Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

Ordered 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' (1965) and 'The Hill' (1965) from the library.

'The Hill' sounds interesting...

Those are nice looks! If buying from BH...buy a bunch of options, test them out and return what does not work for you. I've only used graduated ND filters.

Can a colorist do what you want?

Gimmicky? You gotta try things. Can't say without seeing the results. If it is a paying gig, all you have to do is make the boss happy. 

Good luck!

Thanks Robin!

Thin Transfer : DDTJRAC : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Transferred from DVD and looks thin. What type of software can fix this and stretch image out some? Original was not widescreen or anything. From the 1970's TV video.

Thanks

Watched a couple of oldies, 'Twister' (1996) and 'The Perfect Storm.' (2000) Blu-ray versions both had great commentaries, especially about the special effects.  Highly recommended. You can get them from your library if you don't have them in your collection. 

Sidenote...They are coming out with a redo of 'Twister' called 'Twisters' in 2024.

 

What a time to have lived! Not many fat people back then. Lots of activity. And no fast-food joints all around. Stagecoach travel took 3 or 4 weeks to cross parts of the USA. With the first trains connecting America, it took 3-1/2 days. The old wagon trains took 4 or 5 months to cross only a portion of America. All these times vary. But they are general times listed on the internet. I bet when the wagon trains came upon a river, they enjoyed a bath! Or not, who knows? No early warning for weather or Indians attacking. And not just Indians, non-Indian outlaw gangs would attack them. 

Photo: LOC

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Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Advertising Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. VHS Video Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Popular Culture Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Audio Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Social Documentary Photography

 

 

On 3/14/2024 at 2:45 PM, Todd Ruel said:

Not at the moment.  My budget is limited.

I use a Film-O-Clean from Neal Laboratories for which I have been fairly well mocked on these forums! 😅

(It’s okay.  I can take it.)

I just don’t have an extra $50K to spend on a film cleaner, so I have to resort to other means.

The Film-O-Clean is a little manual device that was built to clean film while attached to a projector.  However, you can attach it fairly easily to a rewind bench.  That’s how I use it.

It cost me about $600, and I bought it directly from Roy Neal.  (There’s a German site that sells it for $1,200!  No thanks!)

Thanks. I thought you were going to say it cost $75 or something for you being made fun of. Anyway, we are all on different levels. Some rich, some not so rich and we are all trying to get the work done best we can with the budgets we got. 

The machine looks pretty good. At first, I thought it was just a tub that the film ran through some liquid until I saw this photo of it. 

Film-O-Clean MK3 System for 8mm/S8/16mm Film

Internet Photo: Fair Use

From what I gather, there is no liquid involved, it used sticky rollers of some sort. Or am I wrong? Doesn't your Lasergraphics do about the same with their sticky urethane rollers Perry was talking about?

My problem is my films are filthy! Dust is one thing, but they are filthy, filthy and filthy many a time. This isn't from cleaning a roll of 400 feet. This is from cleaning maybe 20 - 30 feet. 

Photo D.D.Teoli Jr.

You guys, girls and zirs like cleaning films or you just have to clean films and don't like it...use a slow drying film cleaner if you are serious. It is more of a pain to deal with than fast drying Edwal, but it cleans very well. It has time to loosen the dirt, whereas Edwal's fast drying cleaner does not get nearly all the dirt. But Edwal's cleaner is good if you are in a rush and have no time. It gives a doable, half-ass clean job.

Photo: B&H / Fair Use

Of course, you can test this all out yourself. Just like I always tell to test things. Try Edwal and try other cleaners. But the slow drying cleaners stink like hell. If you use them, have a fan pointed in your face and good ventilation.

It would be interesting for someone to test the commercial film cleaning machines and see how much dirt is left behind by following up with a slow drying film cleaner over the previously cleaned area. Test out some film both ways, hand and machine as a test sample. 

3 hours ago, Don Cunningham said:

I'm going through the filing and see he listed his own painted artwork with values attached. Wonder if they would sell that much at auction.

The business was listed in Utopia previously but the address for the owner is now listed as Cedar Park. Seems to be quite a story in there.

Lots of stories, I guess. In this day and age...dunno, never know about prosecution, Tyler. Just depends on the DA and all. Really sad. People that buy Retroscans are not usually rich and can't afford to lose $. And I just lump all his machines as Retroscans. I never kept up with his later machines. They looked to have all the same issues as the Retroscan. So, when I think of MS, I think of Retroscan. My goal was to eventually get a FilmFabriek or cheap Lasergraphics. The Retroscan was an introduction to cine' film scanning for me, that was it. 

