#PETERCUSHING #COLLECTORS
Wednesday! OK This week I am sharing a rare black and white CONTACT
SHEET from Hammer films 1973, The Satanic Rites of Dracula. As usual, this is our FREE weekly full hi res upload, as seen on our our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE available for you today, for you to download. These NINETEEN exposures from the Hammer films
on set stills cameraman, feature shots taken during the shooting of two
scenes from the film, the Vampire's in the Cellar scene, with Joanna
Lumley and Valerie Van Ost and Van Helsing visiting Professor Julian Keeley played by Peter Cushing and Freddie Jones.
HI RES CONTACT SHEET ABOVE: RIGHT CLICK AND COPY!
WHAT IS A CONTACT SHEET? A contact sheet is a positive print of all the negative images from one film, made by a contact printing process so that all the images are the same size as the negative. A contact sheet is a useful way of seeing which are the best images on a film so you can decide which ones to make enlargements from. During the production the unit photographer was responsible for capturing
thousands of still shots while the movie cameras were running. Some of the
photos would offer a different angle to the motion picture camera. In other
cases, the photographer would stand next to a movie camera operator. And some
of the shots would be behind the scenes with actors and directors. After the final production still shots were taken each day, the roles
of film negatives were placed on contact sheets (created by laying the negatives
on a piece of printing paper and exposing them to light to create a set of
mini prints the same as the film frames) (IMAGE) The contact sheets were then
forwarded to the publicity department. The Publicity Department could then
view the full roll of 36 images at one time with a “ring” or magnifying
glass. Publicity Department –The Publicity
Department was, among other things, responsible for generating early publicity
about a film, including providing information to magazines and publications.
In addition, they were responsible for providing the Advertising Department
with information necessary to create the film’s promotional materials.
The publicity department would review the contact sheets and select images
for specific purposes, such as creating a key set, keeping track and providing
exclusive images to magazines and publications, and sending the advertising
department information necessary to begin preparation of promotional materials.
Key Set Creation - After a review
by the publicity department, the better images were picked to become part
of a key set. The selected images are numbered by placing an assigned number
by the studio for that particular film, called the production number, and
then a dash and the assigned individual still number. THIS is called the
Production Code number.
ABOVE: Our Collectors Wednesday post from TWO weeks ago, posted here and at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.. It was a pretty cool concept, but was ultimately ruined by Facebbok quashing the post...thanks facebook!
The selected stills were then printed and placed into the key set
binder. The rejects are skipped over and left unnumbered. The negatives
and contact sheets were then filed. These may be pulled at a later date
when someone wants something different. By the end of the shooting, this 'key set' would normally be hundreds
of the better still shots to be used in a variety of ways by the publicity
department. The stills used in this 'key set' would have numbers put on
the still to help the publicity department identify and keep up with the
different stills. They were kept in large bound books that could be used
at any time for reference.
Exclusive Use –
Major magazines and publications would quite often want exclusive photos
to do an article on the upcoming film. This was a tremendous way for the
film to get FREE publicity. To accommodate them, the publicity department
would put a hold on numerous stills and send over a group for the editor
to choose from. Once the exclusives were picked, the tags would be removed
from those images not selected so they could be used for other purposes
I BELIEVE, Tom Edwards was the stills photographer on Satanic
Rites. He had a very good eye for a great shot, and worked on other
Cushing Hammer films like, 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'. As
I have mentioned before, each cell, photograph here would make a great
pic for your collection, printed off would look great in a frame, the
high res would also make a great poster too. The majority of the shots
on this contact sheet, have rarely been officially published, as often
just one or two from this studio contact sheet would have been chosen
for press packs and promotion. I hope you like what I have shared so
far? Have fun 🙂 Marcus
REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE. Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA
