85 "The 'Your Name Here' Story" is a very funny parody of the standard overly-serious, overly-dramatic corporate promotional film. It shows that at least some cold-war era filmmakers realized how contrived these company stories were, and has a sense of humor about them. Watch out for the beatnik pioneer, the couple with mysterious marital difficulties, and the sensitivity to diverse political sensibilities. A hilarious diversion from the ordinary arteitle 2002-09-17 00:00:00 2002-09-17 00:00:00 5 119 Whenever a company starts to get carried away with an overblown sense of its self worth in the world, this little gem should be played to the Board as a reminder that those they strive to fool, see through them every time. Watch this one, and have a chuckle on me Little Gem woodfield 2002-09-29 00:00:00 2002-09-29 00:00:00 5 327 I almost skipped over this little gem of a film. I'm sure glad I didn't! Just as funny whether you ever had to sit through one of these types of films or not! This one is definately worth a look. This film needs more attention! SG111 2002-10-30 00:00:00 2002-10-30 00:00:00 5 382 Haw! This was a laugh riot! I wonder what the makers were thinking ... I imagine they were so bored with churning out the same old corporate glop that they had a little fun with it. It's nice to know that some people back then saw how ludicrous the cliches were even when living and working right in the middle of them. Laugh Riot! Mr. Snout 2002-11-09 00:00:00 2002-11-09 00:00:00 5 620 I work for a large telecommunications company that recently filed for bankruptcy--all the way thru the film I inserted "W*rldC*m" and "Network Connectivity" at the appropriate places. Sounded like the pep talks the upper echelon gives to us peons just before they lay some more of us off... I laughed thru my tears, I did.... This is a hoot Omicron Delta Pineapple 2002-12-13 00:00:00 2002-12-13 00:00:00 5 698 Has this film been on Comedy Central yet? Way ahead of its time!! This reminds me of my passion for Mad Magazine during my childhood and the emergence of the counterculture Dennis Jennings Celestial-Image.com A Comedy Classic!!! Celimage 2002-12-22 09:08:17 2002-12-22 09:08:17 5 1247 Loved it! What a great tongue-in-cheek piece this is. Glad somebody in 1960 had the guts to make this. Your Name Here TheVidman 2003-02-08 13:36:42 2003-02-08 13:36:42 5 1609 Originality is a bothersome detail that has been overcome by the triumph of modern filmmaking. Now you don't even have to waste time coming up with good lies and can get back to pushing boxes, or services, or whatever. Best scene: Scientists revising their cry of discovery to "something that'll get quoted"! Hilarious.. Moss Over Inlet 2003-03-13 08:16:29 2003-03-13 08:16:29 5 2139 Fantastic film making! Can I actually use this to promote my product? Fantastic Jake Freeze 2003-05-02 10:47:38 2003-05-02 10:47:38 5 2156 Having recently got into DV editing and moviemaking, I stumbled upon this site 30 minutes ago. As my first delve into the archive, this had me grinning ear to ear, and set the creative juices flowing for how I could use some of the materials on this site cut into my own footage, to humourous effect (as I gather is fine to do so). Thanks to the creators of this archive for making such a rich resource available, free-of-charge, to the public at large. Who knows, perhaps I'll see my own submissions immortalised here one day! Great stuff! Movie Making Dino 2003-05-05 09:41:29 2003-05-05 09:41:29 5 1449 I am involved with indexing, standards and forms. This may well be the future, as average forms of data become standardized. So that, in the future (like, tomorrow) a form of "Great American Novel" will be made. And like a form, all one has to do is to fill in the blank spaces with what ever noun, verb or adjective pleases the users of that novel. Best sellers will be a breeze to market. The formula novel, formula movie, formula lifestyle. Good stuff. Hey Dino, check out closed captioning. It will be a way of indexing visuals for making RAP MOVIES (i e, taking the best contextual elements of movies and mixing them up, for example, into new plot lines, ect) Is it a spoof? or a look into the future... EWKEANE 2003-05-15 14:40:53 2003-02-27 11:01:47 5 2381 Excellent CPunk 2003-05-26 18:10:42 2003-05-26 18:10:42 5 6953 Hilarious, and almost perfectly produced. If you haven't had the pleasure to work for a dotcom -- and I've seen business plans with less detail than that film -- then just insert your favourite evil