My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Today I was spending a bit of my Sunday afternoon watching a documentary on Kanopy, which is free from my local library.

Edison: The Invention Of The Movies, Part 1

As part of the discussion of very early films, a historian shows a “paper print” for The Great Train Robbery. Outwardly, it looks like a reel of film, except that it is a similarly sized roll of photographic paper onto which the individual frames were photographed. This was created as a method of registering films for copyright purposes. Many films were preserved solely because these paper prints long outlasted their nitrate film prints.

I had never heard about these paper prints before despite living with a film historian and delving rather deeply into film history my self. It is always amazing what you can learn each day — oftentimes just by accident.

You can find more on paper print at

• The Library of Congress
• Creative Cow
• The Bioscope

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

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Tiffen Open House & Stabilizer Gear Expo – A Minute in Los Angeles 11 from My Word

Scenes from Tiffen Open House & Stabilizer Gear Expo on Sunday, June 3rd, 2018 in Burbank, California

Music: “Life of Riley”” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) under Creative Commons License

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Learn more about Steadicam

More Steadicam Equipment

Learn more about Los Angeles with these books

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library

I’ll be highlighting books that I am reading (or re-reading) on all sorts of topics this year — Douglas

Reading – Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies by by Andrew Degraff and A.D. Jameson – 12 in a series

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See more cinemaps on the author’s web site

All movies take place in a world of their own design and Cinemaps helps to map out those spaces for 35 of our favorite movies from Star Wars to Pulp Fiction to Back to the Future. Each map details the passage of the main charactear, showing how and where they encounter one another, diverge, and meet again throughout the passage the film. This is a new way of understanding films, providing a visual summary of the movies and a piece of art in its own right. A.D Jameson’s essays on each film provide more illumination to the “illuminated” maps showing how one informs the other.

A great gift for movie and map buffs!

** My version of this book was available from the Los Angeles Public Library in print and ebook versions.

From Amazon.com…

This beautifully illustrated atlas of beloved movies is an essential reference for cinephiles, fans of great films, and anyone who loves the art of mapmaking.

Acclaimed artist Andrew DeGraff has created beautiful hand-painted maps of all your favorite films, from King Kong and North by Northwest to The Princess Bride, Fargo, Pulp Fiction, even The Breakfast Club—with the routes of major characters charted in meticulous cartographic detail. Follow Marty McFly through the Hill Valley of 1985, 1955, and 1985 once again as he races Back to the Future. Trail Jack Torrance as he navigates the corridors of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. And join Indiana Jones on a globe-spanning journey from Nepal to Cairo to London on his quest for the famed Lost Ark. Each map is presented in an 11-by-14-inch format, with key details enlarged for closer inspection, and is accompanied by illuminating essays from film critic A. D. Jameson, who speaks to the unique geographies of each film.

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library.
Check it out! † Available from the LA Public Library

Previously in (Re)Reading:

• The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by by Jason Fagone
• The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden: 326 Fast, Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Yard One Project at a Time by Sally Roth
• Raised Bed Revolution: Build It, Fill It, Plant It … Garden Anywhere by Tara Nolan
• Bread Is Gold by Massimo Bottura
• Mozart’s Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• Milk Street: The New Home Cooking by Christopher Kimble
• The Wildcrafted Cocktail: Make Your Own Foraged Syrups, Bitters, Infusions, and Garnishes by Ellen Zacho
• 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon by Robert Simonson
• Chemistry: A Novel by Weike Wong
• Back Pocket Pasta by Colu Henry
• Steal like an artist 10 things nobody told you about being creative by Austin Kleon

My Los Angeles 44 – Bradbury Building, Downtown Los Angeles

 and Follow Me

View this entire Downtown LA album on Flickr

Join me on Douglas E. Welch Photography on Facebook

Learn more about Los Angeles with these books

†† 

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library

My Los Angeles 43 – Bradbury Building, Downtown Los Angeles

 and Follow Me

View this entire Downtown LA album on Flickr

Join me on Douglas E. Welch Photography on Facebook

Learn more about Los Angeles with these books

†† 

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Books available at the LA Public Library

TV Worth Watching: Linotype: Revolutionizing Printing and Society – A Documentary

Watch on Kanopy

Linotype: The Film Trailer

An amazingly interesting piece of history. Linotype machines changed every part of the modern publishing world, but they were eventually supplanted by photographic and computerized typesetting methods. There is something visceral about the physical nature of these machines — turning keyboard input into hot metal type with real molten lead.

Yes, this is perhaps a bit geeky for the average viewer, but I love stories about technology and history and Linotype is certainly one of the most important pieces of technology ever to appear.

I watched Linotype using the free Kanopy service via my local library. You may be able to do that, too. Their website and apps are well produced and function well, including Chromecast and Airplay support for viewing on your TV.

Check out Kanopy here

Learn more about Linotype

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

06 The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings by JRRTolkien

After visiting the Weta Workshop in New Zealand last August, and inspecting all their artifacts, props and tools used to make the epic movies, I realized that it was time — now 21 years after the first movie — to re-read the novels once again. My well-worn paperbacks still sit on my shelf. Some were first purchased as a textbook for a high school English class. After reading The Fellowship of the Ring, I immediately purchased the other two volumes and devoured them. After that, I usually re-read them once a year or so, until the films brought the stories to life on-screen. Here is a lovely hardbound, one volume editions that you can curl up with on long Winter nights and revel in the joy of reading and the wonders of an amazing story. — Douglas

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

Kitties are ready to go to Stephens College’s Citizen Jane Film Festival this week and so are we!

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Stephens College’s Citizen Jane Film Festival is fast approaching and the Stephens College MFA in Screenwriting (where my wife, Rosanne is a professor) will be out in force. Current MFA students will be presenting papers at the Festival, Stephens College will be sponsoring a production of a 5-minute film and hosting a live reading of the winner’s screenplay.

I will be covering the event for Rosanne and the Festival, so watch my Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds for up-to-date information, photos and more.

Here are some of our big events:

Citizen Jane Film School
An afternoon of educational- and fun!- film industry discussions!

Studio A @ Stephens College, 1405 E Broadway 

11:00 AM

Screen Grab: From Screenplay To Big Screen, Who Will Win?
Judges: Sarah Haas, Ken LaZebnik, Steph Scupham, Kimberly Skyrme

Screenwriters vie for an exclusive production deal pitching their films to a panel of esteemed judges. The top five entries will be discussed and critiqued live before the audience. The winner will be announced before panel’s end. Producer, Sarah Haas, awaits to bring the project to life-a screenwriter’s dream come true!

Watch last year’s session

3:30 PM 

Bold Brash Words From Bold Brash Screenwriters

Moderator: Dr. Rosanne Welch
Panelist: Amy Banks, Krista Dyson, Cara Epstein, Betsy Leighton, Laura Kirk, Sarah Whorton

The Stephens College MFA in Screenwriting Program is proud to present six of our fabulous students who will introduce the audience to six female screenwriters whose bold, brash, brilliant words have enhanced our film experience, but whose names have been left out of the textbooks. Help us write them back in and remind us all that Women Ran Hollywood once and are on their way to doing it again!

REHERSED: A CJ TABLE READ WITH GREENHOUSE THEATER PROJECT 
Sager Braudis Gallery, 1025 E. Walnut

Sun / Oct 29 / 1:00 PM-3:00 PM

A staged reading of this year’s Screen Grab competition winner. Experience the art of Sager-Braudis Gallery, and watch as one of Columbia’s favorite theater companies reads a short screenplay. Refreshments provided by Harold’s Doughnuts and Fretboard Coffee.