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Author Topic: Universal lot fire 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 posted 06-01-2008 08:57 AM                        Watching the Universal lot fire this morning on CNN it was noted that the Universal film archive was on fire as well. Wonder what will be lost from this one.  |  IP: Logged Ron Yost Master Film Handler Posts: 344 From: Paso Robles, CA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 06-01-2008 10:43 AM                     Live feed from KNBC: http://www.knbc.com/videostream/10954229/detail.html  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 06-01-2008 11:22 AM                     It was a video library that was damaged, not the film archive.  |  IP: Logged Allison Parsons Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 630 From: East Peoria, IL Registered: Oct 2004 posted 06-01-2008 12:17 PM                        Maybe they can hire Jack Black and Mos Def to recreate the videos they lost...  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-01-2008 12:46 PM                     A lot of movie studios are storing original negatives and safety masters of films in places like deep underground vaults far away from Hollywood. Hutchinson, KS is home to one of these vaults. It even has a popular tourist museum. Many visitors check out this place and the space museum there. Things like valuable art, rare stamps, microfilms and various elements of motion pictures are stored 650 feet underground. The temperature at this former salt mine usually never wavers from 68° and the humidity level is a constant 40%. Details are still fuzzy, but from various searches on the topic I have the feeling the video library that was damaged may have been a distribution vault with lots of dupe copies of TV shows to be sent out to various television stations. Hopefully the original master tapes, especially the older analog based ones, were stored elsewhere (such as sites like that in Hutchinson, KS). Tapes can degrade just like film if they are not properly stored.  |  IP: Logged Jack Theakston Master Film Handler Posts: 411 From: New York, USA Registered: Sep 2007 posted 06-01-2008 04:39 PM                     Most of Universal's library (at least nitrate) are stored in vaults just outside of Jersey City, NJ. The film vault on the lot is for current productions.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 06-01-2008 04:50 PM                  Having been on that lot many times, to me from the live stream/feeds, it looks like one of the video vaults was lost but none of the film vaults were damaged. The "King Kong" attraction which was totally gutted is on the left side of the pic and the video vault is on the right...the "clock tower" that was struck by lightning in "Back to the Future" was spared but most all the street sets west of the town square set were destroyed. Bobby's got it right about off-site storage!  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-01-2008 06:42 PM                        For what it is worth, NBC Nightly News did refer to it as the "tape" archive, but showed truckloads of film cans being hauled off (and saying they tapes).  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-01-2008 09:50 PM                        Another site said a lot of music masters were lost...can anybody confirm that? I always thought most of Universal's music masters were stored in New York.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 06-01-2008 11:06 PM                  By far, the BEST pics  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-01-2008 11:17 PM                        I just looked at a few of the most recent online news reports. They're consistently saying it was copies of movies and TV shows that were lost (in addition to the sets that burned). No "masters" or anything that is not replaceable. Also no mention of music.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-01-2008 11:23 PM                     It's the biggest chunk of the Universal/MCA label country music? Wouldn't a bunch of that stuff be in Nashville?  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 06-01-2008 11:28 PM                        Country music was lost? I now declare this fire the greatest thing to ever happen in the history of mankind.  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 06-02-2008 12:20 AM                     Sure looked like film canisters being carried out as well as video.  |  IP: Logged Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 06-02-2008 12:46 AM                        quote: Joe Redifer Country music was lost? I now declare this fire the greatest thing to ever happen in the history of mankind. Aboslutely! I listen to just about every kind of music, except country. Fingernails on a chalkboard actually don't bother me, but country music does have that effect on me instead. I'm sure no masters were lost. And I might add, aren't large tapes stored on reels? I reem to remember reel to reel tape players. So those pics possibly could be reeled tape. Just a thought.  |  IP: Logged

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