THE MEANING OF FOOTAGE

As a means of getting us into a system of continually carrying out background research around the subject, we were set the task of discovering the origins and meaning of the term 'footage' in regards to its use in the film industry. 

Naturally the term originated in the film industry and in short was used to describe the reels of unedited 35 millimeter celluloid. It was named so due to the fact that it was measured in feet during the editing process, which was done as a foot of film held 16 frames which roughly equaled 1 second of moving image and so became the normal unit of measure. 

While discovering this information, I also learned the importance of footage outside the film industry such as amateur footage in regard to worldwide events and the price this footage can reach which can be traded or sold. This is also an important plot point which will feature in Dan Gilroys upcoming crime thriller 'Nightcrawler' starring Jake Gyllenhaal, a film which I am most excited to see. 

Finally, in reference to footage being traded within the film industry I also discovered that the original ending of Ridley Scotts cult classic 'Blade Runner', originally used landscape shots which were shot for the intention of being in Stanley Kubrick well known horror, 'The Shining', giving me a deeper understanding of the production aspect of film and the way in which a film will not always turn out the way it is originally planned and that sometimes two projects can collaborate with each other in order to improve a film makers work.