[Afamilyatwar-list] Tech Query

[john at johnfinch.com]

On 2018-04-07 17:28, William Murphy via Afamilyatwar-list wrote:
> I worked on the last two series of The Onedin Line (music) in 1979-80,
> and was present at all the studio recording sessions. Studio noise and
> "funnies" creeping into shot were persistent problems. Absolutely
> everybody, regardless of function or position, was encouraged to call
> "boom in shot" or anything else appropriate if they saw something; it
> gave me a tendency to keep one eye fixed on the top of the frame that
> I have never lost. A particularly annoying noise was cable swish from
> the cameras, which then trailed enormous thick cables behind them;
> talkback leak was another one. Worst of all, however, were the
> directors who would merrily chirp "we'll get it out in the mix" when
> something was pointed out, rather than re-shooting. This meant that
> sometimes literally hours of dubbing time would be lost trying to lose
> (genuine example) "What's on your sandwich?" between two lines of
> script. We once spent nearly two hours trying to repair a non-period
> plastic "clunk" when James Onedin plonked a plastic decanter down on a
> table, with me and the director (the wonderful, much-lamented Gerald
> Blake) Foleying around with a real glass decanter as the scene came
> around, and around, and around ...
> 
> Happy days.
> 
> -------------------------
>  FROM: Brian Renforth via Afamilyatwar-list
> <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
> TO: "afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu" <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>;
> Scott Filderman <scottfilderman at yahoo.com>
> SENT: Saturday, April 7, 2018 8:24 AM
> SUBJECT: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Tech Query
> 
> I've just had a look. There a shadow, a tapping sound then part of the
> rug flips over, probably unnoticed by the two actors and no doubt the
> majority of viewers, myself included! It's what makes older television
> programmes enjoyable, the work that went into them in addition to
> excellent acting. In general they're like outstanding theatre
> performances' preserved on tape with added filmed sequences. It was
> magic. Modern Tele looks artificial and diluted in comparison.
> 
> I've noticed while the picture quality on most scenes is stunning, on
> a few more distant scenes there's colour fringing not unlike an old
> colour TV set that hadn't been converged properly (separate Red, Green
> and Blue images converged together, then setting up the grey scale to
> give equal emission of the three guns to produce a perfect black and
> white image. This is before adding the actual colour information!).
> 
> You've probably noticed the Granada logo differs in size too.
> Basically this was achieved by pointing the camera at a card!
> 
> On a later black and white episode of Thames TV's, "Special Branch"
> this was clearly made using colour equipment and VT machine. One of
> the cameras gave a slight green tint to the whites, the other mauve!
> 
> Reading the Doctor Who restoration team's blog, although their work on
> the older black and white episodes are wonderful I became concerned by
> reading about the removal of production flaws such as an, "Occasional
> cough" from a lighting technician on their  "restored" versions of
> surviving 2" masters' of later stories. I've personally never heard
> these production flaws so they must have very sensitive hearing. To
> "correct" these is interfering with history in my view. However, my
> interest in Doctor Who declined rapidly following the first Jon
> Pertwee season so I'm unlikely to buy them anyway.
> 
> Cheers
> Brian
> 
> Sent from my Windows Phone
> 
> -------------------------
>  From: Scott Filderman via Afamilyatwar-list
> Sent: ‎06/‎04/‎2018 23:22
> To: Scott Filderman via Afamilyatwar-list
> Subject: [Afamilyatwar-list] Tech Query
> 
> I tend to be sensitive to such production glitches as boom shadows,
> booms dripping into the frame, inadequate lens focusing, rips, tears,
> bad edits.
> 
> I’m watching Series One, Episode 12, the scene with Peter and his
> mother, at the 32:35 point, there is something alongside the sofa.
> It’s light brown, and I thought it was a cat, perhaps playing. But
> no: it appears to be a long “something” with its right-hand end
> flipping up, and it makes a slight slapping sound. It lasts for just a
> few seconds. It has nothing to do with the foreground scene; nothing
> is moving on the set, only the camera, whose huge shadow is apparent (
> yes, they were big in those days).
> 
> What IS it??? One of those Doctor Who thingies that sent children
> hiding behind the sofa? Goodness! You don’t suppose...?
> 
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Hi,   Am stunned by the knowledgeable comments of various members of the 
group.  I hope the current programme members are listenening.  JF