carmencita is an 1894 american short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by william k.l. dickson , the scottish inventor credited with the invention of the motion picture camera under the employ of thomas edison .

the film is titled after the dancer who features in it .

this video is one of a series of edison short films featuring circus and vaudeville acts .

it features a dancer going through a routine she had been performing at koster and bial 's music hall in new york city since february 1890 .

according to film historian charles musser , carmencita was the first woman to appear in front of an edison motion picture camera and may have been the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the united states .

in the film she is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at koster and bial 's music hall in new york city since february 1890 .

carmencita ( film )

carmencita ( 1894 ) directed by william k . l . dickson , william heise • reviews , film + cast • letterboxd
carmencita ( 1894 ) - 1st female star in a movie - william k . l . dickson | thomas edison
carmencita ( 1894 ) - 1st female star in a movie - william k . l . dickson | thomas edison - youtube
she is also referred as carmencita in the dvd extra from the japanese version of starship troopers : invasion blu - ray dvd .
since our doors have been open here at carmencita film lab we’ve seen nearly every mishap that can occur with film and the results of those film mishaps . now sometimes these mishaps are intentional and sometimes they’re not . either way , today we’re going to tackle some of the most common unlucky ( or lucky , depending on…
we’ve written on how exposure affects film . that post visually demonstrates the latitude of color film and should aid in understanding the important role exposure plays in shooting film .
music in any sound film . as the spellbinding , bittersweet coda fades , the film ' s impression convincingly continues .
a short film ( about 21 seconds long ) titled carmencita ( 1894 ) was directed and produced by edison ' s employee william k . l . dickson . she was filmed march 10 - 16 , 1894 in edison ' s black maria studio in west orange , nj . spanish dancer carmencita was the first woman to appear in front of an edison motion picture camera , and quite possibly the first female to appear in a us motion picture . in some cases , the projection of the scandalous film on a kinetoscope was forbidden , because it revealed carmencita ' s legs and undergarments as she twirled and danced . this was one of the earliest cases of censorship in the moving picture industry .
valencia , spain · we ' re a film lab based in spain dedicated to delivering outstanding quality processed and scanned film to our awesome clients .
, but three of which are now a staple to film photographers like those of us at carmencita and yourself . we’re gonna cover some ground on those three that take the cake when it comes to kodak’s portra line : portra 160 , portra 400 , and portra 800 iso .
but actually it doesn’t need to be as complicated or in depth as that . some other companies like carmencita offer simpler approach . as part of the ordering process with them , you make some basic specifications about colour , contrast and brightness which they work to when they process your film .
performing on what looks like a small wooden stage , wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high - heeled pumps , carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls , a smile always on her face .
one of our reasons of being is to help you shoot film , and we are happy to find other people that share this leit motiv . the film foundation is a little collective of young film shooters that against all odds are willing to make film photography go places in belgium . that’s why we decided to partner up to bring you this little workhshop ! carmencita will fly up north , all the way to antwerp , to teach you all we know about developing b & w so you can do it on your own !
the first woman to appear in front of an edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the united states . in the film , carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at koster & bial ' s in new york since february 1890 .
from almeria , spain came carmencita , born in 1868 and becoming the firts woman to appear in front of an edison motion picture camera and , speculation has it , the first woman to appear in a motion picture in america .
carmencita is the first woman to appear in front of an edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the united states . wow . i find her dancing routine to be very mesmerizing to be honest . . .
though i would like to purchase a lumu power , my sekonic l - 358 fits my needs . my shooting is 99 % film thus when needed i do have a 80a filter balancing daylight film to tungsten , and a fl - d filter for daylight film used with fluorescent lights .
thomas edison is credited for building the first film production studio nearby his home and lab in west orange , new jersey in 1893 . it was called black maria , or the
doghouse
by edison himself . that is where he shot the short film the edison kinetoscopic record of a sneeze ( otherwise known as fred ott ' s sneeze ) in january 1894 , which became the first film to be registered for a copyright . two months later , edison ' s employee william k . l . dickson filmed carmencita , a spanish dancer and maybe the first woman to appear on film . in some places , her projection was not allowed to be shown due to it revealing her legs and undergarments as she twirled . perhaps the earliest case of film censorship .
as most photographers don´t really have the possibility to drop off the film themselves we will explain to you the 3 simple steps of how to send you film with the minimum hassle . let’s go !
ahhhhhhhh portra 400 . what is there not to love ? this film stock is one of the most used and most comprehensive films on the market when it comes to changing light situations . it is shot by nearly everyone from established well - known film photographers to film photographers who are new to the scene . this film stock is a staple to your film stash and frankly , there is not a single thing to not love about this film stock . portra 400 offers excellent colors ; is fast enough for the vast majority of purposes ; and is fine grained enough that the speed will rarely betray itself .
did you know the first woman to star in a film was a latina ? neither did i .
such a useful post this hamish . i’m sure it saved me from getting my first roll of film back as an undexposed ‘fail’ . should be mandatory reading for anyone shooting their first roll of film !
gathering all the inspiration from every meet we’ve had so far we couldn’t help to perfect the concept with our experiences and your valuable feedback . we are super happy to bring you a new concept for carmencita meets , and we couldn’t be in better company than with our old friends from brancoprata .
it’s here again ! a “ carmencita meets” in valencia , our home and our headquarters . after moving from l’alcúdia to the city and handling the overwhelming work we were so lucky to have this summer , we feel it’s time to hold a “ meets ” in this little corner in the mediterranean .
a growing source of silent era film information . this listing is from the progressive silent film list by carl bennett . copyright © 1999 - 2018 by carl bennett and the silent era company . all rights reserved .
i’ve known about colour film being forgiving towards over exposure for a while , but nine stops… . wow !
the work of muybridge , marey and le prince laid the groundwork for the development of motion picture cameras , projectors and transparent celluloid film - hence the development of cinema . american inventor george eastman , who had first manufactured photographic dry plates in 1878 , provided a more stable type of celluloid film with his concurrent developments in 1888 of sensitized paper roll photographic film ( instead of glass plates ) and a convenient
kodak
small box camera ( a still camera ) that used the roll film . he improved upon the paper roll film with another invention in 1889 - perforated celluloid ( synthetic plastic material coated with gelatin ) roll - film with photographic emulsion .
the motor - driven camera was designed to capture movement with a synchronized shutter and sprocket system ( dickson ' s unique invention ) that could move the film through the camera by an electric motor . the kinetograph used film which was 35mm wide and had sprocket holes to advance the film . the sprocket system would momentarily pause the film roll before the camera ' s shutter to create a photographic frame ( a still or photographic image ) .
carmencita film lab is a lab made by photographers for photographers . we created the place we would love to send our negatives to , not only for the quality but also for the human relationship and involvement during the process . we have all the ingredients in place and now all we need is for you to create amazing pictures . we want to be your local lab even if we are some kilometers away from your home .
welcome to our monthly selection of film work . warning , you may be exposed to fatal levels of inspiration .
blacksmith scene ( 1893 ) - 1st staged narrative in film - william k . l . dickson | william heise
we’ve found with this stock the preference is split ; those who have tried it either passionately love it or passionately hate it . however the general consensus tends to be that this is an excellent film stock for portraits . skin tones ( whether light skinned or dark skinned ) are soft and natural looking and the grain of the film is extremely fine . however those of us here at carmencita have found that the window is narrow on how much you can overexpose or underexpose it . if you expose it too much it lends to look much like
kodak made some noise a few years ago when it introduced a new version of the portra 400 film which replaced the nc ( “natural color” ) and vc ( “vivid color” ) versions in late 2010 . the new film incorporated a
carmencita rockefeller - princess of japan is being staged as a collaborative production with malmö opera and helsingborg city theatre , where it had its first performance in winter 2013 . in skåne too , the title role was played by anna - maria hallgarn , who made a special appearance here in the musicals grymt ! and guys and dolls .
the launch of h . m . s . albion ( 1898 ) - early disaster film - robert w . paul
in case you missed it , traveling light film is happening this year again ! we ' ve been very very close to the project and for us , we can say without a doubt this is the film event of the year .
today , few use reversal colour film , but if you buy one to try , don’t under any circumstances follow the comments in this blog . you will be surprised at how much just 1 stop of overexposure will ruin it . reversal film has a very limited exposure latitude , but a far wider dynamic range than negative film . unintentional overexposure was the bane of the reversal film user , and most would set their meters to 1 / 3 or 1 / 2 stop faster iso setting to give a corresponding degree of underexposure . this is one area where digital sensors and film behave almost the same .
merely watches but soon demonstrates her natural inherited talents as a matador . through this nostalgic transitioning , the film achieves something faintly
the kiss ( 1896 ) ( aka the may irwin kiss ) was the first film ever made of a couple kissing in cinematic history . may irwin and john rice re - enacted a lingering kiss for thomas edison ' s film camera in this 20 - second long short , from their 1895 broadway stage play - musical the widow jones . it became the most popular film produced that year by edison ' s film company ( it was filmed at edison ' s black maria studio , in west orange , nj ) , but was also notorious as the first film to be criticized as scandalous and bringing demands for censorship .
in the 1970s , a hairdresser from malmö thoroughly took in south swedish society by putting herself forward as carmencita rockefeller – diplomat , cancer research scientist , member of the famous american oil and banking dynasty , and grandchild of the japanese emperor . the deceit was staged with the help of her spouse who posed as her brother and said he was a cia agent .
what’s important here is that once again there are options . whichever path suits you best will come down to your own experimentation . try having a conversation with a company like uk film lab , try using the carmencita ordering system , and try using someone like ag to get your scans back as tiff files so you can process them a bit if you feel the need . it’s your photography , you have to make it work for you in a way that feels most comfortable to you !
monkeyshines , no . 1 ( 1890 ) - 1st usa film - william k . l . dickson | heise | thomas edison
as a film photographer , we feel it’s good to know the ins and outs of your craft and the tools and techniques available to you . that being said , don’t get cray - cray , good light is worth it’s weight in gold ( or in this case film ) and it will render incredibly in almost all film stocks . this doesn’t mean that because you choose one film stock over another all your images will be great . it is highly dependent on the quality of light you have to work with .
presumably , the first woman ever to appear in a kinetoscope film and possibly the first woman to take part in a motion picture in the united states , the spaniard dancer , carmencita , performs her appealing high - kick dance in front of the camera of william k . l . dickson and william heise , for thomas edison . in this segment of her new york music - hall act , she spins and twirls , exhibiting an admirable talent , a fashionable dress , and a really charming smile .
in 1889 or 1890 , dickson filmed his first experimental kinetoscope trial or test film , monkeyshines no . 1 ( 1889 / 1890 ) , the only surviving film from the cylinder kinetoscope , and apparently the first motion picture ever produced on photographic film in the united states . it featured the movement of laboratory assistant sacco albanese , filmed with a system using tiny images that rotated around the cylinder .
back in the “olden days” each box of film came with a little sunny 16 guide in pictures inside when you ripped it open .
the 1st woman to appear in front of an edison motion picture camera and possibly the 1st woman to appear in a motion picture within the united states . in the film , carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at koster & bial ' s in new york since february 1890 . urltoken change before going productions : urltoken urltoken urltoken urltoken urltoken more classic silent films added to the channel daily . we hope you enjoy these movies and cartoons from early cinema , some of which contain new musical scores !
presumably , the first woman ever to appear in a kinetoscope film and possibly the first woman to take part in a motion picture in the united states , the spaniard dancer , carmencita , performs her appealing high - kick dance in front of the camera of william k . l . dickson and william heise , for thomas edison . in this segment of her new york music - hall act , she spins and twirls , exhibiting an admirable talent , a fashionable dress , and a really charming smile . written by nick riganas
this is perhaps the second most important step . there are many ways to pack you film , some of them are terribly right and some are terribly wrong . we’ve build a small guide on how to pack your film in a manner approved by our logistic experts with 50 years of experience .
well done , hamish , writing up what many of us have started to suspect : film latitude gives yer , erm , shed loads of latitude .
if i want to overexpose , should i alter the iso say from 400 to 200 in the camera and then tell the lab that i’ve pulled the film . if not should i keep the film at 400 and adjust the exposure manually with the shutter speed to get the equivalent 1 stop ? thanks nick
hi there everyone ! in our continuing effort to bring film photography education to everyone in the world we came up with a bunch of new strategies . one of the many ideas that came to mind was creating a repository of images associated with a couple of the more used currently available film stocks . needless to…
survival status : print exists in the library of congress film archive ( gordon hendricks collection ) [ 35mm preservation positive , 35mm viewing positive ( fec 8116 ) ] .
i had a minolta and we would put this in the back of the film door as a guide to refer to easily . here is a good one … .
carmencita morena , with semi - fresh management , who had been working steady at the 23rd street concert hall and had been traveling around the country all decade , stopped by the edison lab’s in new jersey to immortalize herself . she’s an old maid here at 26 . by the end of the year , she will have sold her possessions and moved to london , to showcase her spanish - style dancing to the english patrons over there . she died in 1910 at age 42 .
the manner in which the film dynamically sways between life and death may initially intimidate or disorient some viewers , primarily because many of the catastrophic incidents feel like they ' re falling through a psychological sieve ; likely to reduce running time , much of the film ' s first half briskly transitions from one estate and one mood to the next .
in march 1897 , james corbett and bob fitzsimmons boxed one another in carson city , nevada . it was watched live by thousands of fans , but it was soon going to be seen by many more . encoh rector had filmed it on 11 , 000 feet of film and , two months later , the film premiered in new york . with a run time of over hundred minutes , the corbett - fitzsimmons fight was the the first documentary and feature film ever . it would eventually be shown in ten different cities over an eleven month period . now , prizefighting was illegal in every state in the country besides nevada at the time , but it wasn ' t necessarily illegal to show prizefighting , hence , the popularity of the film . in response to this new technology circumventing the rules , seven states ( including new york ) all passed a law fining those who showed the film . while most of the fines were ignored , this was one of the first instances of governing bodies monitoring what people watched on film .
thanks for taking the time out to write that terry . i did quite a lot of film development but haven’t for around three years just because of really not being inspired .
they say an image is worth a thousand words and we couldn’t agree more . that’s why we love to showcase the most interesting images we see at the lab every month in our best of . so everyone can see what’s being done with film photography today and we can perhaps turn our little spotlight on many amazing film photographers that are not always featured online .
what’s important in this process is having a good idea of the scale of the room for error . the size of the room for error is – at least for the sake of this post – determined by the exposure latitude of the film and the capability and quality of the scanner used to scan the negatives . as mentioned i use portra 400 film . alongside the use of this film i use a commercial noritsu scanner . up until recently i was outsourcing my scanning , though since i’ve just bought a noritsu of my own , i shall soon be scanning my own negatives . that said , regardless of by whom and where my negatives are scanned , through experimentation i have found the limitations of the scanner and film .
i tried a roll of tri - x once stand developed in rodinal and it came out awful ! i’d love to use it as people rave about both the film and the developer but that experience put me off sadly . i had some great results with neopan but it’s expensive and i found the ilford film easier to load onto the reels for some reason .
father , antonio , towards the climax that is simply a summary of scenes that are presented in the film some fifty minutes prior . this device is used to craft a stronger sentimental tie rather than devoting screen time to character development for the film ' s sizable cast . in the abundance of visual embellishments , the music instead carries the journey from revelry to catharsis .
colour negative film is so forgiving of exposure , but unlike b / w film , is not amenable to some correction at the development stage , so it is indeed fortunate that it can be abused , so long as one errs on the side of overexposure . but if one wants colour accuracy and the greatest tonal range , it is best not to overdo it .
ultimately , some negative film has lot of overexposure latitude , you’ll either be well aware of this and be in on the trick , or you won’t . if you’re not , you really must give this sort of experimentation a go . it will help you understand the properties of negative film better , open up some creative possibilities and methods of shooting that give a sense of freedom like little other . but more than anything else – as it has in me – it should help you find a path to consistently better results in your negative film photography .
the beauty of all this is that unlike most of my posts where i’m extolling the virtues of x - camera or y - lens – or something else that can involve considerable investment on your part – in this case the only investment i’m recommending is in film and time . you don’t even need to change the film you shoot , or even the scanner you use .
hmm , yes , i can see why you’d get scratched negatives , but i bet the beach shots of the family on holiday at the seaside looked great . under - exposure and push processing to compensate does lead to an increase in grain and contrast , and the visual impact has a lot to do with a particular film’s latitude to such treatment . i suspect it was the double whammy of added grain and contrast that you found objectionable . in my own experience i found that the problem was greater with slow to medium speed films than it was with my choice of fast film , tri - x , and i put this down to a number of reasons . generally speaking , the slower the film speed , the more contrast a film has and a film like panatomic x , for example , needs processing very carefully to avoid excessive contrast , and so it responds badly to push processing . by comparison tri - x , with its large grain structure , can handle push processing better .
as of yet , there isn’t a film we’ve met that we haven’t loved and portra’s line is no different . between portra 160 , portra 400 , and portra 800 you have a variety of options for different looks and lighting conditions . each film stock from portra’s line is versatile , unique in its own way , and compliments each other . if you’ve not tried one ( or any ! ) from the portra line
according to the internet movie database the film was made in a 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1 . 33 : 1 . the movie was intended to be displayed through means of a kinetoscope .
in 1909 , new york city , by order of mayor george b . mcclellan , closed 550 theaters because the police chief claimed that
most movie material was reprehensible .
in response to this , the national board of censorship was formed as
the first formal attempt by the film industry to ward off legal film censorship through quasi self - regulation .
