Tape Recorders of Mission Impossible Ep.1 (?)
I've had the idea for this rattling around inside my head for a couple of years now, during which time I've been assembling the various machines needed to cover the most common devices seen in the show. So if this video is well received there may be more episodes.
Initially I envisioned this as something much simpler - but after I started doing the research, I felt that I needed to incorporate short clips from the show as it added context.
I suspect using the TV clips like this is pushing up against fair-use rules - but after seeing how channels like 'every frame a painting' utilised footage from movies, I determined it must be acceptable. No doubt this will prompt a few to raise the thorny issue of article 13 - I'll just park that one until a future update video.
This is a video that's taken me perhaps a hundred times longer to make, than it will to watch. Hopefully a tiny little bit of that work comes across in the end result.
Comments (76)
It's fun when you cosplay different time periods! Great video.
I really enjoyed watching this- if it's successful you could do similar dives into props used in other series, James Bond, etc.
I really enjoyed this episode, one of the facts that amazed me was how many episodes of Mission: Impossible there was. As a kid on a Sunday morning I would watch the several reruns of old american shows such as 'The Time Tunnel'. 'Lost In Space', 'Land of the Giants', 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' and of course 'Mission: Impossible' as part of my routine. I suppose at that age I probably would not have been aware of the concept of seasons etc or even noticed continuity issues with repeated use of footage, but clearly they took a decent amount of care in producing a good show.
Top video, Mat! I really liked the “this tape will NOT auto destruct...”. After rewatching, I noticed you still enjoy using your photo printer you reviewed a while ago, right?
Yep - it came in handy again. I especially like the fact that it is always ready with photo cards in tray two so I can print a photo without having to mess around swapping paper.
The 'reel' pun got a laugh out of me. I absolutely love just how much anoraky detail is in this one. If you'd continued pointing out weird goofs and recycled footage in 'Mission: Impossible', I'd have happily kept watching. I've got a Homey HR-408A because, of course, it shows up on Thunderbird 5 (I think it was in 'Mission: Impossible' too?).
Instant nostalgia for those of us of a certain age, really enjoyed that. I assume research for this one was 30% tape recorder shopping, 30% watching old episodes and 40% wig shopping?
Mostly wig shopping and then a few minutes of scrambling around to throw some random nonsense together once it had arrived.
By the way, I forgot to mention the superior job of editing you did in this piece. Very nice job of matching and cutting. Also a great wig. ;-)
Mat, this has got to be one of the most insane concepts I've ever seen... And it is absolutely one of your best. Thoroughly enjoyable. How did you find out which model of tape recorder was used? Did you happen to have one? Did you stumble across the information? Or did you have to research? Again, a great job... Thanks for a most enjoyable video.
I forget now...it’s been a few years since I started on this. I think I may have begun by just looking at miniature reel to reel machine alternatives to the Nagra SN...then wondering which ones they used in the show and matching the pictures up. I know that one of the machines I’ve found took a lot of looking at pictures...but once I realised they used Craig and Sanyo models it narrowed things down a lot.
You actually found a wig with a comb-over, now that's funny :) Great work as usual
Great episode, and MI was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. I'm afraid I've got no use for the movies though. They totally turned me off in the first movie when they turned Jim Phelps into a bad guy, and then there was that stupid fight scene that reminded me of Peter in Family guy having the fight with the chicken.
Now I have to find one, and record one of the MI missions on it...
Thank you for a very enjoyable and nostalgic video, Matt! That Craig was one of my first tape recorders, that and a Wollensak purloined from the school where my Dad was a teacher.
Super video, Mat. Just watched the latest MI movie in which Tom Cruise receives his mission from a small reel-to-reel tape player, evidentally a chronologically challenged nod to the tv series. If you have a chance to see the movie (now available on iTunes) it would be interesting to know if you can identify the machine used. Btw, did you notice that YouTube’s own video about the perils of Article 13 uses your outro music as background?
I haven’t watched either of those videos yet. I’ll try to see the new MI this week and report back. I suspect it’s a Nagra SN though...seems to be the go-to mini R2R device for Hollywood nowadays. As far as the outro music goes, it’s funny how it’s become associated with my channel...it’s just one of the tracks from the YouTube audio library. I’ve seen when other channels use it, a few people will ask them why they are using the Techmoan tune.
A reel good video!
Thanks Mat. I enjoyed the video and learned a few things today.
Yeah. :-) This was a fun episode. Fun to watch some of the american shows that never made it to any danish TV stations.
Funny, entertaining and instructive! Very nicely done... keep doing these videos. And: beautiful wig, suites you very well! :D
This... is fantastic.
Thanks old chap.
Mat... This is great. Amazing research and detail!
Provided this one doesn’t encounter any issues - I’ll start work on the next one in a few weeks.
