Zapruder film

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Frame 150 from the Zapruder Film
Frame 150 from the Zapruder Film

The Zapruder film is a silent, 8 mm color home movie, shot by a private citizen named Abraham Zapruder, of the presidential motorcade of John F. Kennedy through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. The film is the most complete visual recording of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

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[edit] Background

Zapruder, who suffered from vertigo, filmed the Presidential motorcade while being steadied by his receptionist, Marilyn Sitzman, standing behind him on top of the most western of two concrete pedestals which extend from the John Neely Bryan north pergola concrete structure, overlooking Elm Street in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas at 12:30 pm Central Standard Time, November 22, 1963. The film depicts the assassination from the time that the presidential limousine had rounded the corner from Houston Street until it passed out of view under a railway overpass. Of greatest notoriety is the film's depiction of a fatal shot to President Kennedy's head when his limousine was almost exactly in front of and slightly below Zapruder's position.

Zapruder filmed the scene with a Model 414 PD Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series Camera that operated via a spring-wound mechanism. The FBI later tested Zapruder's camera and found that it filmed an average of 18.3 frames per second. The entire film sequence depicting events in Dealey Plaza consists of 486 frames, or 26.6 seconds. The presidential limousine can be seen in 343 of the frames, or 18.7 seconds. The film is recorded on Kodak Kodachrome II 8 mm movie safety film.

The film has been used by the Warren Commission and all subsequent investigations of the assassination. The Zapruder frames used by the Warren Commission were published in black and white as Commission Exhibit 885 in volume XVIII of the Hearings and Exhibits.[1] Frames of the film have also been sporadically published in several magazines, and the film was featured in several movies. Today copies of the complete Zapruder film are available on the Internet.[2][3][4][5][6]

The Zapruder film footage has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for permanent preservation in the National Film Registry.

[edit] Other films of the assassination

Zapruder's film is the most complete movie of the assassination, as it depicts a relatively clear view of the motorcade from a somewhat elevated position. No extant film shows clearly the critical portion of the infamous "grassy knoll" from which shots are claimed to have been fired, and none depict better detail of the presidential limousine than the Zapruder film. However, it is not the only film depicting the presidential limousine on Elm Street. There are at least fourteen known films and photographs in Dealey Plaza during the assassination taken by these amateurs: F.Mark Bell, Charles Bronson (not the actor with the same name), Malcolm Couch, Elsie Dorman, Robert J. E. Hughes, George Jefferies, John Martin, Charles Mentesana, Marie Muchmore[2], Orville Nix, Patsy Paschall, Tina Towner, Dave Wiegman, along with an unidentified "Babushka lady." Nix's, Muchmore's, and Bronson's films depict the fatal head shot seen in the Zapruder film, and the films of Bronson and Hughes show the open sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. [3]

On February 19, 2007 (President's Day), the film shot by George Jefferies was released. This 8mm film, taken approximately 90 seconds before the shooting, has the best view of Jackie Kennedy in the motorcade, and also clearly shows that President Kennedy's suit coat was bunched up around the neckline. This fact would seem to repudiate conspiracy theories honing in on the mismatch between the wound in the President's back and the holes in his suit and shirt as evidence that more than three shots were fired.

[edit] History

Three copies of the film were made on the afternoon of November 22 for investigative authorities. Within three days, Life magazine purchased the original film and all rights to it for $150,000 (equivalent to $916,000 in 2006), payable in six annual payments of $25,000. Zapruder donated the initial payment of $25,000 to the widow and children of murdered Dallas Policeman J.D. Tippit.

After acquiring the film, Life Bureau Head Will Lang Jr. ordered the creation of large photo prints of the individual frames for a special article on the film and the Warren Commission report. At some stage during the photo processing, several film frames were accidentally damaged—though private copies were made for Life executives. Many frames of the film have been printed over the years, but generally the film was kept locked away from public scrutiny and was never publicly shown in motion by Life.

In 1966 Dr. Josiah Thompson, while working for Life, tried to negotiate with Life for the rights to print important individual frames in a book he wrote called Six Seconds in Dallas. Life refused to approve the use of any of the frames, even after Thompson offered to give all profits from the book sales to Life. When Thompson's published book included very photo-like detailed charcoal drawings of important individual frames, Life filed a lawsuit against Thompson and his publishing company.

Prior to the 1969 trial of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw for conspiracy in connection with the assassination, a copy of the film was subpoenaed by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison for use during the trial. Unauthorized copies of the film were allowed to be made and were soon being further copied and shown throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

In March 1975, during the late-night TV show Good Night America (hosted by Geraldo Rivera) assassination researchers Robert Groden and Dick Gregory presented the first-ever mass audience network TV showing of the Zapruder home movie.

The public's response and outrage to that first public showing quickly led to the forming of the Hart-Schweiker investigation, contributed to the Church Committee Investigation on Intelligence Activities by the United States, and resulted in the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation.

In 1975 Life sold the film back to the Zapruder family for the token sum of $1. The Zapruder family asked the U.S. government to store the film safely and help protect it from deterioration. The U.S. government now preserves the film in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.

In 1997, the film was digitally replicated and restored. The 1998 documentary Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film shows the history of the film, as well as various versions of the restored film.

In 1998, the original physical film (which had been kept at the National Archives for examination as part of the recommendation of the Assassination Records Review Board) was seized by the United States government under the doctrine of eminent domain. As required by law for such a seizure, payment to Zapruder's heirs was attempted. Because the film is unique, the film's value was difficult to ascertain; eventually, following arbitration, the government purchased or made recompense for the film, in the amount of $16,000,000.

The Zapruder family retained copyright to the film, which was not seized. However, after the seizure of the physical film, the Zapruder family donated the film's copyright to The Sixth Floor Museum located in the Texas School Book Depository building at Dealey Plaza, along with all copies of the films once held by Life magazine, which had been since returned.[7] The Zapruder family retains no rights of any kind to the film, which rights are now administered by the Museum.

The relevant history of the film is covered in a book by David Wrone called "The Zapruder Film: Reframing JFK's Assassination"(2003). Wrone is a professor of history who tracks the "chain of evidence" for the film.

[edit] Authenticity

Concern has been expressed that this article or section is missing information about: A minority view, supported by the conspiracy community, that the Zapruder film may be a fake.
The specific information has been noted on the talk page where it may be discussed whether to include it.

Zapruder testified before the Warren Commission[8] that the frames published in Commission Exhibit 885 were from the film he took.

Three other films of part of the assassination (the Orville Nix, Marie Muchmore and Charles Bronson films), together with numerous still photographs, are consistent with the Zapruder film, suggesting that they are either all authentic, or all inauthentic.

In 1998, Roland Zavada, a product engineer from Kodak who led the team that invented Kodakchrome II, studied the film at the behest of the National Archives and concluded that the film was an “in camera original” and that any alleged alterations were not feasible.[9]

CBS News Southern bureau chief Dan Rather was one of the few reporters to see the Zapruder film on Monday afternoon, November 25, 1963. In his narration of the film as part of CBS nationwide television coverage that day, Rather said the President's head "went forward with considerable violence".[10] This narration helped to convince the public that the fatal shot came from Oswald's position in the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.[citation needed] The Zapruder film was later shown on television in 1975. Many viewers saw the footage as depicting the President's head being thrown forward, and then violently backwards.[citation needed] In response, Rather apologized, stating that he made "an honest error".[10]

Abraham Zapruder's Bell & Howell Zoomatic movie camera, in the collection of the US National Archives
Abraham Zapruder's Bell & Howell Zoomatic movie camera, in the collection of the US National Archives

[edit] Cultural Effect

The film has had a great effect on American culture, with the 1975 broadcast of the film on Good Night America igniting widespread public distrust in the findings of the Warren Commission. Perhaps the most controversial of effects was the suggestion that an assassin or assassins other than Oswald was involved.

The film itself is sometimes featured in films or other media, such as the Oliver Stone film JFK, which used the clearest copy of the film available to the public prior to the late 1990s. For example, after the final shot, Jacqueline Kennedy can be seen mouthing what appears to be the words, "Oh, my God!" Other references to the film include the name of Andrew Denton's production company, Zapruder's Other Films Pty Ltd., or a line in the film Enemy of the State, where Will Smith's character jokes that he owns a copy of the film.

Some critics have stated that the violence and shock of this home movie have led to a new way of representing violence in the American 1970s cinema, in mainstream, as in indie and underground horror movies.[11][12]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, Vol. XVIII. Online version at the History Matters Archive.
  2. ^ Zapruder Film of JFK Assassination. Does not require any special player, but requires a YouTube account.
  3. ^ Stabilized Version of the Zapruder Film. Based on the “Costella 2003” frames. Requires QuickTime viewer from apple.com. Film runs continuously in a loop after downloading, but shows only a portion of the entire film. Slower than real speed.
  4. ^ Stabilized versions of the Zapruder film. Research quality. Based on the “Costella 2006” frames. Large file sizes. Requires QuickTime viewer from apple.com. Entire film is covered in six “fixed camera” video clips, plus one “stabilized pan” video clip. Full speed.
  5. ^ All 486 frames of the Zapruder film. The “Costella 2006” frames. Research quality. Does not require special viewers, but not shown in movie form.
  6. ^ [1] Stabilized version which allows frame-by-frame easy forward.
  7. ^ Zapruder Film Press Release, January 18, 2000. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.
  8. ^ Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, Vol. VII, pp. 569–576. Online version at the History Matters Archive.
  9. ^
  10. ^ a b
  11. ^ Explorations Underground: American Film (Ad)Ventures Beneath the Hollywood Radar.
  12. ^ (French) 26 secondes: L'Amérique éclaboussée.

[edit] External links

John F. Kennedy assassination

Timeline | Autopsy | Reaction | Funeral | Lee Harvey Oswald | Warren Commission | HSCA | Dictabelt evidence | Conspiracy theories | Zapruder film | Single bullet theory
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