7FN said:
Interesting stuff - thanks for that! Wonder what the long-term effects of using filmguard treated prints are though. Visions of sticky rolls of film in the future? One hopes they did some accelerated age testing on film stock ;)
Whatever the future concerns may be from using this liquid, certainly does a great job of cleaning up the image though!
from the site:
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Are there any side effects to using FilmGuard? None that have come up in almost ten years of testing. Thus far, all test theaters as well as my own experimenting have turned out virtually perfect results every time, regardless of the film stock or type of projection equipment used. However there are two added and unexpected benefits with the FilmGuard sytem.
Has your theater ever had a roof leak water onto a print? I have ran across seven. Two of those were at theaters currently testing FilmGuard. Even after considerable water dripped onto the print, the film still ran perfectly fine and projected flawlessly! The other five were at other non-test theaters. When those prints were attempted to be unraveled, the film stuck together and was very tacky, the emulsion literally peeling off. By putting clamps on the print and standing it upright, we were able to soak some thick paper towels with FilmGuard and wipe it on both sides of the film, literally to the point where the edges of the print were shining with FilmGuard liquid. After letting it soak in for a few minutes, we found we could thread up the movie as normal and ran it through a freshly soaked set of new media pads and only the tail end of the film which was attempted to be unraveled before applying FilmGuard wouldn't project. The rest of the print looked perfect!
The second unintentional benefit has not had a lot of testing, but I offer it here for what it is worth. I am speaking of Vinegar Syndrome. I have had several prints come my way with a distinct vinegar odor to them, coated them with FilmGuard and after 5 years are still running beautifully without any vinegar smell. Is this a cure? Well, I'm not sure. Again I have not done enough testing to promise that. However, if anyone uses FilmGuard specifically for this purpose, I would be very interested to know the results and will post them here.
There has to be something negative related to FilmGuard. Yes, but it is minor. The first time FilmGuard is applied to a print you will notice some light streaking which looks like water on the film. This is normal and will disappear within 1-2 shows. It is part of the coating process. This is also why I strongly recommend FilmGuard be applied starting on the FIRST run-through showing. This way, the public only sees a perfectly clean presentation.
Also, FilmGuard was not intended for use with Photoguarded prints. FilmGuard will not damage them, but will offer no benefits as the lubricant cannot penetrate through the Photoguard. However, Photoguarded prints are a rarity and most theaters will never run one. In addition, FilmGuard should not be used on endless loop platter systems. However, endless loop cabinets are fine.
later
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