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Saara Kruus

  • Cultural Heritage and Conservation
  • MA
  • Preservation and condition survey of 35mm black-and-white newsreels from Tallinnfilm's collection
  • Tutor: Kadi Sikka

Preservation of films is a complex process involving many activities and professionals. Although several tasks ensure the preservation and high-quality digitization prior to and after scanning, the main focus of film preservation has been on the digitization. Inspired by this aspect, the master’s thesis aims to provide a thorough overview of the analogue film production chain and open the problems related to the preparation of films for digitization on the example of newsreels produced by the Tallinnfilm studio. The study of the physical condition of films also plays an essential role in identifying the limitations of a large-scale project during the preparation work and the selection of conservation methods. The theoretical part is accompanied by practical work in the Estonian Film Archive, during which I compared and analyzed 91,000 meters of film. The technical description, conservation and cleaning of the films, took place on an ongoing basis.

The metallic silver that forms the image will corrode due to high humidity, temperature, and exposure to the contaminant. As a result, yellow, orange, or reddish spots will form on the surface of the image. EFA.203.f.2680. Photo: Saara Kruus, 2022
Removal of old adhesive tape from film with damaged perforation. EFA.203.f.1526. Photo: Saara Kruus, 2020
Cleaning the film from the adhesive marks of the old tape and dirt. EFA.4.f.423. Photo: Saara Kruus, 2020
Splice before and after conservation. The old tape extending into the frame is removed, and the film is cleaned and splice is reattached so that the edges of the tape remain in the area between the frames. EFA.203.f.1526. Photo collage: Saara Kruus, 2022
Repairing film