Let the viewing begin…

Monday 29th March

Today I finally started auditioning 🙂 Beginning to view the collection gave me some fantastic insight into post WWI Australian fashion and film. I wrote some basic notes for each film including various inter-titles, subject matter, anything that caught my initial observation. Bronwyn, the Manager of Collections Access also suggested I try searching for films under the nation building rhetoric. That is the different industries associated with fashion such as ‘wool’,  ‘garment,’ etc. According to Bronwyn, a lot of newsreel items were centred around industry between the 1920s and 1960s. I also explored exhibitions running at the Powerhouse Museum as I’m told there is a new fashion curator there who might be shedding some interesting light on garments during this time.

Generally, the films I viewed today were neither long enough or interesting enough. I found that because they were silent, a lot of the social commentary I was expecting just wasn’t evident. After all, there is only so much to be said in an inter-title! In general I’m finding the styles very boyish, as other research has suggested, and covering much more than what we expect today. One particular film covered Melbourne cup race day, showing the dresses to be extremely plain and conservative. Whilst the film seemed to make interesting social commentary through the images, there isn’t enough that relates directly to the theme. Other films seem to have merely fragments of fashion amongst other much more important newsreel features. One piece entitled Fashions for the fairer sex was a very short sequence of about two shots before continuing into unrelated footage.

I was able to view some post WWII fashion pieces too. These I found more exciting. One piece entitled Hubba Hubba Swimsuit Means Goody Goody was particularly interesting due to its social commentary through fashion. The male voice-over commentator insisted on making sexist remarks about the model as she modeled a controversial bathing suit. This leads me to think I may find more post WWII fashion pieces than WWI that are relevant with more entertainment value.

Following the viewings I proceeded to research post WWII fashion on the internet, looking specifically Dior’s “New Look,” a collection from the Paris fashion house that revolutionized not only the way fashion was distributed world-wide but returned to the feminine look prior to WWI. There seems to have been a controversial re-birth of lavish clothing, controversial whilst rationing was still enforced in some countries and provinces. Some States saw this as overly extravagant and an insult to places that were still war-torn. However, it seems that Dior’s fashions surrounded a general hope of prosperity and normality following years of hardship.

I also continued to try new search terms in Mavis, hoping to unearth a hidden gem (or many). I’m finding that defining a generic search term like ‘fashion’ alongside year constraints like 1919 and 1950 help greatly. They leave the search open to a general term but still define it enough to get rid of what I don’t want i.e. recent works that I couldn’t get copyright for anyway.

When film and law collide

Wednesday 24th March

This afternoon I spent time furthering my copyright knowledge and also refining my searches on 1920s fashion.

Fiona and I spent roughly another hour on copyright. Whilst it’s extremely complicated I find it intriguing that until 1969, there wasn’t even a classification for film. It was as if film was not even considered an artistic practice by Australian law. Before this time films were defined as dramatic works or a series of photographs. Defining the film makes a huge difference to who owns copyright. If the film is classified as a series of photographs, then the rights are held with the cinematographer and the rights don’t exist seventy years following his/her death. However, if the film is considered a dramatic piece i.e. anything that has a narrative (editing, inter-titles…anything really!) then copyright could be held by a number of people such as the director or screenwriter. This means not only must you discover who actually owns copyright, there’s always the chance that one copyright holder has not been dead for more than seventy years, in which case copyright still exists. As there is little precedent in copyright law, most of the lawsuits are settled outside court. This makes many claims even more uncertain as there is very little past information that helps define the copyright issues of today.

The rest of the day was spent conducting further searches on post WWI fashion. I had a sample of my search terms posted to the link “searching terms.” >> This should limit the amount of circle work I do in terms of titles. I find that the same prominent titles of the time continue to crop up but every now and then I’ll find something new.

