Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

How the BFI is preserving digital videos from lockdown for the future

04/05/2020

BFIs National Archive curator tells TVBEurope about plans to save videos from the UKs lockdown

By Jenny Priestley

Published: May 4, 2020

BFI's National Archive curator tells TVBEurope about plans to save videos from the UK's lockdown

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> BFI's National Archive curator tells TVBEurope about plans to save videos from the UK's lockdown

https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/how-the-bfi-is-preserving-digital-videos-from-lockdown-for-the-future title=Share via Email class=share-email>

The BFI has launched a new project asking the British public to recommend online videos that best represent how the country has experienced the impact of coronavirus.

Britain on Lockdown aims to create an online video archive of some of the best short clips created during lockdown, from Joe Wicks' PE lessons to Boris Johnson's video tweet announcing he had coronavirus symptoms.

If the BFI National Archive doesn't collect and preserve them, can we guarantee that they'll still be there in 5 years, 50 years, 200 years? Robin Baker, head curator at the BFI National Archive tells TVBEurope.

Video platforms come and go, but the BFI National Archive has been here for 85 years with a mission to preserve. These videos are an extraordinarily potent record of how the people of Britain experienced the time of lockdown and need to be part of the record we take into the future.

All of the suggested videos will be added to the database, where they'll then be viewed by the BFI National Archive's curators. We'll be using many criteria for selection - from the innovation of filmmaking to how impactful they've been to how they represent a wide range of narrative voices from across the UK, explains Baker.

Joe Wicks' daily PE sessions have been a must-watch for many families In terms of how the videos will be archived, the BFI National Archive has developed an integrated digital preservation solution using three major infrastructure components: a Collections Information Database from Axiell, a Media Asset Management system from Imagen, and a data tape storage infrastructure from Spectra Logic.

These systems are integrated with a set of microservices written in Python, to take descriptive metadata from CID and ingest media to Imagen using that metadata to inform the appropriate Imagen ingest workflow. Imagen integrates with Black Pearl from Spectra Logic, to store the original preservation-quality media to two geographically separated data tape libraries, on LTO and IBM data tapes, with robust digital preservation processes such as fixity confirmation.

A lower quality access copy is created by Imagen for web browser viewing, stored on a Dell EMC Isilon storage cluster, and this lower bitrate version can be made available to BFI staff at their desks in the Imagen Web application, to facilitate cataloguing, interpretation and research.

According to Baker, the videos will be kept for as we continue to preserve the films of Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Powell and Pressburger. We're talking about the very long term here. In theory, for ever. So, as long as the UK has a national collection of film and TV, they will be safe. They'll survive many times longer than any of us will.

Asked which video he would pick to add to the archive, Baker cites a short video posted on Facebook and Instagram on 19th March by Dawn Bilbrough, a critical care nurse in York. It was posted in the middle of the stockpiling madness and she pleaded You just need to stop it because it's people like me that are going to be looking after you when you're at your lowest, so just stop it, please.'

Her pleas couldn't have been more desperate or heartfelt and impacted on both government and supermarkets and made many people in the UK take a long, hard look at their own behaviour.

Anyone who would like to suggest a video can do so via the BFI's website.
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/how-the-bfi-is-preserving-di...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

23/07/2026

Record-breaking World Cup has advertisers cheering

Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...

23/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Shansley Glenn, University of Oklahoma

This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...

23/07/2026

Miked Up Is an Everyday Deal for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League

As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization Ballplayers chatting with announ...

23/07/2026

Snap Announces AR and Creator Activations at Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris

Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...

23/07/2026

Sony Introduces FX5 Full-Frame Cinema Line Camera

Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...

23/07/2026

TNDV Powers Pickleball Slam 4 Broadcast for Ohlmeyer Kusserow Group

TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...

23/07/2026

LTN Surpasses 3,000 Satellite-to-IP Migrations as FCC Approves Upper C-Band Auction Rules

LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...

