8mm Forum: How did airlines cope with showing super 8 ?

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Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on September 20, 2017, 08:08 AM:

We all talk of super 8 optical prints being "airline" prints and, as I understand, were housed in cartridges for easier use and projection ( I am prepared to stand corrected on that one ), but as someone who has never experienced super 8 on an aeroplane, I just cannot visualise it being a practical method of presentation.
It would need quite a large screen. Surely too many heads would be in the way to see it effectively? Were there several projectors with screens strategically placed along the 'plane to overcome this? The mind boggles!

I reach out to those who have experienced it to explain how it all worked up there in the sky in the days before vi**o !

.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 20, 2017, 08:58 AM:

If the airlines were anything like they are today, I'd imagine this was a First Class kind of thing, maybe upstairs in a 747 on the bulkhead in back of the cockpit of transcontinental and transoceanic flights. It took a long time to trickle down to Coach and short hop flights. (Just like we'll all have free WiFi someday!)

Even with screens at every seat, I can't imagine Coach being as bad as it is today! Based on the last time I flew, I'd rather walk! (-If I had a couple of months to get there!)

Posted by Peter Scott (Member # 4541) on September 20, 2017, 09:26 AM:

In 1980 I travelled to California on a British Airways 747, the screen was on the wall (where the cabin crew prepared the food) in the middle of the standard cabin, the sound was listened through headphones which was supplied by the crew. you plugged them in on the seat where you could listen to the radio, they had a separate channel for the film soundtrack.
I watched the Electric Horseman going out, can remember what the film was on the return journey all I can remember was it had George Burns in it.

Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on September 20, 2017, 09:35 AM:

Peter, what size screen did they use, and, was it easy to see for everybody?

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 20, 2017, 09:36 AM:

Melvin
It is believed that the earliest inflight films were in 1921. The projector was situated in the centre of the flight deck and showing onto a single screen.
But much later, films were shown during commercial flights with 16mm Bell & Howell projectors fitted in the luggage racks and showing to small screens above the passengers, very much in the way small video screen now hinge down.
There was only one copy of the film which ran round, in turn, all the projectors.
You may find the following link interesting, although it does not answer all your questions.
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/27/movies/in-flight-movies-update-content-an d-equipment.html?mcubz=0

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on September 20, 2017, 10:03 AM:

When I flew from Hawaii to California in 1977 on Pan Am 747 they projected "The Domino Principle" on our flight. There was one screen in the front of the seats in our section that pulled down. It was around 6 feet wide? I think every section had their own projector. We used earphones, not headphones, and they dimmed the lights in the cabin.
Thats when the Airlines fed us. We had to choose Chicken, Beef, or Vegetarian. Ah..the good ole days- The screen looked like this:

Its funny in the article that Maurice gave the link to they said, "Never Cry Wolf" wouldn't make it onto planes..yet I have seen the print as an Optical Super 8 print. So maybe it DID make it onto the planes!

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 20, 2017, 10:22 AM:

I would suggest that Alan's picture shows a three lens CRT video projector.

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on September 20, 2017, 10:46 AM:

Issue #01/2006 of Small Format magazine had a long article ("In-Flight Flicks") about film projection aboard airplanes. Said article is also reproduced in Jurgen Lossau's book about film projectors.
The magazine can probably be obtained on the second-hand market.
The book, a must-have IMHO, can be purchased from the publisher (click here)

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 20, 2017, 11:29 AM:

What a wonderful article ...

and yes, "Never Cry Wolf" was an optical feature, and it's another one that I have LONG searched for! One of the best nature films I've ever seen.

beats the hell out of "Life and Times of Grizzly Adams", and yes, that comes from me! [Smile]

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on September 20, 2017, 11:42 AM:

The pic was just so you could get an idea of the screen. We were watching film
on the flight as I remember the sound of the clicking film. I don't know if it was 16mm or Super 8 though.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on September 20, 2017, 01:23 PM:

I remember watching"a bit of "Thats Entertainment" on a Pan Am 747 London to Seattle flight Jan 1975. What I do remember was the image was good, but the screen was small, a lot smaller than Alan above picture, almost square, roughly about 4ft in the centre cabin. [Smile]

..I have no idea what film format it was as I was not really interested in it at the time.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on September 20, 2017, 01:48 PM:

Hey you lot, i think your all wrong, this is how its done, its only a few minutes

Watch in full and learn and enjoy. [Big Grin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IW758UciaA

Posted by Joseph Randall (Member # 4906) on September 20, 2017, 07:41 PM:

LOL One of Jerry Lewis' funniest movies!

Posted by Kenneth Horan (Member # 3) on September 20, 2017, 08:57 PM:

Here is a photo of a super 8 airline projector.

Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on September 21, 2017, 12:45 AM:

One huge reel is a good idea for airlines,imagine changing the 400ft reels every 20-ish minutes!

Posted by Terry Sills (Member # 3309) on September 21, 2017, 01:24 AM:

But what happened when passengers got up to go to the toilet or whatever. There would be constant interruptions of the picture. How annoying that would be.

Posted by Melvin England (Member # 5270) on September 21, 2017, 03:08 AM:

Kenneth - Excellent photograph! I assume that the projector sort of just hung there vertically to project the image seeing as though film is loaded vertically and not horizontally? ( Apologies to Todd-AO fans )

Posted by Peter Scott (Member # 4541) on September 21, 2017, 03:47 AM:

Hello Melvin
Alan's picture was exactly the size, the projector was the white box hanging down from the cabin ceiling, it didn't affect the picture if any body stood up as it was high enough, it had to be for safety reasons.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 21, 2017, 05:17 AM:

Re. Alan's picture.
As I said, it looks like a three lens CRT video projector.

Re. Kenneth's picture.
The whole assembly, once loaded, goes up horizontally into the space shown above it.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on September 21, 2017, 09:00 PM:

Brilliant Tom [Big Grin]

PS "Extreme turbulence here and a...bunch... of other places" [Big Grin]

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