In the past, when DVD players had not yet been invented, and cartoons were shown only on TV (and even then not all day), filmstrips were one of the most beloved children's entertainments. What are filmstrips and what did they mean for Soviet girls and boys? Let's try to figure it out and remember.
What do you know about them?
What are filmstrips? And this is such a film on which frames of a story or an interesting fairy tale were placed sequentially. In a different way, a filmstrip is such a set of slides on a transparent film, which in the past, twentieth century was similar to today's PowerPoint presentation.
These films were inserted into a special device with a lamp - a filmoscope. Images from slides could be projected onto a white screen on a wall. A typical filmstrip had about thirty or forty slides with captions. Until the end of the last century, Soviet filmstrips were widely distributed in educational institutions of the vast Soviet Union, until they were replaced by video recorders, DVD players, and media projectors.
Speaking in scientific terms, such slides were called transparencies. Hence the word “filmstrip”, in which the Greek prefix “dia-” means “through, through,” and “film” actually means the film.
In those days, every child knew what filmstrips were. Today, transparencies are a museum rarity and an object of interest to collectors; they are on a par with reel tape recorders and phonograph records.
How it works?
So, we have already found out that there are several slides in the filmstrip. Under each frame was a text to it. A little later on sale filmstrips appeared without text, but with sound. In Soviet times, such filmstrips were sold with phonograph records or audio cassettes for them. In such a simple way, moving from one picture to another, the audience watched (and read) a fairy tale.
The filmstrip film has a rather narrow “waist” (its width is only 35 mm), the frames on it with the naked eye are not very visible.
So, since it was almost impossible to see anything on tape, in order to watch filmstrips for children, the projector as a special equipment was needed.
The filmstrip film had to be inserted into a special frame. Using the wheel on the side, it was possible to scroll the film back and forth. The filmstrip passed through specially prepared slides located between the lens and the lamp, due to which a static picture appeared on the wall. As a rule, in order to carry out a viewing, a screen or a white sheet was required (this is if the action took place at home, in the family circle).
Darkness is a friend of Soviet kids
How can I see filmstrips? What is already understood. And before, the whole family gathered to watch such a film. I must say that in the overhead projector there was a special very bright lamp and in front of the lens was a magnifying image on the film. When a slide projector was pointed at a white wall, the picture was already large enough, and you could see everything depicted on the slide. By the way, the size could be customized, even on the entire wall. If the wall was colored (the wallpaper could have been in a flower or a strip), then hung a white, ironed sheet.
By the way, for those who did not find this miracle of the technology of the children of the seventies and eighties, a little explanation should be given: if the room was bright, then the image on the wall turned out to be completely pale or not visible at all. Therefore, filmstrips were watched in the dark, in the evenings, or hung windows tightly during the day.
Not just for fun, but also for learning
Those over 35 still remember well that home filmstrip views were once a true family ritual. Usually everyone waited until evening came; it would be completely dark outside. A sheet was carefully hung on the wall and the magic began.
By the way, they could also share responsibilities: for example, a daughter or son were spinning a projector wheel, and mom or dad with an expression read the chosen fairy tale. After reading the text under one frame, adults gave a signal to go to the next.
Today, a children's filmstrip is something historical, like a gramophone. Such color slides are a thing of the past. Although some people probably have preserved collections of their favorite films and cartoons in jars with filmstrips. And long-grown adults still probably remember how in their childhood they exchanged films with each other.
It should be noted that such a technology has not been forgotten to this day. Filmstrips are also used for educational purposes, because they are not only entertaining, but also educational. Overhead projectors are used to demonstrate individual shots on film (this is necessary at lectures in schools and institutes). Films on which there is only one frame are called transparencies.