for a small fee , the board would recommend cuts .
the film was produced by the edison manufacturing company , which had begun making films in 1890 under the direction of one of the earliest pioneers to film william k . l . dickson . it was filmed entirely within the black maria studio at west orange , new jersey , in the usa , which is widely referred to as
america ' s first movie studio
. it was filmed on september 7 , 1894 .
a few notable cases threatened this status quo . the mppda would not approve howard hughes ' film the outlaw because it was deemed that there were too many shots that emphasized jane russell ' s bosom . hughes was insistent that the film and russell ' s chest needed to be seen , so in 1946 ( five years after the film was shot ) , he signed a distribution deal with a non - mpaa signatory ( name changed to motion picture association of america in 1945 ) , united artist ( a studio originally founded by actors charlie chaplin , mary pickford , and douglas fairbanks ) . this began to erode the mpaa ' s power .
like the sioux appearance in
buffalo dance
, it probably gave americans a brief glimpse of foreign customs ( here it ' s spanish dancing ) ; it was also one of the earliest appearances of a woman on film .
first i want to share two interesting facts about my negative film photography . the first is that in the last year i have used a light meter less than i have before . the second is that in the last year i have taken fewer accidentally underexposed film photos than i have ever before – in fact 9 rolls out of 10 i don’t get a single murky underexposed frame on a roll at all , and when i do , it’s not unexpected .
very good and interesting article . here is some of my thoughts on exposures : in other blogs i have read that film manufactures list the iso for mimum light , thus over exposing may be a consideration . one of the issues folks may not realize is our older film cameras are spring and gear operated , over time the shutter speed can be off by a large margin . also leaving the shutter cocked will lessen the tension ability of those springs . all that to say , have a cla on the film camera , make sure the shutter speeds are as they indicate on the dial . if we do not know if the shutter is accurate , we will not be working with true values .
so you can see just how flexible this film is in low light situations . the portra line has not only made some incredible improvements in technology , but additionally the color palette has made this series popular for portraiture and editorial work .
portra 800 has a higher saturation and it’s slightly grainier than its counterparts , but it kicks butt when it comes to tough lighting conditions and bright colors . the colors in portra 800 have a wonderful intensity and the blacks are very rich . it is ideal in capturing vivid colors and renders skin tones so creamy that this film stock will just melt like butter on your screen . many photographers love this film stock , with its only downside being the cost of it .
uk film labs have a couple of useful blogs about overexposure with numerous examples at different + / - ev values from portra 160 , 400 and 800 , fuji 400h and tri - x 400 . this link shows the various posts urltoken
but why follow my path ? i’ve chosen the path i have as i just happen to like what overexposed porta 400 looks like when it’s noritsu scanned specifically by ag . you might not . that being the case , you just need to experiment with the film / films that you do like . try overexposing . shoot a film a different levels of under and overexposure and see what results come back when you either send your scans off or try and scan them yourselves .
in the early 1890s , edison and dickson also devised a prototype sound - film system called the kinetophonograph or kinetophone - a precursor of the 1891 kinetoscope with a cylinder - playing phonograph ( and connected earphone tubes ) to provide the unsynchronized sound . the projector was connected to the phonograph with a pulley system , but it didn ' t work very well and was difficult to synchronize . it was formally introduced in 1895 , but soon proved to be unsuccessful since competitive , better synchronized devices were also beginning to appear at the time . the first known ( and only surviving ) film with live - recorded sound made to test the kinetophone was the 17 - second dickson experimental sound film ( 1894 - 1895 ) .
the sound has been found in the form of an old edisonian recording cylinder . the cylinder was repaired , then walter murch ace mpse synced the film to the correct music in ( i believe ) 2002 . total running time is approximately 17 seconds .
backdrop of bullfighting , the film does have a tendency to feel like it ' s coasting as a series of expositions , as several characters are simply relegated to their black - and - white karmic alignments of the source material . the legendary bullfighter antonio
the interesting thing about negative film photography is that poor exposure doesn’t always result in a poor outcome . in fact , with some films , a touch of over exposure not only doesn’t do any harm , but it can actually help ensure good results .
imo , over - exposing unnecessarily is simply wasting the films ability to record fine detail and colour properly . used with caution and understanding , though , it avoids the pitfall of potential under - exposure in colour negative film , and which is worse .
let me know how you get on . it’s more grainy than portra , and more “fuji” , but its a nice film in my experience . kodak 400 ultra max is another one i keep meaning to try … i’m just suckered into portra now 🙂
hi hamish , thank you for the excellent advice . i shot two rolls of portra 400 metered at 200 and will see what happens . by the way , how would you overexpose pushed film , say hp5 400 to 1600 during daylight ? thanks !
just wanted to say thanks for this article . i’ve been overexposing my film now for a few months and i’m so pleased with the results i’m getting back from the lab . like other people who had commented i wish i’d have known this before .
great post . today i began to shoot my 2nd roll of film in the past 17 or so years in the aperture priority or almost auto exposure om - 10 . a couple of years ago i shot a roll in my yashica t - 4 , but still havent developed . todays roll really felt like my first roll during all this time . i was nervous even though it was aperture priority . maybe i had good reason to be as after 6 or 7 shots i heard a horrible sound when trying to advance the film . even my unschooled film ears knew what that meant . you have to be kidding , i thought to myself . ended up having to yank it , and when i later labelled the canister i named it ‘nightmare productions’ .
a 1915 united states supreme court landmark decision firmly established that censorship could be applied to film . mutual film corporation was a newsreel company that was getting annoyed by the fees and slow turn around time on what they could show and couldn ' t show . they insisted that film should be protected under the first amendment , freedom of speech , and should not be subjected to censorship . the supreme court disagreed . in mutual v . ohio industrial commission , chief justice edward white wrote ,
the exhibition of moving pictures is a business , pure and simple , originated and conducted for profit like other spectacles , and not to be regarded as part of the press of the country or as organs of public opinion within the meaning of freedom of speech and publication .
the formal introduction of the kinetograph in october of 1892 set the standard for theatrical motion picture cameras still used today . it used a film strip that was 1 1 / 2 inches wide . this established the basis for today ' s standard 35 mm commercial film gauge , occurring in 1897 . the 35 mm width with 4 perforations per frame became accepted as the international standard gauge in 1909 . however , moveable hand - cranked cameras soon became more popular , because the motor - driven cameras were heavy and bulky .
on top of all this , it’s fun , it’s easy , and not the least because the latitude for over and underexposure is remarkable . you can do everything with it . overexposing this film stock by two stops looks amazing ( bright and colorful ) and under exposing it a stop also looks good ( moody and contrasty ) . keep in mind , if you expose portra 400 more than two stops the film may be a little more yellow - ish than usual , so overexpose with care . this film stock also loves to be pushed . in fact , if you have to choose between using portra 800 and portra 400 in a setting we recommend using portra 400 , and pushing it if need be . it will just love it and in return we love it for it .
there is good reason for this too , it is in fact under exposure that is the main cause of slightly shitty looking murky results . aiming for some degree of overexposure is a great way to avoid that problem – especially when you’re new to film photography .
herself experiences as a young girl who then becomes a teenager in the film ' s latter sections ( eloquently transitioned through some clever editing ) . after escaping a near - deathly encounter with one of her stepmother ' s servant - henchmen in the darkly deep woods ,
the reason for this is quite simple . firstly the huge overexposure latitude of the film i chose to shoot gave me massive room for error . secondly , i know that any “mistakes” i make in exposure will be compensated for when the film is scanned . and thirdly , through experimentation , i now have the experience and understanding of the length , breadth and width of the room for error the combination of latitude and mistake - compensation the scanner gives me to know what i can get away with in what light . let me explain…
in the late 1880s , famed american inventor thomas alva edison ( 1847 - 1931 ) ( and his young british assistant william kennedy laurie dickson ( 1860 - 1935 ) ) in his laboratories in west orange , new jersey , borrowed from the earlier work of muybridge , marey , le prince and eastman . their goal was to construct a device for recording movement on film , and another device for viewing the film . dickson must be credited with most of the creative and innovative developments - edison only provided the research program and his laboratories for the revolutionary work .
regarding color film ( or colour if you prefer ) portra does seem to love “overexposure” , although i would say exposing for shadow detail is just proper technique ( since it is a negative film ) . pro labs always advised us against “gross overexposure” for two reasons : color - crossover and extended print times . the latter was mostly a production - speed issue as a “bullet - proof” negatives take much longer to print . since they were both density correcting as well as color correcting , gross overexposure could lead to some funky color crossover , especially in shadows .
