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kennedy assassination film
kennedy assassination film
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00:00On
00:28November 22nd, 1963, all of Dallas, Texas was abuzz over the visit of President John
00:34F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie.
00:44Throngs of people crowded along the roads as his motorcade snaked its way through the
00:48city.
00:51A Dallas dress manufacturer named Abraham Zapruder stood in a small crowd with his home
00:57movie camera waiting for the President of the United States to pass by.
01:02As Kennedy's motorcade turned the corner into Dealey Plaza, Zapruder put his eye to the
01:07viewfinder and began filming.
01:15This unassuming man, using an ordinary camera, captured a seminal moment in the history of
01:21America, indeed, in the entire history of the 20th century.
01:28In March of 1997, at the National Archives II in College Park, Maryland, a replication
01:35of this moment in history began.
01:38For five days, photographers painstakingly re-shot the film frame by frame, from Zapruder's
01:45camera original to 4x5 transparencies.
01:49This reproduction is the first time a copy of the film has been made from the original
01:54since the day of Kennedy's assassination.
02:13On the morning of November 22, 1963, Abraham Zapruder went to his place of business, Jennifer
02:20Junior's of Dallas, quartered in the Daltex Building.
02:24The building stands on the northeast side of Dealey Plaza, directly across the street
02:28from the Texas School Book Depository.
02:31Kennedy's motorcade would pass by the building and through Dealey Plaza on its way to a luncheon
02:36at the Dallas Trademark.
02:40Zapruder owned a Bell and Howell model 414PD home movie camera that was considered double
02:45eight millimeter format.
02:48The original eight millimeter technology is called double eight.
02:51And what it really amounts to is an amateur's camera is designed to take a roll of film,
02:57a spool of film, that's 25 to 30 or 33 feet in length, and is 16 millimeters wide.
03:04The camera person would load the film in the camera, expose those first 25 feet, but they'd
03:09only expose one edge of it, one eight millimeter width down that 16 millimeter piece of film.
03:16After exposing the first run of it, the spool, which is the film which is now on the take-up
03:21spool, is reversed, put up on the supply side.
03:24The empty spool then goes on the bottom, the camera's rethreaded, and the other side is
03:28then exposed.
03:30The film then would go to a processor who would process it, develop it, or print it,
03:35whatever's appropriate, on equipment that's designed for 16 millimeter wide film.
03:41Sixteen millimeter is a standard audiovisual medium.
03:44Ultimately, then, the film is split into two eight millimeter widths.
03:49The two eight millimeter pieces are then spliced end to end.
03:53And what started out life as a 33 foot piece of 16 millimeter wide film ends up to something
03:59like 50 or 60 or 66 feet of eight millimeter wide film.
04:03On the morning of November 22nd, Zapruder decided not to take the camera with him to
04:08work.
04:09Marilyn Sitzman, one of his assistants, recalls what happened.
04:13He didn't bring his camera.
04:17So his assistant, Lillian, and I persuaded him to go get his camera, but he needed to
04:24take these pictures for his grandsons and for his children and et cetera.
04:29And we knew he really wanted to take the pictures anyway.
04:34Zapruder accompanied a group of workers from the dress factory to Dealey Plaza to watch
04:38as the Kennedys passed.
04:39We're talking about, well, where can he stand, because by this time there's quite a few people
04:43gathering.
04:44And we'd go look at this place, and we'd go look at that place, and we went over to that
04:48concrete paraquat was, and we decided that would be the best place, because it said you
04:53can get up here, you'll be above everybody, no matter how many people were down here,
04:58you don't have anybody blocking the view.
05:00He had vertigo, though.
05:02If he got up there, he'd get dizzy.
05:05So he said, you'll have to stand behind me and hold on to me.
05:08I said, it's no problem at all.
05:10So we both got up there, and I stood behind him, and I held on to him.
05:15When they started to make their first turn, turning into the street, and he says, okay,
05:19here we go, or something to that effect.
05:22Zapruder never took his eye from the viewfinder as he shot the film.
05:31As the horrifying news of the shooting traveled through the streets, a stunned Zapruder began
05:36walking to his office.
05:38As he was leaving Dealey Plaza, he ran into Harry McCormick, a reporter for the Dallas
05:43Morning News, and told him about the film.
05:47McCormick arranged to meet back in Zapruder's office, but first he wanted to find Forrest
05:52Sorrells, an agent he knew from the Dallas Secret Service field office, to inform him
05:56of the film.
05:58Zapruder's partner, Irwin Schwartz, recalls when he first heard of the film.
06:03I went with another friend that lived pretty close to there to go to his house to turn
06:07on the television, and that was when I heard Walter Cronkite say the president is dead.
06:16From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard
06:24Time.
06:252 o'clock Eastern Standard Time.
06:28That was some 38 minutes ago.
06:31And I picked up the phone, and I called the office.
06:37And I hear screaming and turmoil.
06:42And I said to the girl, I said, Mildred, what's going on?
06:46She said, oh, Mr. Schwartz, the police are here with shotguns.
06:49I said, what are you talking about?
06:52And she said, oh, Mr. Z has the films, and they want the films, and he told me to put
06:57it in the safe.
06:59I said, are they in the safe?
07:01And she said, yes, sir.
07:03I said, lock it.
07:04Where's Mr. Z?
07:05She says, he's in his office crying.
07:08And she went and got him, and he picked up the phone, and he said, Irwin, Irwin, it was
07:15terrible.
07:16I saw his head come off.
07:17I said, hey, I'll be right there.
07:20When McCormick arrived at Zapruder's office with Secret Service Agent Sorrells, the men
07:25accompanied Zapruder and his partner to have the film processed.
07:29So I went and opened the safe, and I got the camera.
07:32The film was still in the camera, and we took it downstairs.
07:39And he told the uniforms, the two uniformed cops, you have a car?
07:43And they said, yes, sir.
07:44And he said, let's go.
07:46McCormick believed the film could be developed at the Dallas Morning News, so the men went
07:50there.
07:51Finding no motion picture processing at the newspaper, they walked next door to the paper's
07:55television station, WFAA.
07:58Hearing of the eyewitness in their studios, producers at the station put Zapruder on the
08:03air and interviewed him on live TV.
08:05A gentleman just walked in our studio that I am meeting for the first time, as well as
08:10you.
08:11This is WFAA TV in Dallas, Texas.
08:12May I have your name, please, sir?
08:13My name is Abraham Zapruder.
08:14Mr. Zapruder?
08:15Zapruder, yes, sir.
08:16Zapruder.
08:17And would you tell us your story, please, sir?
08:19I got out about a half hour earlier and got to a good spot to shoot some pictures.
08:20And I found a spot, one of these concrete blocks that I have down near that park near
08:21the underpass.
08:22And I got on top there.
08:23There was another girl from my office.
08:24She was right behind me.
08:25And as I was shooting, as the president was coming down from Houston Street, making his
08:26turn, it was about halfway down there.
08:27I heard a gunshot.
08:28I heard a gunshot.
08:29I heard a gunshot.
08:30I heard a gunshot.
08:31I heard a gunshot.
08:32I heard a gunshot.
08:33I heard a gunshot.
08:34I heard a gunshot.
08:35I heard a gunshot.
08:36I heard a gunshot.
08:37I heard a gunshot.
08:38I heard a gunshot.
08:39I heard a gunshot.
08:40I heard a gunshot.
08:41I heard a gunshot.
08:42I heard a gunshot.
08:43I heard a gunshot.
08:44I heard a gunshot.
08:45I heard a gunshot.
08:46I heard a gunshot.
08:47I heard a gunshot.
08:48I heard a gunshot.
08:49I heard a gunshot.
08:50I heard a gunshot.
08:51I heard a gunshot.
08:52I heard a gunshot.
08:53I heard a gunshot.
08:54I heard a gunshot.
08:55I heard a gunshot.
08:56I heard a gunshot.
08:57I heard a gunshot.
08:58I heard a gunshot.
08:59I heard a gunshot.
09:00I heard a gunshot.
09:01I heard a gunshot.
09:02I heard a gunshot.
09:03I heard a gunshot.
09:04I heard a gunshot.
09:05I heard a gunshot.
09:06I heard a gunshot.
09:07I heard a gunshot.
09:08I heard a gunshot.
09:09I heard a gunshot.
09:10I heard a gunshot.
09:11I heard a gunshot.
09:12I heard a gunshot.
09:13I heard a gunshot.
09:14I heard a gunshot.
09:15I heard a gunshot.
09:16I heard a gunshot.
09:17I heard a gunshot.
09:18I heard a gunshot.
09:19I heard a gunshot.
09:20I heard a gunshot.
09:21I heard a gunshot.
09:22I heard a gunshot.
09:23I heard a gunshot.
09:24I heard a gunshot.
09:25I heard a gunshot.
09:26I heard a gunshot.
09:27I heard a gunshot.
09:28I heard a gunshot.
09:29I heard a gunshot.
09:30I heard a gunshot.
09:31I heard a gunshot.
09:32I heard a gunshot.
09:33I heard a gunshot.
09:34I heard a gunshot.
09:36Another onlooker in Dealey Plaza, Phil Willis,
09:39had taken slides at the time of the assassination.
09:42He, too, was at the Kodak plant having the slides processed.
09:46Before Sorrells left the plant,
09:48he arranged to receive copies of the Willis slides as well.
09:52Harry McCormick stayed with us,
09:55and sure enough, the fellow said they're ready to be seen,
10:00and we went into a viewing room.
10:02While there are conflicting stories about what day the film was shown,
10:06it is certain that the Zapruder film was first screened
10:09in the projection room at the Kodak plant.
10:12Phil Chamberlain, who was production supervisor,
10:15recalls the first showing.
10:17So when that film came off the processing machine,
10:20Mr. Zapruder was there,
10:22and he and I and quite a group of our people,
10:27probably about 15 in all,
10:29went in the projection room to see what he had on his film.
10:35And he started out, as we were threading it up,
10:38apologizing that he really didn't know what was on the rest of the film,
10:43that he wasn't much of a photographer.
10:46Then Zapruder's film came on,
10:48and number one, it was needle sharp.
10:52Two, the color was beautiful.
10:54The focus was locked in perfect.
10:57The film was only, I believe, 22 seconds long.
11:00And that last shot, you see his head come off.
11:04And, I mean, you could see it so clear.
11:08I've seen all these replicas and all the copies.
11:14Nothing like that first one.
11:16All during the sequence of pictures of the movies,
11:20there's not a sound, not a sound except the projector.
11:23And when the projector was turned off,
11:25it had to have been 3, 4, or 5 seconds like this, nothing,
11:31when one voice said,
11:34My God.
11:37Upon seeing the film,
11:39the Secret Service immediately asked for copies.
11:42The Kodak man said,
11:44You'll have to take it to Jameson.
11:46I'd never even heard of Jameson.
11:48He told us where it was.
11:50I think he called him, but I'm not sure.
11:53Even under these high-pressure circumstances,
11:56mere hours after he witnessed the President's murder,
11:59and with the Secret Service tracking his every move,
12:02Zapruder had the wherewithal to obtain affidavits
12:05from Kodak and the Jameson Laboratory
12:08stating the specific work they did.
12:11The first affidavit, signed by Phil Chamberlain,
12:14shows the work for the processing of the original film.
12:17And Zapruder and the Jameson people
12:19signed the agreements that there wouldn't be more than 3 copies made,
12:23and they made the 3 copies.
12:27And we had to take those copies to Kodak to get them developed.
12:33After the duplicates were processed at Kodak,
12:36Zapruder and Schwartz drove to a downtown police station.
12:40On Friday evening, November 22,
12:42Zapruder gave 2 of the 3 copies of his film to the Secret Service.
12:47By that time, Air Force One,
12:50containing the body of the slain President
12:52and the newly sworn-in President, Lyndon B. Johnson,
12:55had already landed in Washington, D.C.
13:04Once the news community heard of the Zapruder film,
13:07they clamored for the rights to it.
13:09Life magazine was especially fervent in its desire to get the film.
13:14Richard Stolle, the Pacific Coast editor for Life,
13:17flew into Dallas the afternoon of the assassination.
13:20In an interview before a live audience,
13:23Stolle recalls his weekend in Dallas.
13:26And I went into the Adolphus Hotel to set up an office.
13:32And I'd been there about an hour or two,
13:37and I got a phone call from one of your distinguished Patsy Swank.
