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) - you will need a projector that can handle these larger reels.
This has been stored (and will be supplied) in a sealed clear plastic packet. After test playing a small part of this film, I have resealed the reel into a 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
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (OMAR SHARIFF)
MGM - Super 8 Film
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
Catalogue # Not Stated on packaging - in fact packaging is very "generic" - see above
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
Epic historical romantic drama set in the period of the Russian Civil War and revolution around 1917
The reel is housed in an original ELMO Japan (Code 04 2155) generic box
A length of White leader film is fitted, there is no leader film clip
12" 1200' Aluminium is branded as ELMO product
I believe this reel will provide approximately 60~65 minutes runtime
Colour
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel is undamaged, straight and true
The aluminium reel has a simple White label attached to one side "DR ZHIVAGO Cinemascope"
The outer cardboard box is in good condition and the only identification is the small dynatape (Red) label which reads DOCTOR ZHIVAGO.
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 15 minutes or so, to observe the picture and sound.
The main feature rolls immediately ( no shorts at the beginning) and like so many of the films I have viewed recently, Red dominates! While the Red is dominant, I can still see other colours but they are quite reduced compared to Red. I also notice that some scenes long elongated, I presume this is something to do with it being a Cinemascope print.
The sound throughout is of good quality, and easy to follow the dialogues
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 (the camera has no White balance controls, it is OLD) - 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 '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.
