This black and white film is sponsored by the Bell & Howell Company and was used by sales people to show interested customers. It introduces the Bell & Howell Filmosound 202 projector, an innovative 16-millimeter optical magnetic motion picture sound projector produced from 1952-1955 (:25-:37.) The projector used a thin magnetic stripe on the 16mm film to record and play back sound. This stripe could be added using a special striping machine that a person could buy, or at a Bell & Howell laboratory. The magnetic striping was far cheaper than a conventional “optical track” which had to be created through a much more complex process.
In the film, a man sets up the projector and speaks into a hand-held microphone to record voice, music, and sound effects (:43-1:13). The complete steps are shown up close. First is to take the single perforated 16-millimeter film, insert it into the round metal case, and take it to the Bell & Howell dealer (1:14-1:23). It is then sent to the office in Chicago (1:24) to have a magnetic sound stripe placed on it and returned to the owner. To begin, remove the side panel and thread the film into the projector (1:32-1:53). Next, the microphone is plugged in (1:55), the selector lever is turned to magnetic and the sound switch to record (2:04-2:10). Turn up the microphone volume control and press the record button. (2:11-2:31). If a mistake is made, turn the Direction switch to reverse the film the desired amount and then back to forward and resume recording by pressing the Record button (2:50-3:37). The man sets the projector up to play the film, which can be recorded over as often as needed (3:42). This projector has many different uses. A manufacturer could use this to record product information and play it to clients (5:08-6:02). A teacher records an added soundtrack to an educational film with an optical soundtrack (6:05-6:52). A clergyman records the soundtrack of a Bible film (6:53-7:22). A doctor records a message on the film of an operation (7:23-7:45). A family watches home movies (7:46-8:20). The customer watching to this point is now invited to record into the microphone the words shown on the screen, which are then played back to showcase how the product works (9:05-10:25).
Used Filmosound 202 Projectors typically sell for $50-100 on eBay.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
