Newsletter Volume 19 / No. 3 / 2015

Digitizing Giant Trees of California, a 22mm Edison Home Kinetoscope Film BY DIANA LITTLE

Background The 22mm name by which this format is known describes the entire width n December of 2014, of the film and all of its three rows of The MediaPreserve images. Each frame is less than 4mm was tasked with the by 6mm making it the smallest film digital preservation of gauge to ever find mainstream use. an unusual film. The The three rows of images were ICalifornia Audiovisual Preservation printed onto the 22mm stock to Project, a coordinated program which enable the film to be projected with aims to preserve the rich heritage of minimal interruption between the that state through archival digitization three passes. The film would have of film, video and audio materials, been hand-cranked through the Home sent us a film in the rare 22mm Edison Kinetoscope projector from head to Home Kinetoscope format. The tail for the first pass at which point film, titled Giant Trees of California, the operator would reposition the film comes from the collection of the San for the center row and crank in the Francisco History Center at the San opposite direction. After repositioning Francisco Public Library. for the third row, the projectionist

The Edison Home Kinetoscope would again crank the film from head 1: The film in its original container (EHK) was a film projector introduced to tail. Our goal was to replicate the by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1912 to moving image that would have been the home and educational markets. seen in an early twentieth century The 35mm film used in commercial parlor, as a digital file. movie theaters in the first half of the twentieth century was made of Inspection and Preparation highly-flammable cellulose nitrate An initial examination of Giant Trees but like other home cinema systems of California revealed that it was in of the time, EHK films were produced very good condition, especially for on a non-flammable acetate base. its age, but there were some quirky Unlike competing systems (The characteristics immediately evident. French company Pathé’s 28mm K-O-K The film arrived at The MediaPreserve was one rival introduced around the in the packaging that had been its Call for Participation same time), EHK films consisted of home for the last 100 years. The film three rows of images on a single strip was not on a reel but rather attached We encourage you to send your papers about your special projects, labs, of film. This configuration was an with a metal clip to a small spool that challenges, what you do and how you attempt to squeeze more images onto appears to be made of wood. The do it. Share your valuable experience tightly-wound film was stored inside the film which functionally maxi- with others who need to know how you mized running time while economiz- a small metal canister whose lid is held handle similar challenges. Do you have ing on film stock and space. Indeed, shut with a thumbscrew (illustration something to contribute to the Archival the shipping canister for Giant Trees 1). This little can was designed by Products Newsletter? Please contact of California is a miniscule 1.5 inches the Edison Manufacturing Company Janice Comer, 866.518.1081 or janicec@ high with a diameter of 2.75 inches. so that films could be distributed by archival.com.

1 Visit our web site at: www.archival.com mail-order rental to owners of the Home Kinetoscope. The metal can certainly did a good job of protecting this film from the elements but the small-diameter hub around which the roll was wound means that the film has a tight curl memory. This made the film somewhat difficult to work with but storing the film in the reverse wind on a large-diameter core will likely help to alleviate the curl over time. Considering the small size of both the frame and perforations, damage 2: Printed head leader could have easily been done by the moving parts of an EHK projector. with. Though film-handling supplies Torn perforations would have poten- are gradually being discontinued by tially destroyed several frames since large manufacturers, one can still two pull-down claws on the projector acquire leaders and splicing tape in were used simultaneously to drive each the common gauges, equipment such of the three rows of images. However, as splicers and synchronizers can be this film is in excellent physical condi- found in auctions, and scanners of tion with only a few cracks that hardly increasingly high-resolution have mar the visible image. A few partial- come on the market over the past ly-burned frames are also visible and several years. Film in the 22m gauge, these would have been caused by the on the other hand, was only produced 3: Tail of the film as it was originally received film sticking in the projector gate from 1912-1914. A camera was never and being exposed to the hot lamp introduced for the format so it is likely for more than the usual fraction of a that such supplies never existed for it. second. In this case, the burns are few As a result, a bit of improvisation was and small and are hardly visible while necessary in preparing Giant Trees of viewing the film at the correct speed. California for scanning. All films produced for the Home The film roll includes printed Kinetoscope were reduction prints head and tail leaders that confirm made from 35mm negatives, primarily such information as the title, copy- of Edison Studios productions. A close right information and pricing class inspection of Giant Trees of California (illustration 2). Films for the Home reveals that it is no exception. The four Kinetoscope were priced according printed-through perforations that are to which of eight classes (named visible on either side of each frame of A through H) they belonged. Alan the Kinetoscope print are evidence Kattelle, in his article on the subject that the title originated on 35mm. The Moving Image, suggests that class Even as digital media technologies was at least partially determined by have supplanted motion-picture length. The printed leader at the head film, the more common film gauges of Giant Trees of California indicates (8mm, Super8, 16mm and 35mm) that it is a Class A title, so at less than are sufficiently ubiquitous to allow 20 feet. It is likely on the shorter end them to be relatively easy to work of the Home Kinetoscope spectrum.

