Preserving the sound and vision stored in videotapes and film rolls has been a painstaking task. In the past, archivists needed to acquire various machines and improve their own techniques, in order to fix the various issues of the old medium physically. Although the advent of video editing software and generative AI automate the format transfer and image restoration processes, these practices are still under experimentation. As digital technologies rapidly move forward, the ‘end point’ of the digitization process seems further. Shall we take a moment and talk about the ‘ideal image’ anticipated by practitioners of the two practices?

VMAC Forum invites VCRBase and local startup Restituo for a conversation on the techniques and challenges in restoring moving images. The former, a collective of TV enthusiasts for over a decade, cleans the tapes using vintage machines, establishes their set of standards from past experiences, in order to restore the videos as close to the original broadcast as possible. Meanwhile, the latter is a tailor-made pipeline for restoring moving image titles, balancing the prowess of machine learning models and the artists’ creative decisions. After close communication with veteran artists, it aims to reach an ideal solution for digitization via generative AI.

Analog maintenance and generative AI might not be as contradictory in restoring moving images. The VMAC forum aims to serve as a discussion platform for the two practices, exploring the potential of being complimentary tools in the digitisation process.

保存錄影帶和菲林間的每格聲畫，向來令人頭痛：庫藏家以往須蒐集專門機器，精進技藝和機器性能，以物理方式修復舊媒介的種種毛病。如今影像剪輯軟件和人工智能的發展，試圖以自動化程式轉換格式和改善畫面，但種種技術仍在實驗中。科技的高速發展使數碼化的盡頭看似變得漫無邊際，不如坐下來，探討兩種實踐所期盼的「理想成像」？

是次 VMAC Forum 邀請香港民間經典回憶資料庫 VCRBase 與本地初創公司 Restituo，對談修復流動影像的過程與挑戰。前者收集中古電視片段十數載，用舊機器清理、轉換錄影帶，並憑自身經驗奠定自家標準，追求原汁原味的影像。後者則為流動影像作品度身訂做畫面修復流程，與藝術家反覆商量後才得出最合適的人工智能數碼化方案，平衡創作者的想法和機器學習模型的威力。

物理修復與人工智能或許並非如想像中對立，VMAC Forum 希望促進兩種實踐的對話與討論，探索在數碼化過程中它們彼此補足的可能。

Date | 日期：21/6/2025（六 Sat）
Time | 時間：12:00 pm （HKT 香港時間）
Venue | 地點：Online 網上會議（Meeting link will be shared after registration 會議連結會於登記後發放）
Speaker | 講者：Michael @ 香港民間經典回憶資料庫 VCRBase、Sam Chan（co-founder, Restituo 聯合創辦人）
Moderator | 主持：Doris Poon 潘韻怡

Conducted in Cantonese. Online registration is needed. 以廣東話主講，請預先登記。
Registration link | 登記連結：https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/UF3EDhQiSqyXxVCh8qHPVw#/registration

Presented by | 主辦: Videotage 錄映太奇
Supported by | 資助: Hong Kong Arts Development Council 香港藝術發展局*

* Videotage is financially supported by the HKADC. 錄影太奇為藝發局資助團體。

* The Hong Kong Arts Development Council supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council. 香港藝術發展局支持藝術表達自由，本計劃內容並不反映本局意見。