16mm projector spool (BUFVC)
What do we mean by screen heritage? The term has become a popular one of late, with its adoption for the UK Screen Heritage strategy document, which focusses on the film and television archive collections of the UK. However, our definition of screen heritage is broader, and encompasses not only the films and programmes, but the equipment used to produce them, the venues where they were shown, the documentation that supports them, and artefacts associated with their production, distribution and consumption.
The Screen Heritage Network has produced a definition of screen heritage (which you can find on the About section of this site). It states:
Screen heritage begins with the magic lantern in the 17th century and continues through to this day with our online culture. It encompasses:
- the history of the moving image as created on film, video and digital media
- the history of those working in the screen industries, whose creativity and skills are responsible for screen heritage
- business and individual records associated with screen history
- allied publications and ephemera
- related artefacts and visual material, such as costumes, sets, photographs, graphics and designs
- audio material, such as interviews and soundtracks
- screen technology
- heritage sites and their histories, such as cinemas, TV and film studios, and locations
- reception of the moving image
- histories and cultures represented by the moving image: who are we are, where we live, our place in the past
It also describes the work of screen heritage organisations:
- archiving: preservation, documentation and access initiatives
- curation: the work of museums, archives and cinemas
- education: teaching, learning, research and resource development
- production and publication: the use of this heritage in film, television, publishing and digital media
- exhibition: cinemas, festivals, television, museum exhibitions and digital media
So our survey of moving image and screen-related objects represents only a part of what we are defining as screen heritage. Eventually the data we uncover through our survey will be incoporated within the BUFVC’s Researcher’s Guide Online database, a directory of film and television collections in the UK. The enhanced resource will therefore provide us all with a guide that looks across a greater range of screen heritage collections - films, programmes, artefacts and documents - from which we will all have that much clearer picture of what it is that we hold in the UK, where the expertise resides, and where the gaps lie.
