Important considerations about 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm film in storage.

A Note of Warning:

By: Bruce Mayfield

Chemical breakdown is destroying the world's film libraries and archives at an alarming rate. Technically "cellulose acetate decomposition" this self-catalyzing degradation of the film backing is more commonly known as "Vinegar Syndrome".

Once film has vinegar syndrome starts, there is only a small window of time, months, before the film starts to physically morph -- curl and stretch and then shrink. Once the film shrinks, it becomes brittle, and bowed. In some cases film may be treated with chemicals (reportedly camphor, etc.) that will temporarily allow it to run through a projector -- with much distortion in the images -- one last time.  This process is profoundly expensive and performed by only one or two labs in North America. Results are not guaranteed.

Vinegar Syndrome is contagious: Other film can be "infected" -- through the air. If you can "smell your film" -- any smell like vinegar -- you are loosing it, fast! If YOU can smell it, then chances are that ALL your other film -- stored with the film that you CAN smell -- already has it, too. Run, don't walk, to digitize your film. Once Vinegar Syndrome starts, there is no way to reverse it.

Notice: Film with vinegar syndrome does NOT necessarily have an odor of vinegar. In many cases, physical morphing of the film -- causing it to curl and ripple, like the edges of macaroni -- can be seen without any odor. 

Storage: My observation is that film that has not been allowed to breath -- that has been "sealed tightly" in canisters -- is more likely to "break down". Stagnate gasses, that continuously seep from the film itself, seen to catalyze the chemical reaction in the first place. However, prolonged exposure to the vinegar syndrome gasses will catalyze a reaction in ANY film -- no matter how it is stored. Once film has vinegar syndrome detected, all reels sharing common air space should be quarantined individually -- and digitized immediately. Digitalization is the only way to salvage the images on the film.

Super 8 film is not immune: We are starting to see Super 8 film with vinegar syndrome, too. For years this was not the case.  Based on limited observations, when Super 8 "starts to go", it goes fast!

Other Problems with Film: I also see a lot of "super 8mm" go bad due to "bad baths" during the original processing -- with a crystalline "snow flake" build-up with in the emulsion of the film -- which was not washed / rinsed properly at the time of development.

Aging and Mold: Film is made of plastic "tape" (backing) and an organic "film" on the tape -- the "gelatin emulsion". Made from plant and animal by-products, all color and black-and-white information is stored in the gelatin emulsion, which cracks with age. Even the color dyes "get tired". This "organic" media is vulnerable to mold that grows in dark damp places. Film that "gets wet" will contact mold that will literally "eat it up". This appears a as blue-green mosaic in your film and occasionally as "black specks". Also, mold can grow in the scratches in the emulsion of your film, which discolor over time.

The gelatin emulsion: Moisture from the air on this organic material, stored in the dark, creates an environment for destruction -- by mold! Virtually all old film is at risk of, if not already infected with, mold. We see it all the time and we have to tell the families the bad news. Ultimately all old film is in crisis and your memories with it.

Also, the plastic "tape" itself  on old "home movies" is becoming brittle -- easily damaged by old movie projectors. Once the "pull-down holes", along the edge of the tape are damaged, the "home movie" is dead. Only one bad run through an old projector -- purchased for $2 dollars at a yard sale -- could destroy your priceless "home movies".

Saving Film Vs Saving Memories: The broader view of preservation is "to save" the visual memories of "your life and times" -- not just to magnetic media. Once you have technically to re-produced your visual images, then you can focus on getting "the story behind the pictures" -- from family members who are still around -- who enjoy good health and are willing to help all generations remember.

After you digitize you film, I recommend using your videos to make "video interviews" with your loved-ones -- to preserve the story of their life and times -- as the video tape stimulates their memories of people, places, and things.