A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
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Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#2"The Oath of the Sword", by the Los Angeles–based Japanese American Film Company. A love triangle involving a student returning from UC Berkeley.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2331438/plotsummary/ -- https://www.google.com/search?q=The-Oath-of-the-Sword -- https://www.academymuseum.org/en/programs/detail/the-oath-of...
Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#3Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#4It's great that they saved this one, but how many more films like this are rotting in vaults?
>the museum has so many reels that it hadn’t paid attention to “The Oath of the Sword.”
Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#5Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#6This is tangential to the article but when ever I read about a lost film being found there’s always mention of how it was found in a vault. I can’t help but always try to imagine what that is. Can anyone describe what these vaults are like?
People can reference a data center but most probably have never been in one. However I’m very familiar with the slightly dusty smell, the whine of fans and HVAC, the odd people that work there, server cages, card and retina scanners, some have metal detectors. From the outside they’re huge nondescript brick buildings with massive gensets surrounded by a not f’ing around security fence.
So I’d be very curious to know what a film vault in Hollywood is like.
Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#7This is tangential to the article but when ever I read about a lost film being found there’s always mention of how it was found in a vault. I can’t help but always try to imagine what that is. Can anyone describe what these vaults are like? People can reference a data center but most probably have never been in one. However I’m very familiar with the slightly dusty smell, the whine of fans and HVAC, the odd people th…
Well the one I know of near me in Kansas has an article about it.[0] This one is in a salt mine as the salt helps keep the moisture out of the air. I could definitely imagine a recurring multi year lease expense like this being a blip on the radar for movie studios, so these things are mostly forgotten.
If a movie studio goes out of business though, who know what happens to these films? I’d imagine that’s how movies get “lost”.
[0]https://www.agweb.com/news/business/technology/hidden-underg...
Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#8This is tangential to the article but when ever I read about a lost film being found there’s always mention of how it was found in a vault. I can’t help but always try to imagine what that is. Can anyone describe what these vaults are like? Does film have a smell?
People can reference a data center but most probably have never been in one. They all have a slightly dusty smell, there’s the whine of fans and HVAC, the odd people that work there, server cages, card and retina scanners, some have metal detectors. From the outside DC’s can be huge nondescript brick buildings with a massive gensets surrounded by a well built security fence. Regardless of the size they all have a similar vibe.
So I’d be very curious to know what a film vault in Hollywood is like. If it has a similar ‘you know you’re in a film vault’ feel to it.
Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#9This is tangential to the article but when ever I read about a lost film being found there’s always mention of how it was found in a vault. I can’t help but always try to imagine what that is. Can anyone describe what these vaults are like? People can reference a data center but most probably have never been in one. However I’m very familiar with the slightly dusty smell, the whine of fans and HVAC, the odd people th…
Really similar to Iron mountain, with more fire suppression. Arguably to protect other buildings from their contents as much as protecting their contents from time. Nitrate film is extremely flammable.
A vault fire from 1978 is covered in some detail here: https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2018/12/04/disas...
Re: A 1914 silent film considered lost was rescued from a vault
#10This is tangential to the article but when ever I read about a lost film being found there’s always mention of how it was found in a vault. I can’t help but always try to imagine what that is. Can anyone describe what these vaults are like? Does film have a smell?
People can reference a data center but most probably have never been in one. They all have a slightly dusty smell, there’s the whine of fans and HVAC, the odd people that work there, server cages, card and retina scanners, some have metal detectors. From the outside DC’s can be huge nondescript brick buildings with a massive gensets surrounded by a well built security fence. Regardless of the size they all have a similar vibe.
So I’d be very curious to know what a film vault in Hollywood is like. If it has a similar ‘you know you’re in a film vault’ feel and culture to it.