Paper Print - Current Migration Effort

Current Migration Effort

Further criticism would come upon reflection of his work. Simply put; as standards changed, Niver’s migration looked sub-standard. By 1993, a project was already underway. LC had reported “widespread dissatisfaction with image loss in the earlier… preservation” and resolved to recopy the paper prints to 35 mm. LC was praised for this and for not leaving anything out. The new collection of over 200 films was studied by two French film historians who visited LC in 2003. They made comparisons to the original paper prints and discovered that these “new restorations that the Library of Congress has recently carried out..., unlike Niver’s reconstitutions, are exact copies of the original paper prints.”

Now, LC’s website for the Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division proudly announces that the paper prints, their most active collection, are transferring to “vastly superior new 35 mm copies.” They plan on continuing “until the entire collection has been re-photographed.” The events that began over a century ago with the moving image at the Library of Congress continue to unfold.

In 2004, Kinetta built a new digital scanner specifically for the LOC's Paper Print Collection. Used with digital restoration software, and a special Kinetta 35mm B&W Film Recorder, films are scanned from the paper prints at 2K resolution, digitally restored, and output to 35mm B&W film. The resulting restorations are significantly better than the photochemical versions in many aspects. Films restored using this system include two Chaplin shorts. There is an article about this work on the kinetta.com website.