Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. We’re at the Kodak Film Factory in Rochester, New York and this is the third of three videos. In the first video, we looked at the backing and how they make the plastic pellets into a continuous process. In the second video, we applied a light sensitive coating with a laminar flow waterfall and dried it over a mile of conveyance. Now, we have to figure out how to cut it up and put it into a camera.

We’re going to start right here at the Slitter and meet Tim, the operator. The roll comes in from coating in a wide role form 54 inches and the lid of the casket is taken off. Tim checks the roll and it automatically loads onto the slitter which can slit 12,000 feet of film. One of these large caskets holds 12,000 feet.

Throughout the process, Destin will be taking film photos on Kodak film. We’ll be introduced to Patrick, a young engineer who’s been spending the last few years since he got out of school learning this entire process. He’ll walk us through every step and remind us to keep everything in the dark until the special moment when the shutter is allowed to open and expose the image. Destin: And it’s about five feet per 35 millimeter roll. Is that right, Did I get that right?

Tim: Yeah.

Destin: That’s right. All right. So this is Patrick. Patrick’s an engineer.

Patrick: Nice to meet ya.

Destin: Doing all right?

Tim: This is the unwind. So we put it on the unwind, thread it up. There’ll be a leader in the machine.

Destin: Is this PET or is this acetate?

Tim: This is Estar.

Destin: Okay, Estar. Got it. So you’ve got your two banks. You got your even and your odd bank. This is a 35 millimeter slitter only.

Destin: So you have tension on one side on the whole sheet, which is right here. This is a whole sheet going.

Tim: Everything’s got tension.

Destin: Everything’s got tension?

Tim: Yeah. These are pulling tensions. See these spinning?

Destin: They’re spinning right now? Oh wow!

Tim: Yes. Yeah.

Destin: Okay. So is this actually moving leader through right now?

Tim: No.

Destin: Okay.

Patrick: I have clutches underneath those pullers.

Destin: Directional clutches.

Patrick: Yeah.

Destin: Oh, that’s how you maintain tension?

Patrick: Yes.

Destin: Gotcha. Okay, I’m with you. That’s cool. So, you know, Tim, you know everything about this machine?

Tim: More than anyone else.

Destin: Yeah? So is Tim, is Tim the guy?

Patrick: He’s the guy.

Destin: So are you an engineer? What’s your title?

Tim: No, I’m just an operator.

Destin: I didn’t mean to offend you by calling you an engineer. So he’s an engineer. So you’re basically teaching him?

Patrick: Yes. Oh, yeah.

Destin: Yeah. That’s how that works, isn’t it? Like every manufacturing job I’ve ever been in, the operators teach the engineers. That’s the way it works. That’s awesome.

Tim: So you’ve got, you know, that’s the even when you got the odd bank over there. So this is basically the the odd bank, they’re all stuck down and then you got your salvage edges going to the

Destin: Recycle?

Tim: Those are just waste.

Destin: And so you go get the silver out of that somewhere.

Tim: Yes. Yeah.

Destin: So since this the slitting machine is so big, we can only see it in pieces. This is what we’re looking at as a whole. We get a big roll of film unwinding and being fed into the machine. It goes up and over and down to a series of blades that slit and send half the film to the odd side and half of the film to the even side to be rolled up. The edges are trimmed off and then sent over to a bin so they can be recycled. So up until this process, you know, after we did the photosensitive coating, everybody’s been worried about touching that side. But here it looks like I’ve got a roller. That is it coming in contact here on the other side?

Patrick: Yup, yeah. So we touch the emulsion in this, in this building only, mainly, because it’s actually dried at this point. Right. By the time it gets to us, it’s no longer just a wet, wet emulsion, it’s got some stiffness to it. So we’re, we’re allowed to actually roll and wind on that side.

Destin: So do you have night vision goggles in here?

Tim: Yes.

Destin [with surprise in his voice]: What?!

Tim: I’ve been working in the dark for almost 30 years, so it’s it’s nothing. So, you can actually see fairly decent. I could see him in the dark, but you go over to a K3 Slitter where they do that film there, you know, the 135 that…You know, you can’t see me from me to you.

Destin: So are we doing 35 millimeter right now?

Tim: It’s 35 millimeter, but it’s a different.

