Boston Final Cut Pro User Group - Review: Archival Storytelling

I heard a good story a while back, possibly apocryphal, about Mrs. Bill Conti.

A large corporation had a sales rally at a big New York hotel. Mrs. Conti was strolling by the doorway and heard the ROCKY movie theme emanating from the sales video.

She informed her husband, Bill Conti, who had composed the score and held rights to it.

The corporation ended up paying thousands more than the video cost to produce in royalty payments.

This expense could have been avoided…

Archival Storytelling puts producers straight about fair use, public domain, licensing, and clearance of media-based intellectual property: original films, books, music, newspaper headlines, photos and artifacts. It is both scholarly and very readable. The book covers where to find these materials, how to order them, license them, with a section of source lists like National Archives—not all of which is free!-- commercial libraries, and private collections.

Interesting sections include interviews with veteran image researchers and the nuts and bolts of their craft; and interesting folks such as attorney Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons proponent and board member, who helped invent a sliding scale of permissions to release original material, from free to fee, depending on use, and which helps take the guesswork out of clearances. (In an anti-copyright stance, he also argued against the “Sonny Bono” Copyright Term Extension Act, which allows a 20 year extension to the copyright term on creative works, enabling second and third-generation heirs to enjoy some of the fruits of their creative forebears.)

There’s a nice interview with Ken Burns’ writer Geoffrey C. Ward in a chapter which begins with a recognition of Edward T. Joyce, Frame Shop, (now in Watertown, MA at 70 Coolidge Hill Road, ), as a pioneer of still image film animation for documentaries. Ed Joyce and partner Ed Searles shot CIVIL WAR, JAZZ, BASEBALL and many other Ken Burns films, and Ken has always been one of their big fans.

But the authors also discuss the use of archival in dramatic features, such as GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, MILK, and THE GOOD SOLDIER. They make a good argument for hiring archival professionals, who have experience researching and clearing sources and know how to negotiate affordable clearance fees to save producers money. There’s a solid chapter which demystifies and explores real-world Fair Use, and wisdom about public domain materials of all kinds.

The Afterword discusses the conflict between copyright holder and public interest. It makes to my view a valid argument that large holding organizations like the Bill Gates’-acquired Corbis or Getty Images often lose site of the needs of individual artists who want to remix recorded reality. But the authors also express support for rights of those individuals who created – some at great time and expense – historic or unique recordings in the first place.

The book properly advances the notion that “films matter” but this is countered by discussants with “films cost money too.” Filmmakers may take decades to recoup, and licensing helps. It’s an ongoing volley, the chapter engenders a road map through the split, the tension makes a good read.

This authorative book belongs on every producer’s shelf.

Loren S. Miller selects a profile as a freelance documentary and dramatic editor and producer, develops KeyGuide™ professional placemats for major media applications, and teaches advanced editing at Emerson College. Reach him anytime at First published in Imagine News (www.imaginenews.com).