multinational or local nest of villains when prompted. Should be required viewing for anyone involved in producing or decoding corporate promotional material, and perfect fodder for anyone with video editing software and a company party coming up. One minor whinge: the music is mixed too high for too long on the intro, muddying the vocal. And one bonus fact: the Historic Saying concocted by the scientists was in fact the first message Samuel Morse sent over the telegraph. Beats a press release. Ain't that the truth... Rupert Goodwins 2003-10-23 17:01:57 2003-10-23 17:01:57 5 9553 Those wacky Calvin Workshop people! This ten-minute parody of industrial films is perfectly-produced satire. The best character is the beatnik frontiersman. "Like..Wagons HO!" Also great: the "subliminal" messages superimposed over the presidents' portraits. NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!!!!!!! BRILLIANCE AliceTeeple 2004-02-15 08:19:58 2004-02-15 08:19:58 5 10590 I'm amazed that someone had the foresight back then to realize do a spoof like that, as most spoofs on 50's corperate propoganda films are made today. Genreric Product and Generic Company Name: the History of Our Future: Today! [Insert Robert E. Lee if Derired.] Classic! Greatest Thing Ever!!!! moderator 2004-03-18 20:49:30 2004-03-18 20:49:30 5 10593 I'm amazed that someone had the foresight back then to realize do a spoof like that, as most spoofs on 50's corperate propoganda films are made today. Genreric Product and Generic Company Name: the History of Our Future: Today! [Insert Robert E. Lee if Derired.] Classic! Greatest Thing Ever!!!! moderator 2004-03-18 21:32:25 2004-03-18 21:32:25 5 10594 I'm amazed that someone had the foresight back then to realize do a spoof like that, as most spoofs on 50's corperate propoganda films are made today. Genreric Product and Generic Company Name: the History of Our Future: Today! [Insert Robert E. Lee if Derired.] Classic! Greatest Thing Ever!!!! moderator 2004-03-18 21:32:29 2004-03-18 21:32:29 5 11113 This is pure genius. The stupid hats, the melodramatic married couple, the hapless scientists...I couldn't stop laughing. Hilarious! Darthdemona 2004-04-03 09:37:51 2004-04-03 09:37:51 5 11114 This is pure genius. The stupid hats, the melodramatic married couple, the hapless scientists...I couldn't stop laughing. Hilarious! Darthdemona 2004-04-03 09:39:15 2004-04-03 09:39:15 5 13092 This movie was way ahead of its time in regards to satire and parody. If you are a fan of Spinal Tap or Best of Show you will love this film. The best scene is the one with the 2 beatniks dressed as Lewis and Clark and the one guy calls his wagons by saying "Like wagons Ho!" Indian Savagery MediaWhore 2004-05-13 16:36:47 2004-05-13 16:36:47 5 18334 I hope you enjoy another example in this fine genre: http://media.ebaumsworld.com/retro.wmv here are the comments: http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/34817 -brewster Another Corporate spoof: the retro encabulator brewster 2004-08-07 08:24:10 2004-08-07 08:24:10 4 22898 This is outstanding. "Ahead of its time" doesn't even begin to cover it. And it must have been even funnier to the 60s-era audiences who, unlike me, were steeped in the kind of promo films this film is spoofing... A rare & beautiful find Kala 2004-10-15 23:13:52 2004-10-15 23:13:52 5 33589 Looking at this film again I noted its provenance: The Calvin Group. Calvin was a Kansas City company that marketed 8mm and 16mm ("Movie-Mite") projectors. Surely "The Calvin Group" is related. And almost as surely, this brilliant satire is a direct shot at the Jam Handy Organization and its films--all made to this same tired formula at the time. It would be fun to find out more about these relationships. Second Viewing Norm in S.F. 2005-03-02 18:06:47 2005-03-02 18:06:47 4 33590 Looking at this film again I noted its provenance: The Calvin Group. Calvin was a Kansas City company that marketed 8mm and 16mm ("Movie-Mite") projectors. Surely "The Calvin Group" is related. And almost as surely, this brilliant satire is a direct shot at the Jam Handy Organization and its films--all made to this same tired formula at the time. It would be fun to find out more about these relationships. Second Viewing Norm in S.F. 2005-03-02 18:12:23 2005-03-02 18:12:23 4 33723 Although I don't really think it's the bee's knees as people make it out to be, there are some funny moments towards the end. But it's an atypical Calvin production, which company I'm not the biggest fan of. "Yes I liked this film" Spuzz 2005-03-04 00:38:22 2005-03-04 00:38:22 3 This film is freaking awesome. I had no idea that filmmakers in 1960 could be so "meta". The whole thing is almost like a Saturday Night Live skit (except that unlike and SNL skit, this is actually funny!). If you enjoy watching the films in this archive for cheap laughs like I do, then you'll love this one. What has God wrought?? 