For as long as I have been part of the UCLA MIAS Program, I
have wondered what a SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers) meeting was like. I had my doubts and my
apprehensions about attending, primarily because I thought that I would be lost
in the dark, not know anyone and be entirely confused about the discussions
taking place. Now, I know differently. To be perfectly frank, I wish I had
started going when I entered the program last year. The scene I entered into
this past March was warm, friendly, and welcoming. Not only was there pizza and
sodas, I saw a slew of familiar faces from the AMIA conferences (both Reel
Thing and the AMIA Annual Conference) and people that I have gotten to know due
to classes and projects that I have worked on within the MIAS Program. My
compatriot in the MIAS program, Gonzalo Ramirez (author of the article below!), had already been to previous
SMPTE meetings, so he was “old school.” I know that there are also other MIAS students
who have joined SMPTE, which (in my eyes) speaks volumes for the upcoming
generation’s current dedication to the interplay between technology and
preservation. I believe with all of my heart that from what I have seen amongst
the students in the New York programs and those here in Los Angeles, we are all
interested in learning more, pursuing more, and being more active as the next
group of preservationists and moving image professionals. It’s very inspiring
since I am concerned that those a few years above us aren’t aware of how
excited we are about this work.
Attending the meeting was great. I was able to discuss
subjects that I had thought just a few years ago I would be unable to
comprehend. I listened to people present their work, and I understood it. In
fact, I even disagreed sometimes. I never imagined I could chat with engineers on film related issues! It was exciting! The presentations were
fabulous and I plan on going back as often as I can. The convivial atmosphere
was also something that I appreciated quite a bit. As a young woman who really
hasn’t been working in the technical areas for a great amount of time, I was
treated with respect and people were interested in discussing things with me
during the “social hour” and were extremely sociable and open. This was
refreshing, exciting, and let me know that this is a group of people who are
open with their work and willing to share. In other words, SMPTE is a community. My favorite word.
And with that, I will let Gonzalo tell you about the greater
portion of the evening as he has done a stunning job writing it up. He is one
of our lovely and bright students who has joined the MIAS program all the way
from Chile, and I don’t think it would be beyond the pale to say HE TOTALLY ROCKS!!!!
Check out his wonderful article. He did a simply SMASHING article!!! Thanks, Gonzalo!! And also, thanks to Dick May
for allowing us to come in and give us the assistance we needed for our
journalism! Much appreciated!
----Ariel
Schudson
AMIA
Student Chapter President, UCLA
“Today’s Use of Black and White and Its Potential Future.” - SMPTE Meeting, March 7, 2013
--- by Gonzalo Ramirez, Graduate Studies, UCLA MIAS Program
Not so long ago, back in Chile, a Cinema History Professor talked
to us about having taught a class of students who didn’t understand anything.
One day, the Professor told us that one of the students from this class asked him
why he forced them to see unfinished films. “What do you mean?” the professor
said, “These films look unfinished,” the student replied because due to the
fact that all the movies were in Black and White.
On March 7th the Hollywood section of SMPTE got together at
the Linwood Dunn Theater with the meeting subject of “Today’s Use of Black and White and Its
Potential Future.”
The program opened with the Head of Restoration of the UCLA
Film and Television Archive Scott MacQueen who remembered a painting professor who
said “Good painting is good drawing” and for him, good drawing is to know
perfectly the use of light in Black and White films. Next he showed us 9
examples of the use of Black and White in classical movies. Examples like Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (William
Dieterle/Max Reinhardt, 1935), The Lodger
(John Brahm, 1944), Grapes of Wrath
(John Ford, 1940), among others, exemplify the use of light from artists like
Gregg Toland, Hal Mohr or Stanley Cortez as a stylistic tool and also establish
the “mood” of the film. These examples showed how William Daniels in Marie Antoinette (W.S. Van Dyke, 1938) expected
to achieved a “Glamour” look, in an open field, with hundred of extras in Marie Antoinette using slow stock and a
lot of light, how Gregg Toland shot one scene in Grapes of Wrath that seems to be lit by a singular moving candle.
How Lucien Ballard in The Lodger
copies the atmosphere in foggy London illuminated with gas lamps.
John Brahm's THE LODGER, lit by Lucien Ballard
Black and White is about the use of light, the provenance of
it, and the way it suggests things or creates an atmosphere that flows with the
story of the movie.
The discussion followed with Andrew Oran from Fotokem and
Tom Burton from Technicolor who made a presentation about today's use of Black
and White film, and its potential future. Andrew Oran talked the history of
Black and White Stock and the modern use in film restoration, meanwhile Tom
Burton, made the ironic remark that Color stock replaced Black and White film;
but preservation copies are still using color separation in Black and White
stock. He discussed how to work with films and preservation elements for
digital restoration, the use of scanners, dirt/scratch removal software and
preservation copies in Black and White stock.
Tom Burton from Technicolor
Black and white did not die with Color Stock, it is still
used as a tool for cinematographers. Modern examples such as The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011) The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr, Ágnes
Hranitzky, 2011), The White Ribbon
(Michael Haneke, 2009), Blancanieves
(Pablo Berger, 2012), or the new Much Ado
About Nothing (Joss Whedon, 2012). All of these examples choose to do it in
Black and White, and our field is key to fully understanding its capacities to
preserve the past for the future in the best possible way.
