Libraries

Topics of some of the workshops or lectures that will be offered:

Compulsory lectures [for all selected participants]:

• History of Film Technology

In this lecture, the origins of film will be examined from the earliest experimentation onwards. We will look at the development of color and sound cinematography, and at the different film formats that have existed. Film production routes will be discussed, leading to an understanding of how the materials found in film archive are related to each other and to the finished work. Some of the idiosyncrasies of film technology will be discussed.

Expert: David Walsh

• Copyright for Libraries and Archives      

Copyright law figures significantly in the work of archives, and increasingly so, as archivists expand the services they provide and extend access to their collections through innovative uses of technology. This session will cover the basics of copyright law as they apply to the programs and services of libraries and archives today.

Expert: Nazareth A. Pantaloni

• Digital Preservation

Kara Van Malssen, Partner and Senior Consultant at AVP will give an overview digital preservation theory and practice, and of the issues surrounding digital preservation today. Mike Shallcross, IU’s Digital Preservation Librarian will then reflect on their experiences to highlight key issues and considerations related to the planning and implementation of digital preservation initiatives. The session will conclude with an open forum to allow for questions and comments from attendees. 

Expert: Kara Van Malssen, Dave Rice

• TV and Video Technology

 

• Photo Preservation and Conservation

The learning objective of the workshop is to identify the color and black & white photographic processes most commonly found in museum, library and archive collections. The physical and chemical characteristics of historic and contemporary photographic media will be reviewed. These analog processes, starting with daguerreotype and working through to Polacolor, will be placed into historic and technological context with discussion covering deterioration mechanisms and specific vulnerabilities. Richly illustrated lectures will be supplemented with hands-on training focused the visual identification of principal characteristics.

Expert: Paul Messier

• Access

Jon Dunn, Assistant Dean for Library Technologies, and Jon Cameron, Digital Media Service Manager, both at Indiana University, will discuss approaches to providing online access to moving image and audio collections, with a focus on the open source Avalon Media System. The presenters will provide an overview of Avalon and demonstrate its use in providing online access to a variety of archival collections, both openly-accessible and restricted, using examples from Indiana University and other Avalon implementers. They will also discuss standards for interoperability between online audio and moving image content and emerging scholarly and educational tools.

Expert: Jon Dunn, Jon Cameron

• Disaster Preparedness and Response

The disaster preparedness and response workshop will be structured around a simulated disaster. Attendees will arrive and participate as “volunteers” for the salvage and recovery of an audiovisual collection following a flood. Participant/volunteers will work together throughout the day to safely and effectively salvage and stabilize the collection. Participants will begin by reviewing general disaster first response and safety steps. Next they will assess damage, begin to plan triage actions, prioritize media for recovery, and assemble a list of needed supplies. Participants will then organize the space, create teams, and develop a workflow for salvage and cleaning. They will be given instruction in appropriate cleaning procedures for different media types, following which they will begin the recovery operation and work together to salvage the collections. The day will conclude with a discussion on preparedness takeaways from the workshop and next steps for incorporating audiovisual media into existing disaster plans.

Expert: Kara Van Malssen

• Building Academic Film Programs - A New Model 

This lecture will introduce elements of planning, curating, promoting, and running a successful cinema program on a university campus – one model that has proven to be relevant, engaging, diverse, and community building. Topics covered will be program philosophy/mission, role of collaboration, scholarly and creative research – cinema as a research center, curation, materials and rights, marketing and promotions, audience engagement/education, film+ events, student opportunities, funding, assessment. The lecture is designed to pull back the curtain and provide some insight into the mechanics of cinema exhibition. 

Expert: Jon Vickers, Brittany D. Friesner

• Cataloging and Metadata for Moving Images

In this lecture, you will be introduced to fundamentals of cataloging for audiovisual collections. We will cover: types of metadata, metadata standards and schemes, guidelines for establishing your own rules, and recommended resources to help you along the way.

