Found film

Found film is the most common name for the still film or movie footage found exposed but undeveloped; it is also often referred as undeveloped film, or forgotten film. A well known found film was found in 1930 at the shore of arctic island Kvitøya; the film had recoverable images of the last days of S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897. The most sought not found film is probably the one from a Kodak camera presumably left on Mount Everest by the vanished British expedition of 1924.

Sources

Old exposed films are rare finds; before introduction of online auction systems the common sources were family archives and antiques stores. Today the online auctions is the main source. Most of the found films were discovered inside the old simple box-type cameras which were forgotten, lost, discarded or abandoned by the owners.

Development of old films

Several photo lab services specialize in development of old outdated films. The self-processing by photo enthusiasts is common but not recommended since the latent image is not recoverable most of the time without special procedures such as use of high-contrast active developer at the very low temperatures (as low as 0 °C/32 °F). The two popular standard developers used to process outdated films are Kodak HC-110 and Kodak D-19. The old color film is often processed as black and white since color dyes usually decompose faster than silver-based layer.

Found (film)

Found (stylized as found.) is a 2012 horror film written and directed by Scott Schirmer. It is based on the novel of the same name by Todd Rigney. The October People picked up the distribution rights in 2014 after playing at various film festivals.

Plot

Through narration, 12-year-old Marty tells the story of discovering his brother Steve is a serial killer when he took Steve’s bowling ball bag without asking and discovered a human head inside. Each week, Marty finds a new head, usually of a black woman, inside the bag hidden in Steve’s closet. Marty keeps the confusing discovery to himself, and immerses himself in a world of watching horror movies and drawing comic books with his best friend David.

A black classmate named Marcus bullies Marty at school. Marty refuses to fight back, which indirectly leads to a rumor that Marty tried to kiss Marcus. Marcus is given detention and Marty is sent home.

Marty sneaks into his brother’s room again but finds that the bowling bag is empty. He turns on Steve’s stereo and looks at himself in the mirror while wearing Steve’s rubber gasmask. Steve enters unexpectedly and yells at his brother for being in his room. He then asks why Marty is home from school and learns that his brother did not stick up for himself during his fight with Marcus.