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.