I'd see used Retroscans on eBay every once in a while. They seemed to be listed by another person and usually shipped from MS as 'refurbished.' I never could figure that out. Roger advertised he would take in used Restroscans to upgrade to a newer machine. But it never made sense why someone in CA selling a used machine on eBay would go through MS to ship it. I don't know if it was jsut a sales story or something.

Thanks Victoria. I wonder how many different frequencies they used for this work. 

Can you run a Lasergraphics scanner with your own computer or does it only work with the proprietary computer?

 

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Selection from DDTJRAC Fashion Archive

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. VHS Video Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Audio Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Popular Culture Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Advertising Archive
Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Social Documentary Photography

 

 

It sold very fast. I was thinking the selling price is pretty high, but have no idea.  

What is this film used for? 

 

14 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

I was always shocked how he was in business to begin with. 

Can I ask, how anyone can scan anything without a rigid gate for the film to ride on? Any film that was warped, shrunk or even slightly damaged, would never be able to be scanned. I think some of the home made 3D printed machines, have more "tech" in them and I bet that's why he just gave up. It's hard to sell "scanners" that don't have super basic features/functions. 

 

Oh, you can scan warped and shrunk film with it Tyler. The question is...will you get a great scan? No, you won't. But again, if you are broke / low budget...something is (usually) better than nothing.

 

 

This is a scan done with the Restroscan from the film on this core.

NSFW

The 3 Graces - Vintage Stag Film D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Now, even with perfect film, you can only do so much with the Retroscan. But for the $, I always thought it was a decent value if you could not afford better. This is about as good as it gets with flat film on the Retroscan.

Retroscan Registration Example Scan 1939 NY World's Fair D. D. Teoli Jr. A. C. : D. D. Teoli Jr. A. C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I had tried one of their LightPin gates and it was terrible for warped film. I could not get it to work. So, I stuck with the standard gates. The LightPin gate was supposed to have better registration.

Doesn't your Filmfabriek scanner have a gate similar to the Retroscan where the film just rides over the metal? 

Roger's FB post via Kinograph Forums.

28 minutes ago, Perry Paolantonio said:

Did you read the bankruptcy filing? Because if you didn't, you should. 

 

No, but have read the Reddit and some other forum posts about it. Some of the people have over $10k in losses.

MovieStuff (aka: Roger Evans) finally stops scamming people and declared bankruptcy - 8mm Forum (film-tech.com)

With all the people burned there looks like there is a decent market for affordable scanners. Do you think Lasergraphics will ever make their version of the Retroscan for $12-$15K Perry?

12 minutes ago, Todd Ruel said:

Brett Maynard of Galileo Digital, which reps this machine, told me it costs $50K.

 

Thanks.

Do you use any machines for film cleaning?

 

13 minutes ago, Perry Paolantonio said:

The standard ScanStation gate looks like the bottom part of what's in the pictures, and I think the gates re the same on the ScanStation and Archivist, but not 100% sure on that. The hinged pressure plate is added onto the standard gate. It's also worth noting that the gates have some electronics in them, if only to identify themselves to a machine -- so you can't just go build your own gate and expect the machine to recognize it, it wouldn't know it's there without that identifier. 

The Director gates are shorter but similar in design. 

 

Thanks Perry!

Sorry, no more likes or upvotes today. I went over my limit. 

On 3/12/2024 at 11:00 PM, Todd Ruel said:

I now own a Lasergraphics Archivist with the 16mm warped film gate, and it's a lifesaver.  I have a lot of 16mm prints in various states of decay, and it keeps those films flat as a pancake going through the gate.  The polished chrome film path across the film gate really gives me peace of mind that my films will experience as little friction as possible.

This Archivist is built like a tank and so are the accessories.  I now see why so many people recommend Lasergraphics products so highly.  (It took me a while to get there.)

I don't always understand the finer technical points that many of you speak about in this forum, but I've finally seen the (diffused) light, and I understand the enthusiasm for Lasergraphics.

 

Thanks, Todd.

Do you keep the warped gate on all the time or switch gates for bad film? 

How much work is it to change gates?

Some of the films are warped so bad, they unwind themselves on the rewind bench. You take off the tape and the pressure from all the warping will unwind a whole reel on the floor...if you let it. I've done it before with films I don't want to bother with and I will trash. Films that I may have a copy of two of and didn't care. Too bad I didn't shoot a video of it. Pretty interesting seeing the film unwind itself from a non-spinning reel.

 

This is just a moderately warped film. 

 

 

On 3/12/2024 at 11:24 AM, Perry Paolantonio said:

It's more than a "piece of metal," it's a precision machined part consisting of several pieces. 

