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Frame 150 from the Zapruder Film
The Zapruder film is a silent, 8 mm color home movie shot by Abraham Zapruder in Dallas, Texas, in Dealey Plaza while standing near "the grassy knoll" during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. It is the definitive, most authoritative footage of the assassination. Contents
[hide] • 1 Background • 2 History • 3 Use in "JFK"
• 4 External links [edit] Background
Zapruder filmed the scene with a Model 414 PD Bell & Howell Zoomatic Director Series Camera that operated via a spring-wound mechanism at an average tested speed of 18.3 frames-per-second. The entire Dealey Plaza exposed film frames lasts 26.6 seconds, with the presidential assassination sequence occupying 19.3 seconds. There are 486 frames altogether. The sequence is recorded on Kodak Kodachrome II 8 mm movie safety film.
Zapruder, who suffered from vertigo, made the film while being steadied by his receptionist, Marilyn Sitzman, standing on the most western of two concrete pedestals which extend from the John Neely Bryan north pergola cement structure, overlooking Elm street in Dealey Plaza. President Kennedy's automobile was below and almost exactly in front of Zapruder on Elm Street, at the time of his fatal wound to the head.
The film has been used by the Warren Commission and all subsequent investigations of the assassination. The Zapruder frames used by the Commission consist of exhibits 889–899 plus exhibits 901 and 902 (totaling less than 1 second of the actual 26.6 second film), published in the commission supporting volume XVIII. Frames of the film have also been sporadically published in several magazines, and the film was featured in several movies. Today copies of the Zapruder film and other assassination films can be easily found on the Internet.
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. Some conspiracy theorists claim that only altered versions of the Zapruder film have ever been published. They point to allegedly impossible movements by persons in the background and irregular limousine signal-light flashing as evidence of film editing. Director Oliver Stone examined the Zapruder film and has publicly stated that, in his opinion as a professional filmmaker, the Zapruder film was not altered in any substantive way. Three other films of part of the assassination (the Orville Nix, Marie Muchmore and Charles Bronson films) show none of the supposed "anomalies" claimed to exist by conspiracy theorists, and neither show any evidence of tampering. Eyewitness reports of the limousine "stopping" at the time of the assassination appear to be a result of the witnesses' shock at having seen the murder, and supposedly impossible movements can be explained by simple physics. There are, in fact, no anomalies in the film that cannot be easily explained by the limitations of the technology, movement of the camera, or other simple factors.
Abraham Zapruder's Bell & Howell Zoomatic movie camera, in the collection of the US National Archives
Zapruder's film is the most complete and best-known movie of the assassination, as it provides a relatively clear view of the motorcade from a somewhat elevated position. However, it is not the only film that captured at least the few seconds just before President Kennedy was struck by bullets. There are at least eleven known films and photographs in Dealey Plaza during the assassination by these amateurs with cameras: F. Mark Bell, Charles Bronson (not the actor with the same name), Robert J. E. Hughes, John Martin, Charles Mentesana, Patsy Paschall, Elsie Dorman, Tina Towner, Marie Muchmore, and Orville Nix, along with an unidentified "Babushka Lady". Nix's, Muchmore's, and Bronson's films include the fatal head shot, and the films of Bronson and Hughes show the open 6th-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. [1]. None of these films clearly show the critical portion of the grassy knoll at the critical time, and none show better detail of the presidential limousine than the Zapruder film.
[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 ($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. CBS News Southern bureau chief Dan Rather was one of the few reporters to see the Abraham Zapruder film on Monday afternoon, November 25. 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." This narration confirmed the so-called "Oswald position" for the nation, but he said nothing about the violent backward motion of the President's head which would have suggested a second gunman to conspiracy believers. Rather apologized later in 1970s when the Zapruder film was shown on television by saying it was "an honest error."
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 1991, the film was used by Oliver Stone at the climax of the film "JFK".
In 1998, the original film was "taken" by the United States government under the doctrine of eminent domain and, as required by the U.S. Constitution, attempted to pay Zapruder's heirs. Because the film is unique, the film's value was difficult to ascertain; eventually, following arbitration, the government purchased the film for $16,000,000. Following the taking, the Zapruder family donated the film's copyright to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, along with all copies of the films once held by LIFE magazine. The Zapruder family retains no rights of any kind to the film, which is administered by the Museum.
[edit] Use in "JFK"
The Oliver Stone film "JFK" used an early generation copy of the Zapruder film, with the result that the film may be one of the clearest sources available to the public. For example, after the final shot, Jacqueline Kennedy may be seen mouthing what appears to be the words "Oh, my god!".
[edit] External links • Zapruder's Film of JFK Assassination • An Image-stabilized Version of the Zapruder Film, Running in a Loop. Users must initially wait a few seconds for the first quicktime version to download, after which the film runs continuously. • Computer Reconstruction of JFK Assassination • The History of the Zapruder Film • Zapruder film footage, including individual frames -- the "Costalla combined edit", hosted at a site which argues that the film itself is a forgery • JFK Assassination Video Resources • Dan Rather's narration of the censored Zapruder film • Zapruder Film of Kennedy Assassination (1963) at the Internet Movie Database • Resources and Controversies on Zapruder film