Digital Data Liability

Digital cinema has brought not only opportunities to technicians working in the film industry but risks also. With no digital data protection under public liability policies and not all production companies having content media insurance, digital image technician Nigel Burton asks who is liable if something goes wrong with digital data on set.

Digital cinema in New Zealand is barely 10 years old and already it has created a major shift in the structure and operation of the camera department. No longer does camera use film, but now digital cameras shoot on digital magazines or cards that are processed and copied, usually by the data wrangler, and almost always on set.

A worldwide accepted best practice existed with film, established over decades for the handling, loading, exposing, downloading, and processing of the film stock that creates the film negative. A process handled by industry professionals who earned their stripes over years of experience. While this process was carried out dutifully, there was just one copy of the film negative, and production companies would insure themselves to cover any human or mechanical error.

Not all production companies have content media insurance to cover human or mechanical fault in the data wrangling process. Perhaps due to there being three copies of film now instead of one. But all sorts can go wrong in the data wrangling process. Content media claims to insurers have included image problems due to suspected faulty camera heads and external interference, failure to transfer digital images correctly, faulty datacards, and hard drive failure due to a power spike. To date, data loss is not covered under individual public liability policies as data is not considered a tangible item. Insurers are currently looking into this area.

Digital cinematography offers many choices of camera systems, each with unique digital recording media drives, card readers, and file formats. The data wrangler role can also be combined with another job like video assist operator, the 2nd assistant camera, 1st AC, or digital image technician (DIT). The process starts out like film, with the 2nd AC handing a fresh mag to the 1st AC, who then loads it to the camera. Once the card is exposed and a roll change is in process, the 1st AC ejects the card, gives it to the 2nd AC, who passes it to the data wrangler to download, with a clear red camera roll label attached. These media drives or digital magazines are part of the camera package and are often recycled once they have been copied and verified by a data wrangler. The risk of damaging or destroying the precious footage is mitigated by following set procedures, like always doing formatting after downloading to ensure a card with files on it isn’t used by the camera.

Suggested practice for good data management:

• Only one person deals with copying and formatting cards.
• Keep a clean work area with defined systems for uncopied and copied cards.
• A labeling system where red is exposed and green is formatted.
• Pre-production discussions with the data wrangler around the best equipment and formats to suit budget, reliability, and speed.
• Get the drives first, format them, and have the card reader, drives, and system complete.
• Dedicated download and verification software and methods to check all data.
• Logs from software as well as a spreadsheet with information.
• Three copies from the master of production drive, DIT drive, and editorial drive.
• Check footage at the destination to ensure it copied fine and the camera is working well.
• Format cards at the data station and with full confidence that it has all been backed up.
• Problem solve by checking with rental houses, camera assistants, or gear providers.

A data wrangler is in charge of copying and verifying files and reformatting copied cards. The DIT can perform these roles as well as providing looks, offline files, digital dailies on-camera setup advice, and assisting with pre-production and post-workflows planning.

On a job recently, technicians were asked to sign a digital assets checklist for an American line production. There was nothing abnormal about the five points, but how liable did signing this paperwork make us if something did go wrong?

The aim of this article is to prompt discussion around how productions and technicians are covered if something goes wrong with digital data. Also to encourage technicians to work to accepted best practices at all times and to check their liability insurance coverage. While content media insurance and/or asking insurance companies to clearly define digital data loss cover in policies should be a serious consideration for all production companies.

Disclaimer: This article is to highlight the processes and challenges faced by technicians with onset data management. It is not a guideline but a collection of gathered opinions to promote discussion on the topic.

Nigel Burton runs Digital Video Assist New Zealand Ltd and over 12 years has trained and worked alongside a number of highly qualified data wranglers and digital imaging technicians.