So I bite the bullet, break the bank and order an original Kodacolor filter from eBay. It arrives but I can't for the life of me figure out how to fix it to the lens, I conclude there is a bit missing and have another look. Sure enough there's also a filter assembly that comes separately. Luckily the same seller has one and that is now on order but f**king typical eh! And the Kodascope B I was hoping to use is in bits and my attempts to get one of my fellow nutte... er, colleagues to look at it are not going well.
Of course all is now gearing up for the big event in October, Bletchley Park will be giving us the run of the ground floor of the mansion on Sunday 3rd and one of the things we're doing is inviting people without projectors to bring their films in for us to project for them. Of course 99% of this part of the events falls on my shoulders as I'm a qualified film archivist and the others aren't so they've basically put me in charge of this side of things. There is a word to describe how I feel about this- the word is 'EEK!' So all my projectors, having been taken in for PAT testing by our electronics genius, are being stored at the Park. This means I do not have them here at home for the next two weeks. All they need to do now is cut off my testicles and my misery will be complete! Still the 3rd will be a day of near-constant film and there's the film fair at Harpenden next Sunday so it's not all bad. Not all bad but, of course, not all easy because
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Sunday 19 September 2010
Sunday 12 September 2010
Pathe Baby and Post
Well readers how about this, for once something that actually came together. I sat down the other night determined to sort out the last couple of issues with my Pathe Baby and would you believe I fixed it! The take-up wheel now rotates and the claw actually comes back far enough to pull the film down properly! Being little more than a glorified toy it needs a little help now and then but, what with being the proud owner of a beautiful Lux, it's not like it will be used very often, but at least it will now give a good demonstration!
Of course these occasional nuggets where things are slightly less not easy (if things were easy I wouldn't have had to fix it in the first place) are always balanced by things that are fully not easy. So it is with the two memory sticks I ordered from eBay, my sister has hers but where the f**k, might I ask, is mine?!
And my Kodacolor filter is sitting waiting in the depot for me to collect tomorrow, whereupon I have to hand over not just the slip that came through the door but £11.36 in customs charges. B*stards!
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Of course these occasional nuggets where things are slightly less not easy (if things were easy I wouldn't have had to fix it in the first place) are always balanced by things that are fully not easy. So it is with the two memory sticks I ordered from eBay, my sister has hers but where the f**k, might I ask, is mine?!
And my Kodacolor filter is sitting waiting in the depot for me to collect tomorrow, whereupon I have to hand over not just the slip that came through the door but £11.36 in customs charges. B*stards!
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Friday 3 September 2010
Perfs
Grrrr. Spent some time yesterday repairing a reel of 9.5 sound film. Went to run it today and it tore about three times about 60ft or so from the end. So I stopped patching it up and had another look at it on the rewinds and I've found out why it kept breaking. The last 60ft or so is quite brittle and on practically every frame extending from the top left of the perf almost to the edge of the film are tiny little hairline splits. These aren't actual 'tears' yet, just tiny splits but even the gentle claw on the Super Vox (yes it lives again with it's lovely, very pricey rewound motor!) is enough to push them over the edge and break the film. This calls for preventative measures which means the practically the whole lot will have to be taped to shore up the perforation and prevent the splits turning into tears. Applying splicing tape to every frame over 60ft or so of film is not only going to use up a lot of tape but is going to take quite a bit of time. What's really annoying is that they're not 'proper' tears, just these tiny little hairline splits (which is how I missed them when I was checking through the film yesterday). This is good because it means the damage won't show onscreen but it's frustrating that even the gentlest projection is enough to send the damage 'over the edge'. I've never encountered quite this sort of damage before and I hope I never do again because it's so incredibly finicky and in an ideal world where everything's easy the film would still be strong enough to hold or, better still, the splits wouldn't be there at all, but then
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Thursday 2 September 2010
Busy Times
Has it really been so long since my last post, I guess another pertinent question is why isn't it f**king easy to find the time to write blog posts?!
Anyway, good news on the Kodacolor front, I have broken the bank and have an original filter wending its merry way from America!
In other news I have another batch of 1/2" tapes to transfer, put them on the machine to assess them this morning and, of course, all bar one is sticky, and that outstanding one is skip field and needs the other machine which is at home! Typical eh!
I've had someone ask if we can transfer some 10.5" diameter reel-to-reel audio tapes. The short answer is no because the belt on the deck we have is knackered and getting a new belt isn't an option right now.
And it turns out the telecine unit the Trust has is missing its camera and a few other essential bits and bobs. By the time we've done all the work needed it certainly be easier and barely more expensive to just buy a new one so that's been shelved until I can find a way forward on the funding front. If any of my readers has a vast sum of money they would like to donate to a charitable Trust so it can purchase some quality telecine gear do get in touch!
And one of my colleagues asked me today 'why can't things just be easy?' Well, as we know:
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Anyway, good news on the Kodacolor front, I have broken the bank and have an original filter wending its merry way from America!
In other news I have another batch of 1/2" tapes to transfer, put them on the machine to assess them this morning and, of course, all bar one is sticky, and that outstanding one is skip field and needs the other machine which is at home! Typical eh!
I've had someone ask if we can transfer some 10.5" diameter reel-to-reel audio tapes. The short answer is no because the belt on the deck we have is knackered and getting a new belt isn't an option right now.
And it turns out the telecine unit the Trust has is missing its camera and a few other essential bits and bobs. By the time we've done all the work needed it certainly be easier and barely more expensive to just buy a new one so that's been shelved until I can find a way forward on the funding front. If any of my readers has a vast sum of money they would like to donate to a charitable Trust so it can purchase some quality telecine gear do get in touch!
