*** Official Thread - Robert Harris - Home Theater: Part One & Two - An Archaeology (1 Viewer)

[Terrell]

I had forgotten about the first reel to reel video recoders

Ditto for me. A great article on how formats in general have progressed over the years. Great stuff. Thanks Robert.

By the way, my family used to own one of those CED disc players, and about 10 movies in the format. We were in hog heaven at the time. I specifically remember watching Superman, Enter the Dragon, and High Road To China about a couple dozen times each. It was great to see that mentioned in the article Robert. There was only one problem. Skipping was a bad problem with these machines.

 

[Gary Kellerman]

Nice concise article on the history of home theater; actually more pointed at the aspect of one owning a personal copy of a motion picture to play at ones convenience in their home. Maybe the cave dwellers home theater was drawings on the cave walls, but they may have contributed the one big thing that makes this all possible. That is the INVENTION OF THE WHEEL. Note that on that time line photograph, that every item involves the use of the wheel to store and replay audio/video information.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Great column Mr. Harris. I look forward to future installments. Keep up the good work.

 

[oscar_merkx]

As usual great to read this first part and I will surely read the next installments as well

 

[Robert Harris]

Beyond the wheel, and possibly fire, both of which were invented before my time. I believe both came before television and those great old days of having family and friends stop by to stare at a station's focus ID pattern...

the most important elements to film were two inventions.

1. The transport mechanism, differing evolving types of perforations, which led Edison and his Pinkerton goons to shut down many early movie companies (ususally trashing items like Pathe cameras) in an attempt to control the early industry via his patent of the sproket hole.

2. The Latham Loop, an invention which allowed the moving film to stop intermittently for a couple of spins of the shutter to create the illusion of movement via that long strip of still frames.

A wonderful book for children (probably 8 to 13 or so) although possibly out of print is Jane Kendall's Miranda and the Movies, along with Miranda Goes to Hollywood. They do a nice job of documenting the era for young 'uns.

RAH

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Robert,

Thanks for a great article. Brought back memories as I went through most of the video era while a teenager. I was firmly a 16mm-guy during those early years (the late 70s).

I'll have to track down those books - my son (7 years old) has recently gotten very interested in the technical aspects of film production (mostly due to viewing the extras on DVDs). I haven't shown him a silent film yet (I'll probably start off with The Lost World), so those books might be a neat intro to the subject.

 

[Jefferson]

Indeed, a good read, Mr. Harris. Yeah, the cool kids always showed the 8mm and Super8's at birthday parties.......our library even loaned them out.....that is where I first saw Charlie Chaplin's films. I'd practically forgotten.

 

[Jason_Els]

This is one of those happy moments when the internet lives up to its potential. Excellent work Mr. Harris and thanks to Bill and HTF for bringing it to us.

 

[Scooter]

Enjoyed it as well. I look forward to the coming additions. I too had a BAD Super 8mm jones!!!!! Still have my projector and films too!

 

[Bill Buklis]

Although I can't recall any particular examples, it's possible that the cavemen, in addition to having the first still pictures on the walls, were the first to use animation and motion picture. Not long after the inventing the wheel it's easily conceivable that someone painted their stone wheel with a series of pictures around the edge and then rotated it around simulating animation and a motion picture.

 

[Gary Kellerman]

Bill; I am sure that this device if it still exists can be found at the SMITHSONIAN. It also sounds like the forunner for the projectors used at many museums PLANETARIUMS around the world.

 

[Keith Paynter]

A wonderful introduction for uninitiated, and a tongue in cheek trip down memory lane for those of us who were 'projector nerds'.

Our local library used to carry 8mm films and projectors - I remember watching orginal silent films like Nosferatu and Laurel & Hardy silent shorts like TWO TARS and BIG BUSINESS. We used to have Saturday film screenings (16mm) at the local YMCA as a diversion between swim and gym classes - we got exposed to a lot of sound and silent films from the Blackhawk collection - The Little Rascals, Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton, and many others. Particularly bizarre were the silent shorts that were double perforated - the sound of the perforations going over the optical reader were both annoying and hypnotic.

There were lots of 16mm highlight films from Universal (Castle Films then Universal 8), so we got to see a lot of woody woodpecker shorts, then 2-reelers for films like AIRPORT, DUEL, DUCK SOUP and FRANKENSTEIN. They had several Disney short subjects (including an original 3 Little Pigs with the Jewish Fuller Brush Man), television nature films and classic features such as Snow White! The best film they ever had was Yellow Submarine!

I also remember working with 3/4" reel-to-reel B&W video in high school for recording local sport events. We even had several U-matic video systems, which still see use in professional television stations and community cable channels.

Thank you Robert - bring on the great DIVX soap opera. I'm ready for a good laugh!

