RecordCouncil | Nitrate R4E: "El Alamein" Fragment - Lab fault? (1953) [35mm Overscan] @RecordCouncil | Uploaded November 2023 | Updated October 2024, 5 hours ago.
Starts about 2 and a half minutes into the movie. Safety stock. Single bilateral variable area soundtrack.
Looks like faulty lab print, white flashes and spotting, possibly the reason this section was removed from the film. I'm fairly sure this has always been there and is not age related degradation. There are also odd colour shifts towards the end of the clip, I think this is actually also on the film and not a scanner white balance issue.
Starts about 2 and a half minutes into the movie. Safety stock. Single bilateral variable area soundtrack.
Looks like faulty lab print, white flashes and spotting, possibly the reason this section was removed from the film. I'm fairly sure this has always been there and is not age related degradation. There are also odd colour shifts towards the end of the clip, I think this is actually also on the film and not a scanner white balance issue.
![Nitrate R4E: El Alamein Fragment - Lab fault? (1953) [35mm Overscan]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H9BtSiRkIZs/hqdefault.jpg "Nitrate R4E: El Alamein Fragment - Lab fault? (1953) [35mm Overscan]
Starts about 2 and a half minutes into the movie. Safety stock. Single bilateral variable area soundtrack.
Looks like faulty lab print, white flashes and spotting, possibly the reason this section was removed from the film. Im fairly sure this has always been there and is not age related degradation. There are also odd colour shifts towards the end of the clip, I think this is actually also on the film and not a scanner white balance issue.")
![Val Morgan Ident - Surf [35mm] (reupload)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HgPeACcW4kQ/hqdefault.jpg "Val Morgan Ident - Surf [35mm] (reupload)
Redid the motion tracking using the same scan source files, Im actually pretty sure theres some optical printing instability with this one, especially looking at the olympic logo in the top left at the end and comparing with the VM logo which is pretty steady. The sprockets being tracked are dead on.
Cropping, brightness and colour changes to make closer to source.
Technically the first upload of this film was a test anyway ;)")
![Nitrate R3C: Tivoli Tappers (unknown date) [35mm 2K Academy]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HlpxFJc3Z6A/hqdefault.jpg "Nitrate R3C: Tivoli Tappers (unknown date) [35mm 2K Academy]
Dancing number by chorus line girls from Sydney Tivoli.
I have no idea what context this film may have been created under, whether it was part of a feature or some kind of short. If you have any information please let me know.")
![Val Morgan Cinema Advertising Ident - 1980s [35mm]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Hx6PtZ4MuCU/hqdefault.jpg "Val Morgan Cinema Advertising Ident - 1980s [35mm]
Not sure of the exact date, based on the soundalike Peter Gabriel theme tune Id guess around 86.
The soundtrack was the first problematic one Ive dealt with, the levels were absolutely pegged to the limit and were blowing out and distorting when converted with AEO. I lowered the brightness of the track to get it all in range.")
![Xanadu Product Reel Fragments [35mm]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/I6aVNyNBwgw/hqdefault.jpg "Xanadu Product Reel Fragments [35mm]
The Xanadu Product Reel was a promotional tool comprising of various scenes from the film in a 22 minute package. It was shown during marketing events leading up to the release of the movie. Because the film was still in production at this time, there were notable differences to scenes in the reel and the final release of the film, most notably the soundtrack.
How fragments of it came to be in the store room of a cinema in Australia is a mystery. I am assuming that promotional screenings were carried out here at some point and the print was simply never returned.
I worked as a projectionist around 2008, not in a multiplex but rather an older single screen from the 30s that had been converted into 3 cinemas. One day while cleaning out a store room I came upon some film cans. Unwinding the films I immediately recognised the source. I pulled all the pieces from Xanadu out and spliced them together. It seems that at some point a projectionist in the past had taken the full reel and used it for scrap leader, some of it was even painted over, you can see some of it in a scene near the end. Sad.
3 and a bit minutes was all I ever recovered. I have uploaded the whole frame scan in this version essentially raw with only minor cropping as well locking the image to the sprocket holes. I will try and do some colour and general image improvement and crop for a separate upload.
This actually gives a good example of some of the problems I have with film registration. Have a look at the sprocket holes during the clip, they are dead on, digitally locked to a point in the video frame. Now look at the picture within the film, it weaves and bobs independent of the physical film, this is why getting a steady scan is so hard. This is especially noticeable during the close-ups in the Im Alive sequence 0:45 You can try track to something in the actual image area if there is one, but it needs to be done for each and every scene of a scan.")
![John Player Special Cinema Advertisement [35mm]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JQnxn3lgcEk/hqdefault.jpg "John Player Special Cinema Advertisement [35mm]
I do not in any way condone the use of tobacco products, I am merely preserving these films for posterity.
According to the box this film was called Sterling and was produced by the parent of JPS, the Wills company. The soundtrack is in stereo!
It showed at the Maryborough Drive-In (Queensland, Australia) for one week after interval from 12/5/1983 to 18/5/1983 at which point the print was to be held over.
According to Cinema Treasures, the drive-in closed in 1992 after being damaged in a storm.
Inside the box lid there is a sticker containing the following: (copied verbatim with odd capitalisation)
IMPORTANT NOTICE
CIGARETTE FILMS - CHILDRENS PROGRAMMES
Kindly note that Cigarette Films are not to be displayed at Childrens Matinees or during the performance of any Film Feature that has specifically been produced for children.
If it is necessary to cancel and scheduled screenings because of the above would you kindly notify us immediately.
FEATURED THEATRE ADS
(David Koffel Pty. Ltd.)")
![Drive-In Intermission 3 Minute Clock 4K [35mm]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JXSKG1czsEA/hqdefault.jpg "Drive-In Intermission 3 Minute Clock 4K [35mm]
On safety stock, guessing 60s reprint. Really scratched, splicey and vinegared. Missing a bit of footage unfortunately.
Scanned pretty easily which was a surprise as there was heaps of torn perfs I had to tape up and I just assumed I would have missed some.")
![Howls Moving Castle Trailer [35mm]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JhE_keCd5ig/hqdefault.jpg "Howls Moving Castle Trailer [35mm]
When I first started as projectionist this trailer was made up as part of a changeover training reel. I saved it from that fate. Pretty happy with this scan, even if its a little bouncy and a tiny bit soft. The audio track came out really well, very nice stereo.")
![Nitrate R4C: Conquest trailer fragment - Lab fault (1937) [35mm Overscan]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KdlCly6s83w/hqdefault.jpg "Nitrate R4C: Conquest trailer fragment - Lab fault (1937) [35mm Overscan]
Early version using the films original title of Marie Walewska
Faulty lab print, audio was offset by double the SMPTE standard at 42 frames, this would never have had properly synchronised audio when run through a projector.")
