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| Issue 50: November 2002 |
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Te Anakura Whitiēhua
The development of the Film Archive’s new headquarters, Te
Anakura Whitiēhua, is on schedule, with staff and collections
moving into the building before Christmas.
Extensive construction and refurbishment work has turned four
of the six levels of the building into office, workshop and vault
spaces for the Archive’s 32 Wellington staff and the collections.
Still to come in late 2003 is the final stage of development, the
creation of a cinema, exhibition space, library and viewing areas
on the remaining two floors.
Te Anakura was built in 1970 as the Wellington head office of
Winstone Ltd and its strength and adaptability have made it a relatively
straightforward job to convert it to its new use.
The basement will be used for the handling, assessment and housing
of incoming material and the storage of equipment and furniture
destined for use in the public spaces when they are ready.
Levels Two and Three are largely given over to four main vaults,
containing: colour film; paper and photographic material; video
tapes and black and white film; and the viewing collection. These
vaults, in conjunction with new storage facilities under the former
National Museum in Buckle Street, provide for more than 75% growth
in the Archive’s collections as well as a much higher standard
of risk management.
Collection management offices and a redesigned film conservation
work area are also situated on Levels Two and Three respectively.
For the next nine months, public programmes’ staff will be
housed in temporary accommodation on Level Three, awaiting the creation
of new offices on Level One. Subsequently that area will be converted
into extra vault storage.
The rest of the staff (around 20) will be established on Level
Four, the top floor, in a layout with considerably more light than
in the 85-year-old Film Centre as well as improved communications.
In addition to the Archive’s reception area, board room and
10 individual work spaces, the floor also houses the video dubbing
and preservation facility, a telecine chain and a digital video
suite. Information Services staff, who are also destined for a new
home on Level One, will be woking from a temporary, open-plan space.
Stage Two of Te Anakura’s development is due to commence
in September 2003 and will result in a major overhaul of the external
appearance of the building and the establishment of an exciting
set of public facilities.
Further work will be done on the basement to provide a video library
of up to 10,000 titles from the collection both on video tape and
disk and the necessary equipment for public viewing. The Archive’s
substantial library of books and periodicals will also be housed
there.
The car showroom and spare parts depot currently on the ground
floor will be radically changed to incorporate a 110-seat cinema
and a 75m2 exhibition and screening room. Programmes are already
in development for these spaces, building on the screening programmes
and exhibitions that proved highly successful over the last seven
years, even within the restrictions of the Film Centre site.
Te Anakura’s prominent street frontage, only a block from
the Courtenay Place entertainment district, will be devoted to an
entirely new kind of facility known as the Mediaplex which will
combine aspects of a café, an internet lounge, a video viewing
room, a print and video retailer and a video hire store. The Mediaplex
experience will draw extensively upon the work already done for
the Film Archive’s award-winning website, with visitors being
able to use touch-screen computers scattered throughout the area
to find out more about the Archive and its collections, view video,
listen to music and surf the internet.
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Signing Out
From opening in August 1995 until closing in April 2002, the Film
Centre hosted 31 exhibitions and hundreds of screenings.
Celebrating the efforts of our earliest filmmakers, saluting major
international figures, demonstrating filmmaking techniques or investigating
the role of film and television in New Zealand’s social history,
the Film Centre educated and entertained thousands of visitors.
Screenings were curated as major fixtures and to complement the
exhibition programme. Highlights have included outdoor screenings
in the Botanical Gardens, the Cinema Europe series and tributes
to filmmakers, local and international, among them Rudall Hayward,
John O’Shea, Norman McLaren, Wim Wenders, Bertolt Brecht and
Douglas Sirk.
Following the completion of Te Anakura an expanded screening and
exhibition programme will be on offer.
Film Centre Exhibitions, August 1995 to April 2002:
Tracking time: Takes on New Zealanders and Film
Number 8 / Super 8: Amateur and Home Movie Making in New Zealand
From Hollywood to Huntly: Fan Mail from the 40s and 50s
Under the Macrocarpas: Film Buffs and their Collections
Advertease
The First Picture Show: a Centenary of Cinema
Movie Monsters
Now Showing: Artists go to the Movies
Mini Monsters
Animates: Hands-on Kiwi Animation
Maniacs of Disappearance
Hits & Myths: NZ Music Video
Wim Wenders: to the End of the World
Hard Drive Heroes: Behind the Screen with Computer Animators
The Karaokes and Len Lye’s Universe
Tiki Touring / Tipi Haere
PALeo Neo Video: Chapters from the History of New Zealand Video
Art 1970s to 1990s
Kissing Babies: 60 Years of Spin
re-WORKED
Shortland Street: Pulse of the Nation
Sense of Place
Fear: Scare Tactics by Movie Makers
Marlene Dietrich: a Legend in Photographs
Rudall Hayward: Produced in New Zealand for the World
Otherwise Fine: Four Seasons in One Show
1951 Strike, Lockout, Confrontation
Len Lye Colour Box
In the Neighbourhood: NZ Music Video
15 Minute Wait
Contagion
The Ring: Wagner’s Dungeons and Dragons
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Way Up North
During October, Te Hokinga Mai o Ngē Taonga Whitiēhua
toured The Sacred House of Ngēpuhi. Screenings were presented
at nine marae in the region, beginning with a launch ceremony at
Whangērei-Terenga-Paraoa Marae, Whangērei and ending at
Oturei Marae in Dargaville.
