Assessing the Health of Your Film Archive

All media, be it film, video or even paper, are information carriers with a finite life span; albeit, some more stable that others. The goal of preserving original materials forever, while an admirable goal, is simply an impossible task. Inevitably, decay will set in and the original element will disintegrate beyond usability.

Our energies as archivists would be misplaced if we were to concentrate solely on preserving the original artifact to the exclusion of capturing and preserving the information on this media, or vice-versa. As archivist, it is our duty to integrate our preservation and migration efforts into a coherent whole, rather than spilt our energies along the artificially demarked lines of preservation of the element and preservation of the information on the media itself.

A healthy archive should pay equal attention to safeguarding original media and to properly migrating that media to a suitable archival format.

While most archives have, at whatever level of sophistication, an ongoing program of reformatting and transferring their existing materials to new or similar media, it has been my experience that a large number do not have a coherent, on-going program to assess the current health of their holdings.

Attempting to give a comprehensive overview of all issues involved in assessing the health of your archive is impossible in the time allotted today, however, I will present a few simple steps you can take to assess the relative health of film holdings in your archive.

Storage Issues

It should go without saying that the most important factor to adversely impact the health and longevity of your film holdings is improper storage conditions within the archive itself.

As stated before, all media has a finite life span, but environmental variables in storage play the most significant factor in determining if the media survives a long, average or very short period of time.

All media is sensitive to the environment in which it is stored. When newly manufactured filmstock enters the World, it comes wrapped in protective black plastic bags, sealed against humidity in metal cans, and double boxed to ease it's trip to the lab. When the lab technician pulls the sealing tape off of the metal can, film is thrust into a World of dangers brought on by environmental extremes and the clock to ultimate decay is started.

Exposed to bright light sources in printing, the stock is then whipped through highly alkaline and acidic processing baths, blasted dry with hot air and tightly wound-up on a core or reel to begin its life as an exhibition medium. While the ultimate goal of film processing is to transform rawstock into a useable exhibition medium, the theory and practice behind the chemical process is intended to create a medium that has been both transformed and returned to physical and chemical equilibrium. While this is all well and good in theory, in practice, unavoidable environmental and manufacturing variables often contribute to the untimely death of a motion picture print by unbalancing the delicate physical and chemical equilibrium of the filmstock itself.

In evaluating your film storage space, you need to become aware of the dominating physical characteristics of your storage area. These observations should be made over a period of several weeks to a month and carried out at varying times of the day and during varying outside weather conditions. The truly thorough archivist will document these observations with each change of season to better understand the varying conditions their storage area provides. Just keep a clipboard handy outside of the storage area (to jog your memory) and compile the data when convenient.

Name:_________________ Date:____________________

Vault/Storage Room#:_________________________________

Season: Spring ____ Summer____ Fall____ Winter

Outside Weather Conditions: ___________________________

Walk into your storage area and make a few simple observations.

1. Air circulation:
   1. Stale
   2. Fresh
   3. Neutral

   Obviously, you want either a fresh or neutral smell. If you have stale air in your storage area, you are not getting sufficient circulation to avoid possible cross-contamination issues from elements that begin to out-gas harmful vapors.

2. Air purity: Is there a singular, dominating smell that permeates the room?
   1. Vinegar
   2. Plastic
   3. "Dirty socks"
   4. Camphor
   5. "Earthy"
   6. Paint
   7. Unspecified chemical
   8. Other: ________________
   9. Fresh air

   Again, as above, you should strive for a neutral or fresh air atmosphere as much as possible. Overpowering smells suggest poor ventilation and a serious, ongoing decomposition problem in your collection. Be aware of environmental factors such as the type of paint used in your storage area and do not subject your collection to heavy paint odors or varnishes. Strive for a chemically neutral atmosphere in your storage area.

3. Humidity (observed): Actual (for those with instruments):
   1. Very humid % RH ________
   2. Mildly humid
   3. Neutral
   4. Dry
   5. Desert-like

   Proper humidity levels can be very tricky to maintain, but it is critical for the good health of your collection. High humidity levels can accelerate the onset of vinegar syndrome in safety materials, general decomposition in nitrate and often promotes out-gassing of harmful vapors from all film elements that can lead to a number of cumulative problems on down the road. On the other hand, low humidity conditions can promote the accelerated loss of highly volatile emollients in the film base and lead to brittleness and high shrinkage. In my experience, if you have to err to one side or the other, it is perhaps a bit better to be lower in humidity than high, as most agents of decomposition attack the emulsion of the film and require sufficient moisture to begin their process.