13:42She had gotten word from a colleague
13:45that a local businessman had photographed the assassination
13:49from beginning to end with an 8mm home movie camera,
13:53and she phonetically, she pronounced his name.
13:58And I picked up the Dallas phone book and ran my finger down the Z's,
14:02and there it was, Zapruder, comma, Abraham.
14:06I called him, no answer.
14:09I called every 15 minutes for the next 5 hours,
14:13and at about 11 o'clock this weary voice answered.
14:17I said, is this Mr. Zapruder? Yes.
14:20I identified myself.
14:22I said, is it true that you photographed the assassination? Yes.
14:27Have you seen the film? Yes.
14:30Did you get it from beginning to end? Yes.
14:34Can I come out and see it? No.
14:38Zapruder told Stolle to meet him at the office at 9 o'clock the next morning.
14:43Stolle was waiting there at 8.
14:46And he looked slightly annoyed when I came in,
14:50but he said, well, you might as well come in and see this,
14:53because he'd invited the Secret Service at 8 o'clock.
14:57So it was a little room.
14:59He had this ancient 8mm projector.
15:02It's this tiny film, there's no sound.
15:05The only sound was this creaky projector.
15:08Meanwhile, other press are beginning to gather outside.
15:12Mr. Zapruder says,
15:16Mr. Stolle was the first reporter to contact me,
15:20so I'm going to talk to him first.
15:23The rest of the press went ballistic.
15:27Promise us you won't sign anything, you've got to talk to us before.
15:31Promise, promise, and they were acting badly.
15:36So we sat down, and I said to her,
15:39I said, Mrs. Pruder,
15:43when life occasionally encounters pictures of more than normal interest,
15:48that we will pay more than our normal space rates.
15:53I'm trying to be as casual as hell about all this.
15:56And I said, now, for instance, that piece of film we just saw,
15:59we might pay as much as $5,000 for that.
16:03He gives me this kind of quizzical look and then grins.
16:09The whole point of that was to find out, did he know?
16:12And yes, he knew.
16:15So we just went up by increments, little by little.
16:18I got to $50,000, and I said,
16:21Mrs. Pruder, this is truly as high as I can go without calling New York
16:26for authorization to go higher.
16:30He looked at me for a few seconds and said, let's do it.
16:34By noon on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the assassination,
16:39Life magazine had bought the print rights from Zapruder
16:42for two payments of $25,000.
16:46Stolle received the camera original and the last copy of the film.
16:51To avoid other reporters clamoring to buy the rights,
16:54Stolle left through a back exit.
16:58By Saturday evening, the 23rd of November,
17:01Zapruder's film was at Life's printing plant in Chicago.
17:05We carried the film to Chicago because the editorial site had moved to Chicago,
17:10which is where we printed the magazine then,
17:13and they were holding the magazine open.
17:15We threw out 300,000 covers.
17:17They stopped as soon as we heard of the assassination.
17:22They stopped printing the magazine,
17:24threw all but a few stories out in the back,
17:27threw the cover out and began,
17:29and then we began putting together part of it was the history,
17:32part of it was the reaction around the world,
17:34and the current story was what was happening in Washington and down here.
17:40So this film went up to an editor in Chicago,
17:44and they printed, oh, a dozen or more frames in black and white.
17:50They couldn't do it in color at that point.
17:52While the original film was in Chicago, a copy was sent to New York.
17:57Sometime on Sunday, the publisher of Life magazine, C.D. Jackson,
18:01saw the 26-second film.
18:04Jackson decided the American public was not ready
18:07for such graphic images of the president's death
18:10and instructed Stolle to buy the motion picture rights to the film as well.
18:15I called him on Sunday evening, and I said,
18:18I'd like to come back and see him about getting the additional rights.
18:25I have to say he seemed relieved.
18:27On Monday morning, Stolle met with Zapruder and his attorney, Sam Passman.
18:32We sat there. It couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes.
18:37I knew, again, where I could go.
18:40It was another $100,000.
18:43It was a total of $150,000 for all rights.
18:46By the time of JFK's funeral on Monday, November 24th,
18:50Time Incorporated owned all rights to the Zapruder film.
18:55In its November 29th issue,
18:57the magazine published black and white frames from the film.