An extensive publicity campaign through newspapers, Iwi radio
and the region’s "kūmara vine", along with wide
distribution of a postcard and poster ensured a huge response from
the local Maori community at every venue. Over 375 people crowded
inside the wharenui, Kēkē Porowini, for the launch screening
in Whangarei while many more watched from outside.
The image of the waka taua Ngētokimatawhaorua used
on the publicity poster reflects the kaupapa of Te Hokinga Mai o
Ngē Taonga Whitiēhua ki Ngēpuhi. The waka is named
after the ancestral vessel that conveyed Ngēpuhi tupuna to
Aotearoa; it binds all Ngēpuhi and signifies a journey, unity,
direction and sense of purpose.
A programme of material relevant to Ngēpuhi was curated from
the Archive’s collection and screened on every marae. It included
extracts from Mana Waka (Te Puea Estate, Turangawaewae
Marae, 1990) showing the building of Ngētokimatawhaorua,
commissioned by Te Puea Herangi for the 1940 centennial celebrations.
The core screening programme was supported at each venue by additional
material reflecting the particular locale.
Highlights from the tour included the presence of Lady Rose Henare
at the Moerewa screening. Lady Rose’s husband, Lt. Col James
Henare, was the returning Commanding Officer of the 28th Maori Battalion.
The screening at Ahipara was honoured by the attendance of the area’s
four surviving Battalion veterans.
Due to the tour’s tremendous success, with over 2,600 people
attending the screenings, the Far North District Council, Radio
Te Hiku o Te Ika and Whangērei District Council are discussing
return with the Archive.
Ngēpuhi was the seventh iwi to host Te Hokinga Mai and follows
tours to Ngēti Porou, Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Whanganui,
Tainui and Ngēi Tuhoe.
Representing the Film Archive on Te Hokinga Mai o Ngē Taonga
Whitiēhua ki Ngēpuhi were Lawrence Wharerau (Kaituitui)
and Johnny Morris (Technician). Northland kaumatua Taipari Munro
accompanied Lawrence and Johnny as advisor.
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On the Road Again
Bank of New Zealand Travelling Film Show has completed another
successful year celebrating over a century of New Zealand movie-making
with regional tours through the Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay in March,
and Marlborough and Westland in August.
Live cinema screenings of Rudall Hayward’s silent features,
My Lady of the Cave (1922) in Dunedin and The Bush
Cinderella (1928) in Palmerston North, in May and June respectively,
were special highlights on this year’s programme.
Look out for a show in your area in 2003. Check out our website
or your local Bank of New Zealand branch for more details.
Bank of New Zealand Travelling Film Show 2003:
Taranaki / King Country
12 February - New Plymouth
13 February - Waitara
14 February - Inglewood
15 February - New Plymouth
15 February - Stratford
16 February - Hawera
17 February - Patea
19 February - Wanganui
20 February - Ohakune
21 February - Taumarunui
Wild Food Festival
5-7 March - Hokitika
Central Otago / Southland
13 August - Dunedin
14 August - Alexandra
15 August - Wanaka
16 August - Queenstown
17 August - Te Anau
19 August - Gore
20 August - Invercargill
21 August - Stewart Island
Live cinema screenings
Venus of the South Seas (1927) in Takaka on March 9, Rudall
Hayward’s The Te Kooti Trail (1927) in Whakatane,
28 May and Tauranga, 29 May and Frank Hurley's South (UK,
1919) in Christchurch on June 19.
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8 Super 8: an exhibition of 8mm and super 8 cameras, projectors,
& accessories
The Archive’s Auckland office celebrates the tools of home
movie making in its current exhibition 8Super8, a rich
display of 8mm and Super8 cameras, projectors and accessories.
8mm and Super 8 film equipment allowed greater access to the magic
of moving images as recorded on film until it was superseded by
the introduction of video technology in the 1970s. 8Super8
displays equipment spanning the 30s to the 80s in diverse designs
and styles that will be fascinating to everyone who takes pleasure
in recorded life.
Items displayed include an Eastman Kodak 8mm camera (1937); a
high quality Swiss Paillard Bolex 8mm camera (1938); and an early
dual 8mm/16mm Ditmar projector (1937) from Austria. Further Paillard
Bolex examples of superb Swiss quality are shown in two 8mm projectors
from 1949 and 1960. An unusual design is a VEB Pentacon AK8 8mm
camera in its original 1950s case from the former East Germany.
