Call for proposals - Treatment of audiovisual materials

The Living Heritage Entity of the UNESCO Culture Sector is looking for a service provider to treat audiovisual materials to be published on the website of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The tasks described in the section below ‘Work assignment’ are divided into two separate batches, named A and B. Each service provider may provide a proposal for one or both assignments. However, priority will be given to service providers that can accomplish all tasks described in each assignment.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 14 November 2024. The expected starting date for the work is the second half of November 2024, with all the tasks to be completed by March 2025.

See the full call for proposals: inglés|francés.

Work Assignment

Assignment A – Treatment of recordings of the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2 to 7 December 2024)

The purpose of Assignment A is, firstly, to process the recordings of the debates of the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that will be held in Asunción, Paraguay from 2 to 7 December 2024, and secondly, to broadcast online the video in the original languages, and the audio in English, French and Spanish (split by item according to the agenda), following the example of the recordings made at the seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco (https://ich.unesco.org/en/17com - right-hand column in the table). Information on the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee is available on the following webpage: https://ich.unesco.org/en/19com.

 Duration

• Debates over 6 days (approximately 36 hours), divided into approximately 40 ‘sessions’, resulting in the production of approximately 120 files (video in original language; sound in English and French)

 Estimated workload (average of 3 processing days per day of debates)

• 18 days from 2 to 31 December 2024, including at least 1 day at UNESCO Headquarters

Tasks to be carried out under assignment A:

 Retrieval of recordings:

• Retrieving recordings made available by UNESCO, for each half-day, on an FTP server;

 Sound processing:

• Splitting audio recordings into English and French item by item, deleting silences at the beginning and end of sessions, normalizing sound levels;
  
• Conversion to MP3 format for online availability no later than 24 hours after the sources are made available;
  
• Insertion of the corresponding documentary references in the Convention’s knowledge management system, and uploading of the MP3 files online within 48 hours of their availability;
  
• Backing up files (source files and files by item) on UNESCO’s internal network space.

 Audiovisual processing:

• Splitting audiovisual recordings in the original language item by items, deleting silences at the beginning and end of sessions, normalizing sound levels;
  
• Uploading files item by item on UNESCO’s YouTube channel;
  
• Inserting corresponding documentary references in the Convention’s knowledge management system, and transferring YouTube references;
  
• Backing up files (source files and files by item) on UNESCO’s internal network space.

 Monitoring of live webcast according to the following timeslots:

• Nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2 to 7 December 2024, in Asunción, Paraguay - from 09:30 to 12:30 and 14:30 to 17:30, Paraguay time UTC-3);
  
• Checking at the beginning and end of each session, that the live webcast is operating correctly, and immediately notifying any problems to UNESCO staff in Asunción.

 Additional technical information:

• Work can mostly be accomplished remotely. However, the onsite presence of the service provider may occasionally be necessary at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris;
  
• The service provider will be required to use its own computer equipment (laptop and video editing software);
  
• In order to access documents on UNESCO’s internal network, a desktop computer equipped with Adobe Premiere will be made available to the contractor.
  
• In the event of difficulties in meeting the above timetable, the contractor will be required to inform the Living Heritage Entity contact person as soon as possible, and at the latest before the half-way point of each assignment.

Assignment B – Treatment of videos for nominations and proposals to the listing mechanisms of the Convention

The purpose of Assignment B is, firstly, to broadcast online up to sixty-six videos associated with nominations to the Lists of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2024 cycle), and secondly, to treat approximately fifty-one videos associated with nominations to the Lists of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2025 cycle).

B.1. Broadcast on UNESCO’s YouTube channel of videos concerning elements examined by the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2 to 7 December 2024)

 Number and type of videos to be treated:

• Approximately 66 ten-minute videos (overall presentation of the element nominated)

 Estimated workload (average based on the recent nomination cycles) :

• 6 days to treat videos by end November 2024;
  
• 7 days for uploading films and metadata in December 2024;
  
• 3 to 4 days on call, during the nineteenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2 to 7 December 2024, from 09:30 to 17:30, Asunción time, Paraguay, UTC-3). This would be compatible with tasks listed under Assignment A.

 Tasks to be carried out include, inter alia:
• Insert a two-second video bumper (provided by UNESCO), introduction (country, list, year) and conclusion slides, in the language(s) in which the video is accessible;
• Upload films and associated metadata to YouTube, in private mode;
• Switch videos to public mode for each inscription during the Committee session and remove videos for nominations that are not inscribed.

B.2 Documentary processing of videos submitted as part of nominations to the Lists of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

 Number and type of videos to be treated:

• Approximately 27 ten-minute videos (overall presentation of the element nominated)
  
• Approximately 5 videos of various durations (from two to eight minutes showing community consent and support)
  
• Approximately 19 videos of various durations (from two to twenty minutes showing the contribution of the element nominated to sustainable development)
  
• Material is transmitted on physical media (DVD, Blu-ray, external hard disk, Betacam, USB or electronically)

 Estimated workload (average of five videos/day based on the recent nomination cycles):

• 10 days from December 2024 to March 2025, including at least 3 days on site.

 Tasks to be carried out include, inter alia:
• Technically assess the videos (container and format; image size; resolution; any image ‘drops’; sound level; nature of any subtitling (embedded or separate) and legibility);
• Identify potentially inappropriate content (e.g. violent passages, misuse of the UNESCO logo, maps and flags, etc.);
• Check the videos’ full accessibility in English or French (audio and subtitles);
• Enter information in the 2003 Convention’s knowledge management system, including issues that should be clarified or corrected by the submitting states;
• Produce a standardized version of videos in source quality, MP4 format, h.264 container:

• Remove any introduction, cropping if necessary;
  
• Produce an international version of the video if subtitles are not embedded;
  
• Back up videos on UNESCO’s internal servers and on an external hard disk (back-up);
  

• Produce a broadcast version of videos in MP4 (640 x 360 pixels)

• Upload the compressed version of videos to UNESCO’s web server.

How to apply?

Interested service providers should send their proposals to carry out the work assignment including the following information:
• A description of the company (if relevant)
• The CV of individual experts who will carry out the assignments;
• A financial proposal indicating:
o the average daily fee for each of the three assignments (A, B.1 and B.2) described above;
o a quotation exclusive of VAT, and a quotation inclusive of VAT
• Please send your proposals to Mr Beñat Iturralde Agirre (ichmeetings@unesco.org), UNESCO Living Heritage Entity.

Proposals should reach UNESCO by 14 November 2024.