19:01In the following issue, color frames were published.
19:04A week after the shooting in Dallas,
19:07President Johnson created a special commission
19:10to investigate Kennedy's assassination.
19:13It was the first time in history
19:15that the president had made a public statement
19:18about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
19:21It was the first time in history
19:23that the president had made a public statement
19:26about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
19:29It was the first time in history
19:31that the president had made a public statement
19:34about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
19:37It was the first time in history
19:39that the president had made a public statement
19:42about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
19:45It was the first time in history
19:47that the president had made a public statement
19:50about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
19:53It was the first time in history
19:55that the president had made a public statement
19:58about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
20:01It was the first time in history
20:03that the president had made a public statement
20:06about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
20:09It was the first time in history
20:11that the president had made a public statement
20:14about the assassination of President George W. Bush.
20:17It was the first time in history
20:19that the president had made a public statement
20:23One volume contained black-and-white stills
20:25made from the Zapruder slides provided by Life.
20:28Researchers looking at these reproductions
20:31noticed that some of the frames were missing
20:34and that splices were clearly evident.
20:36Critics of the Warren Commission suspected a cover-up,
20:39claiming the missing frames revealed something conspiratorial.
20:43In 1967, Life magazine offered an explanation.
20:49Photo lab technicians damaged the film when making copies
20:53and reproducing still frames.
20:55Specifics on how or when the accidents occurred were never given.
21:05In 1969, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
21:09indicted a local businessman, Clay Shaw,
21:12for conspiracy to kill President Kennedy.
21:15During the trial, Garrison subpoenaed the Zapruder film from Time, Inc.,
21:20using the conclusions drawn from the film as evidence of conspiracy.
21:25Abraham Zapruder was called as a prosecution witness
21:29to verify that the film Garrison received from Life
21:32was indeed the film Zapruder took the day of the assassination.
21:36On February 13, 1969, in a packed courtroom,
21:41Zapruder's film was shown in public for the first time.
21:46By the end of the trial, it had been shown nine more times.
21:51With the film in his possession, Garrison made sure duplicates were made.
21:56A conspiracy believer, Garrison wanted the bootleg copies
22:00to be distributed to colleges and universities across the country.
22:04After seeing the film, he believed the students would demand
22:07the assassination investigation be reopened.
22:11One of these bootleg copies was the centerpiece of a presentation called
22:15Who Killed JFK? that traveled across the country in the mid-70s.
22:21Zapruder never saw the widespread public reaction to his film.
22:26He died in Dallas on August 30, 1970, of cancer.
22:31On March 6, 1975, the Zapruder film was broadcast
22:36for the first time on television on an ABC talk show called
22:40Good Night America, hosted by Geraldo Rivera.
22:44The guests that evening were comedian and human rights activist Dick Gregory
22:48and photography expert Robert Grodin.
22:51It's become very chic among television producers
22:55to put a disclaimer at the head of any film.
22:59The film you're about to see might be shocking, it might be horrifying,
23:02you might not want your kids to watch it,
23:06and I think the unfortunate net effect of that is to make more people watch it.
23:11Well, I'm telling you right straight out that if you are at all sensitive,
23:18if you're at all queasy, then don't watch this film.
23:22Just put on the late night movie, because this is very heavy.
23:29It's the film shot by the Dallas dress manufacturer Abraham Zapruder,
23:35and it's the execution of President Kennedy.
23:39Bob and Dick, would you please narrate what we're seeing as we show this film?
23:44This is commercial footage leading into Dilley Plaza.
23:50This is the car on Main Street.
23:53So this film was taken by actual newsmen.
23:55This was spliced together with the Abraham Zapruder film.
23:58Yes.
23:59All right, so this is the beginning of the motorcade.
24:01What you're seeing now is in slow motion so that you can grasp what is happening.
24:06This is a film taken by Marie Muchmore that leads into the Zapruder film.
24:11It's for time continuity.
24:13The President is waving to the crowd here.
24:15And Jacqueline Kennedy, of course, is sitting alongside him in the open car.
24:20Right. This is from Orville Nix's film.
24:22This is originally 8mm footage, and they're heading now toward Elm Street.
24:30They're on Houston Street now.
24:32They're going to make a left-hand turn.
24:34It's on the corner where they're going to make the turn there that the book depository was.
24:37Now this is the Zapruder film.
24:39Okay, so the cars are coming along now into Dilley Plaza.
24:42Yes, these are the lead motorcycles of the motorcade.
24:45All right, now with the President and Mrs. Kennedy is also Governor Connolly.
24:48Right.
24:49Now before he goes behind the sign, the President is waving to the crowd.
24:52When he comes out from behind the sign, he is shot.
24:55Then Governor Connolly is shot.
24:56He's already been hit.
24:57He's already been hit.
24:59And now...
25:00At the bottom of the screen, the head shot.
25:03That's the shot that blew off his head.
25:05It's the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in a movie.
25:08Now the Warren Commission said that all of the shots were fired from behind
25:11by Lee Harvey Oswald, a lone assassin, firing at the President.
25:16As you can see clearly, the head is thrown violently backwards,
25:20completely consistent with the shot from the front right.
25:23Now this is an extreme blow-up of just the President from the film.
25:28Coming out behind the sign, he's shot.
25:30He's hit.
25:31He's hit here.
25:32From the front too.
25:33From the front.
25:34Now Jackie doesn't realize what's happened yet.
25:36She goes to his aid.
25:38And now...
25:40The Zapruder film, at the time of this unauthorized screening,
25:44was still owned by Time Incorporated.
25:47The film broadcast that evening belonged to Grodin,
25:50who claimed it was made from the original film
25:53but gave vague explanations on how he obtained the copy.
25:57That's the most upsetting thing I've ever seen.
25:59We'll talk about it in a minute.
26:03As the public interest in the Zapruder film and conspiracy theories grew,
26:08criticism mounted toward Time Incorporated's perceived suppression of the film.
26:12The publisher tried to thwart the criticism by returning it to the Zapruder family.
26:17On April 9, 1975,
26:20Time Incorporated returned the Zapruder film for one dollar
26:24to the LMH company consisting of Zapruder's wife, Lillian,
26:28and his two children, Myrna and Henry.
26:31In June of 1978,
26:34the Zapruder family themselves contacted the archives
26:37and asked if we would agree to put the original film into courtesy storage for them
26:43so they could have proper environmental conditions
26:48and temperature and humidity control.
26:50And we agreed.
26:52A simple receipt was drawn up in 1978,
26:56and the film was brought to us and has been here ever since.
27:00Well, there's restricted access to the film.
27:03It's in a security cabinet kept in the freezer and vault.
27:09And access is provided through the supervisors
27:13in the motion picture, sound, and video branch, like myself.
27:17And we periodically authorize the film to be taken out
27:22to be examined and inspected and checked in that manner.
27:28And we've taken care of that film now for 19 years.
27:34The public's accessibility to the original is strictly limited, however.
27:38If somebody wanted to view the original film,
27:40they would need to contact LMH Company for permission.
27:44If they went to the archives first,
27:46the archives would call us on the telephone or drop us a note
27:49indicating that there was somebody who wanted to view the original film,
27:53and they would ask us if this person could have access.
27:57We generally find that researchers understand
28:01that the handling of the film could result in a breakage of the film.
28:06In fact, the researchers are usually more aware of that than anyone.
28:14With the advent of digital technology,
28:17the LMH Company decided to create
28:20a state-of-the-art archival copy of the original film.
28:24In the past, archival efforts resulted in damage to the film.
28:30Twice before, in running it through gates for 8mm film, it's been damaged.
28:37Now we have a way of copying the images and reproducing them
28:40in a way that we don't have to run it through a gate,
28:43and it can be accurately reassembled,
28:46and the information can be provided without the risk of damage.
28:50When the decision was made to go ahead on the project,
28:53Silverberg contacted Joe Berube,
28:56director of scientific imaging at McCrone Associates in Westmont, Illinois.
29:01He identified himself as being a representative of the Zapruder family,
29:05of the Zapruder estate,
29:08and that they were interested in having this film
29:12blown up frame by frame, magnified,
29:16to reconstruct a videotape from that.
29:20Actually, more than anything, the area in which I specialize is photomicrography.
29:25It's sort of a cross between microscopy and standard photography,
29:30and there are many problems that have to be solved in that range.
