Introduction
Here you will find links to collections and items within collections that pertain to the technical side of filming including the development of assorted film processes, motion picture production, camera shooting reports, etc.
Akley Motion Picture Camera, 1923. Art Department Digital Image Collection
Camera man payroll card, RKO Collection, box 212
Negative cutter payroll card, RKO Collection, box 42
Projectionist payroll card, RKO Collection, box 212
Terrence O'Flaherty Papers: box 326
CBS Television Network New Color Studio, 1954
Oral History Interviews
Listed here are interviews with persons talking about film technology, processes, editing, filming styles, etc.
- Interview of Edward AnhaltThe interview includes information about making the first l6 mm sound film, Problem Child, 1935; work as a cutter, assistant cameraman, and sound man.
- Interview of Henry BlankeThe interview includes information about early sound development at Warners; the importance of camera direction; good cutting as an essential part of production; location shooting; the role of producers; relations with directors; formation of producers guild.
- Interview of George CukorThe interview includes information about arriving in Hollywood during the early stages of sound technology; the danger of becoming too involved in technical aspects of filming; Spencer Tracy's lack of concern over the placement of camera; Alfred Hitchcock's use of camera.
- Interview of Jules EngelThe interview includes information about Engel's present position as chairman of the film graphics department at California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts); live-action camera department at Cal Arts.
- Interview of Dave C. FleischerThe interview includes information about the invention of Rotoscope; techniques of editing.
- Interview of Friz FrelengThe interview includes information about Disney's exclusive use of three-strip Technicolor; early animation with sound; television's use of limited animation.
- Interview of Lee GarmesThe interview includes information about the Role of Technicolor director of photography; use of three-color process making a film in Egypt on the life of King Farouk; Selznick's liking for lighting effects and result in Duel; comparison of three-strip Technicolor and present technology; double printing by Slifer and Cosgrov; effect of the color red in certain scenes; working with Selznick and Vidor.
- Interview of Michael GordonThe interview includes information about cinematography studies; shooting and cutting scenes; camera work; composing shots for television; camera techniques.
- Interview of George GrovesThe interview includes information about developing synchronized sound for motion pictures; making The Jazz Singer and other early sound films; introduction of multiple-microphone pickup technique; developing stereographic sound for films.
- Interview of Richard HuemerThe interview includes information about the use of Rotoscope; the invention with Joe Grant of limited animation.
- Interview of Raymond A. KluneThe interview includes information about cinematographers Billy Bitzer and Karl Struss; problems of early sound films; Lee Zavitz and special effects; Cinemascope.
- Interview of Daniel MandellInterview includes information about Mandell as assistant film editor at Metro Studio; film editor at Universal; film-cutting techniques; cutting Uncle Tom's Cabin; editing Meet John Doe and Arsenic and Old Lace for Frank Capra; advent of moviolas ca. 1925; early dubbing of sound effects; re-editing after previews; cutting musicals; editing for William Wyler; skills necessary for film editors.
- Interview of Harry OliverThe interview includes information about using green substance to photograph as blood; inventions for camera in Seventh Heaven and Street Angel; sets and time-lapse photography for The Good Earth.
- Interview of Ray RennahanThe interview includes information about Technicolor representative on Duel in the Sun; David O. Selznick's direction during filming; use of hues and tints in photography; projected color photography; filming on Irvine Ranch; flesh tones in color photography; color photography in television; set dressing, and color costumes on Technicolor films.
- Interview of Karl StrussThe interview includes information about Struss Pictorial Lens; making first soft-focus lens used in the film industry; aerial photographer, varying speeds with hand-turned cameras for particular effects; DeMille's involvement in photography; cinematographer on Sunshine; simultaneous American and European negatives shot; sepia-toned films; lighting scenes; cinematographer for Mae West films; photographing sunsets in Hawaii for Four Frightened People, 1933; being a cinematographer on most of Bing Crosby's films; work on television commercials.
- Interview of Willard Van der VeerThe interview includes information about early photographic work; photography of aerial stuntmen; activities in the burgeoning field of motion-picture photography; the shift from sixteen to twenty-four frames per second to accommodate sound films; effect of intense cold on equipment; views on recent changes in photographic techniques; the art of television, commercial, and amateur photography.
