This is beautiful:

The above video is early test footage of Kodachrome color movie film from 1922. Kodak’s blog has more info about the film. It predates the first color feature film by 13 years.

In other Kodachrome news, you probably have already heard about how Steve McCurry was given the last produced roll of Kodachrome and shot it for National Geographic, and that the last place to process Kodachrome will cease processing the film in December 2010.

In other test footage news, here’s some early improvisational camera test footage of Kermit the Frog and Fozzy Bear.

Devastating satire.

“In this period there was no electricity. It was before electricity was invented and consequently there was less light. Period movies should have less light. In a period movie the light should come from the windows because that is how people lived.” -Nestor Almendros, on filming Days of Heaven by natural light, as quoted on Wikipedia.

Rachel Hulin has a great post showcasing the cinematography in Days of Heaven. If you haven’t seen the film, you must. Terence Malick and Nestor Almendros, director and cinematographer, wanted to achieve a more natural look to the film, to approximate a look accurate with the period of the movie’s setting.

Hulin’s post reminded me of the technology behind Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon.” Kubrick, a photographer before he made movies, wanted to film scenes in the movie by candlelight. Existing motion picture lenses weren’t fast enough, so he worked with camera technicians and suppliers to develop a 36.5mm f/0.7 lens. The lenses, originally developed for NASA, were retrofitted to work with movie cameras, and allowed the director to film many scenes in “Barry Lyndon” by unaided candlelight, such as in the scene above.

This also reminded how strange movie trailers can be, especially old ones, since they rely on a cultural currency that is recognizable but so far removed from what we are used to; Barry Lyndon’s is weird, and A Clockwork Orange’s is brilliant (not safe for work or people suffering from epilepsy).

Facing Water Crisis is Balazs Gardi’s latest project. The project incorporates stills, video, and a comprehensive website, and addresses the coming global water crisis. The work, as we can expect from Gardi, is beautiful and poignant. The project, moreso, serves as an example of what the future of visual journalism might look like, produced and published by the photographer through the website.

Love the music in the above video, by the way. Reminiscent of Lynch, perhaps. In the credits, come to find out, the music was made by fellow photographer Tivadar Domaniczky.

Theatre of War from Richard Mosse on Vimeo.

We’ve posted a few times about Richard Mosse’s work, most recently about his Pink Soldiers and earlier about a related project to this video, “Breach”. It is great to see how is vision and passion for “classical history paintings” translates into a solemn and measured video piece.

Found via A Photo Student’s tremendous post full of wonderful photographer-related videos. It’ll take me to get through all of that good stuff, and I’ll probably be finding other gems to post here too. (just check out the Winogrand interview!)

CAMERA, CAMERA – Trailer from malcolm murray on Vimeo.

Malcolm Murray’s documentary, “Camera, Camera,” fascinates and disturbs me. The film explores the increasing phenomenon of travelers with cameras invading remote areas or cultural events. I’ve seen the situation hundreds of times, and been part of it more often than I’d like to say. Those times, the only thing to do is put down the camera and go drink a cup of tea.

This project also reminds me of Jörg Brüggemann’s “Same Same But Different,” which we wrote about previously.

The film is currently on the festival circuit, but hopefully it’ll be coming to a theater or dvd player near you soon.

(via NYT Lens blog a while back, but I’ve just gotten to watch it.)

Political cartoonist Mark Fiore produces weekly animations for Newsweek. I’m not sure I’ve ever watched any of his cartoons before, but this one, found via Newsweek’s odd Tumblr blog in turn found at the Nieman Lab, is well worth the price of admission. We’ve talked before about the environmental cost of new digital technology, and this cartoon sums up the issues all too well.

Big Vinny from California is a place. on Vimeo.

While in Korea last week for a shoot, I got to enjoy unrestricted access to the internet, which let me catch up on some videos I’d been meaning to watch. One project I’m glad I got to see is “California is a Place,” a collaboration between filmmaker Drea Cooper and photographer Zackary Canepari. Four videos (in all? so far?) cover topics as diverse as scraper bikes, the Mexican border, a resurgence of pool skating, and the life of a car salesman–they’re all tied together by a place, namely California. At times quirky, at times poignant, the videos are beautifully shot and give the viewer a glimpse into a California I feel like I forgot about. Really worth a watch.

Bulgaria - from the Wonderful World of Albert Kahn

I’m a sucker for vintage photography, and the Albert Kahn Collection is no exception. From the website:

In 1909 the millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn embarked on an ambitious project to create a colour photographic record of, and for, the peoples of the world…. Kahn used his vast fortune to send a group of intrepid photographers to more than fifty countries around the world, often at crucial junctures in their history, when age-old cultures were on the brink of being changed for ever by war and the march of twentieth-century globalisation.

This project resulted in some 72,000 autochromes, most of which have never been published. The BBC has produced a 9-part series on the collection, as well:

Photography Hijacked from jack pam on Vimeo.

Photography Hijacked looks promising. The film follows 12 photographers from Australia and the US, showing their work and working process. I believe it’s connected with the Hijacked book from a couple years back. NSFW due to quick nudity in the trailer above. From the film’s website:

“Photography Hijacked, a documentary film by Jack Pam, is a journey through the processes, techniques and outcomes of 12 unique photographers from Australia and America. The idea that individuality of process is what underwrites and makes possible all interesting artwork is explored with each new artist in the film representing a new way of looking at the contemporary medium of photography.”

The film features Graham Miller, Dean Karr, Shen Wei, Jennifer Juniper Stratford, Sarah Small, Toni Wilkinson, Gareth Willis, Brad Rimmer, Amy Stein, Karron Bridges, Angela Boatwright, and Bill Sullivan.