Thanks to modern software, the movies of our past can now be apart of our present. This means that the old films that always seemed so fuzzy and dust covered, can be repaired to almost better than their original glory. Cnet covers this in the article linked below- but these 68mm frames of the old films are DOUBLE the size of the standard 35mm, allowing for so much rich detail to be seen. This is huge for the world of cinema, and adds so much detail to be added to the history. Bags Unlimited is huge on vintage cinema, we have all the supplies to care for your old reels!
16 & 35 mm Film Canisters
We stock Film Storage Containers for 16-mm and 35-mm film. These containers are made from inert, archival polypropylene. Containers come with ventilation slots to facilitate air exchange. Raised ribs on the floor of the of the containers help with air circulation.
Uncovering the Victorian films fit for Imax
When we think of the early days of cinema more than a century ago, we might think of grainy, foggy, flickering black-and-white images. But some of the first films from the Victoria era offer an astonishingly clear glimpse into the lives of princes and princesses, entertainers and everyday people living at the end of the nineteenth century — clear enough to be shown on an Imax screen, in fact.
When we think of the early days of cinema more than a century ago, we might think of grainy, foggy, flickering black-and-white images. But some of the first films from the Victoria era offer an astonishingly clear glimpse into the lives of princes and princesses, entertainers and everyday people living at the end of the nineteenth century — clear enough to be shown on an Imax screen, in fact.
That’s exactly where you can see some of cinema’s earliest films this week. Films fit for Imax were recorded by the Biograph moving picture system, invented by Victorian engineers and based on large format 68mm film. Each frame is a huge size, almost double the 35mm film that later became standard in the movie industry, and that means surviving Biograph films are incredibly rich in detail.
Many of these century-old nitrate films have been painstakingly restored by the British Film Institute to high-resolution 4k digital format. You can see them on the towering BFI Imax screen at this year’s London Film Festival, during a gala event entitled The Great Victorian Moving Picture Show on Thursday 18 October.
These high-resolution films give a fascinating insight into life in Victorian times, and the highly innovative early days of cinema technology.
