A framework for the analysis of historical newsreels

Mila Oiva; Ksenia Mukhina; Vejune Zemaityte; Andres Karjus; Mikhail Tamm; Tillmann Ohm; Mark Mets; Daniel Chávez Heras; Mar Canet Sola; Helena Hanna Juht; Maximilian Schich

doi:10.1057/s41599-024-02886-w

A framework for the analysis of historical newsreels

Mila Oiva^*, Ksenia Mukhina, Vejune Zemaityte, Andres Karjus, Mikhail Tamm, Tillmann Ohm, Mark Mets, Daniel Chávez Heras, Mar Canet Sola, Helena Hanna Juht, Maximilian Schich

^*Corresponding author for this work

Digital Humanities

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Audiovisual news is a critical cultural phenomenon that has been influencing audience worldviews for more than a hundred years. To understand historical trends in multimodal audiovisual news, we need to explore them longitudinally using large sets of data. Despite promising developments in film history, computational video analysis, and other relevant fields, current research streams have limitations related to the scope of data used, the systematism of analysis, and the modalities and elements to be studied in audiovisual material and its metadata. Simultaneously, each disciplinary approach contributes significant input to research reducing these limitations. We therefore advocate for combining the strengths of several disciplines. Here we propose a multidisciplinary framework for systematically studying large collections of historical audiovisual news to gain a coherent picture of their temporal dynamics, cultural diversity, and potential societal effects across several quantitative and qualitative dimensions of analysis. By using newsreels as an example of such complex historically formed data, we combine the context crucial to qualitative approaches with the systematicity and ability to cover large amounts of data from quantitative methods. The framework template for historical newsreels is exemplified by a case study of the “News of the Day” newsreel series produced in the Soviet Union during 1944–1992. The proposed framework enables a more nuanced analysis of longitudinal collections of audiovisual news, expanding our understanding of the dynamics of global knowledge cultures.

Original language	English
Article number	530
Journal	Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Volume	11
Issue number	1
Early online date	25 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02886-w
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 25 Apr 2024

Keywords

Computational aesthetics
computational analysis
Machine learning and Artificial intelligence (AI)
Computer vision
film and media studies
Film archives

Access to Document

10.1057/s41599-024-02886-wLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{cb80d837da58483a94e453adbfe38e6f,

title = "A framework for the analysis of historical newsreels",

abstract = "Audiovisual news is a critical cultural phenomenon that has been influencing audience worldviews for more than a hundred years. To understand historical trends in multimodal audiovisual news, we need to explore them longitudinally using large sets of data. Despite promising developments in film history, computational video analysis, and other relevant fields, current research streams have limitations related to the scope of data used, the systematism of analysis, and the modalities and elements to be studied in audiovisual material and its metadata. Simultaneously, each disciplinary approach contributes significant input to research reducing these limitations. We therefore advocate for combining the strengths of several disciplines. Here we propose a multidisciplinary framework for systematically studying large collections of historical audiovisual news to gain a coherent picture of their temporal dynamics, cultural diversity, and potential societal effects across several quantitative and qualitative dimensions of analysis. By using newsreels as an example of such complex historically formed data, we combine the context crucial to qualitative approaches with the systematicity and ability to cover large amounts of data from quantitative methods. The framework template for historical newsreels is exemplified by a case study of the “News of the Day” newsreel series produced in the Soviet Union during 1944–1992. The proposed framework enables a more nuanced analysis of longitudinal collections of audiovisual news, expanding our understanding of the dynamics of global knowledge cultures.",

keywords = "Computational aesthetics, computational analysis, Machine learning and Artificial intelligence (AI), Computer vision, film and media studies, Film archives",

author = "Mila Oiva and Ksenia Mukhina and Vejune Zemaityte and Andres Karjus and Mikhail Tamm and Tillmann Ohm and Mark Mets and {Ch{\'a}vez Heras}, Daniel and {Canet Sola}, Mar and Juht, {Helena Hanna} and Maximilian Schich",

note = "Funding Information: European Union Horizon2020 research and innovation programme ERA Chair project for Cultural Data Analytics CUDAN (Project no. 810961); National programme of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia for April 2022\u2013February 2023 (Project no. EKKD77); Estonian Research Council Public Value of Open Cultural Data (Project no. PRG1641); European Union Horizon Europe research and innovation programme CresCine\u2014Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Film Industry in Small European Markets (Project no. 101094988). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = apr,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1057/s41599-024-02886-w",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Humanities and Social Sciences Communications",

issn = "2662-9992",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A framework for the analysis of historical newsreels