I know it's been a while but we're back in action and ready to present another smashing screening for the delight and enjoyment of all of you filmfolk and archival engineers alike!
This month on March 29th beginning at 7:30pm, we will be showing two films with the theme of "Secret Sweeties" and we are so very excited about them!
The first film, Ernst Lubitsh's pre-code musical is THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (1931) and it's a real winner! Claudette Colbert, Maurice Chevalier and Miriam Hopkins. Not to be missed! A very rare screening event! This will be shown on a 35mm restored print from the UCLA Film and Television archives and was restored by none other than Bob Gitt, a much-respected man in the archival preservation and restoration community and a talent beyond description.
The other film we are showing is the Steve Martin classic, ROXANNE (1987), featuring Daryl Hannah, Shelley Duvall, Rick Rossovich and many others. Penned by Steve Martin, this Cyrano de Bergerac- based tale will knock your socks off with laughter and romance. A lovely 35mm print will be provided by Sony Pictures Repertory.
For tickets, go here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/345795
For the Facebook event page, go here: https://www.facebook.com/events/600065076674768/
So we invite you to join us for an evening of classic and modern cinema, prizes and more, with proceeds going to the Association of Moving Image Archivists Student Chapter at UCLA, so while you are enjoying the cinema you are also supporting its continuation.
Film fans congregated at the New Beverly Theater last November to spread their applause equally amongst five Hollywood legends, four on the screen, and one in the flesh. Kicking off the evening’s double bill of transportation themed movies was a 35mm print of Twentieth Century, famed screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s tribute to the outsized and eccentric personalities that populate the theater world. The chorus of laughter throughout the film was a testament to John Barrymore and Carole Lombard’s screwball tour-de-force performances as director Oscar Jaffe and starlet Lily Garland. Barrymore’s exclamations of “I close the iron door on you!” remain among the most quotable lines in all of cinema and, if our screening is to be any barometer, have lost little comedic power in the intervening 78 years since the film’s release.
John Hughes’s rollicking ode to the frustrations of holiday traveling, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles rounded out the double bill. The perennial fan favorite played to a lively and receptive audience, equally taken with Steve Martin’s inspired straight man Neal Page as with John Candy’s warm-hearted but ham-handed Del Griffith. A sharp 35mm print accentuated the mood, effectively transporting a theater full of Angelenos back to Thanksgiving, 1987.
The evening’s big draw was Academy Award-winning Planes editor Paul Hirsch, the sort of bona fide legend whose credits one might easily mistake for an AFI Top 100 list (Star Wars, Carrie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc). Hirsch held the audience in rapt attention with behind the scenes anecdotes about working with John Hughes and the process of editing and releasing Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (a three and a half hour first cut!). Hirsch closed out his Q&A by relating his great joy in knowing that audience appreciation for his work grows as the years pass, a sentiment that was surely bolstered at Something Old, Something New 8.
Tonight, Wednesday December 19th at 7:30 and at 10:00 pm at the New Beverly Cinema, 7165 Beverly Blvd, 90036, the AMIA Student Chapter at UCLA is pleased to present our final screening of the year, TRAILER WAR with Drafthouse Films.
We really hope that many of you can make it, as we will be taking a brief hiatus after this screening, but will be coming back in a few months time with yet another AWESOME double feature in our SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW series.
And here, for an extra bonus feature (also for those of you who can't make it), are tonight's program notes...
-Trailer War – Drafthouse
Films, 2012 - December 19, 2012-
What is the good of a trailer? Is
it promotional? Is it entertainment? Is it simply a time filler to ensure that
the audience has time enough to get concessions and won’t miss the main
feature? In one word, YES. It is all of these things and
more. A trailer can convince you to see a movie you have never wanted to see or
turn you away from a movie that you thought you’d give your right arm to go to.
A trailer, in fact, is a very powerful piece of media. It is a creative
enterprise all to itself.
Many creative people started out in
the world of editing trailers (notably Joe Dante, whose extended interview on
the trailer creation process is included on the Trailer War disc). Their
job was not only to make certain that the essence of a given film was expressed
in a specified amount of time, but also in a desired manner. Genre trailers,
for example, have a distinct rhythm and sets of features to give them more
“punch” and attract certain audiences, especially during the 70s and the 80s.
The trailers contained within
tonight’s feature, Trailer War, are exceptional in nature and highlight the way in
which preservation methods can, single-handedly, save important and wonderful
parts of our visual culture. The world at large may recognize the crucial
importance of visual materials such as Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) or
Annie
Hall (Woody Allen, 1977), and make a united effort to keep all of the
elements in beautiful condition, but what of all the films that used to play on
42nd Street in New York City or Chinatown? While a sex comedy or a
martial arts film may not be to everyone’s taste, they are just as worthy of
preservation as the films noir that we celebrate during the yearly festival or
the home movies and amateur films that we excitedly explore during each Home
Movie Day. Trailer War’s aggregation of genre trailers shows us that there
is indeed an archive out there that is looking to make sure that these
materials do not get forgotten.