- Interview of King VidorThe interview includes information about the superiority of the three-strip Technicolor process.
- Interview of Frances WilliamsThe interview includes information about African Americans who were involved in film production in the forties and fifties.
- Interview of James Wong HoweThe interview includes information about Howe's acquaintance with cameraman Len Powers; early experiments with still photography; first studio job for Alvin Wycoff, head of Cecil B. DeMille's camera department; assistant cameraman for DeMille; promoted to second camera operator, 1919; first cameraman for Mary Miles Minter on Drums of Fate, Famous Players-Lasky, 1922; camera techniques in the 1910s and 1920s; cooperation between cinematographer and director; changes in cinematographer's functions; adapting to sound films; lighting scenes for color films; camera placement, etc.
Collections
Director, Jack Hill. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive
Collections listed here solely concern filming technology and processes.
- William B. Adams Papers, 1977William B. Adams was a professor of Theater Arts at UCLA. The collection consists of materials relating to the production of Adams's book, Handbook of motion picture production (c. 1977).
- Walter Beyer PapersWalter Beyer (1913-1969) joined Paramount Pictures in 1952 as a special projects engineer and worked on shutter timing devices, design of stereo-camera setups, experimental stereo projection, and the development of VistaVision, Paramount's wide screen process. In 1955, he joined the staff of the Motion Picture Research Council (MPRC) and oversaw mechanical and optical design problems. He worked briefly for Review Studios before becoming head of research engineering at Universal Pictures. The collection consists of correspondence, reports, catalogs, brochures, manuals, files, and ephemera related to Beyer's career as motion picture engineer.
- W.W. Hodkinson Papers, 1881-1971W.W. (William Wallace) Hodkinson (1881-19710) opened one of the nation's first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 1907. He became a leading West Coast film distributor, and founded Paramount company in 1914 for distributing films of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Company. He left the motion picture business in 1929 to form Hodkinson Aviation Corporation, and later formed the Central American Aviation Corporation and Companía Nacional de Aviación in Guatemala. The collection consists of correspondence, financial records, diaries, reports, notes, photographs, tape recordings, clippings, and other printed material related to Hodkinson's involvement with the motion picture and aviation industries.
- J. Evan Miller collection of Cinerama Theater Plans, 1938-The cinerama process, originally developed by Frederick Waller (1939), was the first effective wide-screen process. The Cinerama Releasing Corporation (CRC) faced competition from cheaper wide-screen processes and began major construction on new buildings designed specifically for the Cinerama process (mid-1950s). CRC dissolved (mid-1970s), leaving the buildings, many doomed to technological obsolescence. The collection consists of nearly all the architectural plans, including brown lines, prints and unique pencil renderings on tissue from 1960 through the late-1960s collected by Miller for 263 theatres.
- Broadcasting Equipment photographs, ca. 1940s-1970sThe collection consists of photographs of various types of indoor and outdoor equipment related to mid-twentieth century radio and television broadcasting.
Materials Within Collections
Jean Simmons on the set of Spartacus. Motion Picture Stills Collection, 1903-
Collections listed here contain relevant technical materials as part of a complete collection.
- Albert Boni Collection of Material about Photography, ca. 1840-1983The collection includes pamphlets re moving-pictures; Pyroxylin photographic and cinematograph films – patents and bibliography, camera catalogs, catalogs of photographers supplies and sundries.
- Bob Jeffords papers, 1971-1998Producer Bob Jefford's career included theatre, television, and motion pictures. The collection consists of project files containing production material and/or scripts for a number of motion picture and television projects. Included are seven folders of the multi-camera film crew list.
- Collection of Research Materials for the HBO Television Series, From the Earth to the Moon, 1940-1997, bulk 1958-1997From the Earth to the Moon was a Clavius Base/Imagine Entertainment production that followed the experiences of the Apollo astronauts in their mission to place a man on the moon. The collection covers a variety of subjects related to events and issues of the United States manned space flight program through Project Apollo and the history of the decades it covered, primarily the 1960s and the early 1970s. Included in the collection are photographs of RCA cameras.
