The Evolutionary Journey of Motion Picture Media
with "Cinema Bob" Stilson

The burned-out bulbs, the worn-out reel pulleys, the jammed film ribbon melting at the lamp window – those were the good old days of the celluloid movie experience! Many motion picture enthusiasts still long for the noisy, mechanistic workings of those old 8 & 16mm movie projectors. As the saying goes, “they just don’t make things like they used to.”

We’ll start from those nostalgic days, move into the present, and even speculate at the future. I’m delighted that my favorite movie critic and expert, “Cinema” Bob Stilson, has agreed to help us on this journey.

All motion picture media systems rely on a physiological phenomenon called Persistence of Vision, in which the combined human eye and brain retain an image long enough for the next frame image to be displayed. The result is the viewer's perception of continuous motion. Primitive by today's standards, Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope was a technological wonder in the 1890's. The electric lamp and the invention of the movie projector allowed large groups of people to enjoy the same show together. This inspired more dramatic moviemaking and the creation of the Hollywood industry. In 1975 Sony released the Betamax videotape, followed by the VHS format by JVC in 1976. These were magnetic cassette tapes that recorded and played video signals using a system called helical scanning, where a tilted rotating drum would record and read individual image frames in diagonal magnetic stripes along the tape. This not only gave consumers the ability to record TV shows for later viewing, but made movie rentals practical and convenient. Laserdisk (left) - DVD (right) MCA and Pioneer put the Laserdisk on the market in 1978. These were much larger than current DVDs (see left) and not quite as reliable. They stayed in the market until about 1982 when they could no longer compete with videotapes for consumer interest. Movie on a CED disk In 1981 RCA began producing CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) disks for movie watching. These delivered good quality, but damaged easily and could not properly fit long movies. Today's common DVD (digital video disk) went commercial in 1995. Better manufacturing capabilities, and development of a shorter wavelength (650nm) solid-state laser, allowed the storage of 4.7 Giga Bytes of digital information on these disks. This made it possible to contain not just a full-length movie, but also 'extra features' that added information and entertainment value to the movie itself. These have become very reliable and have excellent picture quality. Most new televisions being purchased have high-definition capability. Full High-Definition televisions have a resolution of 1,920 pixels wide by 1,080 pixels high (1080i/1080p HD format). This is 4 times the resolution of standard TV, and requires that much more data to generate the video signal - too much to fit on current DVDs. In order to enjoy full length movies, with the picture clarity of full High-Definition, you'll need to invest in one (or both) of the competing High-Def disk formats. At this time the winner of this competition is unknown. There is speculation that they may simply co-exist, and that dual-format players will be the solution. Format capacities: HD-DVD - 15 GB single layer, 30 GB double layer Blu-ray - 50 GB double layer, possibly 200 GB ( see TDK release)

I know that you have a collection of old movies on the 8 and 16mm film-reel formats. Is this where you started with your interest in motion pictures?
In the late sixties, the Clarence Public Library used to show silent films every Saturday morning. I would see a lot of Lon Chaney and D.W. Griffith, but favorites were the comedies * Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, but especially Charlie Chaplin. I couldn't get enough Chaplin. When I was eleven, I bought an old silent 8mm projector at a garage sale and sent away for a copy of "The Immigrant" with Chaplin from Blackhawk Films. I was thrilled. I couldn't believe I owned an actual film. I collected many Chaplins, Keatons, and Laurel and Hardy's from Blackhawk over the years. Years later, I found a used 16mm sound projector and started collecting Warner Brothers cartoons and Fleischer Popeyes as well.

My family never owned a film projector, but my aunt and uncle did and they would invite us over occasionally to watch movies, or films that they had taken themselves. I remember crowding into the spare bedroom where they kept the pull-down screen and could achieve the needed level of darkness. My recollection is that it never went very well. You first had to hope that the projector bulb worked, or that there was a spare replacement if it didn't. Then there was the delicate task of threading the film through all that machinery so that the advancement pin would engage properly and not just tear the ribbon or gum things up. It seemed a rare occasion that we watched something without incident and foul language from my uncle. Was this a typical experience with this equipment or just a lack of skill on my uncle's part, and what are some of your own best experiences?
The most fun I've had with my projector was watching cartoons with my boys at home when they were little. It was always a big deal when I would set up the projector after dark and they could watch huge images of Bugs Bunny and Popeye up on the screen. They would often request a showing when they had friends over. We even set up an outdoor drive-in one summer evening. I played the cartoons on the portable screen in our backyard while my boys and their friends watched while sitting in their Fisher-Price cars.

