Audiovisual Media

The project The Wien-Film 1938-1945, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (2018–2021), undoubtedly was a milestone for establishing a distinct research focus on audiovisual media. Several subsequent activities ensure the sustainability of the ongoing research. Such is the case with the establishment of the publication series Filmmusik in historisch-kritischen Editionen in spring 2021, published by the Filmarchiv Austria. The methods and workflows developed for these editions, employing transdisciplinary techniques from both literary and music editions, prove to be highly rewarding. Not only for analytical, but also for future performative purposes, historical-critical editions of music in the German-speaking cinema provides insight into the structure of the score as well as into the interaction of the music with the moving image, and thus make it comprehensible as part of the filmic narration. Following the initial volume (Die Frau meiner Träume, music by Franz Grothe), further four editions are in the pipeline, out of which Der Postmeister (music by Willy Schmidt-Gentner) will be published in autumn 2021. Research findings are also disseminated in the newly established one-hour broadcast series Musik im Kino (radio klassik stephansdom), scheduled eight times per year. Furthermore, as part of the long-lasting cooperation with the Filmarchiv Austria, a series of film retrospectives is to be expected, starting with the presentation of the historical-critical edition of the Postmeister in 2022.

In addition to these activities we strive for further scientific advancements on this field of research by developping a film and film music database, implementing the EN 15907 metadata standard for the first time in an open-source framework.  As database engine, the CollectiveAccess museum cataloguing software was chosen, given its compatibility with EN 15907 which in turn follows the film cataloguing standards recommended by the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF) and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Along with the EN 15907 metadata scheme, the corresponding vocabularies recommended by FIAF were implemented in our database.