I’ve found some titles that I’m excited to view. Please find the link to the right entitled “1920’s films – list one” to find out more! >>

There’s little I can do now but wait for the films to come in and see if they are what I consider worthy of the collection. At this stage its really difficult for me to know what to expect. I would like the films to have an educational value as well as an entertaining one. I’m hoping to films will somehow gauge what life was like back then through the eyes of fashion. The Eve’s Film Review pieces do this to an extent. One shot in particular shows two models chatting in what looks be a living room with their fashionable outfits on. This could be seen to comment on the way women socialized back then – face to face in a relaxed environment, seemingly private environment. Now, fashion may be transformed to a crowded cafe with women and their Blackberries. Establishing the varying factors surrounding the time frame – i.e. this period followed WWI – will help me define it’s relevance. If it makes some sort of social commentary I feel as though I’ll be on the right track.

Researching a topic

Monday 22nd March

After reading through my copyright notes I met with Fiona to discuss a possible topic for my collection. I’m very interested in the theme fashion between 1900 and 1950s and Fiona seems happy for me to pursue this. Fiona suggested I look at Eve’s Film Review, a collection of films owned by British Pathe that were made c. 1920s exploring women’s fashion. After discovering that I couldn’t make loans through the Mavis system – I simply wasn’t authorized – Fiona agreed to loan all film requests via her account. Fortunately, Fiona had loaned Eve’s Film Review tapes earlier and I was able to start viewing these. So far I’m enjoying the style – some of the inter-titles I find particularly amusing; “Every Eve must plead guilty at some time or another to a longing of furs – soft, sleek and snug.”

Fiona also suggested I do some extra research on these films, which were all produced by a major UK production company, British Pathe. I’ve since discovered it is one of the oldest media companies in the world. According to research, Eve’s Film Review came about because, “Pathe were influenced by many debates of the time about what it was to be a woman.”

As the day progressed I did a large amount of research regarding fashion post WWI and more broadly fashion between 1900 and 1950 to give me some idea of how it changed throughout this period. The other angle I kept it mind was the historical surrounding the period and how that may have impacted on the clothes women wore. For example, following WWI women became less feminine, wearing baggy dresses that made them look shapeless and donned boy-like haircuts. This may have been due to the masculine roles women were forced to play during the war when male employees were limited.  In one search I discovered some interesting facts:

* 1921 Gucci opens first store

* 1923 US Attorney General declares women may wear trousers anywhere

* 1923 Coco Chanel first launches Chanel No. 5 in Paris

* 1929 Frances Orlando taken to police for wearing male clothing

Generally WWI seemed to bring fashion to a standstill but following 1918 previously unthinkable liberties were given to women. There was a general existential feeling of ‘life’s short’ and so this was a time for experimentation and comfortable clothing.

I also looked into fashions on the field at the Melbourne Cup to see whether there was any footage of this, but fashions on the field did not begin officially until 1962.

I had some promising hits on Mavis such as Australian and Paris Fashion c1922 and Fashions of the 20s. At this stage though I’m a little concerned that I won’t find enough from this era in time. Some of the search criteria I’ve used such as ‘roaring twenties,’ ‘flapper’ and ‘Australian fashion’ haven’t brought back any results.

At this point I’m finding the way fashion is altered by historical events to be most interesting. As the time line above suggests, women had a greater inclination to masculine ways following the war and this is depicted greatly within the fashion of the time. There is a direct correlation between the female outlook on life and the clothes they decided to wear post war.

I’ve included the links “Research Website #1” and “Research Website #2” to the websites I’ve been exploring. Obviously for my essay I will be finding solid and peer reviewed resources but for now I just want an overall impression of fashion between 1900 and 1950.

Salon Lumiere

Wednesday 17th March

Today was perhaps the most stand out day of my university degree to date!

I continued my introductory research and practiced Mavis searching earlier in the morning. One of the girls in Collection Access, Katie, was able to give me hints and tips on searching Mavis and taught me how to loan films. My second copyright session with Fiona followed. At the moment I’m finding copyright really interesting. Film copyright seems incredibly complex though due to its collaborative nature i.e. music composition, editor, producer, etc are all potential copyright holders – this means that the copyright is not always straight forward and commonly there are multiple copyright holders. In the case of my films we are just hoping that some of them are out of copyright to save the hassles of contacting numerous people and getting permission.