All the trailers in this feature
are part of the American Genre Film Archive and were collected by Tim League,
founder of the Alamo Drafthouse. Many of these trailers could very well have
been lost, had League not taken a chance, and brokered an all-or-nothing deal
for a good amount of film that included these trailers. This deal could very
well have left him with a large amount of unsalvageable and damaged film, but
instead it paid off in the establishment of a wonderful archive that
specialized in genre works.
As film lovers and archivists in training,
we’re really looking forward to digging into the exciting world of the American
Genre Film Archive and Drafthouse Films tonight, and we hope that you are too!
Thanks for joining us!
This blogger is going to be up front in saying that my area of expertise does not lie in the crime genre. However, this did not keep me from expanding my horizons and venturing in to unknown territory. For Something Old, Something New #7, AMIA of UCLA's student chapter president chose a sophisticated blending of the crime genre bringing a delicious mix of vice and underworld drama.
The first film in the program was Sam Fuller's 1961 masterpiece Underworld USA. Starring Cliff Robertson and Dolores Dorn, Underworld USA tells the story of Tolly Devlin, who as a teenager witnesses the gruesome beating death of his father at the hands of a group of gangsters. Tolly vows revenge and not even a stint in the state pen sidelines his desire to give the men who murdered his father their just desserts. On the night of the screening the audience was graced by the presence of Samantha Fuller (Sam's daughter from his first marriage to Christa Lang). Samantha discussed the impact of Underworld USA as well as the connections she made personally between her father and many of the characters he depicted in his films. For this film she felt the character of Tolly strongly resembled Sam's early years in New York. Like Tolly, Sam's father was killed when he was very young. Additionally, much like the character in the film, Sam was raised by a woman who was unable to bear kids. Samantha also discussed her work an upcoming documentary entitled A Fuller Life which chronicles the life and work of her father through the people who knew him.
The second film of the double bill was Johnnie To's Election (2005). Centering around the election of “chairman” of the Hong Kong Triad Society, the film provides us with a glimpse of crime syndicates in mainland China. Personally, the overt violence (ie: beatings, shootings etc) was not enjoyable however it did give the film an air akin to The Godfather Trilogy or Goodfellas which I could appreciate. The themes of power, money and influence ran heavy as the two main characters Lam Lok (Simon Yam) and Big D (Tony Leung Ka Fai) duked it out for the honorary staff and the position as chairman of the society. And while the two try to form a powerful alliance, in the end there is only room at the top for one man.
As AMIA UCLA student chapter president Ariel Schudson stated, the theme of cross-pollination in key for the Something Old, Something New series. Not only is the audience provided with two films from different eras of filmmaking they are also offered films from other countries as well as various directors and stylistic techniques. The audience that night was offered a great blending of style and form while still managing to stay within the same genre.
--Kelle Anzalone
This week, we have a VERY awesome screening of SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW!
It's East meets West in the criminal underworld....literally!
We will be showing Sam Fuller's noir masterpiece from 1961 Underworld U.S.A and Hong Kong action LEGEND Johnnie To's 2005 Triad brillance, Election, a film that Quentin Tarantino could not get enough of when it was released!!
So won't you please join us for this amazing double feature?? Once again, a portion of the proceeds go to helping our students make it to the educational conferences and activities that we are trying so hard to get to (hey- grad students have very little time or money, but we have a whole lotta love to give and lots of nerding out to offer!!! Seriously- just ask us!! And every ticket you buy is a real help!).
Here is the custom trailer that was designed for our event:
And here is the fantastic flyer that was designed for the evening as well:
While the films will be showing on Thursday night as well (if you can't make it on Friday, please make it on Thursday! Don't miss seeing these films on 35mm and on the big screen!), our guest, Samantha Fuller and the prizes and "event" stuff will only be on Friday.
So this year's Reel Thing conference was, without question, a very special one.
In the last few years that I have been attending, I have noticed that there has been a fairly limited number of people within my age range at the conference and many of them were already in the working world.
As the president of the AMIA Student Chapter, I decided that this year was the year that things were going to change and be different. I knew, from personal experience, that the Reel Thing was one of the most valuable events that I had attended before my decision to apply to the MIAS program at UCLA, and it is indeed one of the events that helped guide my decision-making process. My dream, this year, was to get at least one other student from my year into the conference, and try my best to invite as many others to attend as possible.
To my great delight, not only were all of the returning 2nd year MIAS students able to gain entrance to thanks to our own funds and especially by the help of an extremely generous benefactor, but the incoming 1st years showed up in droves! It was so exciting! Not only were my own familiar classmates there, but a cadre of new students were present, bright-eyed, enjoying the scene and so very enthusiastic.
Together, incoming 1st and 2nd year students, we became like a little representative "team" for not only the MIAS program at UCLA, but also for the AMIA Student Chapter at UCLA. There was a large and noticeable student presence enjoying each others' company, ready to learn everything that the Reel Thing had to offer. This was so cool!
Getting to know each and every new person and introducing them to other people that I may have met previously at other AMIA conferences or in my travels within the archiving world was simply fantastic. To me, this is one of the most crucial tenets of moving image archiving: community. It also carried over to the mixer that I had organized at the Cat & Fiddle in Hollywood, which was especially cool.
To me, this mixer was of particular interest as the invite had been extended to non-MIAS or Reel Thing-enrolled students/AMIA members. This tactic had shown itself to be quite successful at the East Meets West mixer at the AMIA conference in Austin and, the reality is that outreach to all interested community members is integral! Thusly, we did indeed have a few individuals who were interested in the program come and that was just marvelous. Honestly, we had a great time.
I couldn't help but think to myself, as the weekend wound to a close: how far we have come from just a few simple years ago, when the younger set at the conference was significantly smaller (from my perspective, anyway) and the landscape seemed quite different. What we have now established in the AMIA Student Chapter has been a strong foundation for all to come. I'm over the moon at all the excitement for this upcoming year that has been expressed just from this first Reel Thing conference from 1st and 2nd year students alike! The Reel Thing is such a blast! All I know is that it bodes well not only for the AMIA Student Chapter at UCLA and the MIAS program, but for the moving image archive community in general, and that is our goal in the long term, right?
OK. Time for me to quit all my yabbering and let the AMIA Student Chapter members do the talking!! Please enjoy this blog. It is not unlike a variety show where folks come in and out with various voices and opinions, discussions and interests. The way it is set up is by each individual student who will be presenting a section from the Reel Thing event. We have structured each piece so that it goes by the day, and they will be sectioned off and introduced according to the panel they discuss.
Please enjoy the variety of voices and opinions that you will hear coming from each individual author. I guarantee that you will not read more passionate or excited students about archiving and moving image work anytime soon. To me, this is to be cultivated, supported and fed. Sometimes in our daily struggles we can forget how important and essential it is that passion is born, not bred or trained. We at the AMIA Student Chapter, UCLA believe entirely in the study of moving image archiving and hope that you like our current written work that we have produced about our most recent excursion.
**Lauren O'Connor is a 1st year Moving Image Archive Student in the UCLA MIAS program. This was her first time at the Reel Thing and she had a blast! Here is her piece on the Thursday night program, which was a special screening involving the Nicholas Brothers!**
HOW
THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS HELPED SHAPE MY FIRST TIME AT THE REEL THING
I have
always considered myself to be a devout ambassador of movie musicals- where charming celluloid song and dance
numbers are present… so am I!
Because I
consider myself to be such an unapologetic lover of musicals, it’s a little
embarrassing for me to admit I had never heard of the Nicholas Brothers until
last year when I was doing a research project on musical film.
So when
their particular brand of whiz-bang talent and genius came tapping into my
field of vision, I felt quite foolish for never having paid them any mind
before.
Simply put,
they are some of the greatest, most entertaining dancers I have ever seen. Watching one of their routines is like watching
a dazzling fireworks display while simultaneously wearing a robe made of the
finest silk. It’s an experience that is full
of snap, crackle and pop, while also managing to be incredibly smooth. I love them.
About a year
after my first real encounter with the Nicholas Brothers, I found myself in a somewhat
unrelated quandary. I couldn’t decide
whether or not I wanted to attend The
Reel Thing – a conference that defines itself as being “dedicated to
presenting the latest technologies in audiovisual restoration and preservation.”
Let’s be
honest here. Technology can be
scary. For me, technology implies words
and concepts far over my head and nearly impossible for me to grasp. I didn’t want to sign-up for something that I
wouldn’t be able to understand.
However, The
Reel Thing had a few selling points. It
would be the chance to meet-up with some of my future classmates in the MIAS
program at UCLA and it would be a chance to hobnob with future colleagues and
employers.
Oh, and the
opening night presentation was… “A
Tribute to the Nicholas Brothers.”
Yes, I was
still scared of technology, but I was sold, so I signed-up!
Allow me to
paint you a little picture of what the opening night of said Reel Thing was
like…
I pull into
the parking lot at the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study. I have to pinch myself because I’m still a
little girl from Alabama. Going to an
event at the Academy Film Archive feels huge.
My palms are a little sweaty because I know I’m going to have to
introduce myself to people that I only know peripherally. I’m expecting to shake hands and smile at the
reception, but to have a mostly solitary experience listening to esoteric and
inaccessible lectures through the weekend… but that’s fine with me.
Yep, as I
make my way to the building, it seems like most people have friends and
co-workers to talk to and…
Before I can
think one more thought about being shy or alone…
I am swept
up in a great big tidal wave of kindness and support. I meet a nice handful of my future classmates
and professors, who introduce me to others who work within the industry. It’s easy as pie because people are so
approachable. It feels like I’m already
in the co-ed frat, but I didn’t even have to go through Rush. There is no pretense – just a fabulous sense
of community.
Archivists
are awesome!!!!
From there
on out, I had people to sit with during all the lectures and screenings –
people who took me out to dinner and talked with me during all the breaks. I think The Reel Thing might be one of the least solitary experiences a person can
have!
