There were a number of displays on show which tracked various technology over the ages. These were spread between two of the main buildings at Wireless Hill. The main room contained a telecommunications exhibit, whilst the smaller cottage housed the VHF Group, Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Society, WA Hearing Centre, and the Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television (AMMPT)
VHF Group, Vintage Wireless and Gramophone Society, WA Hearing Centre, also had displays.
“In Focus” presentation was held on February 17th 2016 at the Fred Bell Hall (St. James) on February 17th at 7.30pm
The first in focus presentation was by the irrepressible Dr. Peter Harries a former TV personality, musician, restaurant entrepreneur and raconteur. There would be few rusted on “sandgropers” who would not have viewed Peter Harries at STW 9 as part of The Channel Niners Club or his a daily discussion program with Jeff Newman called ‘Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax’. These are but two examples of programmes and segments he was involved with. Dr. Harries obtained his Ph.D. at Curtin University with the thesis “From Local ‘Live’ Production Houses to Relay Stations – A History of Commercial Television in Perth, Western Australia 1958-1990
Pictorial essay on AMMPT’s Meeting of Wed 20-8-2014
- Mr and Mrs George Robinson with Roy Mudge
- Barry Goldman
- Graham Lacey with Barry Goldman
The evening started when Bill Gaynor introduced the 1995 documentary ‘Two Seats in the Circle’ which was narrated by Peter Smith (who is primarily known for his work with GTV-9 Melbourne as their announcer, including being the announcer on the nationally screened quiz show Sale of the Century for twenty-one years). This documentary takes a romantic look at the opulent decor of the picture palaces, where not only movies illuminated the silver screens, but they also provided live music and a wonderful sense of occasion during the era before sound. Over the past century ‘going to the pictures’ developed its own unique and sometimes eccentric character in Australia. Two seats in the Circle takes a sentimental and humorous look at what made the cinema such an essential part of our culture.
- Steve Markham’s Drape Show
Steve Markham started his career in show business as a baton twirling vaudeville performer. After serving his country in WWI he became the classical music radio host for radio station KFAC in Los Angeles.
Markham still recalls the fateful day when, at 18, he saw “plush velvet burgundy drapes with magnificent swags” at a civic center opening in Kansas City. “That started me,” he says. A few years later, while stationed in New Guinea, he “made lovely drapes with lovely swags [valances] from white silk parachutes” for a theater built “in the middle of the jungle.” Decades later, Markham’s involvement with refurbishing downtown’s Orpheum Theatre set him on the road to collecting and restoration.
Markham finds most of his drapes (which typically measure 30 by 50 to 60 feet and can weigh more than 200 pounds) at theatrical warehouses and old theaters. His first acquisition, in 1989, a black velvet classic with a rhinestone fountain design dating from about 1925, was “wadded up in the basement of the Million Dollar.” His favorite (“I call it my jewel”) is made of black netting, accented with gold braid and faux gems. The netting can be layered against red velvet, silver lame or whatever the show calls for.
- Contour Curtain
Markham calls his most outrageous find the “harem drape.” “It came out of ‘Gypsy,’ a traveling show,” he says. “I think it was used in a harem scene. It’s multicolored filmy material with tons of silver tassels and fringe. It gets applause every time I use it because it’s so over the top.”
Next was 50 years of cinema newsreels collected by the late Channel Seven news editor Ken Alexander, who provided a copy to Barry Goldman, who then screened this archive footage for the members. At the time, Ken was helping Barry at the Summerville Auditorium, shortly before be passed away. It is a Cinesound Movietone production narrated by Kevin Golsby and consists of original newsreels from Cinesound and Movietone, who started out as rival newsreel companies filming key events in the 1930s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinesound_Productions
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1932, which was a subsidiary of Greater Union Theatres Pty Ltd that covered all facets of the film process, from production, to distribution and exhibition. Stuart F. Doyle and Ken Hall were the major figures involved in the establishment of Cinesound.
Cinesound Productions produced feature films until the Second World War, when it was considered that feature movie were too great a financial risk to undertake. Cinesound then concentrated on producing the Cinesound Review, a newsreel that they had been generating to exhibit alongside their feature films.
Movietone News was a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and – as British Movietone News – from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom, and from 1929 to 1975 in Australia. Cinesound’s rivalry with Movietone News continued until 1970 when the two companies finally merged.
