Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Film and television history can only be written, evaluated,
and rewritten with the cooperation of archives,
since most primary materials in the public domain—that
is, not in the hands of collectors—are housed in archives
and libraries. For scholars of media, knowledge of the
archives and their holdings are essential for their work.
Film and television archives were established to preserve
the objects that document the history of these media;
they collect both the actual software or products (films,
videotapes), as well as the material culture of these media.
Such material culture includes production and distribution
documents, stills, production photos, sets, props,
costumes, theater programs, trade periodicals, fan magazines,
personal papers of filmmakers, call sheets, financial
documents, production schedules, awards, technical
manuals of equipment manufacturers, cameras, projectors,
window and theater displays, and other related
items.
THE NECESSITY OF ARCHIVES
Of all the films produced during the silent era (1895–
1930), approximately 95 percent have been lost. Of all
films produced during the nitrate sound film era (1930–
1955), only about 50 percent survive in any form. Even
many films from the most recent years of film history
have failed to survive, due to color fading, marginal status
(industrial films), and archaic formats (for example,
Cinerama). Probably as much as 60 percent of all television
production has been lost.
Films from the entire nitrate era (1895–1955, silent
and sound) have decomposed due to poor storage conditions.
In the first stage of decomposition, the film turns
ARCHIVES
sticky, while the image disappears in a gelatinous mass.
In the second phase, the film roll solidifies into a hard
disk, making the retrieval of any images virtually impossible.
Finally, the material turns into a brown powder.
Since nitrate film is highly flammable, many films were
lost in fires. In fact, it was not uncommon for commercial
film companies to burn their vault holdings because
they saw old films as merely a liability and an expense
once they had made their initial theatrical runs. Not until
the advent of television and later consumer video were
rereleases of economic interest to the major corporate
studios.
Other problems of film stability appeared with time.
In the 1970s, it was discovered that newer acetate films
decomposed through what was termed the ‘‘vinegar syndrome.’’
Rather than turning gooey, the films became
brittle and buckled, making them unprojectable. Color
film was also subject to decay. While the old
Technicolor films have remained relatively stable, color
film stocks from the 1950s (Eastmancolor) have been
subject to extreme fading, leaving prints and negatives
looking pink after only two decades or less. Finally, the
advent of television and video brought with it more
than three dozen television and video formats that
appeared and disappeared over the last forty years, making
it necessary to preserve not only the electronic
moving images in these formats but also the equipment
that played them. For example, many two-inch quad
tapes (the first videotape format from the late 1950s)
can no longer be accessed because the large and cumbersome
machines used to play such tapes no longer
exist. Unlike film material, which can be viewed
with the naked eye or with standardized projectors,
SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM 105