Short movie set in 1986 Ireland, what retro console/computer to use

Steve X2

I'm making a low budget horror short movie this summer(although every new idea seems to increase the budget). I'm still working on the story and script and will be for some time but I might be setting it in mid 80's Ireland(1986).

So, what sort of retro computer or console should I have strategically placed in some of the scenes?
I'm talking just sitting under the TV or in a bedroom, that sort of thing. Maybe some characters have a game of something in the background. You get the idea.

What would have been popular in Ireland in 1986 and what should I use?

I have a few ideas myself but just wondering what the brain-trust here think about it

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Dr Bob

Steve SI wrote: »

I'm making a low budget horror short movie this summer(although every new idea seems to increase the budget). I'm still working on the story and script and will be for some time but I might be setting it in mid 80's Ireland(1986).

So, what sort of retro computer or console should I have strategically placed in some of the scenes?
I'm talking just sitting under the TV or in a bedroom, that sort of thing. Maybe some characters have a game of something in the background. You get the idea.

What would have been popular in Ireland in 1986 and what should I use?

I have a few ideas myself but just wondering what the brain-trust here think about it

.

Id say a c64 spectrum zx or possibly an Atari 800xl (they
were sold cheap enough in Ireland back then) . If you need any extras to get massacred let me know by the way as its always been a dream of mine to get killed off in a movie.;)

CathalDublin

Atari 2600, Spectrum 48k rubber keyboard, although the NES was released in Ireland that year.

Jesus Shaves

spectrum or c64, the c64 alone defined the 80's

eddhorse

Seeing as the c64 just turned 30 it's an obvious choice !
Just don't get any fake zombie blood on it...

Steve X2

Cheers guys, I was thinking along the lines of the c64 and the spectrum myself.

I never knew there was so so much to making a short movie. But I'm learning as I go.

I'll have to hire out a lot of equipment but it'll be worth it and a whole lot of fun I reckon, as well as a load of work.
I did a few basic effects tests the other day with one of the actors to see what might work. It actually looked pretty decent(in a low budget sort of way) and was my first go at that particular effect so more practice and it can only improve



.

Mr.Saturn

eddhorse wrote: »

Seeing as the c64 just turned 30 it's an obvious choice !
Just don't get any fake zombie blood on it...

Real zombie blood, on the other hand........

Retr0gamer

C64 or ZX spectrum were the most popular. You'd have never have seen a NES unless you lived in a mansion :P

Steve X2

Retr0gamer wrote: »

C64 or ZX spectrum were the most popular. You'd have never have seen a NES unless you lived in a mansion :P

Very true
We had a master system I think but could only dream of the NES.

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Owen

I'd have said Vic-20 myself, I had one around that time.

jaybee747

C64 all the way, have someone sit there winding the tape by hand for that authentic gaming feel.

Doge

Now that the best system has been chosen...

you need to decide the game that will be played!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBOcpV_WX00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5an7qpuHLHg

Owen

jaybee747 wrote: »

C64 all the way, have someone sit there winding the tape by hand for that authentic gaming feel.

My arse. You'd have someone there trying to align the azimuth on the head so games could load in the first place. Stupid Datasettes!!

Doge

Lol, with all the commodore 64 bias in the thread, he'll probably just set the scene

with the characters waiting extremely patiently for the game to load...

only for it to crash at the last minute!

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Steve X2

I might use the c64 and use a small green screen to stick the gameplay in later. That way I can decide what game I want when we get to the post production phase.

Hmm, that will work

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the mucker

What about amstrad cpc464. Loads of them about in 1986

Steve X2

the mucker wrote: »

What about amstrad cpc464. Loads of them about in 1986

Fair point and that's what we had as well. Didn't have a c64 myself until much later on. The logistics of a c64 might be easier than the cpc as that had the monitor as well.

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Reamer Fanny

Amstrad CPC

wesf

i had a nes, didn't think that made me posh atari 2600 would be my choice

Dale Parish

I will be disappointed if there's no IBM.

Cedrus

Dragon 32 for the geek squad, don't forget the cassette player for the RAM! And hours typing in the programs from a magazine.

CathalDublin

Just don't make these classic mistakes!

weeder

he forgot the lack of cables

Myrddin

Will you be using two C64's? Ya know, like, it's a Steve SI thing

D4RK ONION

weeder wrote: »

he forgot the lack of cables

And the fact that there's 2 people playing Mario at the same time :P

CathalDublin

D4RK ONION wrote: »

And the fact that there's 2 people playing Mario at the same time :P

One could just be enthusiastically waiting on the other to die, if i remember correctly Luigi was controlled by P2 joypad

Steve X2

EnterNow wrote: »

Will you be using two C64's? Ya know, like, it's a Steve SI thing

I'll stick to the one I think

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Steve X2

I've decided on the C64 as its iconic and a lot of the audience will know what it is even if they don't have a lot of interest in that sort of thing.

Now the search for one that looks new, and isnt the newer redesigned version(which I have).
It's a very small background item in the movie but its important to get it right.

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Dr Bob

the bullnose brown one?
I've one you can borrow if you're stuck (provided its not going to get blown up or anything )

Dr Bob

justryan wrote: »

Amstrad CPC

I think its great that all three people in Ireland who had the Amstrad CPC have been reunited in this thread

Doge

The Amstrad colour palette looks very impressive on the emulator videos, far richer than the c64 colour pallet.

