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General
February 16th, 2010

Jack Amos

February 16, 2010 by Steve Bergson

a tribute by Ron Saunders to archivist and researcher Jack Amos

No man is an island, entire of itself.


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Whoever you meet in the course of your life, no matter how fleeting, no matter how briefly, something of them remains within you, becomes part of you. Therefore, it follows that, as John Donne went on to say, ‘Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved’.

Jack was a film researcher and, (as he was the first to proudly admit), an archivist for whom the images on the frames of film stored, logged and catalogued within film libraries, was a cache, a reservoir, an illuminating light on, not just our past but our present and our future.

As an archivist, Jack would not be content to let the catalogue do the work of the Library.  Film is a visual medium and, to him, that meant viewing the material, mining deeper into vaults to to see exactly what the vague card reference, ‘LONDON SCENES - 1930’s’ actually concealed. Never fully trusting the description of an item hastily described years ago, he would get immense satisfaction & pleasure from viewing the item &, using his knowledge of newsreels & 20th Century history, unearth the real value of of the moving images sealed within a can of film.

As a researcher, he had the same qualities, digging deeper, determined to get the very best to illustrate the topics, the arguments, the period, the aims of any production he worked on. The idea of pulling a compilation of commonplace shots for use was anathema to him. His aim was always to present his editor, director, producer with the visuals that  would open jaded eyes. Through Jack, many people in our industry came to realise that there was so much more to be discovered, to draw upon, so much more than they had initially thought to look for within the treasury of various collections of moving images.

And so it follows, no matter who we are, if we are concerned with producing programmes that make sense of our past, our present, our future; all of us, and an industry, have been diminished by Jack’s passing. Whether you knew him or not, we are all involved in the loss of a truly exceptional person.

Posted:  February 16, 2010 at 11:09

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Author: Steve Bergson

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