- Details
- Category: Multi-Gauge Topics
Film Catlogs
FILM CATLOGS
Just one random catalogue out of hundreds, maybe thousands, but what a wealth of memories, reflections and questions it evokes.
One of the basic reflections is just what we were prepared to tolerate. In the earliest days, all that could be gotten was odd scraps torn out of cinema films, shown on a tinplate toy lit by an oil lamp. Then, maybe, began something of a golden age when Pathintroduced their KOK; good quality films, on safety stock, with a range of subjects to suit all and, increasingly, full length feature films, particularly in the USA. It is hard now to judge the extent to which 28mm created the Home movie hobby and paved the way for 9.5mm and 16mm. Certainly, in the USA, it looks to me as though 16mm simply took over the distribution and rental network established for 28mm, all the more easily as the 28mm rental-only model meant few copies of films existed so there was little investment wasted and little extra new investment to be made, as there was anyway a constant demand then as now for new films.
In Europe, WWI and then 9.5 brought a swift end to 28mm, but 9.5 opened a much cheaper form of the hobby to a wider public. Some of the early 9.5 silent releases were of stunning quality, that still shows thru today. But the overriding advantage all these various approaches to home cinema had was the silent movie. Once the public had heard the talkies, silent films, with their fundamentally different style of acting, were passand the golden age came to an end. But there was no way to bring sound into your home cinema until 16mm sound-on-film (was this 1932?), but, even then, 16mm had become something of a semi-professional gauge. Despite 17.5 sound, from 1934, real home sound had to await 9.5 in 1938 or, if you wanted to do it yourself, mag stripe after the war.
Sound started the unravelling of home movies in more than one way. Whilst it was fairly easy to edit down silent films of moderate length to something affordable to the masses, the ever-increasing length of films and the addition of sound made it harder, more obvious and more expensive to edit them. (Prolonged exchanges between Pathand their customers on this vexed issue are covered in the History of 9.5). One approach Path adopted was to cut out musical numbers, or parts of them (although until the arrival of 9.5 sound, 17.5 sound releases tended to be full length tho' it appears, curiously, that this was not true of 17.5 silent). In a later age, we saw the exact opposite with cut-down versions on Super 8 consisting almost exclusively of musical numbers, omitting all that boring plot. And the short, cheap 50 ft silent reel for the juvenile market was one thing when there was no sound, and quite another when there was. So we entered into a long period when only films degraded to some degree, whether by abbreviation or lack of sound, were available to the masses, without whom new machinery etc. could not be commercially viable. An industry is not built on small cliques of nerds watching ghastly copies of aged silents. Even when full-length films were available on Super 8, the price was too high for many, and video was just starting to take hold. The mass market for cine ended with the first cheap video cameras, and it now seems even the showing of film is to be relegated to a fringe eccentricity by DVD's and digital projectors.
One thing the DVD revolution has helped considerably is film quality - more and more films are being dredged from the archives (and from the newly-open East European archives) and restored to something of their former glory. Even so, this does not seem to have prevented some people from producing bad DVD copies.
But just think of what we once had to put up with. 9.5 had obvious inherent limitations, compounded by the damage wrought by cheap nasty projectors, by it's smaller sound picture but most of all by the utter indifference of Path(along with virtually everyone else, it must be said) to print quality. Even 16mm fell away from the standard of the old amber prints, which were themselves copied to death in huge quantities of ever-worsening prints for the 16mm and standard 8mm markets. I have little experience of 16mm silent, but when it comes to sound, my impression is that for every good, original print, there are a dozen dupes or other bad prints. I don't really collect 16mm, basically because it is just so disappointing. And as for standard 8, some of what passed in the 60's and 70's was atrocious, little better than moving blobs on an under-illuminated screen, requiring great imagination and faith to relate to the purported topic. I don't expect miracles fromStd 8, but I do expect something a bit closer to what I know can be achieved. I suppose it's because I expect so much from 16mm that I find it so disappointing.
In my view, for most of the history of our hobby, the truly good print has been the exception rather than the rule, rare enough to excite comment, even after allowing for the inherent restraints of the various film gauges This is all the more infuriating when you see what can be achieved - the early 9.5 notched films, Kodak amber prints and, in more modern times, some Derann prints - my copy of The Lion King is stunning, almost inviting comparison with 16mm on a smallish screen. And I have some commercially-produced Standard 8 that exceeds in quality anything else I have ever seen on the gauge, tho' some amateur first-generation material is very good. And it remains as true for DVD as for film - without a good master and care in the process, quality is simply not achievable. Why did we put up with such crap for so long?
