FILM RESTORATION SUMMER SCHOOL
FIAF SUMMER SCHOOL - BOLOGNA 2008

Theory Lessons on Film Restoration:
distance learning, 27 May – 24 June (every Tuesday)
Introduction and attendance at Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival:
Bologna, 28 June – 5 July
Restoration Practice:
Bologna, 7-12July


(the complete information on the Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School - Bologna 2008 is also available on pdf format by clicking - here -

1.  FIAF Summer School 2007 experience
2.  Two-year project
3. Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School      Targets

1.1. FIAF Summer School 2007 experience
The overall assessment of the 2007 course has been quite positive, as all the objectives established in the initial project have been reached. The course was attended by 28 participants from 16 different countries, (8 member states of the European Union and 8 from other countries).

The formula tested last year consisting in organising the first week of the summer school course at the same time as the week of Il Cinema Ritrovato festival has been proven quite effective, as the festival setting offers a venue for fruitful exchanges and meetings for the training programme, as films archives from all over the world participate actively in the festival with screening of their films and restoration examples; every year the festival sees the presence of specialists in the restoration fields, engineers and archivists, as well as university lecturers, researchers and scholars.

The festival week was rich in events, conferences and seminars preparatory for the three weeks of intensive laboratory training, with many meetings on a wide range of topics. In the following weeks participants, subdivided in small groups, worked directly on the different stages of film restoration, with the equipment made available by the laboratory, with the supervision of specialised laboratory engineers and staff. The main areas of application have been the following:

Film repair and Cleaning Film
Film Comparing
Intertitles reconstruction
Dupe Neg print
Dupe neg editing
Grading
Desmet Color
Positive Print and quality control
Scanner
Digital Restoration
Colour Correction
Sound Restoration

1.2. Two-year project
The two-year project has a structural organisation similar to the 2007 course.
Last year experience has enabled us to understand the demand for further and thorough learning in this field, due to the lack of training opportunities, while raising the interest on the project not only of scholars and people intending to work in the field, but also of restoration practitioners.

This understanding has lead us to design a two-year programme starting this year – 2008 - with a Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School for beginners followed by a course – in July 2009 – with the same structure and layout as the 2007 course. Thus, the participants of the first year – the first level learning – could enroll in the second year course to further their training.

The 2008 edition will differ from the 2007 course both in content and
duration. The course is 2-weeks long: the first week (28 June – 5 July) will focus on theory, with seminars and lectures with experts and scholars in the field; the second week (7 - 12 July) will instead focus on laboratory training and practice.

The 2009 edition will instead have the same layout as the 2007 course. The start of the course will coincide with the Festival week (27 June - 4 July), with conferences and seminars for theory learning, and – after the festival – with a learning-work experience in the laboratory L'Immagine Ritrovata for a couple of weeks.


2. Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School Targets
The project’s main objective is to teach and update participants on how to restore, reconstruct, and preserve a film using analog and new digital technology, and how analog systems and new digital technologies can actually coexist. Participants will have the chance to experience everyday work in a highly specialized laboratory, including all departments and every step of the process, from beginning to end. In following the Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School, participants are expected to acquire certain skills: be able to know how to operate all digital and analog equipment in an archive and a restoration laboratory; be able to follow a complete restoration process; perform all the main necessary operations needed to restore a film; evaluate the state of conservation of a film, and decide the best practice to restore, reconstruct, and preserve it.
The innovative Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School is a film school programme dedicated to teaching digital and analog techniques to restore old archival prints. While digital technologies have a well-established role in the contemporary film industry, the importance that they play in film restoration has been somewhat neglected as a teaching/learning experience.
After completing the Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School, the target group will know how a film can be restored following new digital and analog technologies in a modern, flexible work environment. Furthermore, the target group will be able to assess the best format to restore a film and have it translated from film support to broadcasting and DVD support.

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