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CINEMARECORD

Co{(ectine StiCC Pictures: 'By Peter Wolfenden

A less practiced aspect of cinema and film history, is the was spliced because of damage, the removed frame/s were
collection of still pictures. By this I don't mean the collec~ often left in the can. These somehow with time "worked "
tion of day~bills or advertising stills - although these are of their way under the paper in the bottom of the can!
great interest to many collectors, but rather the collection
of prints made from single frames of movies. An allied Old Cinemas. Very occasionally odd scraps of film are
field is the collection of copies of the old glass theatre found in projection or store rooms of disused cinemas.
advertising slides. These can vary from the "National anthem" to odd short
Collecting both involve much the same technical process, local advertising films. Occasionally an old Cinesound
ie. back-lighting the original image and photographing it newsreel or Effiee short has been "kept" by an early
with a suitable camera. (sound) projectionist to be used as a ''test film"!

SINGLE FRAMES: Advertising Slides are usually only found in projection
My main interest here is in the older, mainly silent film boxes or in the possession of somebody associated with the
images and in particular the caption or title frames. Most local cinema These can be fascinating, colourful, and quite
early titles were of necessity self explanatory and so they artistic Sadly this generally not the case with current adver~
told a story in themselves. Even the most simple caption tising slides which are by and large, flat, single colour
often contained other information such as the production washed, black and white photographs of existing publicity
company's name and sometimes an identification number. material!
This was generally the case with Newsreels or Topicals and
so armed with these numbers, the production date can Lantern Slides can, however be found in antique or bric~a~
usually be determined reasonably accurately. bac stores. These slides fall into two broad categories:
Slides varied in size and format. Some were presented as
Title frames are of even greater interest because not only multiple images or even panoramas on long glass strips as
do they contain the above information buf they are usually narrow as 25mm to larger 150 x 80mm wooden framed
also very interesting in their design, sometimes including a versions sometimes with a crude animation facility provid-
pictorial'or graphic relating to the originating country~ Ad- ing such images as a hat being raised or eyes moving.
ditional details of location and the name of the film or Photographic lecture slides were generally all a standard
newsreel are usually a feature of the main title. size ofapprox. 8lmm square.

Careful interpretation of film edge markings can also help HOW TO COPY YOUR GREAT FINDS!
date the film - but be careful as many early film manufac-
turers did not use edge markings and frequently copies Both 35mm film and glass slides can be back~lit and
were made ~ often years later! photographed with "close-up" lenses etc. fitted to a stan-
dard camera. Care sb.ould be taken to ensure that the colour
I find it of interest to copy both the last title frame and the temperature of the light source is close to daylight, other-
first image frame together, thereby telling an even greater wise any colours in the original will be altered with due
story. This is very effective in the case of newsreels and consequences.
documentaries. The splice between the two images can A flash-light bounced from a white surface behind the
show up, particularly in the case of older/silent films, and film/slide will woric well. Another approach is to use
this adds to the interest of the resultant combined image. "daylight incandescent lamps or globes. I use two General
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Electric 60watt B22 "daylight" lamps mounted in a housing
HOW AND· WHERE TO FIND SINGLE FRAMES: which is painted matt-white internally. An opening in the
front provides the aperture to illuminate the glass slide. I
How to find them involves keeping your eyes open at likely find this method of re-photographing theatre advertising
]>laces. These include:- slides, most successful.
Short children's films. Often these were segments from In the case of 35mm film frames, another approach is to
feature films and documentaries which were no longer make a contact negative using "positive" othochromatic
required for cinema circuit distribution. The films were motion picture printing film. This is achieved in much the
sold as part of a package supplied with or for those simple same way as,making a paper print in the darkroom. Once
tin, hand cranked toy projectors readily available up until the negative has been produced, enlargements onto paper
the mid 1950's. in the normal manner, can be made.
Leaders on older films, especially those which have been Before any copying is done, it is important to clean the
part of "home libraries" for many years. "Discarded" original as even the smallest piece of dust, hair or oil
lengths of film were used as leaders by early distribution deposit will be much more obvious on a single frame than
houses and home enthusiasts. They used the remains of when the same "dirty" frame was part of a motion picture
earlier damaged, or when sound started, unwanted silent segment being projected at 16 or more frames a second.
films as leaders.Look in film cans! Home enthusiasts often Peter Wolfenden.
lined their 35mm, 1000 foot film cans with paper. If a film

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