When the Circuit Breaks

From Ephemeral Film Wiki
Moving Image:When the Circuit Breaks - America's Energy Crisis
Jump to navigation Jump to search

When the Circuit Breaks is a short film from 1975 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.

Add Synopsis

When the Circuit Breaks
Produced byConcept Films, Inc.
Production
companies
Concept Films, Inc.
Distributed byConcept Films, Inc.
Release date
1975
Running time
28:00
LanguageEnglish
Thumbnail
ewid: 969 | Fresh | | step:1 || dopt: {{{dopt}}}

Shot List

Explains that all forms of energy have circuit breakers; when demand exceeds supply, the circuit breaks; when several circuits break at the same time, we have an energy crisis. Examines the traditional sources of energy, looks at the present to show how demand is steadily gaining on supply, and looks to the future to see what new sources of energy show the greatest promise. Can serve as a springboard for discussion on what each person can do right now to cope with the energy problem.

Great footage about energy crisis in 1970s.

11:25:51:02 VS zoom in to CU conch shell lamp, various oil lamp, CU lit candle, CU light bulb, CU glowing light coil.

11:26:37:16 CU Blend button pushed on blender; CU started button pushed on stove; CU hand turns knob of stove burner; CU Duncan electricity meter; CU buzzer shaving hair; extreme CU electricity meter; cute little girl opens refrigerator

11:26:44:18 Disembodied hand flip light switch.

11:26:45:13 VS quick zoom-ins into offices into office with lights at dawn.

11:27:04:12 Women enters room to turn off TV with large antennae in front of ironing board and iron plugged in; women unplugs iron.

11:27:18:29 Oil pump.

11:27:57:28 Zoom-in to CU Newspaper article on black background with red text, headline read �Energy: The Face of the Future;� flashing red text on black background �Energy Saving Held Vital;� newspaper article headline in yellow text �Airlines Say Cost of Fuel May Cause Bankruptcies�

11:30:59:09 Gulf oil company ships in harbor.

11:31:04:04 CU oil drill; two workers adjusting drill.

11:31:13:12 Man in hardhat watches coal move down conveyor line from coal mine.

11:31:29:00 Great shot of oil pipeline over clear blue water.

11:31:33:10 Great shot of camels as seen through pipes and equipment in oil refinery.

11:31:35:23 Large piece of oil line pipe with Arabian American Oil Co. stenciled on its side.

11:31:38:28 Important Saudi official disembark Saudi Arabian airplane.

11:31:44:28 CU newspaper headline �Arab Embargo Of Oil to U.S. Becomes Total.�

11:31:49:22 Great shot of oil lines over middle eastern desert.

11:31:58:27 VS CU newspaper headline �Rationing, Shutdowns Predicted,� �Jobless Rise Seen In Crisis,� �Energy-Saving Tips Given�, snapshot of sign in newspaper �Gasoline pumps closed today.�

11:34:45:28 CU disembodied finger turns thermostat down

11:34:54:03 CU light switch; finger enters frame and flips switch off; CU lamp with three bulbs turns off; light fixture with five bulbs turns off.

11:35:49:12 1970s City of St. Louis orange garbage truck; CU sign for Energy Recovery Project co-sponsored by the City of St. Louis, Union Electric Co., EPA.

11:35:58:08 Smoke stacks from garbage powered electricity generators, camera pans over to electric power lines at electricity distribution center.

11:36:03:21 Oil truck on highway.

11:36:09:28 VS CU machines sorting and melting down cans to be recycled.

11:37:02:23 Pan up sloped building on 42nd street in Manhattan.

11:37:22:05 VS great footage of 1970s cars in traffic on highways.

11:37:35:12 CU disembodied hand puts gas pump in gas tank.

11:37:53:25 Great silhouette shot of backlit oil pump.

11:38:05:25 VS CU men working with oil drill in oil rig; VS oil drills and rigs.

11:39:06:26 Great shot zoom out from oil pump in desert; great shot zooming on oil drill in desert landscape.

11:39:48:18 Great aerial floating platform oil rig in ocean; VS men working on floating platform.

11:40:25:07 Pan along natural gas lines; Natural gas booster station and storage facility.

11:40:50:13 VS of experimental oil shale mine and refinery in the Rocky Mountains; Harry Pforzheimer, VP of SOHIO, discusses the processing plant.

11:41:19:16 VS CU disembodied arms pumping gas into cars; meter of gas pumps counts up from 10 gallons at price of $6.20.

11:41:27:16 VS coal mine and men working in coal mine extracting goal onto conveyor belts; VS coal mines.

11:42:57:25 LS sign for El Paso Gas Company, camera pans down oil line.

11:43:29:06 Great shot of electricity distribution center; fans on back of large transformer, pan up electric lines.

11:43:43:10 Hydroelectric dam, pan down water flowing down concrete dam wall.

11:44:36:29 VS from man-made canal of Long Beach Harbor�s more than 600 oil wells on four man-made islands.

11:45:09:08 Pan out from television with psychadelic or hypnotic swirl on screen.

11:45:54:28 Shot from inside control center at San Onofre Nuclear Station.

11:46:01:16 Pan over construction site for nuclear power plant.

11:46:22:25 VS from Geothermal power plant outside of San Francisco. Carel Otte discusses the plant.

11:47:14:13 Pan from sun to solar panel roof of wood cabin; VS houses with solar panel roofs.

11:48:33:08 CU Sign for FMC Prime Contractor, Project COED, Char-Oil Energy Development, U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

11:50:02:21 Great finale 1970s energy crisis montage with clips of: highway traffic, ENERGY sign, airplane taking off, night time highway traffic, heavy industrial factories, melted down recycled metals, electricity transformers, CU gas pumps, mine explosion, CU oil drill, men working on oil drill rig, floating platform oil rig, man working in automotive factory assembly line on car engine, highway traffic, Long Beach oil wells, nuclear power plant, CU turning thermostat down, CU flipping light switch, lights go out, setting sun through electric power distribution center, pan down power lines, pan over earth from atmosphere.

More Details

Original Title
When the Circuit Breaks: America's Energy Crisis