BACKGROUND INFO:
I am not a 'film enthusiast' and my past working life has revolved around electronics (many fields including communications, industrial and audio) and "The Arts", more specifically, creative arts such as handcrafted fine china, ceramics and landscape artworks.
An associate has asked me to help find new owners for HIS large collection of photographic and film items ... this is yet another one of those items. I am frequently asked "THE QUESTION"
So how many films do you have, Russ?
My response is ... boxes and boxes of them, perhaps 350+ films are now left for me to look through ... plus a few projectors
Another question I am often asked "Can I come and have a browse through the films?" Sorry, but the answer has to be a flat NO!
ALL film stock is safely away in my storage units, nice n cool and out of harms way, each day (or so) I will retrieve a few films, take a look (and smell!) at each film ... absolutely NO ONE can just casually "browse" the collection. My associate wouldn't like that and neither do I.
There is a lot of detail on this page plus even more HERE ... I strongly suggest anyone who is interested in this film to read everything carefully, including looking at the link. To not do so is at your own peril!
Vinegar Syndrome "smell test" ☑= Negative
ISRAEL
Home Movie
1970's period
400 Feet Clear AUTOREEL (Made in Japan) reel
Generic two part library case (with no front graphics insert)
NO Leader film is fitted
Colour
SILENT (There is no audio associated with this film)
Dug out of one of the boxes of films that I am custodian of, this one had me curious as the only label on the case says ECTASY and then has references to a 1/4" audio tape ... hmmm, what could this be (me thinks to myself)
The labelling is irrelevant to the film, it has nothing to do with "Ectasy" and is in fact a reel that has been compiled of travels to Israel.
The film focuses on the "tourist spots" not people, lots of various Israeli landmarks and perhaps Palestinian settlements ... I am not sure about this because I have never been to Israel but I wouldn't mind betting that the country looks a LOT different these days compared to these shots from 50 years ago.
Read the TESTING section below to get an idea of the "film interest" and how it was made or filmed but have no doubts about this ... it is quite amateurish!
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
The generic two part case has some light top side handling/scratch marks and some partial cracks to the top section but nothing too dramatic. It looks as though the owner just put the film in the first spare case he could find!
The reel is not cracked or damaged
NO personal writing on the film reel or the library case, in fact there is no identification on either the case or the reel at all!
NO leader nor film clip is fitted
TESTING:
Test machine: ELMO 1200ST
The projector film path has been completely cleaned prior to running this film through the machine. I now have a "running sheet", my maintenance schedule if you like - I record when each maintenance is performed because I am running a lot of films through the machine.
Film stock on the reel appears to be physically undamaged and I have played the entire reel so I could discover what the contents were.
I suspect something isn't quite right with the sprockets in one short section at the beginning of the reel, the film feeds through the projector but becomes "jittery" so I had to move the projector sync level at times to maintain a steady picture. This only happened during the beginning of the reel and I believe this was an older piece of film used here.
For the majority of the film, the colour is GREAT ... I mean it! I say majority because this is what happens ...
Film opens in full colour, runs for perhaps 30 seconds and then drops into this horrible Pink colouring (a spliced in section of old film?) and then after a couple of minutes, back comes the full colour until the end of the reel.
Sad really because the Pink section of film was showing the Billy Rose Art Garden which I found very interesting. This Pink section is where the sprocket holes appear to be "dodgy"
The main body of the film is interesting, not full of mudane video of "the family" and the focus is on the tourist sights, not people. I was suprised at all the VW's on the streets! I must say though, the person filming was not so great at taking his shots and I ended up feeling giddy! He pans across an area quite fast then goes back then forward again - very gerky, it was difficult to watch without feeling a bit sick!
The main section (about 90% of the film) which is in full colour is really good to watch, love those Blue waves at the beach side!
Being shot with a consumer movie camera from the era, it does not have any audio at all
SPECIAL NOTE: I felt I needed to add this little note ... whilst viewing the film on the screen, it actually looks "less Red" than the photographs would indicate. 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 now taken with the film on pause which gives an improved image but the light is dimmer and sometimes quite blurry as it is difficult to stop the film at "just the right spot" These photographs are only a very rough guide for what to expect in any case.
This film is now stored in a cool, low humidity environment while it awaits a new owner to consider bringing to their home for historical travel interest or simply as a "test film" ...