5 depthfunction 2005-05-09 16:07:12 2005-05-09 16:07:12 I have brought this film before friends and family, wanting their comments on it. They all say the same thing: "How did they make the film look so old?" Then I tell them that the film was made in 1960, back when films of this type were a staple of advertising. They do a double-take, and refuse to believe me. This film seems so oddly entertaining now. I'm certain if it was included in a collection of shorts for a "Midnight Show" audience, it would go over well. Wooden acting, ambigious plot, overblown drama, self-referential parody; it is a genuinely funny film. Watch it, download iot and share it with friends. It's a great "party film". Even funnier now in retrospect 5 Unidyne 2005-05-27 18:37:15 2005-05-27 18:37:15 Since nobody else seems to have mentioned it yet, the media collage group Evolution Control Committee used this film & re-tooled it just slightly to make "The ECC Story." That was actually the first I saw of this film, before discovering the original in the Archive! http://www.evolution-control.com/videos.html The other ECC videos & music are pretty good, too! Re-use of this great public domain nugget! 5 Rev. Felix the Black Cat 2005-05-28 10:53:29 2005-05-28 10:53:29 Cheesy, overblown, and just nutty, this is my favorite find in the Internet Archive. Everyone I have shown it to has enjoyed the heck out of it. Well worth watching & downloading. Just funny 5 dog from Nightwatch 2005-07-18 01:01:37 2005-07-18 01:01:37 my theory is that the film was produced for a convention or get together of the Calvin Workshop people. there's another film on the archives here (can't remember the name, but it also stars the guy who is the announcer at the beginning of "Your Name Here") with the same kind of comic point of view - basically poking fun at industrial films. I'm thinking that they made the films for fun to open up a convention or dinner or something - kind of the same way they do the white house press corps dinner. great article on wikipedia about the calvin company... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Company "your name here" is the best. film. ever. workshop film 5 nathan_mcginty 2006-05-23 21:29:03 2006-05-23 21:29:03 "Your name here" is where Calvin Communications makes a parody of their own industrial film productions. It might seem very funny to those involved, but not as much to the general public. However,it still holds up after so many years. A parody of the own industrial films 4 ERD 2006-05-24 14:25:16 2006-05-24 14:25:16 ~~~~~ Your Name Here Mr. 2007-06-30 16:09:12 2006-06-17 03:11:29 5 A vastly improved version of this film is now available at HungryFlix. Some pictures and a small discussion of the film and the restoration are located here: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=122187 In any form, though, "Your Name Here" is a marvelous poke at the pompous nature of some of these corporate films. Technology on the March!! Joel Cairo 2007-08-03 21:24:44 2007-08-03 21:24:44 5 These pre 70s films are such a blast! Love 'em mr_loophead 2007-11-15 22:00:49 2007-11-15 22:00:49 5 While home sick today, I came across this movie while researching Calvin . My Dad worked for Calvin starting in 1959, I believe, well up into the 1970s. His name was Gene Carr and in this film he is the coon skin cap wearing pioneer on the right . He was a writer,director and producer for Calvin. He had a great sense of humor and was probably behind alot of these ideas.This was a treasure to find to say the least.I miss him greatly Stephen Carr My father as a pioneer scarr155 2008-04-14 20:52:47 2008-04-14 20:52:47 5 Could the writers of this film have had the amazing foresight to realize that what they were lampooning would one day become the status quo of politically correct dupes in a 21st century consumer culture? Get Real Smoking Satisfaction! JD Kay 2008-08-30 14:55:08 2008-08-30 14:55:08 4 Loved the couple in the twin beds. I am sure this evoked laughs out of the crowd who first saw this film. There is a gap between us... bestpbx 2009-04-24 22:24:44 2009-04-24 22:24:44 5 37 4.81