Expert: Rachel Behnke and Corinne Vorster

• Open Source Tools and Resources

Expert: Dave Rice

• Personal & Small Scale AV Digitization

Don't have a million-dollar budget to digitize media? Through this course, learn realistic actions that can be taken to establish small scale audiovisual digtization set ups.Topics covered will include: how best to inventory your collection; preparing for preservation; pros and cons of preservation file formats for films and media; making video preservation masters and archival film scans; and storing and managing your preserved works.

Expert: Carmel Curtis

• Archive Management Policies and Funding Strategies

Expert: Rachael Stoeltje

• Digital Restoration - Films of the Silent Era

This course provides a detailed process overview and technical workflow for restoring films of the silent era (or more specifically, film materials that do not include a synchronized soundtrack). Topics covered include: understanding the archaeology of original elements, research and identification of source materials (not just film), reproducing early color systems, reconstruction, restoration, frame rates, rendering options, and ethical considerations. 

Expert: Rob Byrne

• Quality Control for Media Digitization Projects

The workshop will begin with an overview of the QC process as an exercise in risk management. The second part of the workshop will be hands-on with MDPI QC procedures and tools for checking the output of audio, video, and film digitization.

Expert: Mike Casey

• The Current State of Audio Preservation

This lecture provides both a high-level and, in selected areas, detailed view of the current state of audio preservation. It will touch upon issues relating to degradation and obsolescence, standards and best practices, preservation file types and roles, formats, playback equipment, personnel, space, types of workflows, and other topics. 

Expert: Mike Casey

• Physical Attributes of Motion Picture Film

Base material, image orientation, perforation type, aspect ratio, soundtrack type; motion picture film possesses multiple attributes relating to its physical structure, image and soundtrack. Thorough documentation of film requires recognition and understanding of these attributes and an ability to identify them. This session will address the identification, and context, of the many physical attributes of motion picture film.

Experts: Tim Wagner 

• Outreach and Pedagogy

While screenings, home video, and online streaming are common ways to provide access to collections, there are other methods of public outreach that can bring different audiences to media archives. This session will cover a variety of approaches to teaching with archives including integrating digitized film and video into classroom curricula, and community archiving events that train individuals, community leaders, and media producers to care for their own productions. In addition to spreading awareness about the media collections of an institution, this type of civic-minded outreach can play an important social role in increasing public awareness of media literacy and helping individuals learn about their family and local history.

Expert: Andy Uhrich

• Film Preservation

What is “Film Preservation”? The terms film preservation and film restoration are used imprecisely when it comes to motion picture film projects by both archives and commercial entities alike. This session will lead the students through the process of film preservation by defining the terms associated with the work, the considerations of the decision making process for determining the best approach for the specific goals of projects, and the workflows used for both film-to-film and film-to-digital preservation projects. Several real life projects will be used to illustrate the workflows, with students urged to debate/comment upon the approaches used for the examples.

Expert: Ken Weissman 

• Practical Considerations for Managing Digital Content(Overview)

The process between content digitization and delivery is an often overlooked piece of the workflow puzzle. While it is conceptually simple to create derivatives and copy them to a streaming server, creating a robust and reliable system is surprisingly complex. This session will cover some of the details which are necessary to think about when planning a reliable and flexible post-digitization workflow.

Expert: Brian Wheeler

• Film Soundtracks

Prior to the advent of “talkies”, silent movies were rarely screened silent; live musical accompaniment often provided a soundscape for the film.  Debuting in the 1920’s, sound films have been engaging audiences for over 90 years now.  Throughout this time, a variety of technologies has made this possible.  Sound on disc, analog sound on film, magnetic audio tracks and digital audio tracks are some of the methods employed to present synchronized sound with the moving image.  This session will address the identification and playback technologies of motion picture film soundtracks, and the issues involved in their preservation.

Expert: Ken Weismann

Small group sessions [Optional]: 

• Film Projection Workshops

Participants will gain hands-on experience with 35mm threading, show start/end and change-over projection, training on IU Cinema's Kinoton FP-38E studio projectors. 

