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One of the great unknown variables of film making are the labs that process the film negatives. In the old days of film making, only about half of all exposed rolls would ever survive the lab, nowadays most productions go through the processing without a problem.
That said, the very first film I worked on (back in the early 1990s, a black&white silent short drama shot in Checkoslovakia, now Czech Republic) had to be partially re-shot because of some trouble in the lab. And one commercial that involved one of the hugest cruise ships going to the Hardanger Fjord in eastern Norway, filmed on speed boats and a helicopter, was totally ruined in the lab. Luckily they were covered and the project was re-shot 100%, much to the DPs delight, as the weather turned out much nicer.
Worst case
One story we heard in Filmschool was that one lab in London used to employ a blind man as their main lab person. He was very thorough. But the catastrophe hit when one evening the cleaning ladies forgot to switch off the lights…
Anyway, here comes a segment from Der Untergang with altered subtitles:
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