, very bright , punchy , and with not so flattering skin tones . it also requires a well lit scene to shoot in . so if you’ve not tried this film stock and you see some sunny days in your forecast , we recommend picking some up to give it a try
marey ' s chronophotographs ( multiple exposures on single glass plates and on strips of sensitized paper - celluloid film - that passed automatically through a camera of his own design ) were revolutionary . he was soon able to achieve a frame rate of 30 images . further experimentation was conducted by french - born louis aime augustin le prince in 1888 . le prince used long rolls of paper covered with photographic emulsion for a camera that he devised and patented . two short fragments survive of his early motion picture film ( one of which was titled traffic crossing leeds bridge ) .
before i get into this , let me just point out that this article assumes you are shooting film and either digitally scanning your negatives or having them scanned by a lab . this is what i do , and it is within the scope of that practice that i am writing .
i ' m just imagining women saying ,
come on women can be on film , but still can ' t vote ? ! it ' s the year 1894 dammit !
kind of like how people say it ' s 2016 , therefore ( insert cause here ) . . .
i’ve been increasingly following your rule though . i’ve shot a lot of vista , since it’s so cheap for practicing with . but for the last few months i’ve treated it as iso 50 or iso 100 film rather than the 200 it’s advertised as . i’ve had much better results since .
last year , more than + 80 film photographers gathered on a 1930 ' s cinema to share , learn and unwind as big family within the unique surroundings that the north coast of the mediterranean provides . from japan to the us passing through europe , all under the same roof sharing our passion
there are a few possible solutions to the problem of having someone else scan your film . the first is as simple as having a good relationship with the company you use . talk to them , tell them your expectations and desires from your scans – some companies will be more accommodating to this than other . some companies actually offer it as a service . uk film lab and richard photo lab come to mind as two companies that offer a custom service that maps your desires to their process on an ongoing basis . there are many photographers that are quite vocal in their praise of such services .
the meets is something different , think of it as a gathering of photographers who love to share experiences and grow together , rather than learning master tricks # thisisnotaworkshop . only through sharing it’s possible to take european film photography further , plus we can’t wait to show you the little wonders of our city !
i might have to experiment with superia 400 to see how much overexposure that will take , as it’s cheaper than portra and in my experience , a bit less sensetive in terms of storage . i’ve had good results with it in my holga even on days that are really too sunny for 400 film .
the point i’m trying to make is that experimentation and finding what film and level of overexposure right for you is key . most would recommend as a general rule keeping it within about 3 - 4 stops of overexposure . i say they are probably right , but really , what harm is there in experimenting ?
portra 400 at box speed has a very natural and neutral look , but it can also look warm , bright , and saturated when it’s overexposed . this film also handles skin tones , as well as natural landscapes , beautifully and at a 400 iso it’s super handy in changing lighting conditions . portra 400 has a warmer palette , whereas fuji 400h has a much cooler palette . portra 400 tends to be more yellow and fuji 400h leans towards a more green color and turns its blues more turquoise . again , there is a lot of urban tales about how each film looks at the end , and the truth is that nowadays if you add retouching to any film stock you can make it look very different than what it naturally does . so , does that mean you’ll never see a warm picture shot on fuji ? nope , we just mean that the “warmth” might go a bit more towards the magenta tones than the yellow tones .
getting back to your delta100 / ilfosol combination , look at it this way , you have already carried out one piece of advice from victor blackman and you’ve discovered this doesn’t work for you when rating the film at 200 iso . so yes , try it at its nominal speed of 100 and see how that looks , and if you don’t like the result , then clearly this is not a film / developer combination that will ever work for you . ( but see below about choice of enlarger . ) every photographer has his / her own preferred combination of film / developer and their choice won’t necessarily be yours . in my case , especially for 120 and 5×4 it was ilford fp4 / aculux . when i wanted the faster speed of tri - x , from 35mm to 5×4 it was always d - 76 . aculux worked quite well with it , but i just loved the extra punch that came with d - 76 processing .
more than this though it allows – should you choose to embrace it – a very simple approach to shooting some types of negative film . my anecdotal tale of going up against a mates all - singling - all - dancing canon was not a one off . in fact more often than not over the last year i have abused the latitude of my film in this way . really – i’m almost ashamed to say – just because it makes life profoundly easier . in fact as i alluded to at the beginning of the post i’d go as far to say that i’ve become a little lazy ( more on that later ) .
we felt like killing two birds with one stone with this blog post , since besides the obvious interest in having a worker’s photography featured this particular set of photographs involved two not - so - common treats in the work we scan ; artificial lighting and the fact of a high - end fashion production being shot on film .
a pillar of our work philosophy has always been quality . when it comes to developing , scanning film and translating images into paper prints . printing means for us something that completes every image and we are truly passionate about it , not only offering top quality with the best ink jet printers but also a fast and responsive delivery .
disposable cameras don’t get enough love , so we thought we would take a moment to shine our spotlight on one of our favourite disposable cameras : ilford’s black and white single use cameras . ilford currently has two versions of these in either of their c - 41 black & white film ; the xp2 super , or the true black…
but to what degree is over exposure of negative film ok ? well , the answer to that question is as deep as it is long , and as such is way beyond my desire ( or knowledge ) to cover in its entirety . what i do want to talk about is my personal experiences of overexposure of film , how i’ve used that experience to completely remove the problem of accidental underexposure and murky unattractive photos . finally , i also want to make the point that i made it so easy for myself that it felt like cheating . so much so that i am now purposefully making it harder for myself – which ain’t a bad problem to have !
the practical implications of this are obvious . for a start , it puts an end to all that nonsense about the 1 / 1000 max shutter speed of a leica film camera being an issue . it also helps with compact and more basic cameras that have even slower maximum speeds . my voigtlander vito b has a top speed of 1 / 200 . but this isn’t limited to older film cameras . cameras like the konica hexar af for example only have top speeds of 1 / 250th . this is often stated as a disadvantage or limitation , but really – at least in terms of exposure – this can be solved with what i’m talking about in this post .
today , we’re going to talk about something that’s been on our radar for a while now ; the impossible project ! ( now rebranded as polaroid originals after the merge of both companies ) if you’ve not heard of it , the impossible project was founded in 2008 with one sole purpose ; to keep polaroid film alive . this came about…
our process is essentially manual and we spend on average 1h 42min in every film that comes into the lab , from reception to delivery . that’s why our processing time varies with the amount of rolls we are dealing with . the shortest standard delivery time is 5 business days . you can check all the delivery times at / prices .
incidentally , there is a great portrait photographer and latterly film director called anton corbijn… he has been saying for years that he never goes faster than 1 / 30 and he prefers 1 / 15 , in order to get movement , so he must have been doing what you are suggesting , just not explaining it in the same way .
( 2011 ) as an homage to early twentieth century silent cinema in the 1 . 33 : 1 aspect ratio , but it should instead be distinguished by its milieu , movements , and music more than any offhand associations to the success and trend of recent revival . the film also recalls the literary and theatrical realms of the grimm fairy tale ,
understanding when to push film is an incredible tool to have in your bag when you’re in low light situations or when you want a punchier look to your images . in our experience , kodak’s portra line handles pushing magnificently when shot in well - lit environments . so we’re going to break down the results of each when they’re pushed by your lab .


the draughtsman 's contract is a 1982 british film written and directed by peter greenaway – his first conventional feature film ( following the feature-length mockumentary the falls ) .

originally produced for channel 4 the film is a form of murder mystery , set in rural wiltshire , england in 1694 ( during the reign of william iii and mary ii ) .

the period setting is reflected in michael nyman 's score , which borrows widely from henry purcell and in the extensive and elaborate costume designs ( which , for effect , slightly exaggerate those of the period ) .

the action was shot on location in the house and formal gardens of groombridge place .

the film received the prestigious grand prix of the belgian film critics association .

the draughtsman ' s contract

the composer ' s cut series , vol . i : the draughtsman ' s contract
listen to the draughtsman ' s contract : music from the motion picture now .
the draughtsman ' s contract is a thoroughly entertaining murder mystery set in 17th century england .
