Film Analysis of Archive Documentaries

Film experts, archives and museums state highly demanding requirements for automated film analysis. The experimental style of archive documentaries and the state of the film material challenge conventional content-based retrieval techniques. In this article, we outline issues in the context of automated film analysis for archive documentaries. We explore examples of the applicability of existing content-based retrieval methods and provide insights into both limitations and potentials. Performed experiments show that the discussed methods bear the potential to improve the understanding, handling, and accessing of archive film material.