Damaged Super 8 Film

[richardthestag]

Any of you enlightened amateur movie buffs know whether I can restore / recover damaged reels of super 8.

Basically the layers of film are stuck together almost like the stuff has water damage, which it doesn't cos they have been dry stored. However they have not been looked at for 30 years..

Cheers

Richard

[ultimasimon]

I would phone a photolab and ask them what chemicals to use. Years ago I used to repair Super 8 Projectors for the inflight enetertainment on the aircraft.. well before the days of Betamax. We used to use isopropyl alcahol to clean the film if it had deposits on it. I am not too sure about submersing the whole reel in it though - I would seek advice.

When the film sticks, if you force it you will damage the sound track, which is on the outside of the film scenes. The audio on a Super 8 is done with light passing through the film and being measured on an audio mask (a very small slot which acts like a tape head does). The sound track is very delicate compared to the rest of the film, as the celluloid needs to be opaque and translucent, so its very thin.

Wow, I havent used that bit of stupid information for over 20 years. Funny all the rubbish we keep in our heads isn't it

[telecat]

Sounds like the same problem that affects Audio Studio masters from the 70's and eighties. The tape has degraded to the extent that when restored they have to create new masters at the first attempt as the tape will not survive for a second attempt.