[QuadList] Arthur Schneider

[Ted Langdell]

Very sorry to hear this, as he's one of the pioneering people I'd  
hoped to talk with on-camera.

I did speak with him by phone (or was it e-mail) in connection with  
getting permission to post to the Quad website an article that  
appeared in a Ventura Co. publication.  I got his OK and that of the  
publication.  I'll try to find it on my big Mac during AMIA and post.

On Oct 30, 2009, at 11:47 AM, Patrick Kennedy wrote:

> Art passed away in Los Angeles back on Oct. 1st. He was 80.
> You can watch some interviews with Art about his career and history  
> of early TV on the Archives of American Television website, or just  
> Google "Arthur Schneider" for other stuff.
> He was an incredibly talented man and a great coworker. I'd like to  
> see some tribute of him either through Archives, or perhaps here at  
> the Library of Congress. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly  
> appreciated.
>
> Pat Kennedy
> Library of Congress

Back in January, there was thread about editing the Gene Kelly  
specials, and the NBC kine/tape editing method.

I advised:

The answer is that NBC did indeed make kinescopes and edit the film,  
then matchback using tape.

The late engineer/editing system and software designer Jack Callaway  
has a description on his website, in the museum section:

http://www.sssm.com/editing/museum/index.html.

(Link will no longer work, since the site is down after Jack's  
passing. The OldBoy's VTR site in the UK has the content up and you  
may find it there.)

Click on the "Offline" link in the left nav bar and look for "Laugh  
In" in the middle of the page:

One of the most popular shows of its day was NBC's "Laugh-In" (1968 -  
1973). This show was recorded and conformed on two inch tape, but  
edited on film. This was done before the advent of Time Code or  
electronic editing.
During taping, "Editor Sync Guide" (ESG) was recorded on the second  
audio channel. ESG consists of two voices counting.
After taping, the selected takes were transferred to 16-millimeter  
film, with mag audio, and the ESG.
The film and audio tracks were then cut using tradition film techniques.
Once the offline was completed, the video tape editor manually  
conformed the video tape, using the Smith splicer, and making his  
cuts based on the ESG.

Click here if you're interested in more about Editors Sync Guide for  
an article written by Art Schneider, ACE in December, 2002.  It's a  
really detailed description of the process.
There's an audio sample of the Editor's Sync Guide as a Quicktime file.

Schneider edited the Gene Kelly Pontiac Star Parade special that  
started this thread, and was first used on the 1958 Fred Astaire  
special previously posted about.

The direct link is here:  http://www.sssm.com/editing/museum/offline/ 
esg.html

Arthur Schneider, A.C.E., started in television in 1951 with NBC at  
the Sunset and Vine Studios. His autobiography "Jump Cut! Memoirs of  
a Pioneer Television Editor" details his career.

Jump Cut!"
McFarland & Co.
Box 611
Jefferson
North Carolina 28640
He wrote four books, including "My Fifty Years of Television History:  
Been There, Done That." and two others... technical books about  
electronic post.

He had a website that's not now active, but has been archived here:

http://mysite.verizon.net/restlkln/

Art was very prolific about sharing his life and livelyhood through  
books and teaching.

Some of the other pioneers haven't been chronicled. Retired CBS TVC  
tape engineer John Radis in the LA area is one person. He's the guy  
seen bending over the control panel of the Ampex deck in the famous  
pictures of the first use of videotape by a network.

If anyone on the list IS an aging pioneer or knows some in their  
area, please consider recording your experiences or finding a way to  
do a videotaped interview with them about their experiences.

We'll find some folks on the list to help edit them into segments,  
and post on the site... and lodge the complete tape with the Library  
of Congress through QuadList Member James Snyder, who has an ongoing  
project of this nature.

Ted.


Ted Langdell
Secretary

See you in St. Louis.

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