Motion Picture Film Guidance: Resources
Resources
Motion Picture Film: Resources
- Online Film Preservation Guides
- Organizations
- Digital Preservation of Motion Picture Film
- Other Sites and Videos of Interest
Online Film Preservation Guides
- FilmCare.org - The Image Permanence Institute created this resource, which includes a basic collections risk assessment tool based on storage condition. Also includes a Film Base Identification Guide, Technology Timeline, and Visual Decay Guide to help identify film types and determine condition.
- Film Forever – Sponsored by the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), a home movie preservation guide with lots of really good information. Available in PDF for free download.
- National Film Preservation Foundation – NFPF offers a very helpful guide for film preservation geared toward libraries and museums. Available in PDF for free download.
- National Film and Sound Archive (Australia) Film Preservation Handbook – An in-depth guide to everything pertaining to film care and preservation. Be sure to check out the detailed glossary (online only).
- Care, Handling, and Storage of Motion Picture Film - Information on identifying and handling motion picture film from the Library of Congress.
- Handling of Processed Film - A resource on handling and inspecting motion picture film from Kodak.
- NARA Guide to the Contextual Assessment of Film Elements and Related Materials- This guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Motion Picture Technical Processing Guidance. This document aids in the identification of all related materials and defines common motion picture element terms and expressions historically used in film labs.
- NARA Motion Picture Technical Processing Guidance - This document summarizes the factors considered by staff in NARA’s Motion Picture Preservation Lab when assessing unprocessed collections and organizing records into an archival set for the NARA Moving Image and Sound Branch, or custodial unit.
Organizations
- International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF)
- Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)
- Image Permanence Institute (IPI)
- Center for Home Movies is a group that promotes awareness of the importance and preservation of home movie collections
Digital Preservation of Motion Picture Film
- The Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a number of publications including the Digital Dilemma reports (The Digital Dilemma and The Digital Dilemma 2) and a case study of long-term storage and management of data.
Other sites and videos of interest
- Out of the Dark: Bringing Films to Light at the National Archives – A video made by the motion picture archival unit and the preservation lab in order to show how the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) processes films from when they come in the door to when they hit the research room.
- Timeline of Historical Color Systems – An amazing recent effort to bring together all of the knowledge of color systems for film put together by film studies professor Barbara Flueckiger.
- Apollo 11: Rare NASA Films from the National Archives - A short behind-the-scenes look at the recent documentary “Apollo 11” and the work of the NARA Motion Picture Lab in helping to bring this rare footage to the big screen.
- Film Preservation 101 on Unwritten Record - A collection of blog posts on NARA’s own Unwritten Record Blog detailing some of the issues that are experienced by the Motion Picture Lab staff.
Service Providers for Motion Picture Film
- Selected vendors in the Washington, DC, area that are approved to handle NARA’s motion picture records when patrons request a broadcast-quality transfer
- Online directory of film post production facilities
- Laboratories Directory on the Kodak website will direct you to full-service photochemical labs that can make new film copies for preservation purposes.
- AMIA’s Global Service Provider Directory maintained by the Association of Moving Image Archivists.