But let’s
get back to the Nicholas Brothers, shall we?
After the
initial meet and greet – and delicious fried mac & cheese balls (you know
you’re at a great event when they have those) – we made our way into the
Linwood Dunn Theater. Bruce Goldstein,
the Repertory Programming Director of New York’s Film Forum, was introduced and
we were treated to his insights on the Nicholas Brothers. The story of the brothers’ rise to fame and
the ups and downs of their career were interspersed with clips of their major
breathtaking routines.
And when I
say breathtaking, I mean breathtaking.
At certain points, the collective audience gasp was more than audible.
One of the
highlights was getting to see the Brothers’ Family Home Movies, which were
inducted into the National Film Registry last year. In these home movies, the brothers filmed
their names on various marquis around Broadway during the 1930s as well as dancing
with Cab Calloway at the Cotton Club and with Fred Astaire on a backlot.
The devout
ambassador of movie musicals I was talking about earlier? Yeah, she almost died during this
presentation. Goldstein’s love for the
Nicholas Brothers was highly contagious.
Everybody, whether they were conscience of the brothers beforehand or
not, left with a new understanding and appreciation of their contribution to
film and dance. It was glorious.
This opening
night presentation set the tone for the rest of The Reel Thing.
Over the
course of the symposium, I began to realize something. I feel about the Nicholas Brothers the same
way I feel about the film archival community.
Here’s what
I mean by that --
The Nicholas
Brothers are undisputed heroes when it comes to movie musicals. Even Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire dubbed them
the greatest dancers to ever grace the screen.
It’s ironic that sometimes they don’t reside on the tips of peoples’
tongues when film musicals are discussed… while Kelly and Astaire are
constantly showered with credit.
Likewise,
you don’t often think about the people that restored the films you watch on
blu-ray. Odds are, you just think about
the people that directed, shot, or starred in them. Most people (even industry vets) don’t know
what we do. When we tell them we’re
archivists or preservationists, their eyes get all glazed over or they crinkle
their noses in confusion.
What I
learned at The Reel Thing is that the people that preserve and restore films
are heroes too! All you have to do is
hear them wax passionately about their projects and see the results of their
tireless work to realize that you are in the company of some of the coolest,
most talented people around. (And no,
the technological stuff was not quite
as hard to grasp as I thought it might be.)
Just as the
Nicholas Brothers can put a smile on your face and make you want to dance, all
of those technicians and film experts can make you want to dive headfirst into
the archival world. I’m very thankful
not only to know they exist, but also to be welcomed so generously into their
realm.
This was my
first Reel Thing. Here’s to many more
and to a great year in the MIAS program at UCLA!!
FRIDAY
**Jeff McCluskey is a 2nd Year MIAS student and AMIA Member. His interests in moving image archiving are vast and include everything from digital issues to current topics raised within the analogue sphere. He has looked into video game preservation within his own work at UCLA, but this time has chosen to write about David Pierce's presentation, the opening Saturday panel. This is his first time at The Reel Thing.**
Multiple Editions
of American Silent Features
Kicking off the Reel Thing this year, attendees were treated
to a presentation that addressed multiple concerns for both moving image
archivists and film historians alike.
David Pierce, founder of the Media History Digital Library, presented a
thoroughly fascinating account of the difficulties that archivists may face
when dealing with silent-era cinema preservation. Mr. Pierce’s debunking of some of the myths
surrounding the production of these early films helps cast a new light on what
were previously misunderstood challenges.
By concentrating on evidence presented through early
production photographs, Mr. Pierce examined the second cameraman that was often
present when film productions were underway.
Eschewing popular understanding that the second camera operator was
there solely to shoot a second, inferior version of the film destined to be cut
for foreign audiences, Pierce presented the argument that, often times, two
versions of the film were made for reasons previously unknown. These alternate editions may have ended up in
foreign release, but there is also evidence to support that the second roll of
film may have been intercut to make the domestic release prints. After all, it was bound to happen that
sometimes the second camera operator would accidentally end up with the
superior shot.
The overarching importance of Mr. Pierce’s presentation lies
in the fact that archivists may never know what the definitive version of an
early silent film may be. Compounded
with the natural problem of degradation for all cinema, film archivists may
never truly know that the film they have gone to such great lengths to restore
was the version of the film that was never even exhibited anywhere. Ultimately, as any valuable research is bound
to present, Mr. Pierce’s presentation raised as many questions as it
answered. We still don’t know if there
were industry-standardized rules for the function of the second camera
operator. More than likely, the operators’
function may have even varied between productions themselves. As archivists tend to these valuable
artifacts, we must use every tool at our disposal to uncover the historical
truth about individual productions. Only
then can we hope to come close to preservation of artifacts as they were
originally intended.
