The Rise and Fall of Books

Remastering Project

Mainspring Narrative Films is embarking on a project to remaster the 2008 documentary The Rise and Fall of Books for the purpose of releasing it to Amazon Prime and theater screenings. This film was originally shot in New York City as part of a Cornell University art installation called The Humanities Book Art Project.

Arts professor Buzz Spector has spent a lot of time thinking about the fate of print culture. He is an internationally renowned “book artist” whose installations, sculptures, photographs, and drawings have been exhibited in many museums and galleries in the U.S. and overseas. The Rise and Fall of Books follows Spector during one month in the winter of 2007 as he teaches a class of Cornell University art students how to use books as art- making material and, more importantly, to think about the values that reading and collecting books contribute to society.

While this film was seen in many venues as part of Cornell University and Buzz Spector-related events over the years, this remastering project will make it available to a much wider international audience.

The remastering process includes:

  • Footage recapture (from the original tapes)

  • Footage cleanup (removal of digital artifacts present due to

    video tape imperfections)

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Upscaling from the original

    standard definition widescreen format to 4K

  • Reintegration of all processed visuals

  • Layback of enhanced audio mix

  • Preparation of film into digital formats required by Amazon Prime

  • Preparation of DCPs (Digital Cinema Packages) for

    theatrical projection systems

Total Funding needed: $127,500