This is a press release made on July 2, 2010 from one of our clients; National Archives and Record Administration. We wanted to share this with you..enjoy the video!

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Easter gives hope for tomorrow,
As after the winter comes Spring.
Our hearts can be filled with gladness

 All of us at STiL Casing Solution, join in to wish you all a Happy Easter!

Film History goes as far as the 17th century. When a very early version of “magic lantern” (or shadow muppets as I like to call it) was invented, it was a devise with a lens that projected images from transparencies onto a screen, with a simple light source (such as a candle).  The invention of the Thaumatrope (the earliest version of an optical illusion toy) was in 1824. This is a disk or card with a picture on each side attached to two pieces of string, when the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to combine into a single image due to persistence of vision.  We’ve all done this once in our life as children or even as an adult, let’s admit it.

We had to wait until the 1920’s until film technology would allow movies to have sound.  The first “picture house” was built in New Orleans in 1896, but the first full-length film “THE SQUAW MAN” wasn’t released until 1913.  But alas, popcorn was first served in movie theatres in 1912, so those who got the privilege of seeing this first time projection had the chance of munching on it.  I don’t know where they got to put their drinks..seeing as cup holders only made it in 1981.

How much did it cost to watch a movie?

• In 1907 you could watch a film at a Nickelodeon theater for five cents, which is why it was called a  “Nickel”odeon;
• During the Depression or the 1920s, movies cost about 27 cents;
• During the 60s it cost a little less than one dollar;
•  About four dollars in the 80s;
• Now it goes around 10 to 15 dollars.

Here is an interesting list I found on what were classified the best movies of each decade since the 1890’s:

• 1890’s     The Execution of Mary Stuart (released in 1895), directed by Alfred Clark, Company: Edison Manufacturing Company (closed in 1918)
• 1990’s     The Great Train Robbery (released in 1903), directed by Edwin S. Porter, Company: Edison Manufacturing Company  (closed in 1918)
• 1910’s     Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse at the circus (released in 1916), directed by William Randolph Hearst, Company: International Film Service (closed in 1918)
• 1920’s     The Sheik (released in 1921), directed by George Melford, Company: Paramount Pictures 
• 1930’s     Wizard of Oz (released in 1939), directed by Victor Fleming, Company: MGM 
• 1940’s     It’s a Wonderful Life (released in 1947), directed by Frank Capra, Company: Liberty Films
• 1950’s     Rear Window (released in 1954), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Company: Paramount Pictures
• 1960’s     Psycho (released in 1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Company: Shamley Productions (last film was presented in 1965)
• 1970’s     Star Wars (released in 1977), directed by George Lucas, Company: Lucasfilm
• 1980’s     Empire Strikes Back (released in 1980), directed by Irvin Kershner, Company: Lucasfilm
• 1990’s     The Sixth Sense (released in 1999), directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Company: Barry Mendel Productions,  Hollywood Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Company, Spyglass Entertainment
• 2000’s     Lord of the Rings (released in 2001, 2002 and 2003), directed by Peter Jackson, Company: New Line Cinema

We are proud to say at STiL that some of these great studios have film reels sitting confortably in our containers and even certain films listed above!

I stumbled upon this article and wanted to share it with you:

Scorsese and friends race to save film classics from destruction - CNN.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/27/world.cinema.foundation/index.html

 Led by Martin Scorsese, these celluloid crusaders are racing to save some of cinema’s masterpieces from the ravages of time.

We are trying to fight “for the existence of a memory,” Brazilian filmmaker and foundation member, Walter Salles told CNN.

Sad event in Haiti - What will the National Archives become?

On August 20, 2009, the culture and communication Minister (Mr. Oslen Jean Julien) launched the planning of the activities for the 150 years commemoration of the National Archives of Haiti (created in 1860), which was to take place on August 20, 2010. Among the activities that were planned; a documentary on the National Archives, workshops on teaching the history of Haiti, an exposition baptized “Treasures of the National Archives” and the construction of the “City of Archives” whose first stone should have been placed solemnly on August 20, 2010.

Olsen Jean Julien and Jean Wilfrid Bertrand, Director of the National Archives mentioned the problems involved in the archives of the country, the particular difficulty in accessing and conservation of the documents. According to the director of Anh, the documents of the 19th Haitian century remain inaccessible today and many are currently in danger, because their conditions of conservation are inadequate. “If nothing is done, he added, we go in the next years towards an amnesic society. ” (statement made on August 20^th, 2009)

Photo taken very close to the National Archives of Haiti after the tragic earthquake:

An amnesic society? I don’t think so! Our hearts and prayers go out to all the Haitian people!

As 2009 is coming to an end what a great time to look back and remember what we succeeded and where we were this past year.

January: Official launch of our new web site www.stilcasing.com and name: STiL Design became STiL Casing Solution
March:  New product; the Acetate Hub
April: Leap into Web 2.0; the birth of our blog
May: Our 1^st participation at the ACA Annual Conference
June: Conference at for the 22^nd FIMAC (Festival International des Médias Audiovisuels Corporate) in Bourgogne, France
August: Launching of our new & unique Audio Tape Box at the SAA Conference in Austin
November: AMIA Conference in St. Louis
December: Announce of two new formats for the Audio Tape Box; 10″ and 7″

We would like to say a warm thank you to all our clients, who besides the financial crisis and budget costs, you all stayed loyal, it is always a pleasure to do business with each and every one of you.

We’d like to wish you and yours Happy Holidays and may the New Year bring you happiness, health and prosperity. We look forward to working with you in 2010!

Have a safe and peaceful Holiday!

 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année !
¡Feliz Navidad y próspero año nuevo!
Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr! 

I came across this article from the New York Times this week and I wanted to share it with you: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1942834,00.html 

In the article they have stated: 

“Call it the Decade from Hell, or the Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade. Call it whatever you want — just give thanks that it is nearly over.”

Since the 1890s each decade has been named:
1890s - Gay Nineties (as in merriment)
1900s - I only found the 1900s, or “The aughts” or “naughts”
1910s - I couldn’t find a name
1920 -  Roaring Twenties or Jazz Age
1930s - The Turbulent Thirties or Threadbare Thirties
1940s - The Flying Forties.
1950s - The Fabulous Fifties or the Nifty Fifties
1960s - The Swingin’ Sixties.
1970s - The Disco Era
1980s - The Decade of Decadence or Greedy Eighties
1990s - The Decade of a New Generation

What would you suggest for the 2000s?

The very first Thanksgiving celebration in Canada took place in 1578, when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England arrived in Newfoundland, he wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World.

Thanksgiving was celebrated either in late October or early November, for many hundred years, until it was declared a National Holiday on November 6th, 1879.  On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament announced that it should on the second Monday of October because it coincided in the same week as Remembrance Day which is celebrated on November 11th.  It was then declared that Thanksgiving would be “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”

So why isn’t the Canadian Thanksgiving not celebrated at the same time as in the United States? Geographically speaking, Canada is further north (O’ Canada! The True North strong and free!..sorry had to get that one out!), which means that the harvest season arrives earlier than the United States. Also, since the Canadian tradition is more about giving thanks for the harvest season, opposed to the arrival of pilgrims for the American tradition.

One thing that does not change, no matter where you live in North America… everyone celebrates with parades, with their family and we all get stuffed eating turkey and pumpkin pie!

What did you do this year for Thanksgiving?

STIL Casing Solution situated in Québec City (QC, Canada) is in the heart of the action of this beautiful city, from the windows of our office at 76 Saint-Paul Street, you can see The Image Mill !

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This section will be a bit about who STIL is, where we came from, where we are going… and we will also make you discover about our beautiful city of Québec. You may already have had the chance to visit, maybe not, we will be taking you through the season, through the activities offered..pictures included! Have you ever seen a 20 foot snow bank? Have you ever seen the Château Frontenac illuminated at night? Etc..

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