**Vinessa Knowles is a 2nd Year MIAS Student and is the Student Representative on the Committee to Administer the Interdepartmental Degree (CAIDP). This is her first time to the Reel Thing, and she was thrilled to have gotten the opportunity. She is discussing one of the presentations that was given Friday morning regarding LTO tapes and the technology that is used for archive storage within these items.**
Archiving
Digital Content on LTO- technology
behind the LTO drive and media and applications for archiving -
(Mark
Fleischhauer, HP Tape Storage Solutions)
After
a nice start with David Pierce, The Reel Thing came back with Mark Fleischauer
(Sr. Manager for HP Tape Storage Solutions) and his detailed presentation on
the future of LTO drives in archiving. He started out by laying out the major
issues in digital archives management: growth, technology, management, and
resources. Mr. Fleischauer believed these to be the key issues that moving
image archives are facing today, and that the LTO was the solution. For a
little backstory, the LTO was first designed and released in 1997 by TPC (a
consortium of IBM, HP, and Quantum). This consortium is key to making sure that
the best products are available, and at competitive prices. From 1997-2011 LTO
versions 1-5 have been released.
A
progression of advancement was detailed, with a thorough software spec for the
future versions, up to LTO 8. In previous versions the archive had to maintain
a proprietary application to access any of the data on the drives. LTFS allows
for cross platform, self-describing, data formatting, and easy drag and drop
management. The idea put across was that this was a cost effective ($3259 for a
machine, $.4 per GB of storage), green, scalable, shareable, and have a better
bit error rate than the competition. It was also noted by Mr. Fleischauer that
LTO drives would have a 30 year shelf life. The presentation was energetic,
persuasive, and selling LTO as the ultimate archive dream. The real meat of the
presentation took place during the question and answer portion.
The
MIAS program’s very own Professor Snowden Becker opened the gate with a direct
question in regards to the statement that the LTO was “green.” Mr. Fleischauer
responded that LTOs were energy efficient because LTO drives need not to be
regularly “spun” as do hard drives, and that temperature control was not so
touchy for LTO. After this response, Professor Becker hammered home the issue
of what 30 year shelf life entailed. After assuring the audience that he had no
concrete data on that figure, or what it takes to obtain it, he implied that an
LTO drive (of any version) could be left on a shelf indefinitely and be ok.
This was not received well by the audience. A debate was started between
members of the audience, with mild participation from the presenter, on their
experiences with the media. It was questioned how many times could an LTO take
being rewritten. If LTO machines are only two generations back compatible, how
is that in any way enduring to the older LTO? What kind of environmental
controls were needed to maintain a long shelf life? How sensitive are LTO
drives to magnetic erasing? Unfortunately we were not left with satisfying
answers to any of our questions.
While
LTO is undoubtedly being used by major archives, digital storage, and
production, and will continue to lead the way in advancement, it appears as
though there are too many unanswered questions to give it full loyalty.
**David Marriott is a 1st Year MIAS Student and recently moved down here from Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue his career in the moving image archiving field. He expressed interest via email in AMIA events from way back so it was not a surprise that he turned up at the Reel Thing this year. He wrote on another morning session that centered on the film Heaven's Gate and its restoration by Criterion.**
Case Study - Reconstructing and Restoring Heaven's Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980)
Lee Kline wasted little time as he took the stage at this
year’s AMIA: The Reel Thing conference. In from Criterion’s New York offices to
present “Case Study - Reconstructing and Restoring Heaven's Gate,” he opened by
rattling off the familiar list of offences and myths which orbit
wunderkind-turned-recluse director Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (1980).
Bloated, indulgent, catastrophic: there is
little that hasn’t been pinned on the film that bankrupted United Artists,
essentially adding a grim bookend to the fabled Easy Riders, Raging Bulls auteur-centric period of American
filmmaking. Kline was also quick to point out
that few have actually had the opportunity to screen the film Cimino intended, the only available version for many
years being a heavily truncated studio release, a reaction to the disastrous
initial screenings. The verdict? According to Kline, European audiences had it
right the whole time; Cimino’s cut is good, so good that Criterion embarked on
the sizable task of restoring the full 219-minute director’s cut. This
labyrinthine process began with a handful of 70mm prints of the complete
version, which were quickly deemed unacceptable due to a prevalent brown tint
in the image. 35mm exhibition copies provided a stronger image, but existed
almost exclusively as the shortened version. Ultimately, as Kline described,
the Criterion team based their restoration largely on YCM color separation
masters of the complete version, which luckily remained
intact.
Adding an extra dimension to the presentation, Kline
periodically wove in his experiences approaching and ultimately collaborating
with Michael Cimino on the restoration. Cimino, by Kline’s account, bears
little to nothing in common with his historical caricature, that of egomaniacal
director. The Cimino of Kline’s account is patient and generous, excited to
help throughout Criterion’s process. The presentation closed with a six-minute
preview of the restoration itself that scored big with the theater audience and
left more than a few jealous that Venice Film Festival goers get to see the
whole thing on the big screen.
Heaven’s Gate has
traditionally occupied a treacherous place in
film history, more myth that movie. With any luck, Criterion’s restoration will
tip the scales, dispense with the infamy, and bring audiences back to an
American gem.