Is it as good on the real deal hooked upto a colour Monitor?


It's a shame that anyone who I knew that had one, had the ****ty Black and green screen for it!

Edit: I just noticed it lacked an RF output, and could only be used with it's own monitor!

Bastards! Talk about proprietary lock in!

Steve X2

waveform wrote: »

The Amstrad colour palette looks very impressive on the emulator videos, far richer than the c64 colour pallet.

Is it as good on the real deal hooked upto a colour Monitor?


It's a shame that anyone who I knew that had one, had the ****ty Black and green screen for it!

Edit: I just noticed it lacked an RF output, and could only be used with it's own monitor!

Bastards! Talk about proprietary lock in!

We had the cancer giving green screen and then I got the one with the black and white screen later.
That green screen sure was something.
My eyes looked like this(:eek:) after a few hours on it.

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zero19

I had/have a colour screen and a green screen for my 464, it's tough at the top. :pac:

Sparks43

waveform wrote: »

Now that the best system has been chosen...

you need to decide the game that will be played!

Boulder Dash is the only game that can be picked

Anything else i hunt you down Steve:pac:

Steve X2

Sparks43 wrote: »

Boulder Dash is the only game that can be picked

Anything else i hunt you down Steve:pac:

Don't worry Sparks, I've got you covered

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJOUUp9BrnQ

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CiDeRmAn

Sorry to be so late to the party here.
For my money the optimal computer for an 86 setting will depend on context...

People whose parents bought there Christmas presents without consulting them? Atari 2600
Dumb people with more money than sense? Sinclair QL
People who went on Murphys Micro Quizm? Enterprise
Rich people? Commodore Amiga
Comfortably off people who didn't like Knight Lore? C 64
Normal folk who are cool and stuff? ZX Spectrum
Poor sad b@stards? Still using a busted ass ZX81....

DinoRex

I reckon about 90% of the kids I went to school with in the 80s had a C64.

You'd get the occasional kid with a hand-me-down spectrum though.

And yes a rich kid with an Amiga. (I had to wait until 1990 to get one of them)

Cedrus

Wasn't there a BBC one knocking around as well?

DinoRex

My school was filled with BBC Acorns anyway.

Dr Bob

DinoRex wrote: »

I reckon about 90% of the kids I went to school with in the 80s had a C64.

You'd get the occasional kid with a hand-me-down spectrum though.

And yes a rich kid with an Amiga. (I had to wait until 1990 to get one of them)

I'm pretty sure it was a town by town/area by area thing.
Ton of people in my suburb had c64's , I knew of ONE guy with a spectrum , a fair few with 800xl's(I'm pretty sure Peats were selling them cheap )and a smattering of rich kids with STs. Never saw an Amiga or an Amstrad computer until years later.
Yet other people here living in the city as me at the same time existed in a world swimming with the rubberkeyed ZX , loads of CPCs , a drought of C64's and a lack of Atari's lovely 8 bit machine..?

CiDeRmAn

Swords was a tough town in the 80's.
We rolled with the Spectrum back in the day.
Sipping red lemonade, eating Pink Panther bars and chillin' watching the colour clash..

There was a few C64 owners but I reckon they were actually Malahide people who got lost on the way back to daddy's Bentley!

At least we could share a laugh and kick Oric owners!

FutureGuy

In 86, I had been rocking my Atari2600 for a few years. I think I got a ZX Spectrum in 87.

FutureGuy

DinoRex wrote: »

I reckon about 90% of the kids I went to school with in the 80s had a C64.

You'd get the occasional kid with a hand-me-down spectrum though.

And yes a rich kid with an Amiga. (I had to wait until 1990 to get one of them)

Me. Thanks English Uncle!

Deep Thought

Harrier Attack on the ZX Spectrun 48K

Love it

http://youtu.be/tINCmHev6eY

A2LUE42

Did anyone else have one of these? I've never met anyone else who had one.

MITSUBISHI MSX COMPUTER ML-F80

http://www.infideals.net/siteimages/10/0/2/100276/915696/f_451636.jpg

A2LUE42

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=782

komodosp

Commodore Amiga? In 1986?

Steve X2

komodosp wrote: »

Commodore Amiga? In 1986?

First Amiga was out in 1985, the Amiga 1000.
But not many people had one in Ireland.

.

eddhorse

Deep Thought wrote: »

Harrier Attack on the ZX Spectrun 48K

Love it

http://youtu.be/tINCmHev6eY

Ahh my eyes. How did we see after playing those games....

I wonder will the future kids look back on 2012 at our high definition games and think that the graphics are terrible and pixelated !

Back on topic, for the film id go for a NES seeing as it was released in Europe in 1986 and Mario.

You want the majority of people to recognize your effort in planting something like this.
Not just the retro folk in here.

Myrddin

eddhorse wrote: »

I wonder will the future kids look back on 2012 at our high definition games and think that the graphics are terrible and pixelated !

Retr0 does that already sure

o1s1n

EnterNow wrote: »

Retr0 does that already sure

Retr0 in 2022 -

'I can't believe I thought 60fps 1080p was acceptable! It looks like dated vasaline covered mud!'