2 Visit our web site at: www.archival.com 5: Hand-cleaning

Digitization and Beyond The MediaPreserve was able to dig- itize Giant Trees of California on our Kinetta Archival Scanner which has proven to be a gentle and versatile film-conversion tool. The scanner’s high-resolution 3K sensor and sprock- 4: Adding 35mm handling leader etless film path made it the obvious The printed tail leader instructs the choice for this 22mm challenge. EHK user in how to properly attach The scanner’s transport path the end of the film to the spool before consists of a tachometer roller, four rewinding (illustration 3). In addition large-diameter cleaning rollers and 6: 22mm film in the 35mm scanner gate to being charming and informative, a curved gate that holds the film in these leaders provide a bit of lead-in position as each frame is captured as and lead-out to buffer the frames that a digital image. As mentioned above, contain images. However, additional a standard 35mm scanner gate was leader was required for handling and used in the absence of a 22mm gate. threading. We chose this approach with the Since our scanner is not equipped understanding that, since the film with a 22mm gate and the small scale would ride around in the loose gate, of this project did not justify the man- image stability might be a problem. ufacture of such a gate, we decided that To minimize this movement, we the film should be run in the standard shimmed up the gate with several 35mm gate. Unfortunately, this was coins to help the film ride along the smallest available gate that was still the bottom edge (illustration 6). wider than 22mm. Thus, 35mm leader Additionally, the scanner’s software was tape-spliced to the head and tail of is equipped with a tool that allowed the print to make it easier to work with the image to be stabilized at the point (illustration 4). As a last preparation of digital capture. After a few tries, step, the film was hand-cleaned using we were able to obtain an image that a velvet cloth and the gentle solvent is remarkably steady. HFE8200 to remove any surface dirt Even a genius on the order of (illustration 5). The cloth remained Thomas Edison couldn’t have envi- fairly clean after running the film sioned a modern film scanner in 1912, through it twice which suggests that but the process of moving a 22mm this particular print of Giant Trees of film through the Kinetta for digital California probably didn’t see much capture is not totally dissimilar from use. the act of projecting it on a Home

3 Visit our web site at: www.archival.com Kinetoscope. Zooming in on the first the Mariposa Grove of sequoias in row of images, each frame of the film Yosemite National Park would have was scanned from head to tail. After provided a visual vacation to EHK repositioning for the second row, users hundreds or thousands of miles the images were captured from tail away from California. The travelogue to head. Finally, the third row was even includes the requisite shot of a scanned in the same configuration carved-out tree that is wide enough to as the first row. Though the scanner drive a car through. In the final third employs no sprockets or pull-down of the film, we see some bonus images claws, the two rows of perforations of other dramatic Yosemite landmarks were vital in that they were used by including Bridalveil Fall and the gran- the stabilization tool to wrangle the ite formation known as “El Capitan.” weaving film. At three minutes, this Edison Home 7: The scanner’s capture software Each row of images was captured Kinetoscope film offers a brief but as an individual video file at approx- delightful insight into how we watched imately 3K resolution. The raw scans movies 100 years ago. appear low contrast, to allow for max- imum flexibility in color correction, Many thanks to Pamela Vadakan, Project and include a bit of the film edge and Manager at the California Audiovisual Preservation Project, and to Christina perforations outside of the intended Moretta, Photo Conservator at the San image area (illustration 7). Our final Francisco History Center at San Francisco step in the project was to turn these Public Library. raw files into video that resembles how the film most likely looked when it was Media from the California Audiovisual projected 100 years ago. Blackmagic Preservation Project can be viewed at the Internet Archive, at https://archive.org/ Design’s DaVinci Resolve color cor- details/californialightandsound. rection software is a useful all-in-one tool for working with film scans. In Diana Little is Production Manager addition to cropping the image to the and Head of Film Preservation at frame edges, boosting the contrast, The MediaPreserve, a division of and balancing the highlights and shad- Preservation Technologies, LP. She can be reached at little@the ows to obtain a nice black-and-white mediapreserve.com. image, Resolve was used to slow down the image to an appropriate running References speed. Determining running speed “Edison’s 22mm Home Kinetoscope.” USC Hugh M Hefner Moving Image Archive. can be tricky when no documentation Web. 15 Jan. 2015. http://uschefnerarchive.com/project/edisons-home-kinetoscope/. is present. Fortunately, there is enough Kattelle, Alan D. “The Edison Home Kinetoscope and Its Films.” The Moving Image 2.2 natural motion, like people walking, in (2002): 121-28. Print. the film to indicate that 16 frames per second was likely the rate at which it Le Giornate Del Cinema Muto - Database Proiezioni / Screenings Database. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/screenings_db.html. was photographed. A search of similar films in the database of the Pordenone Singer, Ben. “Early Home Cinema and the Edison Home Projecting Kinetoscope.” Silent Film Festival suggests that 16 Film History 2 (1988): 37-69. Print. FPS is a reasonable speed for this era. Weissman, Ken, and William O’Farrell. “Restoring 22mm Edison Home Kinetoscope So what is the content of this Films.” The Moving Image 2.2 (2002): 137-41. Print. 22mm film? It’s very much what you might expect from the title Giant Trees of California. Views of

4 Visit our web site at: www.archival.com Contact Us

Phet Louvan Call or email today to discuss Account Representative preservation solutions for [email protected] your collection. 866-658-1083

Janice Comer Division Manager [email protected] 866-518-1081

Visit our web site at www.archival.com LBS/Archival Products P.O. Box 1413 Des Moines, Iowa 50316-1413 800-526-5640 515-262-3191 Fax 888-220-2397 [email protected]

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