4. Temperature: ____ Actual (for those with instruments):
   1. Hot °F/°C:__________/____________
   2. Mild
   3. Cool
   4. Cold

   There is one rule here; keep it as cold as you can afford, but only if you can maintain that temperature on a consistent basis. Significant cyclic temperature variations to filmstock can cause a number of serious problems. The simple act of cycling the temperature of the filmstock, especially as it ages and looses emollients, can lead to stress fractures and mechanical damage such as splice failure and fracturing. If you can only afford to keep the film collection very cold two days of the week, and at "room temperature" for the remainder, it would be better to average the power usage and keep it constant throughout the year. Try to avoid abrupt and large shifts in temperature. On this note, if you keep your film stored in a very cold atmosphere, do allow time for the can to come to room temperature before opening. Cold filmstock suddenly exposed to warm, moist air can cause condensation and subsequent water damage.

5. Tactile Observations:
   1. Touch a film can lid. Is it
      1. Cold and dry?
      2. Cold and moist?
      3. Cool and dry?
      4. Cool and moist?
      5. Warm and dry?
      6. Warm and moist?
      7. Other: ____________

      You want cold or cool and dry (dry in the sense of NOT being wet!).

   2. Touch a wall.
      1. Cold and dry?
      2. Cold and moist?
      3. Cool and dry?
      4. Cool and moist?
      5. Warm and dry?
      6. Warm and moist?
      7. Other: ____________

      Same as above; cool and dry.

6. Cleanliness:
   1. Is the floor clean? Dust is a major concern for scratching the delicate surface of a film print and can cause damage in the simple act of rewinding. Keep the vault area clean. Use a vacuum cleaner with a very long extension hose and keep the main vacuum unit OUTSIDE of the storage area if possible. Vacuum cleaners have a nasty way of trapping only the largest dirt particles and redistributing the very harmful tiny particles into every crack and crevice. If you have the money, investigate a central vacuum system that eliminates this airborne threat.
   2. Are there cobwebs in the corners? If so, this suggests poor housekeeping. Clean all surfaces if possible and avoid using harsh chemical cleaners to avoid introducing chemical fumes into the storage environment. If you must use a strong cleaner, plan to remove your collection until the area has been cleaned and the smell has dissipated.
   3. Is there a layer of dust on the film cans? Same as above, keep it clean!

7. Physical Storage:
   1. Are your film rolls stored flat or on-edge?

   It is now accepted practice to store motion picture film laying flat. Archives pressed for space may continue to use vertical storage, but this runs the risk of severe damage to your film element from gravity induced sagging and compression. Do your film a favor; store it flat.

   1. Are your film rolls on cores or reels?

      Long-term storage of film element should be on plastic laboratory cores. A circulating library of prints may be stored on reels, but this is totally dependent upon the amount of circulation these prints see. If the film is rarely projected or exercised, you would be advised to spool the prints over to cores for storage or you might experience significant problems with film base deformation.

   2. Are your film cans tight fitting or loose?

      Tight film can lids, be they metal or plastic, trap any gases that naturally vent from a film and can cause the onset of deterioration by concentrating these "free radicals" in the can itself. Never seal a film can unless you are using molecular sieves! ^* If your film cans have very tightly fitting lids, find new cans with looser fitting lids. Do your film a favor and let it breathe!

