Ephemeral films, resurrected on the Web

Given the ephemeral nature of the Web, it can be interesting to note just how much of the ephemeral is actually being preserved and (perhaps as important) made widely available by the Web. From long-forgotten product packaging and period postcards to family photos and even East German Paper Shopping Bags, the Web is jammed with items that would have been lost forever to attics and museum warehouses without the advent of online distribution. Probably the most entertaining exhibits in this category feature ephemeral films - ads and movies produced for a specific time and purpose, with little or no thought to long-term relevance or preservation - and this week we look at two central repositories of the transitory in motion pictures. You won't find "Citizen Kane" here, but you already know who Rosebud is anyway.

The first of these online resources is a very recent addition to the Web, and one which has attracted a fair amount of attention since its February launch. As the name implies, the National Archives on Google Video project is a cooperative effort as the two organizations make roughly 100 films available for online viewing or download - meaning that not only can people see the films without making a trip to the Archives in Washington, they are free to keep personal copies of anything that piques their interest. A pilot program, there is no official word of more films being added to this first compilation, but talks of "exploring the possibilities of expanding the online film collection" certainly sound promising.

Of course, there's plenty to see even in the preliminary anthology, and heading the list are 15 of the more than 250 films made by NASA's Office of Public Affairs between 1962 and 1981. These (mostly) half-hour presentations include a 1963 biography of John Glenn, a truncated 1969 documentary about the Apollo 11 mission, and a '67 essay on the challenges of photographing the moon in anticipation of a manned lunar landing. (Hint: Try shooting a candy apple while you and it are on different cars on an amusement park ride.) Of course, for dramatic effect, one can't beat the unmistakable presence of Orson Welles, who guides viewers through the 1975 production, "Who's Out There?" (And who better to ask that question than the man who panicked thousands with his interpretation of "War of the Worlds"?)

Although these videos used the most advanced animations and highest quality imagery available at the time, they demonstrate that major progress has been made in movie production as well as extraterrestrial exploration, but they also convey the enthusiasm and anticipation that accompanied the space program at the time. Meanwhile, for those of us ... of a certain age ... who were occasionally treated to classroom films as opposed to classroom videos, the dated production values will elicit a twinge of nostalgia even if we never saw these particular titles.

For those of a different certain age, the United States government-financed United Newsreels, created for overseas consumption during World War II, could possibly spark a few memories of their own. Produced by the Office of War Information, these 10-minute films are nothing if not resolutely optimistic in their depictions of Allied endeavors - true to the rules of propaganda on both sides of any war. (In fact, the thought occurred to me while watching many of the newsreels that these very scenes could have just as easily appeared in the propaganda films of the German, Italian, Japanese, or Russian forces.) Still, even a one-sided portrayal of events has its own historical significance, and the impact of much of the footage, captured in the field by military combat photographers, is no less compelling for the earnest background music and lack of journalistic objectivity.

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