Rescuing Damaged Film
During early stages of decay, the film content can be rescued by transferring it to new film stock. Once the film becomes brittle it cannot be copied in its entirety. Because the gelatin emulsion usually stays intact during the degradation process, it is possible to save the image on sheet film using solvents to dissolve the base off the emulsion. Once the emulsion has been freed from the shrunken support, it can be photographed or transferred to a new support. Because of the solvents used, this is a delicate and potentially hazardous procedure and is an expensive process for a large collection. Degraded motion picture film cannot be restored in this way, but sheet films often can.
While digitization would be an ideal way to preserve the contents of cellulose acetate film, current standards do not allow for scanning at sufficient resolutions to produce a copy of the same picture and sound quality as the original. Currently, the National Film Preservation Institute advocates film-to-film transfer as the best method for film preservation, with the copies stored in proper environmental conditions.
Read more about this topic: Cellulose Acetate Film
Famous quotes containing the words rescuing, damaged and/or film:
“It’s true that heroes are inspiring, but mustn’t they also do some rescuing if they are to be worthy of their name? Would Wonder Woman matter if she only sent commiserating telegrams to the distressed?”
—Jeanette Winterson (b. 1959)
“When a man’s life is destroyed or damaged by some wound or privation of soul or body, which is due to other men’s actions or negligence, it is not only his sensibility that suffers but also his aspiration toward the good. Therefore there has been sacrilege towards that which is sacred in him.”
—Simone Weil (1909–1943)
“You should look straight at a film; that’s the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.”
—Werner Herzog (b. 1942)