* For more information on molecular sieves, please see: http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/support/technical/molecular.shtml

Basic Inspection Techniques to Determine the Condition of Motion Picture Film

1. Perform all inspections of unknown condition film elements OUTSIDE of the main storage area in an area that has good ventilation and light. Do not contaminate your storage area by opening decomposing elements inside the vault area!
2. Check the film can for signs of damage or decay. Bent, bulging or damaged cans suggest possible physical damage or deterioration to the interior element. In the case of severe mechanical damage, anticipate a high amount of physical trauma to the film element and open very carefully over an inspection table to avoid jumbling the contents. Excessive rust and/or holes eaten into the can suggest either very poor prior storage conditions or dangerously decomposing filmstock in the can itself. If the can is not perforated with rust, then there is a very good chance that the interior of the can is still in good condition, as well as the film. Many older film cans are tin plated on the interior, but rust heavily on the exterior. In the case of rust perforated cans, examine the hole to try to determine if exterior sources caused the perforation, or if the film element inside is the culprit. Use prudence when checking film cans that appear to have been perforated by a decomposing film element, as the decomposing filmstock can give off noxious decomposition byproducts harmful to your health. Set severely deteriorated cans to one side and dress properly before opening. Minimum safety equipment suggested for inspecting heavily deteriorated film are protective gloves, lab jacket or smock, a respirator with organic vapor cartridges, safety glasses and very good ventilation in a controlled access area. In any event, the first step is to remove the can lid and look at the interior contents.
3. Check the interior of the container for any signs of decomposition. Tell-tale signs of decomposition on film include (but are not limited to) rust on the interior of the can, honey-like puddles of deteriorating film pooling in the edges of the film roll, tacky film surface, heavy warping or "spoking" (much like a wagon wheel) of the filmstock around the reel or core, brown-powdery dust on the film, a light, a white-crystalline look to the base of the film and feathery mold or brown mold spore patches.
4. Smell. One of the most valuable senses you possess for assessing the relative health of a roll of film is your nose. A word of warning though, don't just go indiscriminately sniffing a roll of film without visually examining the roll first. If any forms of loose powder, mold or film fragments are evident in the can, resist the temptation until the film has been cleaned. In any event, most odors that emanate from a roll of film are sufficiently strong to disperse into the general atmosphere surrounding the can in a very short time, so you shouldn't go thrusting your nose down into a can! Keep your face back at least one-foot away and not directly over the open can and sniff. If no odor is noticed, and there are no dust or mold spores, take a free hand and gently fan the air over the can into your face to see if you can detect an odor. Odors that suggest you have a decomposing film element can range from "dirty socks" for nitrate filmstocks to vinegar for safety filmstocks. Odors such as heavily tanned leather and/or mothballs do not necessarily mean the film is going bad as the emulsion is made of a gelatin that is based on animal byproducts and early safety stocks like cellulose diaceate simply smell different. Any film that is noticeably vinegar or rotting nitrate should be kept separate from other stable elements, as the vapors emanating from these decomposing elements can "infect" your stable elements and bring on decomposition prematurely.
5. Place the roll of film on a pair of rewinds and gently wind through looking for signs of shrinking, brittleness, image fading, stickiness or other form of decomposition. The types of possible problems you can find in a roll of film are almost innumerable and far beyond the scope of this short presentation. Arm yourself with literature available from such companies as Eastman Kodak (http://www.kodak.com) and the Rochester Image Permanence Institute (http://www.rit.edu/~661www1) and learn to identify the telltale signs of each type of decomposition. Carefully note each problem with a film element and keep a record of it for reference. If the problem film is to be restored or preserved in a commercial laboratory, these notes will be very valuable in communicating with the lab to obtain a reasonably accurate cost estimate of the job to be done.
6. After inspecting and classifying each element as to stability and problems, segregate your collection accordingly! After carefully noting that you have a severe vinegar problem with the original safety negative to "A Day in the Woods", you simply re-shelve it under the pristine dupe negative of "Mr. Mombo's Day in Paris"...WRONG. It does no good to put all the effort and energy into carefully assessing the health of your collection, only to promote further decay with poor storage techniques! Use your new knowledge gained and separate the decaying elements from the stable elements to prevent cross-contamination and promote a more stable environment within your storage area.
7. Draw-up a preservation plan according to relative worth of film elements (to your archive) and to physical condition vs. funds. Information gleaned from the process of evaluating the health of your archive can be strong ammunition in arguing for the funds required to maintain and preserve your film collection. The onset of deterioration is a serious problem and must be addressed quickly before the film deteriorates beyond salvage.

For highly detailed information on assessing the relative health of your film collections, please visit: The Image Permanence Institute (http://www.rit.edu/~661www1). Be sure to download their free Preservation Calculator and ask for a free sample of A-D Strips.

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This page last changed: October 18, 2004