[QuadList] 8mm film at WGGB-- (was Re: TCR-100)

[kylebook at aol.com]

Hi Ted,

   The Super 8mm projectors were used exclusively at that time (1985) for rolling PSAs when "Fred" lived up to his nickname.  I suspect they may have been leftover machines from the pre-ENG news gathering days.

    As for optical vs. magnetic, I would go with magnetic, as I don't recall seeing the undulating white soundtrack line on the film stock that the 16mm stock had.

- Kyle      







-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Langdell <ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
To: Quad List <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 3, 2010 11:20 pm
Subject: Re: [QuadList] 8mm film at WGGB-- (was Re: TCR-100)


Hi, Kyle,


Very surprising. Thanks for the details. Sounds like it worked OK when needed.  Was the system used for programming or news footage... or just the PSA's.


Do you remember whether the sound was optical or magnetic?


I'm thinking magnetic.


Partial interest as I rep a German HD 8/S8 transfer system... and looking back makes me truly appreciate where we are today.


Now back to figuring out where to stay near but not in lower Manhattan tomorrow and Friday night... or longer : ) I'm thinking in Secaucus or elsewhere in the Meadowlands. Suggestions welcome. Off list replies, please to ted at flashscan8.us.


Now back to our regularly scheduled TCR-100 thread...


Ted




On Feb 3, 2010, at 10:51 PM, KYLEBOOK at aol.com wrote:


Hi Ted,
 
To be specific, these were Super 8 projectors.  In addition to the standard 16MM RCA projectors,  WGGB's telecine area had these 3 side-mounted (onto poles) Bell & Howell Super 8 projectors.   Physically, they were slightly larger than a first-aid kit, with a feeder reel on top, take up reel on the bottom, and a door on the front to access the threading area, focus knobs & lens.  Each of the machines had its own CCU, located next to the master control switcher, and its own telecine island & mirrors. The quality was not nearly as good as the 16MM, with rather saturated chroma levels & orangey flesh tones that the CCU couldn't completely eliminate.
 
The PSAs themselves were super 8mm films provided by state & federal government agencies, generally 1-2 minutes, on subjects like drunk driving, poison control, fire prevention, etc.
 
The operative attitude was "Well, it's better than black or an ID slide".
 
In the 6 months I worked at Channel 40 as tape op in 1985, I only participated in one outright TCR crash that forced us to use the Super 8 projectors.  Murphy's Law being what it is, the TCR went down (due to a faulty tractor belt) an hour after the 11 O'Clock news ended, and another hour before sign-off, after the on-duty engineer had left for the night.  The station was running a syndicated show called "Tales From The Darkside", followed by a rerun of the old NBC show "Real People", and a 15-minute late newscast from the ABC Network, taped at 11 O'Clock (on the station's lone 1" machine, a Sony BVH-2500).  There was only 1 paid spot (our sign on & sign offs were always preceded by a spot for a local discount retail store) the rest of the night, so the engineer said he'd be in before sign-on, so the rest of night was spent scrambling to grab as many Super 8 PSAs, and stringing them as fast as possible.
 
Such is life in the small markets...
 
Kyle Bookholz
 
                






-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Langdell <ted at quadvideotapegroup.com>
To: Quad List <quadlist at quadvideotapegroup.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 3, 2010 9:00 pm
Subject: [QuadList] 8mm film at WGGB-- (was Re: TCR-100)




On Feb 3, 2010, at 7:37 PM, KYLEBOOK at aol.com wrote:


 if "Fred" took a siesta, the backup was PSAs on 8mm projectors, 


8mm?  Do tell more!


Ted




Ted Langdell
Secretary



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Ted Langdell
Secretary




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