Flim Storage

[CCCI]

I Work For A Place In Florida That Makes Movies And Stores The Flim Off Site. To Save Money They Would Like To Store The Flim On Site Here. This Is A Very Large Amount Of Old Flim From The 70's To Today. How Can I Tell If The Flim Can Be Stored In A Average Store Room Or If It Needs To Be Stored In A Special Vault. Is It Based On If The Flim Has Cellulose Nitrate Or Is It Also Something Else That Can Make It Hazardous.
If Anyone Has Any Info. On Flim Storage It Would Be Of Great Help. I Am Sure That We Have People Working For Us That Should Know How To Store This Flim, But I'm The Only Electrician Here And I Just Want To Make Sure That They Are Not Making A Hazardous Location Here.
Thank You,
Michael Hester
Master Electrician
Ccci

 

[rbalex]

The basic Standard is NFPA 40, Standard for Storage and Handling of Cellulose Nitrate Film, 2007 Edition. You can read an online version here

I confess, I am utterly unfamiliar with this document, but I did do a quick review of the Table of Contents. The requirements do not appear to be a “classic” application of NEC Chapter 5, but there are definitely some construction requirements.

Edit Add: After a bit more detailed review, I found that electrical work is covered in Chapter 4. The Storage area is considered to be Class I, Division 2, Group D, T6. I'm a bit surprised, I didn't know Cellulose Nitrate sublimates volitile gasses - but, as I said, I'm utterly unfamiliar with the subject too.

 

[zbang]

This Is A Very Large Amount Of Old Flim From The 70's To Today. How Can I Tell If The Flim Can Be Stored In A Average Store Room Or If It Needs To Be Stored In A Special Vault. Is It Based On If The Flim Has Cellulose Nitrate Or Is It Also Something Else That Can Make It Hazardous.

Eastman has all kinds of info on film storage (temp/humidity/circulation/etc); any competent film archivist will have this info. See http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/storage.jhtml?id=0.1.4.15.12&lc=en.

Regarding the classification... Nitrate MP film hasn't been made since the late '40s, so if you're only storing more recent stocks, they will be "safety film", which is either acetate or polyester. 16mm MP film has always been "safety film", and all safety film is so labeled on the edges.

If you -do- have nitrate film, you don't want to store it at all. You want to send it to the UCLA or the Eastman House film archives. It should really be handled by people who know about it. See http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/technical/storage_nitrate.jhtml.

Oh, and You might Want To Lay off on the Capitals

 

[justdavemamm]

FYI: George Eastman House in Rochester NY http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/education/selznick_school.php

 

[robbietan]

I have worked for a German film brand and they store their films in a sealed vault, kept at refrigerator temp and devoid of all light. During cutting, the workers work for stretches of 15 minutes then go out for 10 minutes. Yep, they cut films in total darkness.

 

[Fulthrotl]

cellulose & nitrate togeather are quite enough to make it hazardous....

cellulose & nitrate togeather are quite enough to make it hazardous....

"Is It Based On If The Flim Has Cellulose Nitrate Or Is It Also Something Else That Can Make It Hazardous."

some of the links posted on this are excellent, and this quote is worth
pasting in here........

"You must handle unstable or deteriorated nitrate films much like you would explosives.
Keep such films underwater in an open suitable steel drum until disposal can be arranged.
Regard as unstable any substantial quantity of films, whatever their apparent condition."

unless your originals predate the 1970's, it sounds like you don't have
an issue... come to think of it, cellulose and nitrated chemical compounds
are the prime components of dynamite.... cheery thought.... underwater...
steel drum..... gad, put it next to the plutonium scrap..... that should be ok.


randy