On 22nd January 2022, we visited Pinewood Studios, London to meet with Kodak who are now going to undertake prep work for us on the 35mm film.
They’ve been extremely accommodating and generous – it enables us to move the project a step forward a bit sooner and we’re immensely grateful for that.
We didn’t spend much time taking photos or videos at Kodak – the object was more about going through the film reels and chatting with the technician. The take-away points from today are:
– We have less footage than originally thought – now estimated to be in the region of 14,000 ft (not 24,000 ft).
– The collection appears to be cut film rushes and prints – some colour, some B/W.
– Much work is needed to combine all the individual parts to then run them through a scanner.
– The picture layer is, for the most part, in excellent condition with minimal evidence of scratches / wear / damage etc.
– It looks like we’ll be working with a combination of footage that was used to determine / create edits or footage that failed to pass quality control; therefore hitting the cutting room floor.
So, a mixed bag.
Nonetheless there is still an incredible amount of rare and previously unseen material here that we will preserve once funding allows…
https://www.gofundme.com/f/rtv-31-the-uk-hovertrain-documentary
Fenland on Film 