ONE SMALL SNAP FOR MANKIND

Or, the entire catalogue of Apollo mission photographs, taken with the legendary Hasselblad camera system, published to the public domain bia Flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/

THE FUTURE IS FANTASTIC: SPACE 1999 ULTRA PROBE

One of the models on display at the F.I.F. was the two and a half foot original prop model of the Ultra Probe.

The Ultra Probe appeared in the Space 1999 episode, Dragon's Domain, and it's beaked  nose cone which, along with the Meta Probe ship, the Swift, Super Swift, Hawk and, of course the Eagle, maintains that continuity with all the imagined '1999' Earth space craft design.

A replica Meta Probe as seen amongst the All Sections Alpha display at the F.I.F.

As this is the smallest model of the Ultra Probe (the largest full length one is 5 foot long) it's detailing isn't as fine as it's larger brother, although it's still looks pretty good to me.

The small nose cone is detachable ( In the episode,the character of pilot Tony Cellini escapes in a much more detailed model of the nose cone escape pod, and on his return, docks with the main Ultra Probe ship using an Eagle nose cone.)

Another excellent replica of the Ultra Probe nose cone provided by a member of the All Sections Alpha modelling team.

More from the F.I.F. model display to follow.

DEKKER TOYS MOONSCAPE FOR STAR WARS FIGURES?

I love this old toy Lunar Landscape set from Dekker Toys I see now and then online. It reminds me of the SpaceX Moon Base Set box art but with action figures!

But which figures are pictured readers and what's that Eagle-like spaceship?

Cyborg Superman!

Takara made a wonderful version of Superman, as the cyborg villain. Part of the Microman series, he's uber flexible and comes with a brace of weapons. Best of all, flicking off his transparent faceplate, reveals a neat cyclopean head, like the original Denys Fisher/Henshin Cyborg figure!

THE FUTURE WAS FANTASTIC

I've just returned from the FABulous Fanderson weekender that took place at Maidenhead. Needless to say, I had a great time, met some super people, and enjoyed some first-hand recollections from some of the team who worked on those early Gerry Anderson productions.

First up was the pairing of Brian Johnson and Mike Trim who talked about special effects and models.

As many will know, Brian Johnson worked on Gerry Anderson's early puppet series, starting with Supercar, and finishing during Thunderbirds, when he left to work on Stanley Kubrick's, 2001: A Space Odyssey. He returned to work for the Andersons' in the early seventies, providing practical effects on The Protectors, before moving on to Space 1999.

Mike Trim joined A.P. Films in 1964, first working as a model maker, then as a designer assisting special effects director, Derek Meddings.  Aside from Anderson productions, Mike provided concept designs and cover art for Jeff Wayne's 1976 album, War of the Worlds.

UNDER THE SKIN WITH SCARLETT JOHANSSEN: FILM REVIEW

I watched this on Film4 last week. I do like Scarlett Johanssen and I was pleased to see her in an unusual flick beyond the latex of the Marvel Studios.

And believe me, you can't get more unusual than Under the Skin. Its based loosely on a novel of the same name by Michel Faber from 2000, which I have yet to read.

The film is essentially about a 'female' alien wandering and driving around Scotland. She 'wears' the skin of a beautiful girl. She feeds on humans by luring men to bed with her. Said men all 'drown' in a deep black pool and are then ingested. The ingestion scene is quite startling. Think of a balloon popping in a sea of ink.

As the name implies there is much of skin here. Getting into skin, enjoying skin and emptying skin. Its like Species; gloopy and creepy but without all the government fuss.

All in all I found the film intriguing and at times shocking. Some of the imagery was quite stunning, surreal and taboo-breaking. The Scottish 'locals' who acted were excellent and really quite brave. Miss. Johanssen is serenely brilliant.

My only criticism was the ending, which I found gratuitously desolate and banal, offering little final insight into the otherwise fascinating alien and 'her' world.

However, on the strength of this flick I will be tracking down the original book too, always a good sign.

Anyone else seen this film or read the novel?

ROLL ON: THE SECRET SAM CAMERA'S SECRET FILM TYPE REVEALED!

Following on from my recent Secret Sam post about the camera, Bill's comment about the actual film format got me thinking about the inside of the toy camera. I don't have one any more so I can't post a picture. I seem to recall a metal spool inside.

Anyways, here's a picture of the camera spool dial courtesy of one for sale on Etsy:

Bill's thinking is that the film spool was a 127 film like this - courtesy of Wiki [Smial]. The 127 roll film with empty reel is in the centre, a miniature cartridge 135 (left) and a 120 roll to the right for comparison:

Looking for answers I went to the  funny papers  paperwork that came with the Secret Sam toy from Topper Toys [my own collection]:

With the camera prominent on these toy papers, especially the case sleeve above, which even shows an example of a photograph, the camera film IS mentioned and it is indeed a 127 roll! Way to go Bill our resident camera expert!

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO: THE FILM

Berberian Sound Studio: a modern film starring Toby Jones. I caught this movie a few weeks back after renting it from the Library.

What can I say. Its unusual. Its set in a film studio, where they are making a horror film. Its in Italy. There's a lot of screaming. Its got nothing to do with Conan.

Most of the action takes place on a large table, where cabbages and fruit are chopped up to create sound effects for the movie being shot.

More of a soundscape than a film, if you have the BBC: Sound Effects of Death and Horror LP from the 1970's then you basically have Berberian Sound Studio.

Anyone else seen it?