Mike Figgis book and lecture

Director Mike Figgis' book on Digital Film Making is soon to be launched and is available on Amazon for a bargain price of £3.99. Mike has been working with Digital equipment for some years now and was quoted back in 2005 as saying “The aim is to make film-making less of a technical process, not more.... Film-making is about storytelling and storytelling is about people and how we all interact.” Hopefully this will make for an interesting and informative book. Unfortunately with the predicted delivery of 4 to 6 weeks you are unlikely to get a copy for him to sign at his Master class at the BFI on Thursday. He will be explaining the possiblities of digital tools and providing inspiration to new film makers.

Mediatheque

In the latest edition of Storage Magazine (something I get for work), there is an article on how the British Film Institute is working with HP converting their highly flamable film stocks to digital versions.

For the Mediatheque project they will be providing access to their archives of films and television footage in a new "BFI Southbank" building just along the Thames from the London Eye. Initial this will be a few hundred essentially "British" clips but this will be expanded as the footage is converted. The important films will be hand restored but HP Labs have been working with Warner Brothers on techniques to remove dirt, scratches and other imperfections from the digital copies.

One film that I would like to see available in the Mediatheque is The Strength and Agility of Insects (1911) which is already digitised but only available to registered access points in libraries and colleges.

For more details see the BFI Website.