Author Topic: Question about Movie Stills  (Read 7272 times)

Offline okiehawker

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Question about Movie Stills
« on: February 24, 2019, 08:36:08 PM »
Hi APFers!
Are the movie stills with the film information machine printed at the bottom of the front of the still from the stills theatres ordered for display, or are they from the press kit sent to newspapers etc.? Are they a little of both?  I've seen them advertised both ways over the years.  Thanks, Okie

Offline holiday

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2019, 10:21:18 AM »
Hi APFers!
Are the movie stills with the film information machine printed at the bottom of the front of the still from the stills theatres ordered for display, or are they from the press kit sent to newspapers etc.? Are they a little of both?  I've seen them advertised both ways over the years.  Thanks, Okie

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Do you have a pic you can post of an example?
Best regards,

Holiday


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Online crowzilla

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2019, 11:41:07 AM »
Hi APFers!
Are the movie stills with the film information machine printed at the bottom of the front of the still from the stills theatres ordered for display, or are they from the press kit sent to newspapers etc.? Are they a little of both?  I've seen them advertised both ways over the years.  Thanks, Okie

Pretty sure it's a little of both.
If printed with NSS info on the bottom right, then more likely for theater use, while an identical still with no NSS info was sent to the papers.
Publicity people at the studios make their choices from the Keybooks and have them for NSS or the papers as they see fit.
The Online Reference to Japanese Sci-Fi Posters:
www.Kaijuposters.com

Offline cabmangray

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2019, 08:58:06 PM »
Like Crow said, stills with no NSS info came directly from the studios usually in presskits. At one time the studios would issue stills like this with press info throughout the production of a film. The presskit as we know it, containing stills & press info in a custom folder didn't become the norm until the mid 70's.

NSS would send black and white still sets to theatres, usually in paper bags stamped with the films title and number of stills inside. For reissues, NSS would just restrike the stills with a new NSS number on them (R-74, for example). For really big films (Star Wars) NSS would reduce the number of stills in the set the later the film played. The very first sets had, I think, 35 stills but by later in the year the number was reduced to about 10 or 15.

The color 8x10 sets were only made for specific films and usually were in sets of 12. By the late 60's they were generally just a set of 8, using the same scenes in the 11x14 set. But there were exceptions to this rule, too.

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2019, 10:16:53 PM »
Hi Crow and Cabman,  This is very helpful! Holiday, here are a couple of quick photos.  The Petrified Forest still has clear info printed saying the image is leased for use with the exhibition of the film.  However, The Raven still just lists the movie title, studio name, and "Printed in U.S.A."  Do you guys think The Raven still was intended for the theatre or press or perhaps both?  Thanks for your insights.   Okie

Online crowzilla

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2019, 11:57:23 PM »
Well now you are talking about pre-NSS stills for both those studios, so again they would have been a mixture and usually made with a more uniform text at the bottom regardless of where it was intended. A lot of time the ones that ended up being used for publication though will have a snipe on the back (or the remains), with any added info that the publicity department wanted to get out there.
The Online Reference to Japanese Sci-Fi Posters:
www.Kaijuposters.com

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2019, 12:11:08 AM »
Well now you are talking about pre-NSS stills for both those studios, so again they would have been a mixture and usually made with a more uniform text at the bottom regardless of where it was intended. A lot of time the ones that ended up being used for publication though will have a snipe on the back (or the remains), with any added info that the publicity department wanted to get out there.

Hi Crow, Yes, I have many older stills with the news snipe on the back like you mentioned as well as some with stamped/written  arrival dates when a news service received the still.  I've also always wondered about the early stills similar to these pictured, though that have no printing at all on the front or back.  They are vintage, though perhaps mainly intended as press photos?  Okie

Offline Simes

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2019, 03:23:01 AM »
Apologies if already answered...

I collect the b/w US press stills for the Bond films.  But, for reasons I can't yet define, I only collect the stills that come from the main key set (I believe) and have the title, copyright info and NSS information at bottom in the white frame.

But these stills come in a variety of formats.  All bearing the scratched still number within the image of the still.

Borderless and info-less
Border and copyright info
Border and title, copyright and NSS info

So, are we saying that the first two formats came directly from the studio, and the last set from the NSS, or indeed the distributer?

Best.

