Lab Week – Film Repair
Yesterday we had a workshop in the film repair lab. Various states of film were show to us and repaired with amazing fluidity. Here they try to use as little tape as possible and recreate the flexibility of the film as much as possible. There were two mechanical cement splicers and some hand splicers but we were encouraged to do all the repairs manually (good if there is shrinkage in the film).
There are 3 main repairs;
Splicing for those where a frame needs to be dropped or a film is broken in two down the width of the film reel (ie. between frames).
Perf repair which exist as the holes on the film where the sprockets catch the film – ranging from a single perf cut to a very long section of perforation missing on a reel.
Tear repair which can appear anywhere in the film but often starts at the perf and enters the picture frame.
The Australian National Film and Sound Archive has a good online resource about film repair and archive work: http://www.nfsa.gov.au/preservation/film_handbook/film_repair.html
repairing film perfs
Il Cinema Ritrovato – Bologna 2009
Bag collection in airport
I am in Bologna for the next three weeks attending the festival, Il Cinema Ritrovato and FIAF Film Restoration Summer School. Somehow I have managed to not pack any pens at all, which is odd as I usually carry a large assortment. I feel a little lost without something to write with.
funghi pizza
So, having borrowed a bike from my hotel (Astoria, I’m staying in a lovely clean apartment) I have a mission to find some pens then off to get my festival pass. Whilst writing this post though, a rain storm has started… I don’t have an umbrella… i’m trapped!
Notes on Directing 