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this paper compares how brideshead revisted and the draughtsman ' s contract utilise country - estate locations to subversive effect .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the draughtsman ' s contract near you .
the entire album has been rerecorded by the current lineup of the michael nyman band . see the composer ' s cut series vol . i : the draughtsman ' s contract .
the draughtsman ' s contract , about killings in a country house , is famous for being utterly baffling . it ' s perfectly simple , says director peter greenaway . it ' s all about the colour green - and wigs
in 1694 , neville , an ambitious young draughtsman , strikes up an unusual contract with mrs herbert , the lady of compton anstey manor .
the draughtsman ' s contract , about killings in a country house , is famous for being utterly baffling . it ' s perfectly simple , says director peter greenaway . it ' s all about the colour green - and wigs .
much has been written about peter greenaway’s the draughtsman’s contract ( 1982 ) , but the film’s garden mise - en - scène has not been analysed in detail . my paper will trace its development from script to screen and discuss . . .
august 31 , 2013 at 7 : 33 pm ( uncategorized ) tags :
and i shall be healed
, j . lee dean , peter greenaway , the draughtsman ' s contract
although the film alludes to the herbert house being located in wiltshire , the draughtman’s contract was actually filmed at groombridge place near tunbridge wells .
jaehne , k . ,
the draughtsman ' s contract : an interview with peter greenaway ,
in cineaste ( new york ) , vol . 13 , no . 2 , 1984 .
the draughtsman ' s contract has everybody clever in an odd way . i cannot make out what it is about . this is neither irritating enough to make me dislike the film nor intriguing . . .
like all of greenaway’s work , the draughtsman’s contract addresses issues of representation : between mediums ( drawn and photographic representation ) ; between art and nature ( the inbreeding between landscape art and ornamental garden design ) ; and the value of classical naturalism in art .
perhaps with profit the argument that seeing and knowing are not the same thing , should be always applied to cinema . and in the end the draughtsman ' s contract perhaps ought to be called the filmmaker ' s contract . what is the profit to a filmmaker , if he only films what he sees and not what he , and also his audience , undoubtedly know ?
newman , b . , and b . evans ,
super 16 for the draughtsman ' s contract : an interview with curtis clark ,
in american cinematographer ( los angeles ) , september 1983 .
stream the composer ' s cut series , vol . i : the draughtsman ' s contract by the michael nyman band and 40 million songs on all your devices with amazon music unlimited . exclusively for prime members . new subscribers only . terms and conditions apply .
the draughtsmans contract was released in cinemas in 1982 and is now available to buy on dvd .
following sarah ' s revelation to the draughtsman that each of his drawings features an item of clothing belonging to the missing mr herbert , she proposes that they , like the draughtsman and her mother , enter into a sexual arrangement .
stream the draughtsman ' s contract : music from the motion picture by michael nyman and tens of millions of songs on all your devices with amazon music unlimited . exclusively for prime members . new subscribers only . terms apply .
“michael nyman’s music has been a part of my musical life for years . the first time i encountered it was in peter greenaway’s film “the draughtsman’s contract” and i was dazzled . i remember the theme “chasing sheep” stayed in my head for many days . following that , i listened to michael’s soundtracks to “drowning by numbers” , “prospero’s books” , “a zed and two noughts” , “the hairdresser’s husband” and many others , with equal amazement .
in august 1694 mrs . herbert and a draughtsman named mr . neville , the characters of peter greenway’s film , signed a contract where the conditions of the agreement were ‘mr . neville’s service as draughtsman for twelve days , for the manufacture of 12 drawings of the estate and gardens , parks and outlying buildings of mr . herbert’s property . the sites of the twelve drawings to be chosen at his discretion , though advised by mrs . herbert ( … ) ” .
mr herbert ' s corpse is found in the property ' s moat . the estates manager , noyes , who , it is revealed , was once engaged to the now mrs herbert , is concerned that he may be implicated in the death , and blackmails mrs herbert with regard to the incriminating contract . the draughtsman ' s drawings are sold to talmann , the money from the sale going to noyes . talmann believes the drawings contain evidence of his wife ' s infidelity with the draughtsman , but his wife points out that they also offer evidence of talmann ' s designs on the estate and his knowledge of herbert ' s death .
following the positive reception for the draughtsman ' s contract ( 1981 ) , peter greenaway felt a pressure to deliver an equally successful second feature . countering this feeling , he loaded a zed & two noughts with a plethora of themes and ideas .
unless indicated otherwise , the text in this article is either based on wikipedia article
the draughtsman ' s contract
or another language wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the gnu free documentation license ; or on original research by jahsonic and friends . see art and popular culture ' s copyright notice .
the draughtsman’s contract is the culmination of many themes that were developed in earlier films . amongst others , landscape features prominently in a walk through h ( 1978 ) , where the surface of a set of greenaway’s paintings are treated not only as abstract maps of an unseen landscape , but simultaneously as the landscape itself .
he origin of the plot of the draughtsman ' s contract is autobiographical . i was very keen on drawing . i trained as a painter initially , and spent a lot of my time drawing from life . one of my particular interests was architecture .
his work is iconic . he’s controversial . he’s outspoken . he’s ( arguably ) a visionary . artist - filmmaker ,
while the draughtsman’s contract was peter greenaway’s first truly narrative feature , a follow - up to his mockumentary catalog film the falls , the filmmaker himself refers to the film in its dvd liner notes as “another catalogue movie . ” his assessment of his own work is , of course , correct but in a way that may not be immediately evident to the viewer . the draughtsman’s contract abandons the formal conventions of the documentary format of the falls for a different type of formalism , that of the english period drama . the rigid structure of society depicted in the film and perhaps the even more fixed structure of art depicting that society are greenaway’s setting for a ribald and humorous tale of sex , murder , and art .
neville discovers that there is something more going on in the herbert estate than he can depict visually and , indeed , there is something more going on in the draughtsman’s contract than there initially appears . if the draughtsman’s contract is , like the falls , a catalogue film , it is one of a different type . greenaway is expanding upon his short film the falls as an exploration of the english countryside . neville revisits the same areas for varying lengths of time in a manner similar to greenaway’s in the short . what the artist finds is what the viewer finds in both works , that time and context change the perception of an image . one views herbert’s estate in vastly different terms as the film progresses despite the fact the images themselves do not change . neville’s contract stipulates that the subjects of his paintings must not be changed yet he sees this turned around on him in much the same way as the balance of power in his relationship with mrs . herbert .
andrew , geoff ,
contract chiller ,
in time out ( london ) , 18 may 1994 .
the result , the draughtsman ' s contract , is not as different to greenaway ' s previous work , however , as one might at first think . the draughtsman effectively acts as a traditional narrator when he outlines his drawing intentions ( alluding to a form of fictional ' making - of ' documentary ) , as do the party gossips at the very beginning of the film ; they do not talk to each other , they simply talk . as in his previous films , greenaway uses his creative works in other mediums to add to the overall text of the film , in this case the drawings as seemingly undertaken by the draughtsman .
the draughtstman ' s contract is the first film i saw of peter greenaway ' ' s on channel four television when channel four were an alternative film channel . the film is peter greenaway at his most inventive . the look , pace and feel beautifully out of step with the faultering british film industry of the early 80 ' s which is why it still stands up today . the period setting , the clever , knowing wink of irony and the wonderfully judged performances heralded the beginning of an original talent using film as art and producing art on film . greenaway may not have been to everyone ' s taste as the decade wore on but the draughtsman ' s contract remains his timeless classic . mark kilmurry
while like many people i was startled and initially impressed by peter greenaway’s the draughtsman contract , the more i’ve thought about it , the more i dislike its spirit ; nonetheless , i’ve decided to write about it because it’s an intelligent costume drama ( one of my special interests ) , and one set in the early part of the “long 18th century” ( another ) .
' ' the draughtsman ' s contract ' ' may well be cinema ' s first restoration comedy - mystery . it ' s a none - too - solemn , enigmatic tale of murder set in a great english country house in 1694 , when morals among the newly rich were as loose as absolutely possible and manners were mad mannerisms of dress , speech and behavior .
finally , i suppose the draughtsman’s contract is absurd ( its description in various online websites ) , but only obviously so in comparison to so many movies . a couple of minutes’ thought show so many movies are absurd ( and even silly ) , sheer dream visions .
peter greenaway ' s dark comedy about power games between the classes is one of his easiest films to enjoy on a surface level . those unfamiliar with greenaway ' s work should be warned , however , that although the draughtsman s contract looks like a period mystery , it really isn ' t : if you spend too much time worrying about who done it , you ' ll miss the movie ' s . . . read more
arsenal gallery is located in the city centre of białystok ( poland ) , in a historic building of the branicki palace . between 1691 and 1697 the branicki palace was reconstructed into a baroque mansion by tylman gamerski . theoretically
the draughtsman’s contract
by greenaway could happen exactly here . in relation to the famous work of the british director and the context of the place , the arsenal galllery will sign a contract , not necessarily with draughtsman ( we are also interested in other possible techniques and media ) , to create an artwork / art project , where the branicki palace will be the main object of interest , that is the seat of the arsenal gallery .
set in the 17th century , the draughtsman’s contact focuses on the contract between mr neville ( anthony higgins ) and mrs herbert ( janet suzman ) to paint a picture of her husband’s estate . as part of neville’s preparation for his masterpiece , he dresses the house with sculptures and then instructs the household not to move any objects . but when the statues in the house suddenly start to move about and even shift shape , the very particular mr neville becomes increasingly upset .
