Great idea Mark! And nice use of the word semiotics. :-)
I also have done a projection thing and it looks amazing. I projected super 8mm b/w onto faces and captured the projection with s16mm. I was happy with the results. I used it because I didn't want an AE reshape effect.
What I'm thinking is high rez scan the images, color correcting as necessary in photoshop. Then project the images against a surface -- if it's a football documentary, use a football. If it's a ballet documentary, use a dancer, and so on and such. Then use s8mm to capture the projection. Obviously, processing and telecine of the s8mm footage would be required. Here's a worth while link:
http://www.pro8mm.com
