Navigation for Our Changing World

Our Changing World for Thursday 16 December 2010

  • Tour of Park Road Post Production

    9:55 PM.In this web-only special, Brian Scadden takes Amelia Nurse on a tour to see some of the old film unit equipment still in use Audio

  • Water Repellent Soils

    9:46 PM.A soil survey around the North Island has found that when dry, rather than soaking up water, most soils become water repellent Audio

  • Redigitising Old Films

    9:34 PM.Park Road Post Production explains the process of restoring and redigitising a 1940 film Audio

  • Measuring Air Quality

    9:20 PM.Last winter a large study in Auckland looked at the impact of motorway traffic and wood smoke on inside and outside air quality Audio

  • NZ Film Archives 'Saving Frames'

    9:06 PM.The NZ Film Archive's 'Saving Frames' is a four-year project to preserve thousands of old films. Audio

'Saving Frames' - Restoring Old Films

Films in the vault

Film in the vault (image: David Murphy, courtesy of the New Zealand Film Archive)

The NZ Film Archive is an independent charitable trust and home to hundreds of thousands of moving images of New Zealand's past, including documentaries, feature and short films, home movies, newsreels and music videos.

Poster from Rewi's Last StandThey're in the midst of a four-year project called Saving Frames - a massive film preservation project, including a new purpose-built storage facility in Plimmerton. Amelia Nurse visited the archive to see what the project involves.

As part of the NZ Film Archive's four year project, Saving Frames, eight NZ films will be will be completely restored, including Rudall Hayward's 1940 feature, The Last Stand. Archives are collaborating with Park Road Post Production, and Amelia Nurse had a chat with Brian Scadden, head of Laboratory at Park Road, and Jon Newells, the digital colourist, about their involvement in the project.

Left: Poster for Rewi's Last Stand (1940). Illustration by Ramai Te Miha (image: Hayward Collection, New Zealand Film Archive Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua)

 

Measuring Air Quality

NIWA, the University of Auckland and the University of Canterbury are collaborating in a major study in Auckland to assess the impact of motorway traffic and wood smoke on inside and outside air quality (PDF) in a typical suburb close to a large motorway. Data was collected during a 3-month period in autumn and winter this year, and included some novel data collection methods: a mobile air-quality system in a late model Ford Falcon, a quarter-century-old bike had a basket on the front containing measuring equipment, sampling tubes were positioned on lampposts, and three air-quality monitoring stations were strategically positioned within the one square kilometre study area in Otahuhu. PhD student Woody Pattinson lived in a typical house that was rented for the duration of the study so that internal air quality could be measured and related to activities within the house.

NIWA's Ian Longley explains to Alison Ballance how this is the largest such study ever undertaken in New Zealand and will provide information that is relevant to New Zealand conditions, especially in relation to the age of our car fleet and the design of our houses. Analysis of the large data set is underway by the various agencies involved, with results expected by early 2012.

Redigitising old films

Films in the vault

Film in the vault (image: David Murphy, courtesy of the New Zealand Film Archive)

The NZ Film Archive is an independent charitable trust and home to hundreds of thousands of moving images of New Zealand's past, including documentaries, feature and short films, home movies, newsreels and music videos.

Poster from Rewi's Last StandThey're in the midst of a four-year project called Saving Frames - a massive film preservation project, including a new purpose-built storage facility in Plimmerton. Amelia Nurse visited the archive to see what the project involves.

As part of the NZ Film Archive's four year project, Saving Frames, eight NZ films will be will be completely restored, including Rudall Hayward's 1940 feature, The Last Stand. Archives are collaborating with Park Road Post Production, and Amelia Nurse had a chat with Brian Scadden, head of Laboratory at Park Road, and Jon Newells, the digital colourist, about their involvement in the project.

Left: Poster for Rewi's Last Stand (1940). Illustration by Ramai Te Miha (image: Hayward Collection, New Zealand Film Archive Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua)

 

Water Repellent Soils

Markus Deurer, Karen Mason, and a drop test on two soils

Markus Deurer and Karen Mason with a soil sample being tested with simulated rain, and a drop test on two different soils (images: Plant and Food Research)

For anyone who wants to grow plants, getting the right amount of water into the soil is extremely important. However, a study of 300 samples of soil at 50 locations around the North Island by PhD student John Carter, his supervisor Markus Deurer, and Karen Mason at Plant and Food Research has found an unexpected problem: rather than soaking up water, 95% of the soils sampled have the potential to by hydrophobic (ie water repellent).

Soil water repellency is a worldwide phenomenon, described in at least 50 countries, and while it has been reported in New Zealand, the location of water repellent soils is not well known. The survey has found that soils with hydrophobic potential are prevalent throughout all regions, but organic, podzol and recent soils have a greater chance of being persistently hydrophobic. Further research will be conducted, for example in the South Island, and also to discover what can be done to prevent soils becoming hydrophobic

Tour of Park Road Post Production

Brian Scadden takes Amelia Nurse to see some of the old Film unit equipment which is still in use at Park Road Post.