And one of my colleagues asked me today 'why can't things just be easy?' Well, as we know:
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Kodacolor & Projector
Howdy all. It's been a while but, like Kyle's cousin 'I'm baaaack'! So to business.
Was lucky enough to get in touch with someone who had drawn a spec for a Kodacolor filter based on one he'd seen for use with an Ampro (most unusual). I wasn't entirely convinced for various technical reasons but thought I'd give it a go. And it almost worked! I'm convinced the reasons it didn't work were 1) the spec didn't allow for the black spaces between the colour strips and I can only conclude that these are as critical as I thought they were and 2) HAVE YOU EVER TRIED CUTTING SOMETHING TO WITHIN THREE DECIMAL PLACES OF AN INCH?!! That really wasn't f**king easy and I sure wasn't 100% there with that! I've got two options now, either get in touch with someone who has one and take some readings with the calipers (working on it) or find and buy an original (quite rare and often a bit pricey).
As for the second thing I'm a bit reluctant to post it because it makes me look like an utter wally but since it's been so long since I posted I guess you all deserve a treat so have a laugh at my expense. We've got this big film weekend going down at the Trust in October and one of the things we want to do is have interactive displays. So I dug out an old Norris 9.5 projector I knew we had which is equipped with a motor and a handle. The puzzling thing was there was no way to switch off the motor yet keep the light on so why the handle. I then realised the motor was providing fan cooling to the lamphouse but reasoned it must be rigged to turn when the handle does (duh! This is very incorrect for so many reasons and as such is absolutely stupid!) So I had another look today to see how difficult it would be to fit a switch. No problem at all but then one of the other guys said 'well why don't you just take the motor belt off, it's got a voltage control knob so under-volt it a little to compensate for the lack of load and hey presto! Fan cooling and handle operation!'
DUH! DUH! DUH! ERRRRR, BRAAAAAAIN, WHERE ARE YOU? DUUUUUUH!
Talk about trying to create work for yourself. WHY didn't I think of that, SO obvious! If you go around trying to find much more complicated solutions to problems than necessary then you will certainly find that:
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Was lucky enough to get in touch with someone who had drawn a spec for a Kodacolor filter based on one he'd seen for use with an Ampro (most unusual). I wasn't entirely convinced for various technical reasons but thought I'd give it a go. And it almost worked! I'm convinced the reasons it didn't work were 1) the spec didn't allow for the black spaces between the colour strips and I can only conclude that these are as critical as I thought they were and 2) HAVE YOU EVER TRIED CUTTING SOMETHING TO WITHIN THREE DECIMAL PLACES OF AN INCH?!! That really wasn't f**king easy and I sure wasn't 100% there with that! I've got two options now, either get in touch with someone who has one and take some readings with the calipers (working on it) or find and buy an original (quite rare and often a bit pricey).
As for the second thing I'm a bit reluctant to post it because it makes me look like an utter wally but since it's been so long since I posted I guess you all deserve a treat so have a laugh at my expense. We've got this big film weekend going down at the Trust in October and one of the things we want to do is have interactive displays. So I dug out an old Norris 9.5 projector I knew we had which is equipped with a motor and a handle. The puzzling thing was there was no way to switch off the motor yet keep the light on so why the handle. I then realised the motor was providing fan cooling to the lamphouse but reasoned it must be rigged to turn when the handle does (duh! This is very incorrect for so many reasons and as such is absolutely stupid!) So I had another look today to see how difficult it would be to fit a switch. No problem at all but then one of the other guys said 'well why don't you just take the motor belt off, it's got a voltage control knob so under-volt it a little to compensate for the lack of load and hey presto! Fan cooling and handle operation!'
DUH! DUH! DUH! ERRRRR, BRAAAAAAIN, WHERE ARE YOU? DUUUUUUH!
Talk about trying to create work for yourself. WHY didn't I think of that, SO obvious! If you go around trying to find much more complicated solutions to problems than necessary then you will certainly find that:
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Monday 9 August 2010
Word
Had a bizarre experience today with Microsoft Word. I spent some time on Saturday compiling the various chapters of this book I've been writing with my mother into one long document. Some of the material had been originated using Office 2007, some using 2003. When I'd finished it flagged up the usual 'formatting may not be preserved' warning message and I clicked yes. Then yesterday a couple of minor alterations were made and the document saved. Went to open it again today and half the book was missing. Saved it again and more text disappeared from the bottom. Luckily I have all the chapters saved individually and backed up in several places but why the hell would it do that?! What the hell was that all about?! Bloody Microsoft.
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Saturday 7 August 2010
Film and Printer
Why is it that the one film I pick up and risk screening without checking turns out to be in a real state all the way through and kept loosing the bottom loop. Luckily it was just a casual showing to my stepfather but it doesn't do my defence of film as the world's best motion picture format any favours!
Good news, my mother and I have finally finished writing our book and today I went to print our first manuscript... only to have a paper jam on the 11th sheet. Easily fixed but bloody typical, like the film it couldn't have just been easy could it?
Two things that should have been so simple and easy but, of course,
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
Good news, my mother and I have finally finished writing our book and today I went to print our first manuscript... only to have a paper jam on the 11th sheet. Easily fixed but bloody typical, like the film it couldn't have just been easy could it?
Two things that should have been so simple and easy but, of course,
Nothing's ever f**king easy!
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