LOS ANGELES — The 35th edition of The Reel Thing (www.the-reel-thing.com) technical symposium returns to Los Angeles this month, with two full days of sessions that look at the preservation of media assets and the recent restoration of projects. The Reel Thing brings together the community of archivists, technologists and preservationists, who explore emerging developments critical to their work, including the history of color technology in motion pictures as it relates to restoration and the long-term conservation of cinema color.
The event will take place at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood, and kicks off on August 20th with an opening night reception, followed by a screening of John Huston’s Fat City. The event continues on Friday and Saturday with additional screenings and panels.
Highlighting the conference this year is a look at the origins of Technicolor, presented by David Pierce of the Media History Digital Library, and James Layton of the Museum of Modern Art. The Technicolor process was at the heart of countless Hollywood motion pictures, especially its early musicals. This presentation is lavishly illustrated by many clips of two-color Technicolor sequences from the era, and will culminate with a presentation of the pioneering two-color restoration work by YCM Labs. Barbara Fleuckiger from the University of Zurich, whose project is the recipient of an important new grant, will discuss the next generation of research into the history of color and its restoration.
Another centerpiece of the conference is a celebration of Super 8’s 50th birthday, which will examine the role of this small gauge format in cinema history, and display some of the exciting new developments in this analog medium's future.
The Reel Thing will also pay tribute to The Film Foundation with a special panel discussion. Currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Film Foundation is an independent initiative on the part of filmmakers to recognize the importance of cinema as an art by contributing advocacy and sponsorship to its survival.
Rounding out the program is a look at the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) and Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR). As new digital archive models emerge, new practices and tools are needed to manage massive amounts of audio-visual data. Whether trying to achieve consistent color for all time or find one particular object in 10 billion, chances are ACES and EIDR are at the epicenter of the process. Leading experts on the systems behind these acronyms will detail how these tools accomplish traditional archival objectives in the “big data” context of the digital archive. Since process metadata is important to continuing to preserve legacy films, a presentation will examine the use of digital tools to capture the history of the restoration process.
Additionally, several case studies will look at the challenges of restoring the works of Andrzej Wajda, Marcel Ophuls, and the multimedia extravaganza surrounding the inauguration of Disneyland. There will also be examples of restoration and re-animation of more informal films – personal stories and road trips – that demonstrate the different approach that this tradition evokes.
Full registration is $350 (discount until Monday: $295). Students are $175 with a discount, then $200 after that. Single day registration is also available, and there are discounted rates for AMIA members.