought to be even lower.

The reality is that, then as now, many independent filmmakers don't have the luxury of investing in preservation. Those who shoot film are likely using Super 16, but many will also originate on one of the various digital video formats. We asked Rick Utley a series of questions regarding their options. Utley has spent nearly 40 years on the technical side of the business, including long stints at MGM and Technicolor labs. In 1993, he was hired by Kodak to build and oversee the operation of the PRO-TEK Media and Preservation Vault located in Burbank, California.

QUESTION: Let's presume a production is made in 16mm or Super 16 and edited in video format so there is no cut negative or film intermediate. 
UTLEY: The original negative and digital information should be stored at separate sites to protect against a natural or man-made disaster. This is important because disasters happen. Ideally, you should make liquid gate polyester inter-positives from the negative and store them separately, but chances are that isn't financially feasible. Either way, the original film should be stored in an environment that satisfies archival standards (at the very least 50 F and 50% RH). The EDL (edit decision list) should also be considered archival, since the video master will not last nearly as long as the film. A new master will be needed in the future. The original media containing the sound should also be stored in an archival environment. It can be kept with the video master with the understanding that it will eventually be re-recorded.

QUESTION: Are there other recommended practices for archiving? 
UTLEY: Have the negative inspected for physical damage, such as scratches and tears. You also want to make sure you have the right film in the canister and that it is properly labeled. That sounds obvious, but I've heard my share of horror stories.

QUESTION: What does it typically cost to store film in an archival vault?
UTLEY: It typically costs less than $35 a year to store ten 1000-ft. cans of 16mm or Super 16 film in an optimum environment. For the independent producer that might not be practical if you have 50,000 feet of out-takes. One alternative is investing in a refrigerator and learning the proper way to package your film in a micro-environment using molecular sieves with a polyethylene bag for archiving. There is information available from the PRO-TEK Media Preservation center on this procedure.

QUESTION: What about older film that has been in ambient storage for years?
UTLEY: Invest the time to inspect it. You can see if the color is fading by eye in extreme cases, or if the base is degrading. The most common cause of degradation is something called vinegar syndrome, which affects acetate based film. Vinegar syndrome is detectable by the odor. There are photochemical and digital techniques for repairing color fading and for fixing physical damage by making a new copy of the film. Vinegar syndrome can be slowed by putting molecular sieves in the film can forming a micro-environment and storing it in a cold environment. The sieves absorb the acid. The alternative is restoring the old film and making a new copy before it is too late.

QUESTION: How about new productions in digital video formats?
UTLEY: If you can afford it, record your final edit out to intermediate film and store it separately from the original video. If you can't afford to record out to film, clone your original video, and archive the two copies at separate facilities. We recommend inspecting both video copies annually because they will degrade. That means you need to maintain equipment and from time to time, you should migrate to a newer format. There have been more than 70 video formats since 1958, and the manufacturers haven't done a particularly good job of maintaining equipment and parts.

QUESTION: What do you do if you have tape that is 10 or 20 years old?
UTLEY: There are facilities that specialize in conversion services on older video formats to newer formats. Don't wait, because there is a fairly rapid obsolescence of equipment for older formats.

QUESTION: What are the anticipated shelf lives for film and video content?
UTLEY: Properly archived film will last for 600 years, according to the Image Permanence Institute, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Anytime during that period, it can be copied onto a new record, so the real answer is infinity. Ask 10 different 'experts' about the shelf life of video and digital video and you'll get 10 different answers. My personal experience is that 20 to 25 years is possible, though I've seen images and heard sounds on 35-year old quad tape that was properly stored and successfully re-recorded. It is a double-edged sword because the media life is relatively volatile compared to film, and the hardware and software are subject to fairly rapid obsolesce.

QUESTION: Do you have any other observations?
UTLEY: In the entertainment industry, all of the studios now have asset protection departments responsible for overseeing film libraries, which are now regarded as their single largest asset. There are new ways to distribute older films every year. Unfortunately, independent filmmakers may not have access to this information, and new filmmakers don't learn about it in school. Among the best and most aggressive clearing houses for information and practices regarding moving image preservation are the Image Permanence Institute (www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org) at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (www.amianet.org). Their sole mission is the development of standards for image storage and preservation. Their web sites are excellent places to gain insight and practical information.