[78-L] film request for a silent 78 side

[Alan Bunting]

This correspondence still hasn't provided the required answer.  I agree with John that what the film producer wants is a silent record, something that used to be quite common in my days as a BBC Television sound supervisor, but whether still available I have no idea. 

In its usual "no expense spared" way, the BBC had specially pressed  12" and 10" 78s with silent grooves and a plain white label which the graphics department would cover with a photographic replica of the appropriate label.

So far as I can remember, they never produced 33 or 45 equivalents and I remember one occasion where the 78 blank had an LP label added to it  - back in the days of black & white 405 line TV I doubt if anyone noticed how coarse the grooves were on this "long-player"

The suggestions regarding plugging the horn might work but it has never been specifically said that it would be a horn gramophone.

I also remember working on one episode of "Doctor Findlay's Casebook" where the director, the producer, the gram operator and I spent 10 minutes discussing what a wind-up gramophone being played in the open air on a river bank on a windy day would sound like.  Ironically the scene in question was a pre-filmed insert with sound on film, but a silent record had been used so that the director could choose the music later.

While on the subject of silent records, unless I missed it, no one ever answered the query about the one "The Goons" allegedly made. To the best of my knowlege, this is apocraphyl, as is the story that they did make it but the master tape was damaged before the record was pressed and Decca couldn't afford to re-record it.

Alan Bunting


--- On Sun, 12/10/08, Mike Richter <mrichter at cpl.net> wrote:

> From: Mike Richter <mrichter at cpl.net>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] film request for a silent 78 side
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Date: Sunday, 12 October, 2008, 9:40 PM
> John Wright wrote:
> > Joe wrote,
> > 
> >  >> I don't get it - just use any record
> > 
> > Hmmm, Joe, nobody, seems to have understood what the
> film producer wants 
> > to do....
> > 
> > The way I understand it, as she says there's a
> problem for the sound 
> > dept., she wants to film a needle being placed on a
> rotating 78, then 
> > the camera pans back to film the actors/dialogue, all
> in one take.
> > 
> > So, they don't want music bellowing out from the
> gramophone while the 
> > actors speak (they will dub some quiet music in
> later).
> > 
> > Now do you see why they want a 'silent' 78 ?
> > 
> > So, can anyone help the producer?
> 
> It may be too simplistic, but just plug the horn. There
> will be slight 
> sound from the needle, but without 'amplification'
> in the horn, it will 
> probably be acceptable.
> 
> Mike
> -- 
> mrichter at cpl.net
> http://www.mrichter.com/
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