NYC Media video recordings of public event appearances by Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray, 2013-2021

Accession ACC-2022-008. Unprocessed - RG 001/RG 001.BDB. Office of the Mayor, Bill de Blasio

Description

This accession consists of video recordings of public event appearances by Mayor Bill de Blasio during his time as Mayor of New York City. The videos were created by NYC Media, a division of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), and document approximately 3600 public events, from mid-December 2013 to the end of December 2021. Of this total, approximately 300 of the events are with First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray. The types of events documented in the videos include: announcements and updates, such as policy initiatives, appointments, and emergency responses, often followed by press Q&As; press conferences, media availabilities, and Q&As on various subjects; speeches, talks, and discussions; legislative testimony; bill signings; meetings; school and community visits; parades and celebrations; rallies; ceremonies and dedications; receptions; conferences; a press variety show featuring the Mayor; and general photo-opportunities. The videos are on an extensive and wide range of topics and themes, including but not limited to: the implementation of initiatives, such as Universal Pre-K; responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other public health emergencies; New York City economic, cultural, and technological development; policing and public safety; criminal justice; transportation; climate; housing; social welfare; labor relations; public commemoration; community outreach; budget; and legislative affairs. They include appearances by elected officials, city leadership, city residents, civic and community leaders, representatives of industry and culture, celebrities, and others. For much of the period documented, several public events per week, and sometimes multiple events per day, have been captured on video. The videos are housed on 2743 XDCAM Professional Discs, 87 MiniDV tapes, and 10 Optical Disc Archive (ODA) cartridges. The XDCAM discs and MiniDV tapes are arranged into 42 boxes by code number, from BD-0001 to BD-2824, which represents a rough chronological arrangement from earliest to latest. Videos of public events from November 11, 2019 to December 31, 2021 are on 10 Optical Disc Archive (ODA) cartridges with a separate numbering system, and are located in the final box. The XDCAM Professional Discs are predominantly 50 GB discs, with a smaller amount of 23 GB discs. Video clips are recorded on the Professional Discs as MXF video files, and have corresponding XML files. A disc may contain one or more clips, generally from a single event. For most of the events documented, the video is on one Professional Disc. A single event may also be covered on more than one disc. For example, one disc may hold the main footage from an event, while an accompanying disc holds the "B Roll" footage, such as candid video, still video images capturing details from a crowd or event space, and interviews with participants. Each of the XDCAM discs and MiniDVs are labeled with a code number, description, and date of the event(s) documented. An accompanying index created by NYC Media includes code numbers, recording formats, event titles, shot dates, and camera operators. There may be instances where there is additional content on the discs that is not reflected in the inventory. Review of a sample of eighty Professional Discs was conducted for the purposes of appraisal. Based on the sample, it is estimated the full set of XDCAM discs contain approximately 24,000 video clips, each with a related XML file, plus additional metadata files, and low-resolution versions of the clips. The discs hold an estimated 1700-1900 hours of footage, and 29.02 TB, out of an estimated capacity of 133.15 TB. Videos of public events from November 11, 2019 to December 31, 2021 are housed on five Sony Optical Disc Archive (ODA) Cartridge Generation 2 3.3 TB cartridges, and five backup cartridges. The cartridges hold approximately 5,500 video files, with several hundred hours of footage from approximately 900-1000 public events, and related metadata files. The files on the five ODA cartridges take up 13.876 TB out of a total capacity of 14.254 TB. Inventories for each ODA cartridge contain file-level metadata for all of the files on the cartridges. The most common codec is MPEG-2, a Library of Congress preferred format, with smaller amounts of files using AVC and MPEG-4. The frame size for most of the video is 1920x1080, with smaller amounts of clips in 1440x1080, 1280x720, and 352x240. The frame rate for most of the video is 59.94 FPS, with a smaller amount at 29.97 FPS. The videos are professionally made, and contain high definition picture and sound quality.

Extent

42 cubic feet (42 record cartons) : 2743 xdcam professional discs (predominantly 50 gb); 87 minidv tapes; ten optical disc archive (oda) cartridges

42.9 (estimated) terabytes

Dates

2013-2021

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