Looking at The Birds Barbie I was reminded of this frame, which for me is one of the greatest film stills. In general, the art of film stills is pretty subtle. A lot of studios preferred to hire photographer for catching moments on the set, rather than enlarging actual film stills. This was made on a notion that photographer’s picture might “sell” the film better than the actual enlargement from 35 mm reel of the film.

In an essay “Still and Moving” by Mary Corliss, available in Rogert Ebert’s “The Great Movies”, she writes

“Film stills preserve more than a dusty historical records. They evoke, with precision and purity, the cinema’s glorious past. They testify to the persistence of the filmmakers’ vision, to the enticement of movie glamour. They validate the movie lover’s fondest memories. The legacy of still photos shows just how moving moving pictures can be.”