>We are thinking about possibly doing something on the urban legend >portrayed in the recent Hollywood release "shadow of the vampire",

This isn't an urban legend but an outright invention by the filmmakers of "Shadow of the Vampire."  Or to be more accurate I've never run across this story before and neither had any of the silent movie or horror fans on the various newsgroups (though I could have missed something).  There are several factors that make the vampire story a real stretch:  most or all of the "night" shots in the real film were actually done in daylight, Shreck made quite a few films after "Nosferatu," Murnau wasn't some Stroheimian "realist," etc.  You should check Eisner's book on Murnau.

----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu