Lovely Uniform from 1918
Have a look at this spectacular woman from 1918..
She's Mrs Leola N. King, who was Washington DC's first female traffic cop. Her uniform is just spectacular, right down to the boots, and I wish it was hanging in my wardrobe right now. Click to enbiggen!
From the paper of the day:
First of Women Traffic Officers
Mrs. L.N. King Takes up Duty at Seventh and K St. N.W.
Mrs. Leola N. King, wife of Capt. E. H. King, United States medical corps, became Washington's first woman traffic officer yesterday, and assumed her duties at the corner of Seventh and K streets northwest. Washington is the first city in the United states to have a woman traffic officer. There are many policewomen in the District, but most of them are employed to look after the welfare of children and young girls.
Not only is Mrs. King the first woman traffic officer, but she is also the first woman to be assigned to a precinct. Yesterday morning she was transferred from police headquarters to Capt. Flather, of the first precinct. Maj. Pullman says that Mrs. King has been placed on the traffic squad as an experiment. The superintendent wants to determine whether it is feasible to have women to replace several male members of the force who have entered the military service.
Steampunk Film: The Marionette Unit
Wow, this looks like it's going to be fantastic!
An independent film called "The Marionette Unit".
Teaser trailer is here:
The Marionette Unit - Inception Trailer from Fun Size Studios on Vimeo.
Suddenly I am thinking about Billy Idol.. "With a rebel yell, she cried more, more MORE!!" - can't wait to see the finished product.
Here's what they have to say about the film on their website, go check out the concept art and other goodies:
An excerpt:
Synopsis
This film is set in an alternate Victorian England, a world where steam-punk technology has developed rapidly and in a world where all creativity, art and individual expression is state-controlled. The Marionette Unit is a theatre show where machine and human have been fused together. A musical machine that resembles a twisted tortured church organ, run with valves, steam and electricity, is connected by a mass of electrical cables to three ballet dancers, who have the wires fused into their bodies. The dancers are controlled by the machine much to the amazement of the Victorian audience.
We follow the story of Smith, an enigmatic character connected to an underground society of artists, hunted by the police. He has come to watch the prize ballet dancer, Georgette try and escape the wired clutches of The Marionette Unit. Will she be able to wrestle free and escape with Smith, or will she succumb to the powerful forces that hold her captive? What follows is a stunning and imaginative display of the human spirit fighting to be set free.
Director's Vision
This is an ambitious film with cinematic aspirations. For a while now I've wanted to make a film whose scale - in terms of ideas, design and execution - belies its budget. With this in mind, I set about writing a film that would move away from the typical gritty, urban landscape of British filmmaking and into a world that has always interested me: science-fiction and fantasy. Within this genre, I will be exploring steam-punk. The story will be set in an alternative Victorian England, where steam power is still widely used, but with prominent elements of science fiction.
At the centre is a powerful story of the human spirit breaking free from oppressive forces and in turn we see the expression of self and creativity with no barriers. This film allows me the space to tell an effective story with this theme and allow audiences to connect emotionally to the characters as they would in any drama. Co-written by myself and Paul B. Adams, we feel that the narrative captures these fundamental human desires but places them in an inventive and fantastic setting.
As you can see from the extraordinary concept artwork, there is also a huge emphasis on the look of the film. The film will have a distinctive visual style, with a great attention to detail in all aspects of the look. The visual side coupled with a strong story and nuanced performances will make this film stand out on the festival circuit.
Azhur Saleem.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v5oeWP5LPIdpCQsjWaufIFRBEg1Ltbug4IPzcOBxHEeahuDu18DBZykXswQgSqaSdjNgwOju_3G8V251TmoQoiMvweWCdIrVGIo3V75n1ZQ3eAtSDhM5-yaJ7NqBYhMVcCL3P5tySqwL-nntxA5-bn=s0-d)
An independent film called "The Marionette Unit".
Teaser trailer is here:
The Marionette Unit - Inception Trailer from Fun Size Studios on Vimeo.
Suddenly I am thinking about Billy Idol.. "With a rebel yell, she cried more, more MORE!!" - can't wait to see the finished product.
Here's what they have to say about the film on their website, go check out the concept art and other goodies:
An excerpt:
Synopsis
This film is set in an alternate Victorian England, a world where steam-punk technology has developed rapidly and in a world where all creativity, art and individual expression is state-controlled. The Marionette Unit is a theatre show where machine and human have been fused together. A musical machine that resembles a twisted tortured church organ, run with valves, steam and electricity, is connected by a mass of electrical cables to three ballet dancers, who have the wires fused into their bodies. The dancers are controlled by the machine much to the amazement of the Victorian audience.
We follow the story of Smith, an enigmatic character connected to an underground society of artists, hunted by the police. He has come to watch the prize ballet dancer, Georgette try and escape the wired clutches of The Marionette Unit. Will she be able to wrestle free and escape with Smith, or will she succumb to the powerful forces that hold her captive? What follows is a stunning and imaginative display of the human spirit fighting to be set free.
Director's Vision
This is an ambitious film with cinematic aspirations. For a while now I've wanted to make a film whose scale - in terms of ideas, design and execution - belies its budget. With this in mind, I set about writing a film that would move away from the typical gritty, urban landscape of British filmmaking and into a world that has always interested me: science-fiction and fantasy. Within this genre, I will be exploring steam-punk. The story will be set in an alternative Victorian England, where steam power is still widely used, but with prominent elements of science fiction.
At the centre is a powerful story of the human spirit breaking free from oppressive forces and in turn we see the expression of self and creativity with no barriers. This film allows me the space to tell an effective story with this theme and allow audiences to connect emotionally to the characters as they would in any drama. Co-written by myself and Paul B. Adams, we feel that the narrative captures these fundamental human desires but places them in an inventive and fantastic setting.
As you can see from the extraordinary concept artwork, there is also a huge emphasis on the look of the film. The film will have a distinctive visual style, with a great attention to detail in all aspects of the look. The visual side coupled with a strong story and nuanced performances will make this film stand out on the festival circuit.
Azhur Saleem.
Victorian Image Collection
Now here is a useful resource for steampunks - I am of the belief that to be steampunk you really ought to start with a victorian influence.. and this is a treasure-trove for those looking for inspiration..
The Victorian Image Collection.
I especially enjoyed looking at the Victorian Costumes section.. seeing various historical eras re-imagined with the Victorian Eye results in some really interesting stuff:
From their "About Us" page:
The Collection
The Victorian Image Collection consists of over 200,000 cartes de visite, cabinet cards and large format photographs from the Victorian era and has been built up over many years.
The majority of the photographs are portraits taken in the studio and, occasionally, outdoors and they provide a UNIQUE RESOURCE – they are not available anywhere else.
The images illustrate a fascinating view of Victorian life and fashion – people in their best clothes, their working clothes, their uniforms, their traditional clothes, clothes for specific events in life and clothes designed for a wide range of leisure activities. With the clothes are all sorts of interesting accessories used for fashion, work or pleasure. Also included are wonderful images of ladies hairstyles and magnificent moustaches and beards of the gentlemen from a bygone era. All categorised for easy retrieval.
Some of the images in the collection were originally made for sale to the general public and therefore are not unique but are, nevertheless, rarely available for reproduction. These include photographs of famous people and of topographical views which, incidentally, pre-date picture postcards by up to 40 years.
Many of the more interesting images have been made available on this website so that they can be enjoyed and appreciated by a wider audience and, also, to help defray to cost of maintaining the archive.
Research
We are always interested in co-operating on projects of all sorts either on a paid basis or a voluntary basis as appropriate. Payment will depend on the nature of the project and whether it is commercial, low profit making or non-profit making. You can find further information here: Research Services.
Family History Research
We also have a sister site which is designed specifically for family history researchers. It is packed with information on Victorian photographers, their customers, their studios, their addresses and the dates that they were in business. The site is particularly helpful for people trying to DATE their family photographs – something which helps them to discover who the photograph is of. You can find the site at www.cartedevisite.co.uk
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uoBxVY6t2-Rj3dW6_UkLKqnUbJf7uGmqfg7f4QxITVKBW1PHQBSBn9b4mZij-b5nvFv7fxvpxO11xsmwj00IPM9Ak3N2um3c7jMf9YLVHVgMi4dulfHdZsdkGTjRWt_Y8aVdGpb2Atys__h7ugK1Jr=s0-d)
The Victorian Image Collection.
I especially enjoyed looking at the Victorian Costumes section.. seeing various historical eras re-imagined with the Victorian Eye results in some really interesting stuff:
From their "About Us" page:
The Collection
The Victorian Image Collection consists of over 200,000 cartes de visite, cabinet cards and large format photographs from the Victorian era and has been built up over many years.
The majority of the photographs are portraits taken in the studio and, occasionally, outdoors and they provide a UNIQUE RESOURCE – they are not available anywhere else.
The images illustrate a fascinating view of Victorian life and fashion – people in their best clothes, their working clothes, their uniforms, their traditional clothes, clothes for specific events in life and clothes designed for a wide range of leisure activities. With the clothes are all sorts of interesting accessories used for fashion, work or pleasure. Also included are wonderful images of ladies hairstyles and magnificent moustaches and beards of the gentlemen from a bygone era. All categorised for easy retrieval.
Some of the images in the collection were originally made for sale to the general public and therefore are not unique but are, nevertheless, rarely available for reproduction. These include photographs of famous people and of topographical views which, incidentally, pre-date picture postcards by up to 40 years.
Many of the more interesting images have been made available on this website so that they can be enjoyed and appreciated by a wider audience and, also, to help defray to cost of maintaining the archive.
Research
We are always interested in co-operating on projects of all sorts either on a paid basis or a voluntary basis as appropriate. Payment will depend on the nature of the project and whether it is commercial, low profit making or non-profit making. You can find further information here: Research Services.
Family History Research
We also have a sister site which is designed specifically for family history researchers. It is packed with information on Victorian photographers, their customers, their studios, their addresses and the dates that they were in business. The site is particularly helpful for people trying to DATE their family photographs – something which helps them to discover who the photograph is of. You can find the site at www.cartedevisite.co.uk
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