LA B-11. The Art of Film For all inquiries and requests for

information, your first contact should be the Head TF, Ally Field. <afield@fas.harvard.edu>.

Please limit your emails to essentials. Once sectioning has begun, your first

point of contact will be your section leader.

LA B-11. The Art of Film Be sure to hand in your lottery forms. Lottery results should be available by midnight

tonight (September 20). All students will be informed of results by email. Please be sure your email address is legible.

Any student not admitted who wishes to be placed on the wait list for this course should notify the Head TF, Ally Field, by e-mail: <afield@fas.harvard.edu>.

Film archives and the film study print

More than half the films produced before 1949 are lost. Because of technological changes, we rarely see the

films that remain in their original forms, or in their original contexts.

We must imagine way of viewing films historically. This means understanding

how films were made and what they looked like for their original audiences.

the differences between a 16mm or video version of a film, and variations in original 35mm versions (if an “original” still exists!).

Viewing films historically What might it have been like to watch this film

in its first release, with the audience for which it was originally intended?

What changes might have occurred in existing versions of the print?

How does the video version (or versions) differ from the photographic print version?

Film archives and the film study print

The differences between film and video copies of films.

Problems of lost films, corrupted versions of films, and historical differences in film viewing.

Compromises in restoring films for film study.

Differences between film and video

Cinematography mechanical chemical reproduction analog equivalent to

2300-3000 horizontal lines

12 million pixels/frame

Video electronic magnetic media analog and digital

NTSC = 525 lines

350,000 pixels

Differences between film and video

When a film is transferred to video: the image is less sharp, has less contrast, and

produces less of a sense of depth; the reproduction of color is different; the scale of the image is different; sense and power of motion is attenuated:

Film is recorded and projected at 24 frames per second. Pal video at 25 fps NTSC video at 30 fps

the shape of the frame is different; portions of the image are cut;

“panning and scanning”

Film and video

Film (35mm) Analogue Video Digital Technical basis mechanical electronic electronic Support photochemical electromagnetic electromagnetic Capture lens lens + scanner lens + (charge-coupled

device) Image analog analog digital

“Information” isomorphic (visible) analogical, non-isomorphic symbolic aleatory distribution of

grains variations in voltage (electrical signals)

captures photoelectrons; interpolates data

Resolution 12 million pixels 350K pixels 6 million pixels Contrast ratio 1000:1 30:1 150:1 Movement whole frames half fields: two series of

interlaced lines progressive scan: shows both fields in one pass)

Frame rate 24 fps 30 fps (NTSC) 30 fps (NTSC) Blanking yes no no Compression uncompressed,

unquantifiable uncompressed, unquantifiable

“lossy” compression

Process records records transcodes Records in displaced time in real time discontinuous time Display detached screen detached CRT detached CRT linear, not interactive linear, limited interactivity nonlinear, interactive projected light excited phosphors excited phosphors

How silent film audiences saw and heard the films

The motion picture palace. High standards of photographic beauty. Tinting and toning. No standard for shape of frame or speed of

projection until after 1930. Each performance unique.

The fragility of film and the work of FIAF

Before 1915, 85% lost Between 1920-29, of 6,600 features produced, 75%

lost " 1930-39, 5,500 25%

lost " 1940-49 5,000 10%

lost

Destruction of individual copies through over-exploitation. Destruction of prints because of assumed obsolescence.

After "primitive period." After transition to sound. Destruction of copies for safety reasons. Destruction of prints to recover silver or nitrate from the

chemical emulsion of the film. Factors in deterioration of the copies, especially for film

study. Projectors as “film grinders.” Deterioration through subsequent exploitation. Censorship and reediting of films. From Technicolor to Eastman color.

The fragility of film and the work of FIAF

Archival compromises for preservation

Kemp Niver and the Paper Prints Collection at the Library of Congress.

Aesthetics of the dupe:

protects the original but each subsequent copy struck produces deterioration of focus, contrast, color.

Reediting for "aesthetic purposes.”

Problems of non-standardized aspect ratios and film speeds.