Previously wet 16MM print with mag track stuck together

[Tim Lanza]

Hi. Any thoughts on dealing with a print that must have become wet, but is now sticking together after it dried? This is in an archive and may have been sitting for years. My coworker began to unspool it not knowing that it was stuck and stopped once some of the mag track started to separate. It is on a plastic core. One thought I had is to elevate the film above the bottom of a metal can and drip something like VitaFilm or Film Renew in order to unspool. Likely a long and laborious process, but I would not want to submerge it given the plastic core. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Ed Gordon]

Here is a document from the Film Preservation Society on water damage.

First-Aid-for-Water-Damaged-Film_119092.pdf

[Dino Everett]

Tim
If this was a reel in the archive that I run at USC I would probably first pop the core out so you are just working with the film alone (no plastic core). Likewise if this was on a plastic or metal reel, I would break the entire reel away so I would strictly be left with film with an open hole in the middle. Then in your case I would in fact submerge the reel, but I would probably use film guard, because I think it might be safer on the mag striping. I would leave in the sealed can for probably 4-5 days. Then I would take it out of the can and you might want to use some nitrile gloves at this point with some towels so you won't be dripping the film guard all over your clothes and floor and I would use the technique I describe in the following video https://youtu.be/nLisBCv6ihk of basically pushing on the film and essentially crushing it in on the sides repeatedly all around the outside of the film and continuing as you unspool the film. I have found that by using this technique you are utilizing the overall strength of the entire reel of the film to both protect it and crack it free from itself, which is safer than simply trying to peel up a single piece of film which will always just tear. Because you are dealing with water damage it may have already caused some irreversible damage that will remove some of the image are. Here is a reel that I did from a rare Ukrainian film where you can see the result of a water damaged reel where I have done this technique. https://vimeo.com/370332052/3afb9e682e
If you don't feel comfortable attempting this I am more than happy to do it for you to help if you want to ship the reel to me at the archive, just let me know.

[Tim Lanza]

Many thanks to you both. I’ll let you know how it goes.
By the way, Dino, I’m the guy in Tulsa who got leveled by a drunk while I was projecting 16mm at a bar.

Stay well

[Dino Everett]

Hilarious. I saw you at one point and was thinking, "Why does that name tag sound so familiar?" Wish we could have chatted but I fly back in the morning. Feel free to email me....

[Tim Lanza]

I think we may have met at a Mostly Lost at one point. I was overseeing the (dreaded) Raymond Rohauer Collection/Cohen Film Collection for 30+ years.
safe travels

[Douglas Meltzer]

Tim,

I think a number of us would really like to hear the story about that bar in Tulsa!

[Dino Everett]

I think we may have met at a Mostly Lost at one point. I was overseeing the (dreaded) Raymond Rohauer Collection/Cohen Film Collection for 30+ years.
safe travels

That's it!!!!!!! We need to talk.....

[Tim Lanza]

Tim,

I think a number of us would really like to hear the story about that bar in Tulsa!

Well, I could have been a little more clear with the wording of that post, as I told the story at the AMIA conference in Tulsa during a session on learning from your mistakes that Dino was co-presenting. The actual clocking happened in Cleveland. For about 10 years, I was doing an annual music and short silent film program with musicians of all stripes from Ohio. The first couple years were held in music clubs in Cleveland and Columbus before the program went legit. I was projecting at a club in Cleveland and noticed some weird refraction on the screen. Saw that it was some seated guy holding his glass up into the projection beam, so I went up to him from behind and kind of maybe a little too forcefully put my hands on his shoulders to tell him to knock it off. This guy stood up ... and kept standing up ... turned around and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor looking for my glasses. By the time I got up, he was being escorted out of the club and I got to the projector in time to shut it off and thread the next short. Moral of the story: Look before you leap.

I could have gone with the story that concludes: Never screen Laurel and Hardy's BIG BUSINESS to your 70 year old father 3 months after his triple bypass, but I preferred the story in which I'm the one who almost ended up in the hospital!