The problem is two fold. First, Paramount printed a special "Tomb Raider" trailer in 70mm to go on the front of each of the Indiana Jones films. The audience sees this and then everything goes pink once the feature starts. Second, I am very afraid that the people coming to see "Raiders" will think that the other two films are pink and won't come back, when in fact the other two are perfect. I was talking with another projectionist and we were discussing putting a piece of green or blue gel material over the window to see if we could counter act the some of the pink.

Has anyone heard of doing this? Is this just a far fetched fix that will cause more problems than it fixes? If indeed this would counter act some of the fading, what is the right type of material to use to minimize light loss on the screen and any other effects?

Thanks for any insight.

Perhaps a printed hand-out or other note at the boxoffice to let people know that it's pink, and to say the others are OK? If you can print hand-outs, you can remind people that motion pictures do not last forever, that even this 70mm print still offers much less grain; maybe get a little fancy and show an actual-size picture of 70mm vs. 35mm.

The amount and color of the fading depends upon the processing and storage conditions, but in general, old print films tend to have the cyan and yellow dyes fade faster than the magenta dye. So faded prints tend to become magenta or "pink".

The dye fading you are seeing usually results in a contrast change for each color --- in other words, the dark areas of the picture (shadows) tend to change more than the light areas (highlights). So putting an overall filter in front of the projector lens may help hide the fading in the shadows, but will tend to color the highlights. You need to use a filter that helps correct the pink shadows, without making the highlights too cyan-green.

You could try using a Kodak Color Correction Filters, which are now distributed by Tiffen Filters. Probably a moderate level of "cool" filtration like an 80A or 80B would make the picture look better, or a cyan or green color correction filter.

You should definitely make an announcement prior to the show, noting the fading on the oldest print, and reporting that the newer prints on the improved print film look much better.

It may be possible to scan representative frames from each print to show the relative color differences, and post those photos in the lobby. Can you show the new Tomb Raiders trailer AFTER the feature? Or can you get trailers of Temple of Doom and Last Crusade to show that they didn't fade?

Here are some links to information on Tiffen filters:
http://www.tiffen.com/tiffen.press%20release.html
http://www.tiffen.com/color_conversion_filter%20pricing.htm
http://www.saundersphoto.com/html/news/body_news.htm

If you do use a filter in front of the lens, be sure it is perfectly clean and scratch free. The intense heat near the aperture prevents placing the filter behind the lens or aperture.

Obviously, the best solution would be to make new 70mm prints, as the negatives were usually much less likely to fade significantly, especially if stored properly.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Obviously Paramount has their priorities mixed WAY up.. If they are going to print a 70mm mag TOMB RAIDER(!) trailer, why didn't they just go for broke and run off one ( or better yet, SEVERAL new, not faded PRINTS of 'Raiders'?!?!?!? It boggles the mind...

We didn't get a single complaint about the colour in Raiders...but we would have been bombarded if it had been played second.

Maybe you could 'forget' to run the Tomb Raider trailer with Raiders but just run it with the other two. Or get a gel in front of the trailer that will make it turn pink.

Good luck with the screenings, David. I am extremely jealous as I have to sit here and screen this Hannibal shit while you are screening the best film ever made.

BTW, www.indy20.com. You voted yet?

Color negative and intermediate films use different dye-forming couplers than print films, optimized for that application. Negative and intermediate films are processed in the ECN-2 process, which uses a different color developing agent (CD-3) than the more active (for higher contrast) CD-2 used in the print processes:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/processing/h24m7.shtml
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/processing/h249/index.shtml

Film processing conditions play a major role in image stability. For example, inadequate washing may leave a bit of fixer in the print (residual thiosulfate) which is known to hurt dye stability:
http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/support/h1/preservation.shtml#processing

Heat and humidity during storage also hurt image and support stability. Release prints often have been stored in unconditioned warehouses and shipping depots, whereas the distributors generally store the original elements in conditioned film vaults:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/technical/care.shtml
http://www.cinesite.com/la/presrest/protek.html

For those who are storing film, SMPTE Recommended Practice RP131 specifies Storage of Motion Picture Films. The latest revision of SMPTE RP131 is posted on the SMPTE website for public comment:
http://www.smpte.org/stds/rp131.pdf

First, "Far and Away" used 65mm camera negative film, not 70mm. It would be unlikely that a 35mm reduction intermediate film was made, and then blown-up to 65mm duplicate negative for the 70mm prints.

What you probably heard was that a 35mm reduction was made to make the 35mm prints.

Many 70mm features since the mid '60s (e.g., "Doctor Zhivago") were shot on 35mm film, and then blown-up a 65mm negative to make the 70mm prints. Other examples include the Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy, and more recent films like "Titanic", which was shot in "Super-35". But starting with a 65mm negative (e.g., "Far and Away", "Hamlet", "Patton", "The Sound of Music", "My Fair Lady", etc.)will usually give the ultimate in quality.