8mm Forum: Nitrate Film Burning.

This is topic Nitrate Film Burning. in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Desmond Godwin (Member # 2530) on May 17, 2012, 02:38 PM:

Here is a small clip showing a single frame of nitrate film burning..

[Eek!]

Desmond

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HzPoU_0inIk

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on May 17, 2012, 02:54 PM:

Other uses for Nitrocellulose: propellant, low-order explosive.

I understand that stuff will burn under water as well.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on May 17, 2012, 03:06 PM:

Yes I believe it can burn underwater and was the reason why so many cinemas were destroyed during WW2.

Posted by John Davis (Member # 1184) on May 17, 2012, 06:42 PM:

Yes after WWII the trend was to build cinemas above water [Wink]

Posted by Lars-Goran Ahlm (Member # 1908) on May 17, 2012, 08:35 PM:

Why settle for one frame when you can see a complete 2000 ft reel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEz_a-Akufk&feature=related

Around 1986/88 I was a participant at just such an event. We burnt about 4-5 reels in different sizes. It's something I still remember as if it was yesterday.

One thing that we did'nt know was that the fumes was dangerous, but we are all still around, so we must have had luck with the wind that day.

Posted by Harrison Bradley (Member # 3080) on May 17, 2012, 10:24 PM:

Besides the recent "Inglorious Bastards", does anyone know of any other movies that have nitrate film burning?

Posted by David M. Ballew (Member # 1818) on May 17, 2012, 11:42 PM:

Cinema Paradiso immediately springs to mind.

Posted by Allan Broadfield (Member # 2298) on May 18, 2012, 03:12 AM:

Used to play with that stuff as a child in the fifties. Have since worked with it professionaly. OK if procedures followed, eg; should be stored away in suitable vault overnight. Unfortunately people still don't allways take this seriously.

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on May 18, 2012, 10:47 AM:

Lars, the flame coming off that reel was amazing!

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on May 19, 2012, 12:27 AM:

The roar resembled an engine firing up. Or something ominous.

Harrison, have you seen last year's "The Artist"?

Posted by David M. Ballew (Member # 1818) on May 19, 2012, 05:23 AM:

The film historian Kevin Brownlow (famous for his long association with Abel Gance's film "Napoleon") tells this story about nitrate film:

"Knowing I was keen on films, someone had given me a 200ft roll of nitrate. It showed a scene from Rupert of Hentzau, made in 1913. I had heard that old films were printed on cellulose nitrate stock, which was highly inflammable. What’s more, the industry was still using it. It was 1950; I was 12 years old, and enjoyed staging battles with my friends on the acres of bombed sites that surrounded my home in North London. I placed this roll in a paper bag, climbed to the roof of a bombed building and when my pals passed beneath, I lit the fuse and dropped it. It exploded most satisfactorilly. But I could have kicked myself when I needed the sequence for a documentary in 1996. That roll was all that was left of an important film – and the images on the reel had looked most impressive."

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