HISTORY:
I am not a 'film buff' and my "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
An extremely unwell associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items. I am often asked "THE QUESTION"
So how many films do you have, Russ?
My response is ... boxes and boxes of them, perhaps 500+
I have been honoured with the trust and care of these films, to the owner they are an important part of his life and I respect that. Each film is VERY SLOWLY (I have a lot of other things to do as well!) being evaluated, run through the projector (currently an ELMO ST1200D) and if needed, addition packing added to protect the film more.
ALL film stock is safely away in my storage units, nice n cool and out of harms way while I look (and smell!) each film ... NO ONE can just casually "browse" the collection. My associate wouldn't like that and neither do I.
Due to my previous working life in technical fields, I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
Vinegar Syndrome: my nose came up POSITIVE on this reel ...
Actually, at first I thought there was no odour but once the package had been opened for a few hours and constant "sniffing" while on the projector, I could detect a very slight Vinegar odour - very subtle but there none-the-less
Please keep the following in mind ...
From time to time I have noticed a "vinegar smell" coming off some films that I have been checking. I have been contacted by a learned ex film professional who has provided some pointers about this vinegar smell. Thank you kind Sir!
It seems that the presence of this odour indicates a chemical reaction is underway which will affect the base material of the film - over time. Most of these films are already around 50 years old, how much longer will they "survive" I wonder? No-one can provide a definitive answer to that one ... it's a bit like "the earth WILL be hit by a comet, one day, but no-one knows when"
This chemical reaction which is indicated by the Vinegar odour can (over time) affect both colour and black & white films equally, gradually becoming worse as time passes although I could not find a reliable guide as to how much time we are talking about - months? years? No-one seems confident enough to commit to a time frame.
If you "click" on the CAVEAT EMPTOR (Buyer Beware) in Red above, buried there is a link will take you to the esteemed National Film And Sound Archive Of Australia page which talks about this Vinegar Syndrome problem. These people at NFSA know their stuff ... the most disturbing aspect which jumped out at me is the possible effects of this chemical reaction on HUMAN health. Be careful when handling one of the "vinegar beasties", even just breathing the vapours is apparently not a good idea for sustained periods!
Having said all of this, I will ALWAYS indicate film stock that is producing this Vinegar odour in my description - although "aged", my nose still works (sort of!). I will still run the film through the projector for "testing" but have no way of knowing how advanced the chemical reaction may already be - unless the film stock crumbles in my hands! Hmmm ... not a good sign!
I still have a ton of films to investigate (the owner of these films was a BIG film buff in the 1960's ~ 1980's) and so far only a small percentage have proven to have the air of Vinegar about them ...
I have also been advised that even if NO smells are being produced, chemical reactions may still be underway but as yet undetectable by the human nose.
It really comes down to ... these films are OLD, probably they were never intended to be viewed up to 60 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
20TH CENTURY FOX - Super 8 Film
Produced in USA
Colour
Sound
Title: DAMIEN - OMEN II (Selected scenes)
Catalogue # F-50
R Rated
Released 1978
7" KARL SCHNEIDER K.G (USA) Grey plastic reel
Content description
Of course it's the sequel to the original OMEN. the principle character being Damien - the Antichrist
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and reel are undamaged, leader is fitted and undamaged.
Outer case is a formed styrofoam with a hinge on one side.
There is no damage to the case or it's hinge nor the outer clear plastic cover.
Vinegar Syndrome: my nose came up POSITIVE on this reel ...
I have given the case (inside and out) a "sterilisation spray", I always do this with "old" items - NOT the reel!
NO personal names or other writing on the case or label
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 5 minutes or so, to observe the colour and sound.
The colour is degraded due to the dreaded Red shift (or lack of Blues in particular) although in my opinion, the colours are not too bad. Yes, I can actually see the Blue ocean in the background and Greens too! Overall though, there is that definite shift to the Red end of the spectrum.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always included 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 emphasis 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) is very good, crisp, clean and at a good level - not muffled
In my opinion, after this very brief test, I am happy that the film is as stated on the case and looks to be in pretty good "technical" condition.
Anyway, I am very fastidious and careful with these films and I have now packed it back into the original styrofoam packaging and sealed within a clear plastic packet - waiting for a Super 8 film enthusiast to give it a new home
