Intersprocket The Podcast · The documented record
The Zapruder film records President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Frame numbers locate moments in that record. Frame 313 shows the fatal head-wound impact—but no isolated frame can establish the whole sequence or, on its own, a shooter's location.
The film itself
A guide to the major stretches, not a gallery of every image. These ranges orient the reader; they do not designate an agreed shot-by-shot reconstruction.
Z-001 – Z-132
The opening numbered sequence precedes the continuous view of the presidential limousine. Do not read its frame count as one uninterrupted countdown to the shooting: the familiar assassination sequence starts with the camera running again at approximately Z-133.
Frame numbers identify images. They are not wall-clock timestamps, and multiplying a frame count by the camera rate cannot account for a pause in filming.
(1 / 7)Z-133 – Z-209
Around Z-133 the presidential limousine appears in the continuous Elm Street sequence. Zapruder follows it from his elevated position in Dealey Plaza. This is a useful reference point for comparisons within that sequence, not a declaration of when a shot was fired.
(2 / 7)Around Z-210 – Z-225
For a short stretch the freeway sign blocks part of the view. The film does not stop — but what is hidden behind the sign, and exactly when, has been argued over ever since. This is where the frame numbers become evidence rather than description.
The Warren Commission placed the probable neck-wound impact between Z-210 and Z-225. That is an attributed investigative conclusion, not an unobstructed view of the impact or a settled timestamp for every shot. Other timing interpretations remain contested.
(3 / 7)Z-226 – Z-312
Kennedy reappears from behind the sign. The Warren Commission described his reaction as barely apparent at Z-225 and clearly apparent at Z-226. Read the intervening frames in sequence; visible reactions and the instant of a bullet impact are not interchangeable.
(4 / 7)Z-313
Z-313 shows the fatal head-wound impact. It is a reference point for the surrounding sequence, not a self-contained reconstruction of the assassination. The detailed explanation below separates what the image records from conclusions that require other evidence.
(5 / 7)Z-314 – Z-334
These frames record the immediate aftermath. Comparing successive images gives context that an isolated still lacks; it does not, by itself, establish a bullet trajectory or the location of a shooter.
(6 / 7)Z-335 – Z-486
The camera follows the limousine toward the railroad underpass as the numbered sequence ends at Z-486. From Z-133 to Z-486 there are 353 frame intervals: approximately 19.3 seconds at the FBI's measured rate of 18.3 frames per second.
(7 / 7)Z-313 · Evidence and limits
Frame 313 is the image associated with the fatal head-wound impact. It is one moment in a silent moving-picture record, not a photograph of the shooter.
The Library of Congress's National Film Registry essay identifies Z-313 as showing the fatal impact wound. Its historical account also distinguishes LIFE's publication of stills from the film's later television broadcast. Read the Film Registry essay (PDF).
A visible impact at Kennedy's head, the limousine, and the people within Zapruder's field of view. The images before and after it supply the movement and sequence that a single still cannot.
An isolated image does not independently locate a shooter, trace a bullet through the body, or identify every shot's timing. Those conclusions require comparison with medical evidence, other photographs, witness testimony, and measurements.
The Warren Commission's Chapter 3 combines film analysis with medical and physical evidence in reaching its conclusions. Interpretations of head movement as proof of shot direction remain contested; do not substitute one frame for the report's full reasoning. Read Chapter 3.
For image quality, motion blur, and camera viewpoint, continue to the Forensic Optics guide. For the origin of a particular copy, read Chain of Custody.
Content note: the historical film includes graphic injury. No graphic still of frame 313 is reproduced here.
Reading the sequence
The familiar numbered sequence runs through Z-486. A frame label identifies a position in that sequence; it does not guarantee that every reproduction contains every original image. Cropping, missing images, and restoration choices must be checked against the copy's provenance.
The Warren Commission reports that FBI examination of Zapruder's camera established 18.3 frames per second. At that rate, one frame interval is about 0.055 seconds. It is a measurement used for the film—not the playback speed of every online video. See “Films and Tests,” Chapter 3.
The difference is 180 frame intervals. Dividing 180 by 18.3 gives approximately 9.84 seconds within the continuous sequence. This comparison does not establish when the first shot was fired.
Elapsed time ≈ (later frame − earlier frame) ÷ 18.3
The often-quoted 26.6 seconds comes from dividing 486 by 18.3. Do not treat it as 26.6 uninterrupted seconds of the limousine's passage: the opening sequence and the continuous view beginning around Z-133 are distinct.
The legal record
The frame numbers matter beyond forensics. The fight over the film was a fight over who owns 26 seconds of history — and that fight is written down in contracts, board determinations and court opinions, all of it tied to the film.
Nov 22, 1963
The film is processed in Dallas and copies are made for investigators. Distinguishing the camera-original from later copies matters when assessing a reproduced frame.
Nov 23, 1963
Zapruder sells the film to LIFE. Selected stills appear in the November 29 issue; publishing individual frames is different from showing the moving sequence.
1963 – 1975
TIME Inc. holds the copyright. The film is held by a magazine, not by the government and not by the public.
1975
ABC's Good Night America broadcasts the film to a national television audience. TIME returns it to the Zapruder family that year; earlier screenings and printed stills should not be confused with this broadcast.
1997
The Assassination Records Review Board takes the camera-original under the JFK Records Act. Physical ownership of the reel and copyright in its images are separate questions.
1999
The family is compensated $16 million for the original film. It donates copies, frame transparencies, and the copyright to The Sixth Floor Museum—not the original reel to the museum.
Today
The National Archives holds the original film at College Park, Maryland. The Sixth Floor Museum claims the copyright, and NARA directs researchers seeking to publish it to obtain permission — a claim now being challenged in federal court in Dallas.
Sources: Film Registry history (PDF), The Sixth Floor Museum's collection record, and National Archives access and copyright guidance.
Check the record yourself
Nothing on this page should be taken on faith. Over 140 historical documents from the National Archives — processing slips, custody memos, board determinations, court filings — are collected on ZapruderFilm.com. Read the frames' paper trail yourself.
Camera-rate measurement, sign obstruction, and the Commission's evidentiary reasoning.
Historical context, frame 313, broadcast history, and preservation. An authored essay, not a new investigative finding.
Collection description and viewing destination. Contains graphic historical footage.
Where the original is held and how to seek copies and publication permission.