These Amazing Shadows (2011)

Directors:

Paul Mariano
Kurt Norton

Writers:

Douglas Blush
Paul Mariano (written by)
(more)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Culturally, historically or aesthetically significant

Plot:

Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.

Plot Keywords:

National Film Registry | Library Of Congress | Film Restoration | Film Preservation

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeff Adachi	...	Himself
James H. Billington	...	Himself
Robin Blaetz	...	Herself
Brooks Boliek	...	Himself
Ernest Borgnine	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Burnett	...	Himself
Jay Carr	...	Himself
Martin Cohen	...	Himself
Peter Coyote	...	Himself
Arlene Damron	...	Herself
Julie Dash	...	Herself
Allen Daviau	...	Himself
Caleb Deschanel	...	Himself
Zooey Deschanel	...	Herself
Kristine Fong	...	Herself
Robert A. Harris	...	Himself
Amy Heckerling	...	Herself
Jan-Christopher Horak	...	Himself
Jennifer Horne	...	Herself
Gale Anne Hurd	...	Herself
Steve James	...	Himself
Barry Jenkins	...	Himself
Barbara Kopple
Mick LaSalle	...	Himself
John Lasseter	...	Himself
Stephen Leggett	...	Himself
Heather Linville	...	Herself
Patrick Loughney	...	Himself
John Magary	...	Himself
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself
Roger Mayer	...	Himself
Farran Smith Nehme	...	Herself
Christopher Nolan	...	Himself
Stephen Peck	...	Himself
Jennifer Phang	...	Herself
Rick Prelinger	...	Himself
John Ptak	...	Himself
Rob Reiner	...	Himself
Del Reisman	...	Himself
Debbie Reynolds	...	Herself
Robert Rosen	...	Himself (as Prof. Robert Rosen)
Tim Roth	...	Himself
James Schamus	...	Himself
Paul Schrader	...	Himself
Eric J. Schwartz	...	Himself
John Singleton	...	Himself
Anthony Slide	...	Himself
Michael Smith	...	Himself
Shelley Stamp	...	Herself
Liz Stanley	...	Herself
James Stewart	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Takei	...	Himself
Wayne Wang	...	Himself
John Waters	...	Himself
John Wayne	...	Himself (archive footage)
George R. Willeman	...	Himself
Jan Yarbrough	...	Himself
Kevin Yost	...	Himself

Directed by
Paul Mariano
Kurt Norton

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Douglas Blush
Paul Mariano		written by
Kurt Norton		written by

Produced by
Douglas Blush	....	associate producer
Suzanne Chapot	....	executive producer
Barbara Grandvoinet	....	line producer
Paul Mariano	....	producer
Kurt Norton	....	producer
Christine O'Malley	....	producer

Original Music by
Peter Golub

Cinematography by
Frazer Bradshaw

Film Editing by
Douglas Blush
Alex Calleros

Art Department
Natella Kataev	....	motion graphics
Brian Oakes	....	director of motion graphics

Sound Department
Larry Ellis	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Brian Oakes	....	director of motion graphics

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Hereford	....	additional cinematographer
Russ Jaquith	....	camera operator
James Laxton	....	additional cinematographer
Chris McGuinness	....	additional cinematographer

Editorial Department
Michael Jorgensen	....	additional editing
Chris Martin	....	senior colorist

Music Department
Peter Golub	....	orchestrator
Nicholas Greer	....	music copyist
Richard Hein	....	conductor
Ted Hinckley	....	music contractor
Scott Johnson	....	music editor
Philip Klein	....	orchestrator
Vitek Kral	....	score engineer assistant
Mike Roskelley	....	score mixer
Staniaslave Vomacko	....	translator

Other crew
Daniel J. Clark	....	production assistant
Michael Donaldson	....	legal services
Lindsay Horowitz	....	intern
Marian Koltai-Levine	....	publicist
Jennifer Moscoso	....	intern
Matt Radecki	....	post production consultant
Tessa Rexroat	....	social media coordinator
Travis Rexroat	....	production assistant
Jessica Schwartz	....	intern

Thanks
Denise Bostrom	....	special thanks
Sheryl Cannady	....	special thanks
Basia Countway	....	special thanks
Patrick Creadon	....	special thanks
Sarah Jackson	....	special thanks
Theodore James	....	special thanks
Lisa J. Klein	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Gravitas Docufilms

Distributors

• Gravitas Docufilms (2011) (Non-USA) (all media)
• IFC Films (2011) (USA) (all media)
• ITVS (2011) (USA) (TV)
• PBS Home Video (2011) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Brian Oakes Design  titles
• Different by Design  special thanks
• MAX Post  sound post-production
• Spy Post Digital  post-production facilities

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Bay Area, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Gravitas Docufilms

Trivia:

The opening sequence close-ups of film running through a projector was shot by cinematographer Frazer Bradshaw at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California.

Quotes:

Jay Carr:Issues divide people - stories unite them.

Movie Connections:

Features Baby Face (1933)

Very inspiring but WAY too short.

"These Amazing Shadows" is a very inspiring film. You cannot watch it without feeling a strong sense of the importance of film preservation and film as an important part of our history. However, the film suffers from trying to do WAY too much in much to short a time. I could easily see several films or even a series come out of this material and felt the film just went way too fast.

The beginning of the film talks about the fragile nature of nitrate film stock (the standard for movies until the mid-1950s). You see how the film tends to stick together or turn to powder--though this is a bit rushed, as they never really talked about how combustible these old films are as well. And then you get to hear some film preservationists from the Library of Congress talk about their love of their work. I LOVED this part of the film and really wished they had just focused on this or perhaps done so a bit longer.

The next portion of the film is the biggest problem. A sampling of SOME of the films on the National Film Registry is given and folks say a few blurbs about them and what stands out about these films. Well, considering how important and great these films are, they certainly deserved MUCH more about why they were chosen and why they are so unique. It felt like someone trying to encapsulate the entire Bible or American History in 90 minutes or less! Overall, this is a nice introduction into film preservation and the National Registry, but better films on similar subjects have been made--ones that are more thorough and less episodic--such as "Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque". Well worth seeing nevertheless.