The Pamela Davies Collection: Continuity supervision in British widescreen and colour cinema

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Date
2021
Authors
Roberts, Steven
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Film and Screen Media, University College Cork
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Abstract
Film continuity supervision is a craft historically dominated by women. Yet, several years since Melanie Williams’s pathbreaking article on David Lean’s continuity supervisors, scholarship on this deeply gendered area of film production expertise remains lacking. In response, this dossier contribution will introduce Pamela Davies’ film continuity stills, catalogued by the author at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum during an AHRC-funded placement (2018–2019). Davies secured the desired consistency of dialogue, cinematic staging and special effects in British cinema from 1948 to 1985, beginning with the post-war cycle of historical drama in widescreen and colour. Taking a multi-faceted archival approach, I discuss how photographs in the collection snapshot Davies at work and the stills photographers who collaborated with her during a transformative period in British cinema. Examining the stills in their material, craft and commercial contexts will raise new questions about continuity work and make the collection more accessible for researchers.
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Continuity , Photography , Widescreen , Colour , Archives
Citation
Roberts, S. (2021) 'The Pamela Davies Collection: Continuity supervision in British widescreen and colour cinema', Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 20, pp. 220-227. https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.20.17