The Good …
The Sleeping Beauty 1959
Gordon Blockley
“The Sleeping Beauty” was broadcast live from Riverside Studios – I seem to recall it was recorded on film as it was broadcast because it was due for future transmission on the EBU network. Surprisingly, there was only one retake right at the very end: otherwise the transmission went faultlessly-but how could it be otherwise with Margaret Dale-a truly inspirational lady!
Hugh Sheppard
Maggie Dale could do no wrong as a ballet director in my book, but I was not in the right place at the right time for the ‘lost’ Margot Fonteyn ballet.
So who was in the right place? The production consistency was extraordinary. If the dancers stopped so did the camera – precisely. If they went left or right, the pan went just far enough to contain the action within the frame, always. The top of the frame always gave room enough, but never too much. And the lighting! Who was so brave as to have much brighter backlights than keylights, casting crisp forward shadows on the floor?
Could it have been in Riverside? Presumably the copy is on FR – but in 1959? Or is some kill-joy going to say it originated on film?
There’s been support for this being FR and it being done at Riverside, but Gordon’s email is the first to mention the crews that were involved – and it seems that he was there!
Jeff Booth
It is definitely a suppressed field (query 35mm) film recording. If you look carefully you can see a couple of flecks of dirt on the screen the film camera was pointed at (top left corner).
The mixes look electronic (no film dupes). Also the cuts have the suppressed field look to them. Also, camera microphony can be seen – a camera backs into something during the shoot, accompanied by some horizontal black flashes!
There is evidence of shading and ringing on the LHS – which could be a CRT issue (again, the CRT the film recorder was pointed at) rather than cameras.
It is, however, one of the best film recordings I have seen. A distinct lack of line aliasing.
Albert Barber
Despite not my thing I was riveted by the sheer mastery of the production. The dancing wasn’t bad either!
Gerry Blake
Alec Bray
My story about Gerry Blake:
We did a programme called “Curtain of Fear” (1964) (6 episodes) starring George Baker, William Franklyn (of “Shhhh you know who … “ fame) , Colette Wilde etc.
I was on a pedestal camera in R1 (probably camera 4). As we did the stagger through, we came to the end of the scene which was shot by me and one other cameraman. We then had to get into position for our next shots – but in the script there was only on word of dialog to cover this move – the word “No”. So we both asked the Gallery about this.
Gerry came down to the floor to look at the situation and to talk to us cameramen directly. He said that he had worked it all out with matchboxes and lengths of string to represent the cameras and the cables, and that it would work! Well, we both believed him, and off we went through rehearsals – no argument!. To get to my next position, I had to go round a Mole sound boom, and I will tell you that on transmission, one set of the ped wheels left the ground as I swept round into position.
Later in the series, I had to do a track in from a loose two-shot to a close-up of the two characters kissing – Gerry wanted a lot of lip in the shot. But oh dear on transmission the end of the track ended up with just lips going diagonally across the scene (a very very BCU). Gerry’s comment was along the lines that he wanted lips, but not quite to that extent – so there was a retake…
Pat Heigham
I used to fart around on rehearsal with stupid sound effects – Gerry Blake loved it, but by Christ! you had to get it right on transmission! "Rupert of Hentzau" – lovely actress, think it may have been Sarah Lawson? Stage Direction: ‘pace up and down until you hear the clock strike, then go to the window’ I played in a cuckoo clock – collapse of actress!
When a sword came down and vanished bottom of frame, presumably delivering the ‘coup de grace’ for the villain, I put in a ricochet rifle shot!
The Bad …
Maurice Fleisher
I think it was Rudy that threw a chair at the control-room window in one of his many tantrums, although there was another drama director (Phillip Saville?) who was also a bit of a screamer….it might have been him. Of course they came up through the vulgar theatre and motion-picture route rather than us more genteel TV wallahs 😉 The only other screamer I can think of was Brian Cowgill, He was a drama in himself but confined to “Sportsview” and “Grandstand”.
Peter Barville, Terry Loader
Lime Grove Studio D doing "Sportsnight" : Bran Cowgill directing. The dialogue ran as follows:
| Cowgill | “Get me Manchester!” | |
| TM2 | “Do you want them on the phone, Squire, or shall I just open the window?” |
From which you will gather the TM2 was the great Pete Hills on a short acting attachment!
