Re: Plan 9 from Outer Space

David G. Bell <dbell@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> fairportfan@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 "mike weber" wrote:
>> The old nitrate stock stock is subject to deterioration (not to
>> mention being a fire hazard), and the dyes used may have been no
>> more stable than those used in colour film.

> I've sometimes wondered if the decay products of the dyes can be
> distinguished, and measured, by some non-destructive process.

I don't know.  One thing I've noticed about very old (e.g. 1910s)
films is that their brightness varies randomly on a time scale of half
a second to several seconds.  I'm not sure whether this is due to
deterioration or due to the exact composition of the original film
stock varying randomly.  In other words, did that old movie do that
when it was first shown?

I was quite surprised to see what looked like the exact same effect
from footage shot on the moon by the Apollo 12 astronauts.  (Yes, this
was definitely a movie camera, not a TV camera.  They also had a TV
camera, but managed to break it almost immediately by pointing it at
the sun.)  Does anyone have any idea why that might have been?  Thanks.

> If I remember right, it was only one of the dye layers that turned
> out to vanish.

A local store has a flag poster in the window, left over from shortly
after 9/11.  All of the red is completely gone.
-- 
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
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