Alec Bray was in tech-ops from Jan 1963 – May 1967 on Crews 7 and 13 (and occasionally others) . Here are some stories and a card….
The Vinten Heron
In the mid to late 1960’s there were very few zoom lenses in use in the BBC Television studios. Some productions were allowed one zoom lens (and only one zoom lens, at that), which had to be collected from stores during rigging – and returned after derigging, of course – but that is another story…
The upshot was that if you needed to make the shot closer or looser “on shot” the only thing to do was to track in or out. So that the dolly operator had some sort of clue as to where the crane should be positioned, the general practice was to lay down a “ladder” using wax crayon on the lino floor. The ladder had a long line along the left or right side of the camera crane with marks at right angles to this at approximately one foot intervals and labelled typically “A”, “B” “C” and so on. (see http://tech-ops.co.uk/next/2010/08/page-172/?replytocom=38).
If you were on a Mole crane, any slight changes to position to the left or right of the tracking line could be manage by the “swinger” moving the crane arm to the left or right: with the Vinten Heron, you either had to mark up on the cue cards that you were actually not on the tracking line – or draw a new ladder. In a complex production with the Heron, you could easily end up with lots of parallel ladders as they were very difficult to rub out (in a hurry) if no longer needed.
Well, on one of the crews came there a senior cameraman, name of A*****, originally from Outside Broadcasts. We used to joke that he was overjoyed about being able to move a camera, because he fussed over every shot. To the left, he’d signal. To the right, he’d signal. Finally, he’d be satisfied. Off the Heron, put down a ladder – and then to the left, he’d signal, to the right, he’d signal. The floor just became a maze of ladders, and it was nigh on impossible to work out which one was the right one!
A number of trackers (unofficially) refused to work with A*****, and I ended up tracking him most of the time – on the Heron. We would get into each camera position, and generally we’d work properly, getting the shot lined up nicely. But then A***** would start “fussing”. To the left, he’d signal. I’d put my foot on the “safety” platform, other foot firmly on the brake and then ram the hand quadrant into full forward. The result was that the Heron jerked. It usually jerked enough to convince A***** that we had tracked a gnats to the left. The hand went up signalling “that’s it”. And so we went on our merry way through the stagger through …
A Dalek in D
The early series of “Doctor Who” were produced in Studio D, Lime Grove.
Studio D, and its companion, Studio E, felt antiquated even in 1963, as the lights were suspended from block and tackle, the lights themselves controlled from a number of free standing large dimmer “trucks”. The cameras were EMI CPS Emitron cameras, big, unwieldy things (but which gave much nicer flesh tones than the image orthicons used in TVC). The soundproofing around the walls looked like dirty old cotton wool held in place by chicken netting.
Between Studios D and E there were some toilets (well, certainly the “gents”) and so it was quite an easy matter to slip out of one studio into the other through the soundproof doors from each studio to the toilets.
One day, I slipped away from Studio E – probably working on “24 Hours” – and into Studio D, where “Doctor Who” was rehearsing.
I was standing behind a Dalek – and in front of the Dalek, but with her back to it, was one of the makeup girls. Makeup girls in those days wore light blue uniform “dresses” and often came into the studios – on live drama transmissions they would often have cloths soaked in Eau de Cologne which they would wave round and round like fans.
Anyway, the makeup girl was standing with her back to the Dalek, unaware of what was behind her.
The Dalek slowly extended the right hand “sink plunger” and cupped her backside. The makeup girl quickly turned around – the plunger was as quickly withdrawn – and as the makeup girl glowered at the Dalek, it calmly looked her up and down with its eye stalk.
And a Christmas card from Crew 7 – click for big….
