American Mobster Bugsy Siegel 16mm Film Preserved to Digital mp4 Files

Bugsy Siegel Home Movies Scanned and Converted to HD mp4 Files

AV Workshop recently converted a collection of Bugsy Siegel’s 16mm home movies for The Mob Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was born in Brooklyn, New York and rose to fame as a notorious mob leader during his time in Southern California. Siegel was instrumental in the creation of Las Vegas as we know it today. AV Workshop scanned each of these reels frame-by-frame in 2048 x 1536 (almost 3K!) definition. Now these movies will live on forever in a High Definition mp4 format so that they can be easily shared and used in future projects.

Scanning and Converting 16mm Film to HD mp4 Digital Files:

1) Organize, Repair, and Clean

We began this 16mm transfer by analyzing each reel for any necessary repairs such as fixing faulty splices or adding new leader.

Then, we cleaned the film using an anti-static solvent which helped rid the film of any excess dirt, bacteria, and dust. AV ensures all film is properly cleaned and lubricated before scanning so the film will run smoothly and look as sharp as possible. Next, we organized and labeled the reels by name and date.

2) 2K Frame-by-Frame Scan

AV Workshop scanned the 16mm film using our RetroScan Universal 2K (almost 3K!) Mach 1 Film Scanners. These scanners are sprocket-less and use an enlarged gate, which allows us to capture the entire film frame. Every frame was scanned at 2048 x 1536 resolution. Our scanners also feature a bright and cool LED light which creates rich, vibrant colors with no risk of your film burning or deteriorating! After the films were scanned we adjusted the frame rate to match the original.16mm film is typically16 frames-per-second, however, our scanning software allows us to match almost any frame rate from 8 to 30 fps!

3) Enhance and Edit

Once all the films were digitized, we imported them into Adobe Premiere Pro where we digitally attached the reels in the same order they were labeled and scanned. Since the customer ordered our Enhanced Film Transfer option, we also adjusted the brightness / contrast, saturation, and balanced the color scene-by-scene.

4) Export

We output the movies to versatile High Definition mp4 files using the H.264 Codec (1920 x 1080 50 mb/s) and labeled each file by name and reel numbers. HD mp4 Files are compatible with MAC, Windows, and Smart TVs. You can edit mp4 files using almost any editing software including Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, iMovie, and Windows Movie Maker. Additionally, they can be uploaded to video sharing platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, and more!

As a result, these films were preserved on a single drive and returned along with the newly cleaned and conditioned 16mm reels. Now, these home movies can easily be played, shared, edited, and uploaded just about anywhere!