Our Unique Techniques for Restoration of Motion Picture Film

Our Unique Techniques for Restoration of Motion Picture Film
Tinting and Toning
Burning Test of Nitrate Films
Before the introduction of color films, tinting and toning are techniques to add
color to black & white films during the silent film era. Tinting is the technique of adding
color to the film emulsion by using dyes. Toning is the technique of changing the color
of the silver particles that form the images by using chemical solutions. The combination
of both techniques is possible.
There are many ways to duplicate these films but the same authentic methods from
that era are used to restore the films. A tinting machine capable of handling long film
lengths with added stability, have been developed.
Nitrate film base was mainly used in films until the 1950s. Nitrate is extremely
flammable and has been designated as hazardous materials. A process that needs
high-temperature conditions to duplicate films from nitrate, is required. A burn test
on nitrate films must be performed to check if any work related to nitrate films can
be safely performed. During the test, 1 frame of the film is used to measure the time
needed for the film to start burning. The results will determine if the film duplication
process can be performed safely (with ample safety precautions).
sepia toning
Kodacolor Film for Motion Pictures
blue toning and pink tiniting
without filter
Development of Portable Film Viewer
with three color filter
Kodacolor film is one of the short-lived film formats from 1928 to the late 1930s.
This film used black & white film stock and the film base was embossed with more than
200 tiny lenticular lenses. The lenticular lenses capture color information from objects or
scenes through a color filter with red, green and blue stripes.
During projection, a similar color filter is needed in order to see the colors on the
screen. This film was phased out after the introduction of color films. The Kobe Planet
Film Archive discovered 13 Kodacolor films in their collection this year and the lab at
Imagica West are able to digitize and reproduce the color images using hand-made filters
and specialised machines.
One such example is the precious visuals of the early years of the Tsutenkaku Tower
in Osaka, which do not exist on any color films except for these films.
Archiving projects of moving images, organised by regional local communities,
have recently increased in Japan. At the same time, interest in preservation and the
use of home movies and amateur films are also increasing.They may want to know
the content of their films, and to inspect them.
In order to meet such needs, a portable viewer for multiple formats have been
developed. This viewer doesn’ t use perforations, thus allowing it to handle damaged
films. This viewer employs film winding by hand and can record still images and movies
into the PC at the same time. We named this viewer “TETELE”.
Graph (ignition time and temperature)
Recovering images from extremely-deteriorated nitrate films
blue tinting
yellow tinting
Silver Color
The technique called "Silver color" is a bleach-bypass
method and has been used in the film "Happiness ( 幸福 )" directed
by Kon Ichikawa. Bleach bypass is a method of leaving behind color
elements and silver on film by removing the bleach elements during
a typical film development process.
As the silver (which is usually removed during normal color
development) is left behind, it will appear to have a high contrast.
Silver colors can produce better color tones by stopping the color
film development process in the middle and continuing with black
and white color development. This technique produces lower
saturation compared to the normal bleach bypass technique. Due
to the improvements in color films, the quantity of silver inside the
film is becoming less and this makes it difficult to duplicate films
from that time of period. However, after many tests and improvements
in development machines, restoration is possible.
For a case study, a film was offered by National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo,
for the restoration of the only known existing film produced by Fukuhodo, one of the earliest film production
companies in Japan’ s film history. This nitrate film has deteriorated so much; it is stuck together; the emulsion
has melted and the images become disappearing. It is impossible to scan or duplicate films with this kind of
advanced deterioration.
The first step is to soften the film by using a solvent and peel off parts of the film that can be separated, and
then scan the images frame-by-frame using a high-resolution camera to produce a recording negative film. From
a total of about 800 feet of film, only 2000 frames were salvageable which includes some very valuable contents.
Samples of nitrate film deterioration
Film become sticky
Emulsion has melted
Film Restoration and Preservation Workshop
Film Restoration and Preservation
Workshop has been held since 2006 in
Kansai district, “three birth places” of
Japanese motion picture film; Kobe,
Kyoto and Osaka.The workshop programs
are consisted of several sections; didactic
section, round-table, lightning-talk and
technical parts. The total numbers of
participants reach almost 1,000. In 2015,
IMAGICA WESTCorp. contributes to its 10th
anniversary in collaboration with Osaka
University of Arts, Kobe Planet Film Archive,
The Museum of Kyoto and other institutions
like National Film Center and NPO Film Preservation Society.