Patrick We are producing rolls in this room. Once the machine starts, the cards come in underneath the rolls, which are usually 12,000 feet long. The whole handling system is automated, so it goes from here to the tees. We have tension controls and a web steer in the middle which moves side to side to keep the web centered. The web is then fed through the knives and up to the rewinds where it is split into 35 millimeter. After that, a vacuum is used to splice the 500 feet rolls and the white markers are the adhesive for the tape. Destin asked Tim if he could explain the process of how the rolls of film were sent back to them. Tim explained that they had a splice which was double sided with adhesive on both sides. This allowed them to rip off the one side so that the roll could be sent out of the room. Patrick then took Destin a few steps away to a slitting machine where he explained that they used two different processes, shear straight through slitting, and then one where they wrap around the lower roller. The film then makes about 100 degrees of contact before it gets out. Destin thanked them for the explanation, noting that it was interesting. My grandfather had a clever trick for getting a better deal when buying something. He would put on an old, tattered shirt with holes in it so that the salesperson wouldn’t make assumptions about how much he could afford. A similar approach can be taken when shopping online. Websites use your IP address to track where you are in the world, and they will change the price on items based on the location they think you’re from. To get around this, you can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). With a VPN, you can connect to different locations and get different prices for the same items. For example, Microsoft Office is usually around $100 in the US, but only $77 in Colombia. Adobe Creative Cloud is usually around $1000 in the US, but only $198 in Colombia. To take advantage of this, you can visit NordVPN.com/smarter to get a great deal on a two year plan, including four months free. NordVPN has thousands of servers in 59 different countries, so you can access the internet from any of those locations. You can even connect up to six devices with one account. Additionally, NordVPN offers a 30 day money back guarantee if you don’t like it. Destin: Really.
Matt: So yeah.
Destin: So this is where you put the core over here? Matt: Well, to be honest with you, what happens is this door here would be open. As you said, we’re in a dark environment. This door would be open. There’s an arm that will reach into the rack, bring the roll in and automatically load it.
Destin: Okay.
Matt: Then this arm comes down. It puts all the computer information that we need to produce this roll. Destin: How does how does the arm know the computer information? Matt: Well it downloads from the actual rack.
Destin: Okay, got it. Matt: There’s a card on the rack.
Destin: Got it. Matt: That’ll be read and then its sent into the computer. It’s going to know that it’s a 2000 foot wall. 4000 foot or 6000 foot.
Destin: Okay. Matt: The customer has different demand and it’s also going to tell it what print to put on there.
Destin: This looks very complicated. Matt: That’s just the nuts and bolts of it is it’s very complicated. But for an operator’s point of view, it’s really not that difficult. Destin: Okay. Matt: There’s only a couple of interactions I actually have with the machine. Everything else is automated. Destin: Can you show me what they are? Matt: Yeah. What I’m gonna do. So this is exactly how the roll would have been loaded in under a dark environment. So as an operator, I’m going to take this tape off because we don’t want that. So this chopped it. And what we want is a rounded edge because we don’t want to damage the heart. Destin: Okay, So a rounded edge and so it’s a very specific Matt: very specific cut Destin: Oh, a rounded edge. Yeah, okay, got it. Matt: We don’t want this going through the heart on the other end. Destin: Okay. Matt: Because of the chance when it splices through it will damage the heart. Destin: So that was a vacuum right there. Matt: Yeah.holding it down Destin: So, so that’s the back side of the film. So you don’t scratch it. Matt: Exactly. Destin: So on, on the roll, where’s the photosensitive part? It’s on the inside? Matt: This is the emulsion. Yes. And this is a support. Destin: Okay. Matt: The outside of the support. Destin: Gotcha. Matt: So now I’d pull this knife off, there’d be a balance. I’d throw that out. Destin: Okay. Matt: And it keeps me from overlapping the film. So I butt that up to the knife. I’m going to reset it now. I take a piece of tape and you want it in the center of the film. You don’t want it being perforated. Destin: Okay. Matt: So now I’m going to take this. Destin: You don’t want the tape to be perforated because it’ll mess up your punch. Matt: It’s very, It could be. Our tape could get stuck on the heart and caused damage. There’s a number of things that could happen. Destin: Gotcha. Matt: So now I’ll take the slack out. and I’m going to send the film through. Destin: Where should I be looking right now? Matt: That’s well all this, you got. This arm moving. The film is going to kick through this end and it’s predetermined to make sure that I get the tape off so this this board comes out the knife will cut the film so that I have all the tape through the machine. Gotcha. And then this would be what we call a scratch test end. Every roll that we run, we’ll have a scratch test end that I would send to the tube system Destin: uh huh. Matt: That goes to the quality lab, and the inspector will verify that it meets our standards. Destin: Got it. So. So what this machine is the scratchiest machine in here? Matt: The scratchiest? Destin: You said, you’re going to test scratch testing. Is that what you said? Matt: Well, this is the verify. There is no scratches. Destin: Destin: “So stay back?”