Offline cabmangray

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2019, 08:38:30 PM »
Simon, the distributor would be United Artists. They distributed the actual 35mm film print to the theatres, so yes the first 2 categories of stills came from UA directly. NSS distributed the accessories; posters, lobby cards, and stills to the theatres. NSS would secure the negatives from UA, and reprint them with the title, copyright, and NSS info on the bottom for the theatre's or newspaper's use. The reissues used the same still with a updated NSS number on the bottom (R68/246). I think in some cases some scene stills were used for a reissue but were not used for the original release, but I may be wrong about that. I find it amazing that no color NSS sets were made for the Bond's before OHMSS, and those were the same lousy shots used on the lobby cards. OUR MAN FLINT and at least 1 Matt Helm had nice color sets of 12 made for them but not OO7? Very weird.

Offline Simes

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2019, 05:04:23 AM »
Cracking answer, thanks Bob.

Yes, well.  The colour FOH, or Still Sets as I think you call them...  Bearing in mind the US had so much going on in the poster world (The 30x40, anyone?!), I am surprised that this was not covered off as well. 

Did colour still sets exist for other films at the time?  When were they introduced across the board?

When the UK took over the lobby card producing duties (for Bond, at least), they too used the same shots from the FOH stills.

Offline cabmangray

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2019, 08:50:11 PM »
Colored stills were made in the 1940's & 50's known as "Color Glo's" which were black and white stills that were hand colored then reproduced. They pop up from time to time. Color still sets of 12 to the best of my knowledge became available in the mid 50's to about 1967. It seems that some larger prestige films had them (REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, ETC.) but then so did RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY and POINT BLANK. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind it. You would think that after the success of GOLDFINGER that THUNDERBALL and YOLT would have had sets made for them. After 1967 color sets of 8 were made for just about every film. Sometimes a film like HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER had sets of 12 made for it, but it was for international distribution. No NSS info or stock number were on these stills but the first 8 were exactly the same NSS stills plus 4 other shots. There are also borderless 8x10 stills which were from the photobusta sets for films like PATTON, the first 3 STAR WARS films, SUPERMAN 1 & 2, and others. 

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2019, 11:00:35 PM »
Hi Sims and Cabman, I sure enjoy some of the Color Glos stills, like this one!  Okie

Offline Simes

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #12 on: February 28, 2019, 07:44:26 AM »
Thanks again Bob.

Offline cabmangray

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2019, 08:20:57 PM »
Hi, Okie. Nice shot of the King of the Jungle. Some of the Color Glos are very nice, but some are kind of "eh".

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2019, 09:27:57 PM »
Hi, Okie. Nice shot of the King of the Jungle. Some of the Color Glos are very nice, but some are kind of "eh".

Hi Cabman, Yeah, I've seen some that seem more "colorized" than Color Glos.  But, when done right, they can be really beautiful, eh?
 Okie

Offline Crazy Vick

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2019, 08:54:03 PM »
I am digging the movie stills of late as well.  I've purchase dozens of sets in the last few months and its a totally new buzz.  Interesting info in this thread because I have all of the above in terms of variety etc.  I even have a few sets stapled to the back of old lobby cards which is like getting 2 for the price of 1  ! thumbsup.gif

Offline okiehawker

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2019, 09:00:26 PM »
I am digging the movie stills of late as well.  I've purchase dozens of sets in the last few months and its a totally new buzz.  Interesting info in this thread because I have all of the above in terms of variety etc.  I even have a few sets stapled to the back of old lobby cards which is like getting 2 for the price of 1  ! thumbsup.gif

Stills stapled to lobby cards!  That is a great 2 for 1, Vick. Did you get those from an old theatre?   Okie

Offline Crazy Vick

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #17 on: March 02, 2019, 12:06:18 AM »
Got em from a local bulk purchase but yes definitely used in
 theatres.  Some are of the, er, naughty film kind. I'll post some soon !

Offline Crazy Vick

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #18 on: March 23, 2019, 11:24:50 PM »
Stills stapled to lobby cards!  That is a great 2 for 1, Vick. Did you get those from an old theatre?   Okie

I present - stills onto lobby cards -


« Last Edit: March 23, 2019, 11:52:35 PM by Crazy Vick »

Offline Simes

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Re: Question about Movie Stills
« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2019, 01:36:21 AM »
Sunday's EMP auction just gone.

I do love the way Mymarver, for the most part, and Ku604820 hoover up all the stills.  Looks like Ku has more of a penchant for the odd colour still set but Mymarver must have 1000's upon 1000's of stills now.

Must make the postage less of a hardship for the team.