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Author Topic: Universal lot fire Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 06-02-2008 06:58 AM                        quote: Charles Greenlee And I might add, aren't large tapes stored on reels? I reem to remember reel to reel tape players. So those pics possibly could be reeled tape. Just a thought. Open reel magnetic tape is normally archived either in acid-free cardboard cartons or inert polypropylene shipping cases with a sealing latch mechanism (the norm for 1" and 2" VTs). Steel containers (i.e. film cans) are a no-no because if they become magnetised they could endanger the signal on the tape. Since 1" 'C' became obsolete in the mid-90s, almost all professional videotape has been in a cassette format of some description, AFAIK.  |  IP: Logged Paul Goulet Master Film Handler Posts: 347 From: Rhode Island Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-02-2008 08:32 AM                        Check out these pictures: RR  |  IP: Logged Phil Blake Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 558 From: esperance western australia Registered: Nov 2003 posted 06-02-2008 09:05 AM                        I wonder if anyone got a camera rolling , it would have made good library stock footage. Title for new film "The Day the Country Lost its Music"  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 06-02-2008 05:19 PM                     For those who run classic films, Universal just announced: "It is with great sadness that I must inform you that yesterdays fire destroyed nearly 100% of the archive prints kept here on the lot. Due to this we will be unable to honor any film bookings of prints that were set to ship from here. Over the next few weeks and months we will be able to try and piece together what material we do have and if any prints exist elsewhere. For the time being please check your rental confirmations and look under shipping instructions. If the print was set to ship from the studio then you date is now canceled. If the shipping instructions say ship from Deluxe then those dates are still good." The good news is that the elements survive. The bad news is that most likely, only the "big" titles will ever be reprinted in 35mm. Many Universal titles will never be seen in 35mm publicly again.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-02-2008 05:30 PM                     One upside to this is it may influence Universal to utilize digital scanning and digital intermediate techniques for "catalog" titles of interest when transferring them to 2K/4K digital cinema format or authoring for Blu-ray and DVD. Quite a few catalog titles are simply being duped to HD digital formats via telecine. It seems a little safer to use scanning techniques on items like original camera negatives rather than try to run them through a telecine in real time.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 06-02-2008 06:41 PM                        I guess those are the film cans we've been seeing on the news.  |  IP: Logged Ron Yost Master Film Handler Posts: 344 From: Paso Robles, CA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 06-02-2008 07:42 PM                     AP photos, via chicagotribune.com, showing 'media' being saved by firefighters. In addition to the one that comes up on the main page, click on 'More Photos', then photos 4 thru 10. Chicago Tribune Universal fire story with many pics I, too, wondered if someone set up a camera.  |  IP: Logged Charles Greenlee Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 801 From: Savannah, Ga, U.S. Registered: Jun 2006 posted 06-02-2008 07:45 PM                        I wonder if they'll try to rebuild as it was, or put something different in place of what the fire destroyed.  |  IP: Logged Betsie Beadling Expert Film Handler Posts: 178 From: Fairfax, Virginia, USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 06-02-2008 08:04 PM                     Doc Brown must be thinking "Great Scott"  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 06-02-2008 09:38 PM                     Their "Video Vault" looks suspiously like an ordinary post steel building.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 06-03-2008 04:43 AM                        That's probably all it is. Most of the big studios and TV companies outsource the secure long-term archiving of their master and irreplaceable elements to a specialist service provider such as Hollywood Vaults or Iron Mountain. Their facilities are built to withstand both natural threats (e.g. fire, flood and earthquake) and man-made ones (e.g. theft), and have appropriate temperature and humidity control for the media type. However, all that costs money, and therefore a studio will only pay to keep uniquely valuable material in there. My guess would be that the facility on Universal's lot only held material that could be replaced (i.e. copies of stuff, the master elements of which were stored elsewhere). Presumably the insurance claim would potentially replace all those prints, but for some reason Universal's thinking is that they're not going to do that. Maybe they have their eyes on hi-def digital transfers and a large server farm to replace the vault that's gone. If so I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it'll make the content more readily available, save shipping costs, blah blah blah. On the other hand and sadly, it's another nail in the coffin of the film viewing experience.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 06-03-2008 09:01 AM                     Iron Mountain About 10 years ago, there was a huge fire here in New Jersey when 2 side by side Iron Mountain warehouses went up in smoke. The contents were mostly paper business records that various companies were paying to have archived in their fireproof underground vaults. It seems that Iron Mountain ran out of room at the vault but continued to take deposits for archiving. Never did hear the outcome of the lawsuits that resulted.  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 06-03-2008 09:23 AM                     This FAX was forwarded to me by my boss- It is with great sadness that I must inform you that yesterdays fire destroyed nearly 100% of the archive prints kept here on the lot. Due to this we will be unable to honor any film bookings of prints that were set to ship from here. Over the next few weeks and months we will be able to try and piece together what material we do have and if any prints exist elsewhere. For the time being please check your rental confirmations and look under shipping instructions. If the print was set to ship from the studio then you date is now canceled. If the shipping instructions say ship from Deluxe then those dates are still good. Please call either myself or Dennis Chong with any questions. I can be reached for the next two days at 818-882-3014 and you can reach Dennis at 818-777-0609. I will be back in the office on Wednesday. Paul Ginsburg Vice President NBC Universal Distribution 100 Universal City Plaza Bldg. 2160 Suite 8G Universal City, CA. 91608 Ph: 818-777-1689 Fx: 818-866-0261  |  IP: Logged Jack Theakston Master Film Handler Posts: 411 From: New York, USA Registered: Sep 2007 posted 06-03-2008 07:20 PM                     The "big" titles that are in circulation are all housed at Deluxe. The prints that were on the lot were lesser rented prints and studio prints. Unfortunately, because of that demographic, I'll bet that more that 2/3 of the prints that burned won't be printed up again.  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-03-2008 08:10 PM                     I just returned American Graffiti to them last week :-(  |  IP: Logged

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