Preservation

FGMS/FGMC [MPA-P3]

Record Type: Film Output from Motion Picture Film Source

Expected Use: Preservation Master

Product Name: FGMS (Fine Grain Master, Silent)/FGMC (Fine Grain Master, Composite) [MPA-P3]

Product Purpose: The purpose of this product is to mitigate risk for loss of information. This product is reproduced according to established industry standards and can substitute for the original record if the original record copy is no longer viable.

Nature of Source Material: 35mm or 16mm black and white originating positive elements, including ONS (Original Negative, Silent), ONC (Original Negative, Composite), DNS (duplicate Negative, Silent), and DNC (Duplicate Negative, Composite), where there is a need to ensure that all significant visual and auditory information is carried forward.

Film Stock: Kodak 2366 (35mm)/Kodak 3366 (16mm)

Other Information:

  • Separate sound track elements may be combined with visual elements to make a composite element.
  • This product is a positive element made from negative source elements.
  • This product is placed in a cold storage (on or off site) environment and retained for the long term.
  • This product is created from the most original film copy.
  • This product is rarely accessed directly unless the reproduction master is damaged, destroyed, otherwise compromised, or does not exist.
  • This product is used to create reproduction master elements. It is never accessed directly by researchers and only sent to vendors under certain circumstances.
  • This product is known internally as the “Preservation copy” or “P copy” and usually has a red color swatch on the film can.

Quality Control

Density

Control strips are created on a sensitometer for each new processing batch and evaluated on the densitometer. Adjustments are made to the processing chemicals as needed to achieve the desired neutral visual density reading of “1” on the control strip.

Methylene Blue Testing

ISO 18917: 1999 compliance: Methylene blue testing to measure residual thiosulfate and its decomposition products is of use in appraising the adequacy of washing and therefore the permanence of the silver image on photographic films, plates, and papers. Inadequate washing can cause a loss in image density and the formation of stain in low-density areas.

Rationale

For the most part, film-based product specifications are dictated by the source material’s film element type. There is some flexibility however in regards to combining separate picture and soundtrack reels into a composite reel. Selected image adjustments such as color correction and density correction are routinely performed during the reformatting process.

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