You get the gate, which is a metal frame with mirrors inside to reflect the light, its polished skid plate, and a pressure-plate that closes down on top of the film. There's also a set of flat rollers that help to flatten the film a bit before it gets to the gate. It's expensive yes, but people with them have reported good results. I've been looking at modding ours to take a pressure plate like the one I built for our 70mm scanner but haven't really had time yet. These are some photos I took of it at NAB last year.

 

Thanks, Perry!

That is something. Yes, lots of work in making it. Does ScanStation / Director use something similar?

12 hours ago, Perry Paolantonio said:

I wouldn't take this as a sign the industry is in trouble. If you read the bankruptcy filing it sure as hell looks like he was running quite a scam. Over the past two years he paid himself $1.4M yet the company apparently has no assets. At all. over 200 people ordered stuff that wasn't delivered - parts and whole scanners apparently, and some of those orders go back to 2022 from what I've read on various forums. 

 

Wow! Had no idea.

Roger seemed on the up and up when I dealt with him. But that was way back. Maybe 2017, can't remember. 

12 hours ago, Perry Paolantonio said:

I saw the parts list for a Universal build. Someone posted it on facebook. the machine consists mostly of screws and springs and off the shelf bits. Inexplicably, several copper roofing nails too.

The bankruptcy filing lists IP and patents as having a value of about $100. I don't think there's a single thing in this machine that's especially innovative or special, or patentable.

 

Was Moviestuff the type of company that had lots of parts in stock to build machines or did they just get parts as needed to build orders?

Any other scanner companies showing signs of $$ troubles?

55 minutes ago, Tyler Purcell said:

I was always shocked how he was in business to begin with. 

Can I ask, how anyone can scan anything without a rigid gate for the film to ride on? Any film that was warped, shrunk or even slightly damaged, would never be able to be scanned. I think some of the home made 3D printed machines, have more "tech" in them and I bet that's why he just gave up. It's hard to sell "scanners" that don't have super basic features/functions. 

Tyler...it is a matter of beggars can't be choosers. When I bought one, I sold an old Harley Sportster for a couple thousand $, borrowed a couple of thousand $ from a family member and charged the rest on my credit card. It was a good option to get your feet wet with learning about cine' film scanning or for someone with a pile of family movies and just wants some scans and won't go for a Wolverine scanner. 

I'm generally not into 35mm...too bulky and too $$. But recently someone had a small lot of 35mm home movies shot in Ireland from 1915 - late 1920's for sale. I could not afford most of them, but I did pick up one short from the collection; about a tourist group to the Blarney stone in 1928. The other films were similar in size and some of them were about early steam trains in Ireland. Tour groups still go to the Blarney stone to kiss the stone for the 'gift of gab.' The print looks to be a safety film dupe of the original nitrate...but just guessing.

You can use the scan of the film for your website / experimentation / education / advertising / etc. Just no stock footage sales. I'll be glad to pay shipping both ways and would like a 4K scan. ProRes is OK.

Here are some details on it...

 

 

more people....

 

I kissed the old Blarney stone a few times. I used to go to Europe a lot back in the 1990's. I would go off-season in the winter. I could RT air for $229 - $299 for most European cities. Hotels were cheap in the off season too. This was before the internet was a big deal and all the kids were not overloading planes trying to buy experiences. Travel was cheap back then and you were not packed like sushi! GD...those were the days! I was headed to Hong Kong from Taiwan and 85% of the plane was empty. You could raise the arms of the seats and lie down on whole empty rows. 

 

Monsoon Thailand 1982

Photo: D.D.Teoli Jr.

Don't travel much now. Health is so-so and too $. So, I travel with the film archive nowadays. I got plenty of travel back in the day, so not hurting.

If interested write me direct at: w1000w@aol.com

Here is seller's description...

1 hour ago, Dan Baxter said:

No, the ones you've linked to are not rebuilt in any way and only one of them is described clearly as being in working condition. You can, in theory anyway, buy the RTI Group cleaners fully rebuilt and refurbished from Jonathan Banks.

 

Thanks Dan, good to know about that company.  I never said eBay's listings are in working order or anything. Just said they were used. Looks like MMT makes a film scanner too.

 

 

 

They have lots of crazy gear. I never knew they had video tape cleaners.  Look at this machine for film printing. 

 

 

That's impressive. What did he spend to build the scanner? Got any photos of it?

I wasn't looking for wet gate scans, just wondering if the warped gates LG sells are worth the money. I think they are like $4,000 each for the Archivist. Don't know how much they are for their top end scanners. Even $4,000 seems like a lot for a little piece of metal.