Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted June 06, 2018 11:00 AM
i love the odd ebay auctions with super 8 titles that are a mystery and if the price is right, I'll bid on them.
Well, in this case, it was/is a 200ft super 8 reel entitled, "Perfect Commercial". Now, before writing this post, Idid as much research as i could on the internet to see if i could get any further info on this super 8 "release" and found nothing, so I'll give you all the details.
First, i was very happy to see that it was printed on Kodachrome so the color is glorious. At first look, it looked like some student film on super 8, but I noticed that there were no splices on this actual film, so it was edited into a cohesive story and then printed on super 8, probably originally shot on 16MM or, perhaps on super 8 but i doubt it as the sharpness and overall print quality is very good.
At the beginning, it has a short 10 second or so title card, (without the title of the film), that states, "Walther and Associates 1974".
Thwe storyline appears to be a lower echelon employee pushing an idea for something, (which is never explained) and the different steps that the idea goes thru to reach the boss who approves it and then sent to the different departments, (shooting, recording a soundtrack ect).
There is even a short approximately 30 second bit of animation with a human charadter jumping on a pogo stick on the artists drawing board, (bizzare but interesting). There is even slight drama to it where the boss puts the finished 16MM reel in his "outgoing" box and it falls and even has the film catch and unwind off the reel before the boss realizes it and quickly gets it back on the reel.
But it ends on a pleasant note.
Now, other things about this reel ...
It has a magnatic soundtrack and except for just a little dialogue at the very beginning, the rest of the reel is a musical soundtrack with contemporary instrumentals. It has very good sound, by the way.
The film was designed to play at 18 frames per second and this super 8 reel was filled to the brim, so it actually runs about 15 minutes!
Being that it was meant to be run at 18 fps, it was probably shot silent 16MM
It even has an "actors credits" at the end, the four main players in this film.
My first guess is that this was just a film that was put together by this firm, (who, I think, was an advertising firm) and they were just wanting to make an "in-house" film to remember everyone by.
This reel was catalogued for a library in Passadea california. I don't know it that will help solve the mystery. it still has it's library card, (and apparantly, the film was never checked out by anybody. It is pristine.).
At any rate, not a bad 9.95 investment in this reel. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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