A Plan for Preserving 16-MM Originals of Educational Films<!--<xref ref-type="other" rid="fn1-10.5594_J07989">*</xref>-->

Abstract

The growth of 16-mm release print volume has been so rapid as a result of the war that there is serious danger of the destruction of priceless originals if the present haphazard methods of supervision of print manufacture are continued. The situation has already become acute in 16-mm Kodachrome. — The solution appears to rest in anticipating print needs and in purposefully preserving originals by dead storage under suitable refrigeration. To accomplish preservation, it is necessary that all release prints be made from intermediate copies made specifically for the purpose. In this manner, it is possible to keep the originals in storage for a relatively long time, removing them periodically for the sole purpose of making intermediate copies, such as dupes, but in no case using them for making release prints. A cycle of 51 weeks of storage and one week of use is suggested as a starting point. — With the recommended procedure and with present-day materials under good control in duplicating, upward of 2500 release prints can be made from a single original. This large number is by no means the maximum, as the number of copies that can be produced in each step can be materially increased with care in handling. The method is applicable to the making of black-and-white prints from Kodachrome and similar originals, as well as to color prints. In the broader aspect it may be applied to the preservation of educational films however made.