The BFI have the ability to produce frame enlargements from archive prints,
but it takes time and is not cheap.  When I was in exactly the same
position as you (i.e. wanting to illustrate a PhD thesis) I paid 22 UK
pounds per pic, for the enlargements, as well as the archive viewing fee
for the print that was used.

There are various alternatives.  Frame blow-ups from VHS tapes or DVD discs
can be made.  Some of the software supplied with DVD drives for computers
actually has the facility to do this, but the quality is a lot lower than a
photographic enlargement from a 35mm print.  Frame grabs from VHS require a
special card and software for your computer - ask your IT department about
the functionality and cost of the various solutions on offer.  If your
department hires in film prints for research and teaching, you could always
snip a frame or two out, put it in a glass slide and put that in a slide
scanner.

As for copyright, technically you have to clear it, but my supervisor
advised me not to bother because (i) the chances of my being caught were
infintessimal, and (ii) I was not making any money out of the use of these
pictures.  However, there is no 'fair use' waiver in British or Euro-law
comparable with the provisions in US law.  Needless to say, if your thesis
material, together with the pictures, ever gets published, then rights will
have to be cleared.

L

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Leo Enticknap
Technical Manager
City Screen Cinemas (York) Ltd..
Coney St., York YO1 9QL.
United Kingdom
Telephone: 01904 612940 (work); 01904 673207 (home); 0410 417383 (mobile)
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

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Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite