History / From the library001
A camera club merger produced cinematography's oldest trade record
The ASC's own charter and centennial account date its 1919 founding and its magazine's later 1920 launch.
Event: 8 January 1919
3 min readRead entry ↗
Retrospective reference entries / 100 entries
The library
Production-design and cinematography records, colour science, reference practice, model controls, credit rules and the older precedents behind moving-image visuals, each naming the image, its production context and the line between reference and imitation.
Historical event dates and source dates are separate from the preparation date of this local edition. Every entry is a retrospective draft prepared 16 September 2026; none was published on its historical date.
100 entries
History / From the library002
A 1937 short proved a camera rig before its patent existed
Disney's own archive and Garity's 1942 patent date the multiplane camera's first use and its stated purpose.
Event: 5 November 1937
3 min readRead entry ↗
History / From the library003
A cinematographer's own account narrows a Technicolor first
Ray Rennahan's own record distinguishes Becky Sharp's feature debut from three-strip Technicolor's 1932 debut.
Event: 1 January 1935
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History / From the library004
One frame-by-frame model divides its credit among three named artists
A Library of Congress essay separates King Kong's animation, photography and optical compositing credits.
Event: 1 January 1933
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History / From the library005
A trade article dated CinemaScope before its debut film opened
A March 1953 trade article and the Academy's own ceremony record date CinemaScope's debut and its reception.
Event: 4 March 1953
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History / From the library006
A workflow shift is dated by what a 1953 article says came before it
Trade and museum records date Eastmancolor's arrival by its effect on studio labs, not a precise release day.
Event: 1 January 1950
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History / From the library007
An archivist's essay separates undisputed credit from contested credit
Library of Congress records credit Bass's 1955 title sequence while marking a separate credit as contested.
Event: 1 January 1955
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History / From the library008
An award record names five credits for one camera system
ILM's own history page and the Academy's 1978 ceremony record divide the Dykstraflex's credit among five names.
Event: 1 January 1977
3 min readRead entry ↗
History / From the library009
A patent filing and a company history document two separate claims
Brown's 1977 patent and Tiffen's own history page separately date the Steadicam's mechanism and its debut film.
Event: 1 January 1976
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Production design / Reference entry010
A guild's own history dates every merger behind its name
The Art Directors Guild's own history and magazine page date the mergers that produced today's Local 800.
Entry note
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Production design / From the library011
A tight budget shaped one of Ken Adam's favorite Bond sets
Adam's own recorded account ties Dr. No's interrogation room to a specific, quoted budget constraint.
Event: 1 January 1962
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Production design / Reference entry012
A Kubrick archive lists what it holds, not what one film kept
UAL's own archive page names its holding categories for Kubrick's career without itemizing 2001 specifically.
Entry note
3 min readRead entry ↗
Production design / From the library013
Blade Runner's credits separate concept work from art direction
Mead's own timeline and the Academy's record credit two distinct, documented jobs on the same film.
Event: 25 June 1982
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Production design / From the library014
Metropolis credits three designers, not one director's vision
Murnau-Stiftung and filmportal.de records name three credited designers behind Metropolis's monumental sets.
Event: 10 January 1927
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Production design / From the library015
Dune's studio credits a designer without listing his references
Warner Bros. and Insight Editions name Patrice Vermette's role without detailing Arrakis's real-world sources.
Event: 22 October 2021
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Production design / From the library016
Mad Max Fury Road's design credit names a department, not one man
ADG and Academy records credit Colin Gibson alongside a large, specifically named design department.
Event: 15 May 2015
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Production design / From the library017
A studio's own words frame the hotel as color, not history
Fox Searchlight's promotional language and the Academy's credit line document two different kinds of fact.
Event: 1 March 2014
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Production design / Reference entry018
A guild's own page dates its award to one night in 1997
The Art Directors Guild's history and awards page together date and structure its own annual ceremony.
Entry note
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Cinematography & light / From the library019
Gordon Willis explained the exposure choices behind The Godfather
Two ASC-published interviews record what Willis says he changed in exposure and printing, not a generic dark look.
Event: 1 January 1972
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Cinematography & light / Reference entry020
Storaro traces his color choices to painters, not a formula
ASC-published talks and essays record Storaro's own account of a personal method, not an industry standard.
Entry note
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Cinematography & light / Reference entry021
Deakins answers technical lighting questions in public
His own site posts specific, dated answers on format and color choices, not a general statement of philosophy.
Entry note
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Cinematography & light / From the library022
The ASC published a voted list of 100 milestone films
American Cinematographer's own feature names the process and the unranked Top 10 behind the 2019 centennial list.
Event: 1 January 2019
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Cinematography & light / From the library023
Conrad Hall said the sepia dawn shot was not a lab trick
His own 1970 ASC interview credits natural pre-dawn light, not photochemical processing, for the sepia-to-color change.
Event: 1 January 1969
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Cinematography & light / Reference entry024
The ASC documents three-point lighting as a teaching baseline
An ASC craft column names key, fill and backlight as classic technique, not a rule every production follows.
Entry note
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Cinematography & light / From the library025
The Revenant was lit by a narrow daylight window, not artifice
An ASC feature quotes Lubezki on shooting only with natural and firelight within a fixed daily schedule.
Event: 1 January 2015
2 min readRead entry ↗
Cinematography & light / From the library026
Fraser named the fixtures behind Dune's desert light
An ASC feature credits specific LED fixtures and a set LUT for Arrakis's hazy skies and bounced interior light.
Event: 1 December 2021
2 min readRead entry ↗
Cinematography & light / From the library027
Kaminski said he shot Schindler's List 50 years back
His own 1994 ASC interview credits handheld imperfection and a high-contrast print stock, in his stated words.
Event: 1 January 1993
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Cinematography & light / From the library028
Toland's own 1941 essay named the means behind deep focus
His American Cinematographer article credits faster film, coated lenses and arc light, not a single trick.
Event: 1 January 1941
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Tools & pipelines / From the library029
ACES reached version 1.0 in December 2014
A dated code release and the Academy's own documentation show what version 1.0 standardized in a color pipeline, not any single look.
Event: 20 December 2014
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry030
Dolby documents how a colorist's trims become HDR metadata
Dolby's own content-creator documentation shows how automatic analysis and artistic trims generate the metadata that maps one HDR grade to other screens.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry031
Kodak's data sheet fixes 500T's exposure index, not its look
The current Kodak technical data sheet documents exposure indexes, processing and storage for Vision3 500T, stopping short of any claimed appearance.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry032
One LUT file extension covers two documented histories
Adobe's published Cube LUT specification and DaVinci Resolve's own manual describe two separately developed, and not identical, uses of the .cube file.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry033
ARRI's Log C white paper turns a curve into a formula
ARRI's own VFX white paper and its newer LogC4 specification document how ALEXA log encoding should be decoded downstream, not any resulting look.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry034
Netflix's own delivery pages set exact color values, not norms
Netflix's Partner Help Center specifies P3, D65 and PQ delivery values for its own platform, documented as Netflix's requirement, not an industry rule.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / From the library035
A 2014 standard fixed how bright HDR mastering could go
SMPTE ST 2084, approved in August 2014, specifies a transfer function up to 10,000 nits, distinct from the separate HLG approach documented later.
Event: 16 August 2014
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry036
Resolve's manual names four color-management modes, not one
Blackmagic Design's current reference manual documents four distinct color-science settings in DaVinci Resolve, each with a different working method.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / From the library037
A 2012 recommendation fixed UHD's color primaries on paper
ITU-R BT.2020 specifies exact chromaticity coordinates for ultra-high-definition color, a defined gamut rather than a promise every screen reaches it.
Event: 1 August 2012
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry038
A four-number grade format outlived the tools that wrote it
Tool documentation for the ASC Color Decision List shows it standardizes only slope, offset, power and saturation, not a full creative grade.
Entry note
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Image references / From the library039
ShotDeck's own terms cap stills at personal reference use
ShotDeck's about page and terms of use describe who built the film-still database and how far a subscriber's license extends.
Event: 1 January 2014
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Image references / From the library040
Pinterest labels some AI images but flags its own limits
Pinterest's 2025 newsroom post and help center describe a Gen AI label and an appeals process, not a guaranteed filter.
Event: 30 April 2025
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Image references / Reference entry041
Frame.io documents comparing versions, not editing them
Frame.io's own help articles describe a side-by-side Comparison Viewer and version stacking built for review, not editing.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry042
A Criterion disc keeps commentary and criticism separately credited
Criterion's Days of Heaven release page and essay show restoration notes, commentary and criticism kept distinct and credited.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry043
Getty licenses one on-set photo for editorial use only
Getty's license agreement and one credited Lucie Aubrac set photo both restrict editorial content to descriptive, non-commercial use.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry044
BFI archive access runs on booked appointments, not downloads
The BFI's own viewing-service page describes a booked, copy-free process for researchers to view unreleased preserved material.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry045
The Herrick Library sorts production files behind an appointment
The Academy's own library pages show production files and design drawings require an appointment, unlike its walk-in core collection.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry046
Cinemetrics credits shot-length data to named contributors
Archived Cinemetrics pages show a shot-timing method turned into a database of user-submitted, not studio-verified, measurements.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry047
The ADG pairs designers' own words with their sketches
The Art Directors Guild's own archive pages describe named collections combining oral history transcripts with original design drawings.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry048
Commons ties a still's public-domain status to one dated rule
Wikimedia Commons's licensing policy and a Nosferatu file page show how a pre-1931 US publication date supports one still's status.
Entry note
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Motion & video / Reference entry049
A previs society once defined its own craft online
Archived pages from the Previsualization Society state its mission and definition of previs; its live site now shows only a placeholder.
Entry note
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Motion & video / Reference entry050
SynthEyes kept its tracking claims through a change of owner
Boris FX's current pages and an archived Andersson Technologies site trace one camera-tracking tool's continuity and limits.
Entry note
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Motion & video / From the library051
Epic Games documented its own virtual-production workflow in 2019
Epic's 2019 field guide and its 2021 sequel state what the company's real-time filmmaking workflow covers, and who it interviewed.
Event: 25 July 2019
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Motion & video / Reference entry052
Vicon documents its own motion-capture claims, camera by camera
Vicon's current site states what its optical systems and software claim to do, without naming a specific film's pipeline.
Entry note
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Motion & video / Reference entry053
A frame-numbering standard has kept its name since 1975
SMPTE's own standard and blog say time code labels frames for editing and VFX sync, tracing ST 12 back to 1975's SMPTE 12M.
Entry note
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Motion & video / From the library054
ARRI's own record puts the Alexa launch at NAB, not IBC
ARRI's press archive traces Alexa from an IBC 2009 preview to its NAB 2010 launch and IBC 2010 follow-up, in the company's own words.
Event: 5 April 2010
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Motion & video / From the library055
Panavision's own record separates DXL from its 2018 successor
Panavision's press materials date the original Millennium DXL to January 2017 and the DXL2, its RED-sensor successor, to February 2018.
Event: 1 February 2018
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Motion & video / From the library056
The Matrix credited one supervisor for its Bullet Time rig
American Cinematographer's 1999 feature and the Academy's own awards record credit John Gaeta's still-camera array for The Matrix's effect.
Event: 1 January 1999
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Motion & video / From the library057
Avatar's virtual camera let its director shoot inside CG scenes
American Cinematographer's 2010 account describes how Avatar's SimulCam composited live and computer-generated performance in real time.
Event: 1 January 2009
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Credit & imitation / From the library058
A court ruled a monkey cannot hold a copyright
The Ninth Circuit's opinion rests on the Copyright Act's own human-focused language and never mentions AI.
Event: 23 April 2018
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Credit & imitation / From the library059
Getty's US filing against Stability AI was a separate suit
Court records show a Delaware copyright and trademark complaint, later voluntarily dismissed with no ruling on the merits.
Event: 3 February 2023
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Credit & imitation / Reference entry060
A visual effects society ranks who counts as key personnel
The VES's own awards rules name a VFX Supervisor and Producer as key personnel, a standard scoped to its own awards.
Entry note
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Credit & imitation / From the library061
A court split a photograph's pose from its expression
The Ninth Circuit found Nike's Jordan photo not substantially similar, based on specific compositional differences.
Event: 27 February 2018
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Credit & imitation / Reference entry062
A federal court traced a directing credit through Guild arbitration
A Ninth Circuit opinion describes the Basic Agreement's pseudonym panel and expedited arbitration in one real dispute.
Entry note
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Credit & imitation / Reference entry063
Registration guidance names a human-authorship rule with old examples
The Compendium's own text bars registering work by animals, plants, or automatic machines, predating today's AI disputes.
Entry note
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Credit & imitation / Reference entry064
A camera operators' society describes its own credit initials
The SOC's own site states it negotiated the SOC initials in screen credits, distinct from any guild's credit title.
Entry note
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Credit & imitation / From the library065
ADG's AI protections arrived through a shared union contract
IATSE's 2024 ratification announcement describes AI protections in the Basic Agreement covering ADG's Local 800.
Event: 18 July 2024
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Credit & imitation / From the library066
A play's estate sued over a film, then the case reopened and closed
Court records show a 2018 dismissal for no substantial similarity, a later reopening, and a 2021 stipulated end.
Event: 21 February 2018
3 min readRead entry ↗
Credit & imitation / From the library067
A court judged appropriation art work by work, not as a category
The Second Circuit found 25 of 30 altered photographs fair use, remanding five others for further review.
Event: 25 April 2013
3 min readRead entry ↗
Tools & pipelines / From the library068
The ControlNet paper defines what each condition map does
The 2023 paper and its repository document how edge, depth, pose and scribble maps constrain diffusion output, not copy it.
Event: 10 February 2023
3 min readRead entry ↗
Tools & pipelines / From the library069
An image-prompt adapter kept a model frozen and still worked
Tencent AI Lab's 2023 paper documents a 22-million-parameter adapter that conditions diffusion output without retraining the base model.
Event: 13 August 2023
3 min readRead entry ↗
Tools & pipelines / Reference entry070
Midjourney documents its style parameter as palette, not people
The company's own help article says style reference carries colors, medium and lighting, not objects or people, from an image.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry071
Runway's own notices record when two camera controls retired
Archived help pages document Motion Brush and Camera Control; Runway's current pages state both features were retired for newer models.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry072
Adobe splits composition and look into two Firefly reference tools
Adobe's own help pages document separate Structure Reference and Style Reference controls, each framed as adherence, not exact replication.
Entry note
3 min readRead entry ↗
Tools & pipelines / From the library073
A small adapter claimed to steer a much larger frozen model
The 2023 T2I-Adapter paper documents a lightweight, frozen-base approach to structural control, compared against fine-tuning, not named rivals.
Event: 16 February 2023
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry074
Deforum's own script names the settings that hold a frame steady
The open-source Stable Diffusion animation project documents named motion and coherence schedules, and its own unmaintained status.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry075
Leonardo names its reference presets instead of one similarity dial
Leonardo.Ai's developer recipes document a numbered init_strength range and separate character and style ControlNet presets.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry076
A character-consistency tool changed names but not its caveat
Midjourney's documentation traces Character Reference to Omni Reference and states neither guarantees an identical likeness.
Entry note
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Tools & pipelines / Reference entry077
Kling documents exact pixel limits on its starting frame
Kling AI's API reference states specific size, ratio, duration and reference-element limits for its image-to-video generation.
Entry note
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Production design / From the library078
A museum exhibition put a century of costume design on record
The V&A's own 2012 exhibition pages name the designers, films and rights holders behind more than 100 Hollywood costumes.
Event: 1 October 2012
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Production design / From the library079
A lion's mane at the Academy Museum documents one Oz credit
The Academy Museum's object record and Technicolor's own history page name a maker and a process, not a single author of the film's look.
Event: 1 January 1939
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Production design / From the library080
An Academy Museum credit names two makers of one Alien piece
The Academy Museum's object record and the H.R. Giger Museum's biography separate Giger's documented design work from a co-credited maker.
Event: 1 January 1979
3 min readRead entry ↗
Production design / From the library081
Barbie's production design credit spans a long department list
The ADG's own awards journal and the Academy's nominee record name Sarah Greenwood's department, not one author of the film's look.