29:35And that's exactly what this project entailed.
29:39Berube gathered the equipment he needed
29:41and shipped it to National Archives II in College Park, Maryland,
29:45where the shoot would take place.
29:47On the first day of preparations,
29:49MPI Teleproductions was present to record the process.
29:53The lens used was a Zeiss Luminar 40,
29:56with an f4.5 and 12x magnification.
30:00The film was Kodak 6121,
30:03a transparency duplicating film in the 4x5 inch format.
30:08Besides choosing equipment,
30:10Berube had to create a system to transport the film through the camera.
30:14While this system had to allow him to work quickly,
30:17it also needed to be archivally sound,
30:20especially in terms of chemicals and the film's physical safety.
30:24A simple construction was also key.
30:27Berube and his assistants built a transport system
30:30that would hold the entire length of the 25-foot film.
30:34The film is stored at the U.S. National Archives at College Park
30:38in a temperature and humidity controlled vault
30:40at 25 degrees Fahrenheit and 30% relative humidity.
30:44The process for taking the film out
30:47is to move it from a 25-degree environment
30:49into a 50-degree environment for about 24 hours
30:52so that the film can warm up a bit, not be brittle,
30:56and if there's going to be any condensation,
30:58that condensation will be on the outside of the film can
31:02that the film is stored in,
31:04or the plastic bag in which the film is actually placed.
31:07Polyester sleeves held the film in place
31:10and protected it as it moved toward the camera.
31:13Beneath the camera, the sleeve would be removed
31:16and the photograph taken.
31:18Final calibrations of the camera setup
31:20were necessary before the shooting could begin.
31:23When you have approximately 500 photographs,
31:29individual photographs,
31:33you want a high degree of consistency
31:35from one photograph to the next.
31:37So any variable that you can eliminate,
31:41that you can get under control, you want to.
31:44So we used film of all one emulsion number.
31:48We used one bulb throughout, which was of concern
31:51because this is a large number of photographs
31:53to make with one bulb, so we had three bulbs tested.
31:56Exposure had to be absolutely consistent
31:58and color balance had to be absolutely consistent.
32:01We used a photographic timer,
32:06which would give me very precise timing of the exposure.
32:13Each frame of the film was enlarged and reproduced
32:16on the 4x5 format,
32:18and the entire frame of the film was reproduced
32:21from film edge to film edge,
32:23including all information between the sprocket holes.
32:26The film frame is fairly standard.
32:28It's sort of four units wide and three units high.
32:30It's kind of a rectangle,
32:32but it was not uncommon for 8mm cameras
32:34and perhaps some 16mm cameras
32:36to shoot some additional image between the perforations,
32:39between the sprocket holes.
32:41I think there have been instances
32:43where there's been a question as to
32:45what's between sprocket holes,
32:47what the sprocket hole information is,
32:49where there's a need to examine a break in the film
32:52or something like that.
32:54One of the reasons for doing what we've done
32:57making the reproductions of each of the frames
33:00in a 4x5 format
33:02is to reproduce the sprocket hole information
33:04and to reproduce the break information
33:06so that that can be analyzed
33:08by anybody who needs to look at it.
33:10In processing,
33:12the same care had to be taken
33:14with the exposed transparencies.
33:16At the beginning of the project,
33:18when they first came into town with their camera
33:21and their enlarger head,
33:23it was necessary for us
33:25to balance their film to our processor.
33:27So the first thing we did
33:29was run a series of tests
33:31to balance the enlarger to our machine.
33:34Once the photography began at the archives,
33:37the exposed film came quickly to the processing plant.
33:40As the film comes in,
33:42it goes straight back and straight on to the machine.
33:44The quantity of film has been so great
33:46that it's really been a nonstop process.
33:48Once the film is dry,
33:50after it has gone through the chemical process,
33:53it is then pulled out of the machine
33:56and unclipped from the rack
33:58that it has gone through it on.
34:00As the film comes off,
34:02it is inspected for defects or flaws,
34:05problems that they may have had
34:07within the shoot itself,
34:09for dust or for curl of the film.
34:12From there, it is able to be sorted
34:15depending on the frame number
34:17and sleeved within individual sleeves
34:19and put into a binder.