Expert: Barbara Elina Grassia and Jamie Thomas

• Film Identification and Handling

In this workshop, students will learn how to identify different aspects of motion picture film including, but not limited to gauge, length, orientation, generation, sound type, and color type. Students will also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience handling and winding through motion picture film. Archival best practices will be emphasized and students will walk away confident in their ability to safely handle and identify any motion picture film they encounter.

Expert: Tim Wagner, Amber Bertin and Alicia Hickman

• Film Digitization

In this workshop, students will participate in the digitization of archival films from the various IU collections. Students will get to interact with the film scanner technology and learn how to prepare digitization jobs. This experience will provide students not just with practical experience in film digitization, but a deeper understanding of the choices and variables that each unique film presents, as well as the theories and concepts that are necessary to execute a successful best-practice film scan. 

Expert: Brett Schuermann

• Audio Digitization

This workshop will cover basic audio preservation procedures for open reel tape, cassette tape, and lacquer disc recordings. There will be hands-on exercises in identification, repair, cleaning, and playback. The class will be held in the IU MDPI audio preservation studios. 

Expert: Melissa Widzinski and Dan Figurelli

• Born Digital

The expert will share his experiences developing practical solutions related to the acquisition, ingest, and ongoing management of digital materials.  Using professional standards and best practices as a foundation, he will introduce attendees to key issues and considerations in tool selection and iterative workflow implementation to ensure that institutions find sustainable and appropriate solution common digital preservation needs and challenges.

Expert: Mike Shallcross

• Photo Preservation

The learning objective of the workshop is to identify the color and black & white photographic processes most commonly found in museum, library and archive collections. The physical and chemical characteristics of historic and contemporary photographic media will be reviewed. These analog processes, starting with daguerreotype and working through to Polacolor, will be placed into historic and technological context with discussion covering deterioration mechanisms and specific vulnerabilities. Richly illustrated lectures will be supplemented with hands-on training focused on the visual identification of principal characteristics. 

Expert: Paul Messier

• Freezing Deteriorated Acetate Films, Preservation

Expert: Andy Uhrich

• Disaster Simulation Workshop

This is an extension of the disaster preparedness and response session. A disaster will be simulated and students will be expected to salvage and recover an audio-visual collection. 

Expert: Kara Van Malssen

• Videotape Preservation and Digitization Workshop

This workshop will cover the basic aspects of video preservation for videotape-based formats. Hands-on exercises in physical format identification, inspection and digitization will be included. The class will be held in the IU video preservation studio.

Expert: Rob Mobley

• Videotape Problems Workshop

This workshop will cover some of the more common problems found in videotape collections. Identifying sticky shed syndrome, baking, cleaning, repair, rehousing and other remediation methods will be discussed and demonstrated. The class will be held in the IU processing and video preservation facilities. 

Expert: Rob Mobley and Jonathan Richardson

• Copyright Durations and the Public Domain

The public domain represents a rich resource of cultural works that are free to use, reuse and share without any restrictions due to copyright, but determining whether a work is in the public domain can be difficult. This session will survey the law of copyright durations - both under U.S. law and the laws of other countries - with a focus on resources that participants can use to identify works in the public domain in their own collections and elsewhere.

Expert: Nazareth Pantaloni

• Quality Control of Digitized Film Files

A brief introduction to the principles of quality control and quality assurance and how it fits into the overall MDPI project at IU, followed by hands on demonstrations of the QC process in small groups led by MDPI QC specialists. The sessions will cover the film QC workflow, the basics of Vidicert QC software, spotting and determining defects, tracking and reporting results.

Experts: Darrell Shane Myers, Forrest Greenwood, Charles Mathew Allen 

• Project Management of Digitization

• Cataloging

In small group sessions, participants will view and discuss different cataloging systems and records for moving images, as well as consider the tasks and areas of specialization practiced by moving image catalogers. 

