Magic Lantern Movie Promotion Slides
I now have 1135 magic lantern movie promotion slides.
Even though I have paid hundreds of dollars for some Theda Bara, the average price per slide is $11.33.
Most of them have issues and a few are in really bad shape.
For now I just store them.
Eventually I would like to fix them up by adding new cover glass or tape (in the case of the ones made without cardboard frames, about 1923 or before). Fixing the ones with cardboard frames: not sure how to do that. If I could bind broken pieces of glass at the edges without marring the image, that would be great. For those I will probably just have to keep them as-is.
Many of the cardboard frame slides might just need cleaning, others were repurposed when the same star appeared in subsequent feature. In the late 1920s, movie theater owners had to buy these slides from the distributor. Rather than buy a slide for every movie they would buy one slide with a major star highlighted, then upon his or her next movie would scratch out the title and put the new title. Not sure I can undo this unless I can somehow transfer the original title back onto the slide.
To use these slides, though, my main effort will be through digitization. To-day I simply keep an image I got from the seller and edit that image to correct for perspective and aspect ratio. All U.S. slides are 1.23076923 : 1 which is 4 inches length and 3.25 inches in height. I have a few British slides and those are 3.25 inches square.
Other issues with these images: blocked frames (usually fingers), incomplete images (usually the sides and tops, not the main image), patterned background, out-of-focus, wrong-plane focus, wrong-side and "watermarks".
I can deal with some of these issues without having to go back to the slide in order to have an acceptable image. For many slides, though, I will eventually have to scan or photograph them.
What will I do with these slides? I hope to use them as a centerpiece for discussion of silent films (my main interest is in slides for silent films and have only a few from sound pictures obtained by mistake or to follow a particular actor). One of my main fascinations is around F.B.O., Film Booking Office, a silent film studio which eventually became R.K.O. (Radio Keith Orpheum) with the advent of sound. Very little has been written about F.B.O. which makes it open for new research.
Also I do have many slides which represent movie theatres: advertisement slides, continuity slides and effect slides. So I can research and discuss those as well.
Even though I have paid hundreds of dollars for some Theda Bara, the average price per slide is $11.33.
Most of them have issues and a few are in really bad shape.
For now I just store them.
Eventually I would like to fix them up by adding new cover glass or tape (in the case of the ones made without cardboard frames, about 1923 or before). Fixing the ones with cardboard frames: not sure how to do that. If I could bind broken pieces of glass at the edges without marring the image, that would be great. For those I will probably just have to keep them as-is.
Many of the cardboard frame slides might just need cleaning, others were repurposed when the same star appeared in subsequent feature. In the late 1920s, movie theater owners had to buy these slides from the distributor. Rather than buy a slide for every movie they would buy one slide with a major star highlighted, then upon his or her next movie would scratch out the title and put the new title. Not sure I can undo this unless I can somehow transfer the original title back onto the slide.
To use these slides, though, my main effort will be through digitization. To-day I simply keep an image I got from the seller and edit that image to correct for perspective and aspect ratio. All U.S. slides are 1.23076923 : 1 which is 4 inches length and 3.25 inches in height. I have a few British slides and those are 3.25 inches square.
Other issues with these images: blocked frames (usually fingers), incomplete images (usually the sides and tops, not the main image), patterned background, out-of-focus, wrong-plane focus, wrong-side and "watermarks".
I can deal with some of these issues without having to go back to the slide in order to have an acceptable image. For many slides, though, I will eventually have to scan or photograph them.
What will I do with these slides? I hope to use them as a centerpiece for discussion of silent films (my main interest is in slides for silent films and have only a few from sound pictures obtained by mistake or to follow a particular actor). One of my main fascinations is around F.B.O., Film Booking Office, a silent film studio which eventually became R.K.O. (Radio Keith Orpheum) with the advent of sound. Very little has been written about F.B.O. which makes it open for new research.
Also I do have many slides which represent movie theatres: advertisement slides, continuity slides and effect slides. So I can research and discuss those as well.