American Cinematographer - December 1960 - 44

film to match the sound track, making
a master A roll which would roll at the
start of the sound track and be a con¬
stant reference through the whole show.
We then edited the B roll to contain all
the film that was to be electronically
combined with the A roll. This B roll
had only enough leader between each
segment for projector stop-down, as
previously described.
The second production effort was
Monday night, September 12th, after
station sign-off. There were several false
starts in getting the video matched
with the audio. But the third try was a
success. We had a perfect take up to
the last minute, when we encountered
a film problem. This took just a couple
of minutes to correct and after four
more starts we got the show on tape.
This second effort was very simple, the
easiest possible type of production.
The station is so interested in the
possibilities of this method of program
production that it is planning to utilize
it in doing a series of documentaries
this year.
Lessons Learned

The first effort with this method
taught us several things:
1: It's versatility is almost unlimited.
Just as in live television, script revi¬
sions can be made right up to produc¬
tion time. They can even be made after
the production has been completed. For
example, we were not satisfied with the
quality of the audio track on the video
tape. So we re-recorded our original
track on to the video tape with perfect
sync and much improved match in
qualities.
2: We are able to closely follow film
production methods, such as pre-record-

ing the sound and editing the film to it.
3: We learned not to make too many
rapid video switches. If the production
must be made in one continuous effort,
as ours did, the simpler the better.
However, if the station is equipped to
splice video tape, the production can
be as intricate as need be since the
show can be taped in segments then
spliced together. I feel we could have
done "The New Indiana" the first try
if we had been equipped to splice tape.
4: It is advisable to record the audio
track with a sprocket-driven magnetic
film recorder, which facilitates editing
the film and guarantees continuous
sync.
A & B Rolls

We found it advisable to edit all
film into A & B rolls, then to roll these
simultaneously and in sync. We let the
A and B rolls run continuously during
the production taping session, thus
avoiding the necessity for cues. In such
a procedure, if the projectors are off
sync, then it is advisable to edit the
film with the bulk on the A master roll,
and the remaining segments on the B
roll, with a stop-down leader inserted
between each segment.
To summarize, we believe this is a
method of television production that
enables local independent stations hav¬
ing a video tape set-up to produce
shows of top-notch quality-compara¬
ble to that turned out by network sta¬
tions working with major film labora¬
tories. Most stations already have the
necessary equipment. All they need do
is spend some time experimenting. Ulti¬
mately, the method should materially
increase station programming and reve¬
nue.
■

IS THERE A FUTURE IN FREE-LANCING?
Continued from Page 742

spent his savings of $200 for a meager
supply of 16mm Kodachrome film.
Then he set out to shoot the little
events along with the big.
Four days later Universal-Internation¬
al belatedly decided to release a short
subject on the beauty pageant. They had
good movie coverage of the final phase
of the contest, but nothing whatever on
the important preliminary events.
Someone told them about See shooting
these events in 16mm color. They
tracked him down-had him come to
the studio one night at 12:30 a.m. and
screen his films - and subsequently
purchased See's entire footage, which

750

was blown up to 35mm for the com¬
pany's Technicolor release, The Most
Beautiful Girls In The World. Several
years later the same studio bought his
subsequent footage of the Miss Uni¬
verse event for a second film, Beauty
Queens.
See makes his still photography an
important adjunct to his movie work.
(He owns and uses a battery of four¬
teen different cameras!) His pictures
have appeared on the cover of Life
magazine's Spanish edition and many
times within its pages. His camera
work has graced the covers of dozens
of other Latin-American publications.

See has tapped a market which many
other American photographers have
failed to exploit-foreign sales. Many
South American governments and busi¬
ness firms regularly send for Charlie
See when they have an important pho¬
tographic assignment - even though
there may be competent photographers
available locally.
Being a free-lance photographer,
Charlie See has to sell himself and his
abilities at all times. Part of his sec¬
ret in getting assignments lies in show¬
ing his movies and stills at every oppor¬
tunity.
In Brazil See obtained an assign¬
ment to film the Miss Brazil beauty
contest for the local Associated Newspa¬
pers. Later, after screening his films,
the Willys-Overland company of that
country engaged him to photograph its
big Jeep plant in Sao Paulo.
Subsequently he took his cameras
over some of the most rugged terrain
he has ever traveled. The Brazilians
wanted motion pictures of their Jeep
being used under the roughest pos¬
sible conditions. See got it for them,
but at the expense of considerable per¬
sonal discomfort.
Near-disaster Encountered

Two years ago he traveled to Sur¬
inam (formerly Dutch Guiana) to
make a film for a government agency.
He traveled inland almost to the trib¬
utaries of the Amazon river to pho¬
tograph the local natives and the
country. Before he left Surinam months
later, he produced two additional pic¬
tures, one for the government and an¬
other for a local firm. The rugged trip
on the Marrowyne river in Surinam
almost threatened to end his photo¬
graphic career-for a time, at least.
Half way on the journey a canoe
swamped, dumping his equipment into
the river. Immediately, natives dove
down to retrieve what they could. After
a thorough drying of the equipment
over a hastily-kindled fire and a care¬
ful cleaning, the cameras functioned
perfectly again. Luckily, the water had
not penetrated inside the lenses.
See has gotten into more difficulty,
perhaps, in large cities than in the
remote jungles. In the capital of the
Dominican Republic one day he no¬
ticed several beautiful tropical flowers
blooming inside a large gate. He set up
his cameras and took long shots of the
blossoms and then moved in for closeups.
Suddenly, he looked up into the
muzzles of four guns. He had unwit-

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American Cinematographer - December 1960

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