Red BW separation negative
Digital
restoration
@IMAGICA
Separation
film Recording
@IMAGICA
Green BW separation negative
Blue BW separetion negative
Sensitometric curve
Restoration of tinted and toned print
Cf. Yoshihiro Matsuo/Daisuke Inoue/Kanta Shibata,
Experimental efforts for technology of emulsion
transfer from deteriorated film, in “Eiga televi gijutsu”
(in Japanese), pp.44-47, 2014-04, Motion Picture and
Television Engineering Society of Japan
"An Autumn Afternoon" "Late Autumn" "Good Morning" "Equinox Flower"
IMAGICA TONE: Low-contrast film process for telecines
IMAGICA TONE is a low-contrast film processing technique for telecines. It was developed as
an alternative to the low-contrast film stock made by Kodak (Vision Teleprint 2395), which is no longer
in production. Since the contrast produced by IMAGICA TONE is lower than the usual print, it is
possible to get a wider range of colors during telecines, with the closest possible image representation
to the original film.
When the acetate film base, in particular
black & white reversal 16mm film, become brittle
due to its deterioration, some film restorers puzzle
about how to save the images. Because they know
that the emulsion still keeps its images very clear,
and also that there is possibility to preserve them
only when they can replant images in emulsion onto
new base or something else as if it were skin implant.
It is a simple challenge, but our Emulsion
Transfer Technique achieved remarkable results.
●Separation of emulsion from brittle base
● Research for new glue
● Replanting to 35mm clear base
Three-Color Separation
Yasujiro Ozu
Desmet Color Method
Developed by Noël Desmet in 1960s, Desmet Color Method is well known as one of the most
useful ways to restore the tinted and toned nitrate prints. Using black & white internegative
film to duplicate the colored copies, the technique had been adopted as a global standard for
the following reasons,
● Black & white film is cheaper than the color internagative film
● Black & white film’ s stability is ideal for archival purpose
In our digital age, the so-called “Digital Desmet” is taking the place of
the Desmet Color Method itself, but IMAGICA WEST Corp. keeps three
choices utilizing the films to restore the colored nitrate copies as the table below indicates.
Emulsion Transfer
Direct
color
print
<contact print>
National Film Center The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
1. By color film
Blow-up printing from 8mm/9.5mm positive film to 35mm internegative
Color posi
Original nitrate posi
Tinted and toned
2. By Desmetcolor method
B/W internega
In the Japanese motion picture film history, small gauge formats like 8mm and 9.5mm have so unique presence
that we need to revaluate. Not many researchers know that, in the nitrate era, easy handling of the Pathé Baby,
French name of 9.5mm system, and its non-flamable acetate base were well-received not only by amateur filmmakers
but also by film industry which had sold, for family use, feature films in 35mm reduced to 9.5mm.
And when the original nitrate negative and prints disappear or are deteriorated, the 9.5mm copies become a tentative
master and get more important value than simple rolls of home-movies.
IMAGICA WEST corp. is one of the most limited companies that provide optical blow-up printing service of small
gauge film, and with its printing machine many historical films considered “lost” are salvaged from total oblivion of public.
Color posi
3. By tinting & toning
Original nitrate posi with color filter
tinting
The table above is from History and restoration of tinted and tored film in Japanese silent cinema
IMAGICA WEST Corp.
Fumiaki Itakura / Yoshihiro Matsuo, 2010.05.30. JSIAS (translated by SHIBATA)
Cf. Paul Read and Noël Desmet, The Desmetcolor Method for Restoring Tinted and Toned
Films, in All the Colours of the World – Colours in Early Mass Media 1900-1930. pp.147-150,
Edizioni Diabasis, 1998
IMAGICA TONE Processing
Normal Color Processing
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