''Precious Images'' is a 1986

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by Chuck Workman. It features approximately 470 half-second-long splices of movie moments through the history of

American film The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

. Some of the clips are organized by genre and set to appropriate music; musicals, for example, are accompanied by the title song from '' Singin' in the Rain''. Films featured range chronologically from '' The Great Train Robbery'' (1903) to ''

Rocky IV ''Rocky IV'' is a 1985 American sports drama film written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky III'' (1982) and is the fourth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Ca ...

'' (1985), and range in subject from light comedies to dramas and horror films.

Production

''Precious Images'' was commissioned by the

Directors Guild The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

for its 50th anniversary.MacDonald, Scott (2005) ''A critical cinema: interviews with independent filmmakers,'' University of California Press, p238-239 Workman had previously produced two documentaries, ''The Director and the Image (1984)'' and ''The Director and the Actor (1984),'' for the Guild. Editing took two or three months to complete. ''Precious Images'' features half-second-long splices from approximately 470 American films. Chuck Workman described the film's editing structure as "a sprint. You take a breath and you ''go''."

"Of course, I had so many movies I wanted to include that the time constraint forced me to compress the film more and more. The cutting got faster and faster, but I realized that the film was still working. And I was moving things around, and it was ''still'' working. I started finding these wonderful little combinations of shots, the kind of edits that I'd been doing for years in other things, but suddenly in this film I wasn't selling anything. It was a wonderful moment for me."

Release

''Precious Images'' won the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Live Action Short Film during the 1987 ceremony, where it was featured in its entirety. In 1996, the film was reissued with new scenes from more contemporary films up to that point. It was also shown every 15 minutes within London's Museum of the Moving Image since its 1988 opening, but this very popular attraction was closed in 1999. The film was screened out of competition at the

1986 Cannes Film Festival The 39th Cannes Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 May 1986. The Palme d'Or went to '' The Mission'' by Roland Joffé. The festival opened with ''Pirates'', directed by Roman Polanski and closed with '' El Amor brujo'', directed by Carlos Saura ...

Recognition

In 2009, ''Precious Images'' was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

References

External links

''Precious Images'' essay by Dale Hudson and Patricia R. Zimmermann at National Film Registry
*
List of all films featured in ''Precious Images''Original 1986 version
an
1996 reissue
(latter officially posted by Workman on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

) *''Precious Images'' essay by Daniel Eagan In America's Film Legacy, 2009-2010: A Viewer's Guide To The 50 Landmark Movies Added To The National Film Registry In 2009-10, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011, pages 178-17

{{Academy Award Best Short 1986 films American independent films Collage film 1986 short films Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners Films directed by Chuck Workman United States National Film Registry films Compilation films 1986 independent films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films