Expert: Rachel Behnke and Corinne Vorster

• Digital Restoration: Hands on with HS-ART's Diamant

This course provides a detailed overview of the HS-ART Diamant film restoration suite, with particular emphasis on film-based materials (i.e not video). The course will include a brief overview followed by a demonstration of the capabilities that include strengths and weaknesses as well as a couple "tricks of the trade". This session is designed to be highly interactive with the possibility of student hands-on experimentation if time and logistics allow. 

Expert: Rob Bryne

• Introduction to Paper Preservation and Conservation

Participants will be introduced to basic theory and practice of the preservation of paper-based collections within archives and libraries. Topics such as basic knowledge of paper as a physical material, the factors contributing to deterioration, and preventive care measures will be covered. Participants will also gain familiarity with conservation treatment options and decision making factors when considering professional conservation treatment.

Expert: Douglas H Sanders

• Hands on workshop using Processing Tools

When an object is digitized and you have a pile of bits, how do you know if the format is what you requested? If it is what you've requested, how do you convert it into something usable? Using tools like FFMPEG, MediaInfo, and FFProbe, participants will check real-life MDPI examples for problems and create derivatives. Familiarity with the unix command line is highly recommended. 

Experts: Brian Wheeler and Mike Shallcross

• Checksums and Fixity

Making sure that the content you've digitized doesn't become corrupted over time is an important part of the preservation process. This session will explore different methodologies for ensuring your content doesn't change over time as well as hands-on activities. 

Experts:Brian Wheeler and Mike Shallcross

 

Please click on the links below to read about the experts who are committed to teach during the summer school.

Visiting Experts

• David Walsh
• Dave Rice
• Kara Van Malssen
• Paul Messier
• Robert Byrne
• Ken Weissman
• Johan Oomen

Indiana University Experts

• Andy Uhrich
• Amber Bertin
• Alicia Hickman
• Barbara Elena Grassia
• Brett Scheuermann
• Brian Wheeler
• Brittany D. Friesner
• Carmel Curtis
• Charles Mathew Allen
• Corinne Vorster
• Dan Figurelli
• Darrell Shane Myers
• Douglas Sanders
• Forrest Greenwood
• Jamie Thomas
• Jon Vickers
• Jon Dunn
• Jonathan Richardson
• Joshua Adam Brewer
• Melissa Widzinski
• Mike Casey
• Mike Shallcross
• Nazareth Pantaloni
• Rachael Stoeltje
• Rachel Behnke
• Rob Mobley
• Susanne K Schwibs
• Timothy Wagner

Celluloid Man

(2012) Directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur

May 16 - Thursday - 7pm

Not rated | 35mm | 164 min

In English, Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Malyalam, Japanese, and French with English subtitles

Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is scheduled to be present. Celluloid Man is a documentary tribute to P.K Nair, an extraordinary man who built the National Film Archive of India 'can-by-can' in a country where film preservation and restoration are completely disregarded. The film explores the early history of Indian cinema and highlights the importance of preserving our moving image heritage before it is too late. The film premiered at the II Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy, in 2012 and won awards at India's 60th National Film Awards in 2013. 

John McEnroe: In the Realm of perfection

(2018) Directed by Julien Faraut

May 17 - Friday - 7pm

Not rated | 2K DCP | 95 min

In English and French with English subtitles

Director Julien Faraut is scheduled to be present. Narrated by Mathieu Amalric, John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection revisits the rich bounty of 16mm footage of John McEnroe, then the worlds top-ranked player, as he competes in the French Open at Paris's Roland Garros Stadium in 1984. Close-ups and slow-motion sequences of McEnroe competing, as well as instances of his notorious temper tantrums, portray a "man who played on the edge of his senses." Faraut creates a lively and immersive study of both the sport and the human body's movement, and how all intersect with cinema itself.

