Alan Duckworth

It's in the mail - literally. One of my sons sells home theatre product for one of the major electronics retailers. They have 4K TVs on demo of course [including a new curved screen model]. Within the last hour he received by courier a 4Gb flash drive from Sony with real 4K content on it. Guess how they have been demoing the 4K TVs up until now.

This same issue has been discussed amongst the movie archive community recently, and a couple more suppliers of black leader have surfaced. The first is Larry Urbanski - http://www.urbanskifilm.com/ [Please note, the Urbanski black leader is intended for projection use only.] Black leader suitable for conforming and editing camera original is custom made by Cinema Arts Inc., Newfoundland, PA 18445 - cinemaarts@gmail.com or via phone at 570-676-4145. This company is a full service 16MM / 35MM color/black & white "back end" motion picture lab. ["Back end" meaning they do not process camera negative or run dailies, but do everything after the dailies in analog, film to film format.]

Please don't trash old film, it is useful for the repair of other old films which are shrunken. See here for info on perf repair of shrunken film - http://www.nfsa.gov.au/preservation/handbook/film-repair/perforation-repair/ Unprocessed old film can be either cleared back to film base for use as clear leader, or processed out for black leader. Again, these can be used for leadering other old shrunken films. And [bonus points!], the Super-XX that expired in 1954 will almost certainly be 2R [perforated on both edges].

It is unlikely that it is worth the effort, even B&W will have probably fogged to a degree and lost some speed, and has probably also shrunk somewhat. With a "new-to-you" camera you really should buy fresh film, that way if there are any problems that show up, you know it is the camera and not the film. Spectra Film & Video deal with small quantities of film and processing - spectrafilmandvideo.com If you know of any film archivists you could donate the old film to, they appreciate old, shruken film - it can be used in their work. All the best with your "new" camera.

Steve, that is one impressive stash! As to cost and minimum order quantities, I think we are in uncharted territory until such time as real orders start to be placed. It will be interesting to see exactly what is required to justify firing up the production line for any particular stock.

From the outside looking in, it is seeming that Kodak wants to respond to market forces. I have to assume that there will be "magic numbers" in terms of demand for any particular stock - hence the idea of a co-op rather than random individual orders.

Received this email this morning: > I've confirmed with Bob Mastronardi at Kodak that there has been enough interest in the discontinued black leader for them to consider a second run. So don't panic. HOWEVER This is a supply and demand market. Kodak will supply whatever is demanded. But don't be complacent about your stock needs, be proactive. If you're interested in any Kodak product, shoot me an e-mail off-list and I'll put you in touch with the proper person or will group all requests together for a specific stock so that a single order can be placed. Elena Rossi-Snook Chair, AMIA Film Advocacy Task Force > Her email address is posted with her permission: elenarossisnook@nypl.org

This website became active last week, the list of supporters makes interesting reading: http://www.savefilm.org/supporters/

The monochrome viewing filter is a Wratten 90, kind of a dirty amber in color. The screengrabs do show this in the one shot that you can see through the googles. The Wratten 90 only transmits about 10% of the light and passes nothing of the spectrum below about 560nm, so they would also be fairly good eye protection against arc light. Tiffen still makes Wratten 90 filters AFAIK.

Not yet. Please contact Elena directly at this time. The Task Force has an interesting website of its own, well worth perusing. The Resources section is quite valuable. http://www.filmadvocacy.org/

Sadly it is quite true - here is the latest Kodak catalog giving the grim details: http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Products/Product_Information/index.htm Some good news. The Film Advocacy Task Force of the Association of Moving Image Archivists is setting up a co-op for the bulk ordering of film products. It appears that Kodak is willing to manufacture product to order, but the order has to meet minimum requirements - hence the concept of the co-op. The person to contact for this is the Chair of the Task Force, Elena Rossi-Snook. With her permission I am posting her email - elenarossisnook@nypl.org Alan Duckworth

Sorry, Richard but I am not worthy of your gold medal, a bronze at best. If I would have called the thread "Film use should be a Human Right", and expounded from there, then possibly. But, I am merely the conduit to pass along this article. What grabbed my attention in there was the concept that the medium of image generation is a basic right. I had always assumed that the right to generate images was "protected" under some kind of "freedom of expression" concept - but never thought about the medium. And, it appears that this is "old news", essentially dating back to 1948. Also, to me, a key phrase in there is "...receive and impart information and ideas through any media... " - the boldface is mine. So it covers all choices equally, and for me, having access to creative "choice" is the important part.

In anticipation of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, filmadvocacy.org posted the following page: http://www.filmadvocacy.org/2013/10/25/unesco-world-day-for-audiovisual-heritage-choices-rights/ on Friday. Some interesting information in there, here is a quote from the page: "It is of the utmost importance that filmmakers around the world continue to have the ability to choose the mediums and technologies that best support the preservation of their works into the future. Well-tested and proven technologies that facilitate this goal must continue to remain available. UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on October 27th, 2013 is an opportune time to highlight the critical importance of maintaining choice in how audiovisual works are preserved and presented, framed in terms relevant to the artistic rights of filmmakers. Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 guarantees the Right to Freedom of Expression for all and underpins the right of filmmakers to choose the mediums by which they communicate their ideas through their works. This extends from production and postproduction, through exhibition and into preservation. Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. It follows that attempts to limit choice of medium, to restrict diversity, and to narrow options in this area are not only culturally damaging and unjust – they contravene fundamental human rights." The above is just a part, you should read the whole page and the associated links before forming an opinion.

@Gareth - Thanks for that original link, very useful. I am still interested in a link to Phil's article when it comes out. Alan

Phil: please post a link to the article when it goes live, Thanks, Alan