Documenting and Archiving File-Based Video
WITNESS invites you to use, remix and share this curriculum. All materials are under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 License.
You can also find more video advocacy training materials at www.witness.org.
Objective
• Familiarize participants with the importance of documentation and archiving.
• Outline how to best document, organize, and manage media from production, through post-production, and beyond.
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Overview
• Documentation and archiving: what and why• Documentation
– Set up, on-camera, and post-production
• Offloading media & making back ups• Organizing your media• Exporting outputs & derivatives• Rights & re-use• Inventory & cataloging• Storage & retention• Working with an external archive
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What is Documentation?
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Why Document Your Video?
• To record contextual information, necessary to make sense of raw footage.
• To record any security restrictions on content.
• To enable verification, which increases the reliability, credibility & trustworthiness of your footage.
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What is Archiving?
• Related to documentation, archiving means:
– Collecting your documentation
– Arranging or organizing your files
– Describing your footage in a catalog
– Preserving your footage
– Providing access to your footage
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Why Archive?
• To safeguard your content in a controlled environment to ensure the integrity and authenticity (i.e. evidential value) of your footage.
• To keep track of media folders, files and related documentation, including security/rights information, over time.
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Why Archive?
• To allow you to identify and retrieve your content.
• To ensure technological usability of your footage.
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Why Archive?
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On-Camera Documentation
• Set the accurate Date and Time on your camera. This information will be embedded in your media files.
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On-Camera Documentation
• Optional: Some cameras also allow you to set/retrieve geographic location, but keep in mind potential safety and security issues.
• Disable this feature if security is a concern.
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On-Camera Documentation
• Informed consent: Document interview subjects giving informed consent.
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On-Camera Documentation
• Identities: Unless there are security risks, subjects should identify themselves on camera by name (including spelling).
The interviewer/camera operator should also identify themselves.
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On-Camera Documentation
• Context: The interviewer/camera operator should provide a detailed on-camera description of the event, including the date and location.
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“This is Ray Ibarra. The date is July 17, 2005. I am at the Arizona border 25 miles southwest of Tombstone, Arizona, working as a legal observer to monitor and deter vigilante activity against migrants.”
Offloading Media
• The process for offloading media will depend on the camera, computer operating system, and software you use. Familiarize yourself with the specifications for each.
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Offloading Media
• Depending on what editing software you are using, you may need to transcode (i.e. change the format) your footage before you can edit.
• If you transcode, keep a copy of your original files.
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Back Ups
• Always have a back up copy of your footage!
• When offloading and re-organizing media on a drive, for example, keep the original footage on the camera.
• Delete from camera only after you have created a back up elsewhere.
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Back Ups
• After you have organized your files, create a back up separate from your editing drive.
• Back ups can be stored on less expensive media such as external hard drives. DVDs can also be used, but they are less reliable.
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Organizing Media - Files
• Re-naming files: You may need to rename files to avoid having duplicate filenames in your project (e.g. two files named VID0001)
• Tip: you can rename files in batches using a third-party application or editing software.
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Organizing Media - Files
• Keep the original filename in the new filename. Add the date shot (and location and creator, if necessary).
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Organizing Media - Files
Tips:
• Be consistent in how you do your re-naming.
• Do not use any special characters (e.g. @#$%&*:”’<>?/) in your filenames
• Use yyyymmdd or yyyy-mm-dd format for dates
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Organizing Media - Folders
• Organizing Folders: Organize media files into folders.
• Use a system that retains the original order and makes sense for your project, such as by date, location, and creator.
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Organizing Media - Folders
• Tip: Original order preserves the contextual meaning of the footage and its value as evidence.
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Organizing Media - Folders
• Naming Folders: Name folders in a consistent way based on how you have organized the files, e.g. Date_Location
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Documentation - Summary
• Create a Media Summary for each folder.
• Media Summary - written documentation that includes:– Background / context – Detailed description of purpose– Names and affiliations of subjects– Security or safety restrictions
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Documentation - Summary
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• Create a Summary form. - Example: Media Summary Template
• Even if you do not have a standard form, record the information somewhere (handwritten note, email, etc.)
Documentation - Summary
Essential information to include in a Media Summary:
• Date - The exact date – or dates – on which the video was shot.
• Locations - The exact location or locations in which the video was shot. Be as specific as possible.
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Documentation - Summary
• Camera Operator/Organization – The source of the footage.
• This information allows you to:– Establish the chain of custody – Contact for further information about the
footage if necessary– Testify to the accuracy or credibility of the
footage
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Documentation - Summary
• Description – A complete summary of the footage both visually and in terms of what it is about.
• Highlight any significant content or quality issues.
• Include the names of any people or groups being interviewed or shown.
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Documentation - Summary
• Security Restrictions - Is any of the footage restricted in any way? Should any names, faces, or locations be disguised?
• Consents - Consent forms or on-camera consent should be obtained for all interviews and subjects and submitted with the footage.
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Documentation – Log
• Create logs of your video files/clips.• Log: A detailed, often shot-by-shot or
verbatim description of the footage contents. Also called a “transcript.”
• If you do not have time to log everything, just log the most important footage or interviews.
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Documentation – Log
• Create a log form.• Example: Log Template
• Basic elements: – Clip Name– Time Code– Visual Description– Audio / Transcription– Image / Sound Quality– Restrictions
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Documentation - Log
• Time Code: an electronic signal that identifies each video frame. Used to synchronize and for reference throughout post-production process.
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Documentation - Log
• Not all cameras use time code. If there is no time code, simply use the time counter on your viewer to log.
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Documentation - Log
• Shorthand for describing shots:
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• ECU Extreme close-up• CU Close-up• MS Medium shot• LS Long shot• WSWide shot• VS Various shots• NAT Natural sound• EXT Exterior• INT Interior
Exporting Outputs
• Export a full quality file from your editing software for your Master.
• Create and export an additional full quality version without text or music.
• Save your edit project files. You will need them to re-edit or make changes to your video.
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Outputs - Derivatives
• Derivatives: files derived from your Master for various uses (e.g. DVD, web upload, portable device)
• Refer to recommended specifications for your intended use.
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Outputs - Derivatives
Some specifications to look out for:
• Video encoding (codec) – E.g. AVC/H.264, divX, mpeg-2, DV
• File format– E.g. .mov, .mp4, .avi
• Bit rate– E.g. 8 Mb/sec
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Outputs - Derivatives
Some specifications to look out for:
• Aspect ratio • or• Frame size
– E.g. 480x720, 720x1080
• Frame rate– E.g. 25 fps, 29.97 fps
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Repurposing Footage
Consider they ways that your footage can be re-used:
• To create alternate or updated versions of your video
• In your future video advocacy campaigns
• As evidence in legal proceedings
• By other human rights defenders
• By news organizations reporting on your issue
• As an educational or research resource; part of our historical memory.
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Repurposing Footage - Rights
• Ensure that the possibility of re-use is included in the informed consents you obtain.
• Keep track of rights and security information so that you do not inadvertently re-use or share restricted materials.
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Repurposing Footage - Sharing
• You can allow others to use your footage in a controlled way through:
– Co-ownership
– Traditional licensing
– Creative Commons or other open licensing
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Co-ownership
• You co-own the footage with others.
• Decide whether co-owners can:– can modify and re-use footage– can distribute or provide copies to others– can allow others to modify and re-use footage– can license footage for revenue– need to credit the other when footage is re-
used– Etc.
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Traditional Licensing
• You allow producers, filmmakers, or broadcasters to re-use your footage under strict conditions.
• You charge a fee (flat rate or per second) for what they use.– Example: WITNESS Media Archive rate card
• Licensees need to be able to search and preview your footage.
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Open Licensing
• You share footage more freely than with traditional licensing.
• You make content easily available and allow others to re-use it under certain conditions.
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Open Licensing
• Creative Commons defines several types of open licenses that you can choose from:
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Inventory or Catalog
• Inventory: a list of all your media with some essential information (e.g. name, location, rights).
• Catalog: systematically arranged records that describe your media in detail. Enables you to identify and retrieve footage.
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Inventory or Catalog
• At minimum, create an Inventory of your media. If you have more time, create a Catalog.
• Basic inventory example:
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Inventory or Catalog
• Choose a medium that suits your organization and how you want to use the information (e.g. paper, index cards, Excel, Access, etc.).
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Image: HURIDOCS
Inventory or Catalog
• Decide what information you want to keep, and structure it in a consistent manner.– Instead of free-text, use a form with fields.
• Record information in a standardized way.– Use consistent syntax.– Use a controlled list of terms.
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Inventory or Catalog
• Record information that is accurate and reliable, or indicate clearly when it is not.– E.g. “Date: 2010-10-19 [Approximate date]”
• Keep it as simple as possible!
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Storage and Retention
• Keep the highest quality copies of your footage.
• Make at least one back-up copy, and keep in a different location.
• Store media in a secure, clean, cool, relatively dry environment.
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Storage and Retention
• Check your saved files periodically to make sure they are still readable.
• Create new copies in up-to-date formats every five years or when necessary.
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Working with an Archive
• If you cannot archive your materials on your own, consider collaborating with an archive partner.
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Working with an Archive
Potential local/national archive partners include:
• Formal archives (independent, national, university)
• Human Rights / Legal advocacy groups
• Research or educational institutions
• Media producers or distributors
• Cultural memory organizations
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Working with an Archive
Potential international collaborators:
• Cultural or educational institutions like universities and museums
• International archiving organizations (e.g. ICA, Archivists Without Borders, HURIDOCS)
• Commercial managed storage services online
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Working with an Archive
Considerations:• Trustworthiness• Collecting Focus• Ownership• Access / Restrictions• Staffing & Infrastructure (for storage,
preservation, access)• Deposit Logistics
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Summary
• Documentation and archiving are important.
• Supplement video with on-camera documentation, a media summary, and logs/transcripts.
• Back up your video.
• Re-name your files if necessary.
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Summary
• Organize your files into folders that reflect the original order.
• Export and save your masters.
• Create derivatives as needed.
• There are many ways to re-use your footage.
• You can share footage with others through co-ownership and licensing.
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Summary
• Inventory or catalog your footage.
• Store and maintain your media properly.
• If you cannot archive yourself, work with an external archive partner.
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Documenting and Archiving File-Based Video
WITNESS invites you to use, remix and share this curriculum. All materials are under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 License.
You can also find more video advocacy training materials at www.witness.org.