LFOP: Last Frame of Picture

Needles to Natchez
July 18 - November 30
Balboa Theatre Lobby
PHOTOGRAPHS © 2006 HOWARD STEIN

Needles Theater - Needles, California (enlarge)

Before the last reel of the closing movie was projected, you could find the soul of small town America at the local movie theater. As television hijacked popular culture and shopping malls and franchises invaded our landscape, the familiar local theater became another casualty of lost regional identity. While some small town theaters have been preserved or repurposed, many now rest in limbo until decay or renewal takes over from the LAST FRAME OF PICTURE.

LFOP is a term used by picture and sound editors to track the exact length of each reel within the multiple reels of an entire film. In post-production, different picture and sound elements for each reel are assigned a common start mark. A unique amount of feet and frames later, the reel’s ‘last frame of picture’ count is calculated, then used to help maintain the precise synch relationship between separate picture and sound sources.

Photographs of small town American movie theaters originate on film.
Fine Art digital prints by Rush Creek Editions, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Images available via: www.rushcreekgallery.com/lfop

click the photos below to see a larger image

Duncan Theater - Duncan, Arizona
(enlarge)

Saguaro Theater - Wickenburg, Arizona
(enlarge)

Teche Theater - Martinsville, Louisiana
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Eloy Theater - Eloy, Arizona
(enlarge)

Mojave Theater - Mojave, California
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Lux Theater - Grants New Mexico
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Pecos Theater - Santa Rosa, New Mexico
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West Theater - Grants, New Mexico
(enlarge)

Howard Stein, Photographer

Originally from Upstate New York, Howard Stein started photographing in the late 1960’s while participating in political and anti-war activities in Washington D.C. Subsequent early career roles included stints as a cameraman, film editor, and photographer, shooting for the music industry and government agencies, including the (Nixon) White House.

In the early 1970’s, he partnered in a sound company, providing concert reinforcement for touring bands like Badfinger, Dr. Hook, Chuck Berry, and other contemporary acts. After migrating to Northern California, he was involved with the emerging experimental video scene, along with broadcast projects for KQED and KPIX TV.

In 1978, Stein was hired as the 3rd employee of Lucasfilm’s new Industrial Light and Magic facility in San Rafael. His credits as a Visual Effects Editor and later Editorial Manager include ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, ‘Return of the Jedi’, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, ‘E.T. The Extraterrestrial’, ‘Back to the Future’, and ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit ?’

In 1988, he joined former ILM colleague Richard Edlund's Boss Film Corporation in Marina Del Rey as a Visual Effects and Commercial Editor. He later returned to the Bay Area to oversee post-production for renowned San Francisco commercial and animation studio (Colossal) Pictures. Stein later became the studio's General Manager.

After (Colossal), he managed Francis Coppola's American Zoetrope film facility in North Beach, providing support to both Zoetrope projects (‘Apocalypse Now Redux’, ‘Lost In Translation’, etc.) and other studio and directors’ features.

Stein lives in Oakland with his wife, Dorothy. He currently manages independent film and DVD projects, while devoting available time to preservation of cultural landscapes with black and white film.

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