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.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
BFIs National Archive curator tells TVBEurope about plans to save videos from the UKs lockdown
