Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Book: How Kodak Film Was Made

This is topic Book: How Kodak Film Was Made in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-12-2013, 08:18 AM:

This is the only extremely detailed book ever written on the subject, most of which was held as secret until Kodak began dismantling and then demolishing their film production factories... The author worked for Kodak and was a friends with the late John Pytlak. It is already out of print and the author won't be shipping any more books after September 30, 2013.

I posted this in Film Handlers so film related people would see it and not miss out on getting a copy.

http://www.makingkodakfilm.com/

Mark

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-12-2013, 11:29 AM:

Very glad to hear that he's doing another print run. Apart SMP[T]E and BKS[T]S journal articles going back to the first half of the last century and some sections in Cornwell-Clyne's Colour Cinematography and Smither & Surowiec's This Film is Dangerous (which again deal only with the nitrate era), it's the only book I've come across that describes the process of manufacturing film base in any significant detail.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-12-2013, 01:19 PM:

_was_?!?!

They still make it, you know.

And, yes, it is a good book and worth owning. I have a copy and recommend it.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-13-2013, 04:23 PM:

He's NOT doing another print run. This is the last of it, no more printings, and sales end September 30, 2013 or when he runs out of copies to sell. So get it while you can...

Mark

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-13-2013, 06:22 PM:

Sorry - misread 'won't' for 'will' in haste.

I hope that Mr. Shanebrook might consider an e-book or print-on-demand approach to keeping his book available after the last of the hard copy print run books have been shipped. I'm guessing (and if so, sympathise) that he's not keen to have to keep packaging up and mailing hard copies indefinitely when an order arrives via his website, but if he's willing to accept a lower cut of each sale, then there are loads of e-book and print-on-demand publishers out there who I'm sure would be delighted to take this title on. I'm normally a bit cagey about self-published books, but the text and images in this one are excellent and within a generation it's going to be absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to find out, at nuts-and-bolts level, how film was made during its final phase as a mainstream imaging technology.

Posted by Emiel De Jong (Member # 4225) on 08-31-2013, 08:39 AM:

Thanks for posting this! I got my copy in the mail today; it is wonderful.

Posted by Phillip Grace (Member # 2262) on 09-04-2013, 10:08 PM:

Thanks Mark for the heads-up. Fantastic book. The scale of the Kodak operation is absolutely staggering.

Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 09-06-2013, 02:41 AM:

Yes, also a thanks to Mark for the info...my copy is on its way over. Some of the info posted about the book (on line) takes your breath away at what Kodak did...amazing stuff.

Lindsay

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 09-06-2013, 10:39 AM:

Thanks for posting this, Mark.
The book looks very interesting and I've just ordered one.
(You should be getting a commission for all sales you've stimulated!)
-jc-

Posted by Markus Ito (Member # 6207) on 09-08-2013, 07:44 PM:

Just received my book a few days ago. It is a pretty amazing operation that Kodak had set up.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-10-2013, 10:10 PM:

It really is amazing stuff... Things that were designed back in the twenties are still be4ing used to manufacture Kodak film today... the main thing being that huge polished wheel the film base is poured continously on.

Hopefully the author signed all your copies too. He did mine.

Mark

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 09-12-2013, 05:10 PM:

How many pages is the book?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-14-2013, 06:17 PM:

94 pages and gobs of photos showing how it was all done. It's an 8-1/2 X 11 sized soft cover book.