Watching Black & White Movies/Shows

[GreyGhost]

Danarchy said:

Speaking of Dr. Who, I really need to watch it sometime, but I have no idea of where to start.

Set your Chrono-cruiser's destination co-ordinates to - London, 23 Nov 1963. :-)

[Technician]

Danarchy said:

It's really sad that the BBC destroyed so many of it's old tapes even into the 70s, especially since there had been film preservation movements dating back to the 1930s. From what I heard, almost half of the Dr. Who episodes are still missing.

Speaking of Dr. Who, I really need to watch it sometime, but I have no idea of where to start.

Sadly the reason behind wiping the tapes back in the day was the actors singed into contracts stating the number of times a recording could be should before it had to be retired. At the time many actors felt the risk of declining employment if stations could simply re-run their material and make a profit. Of course we all know that we the audience will always want to see new material.

Once the recording limit was reached BBC saw no need in keeping the tapes and erased them to save a buck.

CODOR said:

Yeah, I read a bit more into it: there are some segments that are only from fan's-camera-pointing-at-the-screen 8mm prints (see here and here).

Awesome site! It looks like a lot more Dr Who material still exists then I thought. I hope BBC gets right on this and restores the material for a syndicate runs box set(s).

[Georgef551]

Interresting process.
As for Dr. Who, that YouTube clip reminded me when they WERE B&W, although I used to watch taped ones back in the late '70's with my Grandmother. The one thing that sticks out, being it seems weird for the show, was the video feedback effect when things went wrong in the story. Also, the ending had the phone booth appear in front of you, and dissapear in the center of the screen. (If I remember right, the reverse happens in the beginning).

[myk]

I don't think I "mentally recolor" black and white movies, although I do lose track of the fact that color is missing while watching. It does give a different impression, though, and in a movie I watched recently, it accentuated its theme on sadness.

[Technician]

Georgef551 said:

The one thing that sticks out, being it seems weird for the show, was the video feedback effect when things went wrong in the story.

I don't quite follow you.

[Sharessa]

GreyGhost said:

Set your Chrono-cruiser's destination co-ordinates to - London, 23 Nov 1963. :-)

Start at the beginning? Okay...thought it might be weird with all the missing episodes though.

[fraggle]

Danarchy said:

Speaking of Dr. Who, I really need to watch it sometime, but I have no idea of where to start.

Heh, the funny thing about Doctor Who is that it has been around so long and there are (understandably) very different styles for all the different eras that it has been through. Plus it has a main character that has been played by ten different actors with wildly different personalities.

The best approach I can recommend, I think, is to just start watching the revived (2005) series from the start and work your way through. It gradually explains everything you need to know in an accessible way as you progress through the series. If you like that, consider watching some of the best stories from the original series, like Genesis of the Daleks or Tomb of the Cybermen.

[Sharessa]

Ah, okay. I was basically thinking somewhere along those lines. I knew it did change a lot and didn't have any major continuity so there wouldn't be a driving need to see it from the beginning, but I didn't know if the new series was on the same level as the older ones. I have a bit of an interest in the Tom Baker episodes since he's basically THE Doctor in all references we see here in America, and since I know him as the narrator for Little Britain. :P

[Georgef551]

Technician said:

I don't quite follow you.

The "Video feedback effect"?
When something goes horribly wrong in the storyline, Dr. Who, or any other person, would scream, and the image of the video is repeated on top of the original over and over in multiple colors, kind of like HOM in DooM.
When I got nightmaresas a kid, and screamed in my dreams, the same effect would appear, hence how I remember that oddity.