FilmCodes

Vintage Film Gallery-Film Preservation

Film Stock Edge Codes as an aid to identification..

Films can sometimes be identified by two methods:

Intra-Frame Examination
Extra-Frame Examination.

Intra-Frame Examination
Involves the obvious objects such as known actors, set copyright signs such as AB for American Biograph, or E for Edison etc., sometimes placed in a not too conspicuous place. Title cards sometimes had the film title written at the top or bottom frame- easily identified.
Sometimes a title code or style could be used to classify similar productions.

Extra-Frame Examination
Identifying a print can be greatly assisted by knowing the approximate date the film stock was made. Unfortunately, prior to 1916, no such system existed and it remains a study of known prints and examining and comparing the film margins. For example, the words E A S T M A N printed on the film margin can be a guide to 1915. Other pointers to a date can be found by studying the perforations, frame masks and information on the frame margins. The Biograph prints had the bouncing perforation slightly impinging into the film margins, so they are usually easy to detect.

Vitagraph films sometimes had "Vitagraph " along their margins. This is also apllied to a number of other companies inluding Cines and Gaumont.

Additionally, Brifco, Selo, Gevaert, Agfa on the margins helped to identify the country of printing if not country of origin.

Obviously extra-frame detection can be carried out only on original (nitrate) prints. Usually the preservation process removes all such evidence as only the picture area is printed. Intra-frame examination is the only method possible.

Eastman Edge Codes
In 1916 Eastman began to edge code their film stock. This provide an excellent means of identifying films. Of course, if very outdated stock was used, it could provide a slightly misleading date. However it does mean that a film can be classified "not made before...".

The codes differed in the USA, Canada and United Kingdom. Symbols were not placed on Kodak stocks made in France and Germany before the second world war. In 1927, Kodak took over Pathé which sometimes has UK codes.

Until this time, Pathé included their own specific codes which were rather enigmatic, i.e. a four digit code following "Pathé Cinema France" was issued for each quarter. So stock made in 1923 could have a code of 22,23,24, or 25.

The above frames show Pathé stock from 1922.

Since 1951 all Eastman Kodak codes have been unified. Machine readable barcodes have also been added since the mid eighties.

Additional information was provided by the way in which the words "SAFETY" were written:

Note: The colour of the text is a useful guide. White codes, on a print, generally refer to the original negative date, while black text refers to the (positive) print.

EASTMAN KODAK USA Film Stock Codes

1916	1936	1956
1917	1937	1957
1918	1938	1958
1919	1939	1959
1920	1940	1960
1921	1941	1961
1922	1942	1962
1923	1943	1963
1924	1944	1964
1925	1945	1965
1926	1946	1966
1927	1947	1967
1928	1948	1968
1929	1949	1969
1930	1950	1970
1931	1951	1971
1932	1952	1972
1933	1953	1973
1934	1954	1974
1935	1955	1975

KODAK UK Film Stock Codes

	1917	1936
	1918	1937
	1919	1938
	1920	1939
	1921	1940
	1922	1941
	1923	1942
	1924	1943
	1925	1944
	1926	1945
	1927	1946
	1928	1947
	1929	1948
	1930	1949
	1931	1950
	1932
	1933
	1934
	1935

KODAK CANADA Film Stock Codes

1925	1936	1947
1926	1937	1948
1927	1938	1949
1928	1939	1950
1929	1940
1930	1941
1931	1941
1932	1943
1933	1944
1934	1945
1935	1946

References:
Burning Passions- An Introduction to the Study of Silent Cinema
by Paolo Cherchi Usai BFI Publishing 1994

Physical Characteristics of Early Films As Aids To Identification
by Harold Brown FIAF 1990

Other Stock Manufactures

Under construction!!!

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since 22nd October 1998

Last updated 1 January 1999