This was awesome!!!
Terrific topic and very well covered! Just FYI, in the States, this type of reel-to-reel machine was called "rim drive". I received a "Continental" model, similar to this Craig/Sanyo but larger overall (I think it took 3- or 3.5-inch reels), as a Christmas gift in '64 or so. It ran on two "C" cells for the motor and a 9-volt for the electronics.
I should have said rim drive instead of edge drive. I’ll try to remember for next time.
Fantastic video, Matt! One of your best, great pace, lots of info, and very dynamic. Congrats
Thanks. I’m glad it’s being received well.
You forgot to mention that the amount of tape on the supply and take-up sides of the reels seem to shift a lot from one shot to another. :-)
If you saw my last 'Audities' video - you'll understand why I'd be the last one to point this out.
Nicely done!
Fantastic! Loved the intro, very amusing - by far your funniest yet for me. Looking forward to the follow up videos in the series. Keep up the good work, do you choose to accept.... Mat?
I'll have to think up some other locations for the players now....
I had always hoped one day someone would do a series on all the ways/formats/machines the assignment recording were done. As a bonus, you should add an episode on the Get Smart MI spoof, with the assignment recording in stereo.
I'll look that one up. Get Smart never really hit over here - getting a few showings in the 80s on Channel 4 - but that's it. If you know the episode number it would help me out.
Really interesting video - well done.
Excellent video Mat, I wonder 'what will happen next!'
This is a wonderfully fitting topic for your channel--I loved it! I remember watching MI during it's original run, although as a little kid at the time, I wasn't as interested in it as my parents were. It's cool that you point out that Peter Graves had to do a lot of acting with no feedback for all those intro scenes. I suspect that kind of acting is probably more common in movies or TV than most people realize.
And the Oscar goes to… ;-) Well done, I really enjoyed it.
If you’re wondering if you should do more episodes, you definitely have my vote
See, this is why I am a patron, because I have wondered about the coolest tape player on television for decades, and you are the first person to answer all of my questions about this unforgettable part of my all-time favorite show, and you even managed to make a hilarious cameo in your own documentary! - you just keep out-doing yourself!
Whenever I start editing a video and realise I need to order another silly wig, it’s a good day.
Very nice one. Particular liked that intro. That was something new!
Very enjoyable. Thanks, Mat!
Great video!! The drive function reminds me of a earlier vid with Sanyo... Am I of or on target Mat?
Yes - it's similar to the Micro Pack 35
Great vid as usual, but was the "reel or imaginary" comment intentional? :)
I "reelly" picked the wrong day to stop smoking tape recorders.
Wow - fascinating. Great video.
you can tell a lot of work went into this. great stuff
Absolutely fascinating, really enjoyed that one 👍
Don't you mean "reely?"
I never saw the show, did they ever use a Nagra SN for any episodes? I always thought that to be the go-to reel-to-reel recorder for secret agents in movies.
Not in the briefings at least.
Brilliant!
I loved this so much, and the beginning was hilarious. (Nit: At 2:00, you say “7 years later,” but I think it’s 6 years later?)
(Also, this absolutely feels like it should fall under fair use to me, but IANAL.)
Brilliant! One of your best, Mat.
Thanks - I hope so.
Great video Mat and nice machine, as always ;)
Thank you for all your hard work. I did enjoy this video as I do all your content. I hope you continue with these types of Hollywood tech videos. If you choose to accept this mission (of course).
As long as the tape recorders don't self destruct after you're done listening to the recording!
Love it, thank you for your hard work!
Wonderful Idea. Really love those vintage r2r devices!
Brilliant. Thanks.
Love it !
As always, a great vid. My younger brother had one of those Craig recorders picked up in a flea market circa 1968 or so and was constantly playing Mission Impossible with it, while I, being the kind understanding older brother that I was, offered to assist with the self destruct on multiple occasions. Ah memories. The one part of your video that most amazed me was when you demonstrated that your copper (presumably clad) coin is ferromagnetic. That was unexpected.
I remember the last time I demonstrated that something was magnetic by using a 'copper' coin, this aspect of the video probably drew more comments than anything else. It's not been something I've really thought too much about. I know the materials have changed over the years due to costs - and I seem to recall that as a result some of the 1p coins in circulation are magnetically attractive and others aren't.
I can’t believe you are doing this; was binge watching MI episodes lately and thought it would be neat if you did a segment on these; awesome
That’s quite a co-incidence. No doubt then you’ll have seen some of the other machines I hope to cover too.
Hi Mat, Only watched a few seconds so far, but love it already and had to comment. Brilliant. The opening made me laugh out loud,
YOU COULD HARDLY TELL WHO IT WAS!!!!
love the new look, LOL
Funnily enough the Mrs came home when I was in the middle of shooting the intro. She didn’t bat an eyelid.