8mm Forum: Optical Sound Prints

8mm Forum

my profile | my password | search | faq | register | forum home

next oldest topic

next newest topic

»	8mm Forum » 8mm Forum » Optical Sound Prints

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: Optical Sound Prints

Osi Osgood
Film God

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

posted February 06, 2017 12:03 PM

Author's Homepage

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

Moderator's Note: This was originally a sales thread that turned into a discussion of optical prints. Since there's quite a bit of good information contained here, I have moved it from Sales to this section. The Sales topic still exists here.
_________________________________________

The color is about a 7.5 to 8 out of 10. SlIghtly fade to what appears to be Kodak SP film stock, (the airlines tended to use Kodak SP for a good while after the rest of the film world switched to LPP), but still pretty good color!

[ February 07, 2017, 05:45 PM: Message edited by: Douglas Meltzer ]

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

| IP: Logged

Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted February 06, 2017 12:15 PM

Edit/Delete Post

They always used the cheapest stock available where possible for these prints.

I suspect the discount wasn't passed onto the airline companies though by the distributors of these films.

Longevity, wasn't something that required any due consideration by the airline companies given the time span they expected to use these for.

I see the odd few on LF stock but not many.

I'm sure they'd be amazed to find out that even some of these are still being used occasionally!😂😂

--------------------
"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

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

posted February 06, 2017 12:21 PM

Author's Homepage

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

I remember well a post i read from my very first year on this forum, concerning an eye-witness account of a fellow visiting a british super 8 optical sound film lab, "Sunstrand" I think was the name of it, but i might be wrong ...

At any rate, he witnessed a studio exec who was witnessing a whole bunch of Super 8 optical sound prints that were used and being destroyed with an axe, so that they could never be used ever again.

I still get choked up by that story! [Frown]

[Frown]

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

| IP: Logged

Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted February 06, 2017 12:30 PM

Edit/Delete Post

The contract was accepted on the understanding that ALL prints should end their days like this, once the airlines had done with them.

It's only by virtue of some unscrupulous insiders that we ever got to own any of them.

--------------------
"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

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

posted February 06, 2017 12:44 PM

Author's Homepage

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

Yeah, i'd LOVE to know, sometime in the future, as to just HOW they got ahold of them ...

heavens knows I'm happy that they were able to ...

Now, in the case of some of my optical sound super 8 prints, they are ex-library prints from South Africa, (Vera Cruz, Westworld, Pocketful O Miracles, Boy Named Charlie Brown, to name a few). A fellow down there just lucked onto a whole PALLETTE of them, in a warehouse, that was about to be destroyed and they were truly saved in the nick of time!

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

| IP: Logged

Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted February 06, 2017 12:58 PM

Edit/Delete Post

Looks like you've already dealt with one such guy then Osi! [Big Grin]

[Big Grin]

[Wink]

As with anything in life, money talks.

--------------------
"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

| IP: Logged

Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted February 06, 2017 05:06 PM

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

Were'nt some of these prints run through a bandsaw?

--------------------
The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

| IP: Logged

Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003

posted February 07, 2017 10:59 AM

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

They were destined to be destroyed & don't forget that this was the age of home video and any half decent film master which could be illegally copied was worth something to the pirates.

These high quality airline prints certainly would have been useful in the wrong hands back in the '80s, so studios were rightfully protective of their product (ie. destroyed them after intended use) albeit slightly laughable and a shame by todays standards.

The deal Derann struck which allowed limited copies of some titles to be saved from the axe and sold on to collectors was totally legit though and as we know saw such titles as "Lethal Weapon", "City Heat", "Spaceballs", "Over the Top" and "Little Shop of Horrors" being snapped up for perfectly legal home exhibition.

Although edited to be suitable for all audiences, these were all very high quality prints. Most sadly now faded, but truly exciting back in the day...

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

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

posted February 07, 2017 11:59 AM

Author's Homepage

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

Back in the day, Dave Thomas Films used to have quite a list of super 8 optical sound features, so i'm betting that he was able to get a good deal on a bunch of prints just lying about. There were some one of a kind feature that used to be on his list and, for all i know, they might have truly been only one of a kind of specific titles still existing.

