Post 474 - Regular 8 in '68 - Two kids playing with a camera

The first portion of this epic bit of film making was too large for the blog, but Instagram came through, so here's a link-

1968 - A Trip to the Magician's House 

Then, over Christmas break in '68:

 

(c) 1968, 2022 Jim and Dave Middleton

The theme continued with "I, A Wizard," a title inspired by "I, A Woman" of similar vintage, suggested by the cinematic muse contained within my brother.  It, too, was a bit large for this blog, so Vimeo generously offered its space for a reasonable rental fee:

1971 - I, A Wizard

 The camera still exists.  Last week I discovered that there is a roll of film in it.  Uh Oh.

And the hi-tech projectors of that time - hand cranking and automatic scratching!

 

And this titling device, ca 1968, became the animation stand, moderately effective, if somewhat limited in focal length, camera movement (or stability), and stable framing.  But, hey, the footage was getting shredded by the projectors, anyway!

Don't Be Nervous (1929) - clip demonstrating sound technique

1929 wasn't a good year for movies that moved.  Sound generally meant a camera bolted in place, boxed to create a quiet camera and dehydrated cameraman.  And for the sound itself, it wasn't high fidelity - it practically had to fight to get onto the soundtrack.  Watch The Broadway Melody (1929) to track MGM's learning curve (spoiler alert - it isn't too curvy), or examine the Marx Brothers in their first film for Paramount, The Coconuts, to observe the direct method to prevent crackly paper from destroying a take.

Lloyd Hamilton, himself

So for a two-reeler from Educational Pictures in 1929 to not only handle sound pretty well, but to add a split-screen AND interactive soundtrack is pretty amazing.  Lloyd Hamilton, generally unknown today, was appreciated by his contemporaries (Buster Keaton particularly among them), provided this example of how he handled "the talkies."  I know I was rather stunned - from Don't Be Nervous, directed by William Watson. 

The whole thing is here:
https://archive.org/details/DONTBENERVOUSLloydHamiltonTalkie

Nixon Resigns and Ford Inaugurated - August 1974

With Super 8mm film and some lucky "wild sound" lip synching....

...a homemade kinescope!...

It was a warm summer in 1974, and the shredded lettuce at Burger Chef tasted so sweet...like the sweet taste of shredded Watergate documents...the sound came a few months later when a magnetic stripe was added to the original super 8mm film and the whole thing recorded on the fly, complete with projector noise.  Back when you could still do six impossible things before breakfast...