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 NEGATIVE on this reel ...however, 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 ...
EXOTIC NIPPON, BATTLING BANTAMS & NEWS PARADE OF 1973 - Super 8 SILENT
A compilation of three short films, the compilation being put together by the owner of these films
Castle Films
All were commercial releases for the Home Movie market
1970's era
Unlike most of the other films I have been watching, I really had to watch this entire reel to establish what was on the reel, film quality and any other points of interest. Here is a breakdown I what I saw ...
Opens with the short film Exotic Nippon (Japan)
This film explores the traditions of Japan, "modern" living in the 1970's which was fascinating. Their transit systems are now much more advanced those those depicted in this film, imagine conductors pushing the passengers into the trains so that the doors would close! Also the film explores the night life, pretty ladies dancing (some with not a lot of clothing left on!) Frequent text frames but not a lot of these, you need to watch the film to get an idea of what is being depicted.
The next film switches across to Thailand, again opening with the traditions of the people and then the focus is on the sport Thai boxing - I guess around half of the film is devoted to the intricacies of being a good Thai boxer with plenty of "live fight" footage.
The last film is the only one in Black & White, some news for you (heavily biased to American interests)! 1973 style ... snapshots of the year events such as President Nixon being sworn in, ending of the Vietnam War, Watergate and so much more
ALL films are silent and supported by English language text screens interspersed throughout each film.
The owner has retained the front's of the original boxes for the first two films and the complete listing page of content for the 1973 Newsreel film.
Housed in a Blue plastic two part 400' reel canister made by Australian Reel Co.
Leader film is present.
7" 400' Blue PLiO MAGiC (Made In USA) plastic reel
Colour (First two films)
Black & White (Last film)
SILENT i.e there is no soundtrack at all, not even background music
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
The Blue plastic canister is in very good condition, no damage
NO personal writing on either the canister or the film reel
Film stock appears to be undamaged although I have to say, splicing three short films together and placing on a 400' reel doesn't seem like a great idea to me. Why? Dang, the reel is heavily loaded and as there is no film clip fitted, I had to be really careful to prevent film spilling all over the lounge room floor! Handle with great care.
NO unusual smells detected coming off the film i.e NO VINEGAR smells
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.
A White leader film is fitted
I ran the film through the projector for the entire length so that I could make a reasonable judgement about the contents and overall condition. Time consuming but sometimes these things just have to be done ...
Let the film begin ...
First up is Nippon Japan, a film of general information about the country America had nuked some 20+ years earlier. Covering the traditions, the "modern day" Toyko, Mount Fuji and the entertainment night life of varying types.
As so often has been occurring with these films, the Blues look to have left the country - nada zero on this score but throughout the film I can still see Greens of varying degrees. At times the scenes are very Pink/Red and then at others, Browns and Greens can be seen as well - a mixed bag.
After the closing screen, the second film begins, this being Battling Bantams. I wondered if this was about the infamous cock fights held in Asia but no ... this film also beings by showing the traditions of the Thai people, how impoverished parts of the country are/were and then around halfway, its all about Thai Boxing. Showing the fierceness of the fighters, the crowd going wild, the music which is used to pace the fight (if the fighters have slowed down, the tempo of the music speeds up!)
This film overall is more Pinkish/Red than the first but once again, little rays of Green show from time to time, primarily during the first half of the film as the boxing scenes tended to be quite Reddish in colouring.
The last film is so "hey we are Americans, here is what is happening" very USA concentric but full of short snippets relating to world affairs, as the Americans might wish to see them.
This is Black & White and in fact it is truly Black & White, none of the slight tinges I have seen with other old Black & White films - actually pretty good to watch if you wanted to catch up on the news 50+ years ago e.g you have been living in a cave somewhere!
SPECIAL NOTE: I felt I needed to add this little note ... whilst viewing the first two films on the screen, it actually looks better than these photographs indicate and it has become apparent to me that my antiquated digital camera (very old, one of the very first 'point n shoot' models!) just isn't up to the task in regard to colour representation nor the ability to portray contrast properly. The screen shots I take are while the film is running too, that doesn't help provide a good image! The photographs are only a very rough guide for what to expect but in reality the film is not as bad as in the photographs. I work with what equipment I have, room lighting etc ... if anything, at least you can see that the films have actually been run through the projector . In my humble opinion, the colour rendition is reasonable, not brilliant but reasonable and absolutely still watchable.
The audio is non-existant, no background music or dialogue - just read the frequent screen text.
I am happy that the reel inside is as stated on the canister.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films, they are after all the property of another, and I have now packed the film in sealed plastic (to keep that overloaded reel at bay) and back into the canister, added a couple of Silica Gel packets and then also sealed the canister in clear plastic.
The canister is now stored in a cool, low humidity environment while it awaits a new projector to live with.