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

| IP: Logged

Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted February 07, 2017 12:06 PM

Edit/Delete Post

Lethal Weapon for one, is still alright Rob.
City Heat was as well last time I saw it and that wasn't too long ago.

I can't speak for Horrors as I've never had that one, but though many are faded or fading, it's still surprising to see just how good the nice ones still are.

--------------------
"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

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

posted February 07, 2017 12:33 PM

Author's Homepage

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

sadly, low fade film stock was certainly the exception and not the rule. I can't be sure, but "City Heat" appears to be a low fade film stock, (as mine looks pristine). My print of "For Your Eyes Only' is still as good as the day it was printed, but my print of "Stand and Deliver' (1988), definitely looks like it was printed on Kodak SP.

Now, if it comes to other countries, it depends. I have a japanese optical sound print of "Hooper" (with subtitles) on Fuji film and it still looks perfect, as does "Futureworld", (it actually looks better, color wise, than the DVD's I've seen), and going even further back, "Snoopy Come Home" (72) and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown", still have vintage color, even though over 40 years old, so some great film labs were printed on high grade film stock back then for Super 8 opticals.

It appears that LPP was used. my print of "Rocky 3" appears to be on LPP film stock, as it has that slightly "bluish" quality that a lot of early LPP film stock seemed to have.

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

| IP: Logged

Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003

posted February 07, 2017 01:19 PM

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

Where was Dave Thomas based, Osi?

That rings a bell...was he the UK dealer that advertised such things as "Raiders" and "Star Trek III" as optical prints back in the day???

Or was that someone else entirely? Age...it's terrible isn't it!

Andrew, screening "Over the Top" & " Spaceballs" to your mates in the 1980's with really sharp print quality was just such great fun.

Made us all realise just how rubbish VHS was.

Sadly, now I just can't see the point with Blu-ray versions out there.

Anyways... I think we've gone off topic again on the for sale section, but it would be nice if Doug could move us to a new thread?

| IP: Logged

Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted February 07, 2017 02:23 PM

Edit/Delete Post

[Big Grin]

[Big Grin]

[Wink]

--------------------
"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

| IP: Logged

Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted February 07, 2017 04:33 PM

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

I started to collect a few of these, i had little shop of horrors, crocodile Dundee and The Bounty, all had great colours ,BUT, i hate films being edited for the most mild of lingo and in croc Dundee the scene where a guy is sniffing something he shouldn't be, Mick Dundee thinks he has a cold so pours the drug into a bowl of hot water and says now get your head over and breathe deeply, thatl clear your head, this was completely removed, so i sold the lot, films edited for a general audience dont belong in a home cinema. In my opinion [Big Grin]

[Big Grin]

[Wink]

I paid for the feature films, not a kids version of it. All three titles were cut this way, even little shop of horrors, A fish called wanda and Lethal weapon were both titles i would have liked but these sort of edits would have killed them, especially a fish called wanda [Wink]

[Wink]

| IP: Logged

Andrew Woodcock
Film God

Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012

posted February 07, 2017 05:19 PM

Edit/Delete Post

I like them Tom. They are only minor edits and if they left one or two expletives out, I can live with that.

The bigger issue with these now imo is not the editing, just the condition and fading issues of many that turn up.

--------------------
"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"

| IP: Logged

Brian Fretwell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1785
From: London, UK
Registered: Jun 2014

posted February 08, 2017 03:20 AM

Email Brian Fretwell

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

I remember the BBC showing an airline edit of Ruthless People - at one point Bette Midler should have said "Oh my God, I've been kidnapped by .....2 she said "Oh my Lord...". How did I know what she should have said? 2 hours earlier they showed a trailer where she said the right line!!!!!

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

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

posted February 08, 2017 11:35 AM

Author's Homepage

Send New Private Message

Edit/Delete Post

Dave Thomas Films was located in the U.S. I say "was" as, until only recently, he had an ebay page, but he has not had it up there for quite awhile now. he might have completely retired. I'd still like to get ahold of him though, and just chat about the "good ole days"! [Smile]

[Smile]

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

| IP: Logged

All times are Central

Move Topic

Delete Topic

next oldest topic

next newest topic

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Visit www.film-tech.com for free equipment manual downloads. Copyright 2003-2019 Film-Tech Cinema Systems LLC

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2