popsixsquishcicerolipschitz reblogged
AT&T’s VideoPhone 2500 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, 1993.
TRIPPY AT&T TELEPHONE NETWORK PROMOTIONAL FILM 59914
Made by Paul Cohen and Owen Murphy Productions for AT&T, with music by Charles Morrow, NETWORK is a trippy, impressionistic film that shows the vast communication "nervous system" that interconnects the United States and the world. Made prior to the word "Internet" being well known, the film shows an "information age" where information must be moved, channeled, and interpreted. The film shows "new ways of talking, communicating and seeing", but in many ways its kaleidoscopic visual effects and ethereal soundtrack are creepy and foreboding rather than bright and cheery. At 3:10, a child is seen living in an "electronic world that their parents never knew". Using split screens and animation to show microwaves, satellites, undersea research, and computer mainframes and telephone switchboards, the film provides some insight into the 700 million mile circuitry system maintained by AT&T. The film contains various imagery including an MRI machine at 8:00, air traffic control at 8:10, a computer mainframe at 8:22, and other control stations that are linked by telephone lines. At 10:54, children are seen interacting with a computer and audio teaching, and at 12:20 remote learning using television is shown. At 12:30 the AT&T / Bell Labs are seen where research constantly continues into expanding the network.
Charlie Morrow (born Charles Morrow, February 9, 1942) is an American sound artist, composer, conceptualist and performer. His creative projects have included chanting and healing works, museum and gallery installations, large-scale festival events, radio and TV broadcasts, film soundtracks, commercial sound design and advertising jingles.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k.
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