The revved engine...louder and louder. It sounded as if it was coming from the back. My head cocked to the right. But there wasn't any sign of any super fast cars...
My kids were sniggling.
"It came from the video, dad!", they exclaimed in unison.
In this cavernous moving house, the semi-sense-surround hi-fi was uncannily realistic. Pity the 9 inch screen which came with this monsterous vehicle I named as Star-trek instead of Starship Enterprise.
I was first introduced to the big screen in my "kampung" (village) on the grounds of the "balai raya" (community hall). It was not daily or weekly and not even monthly. The truck loaded with the equipment comes and goes as they please. But one occassion left an indelible mark - a mock sailing boat with blue sails and the words "Parti Perikatan" (solidarity party). When was that? 1965?
Next came black and white tv. Since my "kampung" did not have electricity until 1970, we had to go to my grandmother's sister's house in town before my dad bought one himself. It was more of a weekly affair. Once you reach the "town board limit" you will notice houses crammed with people watching tv. Black and white tvs then. The audience were neighbours intruding onto the privacy of the family. They watched from purposely opened doors and windows. Their favourites would be the films that RTM airs every Saturdays - I think.
I "discovered" colour tv when I left home. I bought it at Sainsbury on hire purchase for £199. This lasted till 1985 when smoke billowed from the rear of the tv.
But in 1979 I was introduced to 8mm movies by a rich senior who owned a Carl Zeis Jenna camera. The beginning of "home movies". I bought one for £59.95. Most were very old black and white movies like Basil Rathbone's role in a number of Sherlock Home movies...The sound was "tinny". The movie flickered. No screen, just a bedsheet over a wall.
I couldn't afford a VHS (anyone remember what it stood for? Video Home System?) until much, much later...1990 back on home turf.
There were VHS and Betamax at that time. I opted for VHS. Most of the films were rented. Old movies, new movies, Hindi Movies, English Movies...What was it? RM10 per week per 3 movies. The Epic movie at that time was Ghandi! The other memorable ones to me were the Star Trek Movies, Long Kiss Good Night, Far Pavillion... Some, were bought. Few were originals, majority were copies. Only the cartoon series for the kids were originals. These were viewed time and again.
I did buy and use a VHS portable camera for RM2000. I lugged this around with my SLR cameras to record for posterity. The trip to Europe, in and around Malaysia. It lasted three years. Why? The VHS portable camera was in need of repairs which would have burned a big hole in my pocket - half the price of a new VHS portable camera!
Alas, all these VHS tapes suffered due to mildew. None survived
Next came VCD (video compact disc?). Again, I started renting. But since the kids were watching them over and over again, it made no sense to rent. So, I started collecting some originals (cartoons) and some favourite movies - a replacement for the VHS. To compliment the VCD player, I started with Digital Cameras. I converted still pictures (from the Digital Camera) into "movies" with sound track. One VCD of Delhi, Pakistan, Doha, and some of Malaysia. Worse than photo albums (which every once in a while you tend to flick through), these VCD home movies were only seen no more than twice in its lifetime. I still have them...but stored somewhere. This time around I thought I was being practical so I copied all the VCDs in a 2.5Tb hard-drive
To compliment the VCD player, I was silly enough to purchase an LD (was it Laser Disc?) player. Of course the picture quality was excellent - even on cathode ray tubes - TVs. I wonder what it would be like if I hook them up now to the Plasma Screens with High Definition quality... Anyway, at first the movies were also rented. Very select few since the rental rates were very high, at first. I purchased a few - Star Trek movies, Classical Spaghetti Westerns and Ghandi. These are undoubtedly originals since each movie cost more than RM100 to buy. When did the LD era disappear? Sometime in 2000 I think. Why?
DVDs (digital video discs) replaced VCDs and LDs! Quality? Some says it is the same as LD but I seriously doubt that. The best thing about DVDs is that one DVD Disc can hold one full length feature film or three cartoons. Pirated ones...are only feasible after the movie has hit the silver screen for about 6 months. If you buy a day or two after these are screened then the either the quality of the picture or the sound or on ocassions both will be bad.
The main reason, for me at least, why VCD and DVD are so good is that you can even use your PC to view them. Imagine doing that with VHS... Before 7" screens appeared in the market, I always brought both the notebooks and plugged them into the cigarette lighter socket for the kids to "enjoy" their trip.
Anyway, I now have the same VCD collections but in DVD format. All those early efforts of "stitching" up the VCD movies (usually in two discs) before storing them into the 2.5Tb was just a waste since the DVDs were all full feature length movies...some with snippets of how the movie was made and trailers.
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