50 years of newsreel recording featured the following stories…
Federation 1901
Laying foundation stone for Canberra’s Parliament House
1928 Opening of Federal Parliament
Early aviators
Early Melbourne and Sydney streets trams and cable cars
1932 Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge
Early Australian prime ministers
1934 visit by Duke of Gloucester
1938 Sydney Empire Games
1933 Bradman cricket body-line crisis
Spectacular horse jumping accident at the Melbourne Show
1931 beach beauties
Dame Nellie Melba
Tasmanian Tiger
Mine disaster
1931 naval accident
Car crash kills spectators
Bush fires
1938 and 1939 ANZAC Marches
The WWII years
The Academy Award presented to Damien Parer in 1943 for his wartime footage
Bombers in training crash
Peace in 1945
Visit by Lord Louis Mountbatten
The deaf-blind American writer and activist Helen Keller visited Australia in 1948
Armless Shirley Ross threads a needle with her toes
New Guinea natives put on a show for the Governor General
Shark fishing with radio personality Jack Davey
Natural disasters: 1946 hailstorm, volcano eruption in New Guinea
1949 floods in Hunter Valley
Dutch submarine
Rabbit and locust plagues
1940s and 1950s droughts
Wool store on fire
1951 celebrating first 50 years of federation
An Evening with Dianna Hammond May 2011
Dianna is the President of the NSW branch of the Australian National Flag Association, from which WA Branch President and AMMPT Associate member Bert Lane extended an invitation to AMMPT members to attend the local event. This was scheduled for the evening of Wednesday June 1st. and was held in the Perth CBD. The ANFA was supplying refreshments at the venue.
October 17, 2007. Members of The Australian Museum of Motion Picture Technology gathered for a special screening to mark the closure of Hoyts Cinema City in the Perth CBD. The final movie was ‘Hercules Returns’. Cinema City was built by TVW Enterprises, opening in 1980 before being purchased by Hoyts in 1988. At the time, Cinema City was the largest multi-cinema complex, containing four cinemas with provisioning for a fifth in the future. 27 years of Cinema City screening movies on the Hay Street site came to an end on October 17, 2007.
April 20th 2011 Local cinema history Graham Norton provided a film of the 1941 Reelers’ Fraternity Movie Ball and other film industry social events around that time. Many living and deceased local cinema pioneers could be identified. Other early cinema memorabilia was on display.
Silent Movie Classics at Wireless Hill was held on March 19th 2011 A free open air movie show of some of the silent movie comedy classics was shown at Wireless Hill in Ardross. Partner in this event was the local Senior’s radio station, Capital Community Radio 101.7 FM.
AMMPT BBQ/PICNIC 2009 This event was held at Wireless Hill Park in Ardross, after AMMPT’s monthly film screening at the Cygnet on Sunday December 6th. A licence was obtained to enable members to bring their own alcoholic and other beverages to be consumed in the Park. Barbecue facilities were available, as well as playgrounds for the young ones. Spectacular views of the Swan River were taken from the viewing towers, previously anchor points for the original main mast.
Bridging the Generation and technology gap May 2011 Members’ younger generation were invited along to see working demonstrations of Mutoscopes, a replica Kinetoscope, a Praxinoscope, some Zootropes and Phenakistoscopes which were used at the very birth of the moving image era. Some films of the early history of the industry and some old time silent movie comedies were screened. Suitable fare was provided for the grandkids and others.
March 16 2011 Demo mechanical television system Richard Rennie repeaed t the working demonstration of the locally developed Blake Horrocks TV system which he also gave in 2010. Other TV memorabilia was on display
Celebrating Radio, TV, Theatre and Cinema history at WA Day service
http://watvhistory.com/2015/
On Sunday 31st May at 5pm in St George’s Cathedral, Perth, in a service celebrating “WA Day”, four new plaques will be blessed to commemorate the contribution to WA Heritage of pioneers of our theatre and arts worlds. The plaques are then placed on Australia’s only Theatre Memorial, which is housed in the West End of the Cathedral (similar to Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey). The four persons who have been nominated by interested persons and then authenticated by the Cathedral authorities are: CORALIE CONDON (the theatre and TV doyenne who died late last year) ALEXANDER (Tony) TURNER (playwright and illustrious head of ABC Radio Drama in Perth) EDWARD BEEBY (co-founder of the Patch Theatre) and JOHN NUGENT HAYWOOD (actor and director).
The Dean of Perth and the Cathedral Drama Consultant invite all who have an interest in theatre, tv and radio; plus any persons related or who knew the above or their families, to come to the service and to the remain for light refreshments, following. Apart from the dedication of the plaques, the service of sung evensong will feature the glorious music for which the Cathedral is well-known. Current arts’ practitioners will participate in the service. All are welcome!