**Susan Etheridge is a 1st Year MIAS Student coming to the program from Colorlab on the east coast. She has done an incredible amount of work in the photographic and technical realms and has expressed an intense desire to be a strong part of the AMIA Student Chapter by already having been an in integral part of the most recent screening. This is her first Reel Thing and she decided to write on Dino Everett's presentation on the desktop 35mm printer.**
An Easy and Affordable 35mm Desktop Film Printer Dino Everett, Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive
One of the negative aspects of digital cinema is that no longterm digital infrastructure exists for archiving, whereas traditional film provides a longterm preservation method for itself. If a movie exists on polyester stock and it is properly stored, it can last for an estimated 1000 years. Films shot digitally can be output to film in a process that is known as a 'film-out', but this method can be prohibitively expensive for smaller archives.
Another problematic issue that is inherent to digital media is the multiple formats and codecs that exist when film becomes a 'file', and the computers and software used to read these files become outdated or obsolete within a matter of a few years. Traditional film, on the other hand, has been around for more than a century, and although exhibition methods for viewing film have changed over the years, a film that was made 50 years ago can be projected on the same equipment used to project a film made last week. Furthermore, if the viewer lacks a projector or a scanner, they can hold the film up to light and ascertain what is on it.
At the AMIA's Reel Thing Symposium, Dino Everett of the Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive gave a presentation showing a 35mm desktop printer that is no larger than a Xerox machine, at a cost of $20,000 to $30,000 per machine. This printer can produce a 'film-out' of digital media that would have previously required the use of a film lab, but can now be accomplished in an office space (though the 'film-out' itself will still require a lab for processing).
One of the many advantages of this machine is that one doesn't have to be a technician to operate it, as its Apple Macintosh (Mac) OSX-based operating system makes it familiar and easy to use. Another advantage is the cost of making the film-outs themselves. Digital storage has been touted as the most economical method of archiving media, but this printer disproves that argument. For this presentation, Everett used Kodak's 5207 Vision 3 35mm film to output a short digital file, at a cost of $150 per 90 feet of film for the film-out. A one-light check print was made for $170. The total cost using traditional photochemistry techniques was around $400, while digital archiving of the same digital file cost approximately $2000. This included a film scan at $1/foot, a $100 data management charge, $750/hour color correction, and $500 for the Digital Cinema Package (DCP).
The one drawback of the digital printer is that it can only record image, not audio, and separate backups for audio still need to be made. Regardless, Mr. Everett's presentation demonstrated that using film as a backup for digital media in lieu of digital storage is the cheapest and easiest method for archiving. Once a film backup is made it can just sit on a shelf until it needs to be used. Unlike traditional film, digital archiving requires electricity and migration from current platform to future platforms. Mr. Everett pointed out in his presentation that because of this, digital storage is not archiving or preserving in the traditional sense, but simply a means of access that is limited to current platforms.
**Rachel Wilson is a 2nd Year MIAS Student and AMIA Member. She has interned with Dino Everett , is currently having expanding her filmic education at the Telluride Film Festival and her film interests are countless and varied. This is her first Reel Thing. She wrote about the final presentation of the day on Friday which dealt with the restoration of the Yellow Submarine and a short piece about the sound presentation on Saturday morning.**
Yellow Submarine restoration (Paul Rutan)
The
Beatles occupy an iconic period in our musical history and “Yellow Submarine”
is just one of their many chart-topping singles. However, perhaps less is known
about the feature-length animated film based on the music of The Beatles and
brought to life by George Dunning in 1968.
While I was not around for the animated film’s original release, being
introduced to the film through clips of the beautiful restoration work done by
Paul Rutan Jr. and his team at Triage Motion Picture Services on the second day
of The Reel Thing, proved to be a fantastic experience and were examples of the
ways audiovisual restoration embraces original formats, engaging with contemporary
viewing mediums.
In terms of the
photochemical restoration work, it was fantastic to discover that they were
able to create a new color answer print from the original negative after
determining that the interpositive prints were, with exception to the “Hey
Bulldog” number, largely an unsalvageable mess.
Using wet gate technology and incorporating the new timing on the
cleaned and color graded original negative, they created a brand new interpositive
print, thus photochemically restoring and preserving a colorful addition to our
filmic heritage. Mr. Rutan and his team
at Triage could have stopped there, but in keeping with the times, part of
embracing the future of audiovisual archiving, is embracing the digital.
Triage, with the
help of Eque and Pixel Perception then endeavored to scan the brand new interpositive
in powerful 4K resolution under the trained eye of a large contingent of digital
artists and colorists. While digitally
restoring the entire feature with an eye towards catering to high quality
digital formats such as Blu-ray and Digital Cinema Projection, Paul stressed
the importance of quality within the original filmic materials as being
critically important to the digital restoration’s overall success. It was also great to hear that amidst all the
modern technological tools employed in restoring the film, Paul and his team
were committed to the subtle nuances of the original filmic, hand painted
frames; painstakingly poring over each frame to insure its original
integrity. The end result was beautiful,
but so was the photochemical restoration.
The Q&A
following the presentation could be described as “The Great Grain Debate of
2012,” and I mean that in no casual way.
