Archive for the ‘ NWFA ’ Category
I’ve spent a fair bit of time now in the archive and I have watch a fair amount of films, but I still haven’t watched any actual film.
A large number of films in the archive have been transferred onto SVHS, VHS and DVD for previewing purposes. Some films however – I’m not sure of the ratio – haven’t been transferred from their original format to a preview format. These films can still be seen in theory, but as they are kept in controlled temperature and humidity conditions it takes over a week for them to acclimatise.
For this reason, and because I am used to working quickly, it is preferable to me to look at images from the preview discs and cassettes than wait to look at something that exists only on film.
I have to remind myself as I see the video crackle on a VHS or the occasional compression artefact on a DVD, that as much as I enjoy watching the films at the time, I am not actually watching film. The benefits of being able to fast forward or skip chapters are countered by the fact that I am still very detatched from the film medium – a collection of chemically rendered still images on a physical carriage. I am missing the charm of animation.
Luckily I do get to experience moments of actual film viewing as the staff at NWFA watch and log incoming film acquisitions on a fantastic self-contained projection device reffered to as ‘the microwave’. It is a great piece of technology, very compact an easy to understand how it all works. And of course the “whirrrrrrr” of the reel mechanism reminds you that you are actually watching film.
Another day, another retro titling machine to experiment with.
Today I got to play with the video titler. NWFA use it to add titles to the video feed as it is being put to digi beta. I like the fact this machine intercepts the video feed and changes it, rather than those changes happening on a cutting table or in an editing package.