- Dalton Trumbo Papers, 1934-1976James Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) was a screenwriter who became one of the Hollywood Ten and was blacklisted by the motion picture industry (1947). The collection contains Jules Brenner's camera notes for the film, Johnny Got His Gun.
- Dan Curtis Productions Records, 1963-2005The Dan Curtis Productions Records span the years 1963-2005. Dan Curtis predominantly produced television series, made for television movies, television episodes, and television miniseries. Included are camera reports.
- Dennis Bishop papers, 1973-2009Dennis Bishop is an American film and television producer who has worked on numerous projects including commercials, award-winning features, and television projects. The collection includes paperwork regarding filming equipment and use.
- Edwin Bower Hesser papers, 1917-1958 (bulk 1920-1950)Edwin Bower Hesser (1893-1962) was a prominent photographer who worked in New York and Los Angeles during the golden age of Hollywood and developed his own color photography system known as Hessercolor.
- Fairbanks Productions, Inc. Records, ca. 1940-1970The collection includes: photographs of the facilities, articles and brochures on film production for television, facts on VistaVision.
- Gary Franklin photographs, 1952-1984 (bulk 1970s-1980s)Gary Franklin is best known as a news and entertainment reporter for KCBS. The collection consists of oversize black and white mounted photographs taken by Franklin. Included are images of zoetropes as well as cameramen with equipment.
- Herbert M. Baruch Corporation Records, ca. 1920-1949The collection contains photographs of the construction of the Famous Players Lasky Corp. (Columbia Pictures) administration building (1930) and camera vault building (1926).
- Jim Hawthorne Papers, 1940'2-1970Jim Hawthorne was a radio and television personality during the 1950s and 1960s. His outrageous antics made him an innovative pioneer in non-traditional radio broadcasting. The collection consists primarily of bits, sketches, and ideas for routines, photographs, clippings, and correspondence.Also included are plans for setting up a low powered TV station (equipment, budgets, photographs, etc.).
- Kenneth Macgowan Papers, 1915-1970Behind the Screen: the History and Technique of the Motion Picture: the collection contains materials pertaining to this book by MacGowan published in 1965 by the Delacorte Press, including typescripts, and research notes and other assorted materials.
- Larry Gelbart PapersThe collection consists of material related to the career of writer and producer, Larry Gelbart. Included are camera scripts.
- Lawrence Turman Papers, 1960-1968Lawrence Turman (1926- ) was born in Los Angeles, California and was a independent producer. The collection contains camera reports.
- Mark Robson Papers, 1943-1979The collection consists of materials related to the career of motion picture producer and director, Mark Robson. Included are camera notes, and notes on film, cameras, and equipment.
- Preston Sturges papers, 1920-1959Preston Sturges (1898-1959) was a inventor, playwright and motion picture writer and director. The collection contains patent reprints for the kinetographic camera.
- Ralph Edwards Productions Production Records 1940-The collection includes information on filming techniques specific to television.
- Ralph Nelson Papers, 1940-1983Ralph Nelson (1916-1987) was an actor, director, producer, and playwright. The collection contains camera reports.
- RKO Studio Records ca.1928-1958RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. was founded in 1928 and continued as a major motion picture studio for more than 27 years. The collection consists of script files, production information files, music scores and arrangements, script synopses and reader's reports, story submission cards, payroll records, and books from what appears to be the story department library. Included within the collection is information pertaining to ca. 3,000 plus produced and/or unproduced projects related to the studio's history. Includes notes on camera effects.
- Robert Luthardt Papers, ca. 1900-1978, bulk 1960-1975Robert Luthardt (1917-1977) was an art director and production designer for the motion picture and television industries, and a designer of restaurants and private residences.
The collection contains photographs of the cast and crew, and camera lens angle diagrams for the film, "Carnal Knowledge." - Tony Curtis Papers, 1948-1975Tony Curtis (b.1925) received his theatrical training and had his professional debut in New York before signing to Universal films (1949). He became a movie star by 1951 and starred in the early '70s TV series The Persuaders.
The collection contains camera movement notes. - United States Ephemera Collection, ca. 1800-The collection contains papers pertaining to moving picture cameras.