Jun 26, 2021
Bob Elfstrom, The Magic Room
Interview and research by Kay Savetz.
From 1982 through 1984, Atari ran summer computer camps at several
locations around the United States. I covered the Atari camps
extensively in a
special episode in 2015. Now it's summer 2021, and we're going
back to camp!
That first year of the computer camps, in 1982, Atari commissioned
a film about its summer camps, about the kids and teachers who were
there, about the process of learning about computers, about kids
challenging themselves, and about making friends at summer camp.
Atari commissioned filmmaker Bob Elfstrom and his partner Lucy
Hilmer to make the film. They shot the 26-minute film at the
University of California, San Diego campus in 1982. It would be
titled The Magic Room and was released the next year.
There are many scenes in the computer lab: we see close-ups of kids
concentrating, thinking about the logic of their programming
projects. Their faces light up as they solve their problem. There’s
an adorable scene with a robotic, computer controlled turtle
running across the floor, racing an actual turtle. There's kids
riding horses at magic hour, and singing by the campfire, and
finally an epic pillow fight, with feathers flying everywhere in
the dorm hallways. The end credits were made with an Atari 800,
naturally.
This interview is with the filmmaker, Bob Elfstrom. (Lucy Hilmer
was unavailable for an interview.) Bob has a long list of film
credits to his name. He is known for his work on Johnny Cash! The
Man, His World, His Music (1969), and Mysteries of the Sea (1980)
-- his IMDB page lists scores of credits.
It's easy to watch The Magic Room (and you should!). It's available
at YouTube and Internet Archive.
My interview with Bob took place on June 17 and June 25, 2021.
Watch
The Magic Room
The Magic Room Trailer