And another thing; why on earth were (and are) so many crap films made? I see lists of films for sale, especially 16mm, and it is pretty infrequent that I come across a film I have even heard of, let alone want to see at all, much less several times, which is the implication if you actually buy a film. The very occasional really good film attracts such a premium that I cannot afford many of them. Who on earth is it who a) comes up with the idea for such films? b) provides the money? c) wishes to be associated with the making of such a film? d) goes to watch it in the cinema? e) decides it would be a really good idea to issue it in narrow-gauge? f) buys a copy? g) buys a second-hand copy? h) buys a bad second-hand copy? Please tell me there aren't that many loonies in the world!
Coming back to the 9.5 stuff (not Baby catalogues, which are elsewhere), this much later catalogue was very difficult to make presentable.
Getting rid of the coloured background, which I am assuming is all due to fade, also knocks holes in the letters. 1951.
----------------------------------------------------
Bit of an experiment here. John Fisher has sent a copy of a GB film catalogue from 1952 in four PDF sections. No idea if this will work.......
If this doesn't work for you, I'll try the individual pages as usual.
- Details
- Category: Multi-Gauge Topics
Chateau Nerdistan
Home 9.5 16 17.5 28 Pix Miscellany
CHATEAU NERDISTAN
I thought you should finally get a glimpse inside Chateau Nerdistan.
Some years ago, I had my loft converted. Because of the slope of the roof, the ceiling is, as you can see, "shouldered". I spent some considerable time earlier in the summer of '06 re-organising and re-fitting, particularly to enable me to put more of my projectors on show (see above). Also, out went the old CRT three-gun video projector (huge, it was) and in came a neat, small, ceiling mounted DLP jobbie, which gives much better performance. A console at the rear of the cinema houses VHS, laser and DVD players, plus audio cassette, all fed thru a surround sound amp to six speakers. Mono film sound direct from projector is fed to one or other of the B&H speakers.
The loft divides naturally into two sections, at the point where width changes to accommodate the stairs. The rear section, used as projection- and work-room is thus 3ft narrower than the cinema room you see above. The dividing wall has a long porthole in it for projection. This is where the two main problems come in. First, because of the shouldering, it simply is not possible to have more then one projector in position at a time. This means I have to have as many as I can on wheels and do furniture moving when I want to change machine. Because I use so many different gauges and machines, there is still a fair bit of humping machines on and off stands.
The other problem is length of throw/distance from screen. Total distance from screen to lens is about 14ft; this means anyone in the cinema is no more than 12ft from the screen, too short really but one must make do with what one has. I didn't feel I could give up the space a tab system would involve, so I work to screen size and lens focal length. Looking at the first picture above, I built a frame into the window reveal to house a blackout blind and prevent light leakage round the edges. This blind can be seen partially lowered in the second pic. The screen I use most is the top one, 6ft wide and obviously adjustable depth. This serves for 16mm with a 25mm lens, for 35mm 4:3 and for the DLP on 4:3 which, as I like older films, is used a lot. For widescreen on the DLP, I can set the bottom of the screen to give the correct size (though this does require the projector to be adjusted) I can also get Super 8 up to 6ft, but this is in my view pushing it a bit, particularly as the viewing distance is so short.
For 9.5, both silent and sound, the 4ft screen is mounted (tho' I have shown it here for illustration, it is not mounted when the 6ft screen is in use). A 25mm lens thru the port fills the screen nicely; for silent, the same focal length on a machine inside the cine room gives a 4ft wide silent picture, with the depth of the screen reduced. The black curtains are to avoid any white (why a blackout blind should be white I know not but it was what I could get) showing round the side or bottom of this screen, or under the 6ft screen in DLP widescreen mode. Finally, for 16 and 35 widescreen, the 8ft screen comes into play (this, too, cannot be mounted when the 6ft screen is in use). It mounts onto two brackets at the bottom, and when raised fits onto hooks at either side , with a chain at the centre to avoid sag. The black uprights are to provide support and extra wide black edges for better masking for 6ft and 8ft pictures.
The view backwards shows the projection port, the curtain that covers it when projecting video or silent from within the cinema room, and the rear centre speaker sat on top of the sound system "stack". A front view of this "stack" is far right; the back has a door which conceals but gives easy access to a huge spaghetti of wires. The projector at the port is a Buckingham 9.5, the other shots show machines ready to roll into place.
So there you have it. At one time, I reached a major high with a Steenbeck and piles of film 
under the stairs in the front hall, but that was years ago and senior management has since inexorably confined me to the loft and garage. Except of course for a few Baby and related bits just above and to the right of the Steenbeck's location.........