You mentioned in our first e-mail communication that besides film-reel and the current DVD formats that you also collected Betamax and VHS magnetic tapes as well as RCA's CED videodisks. Can you describe your likes and dislikes for these three formats?
Beta and VHS made films wildly accessible, but both formats left a great deal to be desired in terms of sound and picture quality. Beta was slighter better, but it wasn't this big quantum leap in quality. I also wished that they would do more with videotape marketing * add trailers, music videos, and 'making-of' features. I was thrilled when DVD finally started marketing itself as something that gave you more than just the film.

The RCA CED videodisks had great picture and sound, but they would scratch easily. The result would be sudden jerky movements from the actors or a complete jump to further down the scene. They also had to fit strictly within "60-minutes-on-each-side" format. They would occasionally compress the film slightly so films just over two hours wouldn't have to be put out as a multi-disk. This would speed up the sound slightly and it was sometimes noticeable. I recall that my copy of "The Empire Strikes Back" sounded particularly over-caffeinated. I did love the fact that you could skip to your favorite scenes, and the CED discs were much more affordable than VHS or Beta. In the early eighties, a movie that would be 20 bucks on disk would have cost 50 to 70 dollars on tape. Better quality and cheaper price, the CED disks seemed like the way to go ....until they died a quick death within a few years. People liked that you could tape your favorite TV shows with VHS and Beta. You couldn't record on the CED disks.

Among the early videodisks (prior to DVD) there were capacitive and laser-reflective types. Did you collect both types or just the capacitive CED type?
I never made the leap to Laserdisc.

When DVDs came out were you excited about the technology, and in what ways did you think it improved the most over the past formats?
I was stunned by the picture quality. Even in films that were 75 years old, I was able to see all kinds of detail that I had never seen before. I recall comparing my VHS copy of "Raging Bull" with my DVD copy. There were so many picture details that were invisible on the VHS that showed in bold clarity on the disc (I'm talking about things like rows and rows of people in the stands; things like that).

How much do you think the "extra features," enabled by the DVD technology, add to the overall viewing experience?
I love them. Many extra features are just fluff, but well-made features can really add to the viewing experience. This is especially true on films where the actual making of the film was an adventure in itself * "Casablanca", "Wizard of Oz", "Citizen Kane", "The Godfather", "Some Like It Hot", etc. They can even enhance less-than-great films. The Elizabeth Taylor "Cleopatra" may be a dull film, but the accompanying feature-length documentary is absolutely fascinating.

In your business are you finding much anticipation or excitement about the new high-definition disk formats, or do you think that current DVD quality has given most people a level of contentment for a while?
I'm not convinced that the general public is excited yet. The only place I hear buzz is from techie-type DVD websites.

With Paramount and Dreamworks supporting HD-DVD, and Sony and Disney supporting Blu-ray, have you given any thought about picking a winner between the newly competing high-definition formats?
None.

If you had to look into the future and predict what the movie experience might be like fifty years from now what would you imagine?
You'll probably download the information into some port on the back of your neck so you can just close your eyes and see the movie in your mind. I'll take a black and white Popeye cartoon, projected on a living room wall, over that any day.

Do you think that cinema and video game technology will blend, at some point in the future, to where you no longer just watch a movie but can actually participate in it?
I hope not. I'd hate to think of the train wreck that would occur when the mind of the average moviegoer tampers with the visual poetry of people like John Ford, Billy Wilder or Alfred Hitchcock. It would be like going to the theater to see Improv Shakespeare. Thanks, but I'll pass.

Last question. What's your all-time favorite movie and favorite format to watch it on?
Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" on DVD with an ice-cold Diet Pepsi and a medium-sized popcorn from the North Park theater (no butter).

If you love movies and could use some fun and entertainment at the end of the work-week, you can hear "The Movie Show with Cinema Bob Stilson" streamed live on Fridays @ 5:00 p.m. EST on WBEN Radio (Buffalo, NY).