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Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Paris Remastered - Joan Lennon

Photographs and film footage from the past are always evocative, now matter how shaky or blurred.  Recently, advances in technology are being applied to them, partly in the name of preservation and partly as a way of bringing them even more vividly to modern audiences.*  Have a look at A Trip Through Paris, France below - 


 Instead of the jerky movements we're used to seeing in early film, the footage has been slowed down to a more natural pace.  Instead of adding a (sometimes really dire) music sound track, there are the noises of horse traffic, bicycle bells and people talking.  Watching this, I had a real sense of people wearing clothes, not people in costume.  I loved the kid who stood right in front of the camera until poked out of the way with an umbrella.  And those moving walkways in the snow - if I had seen this before writing Slightly Jones and the Case of the Hidden City, set in 1890s Paris, I would definitely have found a way to include them in the story!
* Peter Jackson's piece They Shall Not Grow Old, done as a commission from the Imperial War Museum, is another example, though I haven't summoned up the courage to watch it yet.  (There's a short news report on it here.)
Joan Lennon's website.
Joan Lennon's blog.
Slightly Jones and the Case of the Hidden City.
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8 comments:

  1. abigail brieson5 December 2018 at 19:49

    Very, very nice. Made me smile. It was surely a different world.

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  2. Joan Lennon5 December 2018 at 20:07

    Thanks Abigail - glad you liked it!

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  3. Sue Purkiss6 December 2018 at 09:12

    Amazing what a difference slowing it down and adding a soundtrack makes - you really feel as if you're there! I liked the boy in front of the boating pool too.

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  4. Susan Price6 December 2018 at 11:26

    Thanks for this, Joan -- I was unexpectedly spellbound! The traffic seemed even more terrifying than today. I think I'd rather have a bus bearing down on me than a head-tossing, iron-shoed beast.
    I liked the number of people who didn't seem to even notice the camera -- and the several, especially one very bearded man, who gave it a long hard glare as they passed in front of it.

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  5. Penny Dolan6 December 2018 at 17:00

    I liked the women who were holding their skirts up to keep their hem out of the dirt - how tiresome to have to do that - and the meaningful umbrella that pushed an unwanted boy out of the line of sight at the boating pool.

    Another fine choice, Joan Lennon!

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  6. Anonymous6 December 2018 at 19:51

    Thank you so much for this post. As you say, it was good because of the natural pace of things and the sounds were perfect too. It was very evocative.

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  7. Joan Lennon6 December 2018 at 20:58

    Thanks for your comments! I see more every time I watch it!

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  8. Carol Drinkwater7 December 2018 at 10:30

    This film was spellbinding, thank you, Joan. I wonder who was the sound engineer. He has done a terrific job.

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