- Details
- Category: Multi-Gauge Topics
Argenteuil Film Fair
Home 9.516 Multi-gauge 17.5 28 Pix Miscellany
ARGENTEUIL FILM FAIR
I had long been aware that a big fair took place at Argenteuil, but it was not until about 4 years ago that I went for the first time. It blew my mind. The place was chock full of the kinds of stuff that just doesn't appear at UK fairs, although prices are very high. I missed a year and went again in 2008; here are some pix I took.
I love non-theatrical 35mm machines. The first looks a highly specialised lab/studio machine; second is one of the Chinese-made luggables such as I once had and Keith Wilton has used, but set up for very big spools. Next is a very cute Debrie (I think). It has spools side-by-side at the back and looks superbly engineered. As for 4, this is just a 16mm writ large - I have never understood why 35mm machines had to be big - why couldn't there be more like this? Can't remember what the 16mm was - it says Lyon on the side.
Pic 5 is a left-hand drive Hortson; otherwise, these mainly show the scale and scope of the fair, with a side serving of paunch. Not big enuff to be mine.
I was very tempted by the Cineric, but there was no more room in the car! The final pic shows that even the back of some stands was interesting.
Argenteuil 2009
First some fairly general views of the main hall and one of the two smaller ones. As you can see, magic lanterns and poster/photograph/memorabilia are part of the scene; the third hall was entirely posters etc.
Some individual machines. Unfortunately, I've forgotten what the 16mm silent was. The next two are a most unusual KOK. If you look above and left of the sprocket, you can see a shiny lever, like an elongated teardrop. If you operate this while cranking, the mech stops to give a still pic. It's clearly an original feature, but nothing I have ever heard of before. The knob on the front is to move the shutter out of the way of necessary. This may be the origin of the front-shutter KOK pictured in the 28mm section. The Malex Std 8 is an unusual silent-to-sound variant, in that it incorporates a second mech to run sprocketed tape in sync, presumably, with a silent pic. The Debrie is there because it has a valve variant of the transistor amp I recently added to the Debrie page. The little 16mm toy looks cute but I don't know what it is. (A Cinette).
A double-band Siemens (I saw at least three other double-band machines, including two Elfs), and a Bauer P5. This Elmo is a high-end jobbie I've never seen before. I think the Hokushin is that weird one where you thread then operate a lever and everything windmills about to create the loops ready for projection; why, one asks? Then another slightly less sprauncy Elmo and finally what was presumably the model one or two before the RCA Hollywood.
I always think the Path16mm machines look a bit sad - who would bother given all the far better machines available? The Hortson is one I've never seen over here - it seems to have been popular in France and was American by origin, I think. The RJA is reportedly a 9.5 sound prototype never put into production. It has variable scanning, but I couldn't quite figure out how it threaded - did my head in. The last two in this row are end shots of Super Talkie amp-cum-changeover unit, reinforcing my belief that 17.5 cinemas in France must have operated on a changeover basis from the earliest days - the original silent Rural (Rex in UK) has only 500' capacity and not the most stolid of audiences would put up with breaks for every reel change.
This is the Heurtier row. There seemed to be loads of them, tho' some were single-gauge. I may even have left some out. Of particular note is the posh rear cover for the belt drive in the centre pic - looks like they were afflicted with Health & Safety idiots even way back then.
I know they are outdated now, but there is something about those big old Xenon machines...... The other two show just how much more compact and stylish they became. Incidentally, I've never yet seen a B&H Xenon.
Finally, a few bits of 35mm tackle for those of that bent and two very, very expensive cine-to-dvd jobbies - 50,000 apiece , I guess.
One last thing - can you spot the editor of Flickers lurking in one of the pix?
- Details
- Category: Multi-Gauge Topics
Flickers
FLICKERS
The first issue of Flickers appeared in August 1956. Since then, it has appeared more, or sometimes rather less, regularly. The latest of a line of illustrious editors is Patrick Moules, who took over with effect from Issue 121. Patrick was able to take advantage of the rapid advances in modern technology to produce a high-quality magazine, with colour. That greatest weakness of all amateur cine mags to date, the limited and sometimes poor quality of pictures, has been decisively overcome, with pin-sharp images.
Below you will find the covers and contents of Issues 121 onwards. I hope this will tempt you into becoming a subscriber. Just send a cheque (drawn on a UK Bank and in Sterling only, please)) for the appropriate amount - see below. The cheque should be made payable to Patrick Moules, but you should send it to the Membership Secretary, Angela Stevens, at:-
29 Milebush
Leighton Buzzard
Beds
LU7 2UB.
Subscription rates are as follows:- UK £16.50; Europe £21.00 (airmail); Rest of World £28. This covers four Issues and includes UK postage or airmail to other destinations. Payment can also be made by PayPal to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Below are front cover, contents page and back page from recent issues.