They Shall Not Grow Old 

(2018) Directed by Peter Jackson

May 23 - Thursday - 7pm

May 24 - Friday - 7pm

In English

Peter Jackson's new film "They Shall Not Grow Old" will be screened in 3D at the IU Cinema as part of BAVASS 2019. The first screening will be followed by a panel discussion of use of archival footage, the ethics of this use and the definition of restoration. Panelists include visiting archivist David Walsh from the Imperial War Museum and other special guests. Jackson began with World War I footage from over 100 years that were in the archives of the Imperial War Museum and he colorized and added sound to the film to create a new work, and a new story of the nearly 20 million soldiers and civilians who perished during the war, which began in 1914 and ended on Nov 11, 1918.

Jackson began developing the project in 2014 and decided to use the voices of 120 actual British soldiers who were recorded in the 1960s and colorize actual footage from World War I. The film, which aired i the U.K. on the Armistice Day centennial, was commissioned by 14-18 Nov, the U.K. arts program for the First World War centenary, and the Imperial War Museum, in association with the BBC.

BEHIND THE DOOR (1919)

Directed by Irvin Willat 

May 15 - Wednesday - 7pm

Not rated | DCP Presentation | 80 min | English

With Hobart Bosworth, Jane Novak, Wallace Beery, James Gordon

Writer Gouverneur Morris’s bizarre tale unfolds in a series of disquieting flash- backs that serve to continually ratchet up suspense and foreboding. Producer Thomas H. Ince and director Irvin Willat showed daring and imagination in their adaptation of the sensational material. U-boat captain Lieutenant Brandt (played with leering savagery by Wallace Beery) commands a barbarous crew of submariners whose atrocities rouse a vengeful hero.  A review in Motion Picture News hints at the film's narrative force: "In its slashing boldness, its eloquent daring, its gigantic theme —above all, in its terrific punch—‘Behind the Door’ stands absolutely and unqualifiedly alone!” 

TOMKA AND HIS FRIENDS (1977)

Directed by Xhanfise Keko

May 22 - Wednesday - 7pm

Not rated | DCP Presentation | 74 min | English

The shorts and features of Xhanfise Keko (pronounced Jonnfeesa Kayko), all of which center on children's themes and preoccupations, occupy a pivotal yet controversial place in Albanian cinema. These films were among the most popular of Albania's Communist era, and remain widely loved. But this affection is now tempered with ambivalence about their association with an era many Albanians would prefer to forget. Keko is the only female director in the history of Albanian cinema. When she died in 2007, she left behind a remarkable legacy of nearly a dozen features virtually unknown to Western critics and audiences.
 
The Albanian Cinema Project's English-subtitled restoration of TOMKA AND HIS FRIENDS (1977) is a rare chance to look at moving images from a society that was closed off from the rest of the world for decades. By the time the cameras rolled on TOMKA AND HIS FRIENDS, Keko had established herself as one of the top directors in Albania's male-dominated film industry. Keko filled TOMKA with many stylistic devices that would have been discouraged for higher-profile filmmakers toiling in the system. 
 
TOMKA AND HIS FRIENDS brings us into the compelling story of a group of young boys working to defend their homeland from the occupying German army in the town of Berat, Albania circa 1943. TOMKA's opening tracking shot of the young barefoot protagonists who live under the Nazi occupation signals a vitality missing from nearly all Albanian cinema of the era. When the young boys discover the Germans have transformed their soccer field into a base of operations, they plot revenge. Aiding local partisans (Communists, of course, though this is not stated), Tomka and his pals spy, poison the occupiers' guard dog and help the partisans in a spectacular act of sabotage.
 
This restoration is a rare chance to look at moving images from a society that was closed off from the rest of the world for decades. Starring: Enea Zheku, Artan Puto, Flurans Ilia, Genci Mosho, Herion Mustafaraj, Selma Sotillari, Sotiraq Cili, Zehrudin Dokle.
 

Use the following link to access the pre-curriculum readings. Please download the entire zip folder.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1OilXfblyQ0u6bQKWWcnNn2CnnCA9iWyJ