Idiot’s guide to film preservation (for absolute beginners)
May 28, 2007 | filmpres | trackbackThis page is for those of you who are enquiring about film preservation for the first time.
Characters
F kun loves to see old films but doesn’t know anything about Film Preservation.
P san is preserving films, discovering lost films and repairing them.
S chan works hard as an assistant to P san. (she explains words in red)
(Illustration: Y.K.)
F kun was on his way to the cinema today, however he lost his way in the maze of little alleys in Tokyo. By chance he found a door with a sign saying FILM PRESERVATION SOCIETY. “FILM? Is this place showing films, I wonder? Full of curiosity, F kun knocks on the door. Then…
P: Welcome to FPS! Please come in!
F: Uh… are you screening some films here?
P: Not really, but we are saving films here. Anyway, come on in and grab a seat.
F: I… didn__t mean that… F kun cannot refuse the offer and goes in. It is the first encounter for his with the term “Film Preservation”. What is that?? I love films but what on the earth is Film Preservation?
2. Lost old films
F: Uh… Hiya, I saw the door sign said ”Film Preservation”, but can you tell me what that means?
P: What do you think it means?
F: Well, uh… nothing comes to mind.
P: Hardly surprising.
F: I guess it means to make it possible for films we are seeing now to be seen forever?
P: Have you seen a lot of old films?
F: Of course. I love films and go to see any kind. So I’ve even seen silent films. It took me a while to get used to the total silence in the cinema, but sometimes they’re shown with live music, right? I enjoy that. I’ve heard not so many films remain from the silent era. Am I right?
P: You’re exactly right. Especially in Japan, we had the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and also WW2, so quite a lot of them were lost in those disasters. Fire incidents were also major causes of film loss, as old films were extremely flammable(S1). In addition, there wasn__t any thought of preservation in those days. After they were screened at the cinema, prints were treated as rubbish or cut into pieces so that any frames with a movie star’s face could be sold at sweet shops, or recycled(S2).
F: Oh no. That’s too bad.
P:That’s why so many of the films in the silent era, even by those big names such as S: Surviving films (including incomplete) by Mizoguchi total one third. Two thirds of Ozu, only condensed versions of old Japanese films?(S3)
F: For example?
P: Those films were not sold in their original form and format, but as re-edited, shortened or summarized versions because of commercial reasons, or censorship. And the original format films were quite often lost forever. For example, some titles survived in the form of home use films called “Toy Film”, and were restored.
F: Oh yes, I’ve seen some of them.
P: You’re probably familiar with the term “digest” or the “Sakura/ Shochiku Graph” condensed versions of old Japanese films?
F: Oh yes, I’ve seen some of them.
P: Those films were not sold in their original form and format, but as re-edited, shortened or summarized versions because of commercial reasons, or censorship. And the original format films were quite often lost forever. For example, some titles survived in the form of home use films called ”Toy Film”(S4), and were restored.
F: Well then it seems really an important job to find our what the original was like. The original version should be the best reflection of the filmmaker’s idea and the atmosphere of the time.
P: To find out what the original was like, still photos, scripts, newspapers/magazines of the time, testimony of the film crew who took part in the movie are extremely important. It’s as crucial as saving films to save those references.
Recent discoveries by FPS “Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo”
memo
S1: Up until the 1950s, 35mm film base was nitrate, which was extremely flammable.
S2: It seems silver content in the emulsion was taken out, and base celluloid was reused.
S3: Surviving films (including incomplete) by Mizoguchi total one third. Two thirds of Ozu, only
S4: For home use, re-edited films were sold on Nitrate 35mm in Japan, often with a projector. They are called “Toy Films” “Omocha Film”. Other than that, there are different formats of home use films but they are on safety film.
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