[78-L] fwd: Videotape challenge is in the machinery

[David Breneman]

--- On Thu, 8/5/10, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca> wrote:

> This is from Variety.
> By DAVID S. COHEN 
> 

> TV broadcasts began before the introduction of videotape,
> so most early television was as ephemeral as live theater.
> Much of what survives, like "The Honeymooners," was recorded
> as kinescopes -- 16mm film of a TV screen. 
> 
> "I Love Lucy" is a notable exception, but that's because
> Desi Arnaz put 35mm film cameras next to his TV cameras to
> preserve the show for posterity.

Well, although I believe one season of "The Honeymooners"
was airchecked on kinescopes, most episodes were recorded
with the DuMont Electronicam system that was essentially a
35mm film camera grafted on to a video camera.  This sounds a
lot like the system they're attributing to Desi Arnaz, but
unlike "The Honeymooners", "I Love Lucy" shot entirely on film.
Arnaz' system used three 35mm cameras on pedestals like video
cameras. The show was essentially shot like it would be with
video cameras, but using film cameras instead.  The film would
be edited in post much like a TV show, with the director picking
shots from amongst the various cameras.  He wasn't the first
to shoot like this (after all many early talking pictures
were shot the same way) but he popularized the process for
television production.  But "I Love Lucy" was never aired
live.  It was always on film.