HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
Now, on with the description ...
Film stock is on a nice solid metal LARGE 12" 1200 foot reel from ELMO (Japan)
This has been stored (and will be supplied) in a sealed clear plastic packet. After "test playing" the film, I have created a small printed label (non-sticky) and inserted this inside the resealed clear plastic packet along with some moisture absorbing gel, at the suggestion of a film enthusiast. This reel has then been inserted back into the original ELMO outer cardboard packaging which has a simple dynatape label on the spine BEN HUR
MGM - Super 8 Film
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
Catalogue # Not Stated on packaging - in fact packaging is very "generic" - see above
BEN HUR (1959)
Epic drama featuring Charlton Heston, the film winning 11 Oscars
Preceding the main feature, Ben Hur, are two "shorts" which total around 10 minutes of play time. The first is Ryans Daughter and the other, Gigi
The reel is housed in an original ELMO Japan (Code 04 2155) generic box
A short length of White leader film is fitted, there is no leader film clip
12" 1200' Aluminium unbranded reel but I am told by the owner these are ELMO's
I believe this reel will provide 40~45 minutes runtime, including the 'shorts'
Colour
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel is undamaged, straight and true
The aluminium reel has absolutely no labelling of any kind, this is why I have added the custom made printed label inside the sealed packet.
The outer cardboard box is in good condition.
NO unusual smells detected coming off the film i.e no vinegar odours
NO personal names or other writing on the outer cardboard case
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Film looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
I ran the film through the projector for the first 20 minutes or so, due to the long running time of the two "shorts", to observe the picture and sound. The colouring changes! So I will breakdown what I observed ...
Film begins with a lengthy section of clear film after the White leader, showing White (blank) on screen but music has been recorded, gee I know that song (an old classic) but can't put my finger on the name! So while the screen is just plain White, there is music to wile away the time. The music stops when the "shorts" begin
First "short" is Ryans Daughter and yes, significant loss of the Blue dye which means this section is quite Red/Pink with White of course ...
The second "short" is Gigi and again, there is obvious loss of Blues although perhaps not as severe as the first section of film.
The main feature rolls and I was surprised, while not perfect, there is at least presence of Blues, Greens, Yellows meaning that the dyes have not totally failed. Still 'Pinkish" overall hue but there are other colours as well. It was quite obvious that as the film further progresses, the Blue dye failure becomes less and less, improving the colour along the way.
The sound throughout is of good quality, not muffled and easy to follow the dialogues (and music in Gigi)
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots ... now my digital camera is antiquated and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs.
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen and I have noticed that after viewing quite a few films now, that my poor OLD digital camera is tending to emphasise the Red's in the photographs anyway - in real life the on-screen picture is not as Red as recorded in the photographs.
In my opinion, after this relatively brief test, I am happy that the film is as stated on the outer cardboard case and the reel and it looks to be in reasonable "technical" condition although a bit below par on the colour side.
As with all of the "open reel" film I am finding when I sort through the boxes, I am adding a couple of satchels of Silica Gel (for moisture absorption) and sealing the reel within clear plastic. I then also have sealed the outer cardboard ELMO box. This is done in an effort to preserve the current condition as much as possible.
