General Information
The Jersey Film Archive is housed at the Jersey Archive. The collection spans a wide range of subjects relating to the island and its people. The archive contains the surviving works of the island’s major amateur film makers including some rare footage taken secretly during the Occupation, long after cameras and film had been collected in. Original film is placed in cold storage to prevent further deterioration and video viewing copies are made to allow the public easy access to the collection.

We also have a collection of sound recordings available to order through the OPAC catalogue. These contain the recorded reminiscences of Jersey residents, who relate their experiences of life in Jersey during the past century.

Access
Each item held by the Jersey Archive has a unique reference code; Jersey Film Archive material is Q/05. If you wish to find out more about this collection simply go to one of the Open Public Access Catalogues available in the reference area of the Jersey Archive. Click on reference search and enter the reference Q/05 under item reference. This will bring up a list of film titles on the screen. When you have selected the film you wish to view keep a note of the number. You do not have to order these items; they are available to view in the audio-visual area of the reading rooms.

Viewing
Please select the video you wish to view from the blue boxes on the shelf opposite the Tele-video recorder. Each video box will be clearly marked with a film reference number. If the film you have selected is a sound film please use the headphones provided. If you require any help with use of the video equipment please ask a member of staff who will be happy to assist you.

Sound at the Jersey Archive

As well as the film footage held at the archive, we also hold various sound recordings relating to the island. Our first major accessions in the Jersey Sound Archive have been a large deposit of material from the Education Department and a transfer of all the audio material previously stored by the Jersey Museum, providing more appropriate conditions for its long-term preservation and public access.

Amongst the sound recordings we held at the archive so far are programmes and series produced by the Channel Islands Educational Broadcast Service for radio broadcast and use in schools, local and national radio broadcasts from and about the island, including promotional material and holiday programmes, and some fascinating oral history recordings which consist of people talking about their lives and everyday experiences. The oral history recordings we have at the moment relate mainly to life during the Occupation, life at the turn of the century and in the early 1900s, and experiences of Jersey traditions such as collecting vraic.

Many of the original sound recordings at the archive are on quarter-inch reel-to-reel tape and a user copy must first be made before they can be accessed by the public. This is because magnetic tape can last as little as ten to fifteen years before it starts to degrade, first losing sound quality and eventually becoming unlistenable. Once a copy has been made, the original tape is placed in the environmentally controlled cold storage facility at the archive, as storage at lower temperatures and lower levels of humidity considerably slow down the process of degradation.

We are still in the process of cataloguing the initial sound archive collection. The recordings that have been catalogued are fully available to the public. To browse a list of all the catalogued sound material at the Archive, go to 'Broad Subjects' on the OPAC and search for 'sound.

Preservation and Conservation of Film and Sound

On arrival at the Archive, newly acquired film goes through a routine that prepares it for long-term storage and avoids repeatedly running original film through a projector.

After receiving an Accession Number, the film is taken to the conservation room where:

Any health and safety hazards that it poses are noted and dealt with.
Mould, insect infestation and dirt are removed to prevent them affecting any other materials in the Archive.
Its condition is inspected and some details are noted for cataloguing.
Some basic conservation treatments are carried out during inspection. This prepares the film for copying because it enables us to assess and reduce the risks of copying, and to improve the appearance of the film so that the copy is better quality.
The film is placed in a new can; the old packaging is kept until the cataloguing process is complete because it may carry relevant details.

The film then leaves conservation and:

Master copies or video copies are made.
The catalogue record is completed using the viewing copy for reference.
The original film is placed in cold storage.

The preservation problems of film and sound are due to the instability of the materials that they are made from. They react much more to temperature and relative humidity, than paper does. Therefore the most important preservation measure concerns the environment that the film is stored in.

Jersey Archive stores its film in cold, dry, stable conditions, at 6°C and 35% Relative Humidity. We estimate that this will increase the lifetime of the film by 30 times. These are good conditions for storage but make it difficult to gain access to the film quickly, because it has to re-acclimatize before use. Therefore video copies have been made for you to view.

Another preservation measure is to make high quality master copies of the film so that if the original deteriorates beyond use, there is a back-up copy. Sometimes we go to the expense of having an original film copied onto new film. We have done this with original film concerning Jersey that is in a very poor state of preservation that cannot be arrested by cold storage. So far we have sent two films to be copied onto 16mm polyester film base.

The particular problem that these decaying films have, is called advanced vinegar syndrome. The original film is made of cellulose acetate, and if stored in poor conditions this begins to decompose and one of the by-products is acetic acid. This gives the film a characteristic sour vinegar odour. Once vinegar syndrome is under way it proceeds ever more rapidly because it supplies more and more acid to accelerate the reaction.

Sound tapes and videotape have poor longevity; the problem with them is that the images and sound are created by magnetic particles that are arranged on the tape in a particular order by the recording process. These move slightly every time a tape is played and are also affected by heat, magnetic fields, and pollution, so that the sound or image becomes more and more distorted. Thus the life expectancy of video film stored in normal conditions is 15 to 20 years. It is important for us to make master copies of this material and to store the originals and master copies in cold, dry conditions.

Making a Film Deposit

Do you have reels of film at home? If the answer to this is yes, you may wish to consider making a deposit with the Jersey Archive. You will still retain ownership of the film and we will provide you with a VHS copy.

Film that is not stored in the correct conditions can deteriorate to a point where it is beyond repair, Jersey Archive will store your film in the best conditions available.

Remember once an image is gone it's gone for good.

The Jersey Film Archive "Helping The Past To Preserve The Future"