Event: 21 July 2023
3 min readRead entry ↗
Production design / From the library082
The Academy Museum's own object pages credit named makers
The museum's own exhibition calendar dates its 2021 opening, and its collection pages name every credited maker, not just one designer.
Event: 30 September 2021
3 min readRead entry ↗
Image references / Reference entry083
A Star Wars guide series mixes studio access with in-universe text
DK's own book pages and StarWars.com's coverage show the Visual Dictionary series pairing Lucasfilm access with narrative framing.
Entry note
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Image references / From the library084
Pinterest's own 2017 Lens page named a narrower feature
An archived Pinterest page and today's help article show Lens launching narrower than its current camera-and-shop tool.
Event: 1 January 2017
2 min readRead entry ↗
Image references / From the library085
A Bond exhibition labeled its recreations as recreations
The Barbican's own 2012 press release names EON's archive access and marks which Bond costumes are originals or commissioned remakes.
Event: 6 July 2012
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Image references / Reference entry086
The Chewbacca mask's museum record names its maker and gift
The Museum of the Moving Image's own object page credits Ralph McQuarrie and Stuart Freeborn and confirms where the mask is shown.
Entry note
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Image references / Reference entry087
The Cinémathèque française names one prop among 2,000 costumes
The institution's own collections page states its costume holdings' scope and pairs that with a loan policy for the physical objects.
Entry note
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History / From the library088
A film engineers' society traces its first year to 1916
SMPTE's own presidents list and mission page show what the society's founding record actually documents today.
Event: 1 January 1916
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History / From the library089
An additive two-color process reached British screens by 1909
Museum apparatus and film records show how Kinemacolor's red-and-green filters built its color image, and where the record ends.
Event: 1 January 1909
3 min readRead entry ↗
History / From the library090
A three-projector process opened at one New York theater in 1952
The Library of Congress's own registry essay details how Cinerama's three-projector system worked, and where it played.
Event: 1 January 1952
3 min readRead entry ↗
Credit & imitation / From the library091
A 1928 treaty revision put an author's name into international law
The Berne Convention's own text of Article 6bis shows exactly which attribution and integrity rights it grants, and to whom.
Event: 2 June 1928
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Credit & imitation / From the library092
A 1990 US statute names which visual works get attribution rights
The statute's own text names the works and rights it covers, and excludes film and other audiovisual works by name.
Event: 1 January 1990
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Credit & imitation / Reference entry093
A still from a shoot can be registered apart from the film itself
The Copyright Office's own circular and compendium show how a photograph, including one taken on a production, is registered as its own work.
Entry note
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Credit & imitation / From the library094
A sculpture copied from a photograph failed a parody defense
The Second Circuit's 1992 opinion explains exactly why Jeff Koons's sculpture of a photograph was not fair use.
Event: 2 April 1992
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Credit & imitation / Reference entry095
A guild manual, not a claimed byline, decides screen credit
The WGA's own credits manuals show how 'created by' and story-credit determinations are made, including by arbitration.
Entry note
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History / From the library096
A federal registry credits one film with a widescreen debut
The National Film Registry's own record names White Christmas as VistaVision's first production.
Event: 1 January 1954
3 min readRead entry ↗
Production design / From the library097
MGM's contract made one credit cover a whole department
Academy and Guild records show Cedric Gibbons's MGM credit named a supervisor, not always the hands-on designer.
Event: 1 January 1924
3 min readRead entry ↗
Tools & pipelines / From the library098
ILM's HDR image format was released as open source in 2003
OpenEXR's own documentation credits Industrial Light & Magic's 2003 open-source release and names the format's original designers.
Event: 1 January 2003
3 min readRead entry ↗
Credit & imitation / From the library099
A cropped, inverted photograph fragment survived a fair-use test
The Second Circuit's 2006 opinion shows why a transformed, court-documented use of one photograph fragment was fair use where an earlier Koons work was not.
Event: 26 October 2006
3 min readRead entry ↗
History / From the library100
A two-color process traded range for a lower price
Science Museum Group's own Cinecolor apparatus and film records show what the cheaper two-color subtractive process actually recorded, and its limits.
Event: 1 January 1932
3 min readRead entry ↗
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