An Interview with Ross Lipman

Mike Dillon Shades of Gray: An Interview with Ross Lipman The “F” is for Failure graduate student conference filmmaker. Most notably, he expounds in detail concluded with “Digital Subjectivity: Restoring on the subjective discernment that frequently Barbara Loden’s Wanda,” a keynote presentation accompanies his work and the sometimes tenuous by Ross Lipman, who is senior film preservationist line between restoring a damaged film and at UCLA’s Film & Television Archive. He is preserving its imperfect properties. also an independent filmmaker. By chronicling his experience restoring Loden’s Wanda (1970), Mike Dillon: You had given your keynote Lipman illustrated some of the chief concerns presentation before to an audience of engineers pertaining to the restoration process generally. He and archivists, but you deliberately retained some outlined several challenges encountered throughout of its technical jargon for our people in Critical this project that point to subjective decision-making Studies to bridge the gaps between scientific and on the part of the restorationist that projects of this critical/artistic discourses. What are some of the nature often necessitate. The presentation included concrete ways in which a working knowledge of numerous visual demonstrations of the specific technical or scientific terminology can benefit choices he made during his restoration of Wanda. critical or historical approaches? Because Lipman structured his address through the use of numerous visual aids, his original Ross Lipman: I’d say it’s more than just a question text was deemed unsuitable for publication in this of terminology, but also technical concepts, in that issue. Instead, his material was made the subject artists are often—in my experience—struggling of an interview that engages several key topics not just with content but with form. The two germane to the original presentation and allows things are often very interwoven. Much of what him to supplement his answers with anecdotes and characterizes individual artworks is wrapped up in examples that were not included in his keynote the way in which they were made. Having a deeper address. In what follows, Lipman discusses the understanding of those multiple processes only importance of understanding a film’s historical roots enlightens the understanding of the discourses when assessing the contexts of its production and that go on around them. artistic intent. He also weighs in on the transition The idea is that a lot of artists’ struggles are from analogue to digital media (a contested issue wrapped up in their material and the way that in some quarters of film studies) and addresses they work with that material. You’ll find some how his work informs his own sensibilities as a who may work exclusively with material and “F” is for Failure 45 James Crawford and Mike Dillon, editors, Spectator 32:1 (Spring 2012): 45-54. SHADES OF GRAY others who work more in the realm of content. But there usually is some kind of dialogue going on between content and material, and sometimes misunderstandings arise when the community that is receiving the work does not have a deeper understanding of the production context. That becomes even more challenging with older works as time passes. When works are current, there’s generally an assumption that most people who will be perceiving or receiving them have at least a general familiarity with the environment in which the works are made and maybe even some of the processes by which they are made. But that recedes with time. My favorite example of this is The Exiles (1961), by Kent Mackenzie—a good USC boy, Ross Lipman delivers his keynote address at “F” is for Failure. of course—who made that film out on location. One of the things The Exiles is renowned for is But the key thing is that understanding the the amazing location cinematography by Erik historical moment of the development of cinema Daarstad, John Morrill, and Robert Kaufman. technology around The Exiles helps you understand And while the cinematography is remarkable, Mackenzie’s creative process. one thing that’s fluctuating a bit throughout the film is the sound. Although they did record sound MD: Speaking of cinema technology, let’s talk on location, they only were able to use those about “medium specificity.” This is a commonplace recordings as guide tracks. The quality was often term in our field. Am I paraphrasing you correctly poor, and they redubbed the dialogue in the studio, to say that medium specificity is often historically so that what you’re hearing is not location sound; specific, because it is so wrapped up in what it’s ADR, added later. Some people look at that as technology is available to the medium at the time? a flaw. There are voices from some quarters saying, “If not for the poor quality of the dubbed dialogue, RL: Yes, but then I would say that technology this would be a better film.” What does not enter is always changing, and some of those shifts are into the discourse that I’ve seen is a discussion smaller and others more seismic. So, for example, of the historical context in which The Exiles was when you go from photochemical to electronic produced. And what’s key to understanding this imaging systems, that’s a huge shift. They do tend is the time it was being shot, between 1957-1959. to inch closer once you start getting towards a That’s really at a moment just preceding cinéma really high-quality digital cinema environment, but vérité. The Nagra III sound recorder was just there are still many, many differences. And a lot of then being developed. There were certainly Nagra it depends on the success of their implementation. models out, but the technology had not been So it’s a really slippery slope. Let’s say you’re doing perfected yet. It was only in the early 1960s, a little a restoration of an older film, and you keep it in later, that you really began getting that portable, the film medium, with a photochemical workflow. high-quality sound equipment functional. Part By definition, that would be closer to retaining of what Mackenzie was doing was anticipating medium specificity than if you were to translate cinéma vérité before it happens, but without the it into an electronic imaging system. However, technology that would enable it. When you get one could also say, “It’s not truly medium-specific into it and you look at what he actually did do with unless you printed it on the actual film stock on the sound, there are some really innovative things which it was originally printed.” I would argue that that he achieved, and some work brilliantly, while there’s really no way you’re going to get everything others are less successful. Overall, it’s brilliant. perfectly identical to an original production. It’s 46 SPRING 2012 DILLON always being changed in one way or another. You they can do. I, thankfully, only have to worry about cannot duplicate something perfectly. One would the handful of titles that I’ve worked on. There’s think that, digitally, you can. I would say that it’s a question of what we hope for, and what’s really always being changed, and it’s a question of how going to happen. You have to accept the fact that much. at a certain point you can’t control it. It’s going to In general, I think it is better to try to retain be viewed however it will. the original medium’s physical properties, such as For example, if we preserve a silent film, it keeping it photochemical. Having said that, one might have a particular “ideal” projection speed. can print film really poorly also, and so it depends Of course, that’s intensely debatable in itself and on the nature of the work. Some films will just not would depend on the work—you might even make the leap from analogue to digital very happily. have multiple ideal projection speeds within a Others can do it quite well, and in some cases you single film because they would have been hand- can arguably do better by going digital. A theme cranked in the silent era. And so, with silent films, you’ll hear me come back to all the time is that you have no say of what’s really going to happen every project is its own story, and what works in once it gets out there. It might be the projectionist one case will not necessarily work in another. You who decides on it. Another classic area for varied always have to begin anew with each project. One presentation of a single title is aspect ratio, because of the questions I ask is, “Is the work’s meaning although a lot of films blown up from 16mm were embedded in its physical properties? How much of exhibited in a rectangular 1.85:1, they might have that is vital to this particular work?” And then, you been shot in a more square 1.33:1. And so the have to ask, “What’s going to happen when those projectionist will look at the material and make a properties no longer exist or just aren’t there? How call, sometimes based on the date of production. is that going to change the nature of the work?” Good projectionists know a lot—they can be great A lot of people today don’t even see a difference resources. Other times, I’ll have friendly debates between media forms. It’s all just one thing, and with them: “No, I think with this title we should they won’t think about those issues.

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