Video and Film Production Schools?

What happens to all the video footage after the production of a film is completed?

• I'm just curious. There must be tens of hours of video footage for a full-length film. Are they archived? If so, would someone be able to watch them again?

• Answer:

  Ironically, digital footage is archived back to (LTO or video) tape.  Most projects will only keep the footage used to create the final product plus a few seconds of 'handles' - to allow minor adjustments later, not necessarily the outtakes. Raw footage,in a library system, whether on physical tape or on hard drives (which are not a reliable long-term solution), is too expensive to maintain for the outside possibility that interest in the finished product will create demand for the castoffs (or a director's cut).  If it was shot on a physical media, like film or tape, they go on a shelf somewhere.  In most cases, you won't be able to watch any of it without specific, expensive playback gear.