Vintage Classroom Filmstrip converted to YouTube
Derrick Bostrom of Bostworld provided an invaluable service to the world by scanning a vintage Classroom Filmstrip and uploading it to YouTube.
Classroom Filmstrips have been a staple of kitch fans since time immemorial (that’s about four decades, in Kitsch Years), yet the Web still lacks a truly marvellous repository of the things. Collectors are apparently afraid to let them out of their little plastic tubes for fear they’ll crumble in the air. Others would rather compile them onto equally crumbly paper and weigh in on the matter with their own two cents.LinkThusly, I couldn’t resist a box of Sunday school filmstrips during a recent antique store outing. I also couldn’t resist scanning a couple of them, adding the included soundtrack records, and combining the whole mess into a couple nifty QuickTimes files — just the thing for an upload to YouTube. The colors have faded and dust has burned permanently into the images, but the somber message for our little ones is as clear as on the day these filmstrips were manufactured. After weighing the pros and cons of simulating the film-roll experience, I ultimately ruled it out. It would have been too much trouble.
Today’s lesson is the intriguing story of the little cloud who gave his life to help humanity. Not only is it a terrific primer for helping kids visualize fluffy Casper-like supernatural beings floating overhead affecting our lives, it also introduces children to the concept of self-sacrifice (very important in a society that relies upon a standing military), the value of prayer in an agrarian economy, and the scientific role of cloud sadness in the production of rain.
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would have been SO much better if he'd been able to incorporate some sort of bumper/segue/effect in between just like the filmstrip being turned and "popping" into place...
but a great idea nonetheless...
This gives me hope of finding copies of a serial film strip I used to watch in school from the mid seventies called "Uncle Smiley" about a kind-hearted and bumbling, bearded oaf, who would teach kids about how not to do things . There would be a moral or educational tidbit tied in to each strip--- but mostly it was just this large, bearded fellow falling down repeatedly with a laugh track playing each time he tumbled. I remember one about converting an empty lot into a fun playground/garden that used old tires and industrial materials, and one about the seasons. Man, I miss Uncle Smiley.
That wave's voice- sounds exactly like some character in those Rudolph & Frosty specials. Those ones with the animated dolls! Yeah I'm too lazy & busy to google it right now-
The ocean was voiced by Paul Frees, voice of Disney's Haunted Mansion among others:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293659/
Some of the soundtracks had a "boop" noise to tell the lucky kid picked by the teacher to manually advance the film. With time these became sophisticated enough to self-automate.
It would've been a better video if he'd sought to insert this cheesy audio clue in...at least to help the viewer pay attention, something like "yo, pay attention, scene change ahead".
In high school, some of my teachers were cool enough to sometimes run actual reel-to-real films backwards through the projector...laughed our asses off. Ah, simple minds, simple pleasures.
I really love the whole retro AV Geeks movement...great archival stuff...thanks for posting this!
I remember all our film strips having a "boop" in them too.
Shameful exhibitionism: those clouds should all be wearing pants.
Yeah, I came here specifically to say: I miss the "boop" noise.
"In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, signalling the launch of a grand new nation. (Boop!) George Washington commanded the Continental Army, keeping alive this proud and noble vision. (Boop!)"
Though I think I remember the "(((((FOCUS)))))" image.
I too remember the BOOP, and I also came here specifically to say that watching a filmstrip without the BOOP just doesn't feel right. Sorry.
I remember watching similar filmstrips as a little girl in Catholic grade school in the early '90s. I was always really horrified at the anthropomorphic phenomena, like the rain and clouds. I apparently was the only child who actually watched the Discovery Channel, because our "science" books (even adjusting for being 5-10 year olds) was woefully thin and condescending.
And I hated the boop. Just to be contrary, I guess.
I was really good at operating the filmstrip projector. It always ticked me off when another kid got the job and messed up.
#2: I remember Uncle Smiley! The school showed his films when stuff was canceled and there was time to fill.
Uncle Smiley episode guide
Does anyone remember the name of a continuous movie format used in schools in the '70s?
If I recall correctly, the film was in a plastic, transparent cartridge no bigger than 5"x5"x2". It was squared off on the end that plugged into the projector (where the film ran, I suppose), and rounded at the oppsosite end, and there was a skewed circular protrusion at an angle to the main front-back axis, presumably to accommodate the continuous winding.
Tx
Bongo
Thanks for the episoded guide, Stefan! I'll be letting the memories flood back all day.
A "truly marvelous repository" of educational films does exist- it's called the Prelinger Archives...
Oh, for the simpler days when being in the A/V Club involved dropping a needle or playing a cassette and turning the filmstrip ahead after each BOOP. These days being in the A/V Club means I'm up to my eyeballs in digital preservation nightmares.
I, too, miss the BOOP.
((BOOP!))
Hmmm...so the first lesson is, little white clouds should save themselves by running away from the scary Big Black Clouds. Was this thing produced by the KKK?
I thought I recognized the name -- Bostrom was the original drummer for the Meat Puppets.
Thank you #4 MIKERBAKER for the reference. I heard the voice and thought wait! I know that guy!