As a practical matter, Manny's questions seem like reasonable ones to ask when deciding what to do about this problem. In perfect world though, applying the same (high) presentation standards to "Freddy Got Fingered" and "A Beautiful Mind" would be a worthy goal.

No. A blue/cyan/purple discoloration is usually caused by excessive exposure to the darkroom "safelight" illumination. Most commonly seen on leaders or around a lab splice. Often one edge of the film is affected more than the other, depending upon the location and direction of the errant "safe" light in the darkroom.

I agree, if the fogging is obvious in the picture or sound, request a replacement reel, but leave the discolored footage in. In my experience, most audience members will object to missing continuity, but may not notice a few seconds of discoloration. Also, returning the bad reel with the defect intact will help the lab diagnose and hopefully eliminate the problem.

Sound developer splashes (used for the current silver + dye analog tracks) are usually grayish, and localized to where the sound developer splashed/bled into the picture area. The digital tracks do NOT require sound redevelopment, and the new cyan dye analog tracks will eliminate this problem.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: <A HREF="http://www.kodak.com/go/motion" TARGET=_blank>http://www.kodak.com/go/motion</A>