Another week has gone by and we are that much closer to wrapping up the project of inventorying the films at filmmakers. As I watch the piles of films slowly dwindle I find myself wondering how many other people have touched these films over the years. Most of the cans show the name of the last person to check out the film to show to a class or another group of other people. I am sure that none of these individuals worried that one day these films might be lost or discarded, lost in the black hole of time and degradation. Then I wonder, will my hands be the last to touch these films, will my notes on their condition be the last ever made.
Title after title and I write, I write and I write. Damaged, warped, spliced, vinegar syndrome, scratched, fading, faded...and on and on. I can't help but feel like I am writing a eulogy or even engraving the headstones of these dead and dying films.
Is there a chance of resurrection? Is there a savior out there, somewhere; someone who will care for these films? I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that a few weeks from now I will see these reels for what is more than likely the last time ever, and they will slowly fade from my mind. All of the titles I have scribed will slip from my thoughts. And every once in a while I will find myself wondering, whatever happened to all of those films?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Week 5
This week we started work on the rest of the film collection located in a stairwell at Filmmakers. As we continue to find more and more films faded and fading, struggling with vinegar syndrome, and a myriad of other problems, I wonder who is going to want to bring these films into their collection. One of our fellow classmates is doing her paper in this collection and I am interested in finding out if she finds an institution willing to bring in films that they know are in such disrepair.
Personally I am graoing interested in these films for their content. Educational films are a great way to look back on how our schools have used media to inform children about different things in our world. There have been tons of history focused and safety focused films. I think back to some of the movies I watched in elementary and high school; I think about what they taught me and how they helped to shape my opinions on the world I live in. I also think about the films my friends saw in school and how they helped to shape their opinions.
This is an interesting subject. I doubted that I would enjoy looking at the degrading films but I have been proven wrong. Through this exercise many interesting questions have been raised and I am interested in seeing what will happen to these films when we are done. Will they continue to haunt this mysterious staircase of almost lost films or will they be resurrected to teach us once again, not of the present but of the past; where we came from?
Personally I am graoing interested in these films for their content. Educational films are a great way to look back on how our schools have used media to inform children about different things in our world. There have been tons of history focused and safety focused films. I think back to some of the movies I watched in elementary and high school; I think about what they taught me and how they helped to shape my opinions on the world I live in. I also think about the films my friends saw in school and how they helped to shape their opinions.
This is an interesting subject. I doubted that I would enjoy looking at the degrading films but I have been proven wrong. Through this exercise many interesting questions have been raised and I am interested in seeing what will happen to these films when we are done. Will they continue to haunt this mysterious staircase of almost lost films or will they be resurrected to teach us once again, not of the present but of the past; where we came from?
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Week 4
This week we made great headway into the collection by finishing the films above Filmmaker's library. As we get further along into the collection we are beginning to think about the institutions and individuals that we may consider trying to get in touch with about the films.
Lindsey has talk to Rick Prelinger, and he has said that he may be interested in some of the films.
We have also made a separate stack of films that are Pittsburgh focused which we believe Filmmakers should probably try to hold onto.
The more I am around these films, the more I hold them and look at them, the more I want to watch them. We are trying to see what kind of state they are in, but I would much rather watch them. I want to see the stories that they hold. I would love to clean them and just put them through the projector.
As I have said many times in class and to my classmates, I don't know much about film. I am a viewer of movies. I love the stories. I like to know why people make them. And above all I like to watch them. I am just wondering if these films are ever going to truly see the light of day again. Is there really an audience out there who cares about these stories anymore? The job is an interesting one, and I have begun to learn a little about film and the care it takes to keep them alive. But in the end it always seems to raise more questions than it answers. Which, I guess, is the course of most things in life.
Lindsey has talk to Rick Prelinger, and he has said that he may be interested in some of the films.
We have also made a separate stack of films that are Pittsburgh focused which we believe Filmmakers should probably try to hold onto.
The more I am around these films, the more I hold them and look at them, the more I want to watch them. We are trying to see what kind of state they are in, but I would much rather watch them. I want to see the stories that they hold. I would love to clean them and just put them through the projector.
As I have said many times in class and to my classmates, I don't know much about film. I am a viewer of movies. I love the stories. I like to know why people make them. And above all I like to watch them. I am just wondering if these films are ever going to truly see the light of day again. Is there really an audience out there who cares about these stories anymore? The job is an interesting one, and I have begun to learn a little about film and the care it takes to keep them alive. But in the end it always seems to raise more questions than it answers. Which, I guess, is the course of most things in life.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Week 3
This third week saw us doing our best to speed up the reviewing process. With only five weeks left to go and a myriad of films left to look over we find ourselves pressed for time. Time. This intangible thing finds itself impeding on so many processes. If only we had more time to work more thoroughly, if only time wasn't causing the films to decay more quickly, if only time wasn't a factor the things we could get done.
