Frame by frame: a documentary on the preservation of film

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Content FRAME BY FRAME:
A DOCUMENTARY ON THE PRESERV ATION OF FILM
by
UTTARA V ALLURI
______________________________________________________________________________
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM: THE ARTS)
August 2015
Copyright 2015 Uttara Valluri
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 3
Abstract 4
References 7
Copyright 2015 2 Uttara Valluri
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks to Prof. Dan Birman for his encouragement, and tireless
effort in helping me work on this documentary; Prof. Tim Page and Prof.
Bill Yahraus for agreeing to lend their support and for their confidence.
I would also like to thank all the people that made my research easy, and
my film a great learning experience- Amy Halpern-Lebrun & David
Lebrun for welcoming me to their studio and their home, for teaching
me the importance of movement and sound, and for their continued
work in Abstract Film; Dino Everett and the Hugh M. Hefner Moving
Image Archive at USC; Tom Barnes, Jim Newman and Joe Rinaudo for
introducing me to the fascinating world of silent films; the entire team at
Fotokem, particularly Andrew Oran and Vincent Roth for taking time
out to help me, and granting me access to the facilities.
Finally, I’m grateful to my mother, my friends, the faculty at Annenberg
and the MSJ class of 2015 without whom my graduate education would
be incomplete.
Copyright 2015 3 Uttara Valluri
ABSTRACT
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlkJGH028Sw !4
For over a hundred years, motion pictures have been a regular presence
in our lives, they tell stories, talk about different facets of life, document
events and occurrences, and even give us a glimpse into our history-
whether through documentaries or news reels. Above all, films let us
think outside the box and transport us into worlds well beyond our
imagination.
As the medium of film has changed over the years, so have the methods
of shooting and storage. Traditionally most silent films were shot on a
variety of film formats like 28mm, 16mm or 35mm, with different frame
rates unlike the (now) standardized 24fps. Motion pictures however,
were not shot on material that could last very long, most film reels were
made of plastic that was perishable, and susceptible to decay over the
years if not stored in appropriate conditions. Aside from the storage of
film, other factors could affect a film reel, such as projection and camera
Copyright 2015 4 Uttara Valluri
cranking. With cellulose nitrate film, a slow or uneven projection
through the projector could lead to the risk of fire as this was a highly
flammable substance, same with camera cranking. Movies that were shot
on nitrate were some of the most damaged films over the years- we’ve
all heard the horror stories of studio fires, and reels developing “vinegar
syndrome”.
The Library of Congress released a study few years ago that showed the
statistics of films that required restoration work. According to them, “…
only 20% of U.S. feature films from the 1910 and 1920s survive in
complete form in American archives; of the American features produced
before 1950, about half still exist. For shorts, documentaries, and
independently produced works, we have no way of knowing how much
has been lost”.
Now with the development of home media, streaming services and
DVDs, there are better ways of protecting film. But are these digital
methods the best? Probably not.
Copyright 2015 5 Uttara Valluri
When I started to research film preservation, I was under the assumption
that digital conversion was the single most effective way to secure old
film. As with many other film enthusiasts, I was wrong. Every couple of
years, or months even, there is a shift in technology and all digital data
requires an “upgrade” or a “migration”, this would imply that someone
would have to manually upgrade and then archive all of this data ( in the
case of film). With film, if shot on the right format and stored in
appropriate conditions, the tendency to last for decades is extremely
high. I had heard that a lot of the contemporary films are still shot on
film, some influential directors are strong advocates for the use of film
and the overall usage of this medium is increasing. I then decided to
speak with people in the industry from different technical backgrounds-
filmmakers, archivists and restorers.
This documentary focuses on three people form the industry that have
different creative views on the usage of film, but share the same care and
love for the medium. Watch, as they talk about the process of working
with film.
Copyright 2015 6 Uttara Valluri
REFERENCES
“Preservation Basics." National Film Preservation Foundation: Why
Preserve Film?.
"Library of Congress: 75% of Silent Films Lost." Variety. December 4,
2013.
"Silent Era : Information." Silent Era : Information.
"ABOUT THE NFPF." National Film Preservation Foundation: About
the NFPF.
Copyright 2015 7 Uttara Valluri

Asset Metadata

Creator Valluri, Uttara (author)

Core Title Frame by frame: a documentary on the preservation of film

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism (The Arts)

Publication Date 07/27/2015

Defense Date 07/24/2015

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 16mm,35mm,Black,documentary,film,OAI-PMH Harvest,preservation,reels,Restoration

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Birman, Daniel H. (committee chair), Page, Tim (committee member), Yahraus, Bill (committee member)

Creator Email uttaravalluri@gmail.com,uvalluri@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-608413

Unique identifier UC11301733

Identifier etd-ValluriUtt-3709.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-608413 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ValluriUtt-3709.pdf

Dmrecord 608413

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Valluri, Uttara

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Abstract (if available)

Abstract How is film preserved, and why? This is the overarching theme of ""Frame x Frame"". Through the film we visit the studio of a filmmaker who continues to work on film, the workspaces of an archivist and a restorationist, who show us how it is done, and why it is important to keep this medium alive.