Fall 2008 - Thursdays 1-5pm, Rm 643, 665 Broadway
additional sessions to be scheduled Thursdays 10-12
Moving Image and Sound: Basic Issues and Training
H72.2920
Class requirements:
Attendance is required at all regularly scheduled class sessions. Any unexcused absence may result in an incomplete. All activities (practice sessions and field trips) not scheduled during the Thursday class time (i.e., 10-5) are strongly recommended, but failure to attend will not result in an incomplete.
Class participation is absolutely required in this class. The major part (70 percent) of your grade is based on class participation. This includes hands on projects and practice, as well as verbal class participation.
There is one written project in the class. This project includes an in-class presentation. The project represents 30 percent of your grade. Your ability to deliver the paper and presentation on time will be a significant part of that grade.
Assignments due before class:
- Go through all 6 animated tutorials called Shutters, Sprockets, and
Tubes. at the Museum of the Moving Image.
- Visit:
- More than one hundred years of Film Sizes by Michael Rogge, 1996.
- Descriptions of the 4 film gauges on the homepage of http://www.littlefilm.org/
- Vidipax, Video Format Guide
- Vidipax, Audio Format Guide
Topics covered:
- What is this class about?
- Goals and objectives of the class
- Why are conservation and preservation of moving image materials important?
- What are the issues involved in making visual materials persist over time? How do we decide which materials should persist over time?
- What are the various roles or tasks archivists are responsible for?
- How does knowledge of the structures and characteristics of media impact each role or task?
- What are media formats? How are they defined and how do they develop?
- Introduction to class participants' backgrounds, skills and goals
- Screening: Captain Celluloid Versus the Film Pirates, 1966, excerpt
- Core Concepts
- Static vs Dynamic objects
- The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Model - Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item
- OAIS activities
- Defining the Moving Image and Sound Archive and the Moving Image and Sound Archivist
- Preservation terms –Restoration, Conservation, Preservation, Access
- Preservation activities – physical and intellectual control, proper storage, reformatting
- What are the requirements of this class?
- Take a look at some examples of audio visual media
- Relevant Organizations and Resources
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Assignments due before class:
- Visit:
- Read:
- Annette Melville, ed., "Understanding
Film and How It Decays", The Film Preservation Guide,San Francisco: The Film Preservation Foundation, 2004, pp 6-18.
- Leo Enticknap, "Film" and "Cinematography and Film Formats", Moving Image Technology, pp 4-73.
- Optional Reading
Topics covered:
- Introduction to the physical and chemical structure of film
- History and variety of film formats
- What artifacts exist as a result of media production? What gets saved and what gets lost? Knowing production process can aid
identification.
Practice:
- Film Handling Techniques and Tools
- Use of rewinds and split reels
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- VideoFreex, Spaghetti City Video Manual, pp. 3-27
- Video Guide, pp 14-26.
- Master Handbook of Video Production - pp 267-291
- Video Techniques, pp 170-200.
- Task Force to establish selection criteria of analogue and digital audio contents for transfer to data formats for preservation purposes, Click Publications -> IASA Publications and scroll down. Read sections 3.3.1 - 3.4
- How Video Works, pp 191-197
- Leo Enticknap, Moving Image Technology, pp. 98-131 and 159-186
- PrestoSpace Magnetic Media Assessment Report, pp 9-12.
- Video Preservation Handbook, pp 3-6 section II.
- Review:
- Optional--Watch and Listen:
Topics covered:
- Review of reading
- Identifying layers of media
- The technologies behind audio and video signals and formats
- History of audio and video formats
- Relationship between media and signal
Lab Work
- Fundamental re-housing of media
- Practice loading and transporting media
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- Annette Melville, ed.,
Film Handling and Inspection,
Film Condition Report, The Film Preservation Guide,San Francisco: The Film Preservation Foundation, 2004.
- National Screen and Sound Archive, Australia,
Condition Reporting Program,
Film Identification and HandlingFilm Preservation Handbook
- Leo Enticknap, "Colour," Moving Image Technology, pp. 74-97.
- Guide to Identifying Color Movie Flim Stocks by Paul Ivester.
- Kodak, Handling Processed Film
- How is Shrinkage Measured?, AMIA, 2003.
Topics covered:
- Film Color
- Screening: Discovering Cinema: Movies Dream in Color, 2004, Eric Lange and Serge Bromberg
- Film Identification
- Film Formats
- Recognizing Film Element Type (release print, A/B rolls, negatives, etc.)
- Recognizing basic film types (reversal vs. print from negative; kinds of sound tracks, etc.)
- Film Edge Codes
- Film Inspection
- Recognizing mechanical damage to film
- Recognizing chemincal/biological damage to film
- What is vinegar syndrome?
- Using and reading AD strips
Practice:
- edge code reading exercise
- reading and setting up AD strip tests
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- Screensound Australia,
Photographic Image Quality,
Cold Storage of Film,
Preparation for Long Term Storage,
Occupational Health & Safety, Film Preservation Handbook
- User Guide for AD Strips, Image Permanence Institute.
- IPI Climate Notebook, Image Permanence Institute.
- James M. Reilly, IPI Storage Guide for Acetate Film, Image Permanence Institute
- Peter Z. Adelstein, IPI Media Storage Quick Reference Guide, Image Permanence Institute
- Leo Enticknap, "Exhibition and Presentation," Moving Image Technology, 132-158.
- Kodak, Splicing For the Professional, Film Notes Issue #H-50-01.
- Small Movies, , The Art of Splicing.
- Screensound Australia, Film Repair, Film Preservation Handbook.
- Harold Brown, "Film Joins (Splices): Comments on Cement and Tape Splices," Technical Manual, FIAF Preservation Commission, 1985.
Topics covered:
- Film Inspection
- Film shrinkage
- Use of Shrinkage gauge
- Film Quality Assessment
- Color quality, contrast, grain, resolution, sharpness
- Film Storage Issues
- Using 16mm film viewers
- Table Top Viewers
- Cinescan
- Steenbeck
- Film Repair Techniques and Tools
- hot splicers
- tape splicers
- Sprocket repair
Important:
- Sign up for first film splicing practice time on Friday, Oct. 3, Thursday morning, Oct. 9 or Friday, Oct 10.
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Assignments due before class
Topics covered:
- Review of reading
- Degradation mechanisms and risks of loss
- Care and handling of AV media for preservation
- Equipment and tools needed for identification and inspection
Activities
- Practice loading and transporting various types of media
- Practice using identification and inspection tools
Important:
- Format History Outline due (approximately 2 pages)
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Assignments due before class
- Read:
- IASA, Task Force to establish selection criteria of analogue and digital audio contents for transfer to data formats for preservation purposes, Click Publications -> IASA Publications and scroll down.
- Rosaleen Hill, Videotape Preservation: Format Identification and Condition Assessment (Part I), AABC Newsletter, vol. 15, n. 3, summer 2005.
- Edmondson, Ray, Audiovisual Archiving: Philosophy and Principles, Read section 5.2 “Decay, Obsolescence and Migration”. Paris: UNESCO. 2004. Accessed 8/19/08
- Image Permanence Institute Magnetic Media Study Report
- PrestoSpace Magnetic Media Assessment Report, pp 19–42.
- Sarah Stauderman,
Assessing a Collection for Preservation in Looking Back/Looking forward: a Symposium on Electronic Media Preservation
- Review:
Topics covered:
- Exploring criteria and methods
- The state of assessment and prioritization
- Available tools and guides
Activities
- Exploring risks of loss through controlled experiments
Important:
- Tour of Vidipax Tuesday, Oct 21, 2pm, Long Island City Business Center, 300-00 47th Avenue, Suite 600 (this is Queens, not Manhattan!)
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Assignments due before class
- Read:
- An Overview of the Film Preservation Process, MIC Preservation Portal.
- Read, Paul and Mark-Paul Meyer. "Introduction to the Restoration of Motion Picture Film", Restoration of
Motion Picture Film, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000, pp 1-5.
- Gartenberg, Jon, "The Fragile Emulsion", The Moving Image 2:2 (Fall 2002),
pp 142-152
- Frye, Brian. "The Accidental Preservationist: An Interview
with Bill Brand", Film History 15:2 (2003), p 214
- Annette Melville,
The Curatorial Role
Duplication, The Film Preservation Guide.
- Leo Enticknap, "Archival Preservation," Moving Image Technology, pp. 187-201.
- Eastman Kodak, "Dealing With a Laboratory", Motion Picture Film, Rochester: Eastman Kodak, 2000.
- Optional Reading
Topics covered:
- Film Preservation Issues
- How is the language of film preservation defined? How do we differentiate among the terms preservation, conservation, restoration and reconstruction?
- What are some of the major issues with film preservation?
- What is the role of the film laboratory?
- Film Preservation--using digital means
- Film splicing Technique
- Visit Bobst Film Preservation Lab
Important:
- Tour of Cineric Film Lab, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2pm., 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 508, between 44th and 45th Streets.
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- Review:
Topics covered:
- Focus on Technical and Structural metadata
- The role of metadata generated in inspection, assessment and preparation for long term storage and reformatting
Activities:
- Practice inspection and assessment skills learned using metadata collection tools to capture metadata
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- Leo Enticknap,Projection Best Practices, MIC Programmers Portal, 2006.
- Handling and Projecting 35mm Archive and Studio Prints: Voluntary Guidelines, National Preservation Board, Public Access and Educational Use Task Force, 1994.
- Edward Blasko, "Theatrial Projection," The Book of Film Care, Eastman Kodak Company, 1992, pp 62-69.
- Paolo Cherchi Usai, "Preserving Film Outside the Vaults: A Report on Projection, Shipping and Temporary Storage Facilities,", Journal of Film Preservation, number 64, 2002, pp. 9-15.
- Torkell Saetervadet, "Treatment of Archival Material," The Advanced Projection Manual, FIAF/Norwegian Film Institute, 2006, pp. 57-62.
Topics covered:
- Inside a 16mm Projector
- Projection practice
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Nov 13 No Class--AMIA Conference
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Nov 20 Student Presentations of Format History Project
-
Format History Papers must be delivered by the start of class
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- Video Guide, pp 66-67.
- Video Tape Recording, p 125.
- Spaghetti City Video Manual by VideoFreex, pp 15-19.
- Recorders, read up to “bias”.
- Review:
Topics Covered:
- Signal layout on tape
- Alignment principles: optimal reproducer to media alignment
- Reproducing Signals on Tape: What factors contribute to variations from the original sound?
- Media treatment methods
Activities:
- Practice cleaning tapes
- Knowledge test
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Major Assignment
Examples of student work from
2003-2006
All projects must be submitted with both paper and electronic copies. These projects will be made part of the MIAP digital archive, available online.
Plagiarism Advisory
Research Project—Format History : In this project, each student will choose one film or one video format or format variant to research.
Students should create an annotated bibliography and a detailed description/history that must include:
- time period for the format
- physical/chemical makeup and properties
- (oxide used, track configuration, physical dimensions, housing, sprocket size and configuration,
varieties of emulsion composition and characteristics, etc., as appropriate to the format/media)
- associated playback devices
- competing formats
- main user groups and use environments
- well known content associated with the format
- formats that preceeded and followed
-
- what, if any, technological capabilities were introduced on entry of the format into the market?
- what, if any, technological capabilities lead to the format's demise in the market?
The bibliography should cover the whole format, but the paper, beyond the elements above, should focus on one aspect or variation of the format.
FORMATS (you must choose a format from this list or propose an alternative, with a written justification that must be accepted by your instructors):
- HDCamSR
- Dictabelt
- D1, D2, D3 or D5
- Betamax
- DigiBeta
- ½” CV video
- wide screen film formats before 1950
- 3D film systems
- 16mm and/or super 8mm using magnetic stripe sound
- 28mm film
- Kinemacolor
- Phono-Cinema-Theatre, Biophon, Vivaphone, Chronophone (very early image/sound interlocking systems)
Resources:
- VidiPax website
- The Video Guide, Charles Besinger, Howard W. Sams and Co., Inc.
- The Pal Site
- Manufacturer Websites
- Equipment Manuals
- Journal of the SMPE/SMPTE (digitized versions of some issues, post 1930:
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=motion%20picture%20engineers%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts)
- Carr and Hayes, Wide Screen Movies, McFarland, 1988
- Brown, FIAF Technical Manual
- Coe, History of Movie Photography
- Kattelle, Home Movies: A History of the American Industry 1897-1979.
- Salt, Film Style and Technology
- • Due date---written report, November 20; in class presentation, November 20.