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- KOFIC Industry Forum: Strategies for Long term Storage and Preservation of Digital Film Material
- by KIM June / Oct 10, 2014
- ISAN system creates a standard in managing content materials
The second KOFIC Industry Forum session that focuses on the ‘digital dilemma’ was held on Monday October 6th at 3:30pm at the BEXCO Exhibition Hall 4. The moderator was KIM Tchang-yu, a professor at Yong In University, board member of the Korean Film Archive (KOFA), advisor of the Moving Image Technology Association, committee member of the Korean Film Council, and president of the Korea Association of Film Education. The session started off with presentations from two panelists, followed by a group Q&A. Milton Shefter, a member of the Science and Technology Council, and Régis Flad, General Manager of ISAN-IA, talked about their respective approaches to digital cinema.Milton Shefter is the co-author of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ (AMPAS) publications called ‘The Digital Dilemma’ and ‘The Digital Dilemma 2’, which report on digital technology’s effects on the motion picture industry. By bringing awareness to the Academy’s other part, the sciences, the end of celluloid film brought about a change in the industry. Theatre exhibition is no longer the primary revenue source for major studios and even if a film is shot on film, the finish would be done digitally. Although digital cinema brings many positive elements to filmmaking, the problem is that there is no digital preservation and no guaranteed long-term access while film had a recognized approximate age of 100 years. The fact that this question is being raised is one of the first steps in trying to save content from disappearing. Although there are no right or wrong answers at this point in the game, there should be a standardized system to preserve digital content.
The International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN) creates a standard in managing and tracking content materials. Similar to the ISBN system, which applies for books, ISAN is slowly but surely expanding. Currently there are 20 ISAN Registration Agencies covering 65 countries worldwide. Just before the beginning of the forum, KOFIC’s Chairman, KIM Eui-suk, sat down with ISAN’s Régis Flad and signed at the table to become the registration agency for Korea. This will come into effect starting January of next year. As for ISAN, it is an important tool for preservation of digital audiovisual content. With the expansion to digital content, the different delivery platforms and versions make it hard to track. By providing a unique code for each unique content, the work can be understood just from the ISAN number as each part of the ISAN has descriptive meta-data. One can look at the number and realize what the content might be about. ISAN is becoming mandatory in several countries, and will hopefully expand to become used worldwide. It can also provide heightened security by tracking the number for illegal activity. After the presentations, Sam Gyun OH, Chairman of ISO TC46/SC9, Gemma Lee, Deputy Director of the Standard & Cooperation Division of National Archives of Korea, and Bongyoung KIM, Head of the Film Preservation Center at the Korean Film Archives came to join a Q&A as professional archivists of digital content. Through discussion, a conclusion came about that there is no real answer in guaranteeing accessible content that’s available limitlessly. Preservation requires finance and AMPAS’ recommendation for now is to take digital content and put it on polyester film for preservation as the life of film is already acknowledged. Also a global standardization of content is necessary.
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