All this of course was overshadowed by what came next. The first films made in Australia were presented to the NFSA today by descendants of Marius Sestier – operator of Lumiere’s Cinematographe and Director of the first films of Australia. In 1896, Sestier travelled the world presenting the first films ever made by the Lumiere brothers, including arguably the most famous Workers Leave the Lumiere Factory . Sestier also made films on his travels, including some here in Australia. Today these films alongside the Lumiere films screened back in 1896 in Australia were presented at an event called Salon Lumiere in NFSA’s Arc theatre. Descendants of Sestier travelled from France for the special occasion, which was also attended by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett. The screening began with the original Lumiere brothers’ pieces. The presenter willed us to imagine ourselves back when these films were originally viewed and a piano accompanied the short films adding to the events’ entertainment. The Sestier films, shot on his travels were then played, including one that was said to have never been viewed in Australia, due to its political slant. The idea that I was viewing one of the first films ever made in Australia for the first time ever on Australian turf was a very enriching experience.

For more information go to link on the right “Salon Lumiere” >>

My first day

Monday 15th March 2010

The session began in a meeting with Fiona, my supervisor for the internship, and Bronwyn Coup, the Manager of Collection Access. We discussed my project and what it entailed. There were a number of themes I could look at in order to frame my collection for exhibition. These included but were not limited to:

* Sporting Events in Melbourne

* Fashion 1900-1950

*Australian vaudeville films

* Efftee films (this is a production company orginating in Melbourne)

* The McDonagh sisters (early film-makers and Australia’s silent film stars)

* Travelogues 1900-1950

* Family recreation in the 1920s

* ANZAC day

In addition to this, the meeting outlined some guidelines involved with my internship. These included:

* films identified and rights cleared for publication in the Australian Mediatheque

* research and notes for publication in the Australian Mediatheque

In the meeting, we also went through the time line of my work, which gave useful insight into the amount of work expected for each unit. It is believed that the predominant amount of my work will be spent researching the rights of the work to get clearance for public viewing.

Following the meeting, Fiona spent time orienting me with the NFSA, including a tour whereby I was able to see the various departments at work. This also helped to clarify the way the departments work with each other and how the NFSA operates hierarchically.

Fiona then spent time giving me an introductory lesson on copyright law. I received a number of handouts, simplifying what is a very complex set of laws – made even more complicated by the fact that film often has so many different copyright partners e.g. the composer, cinematographer, production company, director, etc.

I was given various passes to gain access into the building and computer systems, including the NFSA’s major operating system Mavis. I spent the rest of the day viewing the Australian Screen Online website, looking specifically at the style of writing.

All in all this was a day for brief introductions and I’ll be getting into things in a bit more detail as I go along. Initial impressions are all positive but at the moment I’m letting everything sink in. I will say that the NFSA is a pretty complicated department to match the building!

My internship

This blog is designed to be a simpler, more efficient way of updating a journal I must keep for my National Film and Sound Archive internship. There are a few positives in keeping an online blog rather than a paper journal:

* accessibility – I can access this blog from wherever I am, making it more easily updatable

* editable – I can update this constantly in any way I see fit

* freedom – I can freely update using my creativity. I have the ability to design a free-flowing blog page!

I start my internship officially at the National Film and Sound Archive next week – Monday 15th March. I will be working in Collection Access.

My project involves a partnership that was established last year with the NFSA and Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. The NFSA established  the Australian Mediatheque in Federation Square. I will be working on a collection of 5 to 6 films to go in a particular collection there, developing all the curatorial skills necessary in the process. The mediatheque website is as follows: http://www.acmi.net.au/australian_mediatheque.htm

My skills developed will include

• Search and curation techniques
• Understanding formats (including some obsolete)
• Knowledge of copyright (this is perhaps the most complex and time-consuming part of the project, as it would require basic training in AV copyright)
• Researching and writing short synopses and notes around the films selected. (Fiona Gunn, supervisor)

As I understand, the copyright segment of the project will be the most difficult process to grasp. I am looking forward to beginning!