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Last month I purchased a 16mm film that although was listed as "Like New".... in reality had a plethora of problems. In addition to having a strong odor...warping...and twisting it had a combination of at least 86 splices and cut sprockets. I've included a couple pics of the cut sprockets. I've never seen this done to film before. The splices were poorly done and many created jumps in the dialog which was very disappointing. However...the cut sprocket repairs ran fairly smoothly through the projector. I actually did not notice the cuts until I was examining the reels on my rewinds. I was totally surprised to see this technique to repair sprockets -- I'm guessing that was the reason. Is this a technique any of you have done or are aware of? I'm curious.
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Hey Janice, This is another use for a film notcher. If a sprocket hole is cracked or split, notching prevents the film from tearing if the damaged sprocket hole snags or catches on something. The original use of a film notcher is to bloop a splice in the soundtrack negative. It traditionally was called a sine wave punch.
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Thanks Ken for explaining the notching. The film ran fine despite the notches...but I would guess it could weaken after running the film over a period of time.Comment
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Hey Janice,
I hope you were able to return the print!
Unfortunately I am not able to view the picture you attached. The link is telling me it is invalid. Is anyone else having this issue?Comment
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I see the two photos...but I have had a problem with one photo in another thread showing intermittantly. Here is one of the photos posted again:
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They are known as V cuts.
They should avoid a need for a join on a damaged frame. They work quite well but often have problems with projectors which have small sprockets.
I always repair them with tape using my CIR.
MauriceComment
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Evan you need to be logged in. :-)
I can comfort you Janice. Over my time doing cine film transfers I think I've seen it all... staples being the limit. Top tip Maurice CIR splices will save our bacon and for the best part a film.
PEC tape is a little thicker than Jackro so for top end repairs used it a little sturdier. Jackro is thinner I have found so the best for long term splicing of films that have had a reasonable life perhaps.Comment
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I bought the print off Ebay and as much as I really wanted this title -- Teacher's Pet (1958)...I just returned it and got a refund. I didn't have any test strips...but I'm pretty sure this print had early stages of VS. Sad...but this is one of the pit-falls of this hobby. I'm going to give the seller the benefit of the doubt that he hadn't screened the print before putting it up for sale. There is no way a knowledgeable collector wouldn't have noticed so many issues.
* Evan...let me know if you can see the posted photos in this thread. I think we are all trying to get up to speed with the new forum software.
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I so much agree with the comment Lee has made. I also have done transfers and it is amazing what some people have used to join film together. I have had similar comments from people who used to operate film libraries. I always clean and double check all films before putting them through my projectors. Ken Finch.Comment
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In 9.5, I came accross films reparaired with staples and even strings !Comment
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Janice,
I can see the pictures now! I may have not been logged in until I commented, I can't be certain, although I'm happy to see it's working on my end now too.Comment
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In the days prior to Tape Splicers and in particular with 35mm film "V eeing" any torn perf was preferred to cutting the frame out and splicing using wet splice cement methods. 35mm film runs through the machines @ 90 feet per minute and the "V eeing" rarely if ever caused problems. It also ensured the integrity of the sound track.
The same logic applied to 16mm library films with V eeing quite common rather than cut and splice as the sprocket hole shoulders are basically still intact so the claw can engage correctly on the pull down BUT IF you left the torn edges there the print would come back with even more damage which often then required 2,3 or even MORE frames to be removed to make the print runable again. End result is an image jump and a bump in the sound.
Thankfully now in the days of tape splicers one can often smooth out the torn bits and then run tape over both sides to produce a better repair. I have dozens of 16 & 35mm prints with many V cuts that run absolutely fine and see no need to patch over with tape...you just have to be careful, when rewinding not to exert too much side pressure otherwise with old Acetate prints they are quite brittle and often will break even more as a V cut runs through two fingers squeezing the film edges.Comment
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Thank you Lindsay for that detailed description of the v cut. I learned something new everyday. I did notice the film ran fine with the v cuts. It is too bad there was so many other things wrong with the film other than the cuts.Comment
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I used to dread having to rewind and check 35mm features for the Sunday night sessions as generally they were quite OLD prints by then and had been absolutely everywhere and had all manner of crazy splices throughout. Had one that had been stapled with 2 paper staples within the image area and by the look of the wear around the holes where the staples went into the film it had been like that for a while and must have been through a couple of machines and survived.
Film was cut neatly and butted up together such that sprocket hole pitch was reasonably correct and then just stapled...the mind boggles at the thought.
Was a bit of a surprise as that ran through my fingers so it was promptly cut out and the "splice" stuck on the wall above the rewind bench as an example of a poor splice.Comment
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I've never seen this "V" cut on any of my 16mil films yet, but thanks everyone for the info in this thread...Comment
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