34:21At that point, it then goes back to the archives
34:23for inspection by the people who shot it.
34:26With the processing finished,
34:28the set of the Zapruder film still frames
34:31was complete in transparency format.
34:33Then, using state-of-the-art digital technology,
34:37those still frames were returned to a motion picture format.
34:41We had to take what would be the equivalent
34:43of someone taking a regular still camera
34:46and being able to shoot it at 18 frames a second
34:49and put that back together into an image sequence.
34:52The first step in the reanimation process
34:55was to scan the individual transparencies into the computer.
34:59We scan in each image individually
35:01and we have an image sequence
35:03of approximately 480 frames
35:06that we have to put back into a sequence that moves again.
35:10We scan these at much higher resolution,
35:13up to 1,500 dots per inch resolution,
35:16so that we could blow up the footage
35:18and have enough image on the outside of the area
35:21to motion track everything.
35:23Once all the transparencies had been scanned,
35:26each of the individual pictures were registered to one another.
35:29That is, the images were lined up perfectly
35:32using the sprocket holes and frame edges as reference points.
35:36Registration is essential for seamless motion
35:39when the frames are animated back into a moving sequence.
35:42Once we stabilized all the footage
35:44and made sure everything registered very well,
35:47we took another pass,
35:50a finer registration or motion stabilization pass,
35:54that stabilized the original camera jitter
35:57to get rid of any motion
35:59that may have been an artifact of handheld cameras.
36:03We were able to go inside the actual image
36:05and look for areas of contrast
36:07to stabilize the picture within that environment.
36:10Using the digital tools available today,
36:13the technicians brought out as many details as possible
36:16from the original optical print.
36:18The camera goes through many different angles,
36:21and there are different levels of exposure
36:25that the camera wasn't able to correct,
36:27and there were some dark areas towards the end
36:29where we were able to get more out of the film.
36:32And to ramp those levels up and down
36:35as the camera passed through the sequence,
36:37which I think looks a lot better than the original footage,
36:40and it was non-destructive.
36:42Most of the dust and scratches on the original film were removed.
36:45The frames around the splices, however, were so damaged
36:48they were impossible to restore
36:50without adding digital artifacts to the image.
36:53In the final sequence,
36:55those traces of the damage are left intact.
36:58Next, the various versions of the film
37:01are sequenced on the computer.
37:04Then I do this process what we call rendering,
37:07which all that really is
37:10is it re-sequences the individual images
37:14into an image sequence
37:16that we are able to play in real time
37:20for 18 frames a second of our production for television.
37:25At this final step in the process,
37:27this new motion picture footage
37:29is archived in its original resolution,
37:32and in this digital format
37:34will always reproduce without any image degradation.
37:40This is the first of the digital versions
37:43and is shown without the images between the sprocket holes.
37:46The framing is the standard format.
38:10This is a replay of the standard format version,
38:13this time in slow motion.
38:39Thank you for watching.
39:09The images between the sprocket holes
39:12could only be seen on slides of the original film.
39:15This is the first time that those images
39:18can be seen as part of a motion sequence.
39:21Zapruder frame numbers are also displayed
39:24for research purposes.
39:39This is a replay with the images between the sprocket holes,
39:42this time in slow motion.
40:09Thank you for watching.
40:39This version tracks the limousine
40:42and maintains President Kennedy
40:45and Governor Connolly at center frame.
40:48This version is only in slow motion.
41:09This version is only in slow motion.
41:39This version zooms in on the image
41:42as much as possible without causing deterioration.
41:45President Kennedy is kept at center frame.
41:48This is only in slow motion.
42:09This is only in slow motion.
42:39These images, decades later, are still disturbing.
42:44From one view, they show a young man cut down in his prime.
42:48From another, this is a president
42:51who gave so much to so many,
42:54assassinated before those hopes could be fulfilled.
42:57These images are the legacy of one man,
43:00a man who never met John Kennedy,
43:03but whose name, Zapruder,
43:06is inextricably linked to Kennedy's and to Kennedy's death.
43:09Abraham Zapruder,
43:12an unassuming man with an ordinary camera
43:15who unwittingly captured
43:18a seminal moment in American history.
43:36This is only in slow motion.
44:06This is only in slow motion.
44:36This is only in slow motion.