Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: old movies on t,v.

This is topic old movies on t,v. in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Frank Rapisardi (Member # 435) on 07-16-2000, 05:47 AM:

The other night I was watching AMC(American Movie Classics.Not American Muti Cinema!) Anyway does anyone know how they keep those old movies in such great shape?I believe they use video but how are the original film stocks kept so prestine?Almost never scratched,very little dust.Once in a while you may notice dust spots which appear white;which I believe to have been on the negative! Just curious.Thanks.

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 07-16-2000, 02:51 PM:

In most cases, the images that you see on television don't bear a lot of resemblance to the condition of the actual negative. It's pretty easy to make a film look good on NTSC telelvision, even if the original material is in poor condition. Wet-gate printing and telecine can help to hide scratches and dust, and other artifacts can be electronically "erased" by the telecine colorist. Faded color can be corrected and other problems can be hidden.

The problem, though, is that it's very hard to hide these flaws when making 35mm prints, and none of the telecine work helps to preserve the film elements at all. In some cases, the film elements are actually _harmed_ by the telecine process, when rare or one-of-a-kind film elements are run on the telecine machine, needlessly putting them at risk for further damage without at least using them to make high-quality preservation elements.