HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
This reel looks to be a compilation made from two films, previously in their own boxes but moved onto this one reel and some parts of the old boxes used for identification. The outer box is a plain ordinary Grasso Cinecassette Red box.
Now, on with the description ...
BBC TV ENTERPRISES & WALTON FILMS (2 ON ONE REEL)
A) Title: BUSH WALKABOUT (David Attenborough)
B) Title: HORROR OF DRACULA (Not sure which version this is, 1958? - title screen says 1965)
Each "selected scenes" film runs for approximately 7~8 minutes each.
Catalogue #
Film A: A.506
Film B: Unknown
Black & White
Silent (NO Sound at all but with plenty of "sub-titles")
Run time total: approximately 16 minutes
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Very good
Film stock and the Light Grey unbranded (marked Made In Italy) reel are undamaged, there is however NO leader film fitted (it looks as though there used to be one but no more ...)
Red outer all cardboard Grasso Cinecassette box is in not too bad a shape and holding together ok, assisted by a strip or two of cellotape.
NO writing on the reel and plain outer cardboard box has parts of the two films original packaging stuck on it for identification.
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Film looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
I ran this reel through the projector for almost the entire length, stopping at around 12 minutes run time (I had enough of Dracula and his never ending hunger for blood!)
I must say that the bush walkabout film is a hoot! It's great seeing the Australian wildlife in action and in Black & White, adds to the "olde world" atmosphere. Plenty of onscreen explanation about what is going on and I had to laugh as David started off fully clothed and then as the film progressed, off came the shirt ... its hot out here Mate! Geez, David was a young man in this film.
The picture is also good with the Dracula film (selected scenes) not much in the way of onscreen text but the faces say it all! I am not sure just which version of Dracula this is, there is just the title screen but no actor credits at all, going straight into the film with Dracula about to have his first "drink" from a young(ish) lady.
There is no sound, you need to concentrate and watch for the text on the screen in the first film and just watch the facial expressions and body language in the second film.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of the first two films is showing, my camera decided to play up on the third film so no screen shots of that one.
My digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that) - like I said, this is one OLD camera and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs.
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen and I have noticed that after viewing quite a few films now, that my poor OLD digital camera is tending to emphasise the Red's and Yellow's in the photographs anyway - in real life the on-screen picture is not as Yellowish as recorded in the photographs
In my opinion, after this quite lengthy test viewing, I am happy that the film content is as indicated on the box and that the film stock appears to be in pretty good technical condition.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after-all doing this on behalf of another person) and I have now sealed the inside reel in clear plastic along with a couple of packets Silica Gel (at an enthusiasts suggestion) and then packed it back into the original cardboard box AND sealed the film again within clear plastic - waiting for a Super 8 film Black & White buff to enjoy!
