Friday, August 27, 2010

Video Killed the Super 8mm Star

Camera Thrills in Wildest Africa... Black and White Silent film in a reel-to-reel Super 8mm format. Be sure to click on the top cover image for the cool, and colorful, details. What do you think the title type is meant to convey? I love figuring out the font usage in designs1

M Y   C O L L E C T I O N — I really can't imagine the days when a family would sit down to a home movie projector and watch silent 8mm, or 16mm reel-to-reel type movies, but here's the proof they did. I remember watching home movies in this format, WAY before video cameras became ubiquitous. I still have these same movie cameras, as we called them, and I have the reel-to-reel player and a screen that folds out to watch them on, but I've never gotten everything to work. I'm not quite sure I want to watch home movies from the '40s through the early '70s, watching my dead family members, and life itself all those years ago. There would be no sound, and the herky-jerky movements I remember from watching them as a child might be mildly amusing, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about seeing my parents, my aunt and uncle and my grandmother and their friends, in the prime of their lives.

On the other hand, watching a 'film' like Wildest Africa. might be fairly fun. I know I find the cover art fun—"fun" in the way that a Tarzan movie is fun today, campy and very un-PC. Just like today, the packaging may have sold the movie. After looking at the very colorful cartoon-like cover, I know I was disappointed to read that the flick was black-and-white. And speaking of colorful, this cover meets all of the artandcolour criteria—it's a virtual rainbow of bright hues! The title typography on the cover is very interesting also. At first I thought the letters were meant to evoke "bones" as in "natives" but they also have a very Sputnik, antenna-type look to them. This film seems to have been sold in 1962, so perhaps that is a sort of "space" reference.

Castle Films, begun by a film maker Eugene W. Castle who specialized in travelogues and short films, and was in operation from the mid 1930s through the mid 1970s, when it was absorbed by Universal Pictures.

Does anyone in Readerville ever watch Super 8 movies from a time long ago and  far away? How do they make you feel?

• List of Castle Films here.

• Some other pertinent information on these films here.

• This link seems to be the exact movie, Camera Thrills in Wildest Africa, dated 1962.

U P D A T E : 
 There is a video of this film online, found by my loyal reader, Marius. This link says the movie dates to 1946,  as opposed to the one above that said 1962. Perhaps it was filmed in '46 and sold through the '60s. There is no date on  my box, and I've never watched the actual reel inside. Thank you, Marius! Camera Thrills in Wildest Africa.

17 comments:

  1. Hi Casey,
    It looks to me like the words "Wildest Africa" are made to look like they are up in lights. The cover art is fascinating!

    As for watching movies of your family in its prime, I can sure see why you might not want to sit and watch that right now. Maybe when you're a little older.

    I'll have to ask my mom where all of our old family movies are. I don't actually think there are many. We took more still pics.

    Have a good night and a good tomorrow! :)

    Katie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Katie! your idea about the type is great! it could definitely be a Marquee-type look. Thanks for that. And hello to my fellow night-owl!

    I also have some reel-t0-reel audio tapes my family made in the 1950s. There's nothing to watch, just tape recordings. I started to listen to them once, but hearing my grandmother's voice after so long (she died in 1969) was too odd so I shut it off. Maybe some day, as you say.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fellow night-owl, indeed!

    Tapes of your family's voices, too, huh? Again, may well be hard to listen to. (Pardon the dangling preposition.) I find as I get older and begin to feel there is something finite about my time on earth, I long more to review happy memories and see pics of my family young and happy. They bring me happiness instead of the pain of losing them. And I lost my very best friend of all time to cancer 5 years ago. I was his caretaker the last 2 years he was alive. But just yesterday, for the very first time, I realized I was looking at a photo of him and smiling instead of turning away to avoid tears or pain. These things just seem to affect us differently as we age. I hope you reach a point, Casey, where it will make you happy to view and listen! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good Morning Casey and All - My daughter has all the old family movies, maybe will have to plan a viewing night. I really can't remember what's there, I'm thinking mostly the kids when they were all babies.

    My Niece who is 3 years younger than me doesn't even like to look at old photos of herself and her mom and dad. She say it depresses her to see everyone young and now old. Her dad, my brother is 93 and her mom passed away a few years ago.

    For me I enjoy old photos. I look prettier than I ever imagined myself to be at the time. The other day I thought, I wonder if that terrible picture of me taken the other night will look good in 10 or 20 years?

    Aging is ugly, but not so much in the face or mind but in the levels of pain that seem to get added to the body with each daily routine. The discomfort subsides or disappears when busy with some little project, better than pills really. If I can keep the pain at bay and toss out all reflective surfaces there are actually days I don't feel old at all - the brain is easily fooled when it doesn't have these little reminders.

    ReplyDelete
  5. When we were cleaning out my Mom's house we came across all of my Dad's old 8mm reels - gosh, there must have been 20-30 of them. We were able to watch the one of my sister and I as toddlers - and we stopped there. It got a little creepy hearing my Mother's voice in the background. My sister took them - apparently she knows a place that will convert them all to DVDs - and will get each of us a copy. I think at some future point in time I'll be able to watch them all - and take comfort in my parent's voices - just not right now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There is something so different about seeing my relatives moving, on home movies, or speaking, on the audiotapes, that makes it a completely different experience than looking at photos, which I love to do. Odd, but true. I'd probably like to have all of my old movies converted to DVD though, it would make it easier to watch, and turn off, and not so much of an ordeal to set up the projector thingy and screen and all that. I might have to look into that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. WELL, LET ME THINK. THE FIRST THING I WANTED TO DO IS JUMP IN THAT WATER IN THE FIRST PICTURE AND COOL OFF. I'M SO SICK OF THIS HOT WEATHER IF SOMETHING DOESN'T BREAK SOON I'M GOING TO ORDER A TRUCKLOAD OF SNOW FROM SOME FAR AWAY CONTRY AND LAY IN IT.

    I ALSO REMEMBER ADDS LIKE THESE. THE FIRST THING I SAW BESIDES THE WATER I SAW THE ORANGE COLOR WHICH DREW MY EYE TO THE WORDS WHICH CAUGHT MY INTEREST. I THINK I'LL ORDER MY CATALOG TODAY. DO YOU THINK THEY STILL HAVE A COUPLE LAYING AROUND?

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  8. i would like one of their catalogs too! i had to settle for the list of titles and cover photos on one of those links, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Granny,

    You can watch it here:

    http://www.travelfilmarchive.com/item.php?id=11869

    ReplyDelete
  10. THERE IS A BUTTERFLY THAT COMES TO THE FRONT CORNER OF OUR HOUSE EVERYDAY.MY NEIGHBOR HAS A PLANT AT THE CORNER OF THE GARAGE. THE BUTTERFLY LOVES TO EAT IT'S MEALS THERE ALL DAY. IT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE ONE THAT YOU HAVE PUT ON YOUR BLOG WITH PART OF IT'S TAIL GONE. SAME SIZE AND COLORS. NOW I WANT A PLANT JUST LIKE HERS. YOU CAN BET I'LL GET MORE THAN ONE.

    ReplyDelete
  11. CAN YOU COPY AND PASTE ON THE BLOG. I'VE TRIED AND IT NEVER WORKS. I LAUGH, IT SURE SHOWS MY MISTAKES LIKE NOT ADDING LETTERS OR LEAVING THEM OUT. YOU'D THINK I DIDN'T GET PASS 2ND GRADE. WELL, MAYBE I DIDN'T. OR MAYBE I DID WHO CARES. DARN FINGERNAILS. I WISH I HAD A PICTURE OF ME WITH THIS COMPUTER ON MY LAP IN MY LAZYBOY CHAIR. YOU'D ALL HAVE A GOOD LAUGH.THEN OF COURSE I WOULDN'T KNOW HOW TO PUT IT ON THE COMPUTER. I DON'T WANT ONE ON F/B.
    MARIUS, THANK YOU.

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  12. Casey,

    Off-topic - like that has ever stopped me.

    I registered at The Travel Film Archive where I found that film. It's so much fun. I watched little films about Havana from the 1930s, Vienna in '36 - Right before the Anschluss! I downloaded a little tour of Connecticut from 1947. I wonder what happened to all the manufacturing that is shown in the film. Maybe you can watch it from here:

    http://www.travelfilmarchive.com/item.php?id=12057&clip=f&num=10&keywords=Theatres&startrow=10

    ReplyDelete
  13. The only think we had on 8mm was my dad's porn collection, lol. The first I saw this was by accident and I left the projector on for too long causing the film to melt from the intense light. Thank the BIG ONE he never found one. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks, Marius. I haven't watched it yet, i downloaded it and will have to watch it on my other mac in a while. '

    Woody: never knew porn was done in the media way back when, but I guess I just never thought about it before! : )

    ReplyDelete
  15. Porn's been around for a long time. I think it was done on cave walls and stone tablets originally.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi everyone...made it back from visiting family.
    Those of you that have "moving pictures" of your family are SO lucky!! I don't even have it of my kids and my oldest is 35...just wasn't in our budget (with my kids) or consciousness ( with my parents). Even if it is hard to watch now, it is such a blessing to have the option if you ever desire to see it.
    Woody...that story made me laugh out loud!!! and just why was the projector on too long???? ha!! Think you are correct marius that porn has been around probably since the dawn of the ages.
    mare

    ReplyDelete
  17. MARIUS, DO YOU HAVE TO PAY TO WATCH THE FILMS?

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete