{"id":13196,"date":"2017-09-14T11:38:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T11:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=13196"},"modified":"2017-09-14T11:39:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T11:39:07","slug":"fire-crowded-theater-nitrate-film-crumbling-experts-strive-salvage-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/fire-crowded-theater-nitrate-film-crumbling-experts-strive-salvage-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire in a crowded theater? Nitrate film is crumbling as experts strive to salvage the past"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Mary Huelsbeck, assistant director of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, and director Jeff Smith, in the Wisconsin Historical Society vault. Old movies, TV classics, and a series of Soviet films share the space on both 35 millimeter reels and the 16 millimeter reels seen here. DAVID TENENBAUM, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison group has just\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0results from a six-year exploration of old, unstable film stock that nevertheless holds the oldest heritage of moving pictures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Called \u201cnitrate film,\u201d it\u2019s flammable and fragile. Many films shot a century ago are largely transparent, or clumped and unable to be seen, let alone projected.<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Wisconsin Nitrate Film Project<\/a>\u00a0at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research was the brainchild of Heather Heckman, then a communication arts graduate student in Madison. Heckman, who now directs the Moving Image Research Collections at the University of South Carolina, wanted to address nitrate film from multiple directions, and so the effort combined chemical analysis of the film, review of historical literature on it, and information from professionals who have handled, stored and shipped nitrate film.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cellulose nitrate film stock was introduced in the late 1800s as a medium to hold the emulsion that carries a photographic image.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFilm had to be transparent and flexible enough to run through the camera and projectors,\u201d says Smith, \u201cand this engineering problem was solved by invention of cellulose nitrate. At first, people did not think about it being highly flammable, but the word got around that the brown powder it formed after it degraded was especially combustible. Our tests, on a small sample, showed the powder to be non-hazardous, but more tests are needed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Stills from \u201cOur Own Gang,\u201d a silent shot in Madison in 1933 that was inspired by the popular \u201cLittle Rascals\u201d series. The film, a paid ad for the businesses seen in the many frantic chases. WISCONSIN CENTER FOR FILM AND THEATER RESEARCH COLLECTION<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The phase-out of nitrate film in favor of \u201csafety film\u201d started in the 1930s, and Eastman Kodak \u201cretired\u201d nitrate film by 1952. Many older films have been transferred to modern film stock, but the remaining nitrate film amounts to \u201ca whole visual heritage,\u201d Smith says. \u201cIf you look at the silent movies, the rate of survival is around 20 percent. Preserving what we have left is important, because the losses have been massive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The nitrate project was needed, Smith says, \u201cbecause we did not know what happens at a very basic chemical level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The project\u2019s researchers based their recommendations on tests of surplus nitrate stock.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe big finding was to keep it dry,\u201d Smith says. \u201cHumidity is one of the most important factors to control, and temperature comes second.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the science, the project also created an oral history from people experienced in handling nitrate stock. \u201cThese were long-form interviews of projectionists, preservationists and people who worked in photo labs,\u201d says Smith. \u201cThere has been lore that nitrate would spontaneously combust, but we heard that nitrate was to be respected but not feared. It needs to be handled with care, but it\u2019s not going to explode.\u00a0 It\u2019s not nitroglycerin,\u201d even though cellulose nitrate is a close relative of guncotton and other flammables.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early projectors used high-temperature arc lamps, a decidedly dicey combination with flammable film, and projectionists \u201cdeserved hazard pay,\u201d says Smith. \u201cA 1936 trade journal estimated that a film projectionist in the U.S. died every 18 days, partly attributable to the dangers of working with nitrate film.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the well-known films from the 1930s and \u201840s were shot on nitrate, but were transferred long ago to safety film stock, says Mary Huelsbeck, assistant director of the Wisconsin Center. Although transfer and restoration is expensive, scanning nitrate films is not as risky as projection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the remainder deserves preservation, says Huelsbeck. \u201cWhat\u2019s left on nitrate documents early film history by independent film makers and studios. This is a part of our past life that we can\u2019t find documented anyplace else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the most endangered films date to beginning of motion pictures, between 1893 and 1910, says Smith. \u201cThey are short, attention grabbing. I see them as equivalent to a YouTube video today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite its instability and danger, \u201cFor its pictorial quality elements, its clarity, its contrast, nitrate was the best,\u201d says Smith. \u201cMany people say you have not seen the classic film noir titles unless you have seen them on nitrate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wisconsin Nitrate Film Project was supported by the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Wisconsin Historical Society.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison group has just\u00a0published\u00a0results from a six-year exploration of old, unstable film stock that nevertheless holds the oldest heritage of moving pictures. Called \u201cnitrate film,\u201d it\u2019s flammable and fragile. Many films shot a century ago are largely transparent, or clumped and unable to be seen, let alone projected. The\u00a0Wisconsin Nitrate Film Project\u00a0at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","category-research"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",775,517,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517-768x512.jpg",750,500,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",750,500,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",775,517,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",775,517,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",775,517,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",775,517,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",600,400,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",600,400,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",735,490,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",540,360,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",95,63,false],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",640,427,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",96,64,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/looking-775x517.jpg",150,100,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Amrita Tuladhar"]},"category_info":"Other<\/a> Research<\/a>","tag_info":"Research","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}