 

[streeter]

I still think that cavemen invented the motion picture. My guess is that their cave drawings came to life when it was dark and the light from the fire made it look as if they were moving. It's kind of similar to later inventions/tricks like the zoetrope, etc...
I never really cared for that string with the card in the middle, where one side had an empty birdcage and the other side a bird... so it looks like the bird is in the cage, so what?

 

[Keith Paynter]

I just wanted to add I remember home movie catalogues and magazines during the late seventies where you could still buy 8mm movies, and get cartoons and features by mail-order.

How many of you had 8mm recording projectors that would let you record audio on the balance stripe?

 

[Peter Kline]

Interesting article by Mr. Harris. There were two additional consumer systems available to the public.
First, Cartrivision tapes:
http://www.cedmagic.com/history/cartrivision.html
Second VHD Video Discs:
http://www.hypernova.co.uk/total_rewind/disc_cap.htm

 

[Patrick McCart]

A few interesting facts...
CED actually was the very first video format to offer letterboxed video. The CED of Armacord (Fellini) was properly matted to the OAR (1.85:1, I think). Also, they had Monty Python and the Holy Grail (matted, and with the trailer!), Manhattan (2.35:1!), Woodstock (alternated aspect ratios depending on what was on screen...100% image visibility, though), The Long Goodbye (2.35:1!), and King of Hearts (2.35:1!).
Laserdisc didn't offer letterboxing for 8 months...with MGM/UA's Manhattan LD. Armacord got it first.
Also, there's an interesting history about the pre-1949 Warner Bros. live-action films.
WB sold ALL of their pre-1949 film product to a small company called Associated Artists Productions in 1957. However, the B&W Warner cartoons, except for the Hugh-Harmon/Rudy Ising B&W Merrie Melodies, are sold to Seven-Arts, which ends up part of WB again in the 1960's.
AAP also purchased all of Paramount's Popeye cartoons made from 1933 to 1957. AAP now has exclusive TV rights. They have the feature films such as The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The Adventures of Robin Hood availible ONLY for TV broadcast in the form of B&W 16mm prints. They do, however, allow 16mm and 8mm Eastmancolor prints of the WB/Popeye ca In the late 1960's, United Artists Television bought AAP. They, with the rest of UA, merge with MGM in 1981. Turner buys MGM/UA in 1986, keeps all of the MGM library and all of United Artists TV and sells back the UA feature film catalog to MGM (minus AAP stuff, of course)
None of the AAP prints are actually worth anything. The cartoons are usually beet red prints and the feature-length films are beaten 16mm dupe prints.
The good thing is that restorations have been started on the WB cartoons (I've seen test frames that look beautiful...and printed in the new Technicolor process!)

 

[T r o y]

Mr. Harris, A very informative read. Highly enjoyed it. Yup , you covered all the HT history bases in a very simplistic manner that even my grandmother would understand Looking forward to Part Deux !!

 

[Robert Harris]

Patrick,

My memory may not be serving me perfectly on this, however I believe it may have gone this way.

AAP originally purchased the old Monogram library along with a number of "B" westerns and serials. They controlled TV rights to films like Four Sided Triangle, The Gorilla, etc.

Some time in the mid 1950s Harry and Albert Wanrner sold their shares in the company to an investment group, leaving Jack in charge. The pre-49 library went to AAP.

When Seven Arts was formed by the same group, it was formed as Seven Arts Associated and merged part of the AAP library.

There was to be a sale of the pre-49 WB titles to NTA, but that sale was halted by stockholder litigation, and the titles ended up going to UAA.

SAA, then began methodically licensing much of the Post-49
WB product for TV, along with some top end Fox product going back to at least the 40s. I recall the manufacture of many beautiful new 16mm prints of Fox titles, many in dye transfer Technicolor such as Margie, Nob Hill, etc. These were available for TV along with a large number of WB packages with titles like Big Jim McClain, Dial "M" for Murder and much of the 50s library-- also many here in
Technicolor. I recall many of the early CinemaScope titles being produced for this library in "adapted scope," aka 1.85:1.

Around 1967 SAA bought the remaining control of the studio from Jack, thereby taking over the studio as films like Bonnie and Clyde, Reflections in a Golden Eye, Camelot and others were in production. There was much politicking going on between WB personnel and SAA personnel, especially in NY, as suddenly two people were doing the same job.

All of this didn't last long, as the entire package was soon sold off to a company whose roots were a bit further away from the entertainment arena -- parking garages and funeral homes - Kinney National Services, with Ted Ashley in charge.

This was the period during which Columbia gave up their studio on Gower and moved their facilities to the back end of the WB lot in a rental deal. The beginning of a great new game of musical studios ie, musical chairs.

RAH

 

[gregstaten]

Robert - when did the studios transition away from 16mm prints for television distribution to videotape? I would guess it was sometime in the 70's, but I remember a local station still having their film chain up and running in the early eighties.

(I can still remember the "technical difficulties" slides they put up when the film broke.)

-greg

 

[Brian Kleinke]

Interesting read, I look forward to future parts
Brian