need some photo's

stepfour wrote on 1/28/2003, 4:53 PM

I'm working in VV3 on a corporate piece and I need some usable still shots of some old buildings. Looking specifically for 1940's era shots of the exterior of old bank buildings and, or, interior shots of the lobbies of such buildings. Anybody know of a site I might find some royalty-free or for-pay shots like this?

Comments

efiebke wrote on 1/28/2003, 5:26 PM

I'm responding to your question only because I was in a similar situation, but needing some stock video footage of people going snowboarding.

So. . . I put in search engine: "Stock Video Footage" (or something like that) and recieved a wealth of web-sites that offered both stock video footage and stock photos. Almost all of them. . . .no, rather. . . all of them wanted lots of $$$$$ (royalty free, of course) for their footage. Being brand new to the world of video-making, I had no idea the huge industry that existed that catered to production companies. Silly me, I actually submitted my name to a few of these company's data bases, and every so often I get email advertising video stock footage at a discount. Just what I need, more spam.

You are probably much more to the wise than I am with regards to the video industry. I'm just waking up to this world. It's and eye-opener to say the least. A world where one can easily spend lots of $$$$$$$$$! ! !

Needless to say, I'm going to a local ski resort and shoot my own snow-boarding shots, using my brand new Canon GL2.

Cheers!

Ted

stepfour wrote on 1/28/2003, 6:02 PM

Thanks. I have scoured the web pretty good and found only a few decent photo's, so it's time to go low-tech and make a trip to one of my local libraries. I have a built-in price-cushion on this job so the extra effort won't be too painful. ;)

mfranco wrote on 1/29/2003, 7:53 AM

Hi, I recently spent months digging up inexpensive and public domain footage for a series of PSA's I produced. You might find images you can use here:

http://www.archive.org/movies/prelinger.php

They have some films, documentaries, commercials and other media that are in the public domain. The quality ranges from excellent to poor, but most of the footage I looked at was usable. I've also found that the Smithsonian has some public domain image libraries scattered around the web but you have to look at the fine print about usage. The files may or may not be copyrighted (but no one has claimed ownership) or the library may have their own requirements about commercial usage, etc.

If you're doing a project on a particular neighborhood, city or town, the local historical society may be of value.

I was surprised by the lack of resources available. I didn't expect a whole lot of footage to exist but I thought there would be more than what I found. I was looking for scenic footage and photos of Southern California in the 40's and 50's (not too esoteric a subject matter) and there wasn't much. Even the commercial catalogs didn't offer much. I ended up using footage from a movie about the making of the b-29 bomber to represent housing conditions in east los angeles county! Sorry for rambling and good luck.

franco

TorS wrote on 1/29/2003, 8:09 AM

In a country where a building from the 1940's is considered old, I'd expect people to really flag whatever short history they do have. So I'm surprised that you have trouble finding what you are looking for. Franco suggested a local historical society - you could try several if you're not tied to an area - and there's always the Smithsonian Institution. They should have links if they don't have the stuff themselves.

Tor

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/29/2003, 10:44 PM

www.loc.gov has lots of shots, and some are legally free to use, others require a one-time pay for use.

stepfour wrote on 1/30/2003, 9:58 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. The library was a gold mine this time. The librarian even dug out some old photos they have in their archives and let me scan and use them freely. I got some exterior photos, and more importantly, some interior shots of people dealing with bank tellers in the 1950's, 60's and 70's. I would love to have found one of a new account clerk handing a customer a toaster, but, I can't have it all.

I've got the photos flowing slowly with some VV3 panning and zooming and somber sounding music, then, with some sound effects and the Satish shatter effect, suddenly exploding into the modern era and clips of some of the glistening lobbies and automation used by banks and the small bank I'm doing this for.

I was hoping to not have to do a lot of previewing this one with the customer, but I'm not sure how well the explosion effect will go over with them so I'm going to let them have an advance look. Funny how things change. Two years ago I would not have given a second thought to using an exploding photo, but now.... Thanks again for the additional ideas.