View-Master Mock-up: A Clockwork Orange.

Up next in my series of View-Master reel sets that never existed, Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. Again, I've tried to remain faithful to the package design of the time period.

View-Master Mock-up: Full Metal Jacket.

Towards the late 80s, View-Master reel packaging became increasingly colourful and kid friendly - and this has been reflected in my latest mock-up for Stanley Kubrick's 1987 Vietnam war film, Full Metal Jacket. 

To see more Full Metal Jacket merchandise that never existed, check out this Read-Along Record.

An American Werewolf In London: View-Master Mock-up.

Here is the next View-Master movie reel mock-up, this time featuring John Landis' 1981 horror/comedy, An American Werewolf in London. This film was responsible for one of my earliest celebrity crushes (Jenny Agutter), as well as instilling in me an irrational fear of opening curtains (for fear of being stabbed by a mutant Nazi monster). It's a shame this View-Master set never existed - if it had, I could have desensitised myself to cinematic gore and violence from a much earlier age.

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining: Now Available in 3D!

Long before James Cameron reinvigorated the film and panel van airbrushing industry with his 2009 Sam Worthington vehicle Avatar, kids could hold a chunk of carcinogenic red plastic to their eyeballs and experience exactly what it must be like if everything was cut out of cardboard and positioned slightly apart from everything else. 

The View-Master was introduced in 1939, to a pre-war general populace who were clambering for stereoscopic images of tourist attractions. By 1981, it was standard fare in every child's toy box, with a variety of film and television licensed products available for purchase. These included you're typical 80s blockbusters, such as E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Jaws 3D, and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. A complete list of all available titles can be found at The View-Master Ultimate Reel List.

Although View-Master reels had, for many years, been designed specifically for an adult market, by the early 80s the target audience was predominately children - which is why we never saw the films of Stanley Kubrick released as a View-Master reel set. I am slowly rectifying this oversight with the first of a series of adult-centric View-Master mock-ups, beginning with the 1980 horror classic, The Shining.

Music, Memory and 80s Film Classics.

Music has always been an integral part of the film making process. Get the music wrong and a film can be ruined (think Ladyhawke), whereas the right music accompaniment can elevate a mediocre movie into the realm of the 'classic'.

Sound, like smell, are our most powerful triggers for memory. A song or piece of music can remind us of a film long after the plot, characters and visuals have been forgotten. With that theory as a jumping off point, I've created a list of the top 10 movie songs from the 1980s. Rather than using popularity or record sales as a basis for comparison, to be included in the list the songs must be:

• indicative of the era
• inexorably tied to the movie

Although dated, what sets these songs apart is the fact that, for many people, they cannot be heard without thinking about the film they were in. To make it a little harder, I've avoided using songs in which the title of the movie is mentioned. Unfortunately, that rules out the following sonic masterpieces:

Footloose, Kenny Loggins

Ghostbusters, Ray Parker Jr

The Goonies Are Good Enough, Cyndi Lauper

St Elmo's Fire, Man in Motion

The Never Ending Story, Limahl

Flash, Queen

Fame, Irene Cara

So counting down from 10, click the jump to see the Not-At-All-Arbitrary, All-Time Most Memorable, Memory Inducing Film Songs From The 80s:

Colouring Books: Not Just For Adults.

Colouring books haven't always been designed for frustrated middle aged women with too much free time on their hands. There was a time in the not too distant past when colouring books were meant for children to colour while they waited for iPads to be invented. I've added some images from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi colouring books to the PRINT MEDIA collection. Follow the link, or click the tab at the top of the page to see more examples of Star Wars themed anxiety relieving mindfulnessness.

Text On Film: Collector's Magazines, Storybooks And The 'Making Of'.

Back in the days before the internet spoiled everything for everyone with its wealth of information and zany cat videos, people would purchase books and magazines to meet their info gathering needs. Although they took up valuable living space and were a potential fire hazard, books were an excellent source of movie knowledge - especially for the young film aficionado.

Generally, there were four classes of film related print media available, each aimed at a certain demographic - the 'making of', the collector's magazine, the storybook, and the novelization (or movie tie-in). These were the DVD special features of my youth, expanding the film going experience beyond the theatrical release of a movie. 

I have photographed some of my pre-90s favourites and uploaded them to the PRINT MEDIA collection, which can be accessed via the tab at the top of the screen. Below are a few examples of those items awaiting your perusal.

Giger's Alien is a 1989 reprint of a 'making of' book, first published in 1979. It contains many of Swiss artist H.R. Giger's concept artworks for the film Alien, as well photos from the production. Giger himself supplies the text, documenting his transition from fine art to the commercial film industry. Of particular interest is the following section, which details the scene in which Ripley finds Dallas' cocoon - a scene that never made it into the final cut of the film. Prior to James Cameron's Aliens, we had never seen what happened to the biomechanoid's victims. According to early versions of the Alien script, the human host would actually become the egg that would later eject a facehugger, rather than the eggs being laid by a queen alien (as in Aliens).

Glossy collector's magazines have been promoting films for many years. The following example was printed in Japan and released in conjunction with the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice.

Released in 1964, this next James Bond magazine contains stories, photos and information on all of the Connery Bond films up to, and including, Goldfinger. 

To see more images from this magazine and others, click on the link or hit the PRINT MEDIA tab at the top of the page.