Audiovisual restoration, like the field itself, is a term that necessitates
constant re-evaluation as we traverse the shift from the analog to the
digital. There are no easy answers, and
we cannot hope to successfully bring this field into the future without
recognizing its past. At the core of it all, are we not a field dedicated to
preserving the past for the benefit of the future, grain and all?
SATURDAY
**(Rachel Wilson cont'd)**
Wow Removal techniques (Ellis Burman)
When you say
wow, I hear whammy bar. When listening
to Ellis Burman’s examples of “wow,” or the audible unsteadiness in the pitch
of an audio track, I kept thinking back to the little silver effects bar
featured on my candy-apple-red Fender Squire.
But what may have been a popular electric guitar effect in surfer music
doesn’t bode well for the restoration of audio tracks suffering from the
unnaturally warbley effect of the physical deformation of playback media due to
“vinegar syndrome.” By highlighting
several different digital audio restoration techniques, Ellis was able to take
audio clips in some of the worst shape, and magically reconstitute and de-wow
them. Taking time to discuss both the
advantages and drawbacks of each of the audio techniques he presented, Ellis’s
take on audio restoration, something I know next to nothing about, was
straight-forward, easy to digest, and practical in its approach. Let there be no doubt, Ellis put the “audio”
back in “audiovisual archiving” at this year’s The Reel Thing.
**Robert Vaszari is a 1st Year MIAS Student and AMIA Member. This is his first Reel Thing and he was considering only coming for one day but when he heard what an amazing event it was going to be, his mind was immediately changed and he signed up for the full thing! He is a regular attendee at the AMIA Student Chapter Something Old, Something New screening series and is a very active participant in the local L.A. film community. His piece is on the final presentation of the conference, the "secret film"!**
After taking a thrilling two day plunge into the moving image archiving community at the AMIA’s Reel Thing program my brain’s synapses were coming close to overloading on the wealth of exciting panels and the awesome opportunities to meet professionals within the field as well as my future compatriots in UCLA’s MIAS community . The promise of a premiere screening of a newly restored secret film was exactly the jolt of anticipation that my inner movie geek needed to keep my reptilian brain’s demand for rest at bay. As the hour of the screening drew close, speculation on the identity of the film began to run rampant in the foyer of the theater. Could it be a screening of the newly restored Lawrence of Arabia, whose trailer gloriously opened the program Friday morning? Not so, said Reel Thing programmer Grover Crisp, as it had already premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Or could it be a screening of the classic noir-ish 50’s suspense thriller Experiment in Terror starring Glenn Ford as I had overheard being discussed like a juicy morsel of gossip (again, no dice). As veteran and budding archivists alike sat together for one final time, I thought what better way to celebrate the work being done for preservation and restoration than to enjoy a newly completed restoration of a film? So many people had labored over this just so we could experience it as the first audience had when it was originally released! As Grover Crisp introduced the film he hinted that it was an underrated Academy Award winning Italian film from the 70’s starring an actor who could be seen in A Fistful of Dollars and A Few dollars More. Sony had worked on restoring the film in partnership with L’Immagine Ritrovata, the Italian film laboratory responsible for the digital restoration of the 1934 version of Les Miserables as presented earlier by Davide Pozzi, director of its film restoration efforts. Admittedly unfamiliar with 70’s Italian films beyond the great Italian exports of Spaghetti Westerns, Giallo thrillers and Italian euro-crime films, I was still at a loss as to what I was about to watch. As the film’s title credits rolled, introducing the film as Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion directed by Elio Petri, it felt as if I was making a personal discovery of a cinematic artifact of unknown origin, as I had never heard of either the movie or its director. Uncertainty mixed with excitement at this turn of events, yet the thrill of experiencing a film completely beyond my knowledge soon won over my initial hesitation. I must admit that I am not immune to the influences of the Hollywood hype movie culture, which I blame for my momentary incomprehension that I could be watching a film that I had absolutely zero “pre-awareness” of. Recovering from this disorientation as the film began, I realized I was in for a great cinematic treat. The film enigmatically opened with a puzzling scene of a man murdering his lover then going out of his way to leave evidence implicating himself in the crime. I thought this was a really original set up to what I thought would be a traditional police thriller, yet as the plot developed it became clear that this was not a typical crime film at all. In actuality, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is a smart and darkly humorous satire of the nature of law and its relation to those entrusted by society to enforce it. In today’s mainstream film culture where “pre-awareness” is the reigning studio buzz word and even trailers have trailers counting down to their unveiling with great fanfare, it really was refreshing to experience a film with no expectations of where its cinematic journey would take me. It thrills me to know that there are films like Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion out there in film archives around the world waiting to be re-introduced and rediscovered by modern audiences. For me, this final event of the Reel Thing program encapsulates what the moving image archiving field is truly all about. In preserving and restoring films like Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, today’s film archivists are giving new generations of film audiences the chance to discover and enjoy the movies of our collective cinematic history. Sooooo… after all this melodramatic reportage and rhapsodizing, can you tell yet that I’m totally excited to be joining UCLA’s Moving Image Archive Studies program and AMIA Student Chapter? I’m thinking it’s gonna be pretty awesome.
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