Margret Schild (Düsseldorf)
Text Based Film Retrieval 2006
A new concept to index, manage and present film, its content and context
In the meantime multimedia and digitalisation for the publication and distribution of film is wide-spread and has changed the workflow in a considerable way. The concept of iMB/TFR_2006 consists of three components:
- The infrastructure (hardware and software), basing on the client/server principle, with main supply, considerable high rates for data transfer and the itawMediaBase (iMB) as platform
- XML based methods to index the content by subject, for the data management and administration
- Tools to enable creation and edition of documents (editing system), to enable information retrieval by the production of tables of content, by grouping content, by producing indexes and their presentation, styles for the presentation – adaptable to the user’s needs -, different possibilities to retrieve information – for example basing on a thesaurus or a classification.
It is possible to link to films as a whole or to parts of it supplementary information (time code based indexing of each segment with regard to the underlying text). These additional information units enable the user to get direct access to special scenes or film shots by using free text, field based or index based search and via other systematic approaches (e.g. classification). This technology simplifies the use and the search in both information resources – the film itself as well as all information around the film (its context). The film data and the other relevant information units are stored strictly separate and are only brought together for the presentation on the screen. The data bank, containing information concerning the film can be updated, modified or changed whenever it is needed. When at the beginning only a small data bank exists, it can be extended step by step or transferred to another data base management system if needed. The content can be presented polyglot, too if needed. The starting point can be the film as well as the information and facts about the film.
IMB/TFR_2006 has already been successfully implemented in several projects: The Film and TV Museum at Berlin uses the concept to link the pool of films, available to the visitors of the program gallery, with search facilities in order to retrieve facts and information about the presented films and the involved persons and institutions. The broadcasting company of Berlin and Brandenburg (RBB) produced a mini TV series of four parts about the relationship between Germany and Poland as neighbours (“Deutsche und Polen”). This series was after the screening on TV offered for sale on DVD-ROM and can be used together with background information on the web server of the RBB. The additional information on the web server can be expanded independently from the film with regard to the user’s needs, e.g. scholarly purposes. Another project was a demo version of film streaming within a film archive.
It is important to point out, that the provider himself defines the way of structuring and the depth of indexing with regard to the structure of the content to be presented and the habitudes of searching of the potential users. Furthermore already existing electronic data can be imported within their structure and are checked concerning their consistency during the import process. Beyond this, tools (e.g. forms) for recording information can be put at the provider’s disposal. By this way, it is possible to check the correctness of the recorded or edited data and no XML knowledge is needed for recording or editing.In the context of film many ways of implementation are imaginable: an implementation, starting at the making of (from the beginning of the production and the preparations for it), as well as for the distribution, up to archiving and preserving film (research and studies in film). Other suggestions are the connection of films and their scripts or the presentation of a collection within a special film genre, e.g. documentaries.