Created by: Michael
Ruzicka
Last Update: December 15, 2004
Belton, J. (Spring 2002). Digital cinema: a false revolution. October Magazine, 98-114.
To fully appreciate the technological environment surrounding the film industry a film archivist must understand the historical timeline of each new innovation in presenting film. John Belton’s article provides such an understanding. His main focus is on the technological advancements of sound in film and how they have advanced to the digital technology that has become today’s standard. Also discussed is the widespread use of digital animation and computer generated images (CGI) in film. Belton’s strongest statement on Hollywood’s obsession with digital technology comes in his critique of the development of digitally storing film stocks. His opinion remains with the use of polyester film that can be stored for up to 100 years if in cold storage. Digitally storing film runs the risk of new technologies rendering the previous storage capabilities seriously outdated, or worse, obsolete.
Birchard, R.S. (2004). Nitrate machos vs. nitrate nellies: buccaneer days at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The Moving Image, 4/1, 119-129.
One of the best ways to find out about the real history behind a film collection is to listen to someone who was there from the ground up. Robert Birchard was one such pioneer, among others, who started the UCLA Film and Television Archive. At the center of the beginning was an eccentric man named Bob Epstein. Birchard retells the archives beginnings through the vicarious eyes of Mr. Epstein who headed the archive at the start and was forced to leave after many rising differences with University officials. The details of preservation projects from University donations are given in Birchard’s account. This gives a real sense of understanding on the sorted origins of a now renowned film archive. Epstein referred to himself and his colleagues as “Nitrate Machos”, or those who were not afraid of the destructive material used in early film prints. “Nitrate Nellies” was a term reserved for those who did not agree with his vision at the time.
Child, M.S. (1993). Directory of Information Sources on Scientific Research Related to the Preservation of Sound Recordings, Still and Moving Images, and Magnetic Tape. Washington, D.C.: Commission on Preservation and Access.
Compiled as a tool for the film archivist and preservationist, this small directory provides very helpful address and information related to the field. Major organizations are listed along with a brief synopsis of their purpose and membership. Bibliographic information is also given on preservation literature supported by the organizations listed. The URL for the publication is as follows:
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/child/dirsound.html
Geuens, J. (2002). Far from Bengal lights: the fate of the film artist of the beginning of the twenty-first century. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 19, 299-307.
The role of digital technologies is explored in this article from Jean-Pierre Geunes. Here Geunes suggests that digital technologies have taken the unique creativity out of the film making process in lieu of a simpler way of portraying a scene. The motives behind the decisions to go digital and the historical contrast of creative film works are discussed. A film archivist must also understand this dichotomy of modern developments. It is with this understanding that an appreciation comes for the “things” that are being preserved.
Gray, F. & Sheppard, E. (2004). Moving history: promoting moving image archive collections in an emerging digital age. The Moving Image, 4/2, 110-118.
The expanding field of film archiving and film preservation provides the researcher with many collections to contact and utilize. This article explores this subject with an eye to provide an online guide of film collections for the researcher. The article discusses the background of film archiving and the relationship that has developed between the archivist and the academic. The authors make their main point in suggesting that an online guide also provide sample clips that could be ran as a stream through the website. Software technologies are also discussed with this potential resource.
McCargar, V. (2004). News that moves: Accessioning video for newspaper archives. The Moving Image, 4/2, 22-37.
The technological development of providing text-based news institutions with the ability to feed their online users with streaming video is the focus of this article. The article discusses those newsprint outlets that are already using the technology, like the Los Angeles Times. Comparisons are made to media news archives in that the access to moving images are a part of a moving image archive’s purpose. Newsprint media has more of a challenge to make this technology more widely accessible through their own medium’s constraints. Web technology has provided the door where the mediums of print and video blend.
Simpson, J. (2004). This film is dangerous: a celebration of nitrate film. The Moving Image, 4/1, 86-110.
The dangers of nitrate based film stock is re-envisioned as a beautiful means by which to make movies in this review of the weighty book of the same title published by the International Federation of Film Archives. While I was not able to check the book out through interlibrary loan due to its valuable nature, this review stands as a glimpse into its contents. The book (all 720 pages) acts as a letter of appreciation to the much-maligned film stock. Collections of research papers, movie stills, and essays are compiled in the book.
Stumm, C. (2004). Preservation of electronic media in libraries, museums, and archives. The Moving Image, 4/2, 38-63.
Moving image media has provided the librarian with the modern challenge to develop new ways of preserving its often-frustrating nature. Various film formats, CD-ROMs, VHS cassettes, and microfilm are only a portion of formats that contain moving image media. This article details the processes specific to the library in the preservation of this media. Carey Stumm takes an outlined approach to this article and provides detailed suggestions and information for the librarian in charge of moving image media.
Walsh, D. & Read, P. (2003). Film archives in the digital era: new concepts and new policies. The Moving Image, 3/2, 136-141.
David Walsh and Paul Read went to the Archimedia Seminar, Amsterdam in January 2003. This article is a review of the new developments in archival technologies that were discussed at the seminar. Philosophical issues on the preservation of film were discussed during the seminar as well as the presentations of various research papers.
Staley, D.J. (2003). Computers, Visualization, and History: How New Technology Will Transform Our Understanding of the Past. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.
The contemporary survival instinct for institutions charged with the care of historical items should be to create an online identity within the Web. To lag behind in a text based world would be to deny the progression of history. This is the central assertion of this book by David Staley. The book provides a very apropos discussion of the importance in having a prominent web presence to showcase an historical collection. The book’s contents are especially meaningful to the keepers of moving images where the Web could be the only medium that can provide all other mediums at once.