We have decided not to worry about the edge codes of the films and focus more on if they are fading and if the titles on the cans match the titles on the films. We're still seeing whether they are black and white or color and whether they have sound or if they are silent. But overall we have decided to narrow our focus so that we can make it through as much of the collection as possible, and then see if we can find the films still in good condition a new home.
One of the new things I learned this week was that there is more than one type of sound that can be on film. I don't remember the name of it right now but the lines of the audio don't run along the film but are vertical instead causing a striped look on beside the film.
Three weeks down and five to go. Time is tough competitor and in the end always wins, one way or another. But fight we must and fight we will.
We have decided not to worry about the edge codes of the films and focus more on if they are fading and if the titles on the cans match the titles on the films. We're still seeing whether they are black and white or color and whether they have sound or if they are silent. But overall we have decided to narrow our focus so that we can make it through as much of the collection as possible, and then see if we can find the films still in good condition a new home.
One of the new things I learned this week was that there is more than one type of sound that can be on film. I don't remember the name of it right now but the lines of the audio don't run along the film but are vertical instead causing a striped look on beside the film.
Three weeks down and five to go. Time is tough competitor and in the end always wins, one way or another. But fight we must and fight we will.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Week 2
This week saw us continuing our cataloging of the educational films at Filmmakers. The more I look at these films I woonder about them. I have not actually watched these movies and yet i am getting to know them intimately: looking for scratches and disfigurments, seeing how some of them have retained their color while others have begun to turn pink or are already a dark magenta. I learn if the film had a voice in sound or if it moved people through pictures alone.
I find myself scrolling through these films and wishing that I had the chance to actually watch them. I wish we had the time to watch them and look for these defects. But time is the problem. Time is slowly eroding these films and we don't have enough time to give each of them the full attention they deserve.
All of this in conflicting. I am learning about each film, cataloging their makeup and yet I don't know how much good it will come too. I hope that the work will be able to save some of these films. I hope we can eventually find them a place to live and be cared for, but that is the question - who out there would really care for them. We're trying. And that at least is something.
I find myself scrolling through these films and wishing that I had the chance to actually watch them. I wish we had the time to watch them and look for these defects. But time is the problem. Time is slowly eroding these films and we don't have enough time to give each of them the full attention they deserve.
All of this in conflicting. I am learning about each film, cataloging their makeup and yet I don't know how much good it will come too. I hope that the work will be able to save some of these films. I hope we can eventually find them a place to live and be cared for, but that is the question - who out there would really care for them. We're trying. And that at least is something.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Week 1 - Introduction to the Project
The goal of this volunteer service at Pittsburgh Filmmakers is to continue the work begun by, Lindsay Mattock, a fellow student in the Archives track at the University of Pittsburgh. Joshua Harris and Jessica Cooper are also volunteering to work on this project. The project is to inventory a collection of mostly 16mm film and some 35mm film. Following the criteria set by Lindsay we will be recording a certain set of information about each film including; title, whether it is black and white or color, whether it is silent or has sound, what type of damage it may have, the production company, etc. By inventorying this information Pittsburgh Filmmakers will then be able to make an informed decision as to what film should be kept by the institution and what film they should try to find a new home.
This past Thursday was our first day on the job. Lindsay showed us around the facility, introducing us to a few of the staff and the director along the way. She then preceded to show us the collection of films we would be working on and telling us the specifics of what we would be looking for in our inventory.
Once we had been instructed as to the procedures of the job we jumped on in and began the work of inventorying the films. By the end of the day I had learned how to tell if the film had begun to fade (turning a pink color), if the film had sound or not, and who had produced the film. I am looking forward to continuing this project and hope to continue to gain valuable knowledge about film and its preservation.
This past Thursday was our first day on the job. Lindsay showed us around the facility, introducing us to a few of the staff and the director along the way. She then preceded to show us the collection of films we would be working on and telling us the specifics of what we would be looking for in our inventory.
Once we had been instructed as to the procedures of the job we jumped on in and began the work of inventorying the films. By the end of the day I had learned how to tell if the film had begun to fade (turning a pink color), if the film had sound or not, and who had produced the film. I am looking forward to continuing this project and hope to continue to gain valuable knowledge about film and its preservation.
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