Fall 2006 - Thursdays 1-5pm, Rm 641
MIAP Internship Seminar: Film and Video Basic Training
H72.2910
Topics covered:
- What is this class about?
- Why is 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 develope?
- Introduction to first class project
- Visit to Bobst Film and Video Preservation Labs
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Assignments due before class:
- Go through all 6 animated tutorials called Shutters, Sprockets, and
Tubes. You can either do this at the Museum of the Moving Image in
Queens, or do it online.
- Visit:
- Read:
- Screen
Sound Australia Film Preservation Handbook (first 5 sections: Film Construction, Base Polymers and Decomposition, Gelatin, Image Forming Materials, Damage to Film)
- 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 from Zoetrope to Digital, Walflower Press, 2004, pp 4-73.
Topics covered:
- Introduction to the physical and chemical structure of film
- History and variety of film formats
- Introduction to collection management concepts
- Risk Assessment
- Storage Issues
- Description, Documentation, Metadata
- Standards and Recommended Practices
- What artifacts exist as a result of media production? What gets saved and what gets lost? Knowing production process can aid
identification. Detective work and how ancillary materials are both cultural artifacts and clues. Sources for gauges & types of moving
image material.
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Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- Van Bogart, Dr. John W.C., Magnetic
Tape Storage and Handling: A Guide for Libraries and Archives, Washington, D.C.: The Commission on Preservation and Access and St.
Paul, MN: National Media Laboratory (1995).
- Wheeler, Jim. Video Preservation Handbook, 2002.
- Screensound Australia, Technical Glossary of Common Audiovisual Terms
- BAVC, Video Preservation: Glossary of Terms, originally published in Playback:
A Preservation Primer for Video (1998), p.72-76.
- Schoenherr, Stephen, Recording Technology History, Feb. 16, 2004.
- Vidipax, Video Format Guide
- Vidipax, Audio Format Guide
- Vidipax, Magnetic Tape Preservation: Tape Storage
- Audio Engineering Society Standards Committee
- AES49-2005: AES standard for audio preservation and restoration - Magnetic tape - Care and handling practices for extended usage
- AES22-1997 (r2003): AES recommended practice for audio preservation and restoration -- Storage and handling -- Storage of polyester-base magnetic tape
Topics covered:
- Introduction to the physical and chemical structure of Video and Audio Tape
- History of Audio and Video Formats
- Storage Issues for Video and Audio
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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.
- Screensound 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
- Texas Commission on the Arts Videtape Identification and Assessment Guide
- Sarah Stauderman, Guide to Audio Formats.
- Sarah Stauderman, Assessing a Collection for Preservationin Looking Back/Looking forward: a Symposium on Electronic Media Preservation
- Rick Taylor, Experience Counts: Assessing the Condition of an Archival Audio collection (abstract).
- Hanah Frost, Surveying sound Recording Collections: appendix
- AMIA Videotape Preservation Fact Sheets, Tape Inspection, Video
Preservation Fact Sheets, 2003.
- National Information Standards Organization, Understanding Metadata, 2004.
Topics covered:
- Film Handling Techniques and Tools
- Use of rewinds and split reels
- Film Edge Codes
- Recognizing Film Element Type (release print, A/B rolls, negatives, etc.)
- View "What are A and B Rolls?", Chris Hughes, Colorlab.
- Recognizing basic film types (reversal vs. print from negative; kinds of sound tracks, etc.)
- Format Identification: Film and Video
- Video Inspection and Documentation
- Recognizing video element type (original, production element, final edited master, dub, etc.)
- Overview of metadata
Assignments due before class:
- Read:
- How is Shrinkage Measured?, AMIA, 2003.
- Screensound Australia,
Photographic Image Quality,
Cold Storage of Film,
Preparation for Long Term Storage,
Occupational Health & Safety, Film Preservation Handbook
- Image Permanence Institute, User Guide for AD Strips.
- 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.
Topics covered:
- Film Inspection
- Recognizing kinds of damage to film
- What is vinegar syndrome?
