TECHNES Encyclopedia Database

This film repairer was just a simple board with pegs which made it possible to grab hold of the two pieces of film stock and align them correctly in order to make a join which would pass without problem through a projector. The pegs held the pieces of film in place so that the emulsion could be scraped off the film, which was indispensable for the film cement to hold. The idea behind this mending procedure ended up sticking to the skin of editing, if we may say so, because it lasted for many years in the culture of film assembly practices. In fact what film manufacturers in France around 1900 called a presse à coller (“joining press”) continued to be seen as a repairing device, like a film repairer or film mender.