Since last class, my topic has changed from focusing on digital restoration to a focus on what films have been preserved and what has not, along with how this influences the film canon.
Throughout my research, I have discovered which archives ended up with the silent films from 1912-1929. The major archives these films are housed include the Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, George Eastman House, and UCLA Film & Television Archive. There are a number of films that are lost or incomplete. Many lost films are ones that have decayed over time, have been misplaced, or are in private collections. Much of the focus during the 30’s-50’s was to save the most important films which caused less important films to decay and become lost. There is now a need to create a program to repatriate U.S. feature films from foreign archives due to the fact that many silent films only survive in foreign-release versions. I have also learned the basics of film preservation and how to identify films that do not have titles or unknown dates.
I still need to gather information on specific case studies of films from the George Eastman Museum and assess their state of preservation. Of the surviving silent films, which ones or have all been digitally restored? Regarding the Library of Congress film registry, I want to do more research as to what is happening with the films not yet on the registry and what happens to the films once they do get put on the registry. Lastly, research into the preservation status of the films that do remain.
I really like the direction that you are going in with the idea of what has and has not been preserved. I think this is such an important part of our cultural history. Are you focusing only on the silent film era or all films?
ReplyDeleteGreat questions about the LOC and its registry. What does the registry portend?
ReplyDeleteIt might be interesting to discuss the films with archivists/associates at each of the four repositories you note above.
Looking forward to an update!