Icon Internships, Video Conservation Internship
BFI National Archive
24 month Internship starting March 2019
Location: Berkhamsted, UK
Educational Stipend: £22,107 / year

The British Film Institute (BFI), with the generous support of The 
Clothworkers' Foundation is pleased to be able to offer a 24-month internship 
working in the conservation and digitisation of the BFI National Archive's 
extensive video tape collection.

The intern will work with collections that have been designated most at-risk 
and made strategic priorities for Heritage 2022; the BFI's current 5-year 
archive strategy. With obsolete tape formats in danger of being lost in the 
next five to six years, the BFI and partner Regional and National Film 
Archives' (RNAs) extensive videotape collections (estimated at over 1 million 
titles) are now a priority for preservation and access. The Video Conservation 
Intern will support the BFI's first mass digitisation project for videotape, 
which aims to preserve 100,000 of the most important videotape titles. The BFI 
is currently undertaking an audit to assess the scale and nature of our own and 
the RNAs' collections and select these priority titles.

Chosen collections will include a broad range of material such as significant 
UK television heritage (major one-off dramas, documentaries and children's 
television), artists moving image work (documentaries and artists films) and 
low budget British feature films. The collections will encompass a huge range 
of videotape formats, from domestic VHS to broadcast quality 1- and 2-inch 
videotape. The collections largely date form the 1970s onwards when tape became 
more affordable and stopped being reused, although some rare early titles do 
exist dating back to the 50s and 60s.

The successful candidate will work alongside the BFI's video conservators, 
digital specialists, technicians and other expert staff to help build a broad 
knowledge base. Focusing the internship on videotape specifically will enable 
them to develop extensive skills in this area across the two years and, by the 
end of their training contract, leave the post-holder with sector leading 
specialist knowledge and unique expertise to support future employment.

Key areas
- Work closely with the Archive Technology and Heritage 2022 Teams, learning 
about the process of conserving, replaying and digitising legacy video formats.
-  Develop skills in the use, repair and maintenance of videotape equipment.
- Contribute to technical activities undertaken at the Conservation Centre when 
required, to ensure best collections care and delivery of services.
- Participate in relevant projects and initiatives across the BFI Conservation 
Centre, attend team meetings, planning, staff development and team building 
events, as required.

Requirements
- Minimum GCSE English and Maths (or equivalent).
- Post-holders will need to have some degree of conservation knowledge; 
however, this does not have to be in the field of moving image.
-  An understanding of the technical processes involved in digitising analogue 
and digital videotape material, and the particular challenges associated with 
legacy video formats and digital preservation.
-  A good knowledge and demonstrable experience of using computer-based 
systems, media file formats and media players.
-  Able to work constructively, proactively and flexibly both as an individual 
and as a part of a team

Applications should be made via the Icon website: 
https://icon.org.uk/what-is-conservation/internships

The closing date for applications is 9am on 4 February 2019. Interviews are 
scheduled to take place on 12 February 2019 in Berkhamsted.

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