This film is a short demonstrational piece made by West Yorkshire police for their series called, ‘Meet the Expert’. It details how moulded impressions of footprints found at crime scenes can be made. Title – Footprints. “Meet the expert” series – No. 2. The film opens with several footprints impressions left in the earth, and, as the camera pans round, a wooden box is lifted from the floor by an unseen figure. There is then a close up of a footprint. Title – to take a cast from this, you...

This film is a short demonstrational piece made by West Yorkshire police for their series called, ‘Meet the Expert’. It details how moulded impressions of footprints found at crime scenes can be made. Title – Footprints. “Meet the expert” series – No. 2. The film opens with several footprints impressions left in the earth, and, as the camera pans round, a wooden box is lifted from the floor by an unseen figure. There is then a close up of a footprint. Title – to take a cast from this, you will need… Close ups show various stickers on items necessary to make a footprint cast: ‘Plaster of Paris’, ‘Shellac’, ‘oil’. A pot, spoon, and a curved piece of metal are then shown resting on the ground. Title – some chips of wood. Shot shows a man slicing a thin piece of wood. Title - …and water. The bits of wood are dropped into a bucket of water. The man then creates an oval shape using paper clips to hold the frame together.  The frame is then placed roughly around the edge of the footprint and pushed into the ground. ‘Shellac’ is then sprayed over the print. Title – Coating with shellac hardens the soil and provides a protective cover against moisture. Shots show the shellac being sprayed on, before oil is next applied to the print. Title – an application of oil ensure a “cushion” between shellac and casting material. The man continues to spray the print with oil, and a shot shows the print enveloped by the metal oval. Title – The impression is now ready to receive plaster. Several table spoons of Plaster of Paris are mixed into a bowl of water. Title – Generally, the mixture contains enough plaster when a cone is formed above water-level. The cone of plaster just peaks out over the surface of the water, before being mixed. Title – The deeper parts of the impression should be filled first - Some of the mixture is placed onto the print using a spoon. Title - or else you may disturb some of the soil, like this. More of the mixture is applied to the print until all the deeper sections are filled. Eventually the plaster fills the volume of the metal oval, and the print is no longer visible. The spoon then smooths down the top. Bits of wood are then removed from the water bucket and placed in a criss-cross fashion across the top of the plaster, before another layer of the mixture is added on top. Using the spoon, the specialist begins to right ‘left’ on the plastered print. Title – In about half-an-hour you can lift the cast. The cast is lifted from the ground and turned over, where the excess soil is scraped away. The print is then washed under a Fawcett, and soil brushed away until the shoes pattern is clear, which in this case the shoe has a diamond pattern. The cast print is shown laid out on a surface. Title – In snow. A footprint is shown in the snow. Again a metal oval is place round the edge. Title - …you will use. A shot shows a man holding a tube of talcum powder. Title - instead of oil. The talcum powder is liberally applied to the print. Shellac is then sprayed on. Title – Powder and shellac, alternately – the process being repeated three times. More shots show the talcum powder and shellac being applied to the print. Again, a close up shows a tin of Plaster of Paris. The specialist mixes the plaster with water to form the mixture, making a cone shape out the surface before mixing. He then ladles the mixture into the print, filling the deeper areas first. Title – From this point, the operation is the same as for an impression in soil. The final mask is lifted from the ground and the metal casing is removed. The excess snow is rubbed away, before the mask is washed in water. The print is held up to the camera, and the marks are clearly well defined. Title – Now, if you find an impression on linoleum… Footprints are shown in a linoleum surface. A man chalks an arrow next to the foot print. Title – You require – The filmmaker gets a close up of a box with a label that reads ‘Bromide paper’.  Other items appear, including Ammonia, develop and hypo. A light switch is then flicked off and a sheet of bromide paper is removed from its box. Title – the paper is exposed to light… The light is flicked back on. Title – and the developer… The bromide paper is placed in a tray of developer solution, and the tray is tilted several times until the paper turns black. The paper is then removed. Title - …then rinsed. The paper is washed and placed back in the developer solution. Title – Fixed, The paper is then placed in the ‘hypo’ solution tray. Title – Washed, A tap projects water into the hypo solution tray, before the Bromide solution is removed and draped with another sheet of paper. Title – and dried. A hand runs along the surface of the paper. Title – The paper is now ready for immediate use, or can be preserved for the future. A bottle of Ammonia is lifted up. Title – Ammonia is used to soften the gelatine coating on the paper. A few drops of ammonia are added to tray filled with water, which the developed bromide sheet is placed in. Title – When ‘tacky,’ paper should be surface dried… The specialist runs a thumb over the sheet of paper to feel for the ‘tacky’ surface, and then dries the paper between two sheets of paper. Title – and then applied to the mark. The bromide paper – still between the two sheets – is placed on the print, with a roller then run along the top. The paper is the removed and the print on the paper is shown. A hand then scribbles a note that reads ‘footprint from bedroom HBKG, Keighley, 27/08/41’. Title – Impressions show to better advantage after the paper has dried. The impression of many little circles is shown. Title – When a mark is darker than the floor covering, white bromide paper is used. Title – This is prepared in the way you have just seen, except that it is fixed in Hypo without any exposure to light, or development. Title – The end. Title – A W.R.C institutional film. Title – Produced at Wakefield, 1946.