Conservation and restoration of films
To exist as a work, a film must live on the screen. To restore a film consists in giving it in a form as close as possible to the form of origin.
Technologies evolve/move. The format of the image and the Fréquence of run were modified with the revolution of the sound one.
To preserve
The royal Cinémathèque of Belgium gives absolute priority to elementary work related to the conservation of the acquired collections: storing, pre-inventory on nature and the physical status of films, measuring, physical classification, pulling of the counterparts of safeguarding and positive of projection, construction, installation, air-conditioning and maintenance of the deposits.Problems involved in the conservation:
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the nitrate
- the majority of films carried out until 1951 were manufactured on a film containing nitrate, extremely flammable. Because of the risk that they present, these films are stored separately. The royal Cinémathèque of Belgium finished the transfer of these films on film of safety.
- the color: To avoid the depigmentation of the films colors, those must be preserved in cold rooms.
- the syndrome of the vinegar
- From the years '50, the film nitrate is abandoned with the profit of the film acetate, definitely less flammable. A few decades later, the conservatives note with horror that acetate breaks up, by releasing a vinegar odor. The only solution to save a film is then to draw a copy from it.
- the supports with a future
- More than one hundred years after the invention of the cinema, it appears that the conservation and the safeguard of films will pass by their digitalization. Several problems still arise before resorting to it indeed:
- the cost remains exorbitant
- the longevity of the digitized film supports is not completely known
- the technical standards remain to harmonize
- the question of the royalties must be regulated
To restore
If the royal Cinémathèque of Belgium has several copies of the same film, a work of comparison and of repair (takeoff, cleaning, dérayage, repairs of the perforations, etc) must be undertaken to reconstitute a copy of file as faithful as possible to original work.Certain films - mainly among the dumb men - arrive at the royal Cinémathèque of Belgium in a lacunar or problematic form (without original title, without credits, in precarious state). In this case it is necessary to identify film, to restore its origin, its original measuring, its subtitles etc the reconstitution of a film can require to gather materials scattered throughout the world and to carry out research in funds of filmographic documentation.
The royal Cinémathèque of Belgium has its own laboratory where work of restoration is carried out (at least for the films black and white), including the pulling of copies. Priority is given to the restoration of the Belgian cinematographic inheritance.
The format
The dumb image, which filled totality of the surface of film, was cut down, end of the year 20, to leave the place to the band its photographic. During some annés, it is in this square form that the films were projected, but to give again a rectangular aspect, one also narrowed the height of the image and increased the inter-image. The panoramic formats, in the Fifties, also decreased the height of the image.
The frequency
The reading of its optics made essential the rigorous stability the tape speed of film, and thus the standardization of its rate of projection. Rate unfortunately ever was fixed: with turning, before the arrival of the engine, the scenes could beings turned at speed appreciably different for reasons from setting in scene - for the scenes of action, p. e.g. -, had with the tiredness of the cameraman the technical or contingencies. The projectionist itself modified the tape speed, by what it found that better, or to catch up with time on the program. It is noticed that the speed of projection of silent films were often appreciably higher than the setting rate of sight. It tends to increase with the passing of years. The rich studios turned more quickly, the poor less. It is important to respect at just the frequency of origin or, in any case, to restore most precisely the movements.The fact of seeing silent films having been turned at a rate from 16 to 18 images a second is a sheer coincidence. That gave the illusion that all the films were made to 16 ips - they is false. There exist “cue sheet” (sheets of indication), often very clear, suggesting musical topics but also the correct speed of run of a film. That is not often enough to determine original speed. One of the functions of the projectionist were to control the tape speed. But each one has a direction of the different rate/rhythm. In general, the films must ravel at a speed which reduces the effect of flickering and which supports the fluidity of the movements. Let us note that the films nitrates, highly flammable, owed beings projected less quickly, to avoid the flashover. The silent films were usually projected at a speed much faster than that used during turning. reconsiders the evolutions of the material. The evolutions were made according to the speed of projection, usually between 20 and 24 images a second. Sometimes, the speed of turning was knowingly modified. The scenes of action were turned at a higher speed. In conclusion, there is no standard for the tape speed of the cameras during the period of the Silent film and, for trade names, the speed of projection recommended did not sometimes even correspond to that of the camera at the time of turning.
Modern presentation
Any projection exposes a film to the mechanical friction of a machine and is likely to damage it or to destroy it. Ideally, the films cannot be projected before a negative matrix is produced by it which would allow the reproduction in the event of accident of it. The royal Cinémathèque of Belgium could protect a big part from its collections making thus possible the projection of films.Generally, the royal Cinémathèque of Belgium is agent of films without having the rights of representation which are attached there. It would be absurd to preserve a film collection which cannot be shown. Thanks to its positive ratios with I' cinema industry, the royal Cinémathèque of Belgium obtained the right to project films in noncommercial contexts: cultural, teaching, scientific. It is from this point of view that the Musée of the Cinema was created into 1962 within the Palais of the Art schools of Brussels.
Diffusion in the media libraries.
The ideal solution consists in projecting film restored with identical with a material adapted to silent film, by respecting the framework (use of adapted window), the frequency (use of material allowing variable speed). Two solutions for the music: to have an orchestra on line at the time of projection (better, but expensive) or the diffusion of a music recorded, on film or by synchronization.
Commercial diffusion
To enter the trade-circuit, the film must be adapted to the current material. The image thus is recadrée, sometimes mutilated. One doubles sometimes the images with pulling to pass from a weak rate to 24 images a second, what is called “Stretch Printing” but which remains poor.