How Will We Archive And Preserve The Movies Of Tomorrow?

In our era of computational imaging, emerging technologies like volumetric video, performance capture, and visual effects are creating images that were never captured in the conventional sense, offering an almost infinite range of creative options once production is over: camera angles can be modified; virtual lenses can deepen or tighten the depth of field, expand or compress perspective, and even mimic the distortion of vintage lenses; actors can be replaced, or even brought back to life. On top of this imaging revolution, the rapidly evolving field of image display means that a final version for today may not be optimal or even adequate for the screens of tomorrow, whether due to increased color gamut, dynamic range, spatial resolution, size, aspect ratio or frame rate. — These issues bring up technical, financial, and ethical considerations about what to conserve, in which form, and for how long, with sometimes-conflicting priorities between the preservation of the original artistic intent and content owners' desire to maximize the revenue and/or lifespan of a particular asset. — In this paper, the author proposes a new definition for “Image-sequence-based Works of Art,” to replace the traditional definition of “film,” and details workflow options that strike the right balance between protection of creative intent and future-proofing of assets, combining technical, ethical, and philosophical considerations. — With all the advances we have witnessed in the last 10 years, and what's to come in the following decade, the author believes in the urgency of answering those questions and standardizing workflows before current practices have an unalterable impact on future generations.

Published

2019-10

Content type

Original Research

Keywords

light field, computational imaging, volumetric video, visual effects, archiving, motion pictures, ACES, scene-referred, display-referred, mastering

DOI

10.5594/M001869