Technical Training for Film Archivists
Date: 29-30 October 2015
Host: Imperial War Museums, London
* Aims of the course
This course was the second of its kind organized by FIAF, after the one held in Istanbul in February 2015. It addressed all aspects of technology that are relevant to the management of a film archive in the modern world. It covered film technology from its inception to the present day, along with a brief overview of video and television technology. It also covered digital technology and its application in film archives, in particular digitization, digital acquisition and preservation.
* Who attended
The course was aimed at archive curators who need a comprehensive grounding in the technology of film, its relevance to film archive holdings and how the preservation and digitization of this content is managed, as well as existing film technicians in need of a solid introduction to digital technology. It was classroom-based, with some brief practical exercises.
It was attended by Katrine Madsberg and Ole Stranddorf (Danish Film Institute), Arianna Turci (Cinémathèque de Toulouse), Eva Naripea (Estonian Film Archive), Ramón Benítez (Filmoteca de Andalucia), Kirsi Raitaranta and Anna Möttölä (KAVI), Andreas Thein (Filmmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf), Masaki Daibo (National Film Center, Japan), Jieun An and Soyoun Cho (Korean Film Archive), Diana Kluge (Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek), Columb Gilna (IFI Irish Film Archive), Lenka Suchá (MA, Amsterdam), and Britt Patterson (Amsterdam MA).
The students' feedback forms can be consulted HERE.
* Topics covered
- History of Film Technology
Including early film formats, colour, sound, formats, production routes, editing and identification.
- History of TV and Video Technology
Including early TV production, the development of magnetic recording, video formats, aspect ratios, TV production routes, identification.
- Preservation of Film and Video
Including preservation strategies, nitrate, acetate and colour preservation, repair, laboratory work, videotape.
- Digital Technology and Digitisation
Including the rudiments of digital technology, digital images and film, audio, file formats and compression, digitising film.
- Management and Preservation of Digital Material
The OAIS, acquisition and ingest, archival storage, access, practicalities and problems.
* Lecturers
David Walsh, Head of the FIAF Technical Commission and Head of Digital Collections at IWM.
John Reed, former Preservation Officer at the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.
* Information leaflet
The information leaflet/registration form for the course can be downloaded HERE.
* Photos
Photos of the two-day training course at IWM London are available on the FIAF Facebook page.
