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Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

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Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#21

Post by flyingcircus3 »

argestes wrote: post #17
fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

I agree with your observations. Even though we also have to consider that this video and the text for it was probably written or edited or at least administered by Walt Disney himself. You can see that Mickey is kind of communicating with Walt Disney on the video. That means the cartoon on the video was made just to show this piece of technology. I think we can say that this video is a way to show the technology of D…

Another obvious tell is that the two technicians operating the multiplane camera have absolutely zero stage presence when they are demonstrating the actual operation. It is plain as day that they have practiced their lines, and not for very long.

But thats ironically how I knew they were the actual technicians, and not paid actors who have no clue how cameras or human vision, or any of these subjects actually work.

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#22

Post by JorgeGT »

peterkelly wrote: post #12
Stratoscope wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you like old instructional videos and documentaries, the Internet Archive has a bunch of them, particularly in the Prelinger Archives. Here are a few favorites... Private Life of a Cat (silent): https://archive.org/details/PrivateL1947 Back of the Mike: https://archive.org/details/Backofth1938 How a Watch Works: https://archive.org/details/HowaWatc1949 Using the Bank: https://archive.org/details/Usingthe1947

One of my favourites is this 1953 explanation of the workings of mechanical analog computers used by the US Navy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1i-dnAH9Y4

I was going to link this. I think we should seriously consider how the skill to produce such clear and didactic explanations to complex concepts has seemingly degraded nowadays.

Specifically I wonder: who was making these videos? how where they trained? where they attached to the different unit or was it a dedicated group that was commissioned by the different units?

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#23

Post by olavk »

joering2 wrote: post #10

You have to listen to him no longer than 2 minutes, to realize it doesn't matter how good of a drawer Disney was; first and foremost he wan an engineer! Just listen how he explains the problem with the Moon, and then goes to explain solution. Clear cut: problem we faced, and solution we applied. That's where genius of people (and financial success) like Mr. Disney comes from. This guy might have been put in Lockheed'…

Walt Disney did not invent the multiplane camera personally. He is just the narrator here, probably working from a script. He was a visionary though and understood how technology like this could aid storytelling.

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#24

Post by nothrabannosir »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #14
fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

Watching such videos makes me wish for a modern explanatory videos done in the same old style, content-rich and distraction-minimizing. Sounds like a niche nobody is willing to cover for some reason. Related, I have similar feelings for textbooks. When I was still in school, my grandfather used to give me books for learning English and German that were from somewhere around 60s - 80s. I vastly preferred them to moder…

Try "Essence of Linear Algebra" by Grant Sanderson (3 Blue 1 Brown). He has more topics in the same "contemporary vintage" style.

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#25

Post by sheltron »

Stratoscope wrote: post #11
fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

If you like old instructional videos and documentaries, the Internet Archive has a bunch of them, particularly in the Prelinger Archives. Here are a few favorites... Private Life of a Cat (silent): https://archive.org/details/PrivateL1947 Back of the Mike: https://archive.org/details/Backofth1938 How a Watch Works: https://archive.org/details/HowaWatc1949 Using the Bank: https://archive.org/details/Usingthe1947

Wow these are really great thanks for sharing. Heres a couple of others that I like.

Differential Steering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI

Turbo Encabulator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLDgQg6bq7o

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#26

Post by varjag »

flyingcircus3 wrote: post #19
fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

As a second order to this effect, I've noticed a general "clumping", so to speak, of timeless machines and designs in general, that seem to originate in the late 1940s, and the 1950s, likely due to the unprecedented rise in the United States overall fortunes, after WWII. It's almost like John Kennedy "tricked" us to thinking that he initiated the US involvement in the space race, instead of the natural IP transfer th…

Aside from space programme which descended from V-2 on both sides, can't think where the U.S. advancements were based on German ones. The effects of Operation Paperclip were limited and didn't leave a lasting impact otherwise. In fact the victory achieved over Third Reich was based in massive industrial superiority.

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#27

Post by rangibaby »

fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

Old technical writing is the same. Check out this camera repair manual from the 80s: https://www.dropbox.com/s/36tlkpnrsbmszar/nikon_fe-fe2.pdf?d...

Clear, easy to understand. A patient person without any prior knowledge of cameras or tools could follow the instructions in here and completely disassemble and reassemble the camera as well as troubleshooting any problems with it.

I think the reason is A) there was no internet! These books and TV shows were as good as it got. No googling if you have any questions.

B) They had to appeal to a lot of people. Now the audience is bigger and everything is more niche. General TV has deteriorated to news entertainment, sports, and reality shows, because that is all anyone who watches TV now is interested in.

I was shocked at how good this segment from the "glory days" of TV was: https://youtu.be/eDw5Y8qSmBk

It's interesting and well researched. They spent plenty of money doing locations etc. Network TV just isn't this good anymore.

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#28

Post by olavk »

fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

To be fair this clip is produced by the Disney studios, master storytellers at the height of their craft. The Mickey Mouse animation seems to have been produced specifically for this clip, and hand-drawn cell animation is very labor intensive, even if it seems simple. Just realize that every frame has been drawn on paper, inked on celluloid and painted by hand. In short, this clip has been very expensive to produce.

(Not that I necessarily disagree with you, just to point out this is a state of the art instruction clip with extremely high production value, not just some random youtube video.)

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#29

Post by biofox »

Stratoscope wrote: post #11
fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

If you like old instructional videos and documentaries, the Internet Archive has a bunch of them, particularly in the Prelinger Archives. Here are a few favorites... Private Life of a Cat (silent): https://archive.org/details/PrivateL1947 Back of the Mike: https://archive.org/details/Backofth1938 How a Watch Works: https://archive.org/details/HowaWatc1949 Using the Bank: https://archive.org/details/Usingthe1947

One of my favourite old education films, on the Stirling engine:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqIapDKtvzc

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFfMruoRMGo

Re: Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera (1957) [video]

#30

Post by paulie_a »

flyingcircus3 wrote: post #19
fermienrico wrote: post #5

Old instructional videos so much more informative than today’s. They’re so simple. Clear narration, simple animations, music is appropriate and minimal. They don’t overload our senses in the way modern videography does. It seems to me that everything today is optimized for the highest cognitive load - sort of similar to the “loudness war” in music, but for videos. Popular videos on YT are optimized for clicks and lik…

As a second order to this effect, I've noticed a general "clumping", so to speak, of timeless machines and designs in general, that seem to originate in the late 1940s, and the 1950s, likely due to the unprecedented rise in the United States overall fortunes, after WWII. It's almost like John Kennedy "tricked" us to thinking that he initiated the US involvement in the space race, instead of the natural IP transfer th…

PBS has a great documentary on the Fairchildren called "silicon valley"
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