' ' the draughtsman ' s contract ' ' was shown as part of the 20th new york film festival at alice tully hall . following are excerpts from a review by vincent canby that appeared in the new york times on oct . 2 , 1982 . the film opens today at the cinema 2 , third avenue and 60th street .
after starting out with several experimental short films and the three - hour avantgarde film
the fall
( 1980 ) , peter greenaway achieved his breakthrough with
the draughtsman ' s contract
( 1982 ) . the movie that became an immediate box office hit established greenaway as an unconventional director who was courageous enough to distance himself from the mainstream .
in the draughtsman’s contract , we are given both – the landscape and its representation – but in circumstances that make the distinction between the two ambiguous . while the plot constantly reminds us of what is left in and what is left out of the drawings , the self - reflexive style of the film ( marxist new wave meets historical drama – the most aristocratic genre of them all ) constantly reminds the viewer of the similar processes at work in the film itself .
greenaway’s first feature - length film ‘the falls’ ( 1980 ) established his interest in exploring new directions for cinema and introduced some of the themes that recur in his later work . ‘the draughtsman’s contract’ may be greenaway’s first attempt to work within the more conventional idiom of narrative cinema but it retains a refreshing air of experimentation and is much easier to watch than his uncompromising debut . greenaway explores themes of sex , power , language , art and his fascination with ciphers , puzzles and games . the text of the contract is designed to deceive but the draughtsman’s images reveal the truth even though we lack the visual literacy required to read all the clues ; when the artist fails to grasp the full implications of everything he depicts the consequences can be deadly . greenaway develops this concept in his later work , particularly in ‘nightwatching’ ( 2012 ) , his study of rembrandt .
narratively , neville’s curiosity proves to be his undoing . on another level , it is his attempt to capture natural , living beauty that leads to his downfall ; a slight allusion to his next film , a zed & two naughts . a puzzle in both plot and structure , the draughtsman’s contract is an enticing and glorious beginning to greenaway’s narrative films . though he shows contempt for the formalism of the period drama , he shows himself to be a master of it as well . here we see the beginnings of greenaway’s attempts to meld narrative cinema and visual art , a defining characteristic of his work . the draughtsman’s contract is both intriguing and beautiful and represents another step in the journey from shorts like h is for house to films like the cook , the thief , his wife & her lover and his more recent rembrandt films .
at first there is a move to blame the draughtsman , but he manages to deny this . no one is in fact punished for this : ) , and the draughtsman comes back to resume his relationship with mrs herbert . who owns the pictures is a question ; they seem to be owned by mr . talmann ( hugh fraser ) the son - in - law , angry at his wife’s adultery ( and possible pregnancy ) by said draughtsman .
peter greenaway , the film ' s writer - director , hailed from a background in documentaries and experimental shorts . his cunning coup here was to apply a surreal sensibility to a thoroughly conventional genre format , the country - house murder mystery . yet , at the end , the draughtsman ' s contract remains a puzzle wrapped in an enigma , and no clever detective pops up to explain it all .
greenaway’s interest in these themes began in the 1970’s , with a fascination with landscapes and land art , as well as seventeenth century french landscape architecture ( which greenaway saw as “nature rearranged to make a stage… a form of unconscious pre - land art land art . ” ( 3 ) in the draughtsman’s contract we see a garden that has been grown as if it was drawn , and then documented in a drawing .
watch the draughtsman ' s contract once as a classy intellectual thriller , and again to savour fully the sensuous imagery , the outrageous wigs and costumes , michael nyman ' s intricate neo - baroque score , the witty screenplay , erotic sparring and splendid performances of janet suzman , anthony higgins and others . ( often seen as cold and cerebral , greenaway invariably enlists the cream of british acting talent to being his ideas alive . )
note : the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer ( s ) .
gridlines give me the subconscious visualization of graph paper which then takes me to the idea of designing ( architecture ) , drawing , ( art ) , space planning and the general idea of creating something . his use of gridlines & framing ( which we’ll get in to next ) is sometimes obvious & on the nose ( the falls ) and other times unconventional & clever ( the draughtsman’s contract ) .
has said :
i consider that 90 % of my films one way or another refers to paintings .
contract
[
greenaway’s films distort cinematic norms and challenge audience perceptions of reality . action is theatrically staged and framed , as if he wants to impose order on his subjects in the same way that a painter controls the characters on canvas . in ‘draughtsman’s contract’ peter greenaway may be commenting ironically on his own techniques . he frames his shots through the draughtsman’s perspective grid , emphasising his need to impose order on the world . mr . neville’s rules and regulations aim to keep the house and its surroundings constant so that they can be properly recorded but the draughtsman’s obsession with accuracy and perspective , his ‘eye for optical theory’ ultimately blinds him to the symbolic dimension of his surroundings . the artist who believes that he can accurately record constantly shifting realities must always fail : shadows move , light shifts . in this fluid universe the ability to grasp symbol , system and metaphor is a far more useful faculty than the ability to literally reproduce what the eye sees .
the draughtsman ' s contract has everybody clever in an odd way . i cannot make out what it is about . this is neither irritating enough to make me dislike the film nor intriguing enough to stimulate a rewatch . would recommend only to those who enjoy the exercise of interpretation ; it is not really comical or sexy enough for a casual view .
nyman ' s ability to evoke strong emotions and illustrate films with scores that add considerable depth is second to none . if you like michael nyman , the draughtman ' s contract or just good film scores , this is a good one to buy .
lászló nemes ' s acclaimed debut feature re - creates the awful plight of the sonderkommandos .
in a country house party in wiltshire in 1694 , a member of the landed gentry , mrs herbert , signs a contract with the draughtsman , mr neville . they agree that he will produce twelve drawings of her husband ' s property , compton anstey , in return for bed , board and a sexual liaison with her , for each drawing produced . all parts of the agreement will be undertaken in her husband ' s absence .
mr . neville is intrigued but too self - assured to worry , even when mrs . talmann more or less blackmails him into making a contract with her similar to the one that the draughtsman has with her mother . he enjoys himself immensely without ever suspecting that he has become a victim in the age - old war of the classes .
offerman stars as a record store owner dreading his daughter’s departure for college in brett haley ' s new film .
music from the soundtrack for
the draughtsman ' s contract
by peter greenaway . produced for piano records 1982 . post production at townhouse tape copying . ℗ 1989 virgin records ltd . © 1982 charisma records ltd . original sound recording made by charisma records ltd . manufactured in holland catalog number
cascd1158
on booklet and backlet ,
cascd 1158
on cd
in 1981 , peter greenaway spent a warm summer drawing his house on the welsh border . so that the house was in the same light every time he sketched it , eight set views were drawn at eight set times of the day . the carefulness of the plan balanced the chaos of its enactment : cows , neighbours and children were equally constant , if pleasurable , interruptions . anybody who has seen the draughtsman’s contract may find this scenario familiar . it was the basis of the film . but the relevance of any biographical detail stops there .
what we have here is a tantalizing puzzle , wrapped in eroticism and presented with the utmost elegance . i have never seen a film quite like it .
the draughtsman ' s contract
seems to be telling us a very simple story in a very straightforward way , but after it ' s over you may need hours of discussion with your friends before you can be sure ( if even then ) exactly what happened .
mr . greenaway recounts all this coolly , with an eye for detail as keen as the draughtsman ' s , but also with a number of not immediately explainable images that are simply absurdist . the performances are as comically arch as the material , particularly miss suzman ' s , miss lambert ' s and mr . higgins ' s . though the settings and landscapes are nothing less than opulent , the excellent photography by curtis clark is spare , unfancy , unhackneyed .
the draughtsman ' s contract is a 1982 british film written and directed by peter greenaway . the film is a period piece set in 1694 . it was originally produced for channel 4 . the score was by michael nyman and borrows extensively from henry purcell . greenaway wrote the script . the film uses extensive and elaborate costume designs , but has most of the action shot on location in the formal gardens and maze of groombridge place garden , making good use of a limited budget .
the draughtsman ' s contract ( 1982 ) , greenaway ' s first mainstream feature film , is set in the seventeenth century , a time of social and economic transformation . the film portrays the draughtsman ' s encounters with the moneyed upper classes as he seeks to fulfill his commission . though the film involves intrigue , even murder , it is not a conventional crime narrative . it is a whodunit that is also a complex exploration of the production of the visual image and its relation to sound , particularly music ( thanks to greenaway ' s collaboration with michael nyman ) . it examines perspective through the visual and verbal references to painting - the focus on framing of the drawings and of the film itself , on conversations that are as stylised as the images of architecture and formal gardens . in effect , the film uses all of these strategies to invite the spectator to consider different ways of visualising history , contemplating language , storytelling , and , above all , cinema .
the magician prospero attempts to stop his daughter ' s affair with an enemy .
an index of the chicago reader ' s long reviews from 1971 to now .
the whole history of my life part 4 : u . s . go home
mr . neville , a cocksure young artist is contracted by mrs . herbert , the wife of a wealthy landowner , to produce a set of twelve drawings of her husband ' s estate , a contract which extends . . .
