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“Shows the harmful effects on 16mm film of improper projector cleaning, film threading, film rewinding and placement of film in can.”
NEW VERSION with improved video & sound:
Public domain film from the Prelinger Archive, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
Film stock is an analog media that is used for recording motion pictures or animations…
History
1889–1899: Before standardization
Early motion picture experiments were performed using a fragile paper roll film, which was difficult to view a single, continuously moving image without complex apparatus.
The first transparent and flexible film base material was celluloid, which was discovered and refined for photographic use by John Carbutt, Hannibal Goodwin, and George Eastman.
Eastman Kodak made celluloid film commercially available in 1889; Thomas Henry Blair, in 1891, was its first competitor. The stock had a frosted base to facilitate easier viewing by transmitted light. Emulsions were orthochromatic. By November 1891 William Dickson, at Edison’s laboratory, was using Blair’s stock for Kinetoscope experiments. Blair’s company supplied film to Edison for five years. Between 1892 and 1893, Eastman experienced problems with production. Because of patent lawsuits in 1893, Blair left his American company and established another in Britain. Eastman supplied Edison with film…
Eastman’s first motion picture film stock offered in 1889. At first the film was the same as photographic film. By 1916, separate “Cine Type” films were offered.
From 1895, Eastman supplied their motion picture roll film in rolls of 65 feet, while Blair’s rolls were 75 feet…
1900–1919: Towards the standard picture film
As the quantity of film and filmmakers grew, the demand for standardization increased. Between 1900 and 1910, film formats gradually became standardized and film stocks improved. A number of film gauges were made. Eastman increased the length of rolls to 200 feet without major adjustments to the emulsion, retaining a large market share. Lumiere reformulated its stock to match the speed of Eastman film, naming it ‘Etiquette Violette’ (Violet Label). Blair sold his English company to Pathéin 1907 and retired to the US. Pathe began to supplement its operation in 1910 by purchasing film prints, stripping the emulsion from the film base and re-coating it.
35mm film began to become the dominant gauge because of the popularity of Edison’s and Lumière’s cameras. Consumers usually purchased unperforated film and had to punch it by perforators that were often imprecise, causing difficulty in making prints for the opposite perforation format. In 1908, the perforators began to be made by Bell and Howell. Eastman Kodak used the Bell and Howell’s machine to perforate its films.
In 1909, Edison’s organization of the Motion Picture Patents Trust agreed to what would become the standard: 35 mm gauge, with Edison perforations and a 1.33 aspect ratio…
Base
A piece of film consists of a light-sensitive emulsion applied to a tough, transparent base, sometimes attached to anti-halation backing or “rem-jet” layer (now only on camera films). Originally the highly flammable cellulose nitrate was used. In the 1930s, film manufacturers introduced “safety film” with a cellulose triacetate plastic base. All amateur film stocks were safety film, but the use of nitrate persisted for professional releases. Kodak discontinued the manufacture of nitrate base in 1951, and the industry transitioned entirely to safety film in 1951 in the United States and by 1955 internationally. Since the late 1990s, almost all release prints have used polyester film stock.
Emulsion
The emulsion consists of silver halide grains suspended in a gelatin colloid; in the case of color film, there are three layers of silver halide, which are mixed with color couplers and interlayers that filter specific light spectra. These end up creating yellow, cyan, and magenta layers in the negative after development…
