Glossary
Key terms and information
Information listed and key terms used on the film records and in the Screen Archive South East - Screen Search site.
Note: Not all the information detailed here may be available on the film records in the collection. For some items, information may be unavailable or not known. Contact the archive for further details if required.
Black and White (B/W) - Where this abbreviation is used, it denotes a black and white film. Around forty percent of the films in the Screen Archive South East's catalogued collection are in black and white.
Cine Clubs/Societies - Throughout the UK many cine clubs and societies formed to bring together enthusiasts interested in making films. These societies were at their peak in the 1930s and 1950s, often filming local events and scenes as well as creating short amateur fiction films. Several cine societies continue making cine films today as well as using video formats to record local activities for posterity.
Collection - For some films listed on this site, a collection title is given, this indicates a group of films brought together under one heading. Many of the films in Screen Archive South East form part of collections. Collections of films have been created and deposited with the archive by families, amateur film makers, cine societies, companies, local organisations and other groups. Go to the Collections section of the site for more about some of the key collections held at the archive.
Colour - Approximately 60 percent of the Screen Archive South East's catalogued collection is in colour. Full colour processed film began to be used by the amateur cine film makers in the mid to late 1930s. Colour stock became less available during the Second World War but began to be more heavily used by film makers in the post war years. Screen Archive South East holds many examples of colour films made in the late 1930s and 1940s. However, the majority (over 80 per cent) of colour films in the Screen Archive South East collection were produced after 1945.
Contextual Information - For some selected films on this site, further information is provided, giving contextual information on the content of the film, and its maker. The information given here varies for each film but aims to give greater depth to the reader's understanding of the film and its place in the archive and in film history.
Credits - Where known, the main people responsible for the production of the film are listed within the film records e.g. producer, director, camera, narrator etc. along with any known cast or participants in the film. In some cases the names associated with the film have not been fully listed here but further information may be available on request from the Archive.
Date - The dates indicated on this site generally refer
to the film's 'production date'. This may be either a known or approximate
date of the film's production depending on the information available to
the archive. Where an exact date or year is known, this is provided. Where
a date has been approximated or estimated, the date is given within square
brackets. A date followed by a question mark '?' indicates that this the
'probable' date estimated by the archive from the information available
about the film. A date preceded by 'ca.' indicates that this is an approximate
date, allocated by the archive based on clues available about the film's
likely production date.
Where date ranges are given, they indicate that the film was made over
a given number of months or years as indicated in the time period stated.
Description - For selected films on the site, a longer description of the film is given, elaborating on the 'summary' (see below), providing more detailed information about the main points of the film.
Duration - The durations given for films listed on this site denote the approximate length in minutes and seconds of the complete item, played at normal speed.
Early Film - The South East of England was at the forefront
of the development of the UK film industry in the years 1896 to 1905 and
Screen Archive South East has a strong interest in the history of the
‘Hove Pioneers’ and other early film-makers in the region
from this period. These films include works by G.A.Smith, James Williamson,
Cecil Hepworth, and Charles Goodwin Norton.The Screen Archive has a valuable
selection of surviving films made by these pioneers from the 1890s (used
with permission of the British Film Institute).
These films also introduce us to the beginnings of film as a medium and
provide an intriguing portrait of late Victorian and Edwardian England.
On the this site, the range of films included under the heading 'Early
Film in the South East' has been extended to include films up to the start
of the 1920s, illustrating how early film-making progressed and developed
into an established medium.
To complement this collection, the Screen Archive South East’s partner,
Hove Museum
& Art Gallery, has galleries devoted to the magic lantern and
early film pioneers in the South East.
Film Stock - This refers to the specific manufacturer or film product type e.g. Dufaycolor, Kodachrome, Kodak, Fuji etc.
Format - Film records on this site include details of the format of the original film or video material held at the archive, such as information on the film gauge or video type, film stock, colour and sound used.
Gauge - The standard width - gauge - in millimetres of the original film material is recorded e.g. 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, 16mm, 35mm. The first films produced were 35mm in width and this is the film gauge which has been used by professionals since the mid-1890s. The mid-1920s saw the rise of 16mm and 9.5mm gauges and these were followed by Standard 8mm and Super 8mm. Much of the amateur film collections in the archives originated on these smaller gauge film formats.
Genre/Type -This site classifies the films into particular groupings as defined by Screen Archive South East. Film material is initially classified as either Amateur or Professional and then divided into the following groups: Actuality/Factual, Advertisement, Animation, Art/Experimental, Corporate Record, Documentary, Educational/Training, Home Movie, Fiction, Institutional Record, Local Topical, Newsreel, Political/Campaigning, Promotional/Publicity. The section on 'Production Types and Genres' outlines the definitions of these groups. Note that these groupings and definitions are specific to this site. Definitions used on other sites or by other organisations may vary.
Intertitles - These are titles that may appear within the main body of a film. They are often used by films without sound to convey information about the content or to provide a substitute for sound dialogue.
Keywords - Keywords are a list of terms used to describe some of the main subjects covered in the films. A list of keywords can be used to search the online database and they provide a quick and easy way to search the material on the site. The keywords used here have been selected from the UK Archival Thesaurus, which provides a controlled vocabulary for indexing archival collections.
Location - Where known, the Local, Regional, and National
locations featured in the film are stated.
Note on the geographical place names used: Locations can often have many
different names as places can be referred to differently locally and in
English or other languages. Place names also often change over time. To
help simplify searches and to help standardise how the films are catalogued,
for the purposes of this site, the Screen Archive South East has used
the TGN
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names. This enables the archive to consistently
use a single place name to refer to a location. The TGN lists many of
the variations of names that may be used to refer to specific places.
Notes from TGN state that: "In TGN, the "preferred"
name is the commonly used "vernacular" (local) name. Where there
is no local language, as with continents or oceans, the default "preferred"
name is in English. Note that, where there is an English name for any
place, the Preferred English name is flagged as "English-P."
The location names used in this site are the English name where there
is one, or the vernacular name where no English equivalent exists.
Moving Image - The term 'Moving Image' relates to all material that provides sequential images giving the appearance of movement and on this site relates to film, analogue video or digital video material.
Production - This is the main person or organisation responsible for the creation of the film or other item in question. Other specific credits are also listed on the record where known.
Related Films - (selected items only) Where contextual information is available, this field will contain, where appropriate, details of other films held in the Screen Archive's collection which are noteworthy, interesting for comparison or have other connections to the film. The titles act as links to the related films.
Related Resources - (selected items only) Where contextual information is available, selected films also have links to other resources such as museums, libraries, other archive collections, web sites, catalogues or directly listing individual items of interest such as photographs, books and periodicals, films held in other archives etc.
Screen material - The term 'Screen' is used on this site to refer to a broad range of material that may be projected on a screen including magic lantern slides, film, analogue video, digital video formats, television, internet and games material. This definition takes in a wider history and understanding of 'screen history' to include earlier forms of image projection such as magic lantern slides, which were in many respects precursors to the development of film. The definition also allows the history of the moving image to move beyond film and video to include contemporary developments in 20th and 21st century screen based media including computer games and emerging digital formats.
Silent/Sound - Apart from some early experimentation, until the late 1920s all films were silent, though many would have been enjoyed with accompanying live music, live sound effects or commentary. In the late 1920s synchronous sound was introduced for commercial cinema and in the mid to late 1930s synchronous sound became available for the amateur market. The use of sound was however not widely taken up by home/amateur film makers. The great majority of films in the Screen Archive South East collection are silent – less than 10 percent of all films in the archive's collection have sound.
Summary - The summary which appears on each of the film records provides a brief overview of the subject matter and content of a film.
Tinted/Toned - In the 1920s some black and white films were treated to add block colours to the film stock through either 'tinting or 'toning' the film. Some films used a blue tint for example to simulate a 'night time' shot, or a yellow tint to indicate a sunny day. Only a small number of films held at the Archive have tinted and/or toned content.
Title - Many films held by the archive do not have formal titles allocated by the film-maker or donor. Where the film has a known original title, this is provided. Where a title has been allocated by Screen Archive South East, the title appears within square brackets, e.g. [VE Day Celebrations in Brighton].
Themes - A number of themes have been identified within the collection, helping to bringing together films in the archive under key subject headings. For a selection of films on the site, the material has been categorised into up to two 'themes' which are felt to be strongly represented within the films. There are twelve themes on the Screen Search site: Cine Club Film-making, Commemoration, Early film in the South East, Family life, Public Services, Rural Life, Seaside, Tourism, Transport, Urban Life, Wartime and Military, and Working Life. See the Themes section of the site for further information.
Video Formats - From the late 1950s, video tape emerged as a moving image medium, with VHS becoming the most commonly used home format, with SVHS as a superior quality version. Other formats emerged including U-Matic, Hi-8, and Betacam. More recently, digital formats such as DVD DV-Cam and Mini-DV have become popular for home video.
Viewing copy location - The viewing copy location indicates if an item is available for viewing. This will usually be in the format of VHS video or on a DVD compilation. The majority of items listed are available to view at the Screen Archive South East offices at the University of Brighton. Please contact the archive for access conditions. Other locations or resources are listed where appropriate. These include:
Brighton Fishing Museum - video installation on the fishing heritage of Brighton and Sussex
Brighton History Centre, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery - a CD-ROM on Brighton & Hove
Hove Museum & Art Gallery - video installation on the Hove Pioneers (G. Albert Smith and James Williamson) and their films from 1897 to 1905, prepared by the Screen Archive with material from the National Film & Television Archive
Centre for Kentish Studies at Maidstone - selections of Kent material
University of Kent Library, Canterbury - selections of Kent material
Surrey History Centre, Woking - selection of Surrey material
Elmbridge Museum - a selection of Walton and Weybridge films and material on Cecil Hepworth from the National Film & Television Archive
DVD and VHS compilations - Click here for details on the selection of compilation DVDs and VHSs, containing clips from the archive are available to view at a number of locations around the South East region
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