Coursework

In association with UCLA's Department of Film and Television and Department of Information Studies, the Moving Image Archive Studies program offers new specialized graduate seminars providing instruction in the fundamental aspects of archival practice, including preservation, restoration, collection development and management, cataloging and information systems, user access and exhibition, and new media applications. Courses are taught by a unique combination of academic scholars and top-level preservationists and other archival specialists.

Program Goals: The goal of the Moving Image Archive Studies program is not merely training but a broader education grounded in historical, critical and theoretical study. In the past, the development of new archivists has relied upon unsystematic, long-term apprenticeships which tended to focus on a limited range of specialized technical skills. Such narrowly defined models of archival training have generally excluded the complex social, philosophical and cultural contexts in which modern, professional archival practice is grounded. The Archive Studies program also recognizes that traditional models of archival work have been redefined in recent years to emphasize moving image preservation as an ongoing process of activities along a continuum that includes curatorship, laboratory preservation, storage management, cataloging, and access.

Initial Course Offerings: Each year, three of six new graduate seminars: "Film Curatorship," "The Archaeology of the Media," "Moving Image Preservation and Restoration," "Moving Image Cataloging," "Collection Development and Management," "and "Access to Moving Image Collections" are being offered by the Department of Film and Television and the Department of Information Studies.

Priority enrollment in the six seminars will be to graduate students enrolled in the MA program in Film and Television Studies or the MLIS program in Information Studies.

Internships and Directed Studies: An integral part of the Archive Studies program will be practical on-site training through formal internship and directed studies programs at UCLA and other locations in the film and television industry. Within the Archive, internships will be available in such areas as film, video and newsreel preservation, collection management, cataloging, commercial services, and research and study. Outside the University, the Los Angeles area will provide a wealth of internship settings, including opportunities at studios, television networks, laboratories and vault facilities, digital post-production houses, and other regional archives, libraries and special collections. The internship program will be developed in collaboration with intern supervisors at each location in order to involve students with a range of archival activities within a structured educational framework. For information contact Steven Ricci at sricci@ucla.edu.

Course Offerings

Winter Quarter 1999

"Film Curatorship"
Instructor: Steven Ricci, Head of Research and Study, UCLA Film and Television Archive

The purpose of this course is to analyze the theory, practice and methodology of moving-image archiving. It traces the international development of the philosophy and policies of major moving-image archives from the establishment of the International Federation of Film Archives in 1938 to the present. During this time frame, archive practice has evolved in relation to changes in moving image culture such as the discontinuation of cellulose nitrate-based film stock, the demise of the film club and repertory circuit, the growth of film and television studies within academia, the mass production and availability of consumer video, and radical changes in media formats. The course's weekly lectures locate archival policies in light of these and other historical circumstances. Overall the course places archival policies within their specific political, legal, technological, and social contexts in order to analyze and evaluate distinct cultural models of archive organization. The course is organized around lectures and discussions on specific archive practices in areas such as: collection development of classical, national, regional, and non-mainstream materials; the changing role of technology in preservation and restoration; the ethics of moving image restoration; cataloging standards and documentation systems; classical and alternative models of archive administration and funding; the cultural impact of public programming; research and publication supported by moving-image archives; and access, education and archival productions.

Spring Quarter 1999

"Archaeology of the Medium"
Instructor: Michael Friend, Director, Academy Film Archive

This course will provide a comprehensive history of moving image technologies ranging from the earliest of pre-cinema devices to the latest evolution of presentation methods. The course will outline the key inventions for the public presentation of moving images, from the magic lantern, the zoetrope and the kinetoscope to talking pictures, wide screens, IMAX and HDTV. In addition to the study of the technical developments - such as new gauges, formats, color processes, aspect ratios, film stocks and projection systems - the course will examine the economic and industrial factors which made these technological changes possible. The course will also explore the esthetic consequences of the increased technological capabilities by posing such questions as: What kinds of images, genres and narratives accompany the new technologies? How do evolving technologies influence the construction of filmic space? How do films and television programs address their audiences differently in light of new technical capabilities?

"Moving Image Preservation/Restoration"
Instructor: Jan-Christopher Horak

This course will describe the principal methods and practices of film and video preservation and restoration. It will discuss in detail the range of possible treatment options, cost models, and decision making processes which are characteristic of modern, professional preservation and restoration programs. The course will examine and evaluate the field's current preservation standards for both storage and duplication. Critical preservation problems such as nitrate deterioration, color fading, the vinegar syndrome, and obsolete and irreplaceable formats, will be examined. Case studies in moving image restoration will be explored through presentations of "before and after" examples. Lectures and discussion will also focus on the ethical issues embedded in each technical and esthetic decision facing the restorer. Other issues to be addressed include the identification of the original versus subsequent and multiple versions, and the implications of using new technologies which may allow the restorer to "improve" on the original. Lectures and discussions will attempt to locate these issues in the larger economic and political contexts of contemporary media culture.

"Moving Image Cataloging"
Instructor: Martha Yee, UCLA Film and Television Archive

This course will analyzes the differences between moving image and print-oriented descriptive cataloging. It will provide an overview of indexing languages in on-line environments and address the practical and conceptual issues arising from the application of Library of Congress subject headings and genre terms to moving image collections. Lectures and discussion will survey international cataloging rules and guidelines, as well as cataloging methods of local moving image archives. Students will be required to apply cataloging principles through hands-on cataloging exercises using specific motion pictures and television programs. The course will also explore the theory and methodology of archival documentation practices. It will discuss the gathering, organization and presentation to the public of information about moving image collections which derive from both secondary and "non-systematic" sources in the form of study guides, collection profiles, web sites, stand-alone databases, and exhibition catalog notes.

"Collection Development and Management"
Instructor: Michael Friend

This course will examine the historical practice and theoretical principles underlying the development, maintenance, and management of large moving-image collections. Key topics include collection identification and selection principles; conservation and storage; funding and budgetary planning; staff training, deployment and supervision; donation and deposit agreements; contracts, agreements and copyright law; and relations to different constituencies, e.g., private industry, public education, researchers, and rights owners. Each of these sets of issues will be evaluated through detailed case studies of major moving image collections including: the Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress, National Archives, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archive, Museum of Modern Art Film Department, and UCLA Film and Television Archive.

"Access to Moving Image Collections"
Instructor: Howard Besser, UCLA Department of Information Studies

The course will examine three major mechanisms for providing access to moving image collections held by archives. Traditional access: what are the optimal conditions for providing wide access to archival collections? Which principles allow for the most reasoned balance between the conservation issues and requests for various kinds of use? How are access policies impacted by the needs of different constituencies? What are the practical and political implications of different forms of access, fee structures, and scheduling? Public Exhibition: What are the goals of public programming from the perspective of a moving image archive? What are the optimal conditions and venues for archival programming and how do they different, for example, from commercial projection. What constituencies do such programs speak to and what are the cultural goals of presenting archival materials to audiences? Proactive Access: How can archives encourage increasing amounts and different forms of access through its own publications, conferences and productions? What innovative use of new technologies (digital tools such as the Internet, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) can be used in order to provoke interest, study and appreciation of moving image materials?

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