Tape on Channel 9 & 10 film is bad and tells us a story

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This is an example of  extensive use of 1977 masking tape on 1977 Michigan news footage, courtesy of then Channel 9&10 News film crew or editorial staff members. 

The green you see is leader, or colored blank film used to separate different film footage or, in this case, news stories. Leader comes in various bright colors and is used in between different films on a large reel, and at the beginning and end of each reel. 

They also taped together two broken, incomplete parts of one film cell showing the nose of a plane (see middle image). Standard archival film practice is to cut out that damaged cell completely and splice the complete cells before and after it together. This avoids adding tape and helps preserve the film. Tape dries out over time and leaves adhesive on the film, speeding its decay. Splicing also allows film to move  smoothly through a film projector so it doesn't snag and damage the film. Katie, who is processing this film, looked at this and made a good choice to cut it all out since it was all a mess, and resplice it. 

But this film also helps remind us of how the news was filmed and broadcast in 1977 and challenges news crews faced. In 1977 film crews filmed during daylight as they did not have lights and lighting then at football games was insufficient for broadcast quality. The crew then drove back to the studio in their 9&10 stationwagon to view and edit the day's footage before the 5pm news broadcast. 9&10 often reused the same footage at 6 and 11pm and sometimes the next day or over the next week. When you think of the challenges they faced technically traveling in all seasons in Michigan in a stationwagon, you have to forgive them the occasional excessive use of tape. Nothing was digital then and there were no cell phones. To check in with the studio they had to find a pay phone somewhere. This film tape mess is probably evidence of a rush job in a tense situation. What if you had a flat tire or got stuck in a snowbank? I can remember that it was not uncommon for a 9&10 announcer to say, we have no footage of this event now, but we hope to have it by 11pm. Today we just click the news app on our phone and do not consider how much has changed. 

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