8mm Forum: std 8mm optical sound

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Topic: std 8mm optical sound

Tommy Woods
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Scouser
Registered: Feb 2011

posted March 11, 2012 05:52 PM

Hi
I have a Toei 8 talkie projector,here is a link to super8data http://www.super8data.com/database/projectors_list/projectors_toei/toei_talkie_8.htm

my question is this was there ever std 8mm optical sound film,as this has the ability to play them, if not,its a pity this cant play super 8 optical,just thought I'd throw this in the mix and see what comes up.

Regards

Tommy

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Let there be light,so god created the projector

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Thomas Dafnides
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 247
From: St. Louis, Missouri USA
Registered: Dec 2009

posted March 11, 2012 08:26 PM

I love the design, similar to a 16mm projector . I am not aware of any standard 8mm optical sound prints...I believe there was a plan to market optical sound for the education market but it was derailed by the introduction of Super 8.

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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God

Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012

posted March 12, 2012 04:37 AM

Nice projector Tom,I remember these being advertised by Dixon's Photographic at the time in magazines and
newspapers etc and they look like a sturdy piece of kit.As for
std 8mm optical I do believe it was very big in Japan where many
films were released in this format,a few distributors did release
some titles but sales were not great.Did you know that there was
another system produced in Italy called FORMAT M.Introduced
about the same time that Kodak was putting Super 8 onto the
market,which would be 1965.It used the std 8 frame and the super 8 sprocket hole,which meant the frame width could be increased to about 1.85 ratio. the talk was of using this format
commercially,with the possibility of in- flight entertainment and
the soundtracks could be either opt. or magnetic.Perhaps the
lads in Italy could throw some light on this? I believe the
projectors were Silma and Fumeo with large spools for showing
features and this was reported in "Movie Maker"magazine at
the time.So any further info on this would be helpful.Phil Sheard
did report on this some years ago.

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Tommy Woods
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Scouser
Registered: Feb 2011

posted March 12, 2012 07:03 AM

Its a pity that I wont be able to try the optical side of this machine,what suprises me is the amount of investment required in R&D marketing etc to get this to market over here and for there not to be films available,annyhow,this came to me without a power lead so I'm going to convert the AC socket and get it up and running and put a film thru it.

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Let there be light,so god created the projector

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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God

Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012

posted March 12, 2012 03:37 PM

i've got to say that the projector you've got there looks a far better
machine to put film through than the much vaunted Elmo
projectors,as it isn't auto thread, and isn't cursed with those
terrible plastic tracks.I wonder where all those prints are now that
were made for these machines?

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Tommy Woods
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Scouser
Registered: Feb 2011

posted March 12, 2012 04:12 PM

If anyone has any optical std 8mm film even 50ft please let me know!!!

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Let there be light,so god created the projector

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

posted March 13, 2012 09:31 AM

I've spoken to someone who has a Std 8 optical projector and a few shorts - so they do exist in the UK but are extremely difficult to find.

[ March 13, 2012, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Adrian Winchester ]

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Adrian Winchester

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted March 13, 2012 12:44 PM

Believe it or not ... there was!!!

I passed on it, and I REALLY wish I had bought it, as it was a bargain price and I had never even heard of them before, but I was offered a print of "Futureworld", and it was a standard 8mm optical sound print, and I think we can be reasonably sure that there were other standard 8mm optical sound prints manufactured.

I just wish I had bought that film! Another example of me kicking myself in the arse after the fact again ...

Hmmm, I wonder if there were any standard 8mm optical sound prints of "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams", mmm could be!

What surprised me further, is that there was even standard 8mm optical features as of that late date, as "Futureworld" came out in 1976.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Tommy Woods
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Scouser
Registered: Feb 2011

posted March 14, 2012 07:07 AM

Interesting regarding these films being in the UK,I've tried googling to no avail,I guess this must be one of the rarest formats?

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Let there be light,so god created the projector

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted March 14, 2012 01:53 PM

It would have to be Tom ... (hope you don't mind the abbreviation there), as that is the only print that I have ever heard of as a standard 8mm optical sound feature.

I'm sure that someone on this forum has the article in they're own archives, but there was a tragic story of a fellow collector, invited to go to a super 8 optical sound film lab (for the airlines) and he witnessed a film exec who had to stand by and watch as they physically butchered super 8 optical sound prints, in order to make sure that they didn't get into collectors hands, (a way of keeping things copyright protected back then) ...

I wouldn't be surprised if the same standards were used with the standard 8mm prints.

One thought that just occured to me ...

This projector that you have mentioned above is of "Japanese descent". Therefore, could standard 8mm optical sound prints been quite well known in Japan? It is possible and there is very little known about Japanese super 8, (though it is still being produced over there, and we have good old fuji film super 8 existing to this day!)

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Allan Broadfield
Master Film Handler

Posts: 452
From: Bromley, Kent
Registered: Nov 2010

posted March 14, 2012 02:24 PM

The 'Toei' was my first sound projector and it was marvelous if a little noisy in operation, the bodywork being metal which seemed to magnify the noise of the mechanism. The gate apperture was switched over when running optical sound, which made the picture frame considerably smaller to make way for the optical track. It operated mag sound very well, but unfortunately I never came across any optical prints, which I think were probably a Japanese thing.
Incidentaly, the instructions were in a sort of pig English, eg; 'Don't remove the cover or you will be shocked'!

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John Yapp
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 148
From: Telford England.
Registered: Dec 2011

posted March 14, 2012 02:33 PM

"It would have to be Tom ... (hope you don't mind the abbreviation there)"

That must have saved you lots of time Osi [Smile]

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Michael O'Regan
Film God

Posts: 3085
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Oct 2007

posted March 14, 2012 02:36 PM

Yep, especially as you then went to the trouble of writing " (hope you don't mind the abbreviation there)"
[Wink]

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