Films, video

Press, 16 April 1981, Page 27

Films, video

Home movies as a treat for the young fry, films to raise funds for a team or club, or an evening with, a difference during a family gathering — whichever it is. Film Services of Matipc Street have a wide selection of entertainment to choose from.

Even the Bmm range, designed for showing in the sitting room, is available in cinemascope. This is possible by means of a special lens to convert the square picture.to a wide display projection. There is nothing complicated about’ using the mod-

ern, quiet-running, automatic projectors. With the reel in position, the end of the film is placed in the feeder slot. The projector then - does its own threading up and only needs someone to focus the picture. Hire of an Bmm colour film such as the 20min. edited version of "The Sound of Music" is $4.95 for an

evening, plus $9 for the projector. Hire of the cinemascope lens is another $3. Four foot (1.2 m screens that unfold like a music

stand are hired for home shows and larger screens for halls.

The range of Bmm films includes children’s entertainment, such as Tom and Jerry, and family shows, such as "The Three Musketeers.” There are also circus films, westerns and thrillers. A Walt Disney cartoon is usually “thrown in" with the order. Films in the 16mm range can be shown at home but can equally well be used in a hall. There is nothing to stop this now, so long as the' venue complies with council : egress requirements for safety’s sake.- . A hall screening is an excellent way to provide suitable entertainment for a youth group or club and at •the same time boost its funds from a small entrance fee. ; The 16mm films include such varied material as sports films, travelogues showing the beauty spots of New Zealand, Health Foundation' films — such as one on asthma — and Christian Science films produced as

entertainment but carrying a message. There is even a film on •Pasadena's Tournament of the Roses; Many parents find children are fascinated to see old television favourites in colour on a much larger screen, especially those from the

days of black and white. "Petticoat Junction," “My' Three Sons’’ and “The Partridge Family” seem .fresh and new in colour, while Roadrunner, Woody Woodpecker and Lassie at four to six times the size seem that much more compelling.

The early days. of thrills and laughter are well represented., too, with films of the Keystone Cops and Laurel and Hardy, for example. Films such as these may be 10 minutes long or half an hour. And then, of course, .there .are the full length' movies — old favourites and recent hits along with a host of others less well known.

There are musicals like “Hello, Dolly” and action films like “Where Eagles •Dare’’ and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

Of more recent date, there is action like that of “The French Connection” and

“King Kong." There are massive dramas like "Ben Hur" and great love stories like “Gone With the Wind,” “Doctor Zhivago" .and “Ryan's Daughter.” There are horror stories, tragedies and practically everything in between. The hire of a two-hour-.movie ranges up from $9.50. Mostly, film, projector and screen are hired together,/ Film Services "also hires out video gear, overhead projectors and automatic slide ■ projectors for seminars and conferences, ■ Multi-projector- displays ■ are particularly effective for technical apd' scientific explanations with, say, three projectors running simul-’ taneously, showing related .images. •-■■••. Using the latest equipment, even slide projectors ‘nowadays are advanced to the stage of having one picture dissolve into the next, thus avoiding the distracting blanks that used to disrupt continuity.