23/07/2026

Daktronics Announces 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase Winners

Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...

23/07/2026

beIN Sports Extends Exclusive Roland-Garros Rights Across 10 Asian Markets Through 2031

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...

23/07/2026

Clear-Com Provides Intercom System for Fryderyk Awards Gala at Tauron Arena Krakw

Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...

23/07/2026

How the FIFA World Cup's Record Revenue Masks a Structural Market Contraction

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...

23/07/2026

From Green Screen to LED: How BBC Sport's World Cup Studio Became the Blueprint for Match of the Day

Standing inside HQ3 at MediaCity Studios during the FIFA World Cup 2026, it quic...

23/07/2026

How the 2026 FIFA World Cup Tightened the Bond Between the FOX Sports Digital, Linear Teams

Having attracted upwards of 17 billion views throughout the tourney, the broadca...

23/07/2026

Low End Candy release Preverb

Quickly creates reverse reverb effects Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...

23/07/2026

Expressive E Noisy 2.6 arrives

New engines, resonators, effects & more Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...

23/07/2026

SGL Carbon expands photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site

SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...

23/07/2026

NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance

NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance 23 July, 2026 Media releases National Indigenous Television (NITV) has launched ...

23/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO series oscilloscopes

Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...

23/07/2026

Why The Next Big Opportunity in Sports Lies Outside the Stadium

In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...

23/07/2026

Scaling Smart with Vivid Broadcast

Download Now! To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details: -- First Name* First Name ...

23/07/2026

Sony Unveils FX5 Full-Frame Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Sachtler To Show Akti8T Fluid Head, Flowtech75 Tripod At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

NextGen TV Launches in Cleveland

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Yospace Stitched 11.57 Billion Ads into Live Streams During World Cup

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

At IBC2026 Witbe Will Showcase Tests That Build Themselve...

Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...

23/07/2026

Quickplay Caretta Research Evergent and Yospace Announce...

Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...

23/07/2026

IBC2026 Interra Systems Brings Trusted Media Intelligence...

At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...

23/07/2026

Illusionfx is finally coming!

Illusionfx is finally coming! Alex Perea July 23, 2026 0 Comments The new website is now live to mark the occasion. Since the last update, feedback h...

23/07/2026

Evergent showcases AI agents for streaming retention at I...

Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...

23/07/2026

Brian Jones Named NCTCs New CFO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Scripps Unites TV Operations Under Dean Littleton's Leadership

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

2D House is First North American Rental Facility to Offer...

David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...

23/07/2026

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026 Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...

23/07/2026

X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digital Color Education

X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digi...

23/07/2026

New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile

Thursday 23 July 2026 New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile Sky Mobile, the award-winning network voted this year by Expe...

23/07/2026

Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailer

Thursday 23 July 2026 Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailerTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy optio...

23/07/2026

Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time at an International Soccer Match

Wuppertal July 23, 2026 Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time...

23/07/2026

Centra returning as the official food partner of The Traitors Ireland

RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year. Ce...

23/07/2026

Honda sponsors Today with David McCullagh on RT Radio 1

RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am. Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...

23/07/2026

RT NEWS ANNOUNCES NEW JOURNALIST REPORTING FROM ACROSS CORK AND KERRY

RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region Working al...

23/07/2026

GeForce NOW Sets Sail With Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame' Joining the Cloud

Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...

22/07/2026

ESPN's AutoMic Technology Pays Off at Wimbledon; Baker Credits Team, AELTC for Successful Fortnight

Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...

22/07/2026

Australian Sports Technologies Network Reports Industry Growth of 16% in 2026

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...

22/07/2026

Production Wins, Man!': Men in Blazers' Founder Roger Bennett on Winning the FIFA World Cup as a Digital Media Brand

From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...

22/07/2026

TMRW Sports Appoints Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football

TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...

22/07/2026

Stephen Arnold Music Creates Audio for FIFA World Cup Projection Mapping Display at Rockefeller Center

Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...