Studio City’s Library of Images : Film: When movie producers want scenes of a total eclipse, a baby being born or even amoebas, they often turn to Energy Productions’ clips.

Husband-and-wife team Louis Schwartzberg and Jan Ross didn’t know when they graduated from UCLA’s film school nearly 20 years ago and began shooting time-lapse nature scenes that they were planting the seeds for an unusual specialty.

Today, the pair’s Energy Productions in Studio City is the owner of Timescape Image Library, an impressive collection of cinematography that includes scenes of waterfalls, skylines, solar eclipses, babies being born and even amoebas. Energy, with $4 million in annual revenues and more than 1 million feet of film in its library, licenses its images to filmmakers, ad agencies and corporations for fees ranging from $50 to $200 per second.

Energy wasn’t the first to amass a library of stock film footage. Most major studios have them. So do universities and other institutions. But what was different about Energy when it started 18 years ago was that it offered 35-millimeter film footage shot specifically for its library--a departure from traditional film libraries that contained mostly clips from editing-room floors, archival footage or newsreel film.

But as Energy has grown, so has its competition. Many new stock footage companies have cropped up in recent years to take advantage of what is seen as a growing market, putting downward pressure on licensing fees. Energy’s biggest rival is New York-based Image Bank, a $50-million-a-year company that made its mark licensing still photos. About four years ago, Image Bank began representing film libraries and cinematographers and now has about 200 collections under contract.

Among stock footage companies, said Brian Mitchell, Image Bank’s vice president of film, “It’s a race, who’s going to get the best stuff the quickest.”

Despite the competition, Energy’s picture is still in focus.

Energy’s services are in demand because filmmakers and advertisers, under pressure to contain rising production costs, see stock footage as a relatively cheap and expedient alternative for certain scenes. Schwartzberg, 42, who has shot more than 70% of Energy’s footage, said he might spend one day filming a two-second clip of a rose opening. “That’s a luxury even Hollywood studios couldn’t afford,” he said.

The company also offers producers a wide variety of scenes that are difficult to replicate--a total eclipse, for instance, or Los Angeles on a clear day. Also, Energy’s images are considered good enough to blend with renowned filmmakers’ work. A sunset scene filmed by Schwartzberg, for instance, was used in director Francis Ford Coppola’s current hit “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

Other motion pictures that have used Energy’s footage include “Altered States,” “Grand Canyon” and “Flatliners.” Broadcasters and producers of television shows and music videos are also frequent customers.

It is advertisers, however, that account for the biggest share of Energy’s business.

When Energy licensed a sunrise scene to Security Pacific Corp. in the late 1970s for a long-running ad campaign, it was the beginning of a wave of financial institutions using similar imagery to portray steadiness and reliability. Today, advertisers continually look for something new and different--and Energy tries to fill their needs.

Barbara Lebow, a creative supervisor at the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, said when her client Microsoft wanted an offbeat sports scene for a new ad, she chose Energy footage of tunic-clad sand skiers in Saudi Arabia. Energy “had a great selection,” she said.

If Energy doesn’t have the scene a client wants, it will try to shoot it. Schwartzberg has been busy lately filming commercials and documentaries for his production company. But Energy has staff cinematographers and contracts with independent filmmakers, who travel the world filling requests. Energy often breaks even or takes a loss on such work initially, Ross said, but by keeping the images in its library Energy hopes to profit from future licensing deals.

One of the first big breaks for Schwartzberg and Ross came in 1974, when filmmaker Walon Green hired the pair to film some sequences for “The Secret Life of Plants.” That film marked the couple’s first major licensing deal, and shortly afterward they started Energy. Schwartzberg is the firm’s president; Ross, 40, is executive vice president.

“There are a lot of film libraries,” said Green, now executive producer of the TV show “Law and Order.” “Louis’ stuff is really a cut above.”

But in an effort to broaden its menu, Energy also licenses images for other libraries in exchange for a commission. Among the collections it represents are nature specialist Windham Hill, the Playboy Collection of fashion film, and Oxford Scientific Films.

In the past two years, Energy has launched into foreign markets. It has opened offices in Japan, London, Paris, Cologne and Stockholm, and is considering offices in Italy and Spain.

The company is also aiming for a wider range of customers. During the recent political campaigns, Energy licensed images of inner cities and farms for use in candidates’ ads. Footage Schwartzberg shot of Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention was used in an infomercial the night before the election.

Corporations represent another area of potential growth, what with their increasingly sophisticated multimedia displays at conventions and trade shows, training films and publicity campaigns.

Energy is also adding new equipment so it can take advantage of new media formats such as digital tape and CD-ROM.

Meanwhile, the company continues to stock new scenes. When a city block is imploded in Hawaii in March, for instance, Energy plans to have a film crew there.

Occasionally, Energy is stumped, as with one request for live action footage of dinosaurs. Another prospective customer asked for a scene of an avalanche headed toward the camera; yet another wanted Columbus landing in the New World.

Nonetheless, Schwartzberg said he constantly looks for unusual scenes to add to the library. He recently filmed hams being cured in Norfolk, Va. He shot images of Chicago while flying 20 feet above the ground. “I even shot Newark,” he said.