Matt: “Normally the door would close.”

Destin: “Got it. So now I’m going to start the machine.”

Matt: “All right, so this is where it’s going to wind up. It’s going to unwind from the backend and it’s going to wind up here.”

Destin: “Okay, sounds good.”

Matt: “It runs up to 3000 feet a minute.”

Destin: “That’s really fast! We used to run 100 feet a minute on the old style machine. So this really increased productivity.”

Matt: “Yeah, greatly. We’ve been doing it this way for about 20 years. 25 years.”

Destin: “Did you run it on 100 feet per minute system?”

Matt: “I still do, some products. We still have to run that way.”

Destin: “Can you show me where the holes go?”

Matt: “Oh, you mean the perforation? This right here. And the spinning. So this is the actual punch drum, this is the die drum.”

Destin: “Okay. So those are the little posts punching, punching the holes in the film right here?”

Matt: “Yeah. And the film that’s ejected goes into the hopper and gets vacuumed out through this exhaust tube.”

Destin: “So if I had a high speed camera, I would see little holes of film going that way?”

Matt: “Yeah. Is this clear? Yeah. You’d see the vacuum taking them out.”

Destin: “Is there a bucket of those holes somewhere?”

Matt: “Right around the wall I can show you after we’re done.”

Destin: “Okay. Sounds good. So can you run this? So we’re done?”

Matt: “Yeah. We slurped like a spaghetti noodle. We slurped the end of the film up right?”

Destin: “Exactly. Okay, so that roll is done. So at this point, how do you take the core off?”

Matt: “Now, if this was actual production I wouldn’t. What would happen is, this arm right here. You see, there’s a core there. This arm comes down. It takes the empty core, comes back to the retracted position. While that’s going on the manipulator arm is bringing in my next full roll of film.”

Destin: “That’s awesome. So what on this machine do you worry about? Is there something that typically messes up?”

Matt: “Uh, not usually.”

Destin: “That’s impressive. So how many of these do you guys have?”

Matt: “We have these two here, and then we have seven on the other side.”

Destin: “Seven on the other side. Yeah, we used to have 28, but because film isn’t quite as popular as it used to be, it’s picking back up.”

Matt: “No, I love it. I love it.”

Destin: “Do you like your job?”

Matt: “Oh, I love it. I love, I started 26 years ago and obviously going through all the changes we’ve gone through, I’m really surprised to still be here.”

Destin: “Yeah. Are you seeing production go up?”

Matt: “Yeah, it seems to be headed that way. Cause we were, actually been working some overtime. We hear about all the directors out in Hollywood. That still love film.”

Destin: “I still shoot film.”

Matt: “Yeah, no friends of mine. Same thing that when you go upstairs they still shoot 120 and, and I’m a big music fan so I still got record albums. They’re coming back.”

Destin: “Oh yeah, isn’t it awesome?”

Matt: “Yeah, it’s really cool. Because I told guys, just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s improved.”

Destin: “I hear you! Can you show me the holes that come out of the film?”

Matt: “Yeah, I’ll show you right here. So what happens is, when we were running this whole bank, of seven, all the perfs get sucked out through the vacuum. And we have these two big hoppers right here. And this is where they get dispensed, So right here.”

Destin: “Oh, wow. Yeah. So what do you worry about on this machine? Is there something that typically messes up?”

Matt: “Uh, not usually. There’s, you might get an unusual occurrence once in a great while, but they’re they’re very reliable.”

Dest Dude! So that’s how much film we’ve run. That’s amazing. All of it - all those little perforations. And that’s silver. There’s silver in that. Exactly. So we recycle it to recover the silver. So once it comes out here, it’s in the light. So this is you just. You just recycle the whole thing. Can I get a picture with you in there, Matt? Oh, sure. [Shutter click] So I’m sure he told you, right? That middle bit that’s actually making the perforations. We call that the heart, right? No, he didn’t tell me that. Okay, So. So I will say that the operator, Matt, he seemed to not have a big concern about that, which tells me that the engineers are doing their job right. Yeah, there is a lot of technology going into developing that system right, 3000 feet a minute. It is not, not slow when you’re perforating at those speeds. There’s a lot of extra things that you have to start thinking about, right? Okay I mean, when you’re up at 3000 feet a minute, you’re thinking about harmonics now. Yes. Right, vibrations, harmonics, Tensions are really important. So we’re actually sneaking through the maintenance shop here because we’ve got a lot of the hearts on display here. And here’s one kind of, kind of cut open. Oh wow Oh yeah. So, the face plate of the machines here and just this little bit is sticking out. Okay and we’ve got all the hoses and stuff hooked up to the front here for the vacuums. And one reason why we nickname it the heart, because we have an oil mist in here. Okay. And when it’s running, it’s got the nice red oil flowing through it like a heart one. Those are just straight involute teeth, aren’t they? Yep. That’s interesting. So can I sit down in this chair? Yes. And kind of engage with this. This is really, really high precision stuff. Okay, so I’m seeing. So you’ve got set screws here. Yes. That are positioning each individual hole. Yeah. So the lower sets, they’re called the dies. And up at the top is the punches, right. So we’ve got a punch and die operation. Can I turn it? Uhhh, Yes. You think so? Yes. Okay, so. So I grab it here. Okay. That’s a free wheeler, so I should be able to. Yeah. Look at that. Okay, so. So this is just a one to one. Yup I feel no mechanical interaction whatsoever. Nope, yeah so it’s actually a through hole. So basically here’s my knife. So this hole has to move left and right up and down in order to index with the punch that corresponds with it. And is there, do you know how many there are on the wheel? 96. There’s 96. And so those are paired. Yep. And they’re tuned as a pair. Correct. How long does it take to tune them? Months. Months to tune one heart? Yep. Are you serious? Yes. Well, I have so many things I want to ask you. Um, How is it driven? There’s a big motor out this way. Yep, Yep. So got a serve on the serve on the. Direct drive? Yup Direct drive. Yeah. That’s incredible. I’m noticing the the slots on the inside. So you have a channel that has a vacuum in it. Yup So you have maximized your vacuum surface area instead of having little holes, you actually distribute that vacuum over a whole lot of surface area and that is a precisely machined part. Incredibly. So that’s, that’s a monolithic piece, isn’t it? That ring. Uh, every single die there is individual every die is individual. But the vacuum chamber is is all one big ring that’s right up there. Right on the drum. Yeah. So so there’s how many how many parts are just in this head. Alright. So you get the die drum which is the, the thing that everything gets bolted to with the vacuum channels. And then you’ve got the a set, a set of die on each side all 96 around. Then you have the vacuum channel all the way around that. Yeah. Correct. Because it’s, it’s touching film now. Yup. You see these this kind of ring, light through. Yeah. That bringing light through there, that’s actually we hook up a vacuum. Right. Right to the center hub here and pull out all the. It comes this way. Yep. Okay. And that’s that little hose that was on the front pulling it up and out. That’s amazing. So do you ever have jams in here? Because if this thing’s running super, super fast, what’s going to happen is if it gets on one side and you get a clump of them, you get what is a centrifugal force. It’ll sling it in there and you’ll get the washing machine effect. Yeah, yeah. Or they won’t want to come out. So you can’t put more in the hole and that’s an issue.

Okay. And so then it gets imbalanced now. So that’s where the harmonics come in. I’m struggling to express how impressive this is to me. Like if you’ve ever designed anything, the idea of aligning all these posts to the dies and make this thing run at 3000 feet per minute, it’s incredible. Like, you have to make sure that you shear it, but you don’t make contact. And there’s hundreds of pieces in that assembly. This is very complicated. So what is this? So you’ll be able to look through through the microscope. You can’t film through the microscope. So you actually be able to see up through the die looking up at a perf. When you look through here, I look through the die. Look through the die up, up at up at a punch. So you’ve got to be careful because this is an active one being worked on so you can give it a little rocking back and forth too, if you want. Oh, wow. So you’re looking at the edges. Yeah. So that that’s how you’re you’re kind of going to use this tool to help set that up. Right, Because you really want to be looking at that alignment of of the punch to that die. Right. Because having it touch is really, really bad at 3000 feet a minute.

Okay. So you’re looking at the backside of the punch. Yeah, we’re looking up through the die at the top of the punch. Got it. up at a punch. So you’ve got to be careful because this is an active one being worked on so you can give it a little rocking back and forth too, if you want. Oh, wow. So you’re looking at the edges. Yeah. So that that’s how you’re you’re kind of going to use this tool to help set that up. Right, Because you really want to be looking at that alignment of of the punch to that die. Right. Because having it touch is really, really bad at 3000 feet a minute. Okay. So you’re looking at the backside of the punch. Yeah, we’re looking up through the die at the top of the punch. Got it. So you’re rocking that back and forth on this very important jig here. And you can throw this and slide it in and out as well. Yeah. You’re going want to look at the front, front perf back perf. Okay, so. Front punches back punches. Oh wow. So he’s actually got or she whoever’s doing this. Oh wow. So there’s some teeth or punch excuse me, Some punches have been removed and so they’re setting those and everything’s a special tool, isn’t it? Oh, yeah. That’s so cool. Everything’s a special tool. That’s amazing. Oh, and these are the fiber lights. I use these for schlieren. Okay. Just to see what’s going on.

So what’s what’s happening here is someone who’s working on this is going through here. We’ve got the vacuum ring still there, and that’s on the non photo sensitive side, correct? Correct. That is on the backside of the film. The backside of the film. And so they’re going through one at a time. These threaded holes. They are putting they are putting perf holes in. Is that what they’re doing? Dies. The die. Excuse me. So that’s what a purple is called a die now. So they’re putting those dies in one at a time and they’re aligning them. Man. I’m just, I’m just now appreciating this part. This part has 96 sets of four threaded holes. So to kill that part is expensive. That’s a oh, that part right there cost tens of thousands of dollars. Oh, yeah. That’s amazing. These are all hearts. These are all hearts. Okay. Donovan showed me how they cut the large metal sheets into strips which would later become cans. He then visually inspected every single strip and explained that the more he did it, the better he got at it. We then walked around the corner and Donovan showed me a machine that was making the little metal end cap for film canisters. Patrick showed us how it would work if it were running, bringing the strips in and using a big giant press to crimp the edges for light locks and cutting it out. We then put a hopper in and started applying the velvet which had an adhesive on the back and was heated and glued to the strips. The velvet was then cut separately so it didn’t connect between the strips. So then the lid comes in here, the lid comes in here, and it’s gonna get staked on the other side.Yeah.And then it goes down here.And then it’s gonna be sent down the belt.Yeah.And then it’s gonna be put in the container.Yeah.Wow.That’s really cool.Yeah.I could watch this for days.Yeah.It’s really neat. I met a very special person, [name], who gave a fantastic description of the final packaging process. It all starts when a piece of tape is applied to a little plastic spool that’s going to be the center of the film. The film is then taped to the center spool, rolled up quickly, and then cut. The can that we made earlier is then slid over the top of the rolled up film, and the little cap is put on making the whole thing airtight. This little rocker arm then drops a full can of film down in the little plastic case and the line advances, causing one of the gray lids to pop on the top and be pushed down as it advances forward. After the film can is put in that little plastic can, it all goes through a tube back into the next room. We package 35 millimeter as it exits the spoiler, in several different formats such as singles, hang tab packages, five packs, three packs, and two packs. After it exits the spoiler, an inspector will check it for any damage and check the expiration date printed on it. The amount of packages will be put in the box with the label and then put through the taping machine. After that, it is stacked on a pallet. Cartons are manually put in and the left side is actively closed, while the right side is hit by a rail to complete the closure. Metal detectors are used to detect the ferrous can and make sure that there are five packages. After that, the top flap is bent down and glued in position at the next station. The emulsion number and expiration date are printed on the side of the package. With that being said, let’s go talk to Rich and do what I think you are waiting for. Rich, I’ve got a camera with me and I want to get a roll of film off the line and take a picture immediately. Can I do that? Absolutely. So we got the camera here ready to do this, I’m excited. First of all, you take this off. This is a little bit irregular, I’m used to using Kodak cameo. Easy shoe, this one. I see that and direct the leader and. And then set your. Oh, you do have barcode. Yeah. Okay. I’m not used to it Warren. Oh yeah. Can I get a picture, you guys? Absolutely. We’re a team, we’re all doing alright. Get some muscles. Oh, come on. Oh. Oh, God. Every now enjoyed up to. That’s great. I’m gonna get a lot of you guys here. Okay? This is so much fun, Rich man. It’s nice to be honest. It was nice to meet you. Yeah, I’m glad to help you out in your tour. And I hope you got some detailed explanation around the 35 millimeter, but thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed this. Please consider going and shooting some film. And I love making videos like this. If you want to support, you can do that at Patrick on CNN.com/smarter every day or you can sign up for the email list at Smarter Every Day icon. That’s a really good way to figure out when I upload a new video. Anyway, that’s it. I’m grateful and I’m destined to get smarter every day. Have a good one. Bye.