Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |
Subject: Dead Media Working Note 00.8
Dead Medium: the Scopitone
From: ac038_AT_osfn.rhilinet.gov (Paul Di Filippo)
Source: Request Magazine October 1995 p 10; James Sullivan, reporter;
Sam Wasserman, Scopitone collector
The Scopitone was a precursor of the rock video, a visual jukebox
introduced in France in 1963. It was a coin-operated large-screen device
intended for the bar and nightclub market, showing brief 16mm color
films of such period popstars as Lesley Gore, Dion, the Tijuana Brass and
Nancy Sinatra. These devices were essentially extinct by 1968 --
"victims of slot-machine racketeers and censorial prudes," according to
Request magazine writer James Sullivan.
San Francisco's Roxie Cinema has run three Scopitone festivals in
recent years. Sam Wasserman is a Scopitone collector, owning six
Scopitone players and "thousands" of their films. He has been transferring
his Scopitone reels to VHS cassettes and will send a catalog of his prizes
for a self-addressed stamped envelope. His address is P. O. Box F, Daly
City CA 94017.
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |