Making Film / Kodak

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One of my favorite youtube channels (SmarterEveryDay) is in the middle of a 3 part series on how film is made. Destin got a pretty in-depth guided tour of the Kodak factory in Rochester NY. Watching it makes me happy that film isn't quite yet a dead technology. I never realized how fantastically complicated making something like color film could be.

The fist episode was about making the backer:


The second episode, which he just posted, is about the coating process..... Not what I thought for sure, and all of this stuff was designed decades ago.


The whole thing is certainly not something you could accomplish on a small scale, and once this technology is gone, it would be gone forever I would think, which would be slightly sad.

--Edit--

His second channel video about the chemistry behind the film:
 
Anyone remember the Polaroids? My parents had one in the 70s. As a kid, I thought it was so fascinating watching the pictures develop before our eyes!
 
There are other smaller companies that are still making film.
B&W has surges in popularity.
Kodak filmmaking in Rochester is a small fraction of what it was pre-Fuji and pre-digital.
Over 60,000 employees in the '80s to around 2000 today. Acres and acres of parking lots that were once full are now empty. Many massive buildings in Kodak Park have been razed to remove them from the property tax rolls.
 
Kodak filmmaking in Rochester is a small fraction of what it was pre-Fuji and pre-digital.
Over 60,000 employees in the '80s to around 2000 today. Acres and acres of parking lots that were once full are now empty. Many massive buildings in Kodak Park have been razed to remove them from the property tax rolls.
Indeed, looking at the sat photos in Google Earth from 1985 shows this clearly. It doesn't help that Kodak has made some dumb decisions over the years either, but at the same time, seeing the amount of work behind the film makes me glad that they still soldier on even if it is a fraction of its former self. The infrastructure behind the process just boggles my mind, and like I said above, it will be one of those technologies that when lost, will stay lost. I don't think it could be rebuilt from the ground up for almost any amount of money.

Interestingly there is one point in the video where they are pointing out some different types of films and apparently there is still quite the use for it in PCB manufacturing and the like.
 
Sitting here looking at Google Earth, might as well post the pictures: 2021 vs 1985 (click to enlarge)

2021.jpg


1985.jpg
 
Indeed, looking at the sat photos in Google Earth from 1985 shows this clearly. It doesn't help that Kodak has made some dumb decisions over the years either, but at the same time, seeing the amount of work behind the film makes me glad that they still soldier on even if it is a fraction of its former self. The infrastructure behind the process just boggles my mind, and like I said above, it will be one of those technologies that when lost, will stay lost. I don't think it could rebuilt from the ground up for almost any amount of money.
I'm glad to hear that there's an analog photography resurgence. There's something about it, like vinyl records, that is just special.
I haven't heard lately, but movie film was still a good business for them.
I just hope they can remain a going concern long enough to honor their pension obligations. During the worst of the bloodletting, it seemed as if employees about to reach eligibility for full retirement benefits were specifically targeted for termination. The saying "Fifty -four and out the door" had more than a little truth to it.
 
Anyone remember the Polaroids? My parents had one in the 70s. As a kid, I thought it was so fascinating watching the pictures develop before our eyes!
My dad was part of an early test of Polaroid cameras. I still have the Polaroid image taken of him in the mid-late 1940s, before the cameras were officially released for sale in 1948.

During the 50s and 60s, Kodak manufactured much, if not most, of the negative material used in Polaroid's film packs.
 
Almost everyone I knew at one time or another, worked at KODAK. My wife even worked there for 6 years and my FIL & 2 BILs and numerous friends/family that retired from KODAK here in Rochester.

I never worked for KODAK however I did work for a company here in Rochester(3M Co.) that was a competitor to KODAK and another company here in Rochester(Johnson & Johnson) that used a KODAK building for their products and I had access to KODAK's foreign trade zone areas.

Everywhere you would drive, you would see a different KODAK plant/facility.
 
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I still have my parents' old cameras somewhere. The Polaroid, another instant camera we got from S&H Greenstamps called "The Handle" from the mid 70s (you took the picture and then hand-cranked it out), and a Kodak Hawkeye. Their Polaroid is huge and heavy, and has this big flashbulb apparatus. That one might even be from the 60s. I love old electronic equipment.
 
Kodak filmmaking in Rochester is a small fraction of what it was pre-Fuji and pre-digital.
Over 60,000 employees in the '80s to around 2000 today. Acres and acres of parking lots that were once full are now empty. Many massive buildings in Kodak Park have been razed to remove them from the property tax rolls.
And if I understand correctly, they made nearly everything there in Rochester: Film, chemicals, paper, accessories, projectors, cameras.... Probably tons more I am not even aware of. Which eventually created some issues when they closed their own factories and started subbing out the work to others, such as the paper backing for 120 film (the numbers printed on it would leave images on the film). They went through a couple different "fixes" to correct the problem.
 
Yes, KODAK had/has their own chemical plant, railway system, Eastman Savings & Loan … ESL(past tense) clinical diagnostics in which Johnson & Johnson bought in the early 90’s. This is the JnJ that I worked at. I can’t even begin to tell you all of the things they were involved in.

If anyone happens to come to Rochester, you must visit The George Eastman House(mansion) on East Ave. What a place. It was built in the 1920s. It’s HUGE and the grounds are extensive.

It looks smaller in pictures. Believe me, it’s not small. In order to appreciate its size, you’d need an aerial photo(no pun) of the mansion & grounds.
 
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Yes, KODAK had/has their own chemical plant, railway system, Eastman Savings & Loan … ESL(past tense) clinical diagnostics in which Johnson & Johnson bought in the early 90’s. This is the JnJ that I worked at. I can’t even begin to tell you all of the things they were involved in.

If anyone happens to come to Rochester, you must visit The George Eastman House(mansion) on East Ave. What a place. It was built in the 1920s. It’s HUGE and the grounds are extensive.

It looks smaller in pictures. Believe me, it’s not small. In order to appreciate its size, you’d need an aerial photo(no pun) of the mansion & grounds.

Don't forget the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music! Both started by George Eastman.
 
I remember trying to shoot borderline activity of Manhattan, at night, with 1600 ASA film and my Nikon 6006. Even I was using autofocus unlike the purists of the time who liked to manually focus. I agree, there's something to analog, just like with records.
 
Yes, KODAK had/has their own chemical plant, railway system, Eastman Savings & Loan … ESL(past tense) clinical diagnostics in which Johnson & Johnson bought in the early 90’s. This is the JnJ that I worked at. I can’t even begin to tell you all of the things they were involved in.

If anyone happens to come to Rochester, you must visit The George Eastman House(mansion) on East Ave. What a place. It was built in the 1920s. It’s HUGE and the grounds are extensive.

It looks smaller in pictures. Believe me, it’s not small. In order to appreciate its size, you’d need an aerial photo(no pun) of the mansion & grounds.


What was your job at Kodak ?
 
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