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)
RKO RADIO PICTURES - Super 8 Film
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
Catalogue # Not Stated on packaging - in fact packaging is very "generic"
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
Musical comedy with particular significance in that this was the first film that had Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing together
The reel is housed in an original ELMO Japan (Code 04 2155) generic box
Leader film is fitted
12" 1200' Aluminium unbranded reel but I am told by the owner this is an ELMO (Japan)
I believe this reel will provide 40~45 minutes runtime so I guess it has been edited, I really don't know about this.
Black & White
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel is undamaged, straight and true
Labelling (hand written) has been applied to one side of the outer cardboard box but no identification markings on the reel at all.
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 or the film reel
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 10 minutes or so, to observe the picture and sound.
The contrast is very good, the monochrome is more like a Sephia colour than pure Black & White - very watchable.
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 quite as Red as depicted in the photographs.
Sound (English dialogue) is good, clean and sharp - no problems following the dialogue.
In my opinion, after this quite brief viewing, I am happy that the film is as stated on the outer cardboard case and the reel and the film stock looks to be in good "technical" condition.
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 seal the outer cardboard ELMO box. This is done in an effort to preserve the current condition as much as possible.
