Re: How Soon Before Everything Worth Watching is On A DVD

"Hugh Candlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Mike Kohary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 17:13:47 GMT, "Hugh Candlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > >50% of all movies made before 1950 are gone forever.
> > >90% of all silent movies are gone forever.
> >
> > What's your source(s)?  (I don't doubt you; I'd just like to read more
> > about that.)
>
> http://members.cox.net/scorseseinfo/articles/thetimes9-07-01.htm

Just finished reading this - fascinating.  One part that caught my eye was
near the end:

"Part of the problem, as ever, is money. A typical black-and-white film can
cost $50,000 to preserve and restore, while a colour film costs $300,000.
The renewal of David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia took a year and cost $1
million."

I believe this is the wrong way to go about it, and it doesn't have to cost
that much.  Forget about restoration for the moment, and focus on
preservation.  Preserve what you have left by transferring old material to a
digital format and archiving it on long-lasting media.  You can always go
back and restore it later, but right now the race is against the clock, and
preserving what's left is more important than actually restoring the
material (which is a subjective process anyway and doesn't have much to do
with preservation).

Mike