HELP - Stuck movie film!

[htmlguru4242]

Ok, so I've recently embarked upon a project to transfer all of my grandparent's 8mm film to DVD. However, one [very important] roll of film had an encounter with a flood awhile back, and the turns of film are rather stuck together. It will come apart with some tugging (tried it on the first foot or two), but half of the emulsion rips off (NOT good).

So, what, if anything, can I do to free this film up so it can be projected. I only need to be able to run it once.

The film is K-11 Kodachrome from 1958, BTW.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[JBrunner]

Your best bet, better than a home remedy, is to send it to a motion picture lab, and have them soak, rewash, and clean it. While it is possible to DYS in working with motion picture film, the lengths involved usually make it impractical, and prone to more damage than good. Keep in mind that even a profesional lab may have difficulty in restoring old film, especially 8mm, because of its small guage.

 

[Photo Engineer]

FYI, if it is Kodachrome, the last step in motion picture processing was application of a lacquer to the film. IDK why it was done, but it was done to Kodachrome (and may still be).

This may cause some problems by complicating things if what I once learned is true of your film.

PE

 

[htmlguru4242]

Alright, well there's really NO budget for this project and for sending it to a pro lab, and the film didn't look so good anyway, so I decided to wing it.

I the reel in some cool water with some photo-flo, and SLOWLY unwound the entire thing underwater. Some of it was REALLY stuck, so a little tiny bit of the emulsion pulled off, but 95% of the film is fine.

It's currently drying on the kitchen counter, so we'll see tomorrow if its projectable ...

 

[JBrunner]

I hope it works out! Let us know.

 

[htmlguru4242]

Looks good. Both sides of the film are dry and shiny like they should be, and the film isn't terribly brittle. I ran it through the projector with no lamp (WAYY too much dust in the housing), and it ran fine. I'll project it tonight.

The only issue that I see is the color; it shifts from green to purple to green and then back to normal.

As I didn't see the pre-damaged film, I'm not sure if this is from camera light-leaks or processing, or if it arose more recently.

 

[htmlguru4242]

Ok. I ran it in the projector with the lamp on. It looks decent except for at a few places where the film is bent and doesn't sit right at the gate.

The color is a little off and it is quite apparent that the emulsion lifted off at a few spots, but, judging from its original stuck-fast mass, i think it turned out pretty well.




On a side note, its amazing that the other films look as good as they do. The films and slides that I have are exclusively Kodachrome, and, aside from the inevitable dust and scratches from over the years, the films look PERFECT. The oldest ones are from 1951.