in an apparently idyllic 17th century wiltshire , an ambitious draughtsman is commissioned by the wife of an aristocrat to produce twelve drawings of her husband ' s estate and negotiates terms to include sexual favours from his employer . but when a corpse is dragged from the moat , the draughtsman ' s drawings may reveal more than he realised . extravagant costumes , a twisting plot , elegantly barbed dialogue and a mesmerising score by michael nyman make the film a treat for ear , eye and mind .
at the start of ' ' the draughtsman ' s contract , ' ' mrs . herbert ( janet suzman ) and her daughter mrs . talmann ( anne louise lambert ) are pleading with mr . neville to stay with them at their country house to do a series of drawings to present as a surprise to mr . herbert , who will be away on business in southampton during that time .
what comes through clearly by the end of the film is the act of one artist’s eccentric generosity breathing new awareness into the life of another .
nevertheless , this is the part of the film i liked least and it’s what it is most famous for — the sexual contract . i feel that whatever the social critique presented , the scenes revel in pain inflicted on the women as the cook , the thief , his wife and her lover . this aspect of the film puts me in mind of nabokov’s lolita where an ironic narrator ( villain protagonist ) provides cover for nabokov to let go his own fantasies . that it’s respected anyway shows the domination of male film critics and present male hegemony .
the year is 1694 , and a smug draughtsman has been commissioned to draw the estate from 12 different angles at different times of the day . his fee : a modest stipend and 12 sexual favours from mrs herbert , the lady of the manor .
the purpose of the composer ' s cut series is to present music from my soundtracks in a state of continuous evolution . as i transferred particular cues from film to concert hall both musical structures changed and performance styles developed , enabling the music , perhaps , to realise its true potential . so these recordings represent the michael nyman band ' s state - of - performance as of spring 2005 .
– mn august 2005 michael nyman and peter greenaway had already collaborated on six experimental films prior to 1982 ' s the draughtsman ' s contract , but it was this film , made with a full cinematic release in mind that brought both director and composer to the attention of the more mainstream film audience .
greenaway himself might see things differently . after all , he very consciously turned his back to what he termed
conventional cinema .
but what precisely did he define as
conventional
? after all , even his hits including
the draughtsman ' s contract ,
the belly of an architect ,
and
the cook , the thief , his wife and her lover
were anything but conventional . the highly original british filmmaker never even tried to please mainstream audiences .
one of the formal gardens at groombridge used in the film has been renamed in commemoration of the filming : the draughtman’s lawn boasts beautiful primroses in the spring and striking ornamental trees in the summer .
it is an intensely detailed but coherent world that the film conjures , but despite the draughtsman ' s professed pursuit of objectivity -
i do not disguise or disassemble
- it is a made world , and one open to interpretation . trees are subjected to grafting , the landscape to flooding , and all this is layered again through interpretation ; witness another draughtsman , in the form of a dutch child , and the very different drawing that he produces . regardless of this , the act of witness is held to be paramount - due to all he has seen , the social climbing draughtsman , mr . neville , must be disposed of , beginning with his eyes .
peter greenaway’s films tend to polarise viewers . his work can be viewed as either coldly pretentious or startlingly original . some will feel that this director is far too clever for his own good . cinema fans who like a clear plot and ‘straight story’ will find ‘draughtsman’s contract’ utterly infuriating . there may be a hidden meaning in the ‘disposition of linen’ or greenaway may simply be having a joke at the audience’s expense . the film is like an intricately carved puzzle . it can be admired as a thing of beauty in its own right , even if you are unsure how all the pieces fit together .
peter greenaway announced his arrival with this elusive and elegant puzzle of a costume drama . art references and connoisseurship flit through a plot in which a cocksure draughtsman ( anthony higgins ) is hired by an aristocratic lady ( janet suzman ) to do 12 drawings of her house , the payment to include hospitality and access to her bed . but the contract enfolds a con trick designed to preserve class and inheritance , playing the draughtsman — and the audience — for a dupe . driven by michael nyman’s parping baroque score it displays a ravishing eye for colour and composition , and an appetite for cruelty that is colder than death .
published on this site , organized by the director ' s last name . the links below jump to particular points in the index .
the draughtsman of the title is a certain mr . neville ( anthony higgins ) , an ambitious , handsome young man who makes his living by traveling from one country house to the next , executing bloodless drawings of the property in return for modest fees and the hospitality of the house .
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as this year’s berlin film festival draws to a close , we bring you the weirdest and most wonderful moments from the red carpet , the most exquisite outfits , the hottest parties and the movies everyone’s talking about . ( 20 . 02 . 2017 )
· this is an edited extract from the director ' s commentary on the dvd , to be released by the bfi later this year .
mr . neville , a cocksure young artist is contracted by mrs . herbert , the wife of a wealthy landowner , to produce a set of twelve drawings of her husband ' s estate , a contract which extends much further than either the purse or the sketchpad . the sketches themselves prove of an even greater significance than supposed upon the discovery of the body of mr . herbert .
mr neville ( anthony higgins ) , a young and arrogant artist , is contracted to produce a series of 12 landscape drawings of an estate by mrs virginia herbert ( janet suzman ) for her absent and estranged husband . part of the contract is that mrs herbert agrees
to meet mr neville in private and to comply with his requests concerning his pleasure with me .
several sexual encounters between them follow . later he makes a similar contract with mrs herbert ' s married , yet childless , daughter . in the second contract , however , he agrees to comply with her pleasure . a number of curious objects appear in neville ' s drawings , which point ultimately to the murder of mr herbert , whose body is discovered in the moat of the house . the drawings appear to implicate neville .
that’s it for tonight . i’ve been kicking my employment law essay around all day . so far i’ve done the reading but must admit it was probably a mistake to stick “a draughtsman’s contract” in the dvd player as “background” . it is not a background film . it is never a mistake to watch the film ; in fact , if you are not currently in possession of this peter greenaway film , go and order it now . it’s more like a restoration play than a film . not a wine & chocolate affair but it is bloody marvellous . anyway , i digress ; which has been the problem with the essay . it’s not 7 . 30pm and i reckon i’ll be satisfied if i get the introduction done tonight . as the lady says , “tomorrow is another day ! ”
at the end of the film , it becomes apparent , rather like murder on the orient express , that the entire family was responsible for the death of mr herbert , the unpleasant and antagonistic owner of the house . the plan was that the women of the family could partake of the married woman ' s property act . so there ' s only one more thing to do , and that ' s to finally not only get rid of the drawings , but also to get rid of the architect himself . and now we have , or are about to have , a copycat murder . so this draughtsman is killed and disposed of and his drawings burnt in order to tidy up the whole story and destroy the final evidence .
mr . neville , a cocksure young artist , is contracted by mrs . herbert , the wife of a wealthy landowner , to produce a set of twelve drawings of her husband ' s estate , a contract which extends much further than either the purse or the sketchpad . the sketches themselves prove of an even greater significance than supposed upon the discovery of the body of mr . herbert .
greenaway is apparently sympathetic to women in this film . mrs herbert who hires the draughtsman to draw her husband’s house and gardens ( not hers , note , his ) looks ill and shattered after the encounters . she is bullied by her husband who is away having affairs . her , mrs talmann’s daughter’s failed arranged marriage is also brought out and sympathized with : she too goes to bed with the draughtsman ( who gets about ) as she’s not only frustrated because her husband is impotent and the point of her marriage was to produce an heir for the estate . her husband does not bully and control her but not for lack of trying . a sexy teasing tantalizing stylized dramatizing of these relationships is presented within an outline of criticism of the male hegemonic order .
artificial in the extreme , it may nevertheless be greenaway ' s most naturalistic and easygoing film .
the wife of an abusive criminal finds solace in the arms of a kind regular guest in her husband ' s restaurant .
the movie was originally inspired by peter greenaway ' s attempts to draw a house he ' d rented for a vacation and finding that the sun rising / falling changed the shadows and appearance too rapidly for a drawing to be completed in one sitting . he thus spent a specific period each day drawing the house from a specific angle ( like the draughtsman in the movie ) . see more »
in a way the draughtsman ' s contract was vertical features remake with actors . and with its excessive straight - jacketing of the english landscape , it was another catalogue movie , but this time with actors walking the world , but actors deliberately behaving like statutes or mannequins , marshalled into a strict regime of times and places . the time is 1694 , the subject is a conspiracy of murder , more patricia highsmith then agatha christie , the characters are effete provincial aristocrats , the ambience bitter and sweet . sexual exploitation is paramount . a draughtsman demands sexual favours in return for practising his art on a country - house ; a contract for twelve imaginative couplings with the mistress of the house for twelve prosaic drawings , both to be taken at his predatory pleasure and with an eye to his rigid timing . we believe the draughtsman is in control and we watch his progress of gross sexual exploitation with some respect , for he is an unapologetic immoralist , he is handsome , well turned out , a disadvantaged outsider trying to get inside , and an artist of some talent if not a huge imagination . but the movie takes a reverse turn half way through and the predator becomes the victim , quite how and why , if not already guessed in a plot of women holding onto hereditary in a household of virtual eunuchs , is quickened in the last minutes with the freely commissioned thirteenth drawing and the thirteenth copulation . the artist is not employed afterall to draw but to sire . his prowess as a stud is more understood and valued that his prowess as draughtsman .
basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …
to match the film ' s 17th century setting , each of the pieces composed for the film took an element of a piece – some quite fragmentary – from english composer henry purcell as an inspiration or starting point . while this allowed the music to match the period portrayed , nyman ' s use of elements in the michael nyman band such as saxophones and electric bass , instruments that hadn ' t existed in purcell ' s time , along with his own compositional style gave the music a late 20th century modernity that resonated with the audience . the soundtrack became nyman ' s first international success in the area of film music and some of the pieces composed for this film remain hugely popular with concert audiences to the present day . as the composer notes in his introduction to the album , the music has altered and expanded in 23 years ' of concerts . most of the musicians in the michael nyman band are long - term members and their knowledge of every element of the music and confidence with the material is reflected in the quality of these performances recorded at abbey road studios in april 2005 . the music for the draughtsman ' s contract is familiar to a vast audience who ' ve almost certainly never even seen the film as it has been extensively used in advertising and is among the most frequently played contemporary music on classical radio stations around the world .
i ' ve no work on hand at the moment , and the leaves are falling fast , but i have had some interesting talks with peter greenaway , a brilliant youngish film director , who made the draughtsman ' s contract . he now has some most exciting ideas about a possible fantasy version of the tempest which , of course , i ' ve always longed to do - especially if it is not a theatre version of the whole play which would , i think , be rather a bore . greatly hope something may come of it for next year .
mr . neville , a cocksure young artist , is contracted by mrs . herbert , the wife of a wealthy landowner , to produce a set of twelve drawings of her husband ' s estate , a contract which extends much further than either the purse or the sketchpad . the sketches themselves prove of an even greater significance than supposed upon the discovery of the body of mr . herbert . written by paul kevin harm
it shows the director at his best and most playful , and it ' s a strange delight .
so these 12 days of painful draughtsmanship all go up in smoke . maybe for an artist it ' s more damaging not simply to be killed but to actually have one ' s works destroyed . i was the draughtsman of those drawings and i had absolutely no intention of destroying them . what you see burnt on celluloid are just extremely good photocopies .
the draughtsman uses an optical device constructed as a frame . recent publications by david hockney have suggested that artists after and during the renaissance resorted to all sorts of optical equipment in order to improve the artificiality of their medium . the notion of the frame as a filmic device , and also as a drawing device , is related very significantly to the notion of a frame - up . though we imagine the draughtsman rules the roost and governs the action , he ' s in fact slowly , scene by scene , being framed . so the notion of the subject matter of the film - to frame somebody , that is , to put them up as a victim of a conspiracy of some description - is also relative to the way the film itself is very self - consciously framed . the form and the content should ideally be brought closely together .
to conclude , the essay in fires were started is by michael walsh and called “allegories of thatcherism : the films of peter greenaway” walsh confronts and admits to the sadism of greenaway’s films . his method’s psychoanalytical & he did not persuade me there’s any anti - thatcherism in this film — unless the mockery and send up of the commodified lush shows of costume drama can be read this way . but that’s not particular enough . i find my own blog review of miles forman’s valmont as anti - thatcherite a lot more convincing .
the final version provides fewer explanations to the plot ' s numerous oddities and mysteries . the main murder mystery is never solved , though little doubt remains as to who did it . the reasons why there is a living statue in the garden or why mr neville attaches so many conditions to his contract were also more developed in the first version . it could be said that , rather than make the film more confusing , it adds to the sense of mystery and wonder it provides .
the album was the fourth album release by michael nyman and the third to feature the michael nyman band .
the cook the thief the wife & her lover /
the anatomy lesson of dr . nicolaes tulp
the film centers on mr . neville , an artist . as the son of a commoner , neville is an outsider in the world of the aristocrats for whom he works . the film reiterates this visually ; neville dresses primarily in all black and wears a dark colored wig , a sharp contrast to the affected garb of the other characters . his outsider status also positions him as an avatar for the audience as he moves in what is essentially an alien world . but neville’s position as the audience’s stand in is a precarious one . greenaway purposefully makes him a difficult person to empathize with ; he is arrogant , stubborn and malicious . though neville is quick to recognize these characteristics in his benefactors , he seems blind to the same within himself and his inability to “see” himself reiterates the blindness he has to the true nature of the events transpiring around him . neville uses his art to capture this world visually but as the film progresses his understanding of the true world beneath the veneer grows . the draughtsman’s contract explores this with him , pulling back the curtain on a society obsessed with outward appearances .
ruskin ' s venice , the stones revisited , by sarah quill , is published by ashgate at £30 .
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anything by henry purcell ( 1659 - 1695 ) ; the soundtrack to tony palmer’s 1995 purcell ‘biopic’ ‘england , my england’ ( erato 0630107002 ) provides a good introduction to this composer’s work .
malcomson , s . , in film quarterly ( berkeley ) , winter 1983–84 .
one of peter greenaway ' s many multi - media art installations . . .
a brilliantly intricate all - encompassing analytical essay that stands among your very best . but i know greenaway is one of your favorites , as he is one of mine as well . the draughtsman ' s contract is a maddening elliptical mystery , one where plot is used for the purpose of the director ' s compositions , and the film is a fascinating hybrid of social commentary and the aforementioned avante garde , filmed as i recall in 16mm . my favorite greenaway of them all happens to be the one that achieved the most popular success - the cook , the thief his wife and her lover , as that film showed the director at his most entertaining and didn ' t compromise on the physical beauty and had a buffo michael nyman score to boot . but i love a number of others , especially prospero ' s books , the pillow book and nightwatching . your discussion of the use of language in the film is fascinating . and yes , greenaway is a list obsessive , bless his heart . ha !
paradoxically yet characteristically , these heavy - duty art references are accompanied by dialogue that is relatively meandering and formless whenever it steps away from the film ' s structural design . ( albert ' s minor explosion of grief over his and georgina ' s childlessness , for instance , registers as an awkward attempt to cover up the absence of psychology elsewhere . ) greenaway ' s obsessive reliance on structural systems - - perspective ( the draughtsman ' s contract ) , the alphabet ( a zed & two noughts ) , numbers ( drowning by numbers ) , and color - coding here - - never functions as a means of exploration or discovery in the way that ( for instance ) the systems in michael snow ' s experimental
structural films
like wavelength , back and forth , and la region centrale do ; they suggest the somewhat desperate tactics of a control freak who doesn ' t really believe in or feel comfortable with narrative , but has to use it anyway to get his pictures financed and shown . they become , in effect , recipes for filming by numbers .
an extravagant , exotic and moving look at rembrandt ' s romantic and professional life , and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting ' the night watch ' .
the sheffield civic trust ( sct ) aims to help shape the future of the city by encouraging wider public awareness of sheffield’s buildings , heritage , places and spaces .
the draughtsman demands perfection . there must be no change , from day to day , in the view he paints . he aims for complete realism . but little changes do creep in . a window is left open . a ladder is found standing against a wall . there are things on the lawn that should not be on the lawn . the lady ' s daughter calls on the artist and suggests that a plot may be under way and that her father , the lord of the manor , may have been murdered . furthermore , the artist may be about to be framed for the crime . as a payment for her friendship , the daughter demands the same payment in
intimate hospitality
as her mother . now the artist is not only draughtsman but lover to mother and daughter and the possible object of a plot to frame him with murder .
greenaway ' s films , in which a formal concern with structures rubs shoulders with something decidedly more romantic and even absurdist , have been described as revolving around the contradiction between
the encyclopaedic minutiae of a constructed world - in - microcosm and the aleatory perception of a contingent nature ,
and the draughtsman ' s contract is no exception to this schema . in particular , the way in which the businesslike , dispassionate mr . neville is constantly intruded upon by human passions and their visible traces on the landscape testifies to the impossibility of purely abstract systems of any kind—systems of representation included . indeed , even the landscape in which compton anstey is set , and which forms the background to the drawings , is far from being simply natural or neutral . as both nikolaus pevsner and w . g . hoskins have repeatedly pointed out , the english landscape in particular always carries the traces of human activity upon it , and can thus be read as a kind of social and political map , as well as a simply geographical one . neville ' s mistake is to fail to
read
the landscape in which he finds himself : narrowly limiting himself to what he can see in his viewing frame , to formal composition and to the formal terms of his contract , he fails to understand the relations of patronage and inheritance that are inscribed upon the landscape , or to see the signs of passion and intrigue which keep breaking through onto the otherwise orderly surface . this notion of landscape as something to be
read
becomes abundantly clear after mr . herbert ' s death , when the various members of the household scrutinise neville ' s drawings for clues to the identity of the murderer .