Doing Digital Film History

Open Access

How has the digital turn shaped the practices of film historical research and teaching? While computational approaches have been used by film historians since the 1960s and 1970s, the arrival and use of digital tools and methods in recent decades has fundamentally changed the ways we search, analyze, interpret, present, and so think and write about film history – from digital archival and curatorial practices, data-driven search, and analysis of film historical collections to the visualization and dissemination of film historical materials online. While film historians have increasingly embraced the new possibilities brought by digital technologies, their practical, epistemological, and methodological implications need further exploration. What opportunities does the digitization of film historical sources provide for film historians? What new questions can be raised by using digital methods? What new perspectives emerge from analyzing, interpreting, and visualizing film historical data at the levels of both “close” and “distant” – or “scalable” – reading and viewing? By focusing on the concepts, tools, and practices of digital film historiography, this edited volume aims to contribute to a better understanding and critical reflection on the changes and continuities of doing film history in the digital age.

S. Dang, Philipps-Universität Marburg; T. van der Heijden, Open University of the Netherlands; C. G. Olesen, University of Amsterdam.

“Dang, Van der Heijden, and Olesen, with clarity and a keen awareness of the tradition and experimentation they draw from, have curated a fundamental reference for film scholars, archivists, and students exploring the use of emerging digital tools. Through a varied and comprehensive selection of essays, this rich collection illuminates the path to collaborative efforts in applying digital tools to film heritage collections, while remaining critically mindful of both the advantages and challenges these tools present.” – Giovanna Fossati, Professor of Media Heritage, Technology and Culture, Utrecht University

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“A necessary and expansive anthology that covers a wide spectrum of digital film history approaches ranging from hermeneutic to data-driven, practical, and pedagogical. The volume covers important ‘micro’ histories, material concerns, critical tool studies, and other areas that collectively contribute to a layered and nuanced understanding of ‘macro’ histories we often take for granted.” – Marina Hassapopoulou, Professor of Cinema Studies, New York University