Accession Process

Once the film collections have found their way to MACE there are many different procedures that the films must go through before they are copied and transferred into a digital format which the depositors and groups and members of the public can then enjoy watching for years to come.

When film initially comes to MACE it  has to be assessed – the film collection and it’s containers will be inspected for titles or any other give away information to see if  there is anything of particular social/historical relevance or value to the Midlands region.

An accession number is then allocated to each item in the collection - e.g. 001/2010/020 - and this is then logged onto the MACE Accession log along with the date the film came in, the date it was accessioned, the depositors name & address, quantity, gauge and whether a personal file has been set up and a deposit agreement signed.
We then create a receipt listing of all the film titles in the collection, including any related materials that people wish to deposit – such as projectors, viewers or splicers. This receipt is then printed and sent out to the depositor/donator who owns the collection and also to the participating Full Circle Group to keep for their own records.
The receipt is also placed in their depositor/donator/owner’s personal file which is held at MACE alongside a copy of their signed donation agreement and any other information about the titles in the collection.

Any films that are in the collection that are deemed appropriate and  need to be copied will then be prepared for copying: new white spacer is placed at the beginning and end of the reel and any torn perforations are repaired.  So for example, if there are a number of smaller 50ft reels in the collection these will be transferred onto one large 400ft reel to enable the transfer process to be faster and more efficient.

Once the films are prepared a new entry is created in the MACE catalogue for each title in the collection, so that they will appear searchable on the MACE website: www.macearchive.org, at this stage there is no video clip attached to the catalogue entry.

A job request is then completed for the film collection, which also has to be put onto a priority copying list. MACE’s Full Circle Technician Andrew Jenkins then works his way through - looking at when the material is needed by, for instance for a group screening or event, etc.

Using the Flash Scan and Flash Transfer equipment purchased with Heritage Lottery Fund grant, awarded to the project, we are able to convert  a number of film gauges: Standard 8mm, Super 8mm, 9.5mm, and 16mm cinefilm. We also have the equipment to transfer other moving image formats such as: Beta SP, 1 inch tape, D2, Mini-DV & DV-cam.
The transfer process can take some time, as films are copied in real time and any adjustments to colour, saturation, white balance and exposure also have to be considered during this time. Once the original material has been transferred into a digital format, an archival copy LTO tape is made and also a viewing copy. Andrew then trims the footage to make sure that the clips appear as they should do once they are on burnt to a DVD.

The owner (depositor/donator) and the Full Circle Participating Group can then choose to have a DVD of the material which will be playable on the majority of DVD players or they can have an editable version – should they wish to compile their own screenings of the material found for public viewing.

Over the course of the project our Full Circle Cataloguer Catherine English will work alongside Groups to transfer the skills necessary  to ensure that the material found is catalogued thoroughly. Catherine and members of the groups will also speak to Depositors to ensure that as much information as possible is gathered about the collections. This will enable each title to properly keyworded and therefore be more accessible to members of the public.

Once material from the collections found has been digitised screenings can be arranged by the Full Circle Groups for members of their local community to attend.

A selection of material found during the Full Circle Project will be viewable online – on the www.macearchive.org website.