“Too Fragile to Scan”: Addressing the Physical Challenges of Film Material

With: Michael Schneider
 

This presentation by DFT is intended for archivists, film restoration specialists and professionals involved in preserving historically significant and physically compromised film collections. It addresses the challenges of digitizing fragile film materials – including their shrinkage, warping and degraded perforations – and examines how technological developments are enabling the safer and more accurate digitization of films that were once considered too fragile to scan. Drawing on archival case studies from the Istituto Luce film company at Cinecittà in Rome, the presentation will demonstrate how technologies can support archival workflows by reducing the preparatory work required before the scanning stage.

The session will provide an overview of new technologies in archival film digitization, and of the critical role of continued collaboration between technology developers and archivists.

In English