Learn Something New: Paper Prints from Film History

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.

Learn Something New: Paper Prints from Film History

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


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