Amateur film (Web PDF) von Heather Nicholson

A study of non-professional film making using regional archive sources and oral history. The book traces the rise of Britain's amateur cine photography from its early pioneers, through its years of peak popularity to its adjustment to wider societal and technological changes.

Preface and acknowledgements1. Making space for a neglected visual history2.The amateur club scene 3.The rise of a hobby press4. Family life as fact and fiction5. Local lives and communities 6. Gazing at other people working.7. An indispensable travel accessory8. Socially engaged filmmaking9. Moving pictures, moving onBibliographyIndex

Amateur film: Meaning and practice 192777 plunges readers into the world of home movies making and reveals that behind popular perceptions of clichéd family scenes shakily shot at home or by the sea, there is much more to discover. Exploring who, how, where, when and why amateur enthusiasts made and shared their films provides fascinating insights into an often misunderstood aspect of national visual history. This study of how non-professional filmmakers responded to the new possibilities of moving image places decades of cine use into a history of changing visual technologies that span from Edwardian visual toys to mobile phones. Using northern cine club records, interviews and amateur films, the author reveals how film-making practices ranged from family footage to highly crafted edited productions about local life and distant places made by enthusiasts who sought to educate, inspire and entertain armchair audiences during the early decades of British television.

Heather Norris Nicholson is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Visual and Oral History Research at the University of Huddersfield