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Meet the Staff: Webmaster Daniel Zmud

December 4, 2014 - Sarah Strohl

Photo of Daniel Zmud by Pete Smith.

Meet the Staff is a Q&A series on Cultural Compass that highlights the work, experience, and lives of staff at the Harry Ransom Center. Daniel Zmud, who joined the Ransom Center in 2001, manages everything web-related and supervises the digitization of the Center’s archival sound recordings, videotapes, and motion picture films. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film from The University of Texas at Austin in 1996 and has led the Ransom Center through two major website redesigns, the latest of which launched in 2008.

 

Can you tell us a little about what you do here at the Ransom Center?

My responsibilities have grown over time. At first I was only producing the public website and online research tools, but since then I’ve also been supervising the audiovisual digitization lab and creating interactive installations for the exhibition galleries.

 

What do you like most about working at the Ransom Center?

I like being a part of activities that shine some light on our collections. They could sit on a dark shelf forever, but it’s much more enjoyable to take them out for exhibitions or research. I was lucky enough to be around when we were scanning the Gutenberg Bible. It’s almost never out of its display case, so it was a pretty rare opportunity to have it there on the scanning station, turning every page, and getting to see it up close. We had to have an armed guard on duty…it was an incredible experience.

 

I hear you have spent some time building the web exhibition for The Making of Gone With The Wind. How has that been going?

It has been a whirlwind of activity this spring and summer. The web exhibition will include Gone With The Wind content that we’ve previously published, but we’re also integrating a fan-mail database. People can search by name or topic and read actual correspondence that was sent to David O. Selznick’s film production company before, during, and after the making of the film. You’ll be able to type in your relatives’ names to see if they sent in any comments or applied for a job.

 

Do you have a favorite item or collection here at the Ransom Center?

I haven’t seen every collection, but I always want to tell people about the Norman Dawn collection. He was a special effects inventor for film projects in the early 1900s. We have over 150 display cards from him, and each one describes a different special effect. Special effects at that time were so new—directors didn’t want to spend money on them unless they knew that they were actually going to work. He used a variety of artistic techniques like sketching, watercolor, and painting to sell the special effects to whoever was making a movie, and then he went back after the fact and inserted film stills of the finished special effect. The skill and artistry involved is incredible.

 

Can you tell us about your car restoration hobby and the cars you’ve been working on lately?

Well, I go to antique malls pretty often, and one time around three years ago I came across this stack of car-customizing magazine from the ’50s and ’60s. They really showed me the creative element in repairing and customizing old cars. I never thought it was something I would be able to do, but flipping through those magazines, I realized that older cars are actually simple machines. So, I was going through Craigslist around that time, and I came across a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair that just intrigued me. It was in rough shape, and I thought to myself, “Here’s a blank slate!” With the help of many people giving me advice and directing me to spare parts, I was able to get that car looking really nice within a year, and I ended up reluctantly selling it. What I learned was that once you finish a project, you are eager to start another one. Right now, I’m working on two Mazda Miatas.

Below, watch Zmud drive the 1965 Chevrolet Corvair that he restored.

 

Where is your favorite place to travel?

Every year since 1988 I’ve gone to Taos, New Mexico for a week or two in the summer. I like to hit the reset button there. I’m with my family, and it’s not a typical trip where every minute is scheduled. I just get to relax, take in the scenery, and escape the heat.

 

Do you happen to collect anything?

I collect snapshots. You’ll find these buckets full of snapshots in antique stores, and I like flipping through every last one of them. When one sticks with me as interesting or artistic, I decide to take it home. People can be accidentally artistic, even when they are just taking a picture of their aunt and uncle, or the picture isn’t in focus.

 

Photo of Daniel Zmud by Pete Smith.
Photo of Daniel Zmud by Pete Smith.
Taos, New Mexico. July 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Taos, New Mexico. July 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. July 4, 1942. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. July 4, 1942. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. 1960. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. 1960. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Meet the Staff Tagged With: car restoration, Chevrolet Corvair, classic cars, Daniel Zmud, David O. Selznick, Gone with the Wind, Mazda Miata, Meet the Staff, The Harry Ransom Center, The Making of Gone With The Wind, The Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, web exhibition, Webmaster

Database of fan mail documents emotional response from “Gone With The Wind” fans, detractors

September 10, 2014 - Alicia Dietrich

Alberta Carter of Chicago, Illinois, writes in January 1938 to "Gone With The Wind" producer David O. Selznick, asking him to consider her for the role of Mammy in the film.

As part of the recently launched web exhibition Producing Gone With The Wind, the Ransom Center has launched a new database of fan mail from the David O. Selznick collection. Researchers now have the opportunity to explore a selection of letters sent to Selznick International Pictures in the 1930s through this database of fan mail correspondence, preview questionnaires, and protest letters. Letters in the database demonstrate the public’s engagement with the film production of Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone With The Wind. Emotions ranging from enthusiasm and sorrow to optimism and disdain surface from individuals who wrote in to solicit auditions, submit opinions, and, in some instances, protest the film’s production. Visitors to the site can browse the database by type of mail and search by name of correspondent to see if relatives’ letters are within the database.  

Please click on the thumbnails below to view larger images.

Alberta Carter of Chicago, Illinois, writes in January 1938 to "Gone With The Wind" producer David O. Selznick, asking him to consider her for the role of Mammy in the film.
Alberta Carter of Chicago, Illinois, writes in January 1938 to “Gone With The Wind” producer David O. Selznick, asking him to consider her for the role of Mammy in the film.
Alberta Carter of Chicago, Illinois, writes in January 1938 to "Gone With The Wind" producer David O. Selznick, asking him to consider her for the role of Mammy in the film.
Alberta Carter of Chicago, Illinois, writes in January 1938 to “Gone With The Wind” producer David O. Selznick, asking him to consider her for the role of Mammy in the film.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Film, Research + Teaching Tagged With: David O. Selznick, fan mail, Gone with the Wind, Producing Gone With The Wind, Selznick International Pictures, web exhibition

Web exhibition “Producing Gone With The Wind” launches today

September 9, 2014 - Alicia Dietrich

Concept painting of Scarlett O'Hara at Tara in "Gone With The Wind."

The Harry Ransom Center launches Producing Gone With The Wind, an updated web exhibition, in conjunction with the exhibition The Making of Gone With The Wind.

 

The web exhibition explores the purchase of the rights to Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone With The Wind; the casting of the star actress, Vivien Leigh, as Scarlett O’Hara; and the research-intensive aesthetic work in the film related to costumes, hair, and makeup.

 

The exhibition also gives online visitors and researchers an opportunity to search through a selection of more than 3,000 letters from the David O. Selznick collection, by individuals who sought auditions, solicited employment, and protested the production.

 

Image: Concept painting of Scarlett O’Hara at Tara in Gone With The Wind.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Film Tagged With: David O. Selznick, Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, Producing Gone With The Wind, Scarlett O'Hara, The Making of Gone With The Wind, Vivien Leigh, web exhibition

New websites for the Gutenberg Bible and the First Photograph

February 28, 2013 - Alicia Dietrich

Page from new First Photograph web exhibition.
Page from new First Photograph web exhibition.

The Ransom Center launched updated websites for its two permanent exhibitions, the Gutenberg Bible and the First Photograph. The websites contain information, interactive components, and content geared toward children related to each exhibition.

The Gutenberg Bible is the first substantial book printed from movable type on a printing press. It was printed in Johann Gutenberg’s shop in Mainz, Germany, between 1450 and 1455.

Gutenberg’s invention revolutionized the distribution of knowledge by making it possible to produce many accurate copies of a single work in a relatively short amount of time.

Visitors can turn the pages of the Gutenberg Bible, view the pages in high-resolution, and browse by Books of the Bible or page characteristics, including famous passages, illuminations, and watermarks.

The Ransom Center holds one of five complete copies in the United States.

The First Photograph, which Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce produced in 1826, is the foundation of the Ransom Center’s photography collection. The 8 x 6.5-inch heliograph depicts a view just outside the workroom window of Niépce’s estate in Le Gras in east central France.

Website visitors can watch an animated video showing how the First Photograph was made as well as create a virtual heliograph of themselves using a webcam; the virtual heliograph image replicates the photographic technique used to create the First Photograph.

The website offers content geared for younger visitors, including digital coloring pages of the Gutenberg Bible and First Photograph and the opportunity to use Gutenberg’s process to print their own message.

The website was made possible through a generous gift by Margaret Hight.

Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Exhibitions + Events, Photography Tagged With: first photograph, Gutenberg Bible, Johann Gutenberg, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, Margaret Hight, web exhibition

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