Here is Amanda Huntley, capturing on the hoof the spirit of some documentary footage from a shoe factory in Northampton.
Our trainee archivists are busy cataloguing their allocation of films at home, some on their second batch. The system works a bit like LOVEFiLM: they receive their 3 DVDs along with a SAE padded envelope for return.
The business of film cataloguing is a lengthy process, not an easy task at all. There are decisions to be made, not always straightforward, about what decade the film belongs to, what category it belongs to from a given list (and it can only belong to one primary category) and specifying the country of origin (nationality of filmmaker or production company rather than where the film was made), especially in cases where country names have changed (Soviet Union/Russia, Former Yugoslavia). And it’s essential to be precise with the use of the definite and indefinite article in the title; one misplace ‘the’ can completely alter the meaning and give a false impression of content.
By far the most time-consuming element is the synopsis. At the training day, Amanda stressed the balance between supplying plenty of detail and over-egging the description of a film so that researchers are led to expect more than they’re actually given. Historical objectivity is also a must but also writing colloquially so as to convey the mood of a film. Amanda also urged the volunteers to avoid technical cinematic language in their visual descriptions.
