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This article examines the history and impact of the Gunsmoke assignment, a hands-on continuity editing exercise widely used in college film-production classrooms from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Originally developed by the American Cinema Editors craft organization as an educational film Film Editing: Interpretations and Values (1958) featuring dailies and editing examples from the TV show Gunsmoke , the exercise aimed to teach students and the public about the art of continuity editing technique. A novel network of midcentury Hollywood industry, educational, and 16mm institutions resulted in the long-term impact of this educational film and assignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to trace and articulate the extremely rich production and postproduction history of the early Soviet classic, Sergei Eisenstein's Bronenosets Potemkin(The Battleship Potemkin, 1925). By engaging Paolo Cherchi Usai's idea that early films exist as multiple objects, the paper explicates how Eisenstein's film was re-edited in three of its most important versions: the original 1925 cut; the first international cut, produced in 1926; and the 1950 cut. By elucidating the distinctive sociopolitical conditions that crucially informed all three cuts of the film, the article interprets and compares the visual transformation of Potemkinin accordance with editorial and re-editorial alterations, identifying a nexus of contributing factors that regulate the economy of the visible in Eisenstein's film. I argue that the junction at which authoritative social impulses are negotiated with Eisenstein's individual vision takes us to what might be one of the critical moments in Eisenstein's early career in which his early, avant-garde-informed approach to filmmaking is recalibrated with the rules of dramaturgy of film form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents updated material on pioneer British filmmaker James Williamson, supplementing the author's 1998 critical study. It discusses the influence of Lumière's original chase, The Sprinkler Sprinkled. New information is provided on Williamson's origins, and aspects of such films as Stop Thief (1901), Attack on a China Mission (1901), The Boy and the Convict (1909) and Scouts to the Rescue (1909) are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviews Bill Brand, one of the finest optical printer technicians working with small and medium-gauge film formats. Role played as an optical printer in the process of preserving films; Interpersonal influences and relationships with other workmates; Description of equipment used and procedures involved in the operation of such equipment.

Interviews Carolyn Faber, an archivist and filmmaker with work expertise in film processes, from optical printing to digital editing and from historical research to film projection performance art. Career background and development in the motion picture industry; Viewpoints on the idea of the preciousness of films; Involvement in collaborative media and musical performances.

The article focuses on Emile de Antonio's documentary film "Point of Order." The film, which presents footage from the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, provides a reordering of historical events which relay McCarthy's guilt. The author argues that in the eyes of the American public in 1954, McCarthy's guilt was not yet decided, but is nonetheless imparted through "Point of Order." It is suggested by the author that de Antonio presents the hearings outside of their corresponding context and as a part of the story of McCarthy's fall from favor. This is done without accompanying images which would provide the viewer with clues about McCarthy's popularity during the 1950's. An analysis of the film is provided.

This article examines 'ylimeno' cuts, or scene transitions, from Finnish films of the 1930s and 1940s. Ylimenos tie the action or theme of one scene to the next with a visual or aural element. These were so prevalent in Finnish films of the period that some critics took issue with them. The author offers several possible explanations for the propensity of ylimenos, from economic to a desire by the filmmakers to be less theatrical, and by extension, more cinematic. They also were useful in creating dramatic or comic irony, through the juxtaposition of similar images in very different contexts. However, to explain why this type of transition was distinctively Finnish, the author speculates that ylimenos fit it with the predominant conceptions of national identity.

This article examines the evolution of visual fragmentation, or basic editing, within the Lumiere filmography. The author finds a surprising amount of fragmentation of Lumiere films between 1897-1899. This contradicts the conventional wisdom of film history that claims early moving pictures employed strict continuity shooting. Although the technology was not capable of 'editing' in the modern sense, Lumiere camera operators employed various techniques to achieve breaks in the ceaseless continuity that was the norm. The author also suggests a preliminary examination of the work of Thomas Edison's productions reveals an even greater level of experimental fragmentation.

The article traces the origin and development of the cinematic practice called shot/reverse shot. It suggests that the practice may have been originated from the studio of Vitagraph Co. of America in the 1910s and that Vitagraph actors turning their backs to the camera, may have helped launched an over-the-shoulder camera position which was to emerge as shot/reverse shot. It examines Vitagraph's practice of placing rear-facing figures in the foregrounds of shots and describes how the Vitagraph practice became a particularly significant for its innovation and adoption.

The article attempts to resolve a dispute over the authorship of a number of films made in England between 1900 and 1902. It examines the debate about who really made "Grandma's Reading Glass," as well as a number of other technically advanced films attributed to either George Albert Smith and Arthur Melbourne-Cooper. It shows the inventiveness of the films that Smith made during this period. It also discusses the importance of the film "Grandma's Reading Glass" to the introduction of the concept of film editing.

The article focuses on the works of motion picture producer George Albert Smith. Smith produced films from 1897 to 1903. His experimental films were instrumental in the development of continuity editing. During his pre-cinema years, he worked as a magic lanternist and as a manager of a pleasure garden. In some of his experiments, the subjects were deprived of muscular control, in others emotional effects or loss of power of speech. His acquisition of the lease to St Ann's Well and Wild Garden led to the construction of a darkroom and his film studio.

The article focuses on The Created Surface of the Earth, an experiment by Lev Kuleshov. It states that Kuleshov was involved in re-editing foreign and pre-Revolutionary films and presumably had easy access to whatever ended up on the cutting-room floor. A description of the experiment is provided by Vsevolod Pudovkin in his book "Film Technique." According to Kuleshov, the basic strength of cinema lies in montage because it becomes possible to break down and to reconstruct and ultimately remake the material.

The article focuses on re-editing and the Soviet film culture in the 1920s. It states that the term "re-editing" means the reworking of a film to suit it to a country other than that of its origin, and is associated with censorship and is regarded as part of the political history of film. A discussion on the re-editing for export and the re-editing of foreign films is presented. It is inferred that efforts to bring Soviet films closer to what was called the psychology of the Western viewer is a debate between producers and exporters. Some of the implications of re-editing for Soviet film culture is also discussed.

The article presents an editorial introduction to the June 2001 edition of "Film History." The editor presents a brief comparison of non-fiction films and fictional films. The editor suggests that non-fiction films present a selective perspective of captured events as the result of the filmmaker's manipulation of the material. The editor also briefly analyzes the criteria by which non-fictional and fictional films are studied. A brief overview of the articles featured in the issue is also included.

The article presents a proposal addressed to the photo-kino section of the Regional Centre of Political Education sent by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov. According to Kuleshov, in order to test his observations regarding the theoretical laws of cinematographic art, he needs 90 metres of negative stock. He offers a list of his experiments, which includes the dance shot from one camera setup, the dance presented with the help of editing and the dependance of the model's emotions on the factors causing those emotions. He states that all experiments will be edited so as to match the final position of the main movement in an earlier shot with the beginning of the main movement in a later shot.