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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Do you collect films or what and why?
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Jim Bedford
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 597
From: Telluride, CO, USA (733 mi. WNW of Rockwall, TX but it seems much, much longer)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 10-29-1999 06:26 PM
I started managing a theatre in a small new resort town, Telluride, CO, in 1972. It had been a mining town for 100 years and since hard-rock mining was dead, it was time for something else for the town to do to continue to exist.My boss renovated a "quaint" 250 seat horseshoe-balcony theatre and put in a Brenkert BX-60 booth with ORC-1000s for light. For self-defense I learned to run the booth since I quickly found I was not only the staff therapist, but had to deal with projectionists' broken legs, alcohol overdoses and lapses of memory and reason. I found I liked handling the acetate. Then, in 1980, a friend offered me a print of "The Wanderers" for $150. Little did I know that that one "toke" would lead me to a lifelong addiction, an empty wallet and strange looks from people who knew of my problem. Do you collect movies? How about equipment? Or what do you collect and why?
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 10-29-1999 07:23 PM
You can see my setup in the picture warehouse. I use it for cleaning prints for studios as well as personal use and of course, testing the different mixes of FilmGuard over the years.Generally I don't get odd looks from people once they sit down for a movie. At that point, there's always the discussion of "how much would it cost me..." that follows the show. Video will never compare to film and if it weren't for the many collectors out there, many titles would be lost since the studios don't seem too concerned on preserving them. Hell, Fox almost lost Star Wars 2 years back due to poor storage! Many restorations could not be possible if some collector didn't have a mint condition print which becomes the new negative! Also, many prints have had sound pulled off of a 4 track magnetic print for a digital restoration where the original tapes were lost. Perhaps one day, I'll have something in my collection I can donate to the cause when the studio vault gets flooded and many titles are lost forever, except on VHS and DVD at Blockbuster! Jim, send us pics of your setup for the warehouse!
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 10-29-1999 07:54 PM
The preservation point is a good one, and the usefulness of prints to film restorers and producers extends beyond the rare "lab-mint" examples that end up being the best surviving elements of a production.
For example, I happen to own a 35mm print of a reel 2 of a two-reel short. This is the only known existing 35mm IB Tech element of that title (I have a few feet of R1, but the rest of that reel has not been located). That reel is currently in an LA-area film vault on loan for a film restoration effort. Evidently, 35mm IB Tech material is more useful than 16mm IB material for color and contrast reference when restorers attempt to work with faded original negative elements to create new prints which resemble the original prints as closely as possible.
Aside from that 35mm IB reel and a quantity of 16mm IB prints, all other elements of this title have faded. The whole film preservation situation is pretty sad, really, and the rate of deterioration of magnetic tape (video and audio) is even faster than the rate of film deterioration.
I'm quite happy to have been able to contribute (in a small way, at least) to this sort of effort, and I would encourage all other collectors who have rare items to do the same.
Take care of everything...who would have thought that a beat-up old odd IB reel would be useful to anyone?
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Chris Erwin
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 195
From: Olive Hill,KY
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted 10-29-1999 09:37 PM
What do I collect? Old 16mm,some 35mm,even some 8mm, and the equipment to run it on. Why? Because,in this digital age,someone has to hold the key to the past. If (God Forbid) the digital projector replaces film,I want to show my kids and grandkids what a reel (real) movie looks like. The theater business got in my blood,much as it has most on Film-Tech. We are projectionists, collectors, movie buffs, etc. and as long as we're at it, we'll carry the proud history of cinema through the years.Long live film. --Chris
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 10-30-1999 12:00 PM
Erika--a female film-collector and projectionist! Wow! Too bad you're in Denver...we should meet sometime. I have at least 60 reels of trailers going back to about 1989, and including almost every major-studio release since 1996. I prefer features, but I get the trailers for free from a local theatre and can't bring myself to toss them.
Does anyone collect non-film movie stuff? I have a few posters, but that's about it. I seem to be accumulating a lot of old 35mm equipment and parts, too; I know that some people like to collect 16mm projectors, although the 35mm stuff looks much classier (esp. the silent-era Simplex machines!) and is easier to work on. One of the nice things about 35mm is that all the equipment has nice, big, easy-to-handle parts, particularly when compared with 16mm projectors, which require small hands to rebuild.
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Stefan Scholz
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 223
From: Schoenberg, Germany
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 10-30-1999 02:11 PM
Ye's I collect film. 35 mm and 70 mm. I do own about 14 titles in 70 mm mag, mostly in acceptable color, with some fading, but that's Eastman. The sound is still overwhelming.
And I still collect projectors, but had to stop doing so after owning about 60 35 mm projectors. I had to give away many, and sell some, but have managed to keep a few nicew examples, and my 70 mm projectors. They are somewhat rare, and in a few years all old theatres will have ceased, and noone will remember the ingenious engineering on some types (electronic controlled watercooled 255 Amp Ventarc lamps, w 22" mirrors, for example).
And of course, you need correct reproduction in a real theatre for 70 mm. To see a movie on our 65 ft curved screen, sitting only 30 ft away makes a difference. Most people in my age, mid 30s, say, they have seen for example Lawrence of Arabia for a few times, on their 22" TV, 157 min. long.
Having showed the 6 track on 65 ft in 222 minutes, all revoked their opinion, nobydy had ever seen the movie.
This is why I collect film. Digital will never rear the quality of film, it will always look dead.
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Stephen Winner
Film Handler
Posts: 57
From: Richmond,VA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 10-31-1999 07:26 PM
I have started collecting film after starting out as a stereo geek as a teenater, then getting onto the sound board at church, then stepping up to a projection booth. By the time I made it to the booth, I about had it with the trashy picture quality of NTSC!
I started poking around, and have started off simple: 16mm and 8mm. I don't have a big house, so 35mm is out of the question right now, my living room is only about the size of my booth! With a hole in the wall from my office to throw the picture from an educational grade Bell & Howell 1552.
I definitely agree with the opinions on the old simplec gear, it is quite classy looking. I like the etched glass "peerless magnarc logo's above the lamphouses! The first thing that came to mind when I saw the booth here is that it looked like an old silent horror flick...with large buzzing panels with big levers, whirring motors, those eerie looking carbon arc's (there's fire in there!) Not to mention the single dome light fixture with the incandescant bulb in it for booth lighting.I just want to have a carbon-arc lamphouse, not even a full projector, these things are just totally intriguing to me! (I could put searchlight beams in the air, or run it on my 16mm!)
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