Typology
In dealing with the Stills Collection, we differentiate between:
Publicity stills
They aim to recreate a film scene through still photography on the set. A still photographer is hired for this purpose.
Production stills
They are the photographic documents which originate before or during a shoot. They record the "making-of", but are often more staged than publicity stills. There are various subgroups: production announcements, documents of film sets (costumes and props) and of post-production work, as well as photographs of film premieres and gala screenings.
Portrait photography
During the era of glamour photography in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, as well as at the time of the French New Wave, celebrity photographers were often hired to portray the stars in the most flattering light. The Austrian Film Museum's stills collection contains a number of vintage prints by George Hurrell, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Cecil Beaton, Sam Lévin, Raymond Voinquel, Alain Corbeau, to name just a few, as well as original prints from well-known ateliers, such as those of Madame d'Ora (Dora Kallmus, Vienna), Harcourt (Paris), and many others.
Frame enlargements
The Stills Collection places considerable weight on avant-garde films. In this field, frame enlargements are often the only way to photographically represent a film. Most of the items in this part of the collection have been specially created by Film Museum staff members.