- Using and reading AD strips
- Film Quality Assessment
- Color quality, contrast, grain, resolution, sharpness
- Film Storage Issues
- Using 16mm film viewers: the Cinescan
- Visit Bobst Film Preservation Lab for Steenbeck practice
Important:
- Class will meet Friday, October 6th, from 1pm to 3pm, to read AD strips and for rewind practice
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Oct 12 No Class--AMIA Conference
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.
Topics covered:
- Inside a 16mm Projector
- Projection practice
- Introduction to film repair tools
- Introduction to Production History: Sign up to work in pairs
Important:
- Class will meet Thursday, October 26th, from 10am to 12pm, for tour of 656 projection booth.
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Assignments due before class
Topics covered:
- Presentations of format history project
- Preparation and documentation of media for transfer.
- Tape splicing
- Object and process metadata
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Assignments due before class
- Read:
- Kodak, Splicing For the ProfessionalFilm Notes Issue #H-50-01
- Small Movies, The Art of Splicing.
- Screensound Australia, Film RepairFilm Preservation Handbook
- Harold Brown, "Film Joins (Splices): Comments on Cement and Tape Splices," Technical Manual, FIAF Preservation Commission, 1985.
- Vidipax, Problems with Magnetic Tape.
- National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, Capturing Analog Sound for Digital Preservation, CLIR, 2006.
Topics covered:
- Film splicing Technique
- hot splicers
- tape splicers
- Sprocket repair
- Video/Audio tape diagnoisis
- tape cleaning
- cleaning a deck
- sticky shed treatment
Important:
- Sign up for film splicing practice time on Thursday morning, Nov. 9.
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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
- Screen Sound Australia Photographic Duplication , Film Preservation Handbook.
- 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.
- Association of Cinema & Video Laboratories Handbook
Important:
- Tour of Cineric Film Lab, Friday, Nov. 10, 11am., 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 508, between 44th and 45th Streets.
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Assignments due before class
Topics covered:
- Assessment and prioritization for preservation
- guest speaker, Kevin McCarthy
Mr. McCarthy will discuss his history of working as a technician in the A/V field for many years and the maintenance of A/V equipment. Topics will include the workings of the reproduction system; inspection of a deck; preventative maintenance; routine maintenance; the role of maintenance and the bench technician in a preservation oriented facility.
Topics covered:
- 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
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Assignments due before class:
Topics covered:
- Source and technical metadata
- Reproducing Signals on Tape: What factors contribute to variations from the original sound?
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Assignments due before class:
Agenda:
- Student presentations of final projects
- Class wrap up
Major Assignments
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
Individual Project—Format History : In this project, each student will choose one film or one video format or format family to research.
Students should create a bibliography and a detailed description 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?
- Due date---Oct 26
Group Project -- Case Study of Production History : In
this assignment, groups of three or two students will collaborate to create a
case study that will be instructive in the identification and selection
of moving image and sound material. Each group will conduct 2 case
studies that, through text and image, demonstrate the production
process for a particular project or mode of production including:
- time period and brief description of the mode of production, the
final product, and its intended use or audience
- the steps to production
- the people involved and their roles
- film and/or recorded media that is produced at each stage, its
format and purpose
- documentation or ancillary materials that are produced at each
stage (print, electronic), and their purpose
- any identification clues or special tips when sorting
- the relative value of the film, media and documentation, and to
whom it may have value
- typical disposition of the materials at the end of a production
process
- recommendations for materials to be archived and the rationale
for why they should be considered for long-term preservation
- Pre-preservation treatments that might be done on this material)
Imagine the audience for the case study is moving image and archiving
professionals who will utilize the information as they begin sorting
and processing a collection. The case study should be concise and easy
to read, but with sufficient detail for the task. Visual aids such as
for key formats, special labeling, examples of documentation, database
screenshots, etc., will also be helpful.
To gain the necessary knowledge, the groups must conduct an audio or
video interview of one person per case study. In some cases, print and
electronic resources may be available or helpful.