AU - Oiva, Mila

AU - Mukhina, Ksenia

AU - Zemaityte, Vejune

AU - Karjus, Andres

AU - Tamm, Mikhail

AU - Ohm, Tillmann

AU - Mets, Mark

AU - Chávez Heras, Daniel

AU - Canet Sola, Mar

AU - Juht, Helena Hanna

AU - Schich, Maximilian

N1 - Funding Information: European Union Horizon2020 research and innovation programme ERA Chair project for Cultural Data Analytics CUDAN (Project no. 810961); National programme of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia for April 2022\u2013February 2023 (Project no. EKKD77); Estonian Research Council Public Value of Open Cultural Data (Project no. PRG1641); European Union Horizon Europe research and innovation programme CresCine\u2014Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Film Industry in Small European Markets (Project no. 101094988). Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/4/25

Y1 - 2024/4/25

N2 - Audiovisual news is a critical cultural phenomenon that has been influencing audience worldviews for more than a hundred years. To understand historical trends in multimodal audiovisual news, we need to explore them longitudinally using large sets of data. Despite promising developments in film history, computational video analysis, and other relevant fields, current research streams have limitations related to the scope of data used, the systematism of analysis, and the modalities and elements to be studied in audiovisual material and its metadata. Simultaneously, each disciplinary approach contributes significant input to research reducing these limitations. We therefore advocate for combining the strengths of several disciplines. Here we propose a multidisciplinary framework for systematically studying large collections of historical audiovisual news to gain a coherent picture of their temporal dynamics, cultural diversity, and potential societal effects across several quantitative and qualitative dimensions of analysis. By using newsreels as an example of such complex historically formed data, we combine the context crucial to qualitative approaches with the systematicity and ability to cover large amounts of data from quantitative methods. The framework template for historical newsreels is exemplified by a case study of the “News of the Day” newsreel series produced in the Soviet Union during 1944–1992. The proposed framework enables a more nuanced analysis of longitudinal collections of audiovisual news, expanding our understanding of the dynamics of global knowledge cultures.

AB - Audiovisual news is a critical cultural phenomenon that has been influencing audience worldviews for more than a hundred years. To understand historical trends in multimodal audiovisual news, we need to explore them longitudinally using large sets of data. Despite promising developments in film history, computational video analysis, and other relevant fields, current research streams have limitations related to the scope of data used, the systematism of analysis, and the modalities and elements to be studied in audiovisual material and its metadata. Simultaneously, each disciplinary approach contributes significant input to research reducing these limitations. We therefore advocate for combining the strengths of several disciplines. Here we propose a multidisciplinary framework for systematically studying large collections of historical audiovisual news to gain a coherent picture of their temporal dynamics, cultural diversity, and potential societal effects across several quantitative and qualitative dimensions of analysis. By using newsreels as an example of such complex historically formed data, we combine the context crucial to qualitative approaches with the systematicity and ability to cover large amounts of data from quantitative methods. The framework template for historical newsreels is exemplified by a case study of the “News of the Day” newsreel series produced in the Soviet Union during 1944–1992. The proposed framework enables a more nuanced analysis of longitudinal collections of audiovisual news, expanding our understanding of the dynamics of global knowledge cultures.

KW - Computational aesthetics

KW - computational analysis

KW - Machine learning and Artificial intelligence (AI)

KW - Computer vision

KW - film and media studies

KW - Film archives

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187930796&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1057/s41599-024-02886-w

DO - 10.1057/s41599-024-02886-w

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85187930796

SN - 2662-9992

VL - 11

JO - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

JF - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 530

ER -

A framework for the analysis of historical newsreels

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this