BBC Post Production gives second life to historic Scottish film

March 2008: BBC Post Production, part of BBC Resources Ltd, has transferred 420 hours of original film onto high quality digital videotape, bringing 2800 titles from the National Library of Scotland’s master collection into public access for the first time.

The archive covers more than a hundred years of Scottish history in film and video. Among the clips are economic changes in Caithness from the Dounreay nuclear power plant, and sprinter Alan Wells preparing for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Archive specialists at BBC Post Production transferred over one million feet of film. They had to deal with a wide range of film formats (35mm, 16mm, 8mm, Super 8mm, 9.5mm) and speed changes to ensure they were compatible for the National Library of Scotland’s online catalogue.

The project was funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, which awarded the Scottish Screen Archive funds to enhance physical access to the film. The archive was designated a national collection and in April 2007 it transferred from Scottish Screen to the stewardship of the National Library of Scotland.

Details of the content of the newly accessible material are available on the Scottish Screen archive’s online catalogue www.nls.uk/ssa. 1000 clips complement and illustrate the catalogue text.

Tim Emblem-English, Archive Specialist, BBC Post Production says, “This has been an absorbing and rewarding project. Over the last eighteen months we have had to handle every film format from 8mm to 35mm and much of it has been speed corrected to keep faith with the original filming speed and audio when available. It is good to realise that our efforts have enabled much wider public access to this material.”

Janet McBain, Curator, Scottish Screen Archive: “BBC Post Production’s commitment to excellence was unsurpassed and they met all the quirks of technology that obsolete film formats and our specialist requirements threw at them. That our project came in on timetable and on budget is in no small part due to the efficient and high quality service we received from the team in the Telecine suite”.


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Notes for Editors

About BBC Post Production
BBC Post Production, a division of BBC Resources Ltd, offers award-winning creative solutions using the latest technology. The facilities are the largest of their kind facilities in the UK and are located in London, Bristol and Birmingham. Working in partnership with a variety of broadcasters and production companies, its extensive range of services include editing, audio and telecine. Further information can be found at: www.bbcresources.com/postproduction

About BBC Resources
BBC Resources Ltd is one of the largest production facilities in the UK. The company consists of three core businesses, BBC Studios, BBC Outside Broadcasts and BBC Post Production. The size and depth of the company’s resources enables it to handle even the largest-scale projects. Major broadcast events BBC Resources has facilitated include Wimbledon, Children In Need, The FIFA World Cup, Glastonbury and the Winter Olympics. With a focus on innovation, BBC Resources continually looks to produce technological ‘firsts’ from ground-breaking cricket stump cameras and the world’s first ‘HD Plunge Cam’ to virtual reality capability and real-time HD media transfer between remote sites.

The sale process for BBC Resources Ltd is underway and is likely to conclude by 31 March 2008. This comes as a result of the BBC’s commercial review (December 2004), which concluded it should only own commercial businesses that export or exploit the BBC brand and content – BBC Resources is a facilities and services provider so doesn’t fit this profile. The BBC believes that under new ownership – as with the successful sales of BBC Technology to Siemens and BBC Broadcast to Macquarie – BBC Resources has opportunities that have not been available whilst owned by the Corporation; it will also retain the stability of on-going contracts with the BBC.

For more information visit www.bbcresources.com

For further information, please contact:
Georgie Hollett , PR and Communications Manager, BBC Resources Tel: +44 (0)20 8576 2250
Mobile : +44 (0) 783484 5612
Email : georgie.hollett@bbc.co.uk