From Japan is an innovative Arco Eight 8mm camera featuring a turret
arrangement with three lenses (1957).
Particularly fascinating are the two Soviet LOMO 8mm projectors
from the 1960s, and simple modernist design is revealed in a Japanese
Canon Cine Canonet 8mm camera (1963). The first reflex camera with
through-the-lens-metering to go into widespread production was the
8mm Ercsam Camex that is represented by a model from 1960.
The Canon 1014XL-S is widely considered to be one of the best
ever Super8 cameras. It was one of the last models of Super 8 camera
produced before video revolutionised home movie production. It is
still used in professional Super 8 production today.
Like video today, these cameras all produced the same thing -
a small frame of moving image recording treasured memories, events,
family life and leisure.
The 8Super8 Exhibition runs until 12 February 2003 at
the Film Archive Auckland Office.
The Film Archive Auckland Office recently received funding
from Auckland City for the new computer equipment. The purchase
of this equipment has enabled the Auckland Office to increase the
number of public research computers in its library space.
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Saving Tape
Part 5 – Where To Now?
The fifth in a series by video conservator, Jamie Lean. Part
4 of this series can be found in Newsreel
Issue 49
The Archive is often asked whether we are preserving collection
items on DVD. The short answer is no. For preservation purposes
optical disks pose several problems. However, the Archive is moving
towards replacing its VHS access collection with better quality
DVD. There are several advantages to this: superior picture quality,
fast access to any part of the programme (avoiding tedious fast
forwarding or rewinding of tapes) and the smaller size of DVD means
more efficient storage.
A multi layered optical disk, such as DVD, has several disadvantages
for preservation. The major problem is that a severe compression
process is used to fit a 2-hour movie on to a 12cm disk that is
only 2mm thick! Approximately 1 in 12 bits of digital information
is retained from the original and while this supplies a great picture
on a large screen TV the loss of information does not satisfy archival
standards. Furthermore, the dyes used in recordable disk media are
prone to fading and the disk can become unreadable.
There is no doubt that digital production is the way of the future.
So how will we be archiving digital movies? Currently, Digital Betacam
is the industry standard but this format uses a compression system
and only half the information is retained. There have been uncompressed
video formats around for some time and the Archive has several examples
of these including D1 and D5 formats. The problem with these is
high cost and low market penetration, resulting in few tapes and
even fewer machines.
The international archival community is addressing the issue of
digital preservation. The latest development is the concept of utilising
removable hard drives whereby uncompressed video would be streamed
straight on to a computer hard drive which could then stored on
a shelf like any other media. This process will of course rely on
the maintenance of the computer and its operating system to ensure
retrieval of the material and there are still questions concerning
the durability of the hardware.
The Holy Grail of 21st Century audiovisual archiving – uncompressed
and cheap video storage – could be within reach.
Jamie Lean, video conservator and author of the Saving Tape
series, attended the 2002 AMIA Conference in Boston where the issue
of digital preservation was high on the agenda. Jamie would welcome
questions and feedback on any of the issues raised in the series.
He can be contacted at jamie@nzfa.org.nz.
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Hot Spot
The Film Archive’s website has won a national award for excellence
in interactive media. www.filmarchive.org.nz was the winner in the
Information Reference section at the Telecommunications Users Association
of New Zealand (TUANZ) Interactive Awards held at Te Papa The Museum
of New Zealand in Wellington on Thursday 31 October, 2002.
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News Clips
Memorial
In October, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto commemorated the life of
Jonathan Dennis by inaugurating an annual lecture in his name. Each
year the Festival will invite people pre-eminent in the reclamation
and study of early cinema to deliver a lecture. Acclaimed silent
film pianist Neil Brand, a close friend of Jonathan’s, gave
the inaugural address.
International Relations
In November, Jamie Lean (Video Conservator) attended AMIA in Boston
and Chief Executive Frank Stark visited the nearly opened Australian
Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. Travelling Film Show Co-ordinator,
Jane Paul, presented a screening at the 11th Biennial Conference
of the Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand
in Adelaide. Friends of the Film Archive committee members Ron Ritchie
and Russell Campbell also attended the conference.
Closer to Home
Bronwyn Taylor (Public Programmes) presented a paper at Documentary
Matters at Auckland University in October and Caroline Forsyth
(Television Acquisitions) and Himiona Grace (Kaikohikohi) attended
Small Country Big Picture, the annual SPADA Conference
also in Auckland during November.
Broken Barrier Jubilee
Fifty years after it premiered at Wairoa’s Regent Theatre,
Broken Barrier (Pacific Films, 1952) screened again to
capacity audiences in September. Broken Barrier was filmed
primarily on the nearby Mahia Peninsula and many locals who appeared
as extras or assisted the production team were in the audience.
Lye in the Square
Late November, in association with the City Gallery, Wellington,
films by Len Lye screened outdoors in Civic Square with live musical
accompaniment by jazz students from the Wellington Conservatorium
of Music, Massey University.
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