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 3x Blue plastic (with a metal centre hub), each reel measuring 10.5" and holding 800 feet of film. All reels are "fuilly loaded", including the 3rd.
The reels look to be of a good quality, marked as PLASTIC REEL CORPORATION OF AMERICA (Made in USA) and each reel has a film clip fitted.
The only markings on the reels are #1, #2 & #3
White leader film is fitted to reels 2 & 3, reel one goes straight into the "shorts" after a length of film which is clear, showing White onscreen.
To assist in identifying the reels, I have added a small printed label (non-sticky) that I have created. I also have placed the reel in a new sealed clear plastic packet along with some moisture absorbing gel, at the suggestion of a film enthusiast.
These reels USED to be in a large, simple metal box BUT NO LONGER! I was not happy with the metal box (not a true film canister and pretty 'dodgy' looking) and I could not find spare canisters or library cases to fit these so they are packed ALL TOGETHER in bubble-wrap (also between each reel) and this outer packaging has been heat sealed.
Most likely these will be shipped and if this is the case, they will be sent withing a custom made STRONG cardboard outer box to ensure no physical damage in transit is possible.
20TH CENTURY FOX - 3x Super 8 Films
Print seems to be from USA
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
Catalogue # Not Stated on packaging - in fact packaging is very "generic", see above
STAR WARS - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
Just about everyone knows the story, no need to repeat it here BUT prior to the "main feature", there are 'shorts' promoting other film releases. One of the screen shots shows a rather blurry (film motion not the image on screen) snapshot of the David Bowie film preceding the main feature.
Opens with a 'splash screen' COMING SOON and then has a still graphic of various movies including American Graffitti and The Man Who Fell To Earth. Then a rather long "teaser" featuring the film GUNS FOR SAN SABASTIAN - this runs for around 5 minutes.
Finally, the main feature runs ... EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
I believe each reel will provide 40~45 minutes runtime which means a total of around 2 hours run time for all three reels, less the 5 minutes of 'shorts' on reel 1. I only "test view" the first 10 minutes or so of each reel and have not run the entire length of each reel through the projector. I have masses of film to still work through and if I watched every single film entirely, this task would take forever!
Colour
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reels are undamaged, straight and true
Labelling (dynatape") was originally only on the original discarded metal box, I have transferred these to the outside of the bubble-wrapped "tri pack" of reels.
Each film is now within a clear, sealed plastic packet along with some Silica Gel to help with any moisture/humidity absorption at the suggestion of a "film buff" who knows better than me!
Then each sealed reel is within a bubblewrap "sandwich" and finally the whole tri-pack is then kept together with more bubblewrap - all are heat sealed (easier to undo when opening up the tri-pack than cellotape)
NO unusual smells detected coming off the film i.e no vinegar odours
NO personal names or other writing on the film reels
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 each film through the projector for the first 10 minutes or so, to observe the picture and sound.
REEL 1: The colour has been severly affected by Red shift (failure of the Blue dye) and the colour is now substantially Red and Whites ... seems to be a bit of dust on the film too (this shows as Green of all colours)
REEL 2: The colour has been affected by Red shift (failure of the Blue dye) although not as bad as Reel 1 and probably just a little better than Reel 3 but still a LOT of Red ...
REEL 3: The colour has been affected by Red shift (failure of the Blue dye) although not as bad as Reel 1, I can still see Greens and Blues "here and there" ...
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of each reel as it is played ... now my digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that - like I said, this is one OLD camera) 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.
Sound (English dialogue) is good across all three reels, clean not 'muffled' from a lack of high end frequencies in the main feature however I felt the sound wasn't the best (a little muffled) in the short 'GUNS FOR SAN SABASTIAN' - that said, I could still easily understand what was going on.
In my opinion, after this relatively brief test, I am happy that the film reels look to be in reasonable "technical" condition although 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. This is done in an effort to preserve the current condition as much as possible.
I am told that this 'Red shift' is such a common problem with old colour film stock as the dyes were never intended to be stable after 40+ years but a lot depends upon how they have been stored and cared for, temperature and humidity being the primary criteria.
