Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF

strong advantage in the area of dye stability.
24. It should be noted that this term is
frequently used by archivists, but not
professionally recognized by Kodak. The
technique falls among those improvements
in stock design too variable to cite
as a standard, and hence does not feature
in the company literature.
25. This argument assumes that the
modifications to the dye couplers in the
low-fade stock will have an effect on
rarely screened or printed items. The
technology is considered a trade secret,
and hence information on it is rather
scarce on the ground.
It is worth noting that the new EXR negatives
and their intermediate 7344 are
also designed with strong dye stability.
While the 7344 would have too much
contrast for printing from positive, the
EXR camera stocks may present their
own advantages in this regard.
26. Direct positive 5360, a 35mm reversal
stock, is available in polyester, but it
is probably not the best archival choice
in terms of image rendition. Kodak’s new
7378 sound stock, which may be
processed reversal, is available in polyester
as stock number 3378E.
27. While extensive studies have not
been made in all aspects of polyester use,
most signs point to significant stability
advantages. The disadvantages - including
legends of broken projectors, etc. -
seem for the most part to be exaggerated.
28. Artists and archivists will understand
that this is not necessarily a pejorative
term. One of the best works on the topic
is by Stan Brakhage, who (at the time he
was making the aforementioned Songs)
wrote eloquently of those works which,
unencumbered by professional constraints,
were free to express a truly open
and honest vision. (Stan Brakhage, In
Defense of Amateur, written circa 1967;
Filmmakers Newsletter 4 (9-10), Summer
1971, in - Brakhage Scrapbook—Collected
Writings 1964 - 1980, Documentext,
1982.
master (22) , which would have all the preservation advantages of a silverbased
medium.
The concept of dual-system printing opens up one final, unique method
meriting mention. If one has accepted the idea of a separate physical
sound strip, one is then free to conceive the absolute best possible
avenue for image rendition. In terms of a deep saturation most like the
old classic prints, the most appropriate stock to try might actually be
Kodachrome camera stock, which normally would be unthinkable due to
its higher contrast and lack of a sound process. But as All My Life already
was known to print well in high contrast, and sound was being preserved
separately, it may well prove to be an extraordinary alternative. (23)
All of these methods offer high-quality image preservation possibilities,
as well as acceptable (and in some cases, superior) audio accompaniment.
As in any delicate printing operation, testing would be required
to determine which methods were effective and which were not. The
verdict? None, as PFA had no funding with which to continue the project.
Which leads into the last issue I would like to address.
Longevity
Lack of resources, a problem common to all archivists, is perhaps even
more pronounced in the field of the art film. As a result, some special
considerations arise regarding the physical conservation of an item.
Proper storage conditions are widely acknowledged as the single most
important aspect of moving image preservation, yet remarkably few facilities
housing independent works come close to meeting recognized standards
in this area. When funding is scarce, one must then recast the
question: how can one best preserve a piece with the resources at hand?
If proper storage is not feasible, emphasis should be placed on reproduction
methods that build longer life into the physical materials themselves.
Reversal prints on 7399 may have one interesting, if slight, advantage
over negative/positive systems in terms of long-range durability. The
7272 internegative stock has not been significantly modified in many
years, while the Ektachrome line, including 7399, has undergone various
changes that include improvements in dye stability. Also, it seems that
the “low-fade” technology (24) introduced by Kodak in 1979 was incorporated
into release print stocks, but not negatives of that era. This is
because the principle agent in dye fading is usually not so much age as
repeated projection under a high-intensity lamp, and negative materials
are deemed to be infrequently used items which are never projected.
7399, which doubles as an intermediate and projection film, should
incorporate the technique. One may therefore infer that 7399 prints will
exhibit a slightly greater dye stability than 7272 internegatives, when
used as preservation materials. (25)
Another consideration is the film’s base material. As vinegar syndrome is
now ravaging several generations of safety film, it is probably practical to
start thinking of using polyester-based stocks in pre-print as well as print
materials. Unfortunately, Kodak only offers polyester-based internegative
56 Journal of Film Preservation / 53 / 1996