Bill Jenkin added:
Pete Hills. As in "That’s f**ked it squire". A BP mirror wasn’t it? Also when taking an EMI out of tech stores without unplugging it first.
Alex Thomas
At the Commonwealth Games of 1970 in Edinburgh I was on a camera placed halfway up one of the floodlight towers. I had a wide angle view of the Meadowbank stadium and a perfect view of the scanner park just below me.
The opening of the first athletic broadcast was an absolute porridge and I looked down from my perch to see the door of the CCMCR burst open and Bryan Cowgill emerge.
At the same time the doors of the VT trucks also swung open and three Assistant Producers came out, facing their nemesis.
Bryan roared out “ YOU, YOU, and YOU. YOU’RE SACKED! BACK TO LONDON……..(long pause)………….SECOND CLASS”!
They all, Bryan included, then turned round and went inside their trucks with the doors all closing behind them.
I asked another sports producer why they continued to work having been “sacked”. He said that if you hadn’t been sacked by Cowgill “you weren’t trying hard enough”
Patrick Heigham
My story about Cowgill:
Bryan Cowgill, the then director of “Grandstand”, had a habit of throwing his pencils at the monitor bank – this because there was an off-air TV alongside, showing ITV’s coverage – if they got to transmit a result before BBC, he went apeshit!
On one afternoon, even before the playout music had finished, David arrived in the gallery, his earpiece lead still dangling, and confronted Cowgill.
"I am sick and tired of hearing a stream of ‘Jesus Christ’s’ and ‘effing hell’ coming on talkback – if you can’t say anything sensible, then I’m not wearing this!" And he wrenched the earpiece out and threw it at Cowgill.
We stood around, silently applauding.
Dave Beer
I’m sure many of us can recall Ginger Cowgill’s explosions on "Grandstand", usually involving David Coleman or Brian Venner the director.
I remember one occasion when we were all in the studio watching a floor monitor with Cowgill and the scene crew, which was relaying some important football match or other, when suddenly the OB camera did a massive on-air whip pan across the pitch. We all glanced at Ginger waiting for the explosion so we could take evasive action but fortunately for the OB crew he happened to be looking down at his script at that moment so nothing happened and we could all start breathing again!
We had similar stories in more recent times with the much missed Malcolm Kemp the NZ sports director.
Peter Cook
When working in Munich on Olympic links, we had a couple of incidents with Cowgill. He didn’t like some of the footage from Keele sailing and sacked Dewi Griffiths and told him to go home. Dewi went back to Cardiff, only to be told to go back. Also one of the 2 directors (possibly Ricky Tilling) got so pissed off with being shouted at, he threw down his cans, told Ginger to ‘do it your ******* -self’ and stormed out.
Peter Fox
There was a story of Ginge slamming down the phone as usual, in Lime Grove Studio E probably, and the handset just breaking into two. There’s only so much that even Bakelite could take, like Ricky Tilling.
Tony Grant
I completely ignored Ginge when, on "Grandstand" with David Coleman presenting, I was the only camera functioning for over half an hour, and David had to hold up captions of any results just in, whilst I zoomed in and out of them. I realised talkback was superfluous, and simply followed whatever David was saying/doing, so can’t relate any choice phrases from on high.
Alec Bray
Another screamer and shouter on Grandstand was Cliff Morgan.
The problem with “Grandstand” (and with some of the other sports OBs in particular) was that the TVC and its associated studios had to Genlocked to the OB in order to superimpose captions. As the syncs from the rempote source had to be stable in order for TVC to Genlock, the superimpose could not be done over a remote camera – it had to be one directly cabled back to the scanner (this – early 1960s). Now, for example, on a horse race, the current betting was prepared in the Studio – basically signwriters writing on black caption cards. This was then to be superimposed on the OB pictures. As soon as a new betting forecast was ready, the studio director requested (that’s what it should have been) a stable shot from the OB. But the OB director often had an interesting shot of the jockey or horse or whatever, or there was some critical event on the OB site to show the audience, and so did not wish to go to a wide establishing shot. But the studio director wanted the betting up before the opposition (ITV). Hence the histrionics.
Naomi Capon
John Howell
TC5: some captions and/or video effects post-recording for a drama. As is usual on these occasions the only people directly involved were one or two camera staff, the vision mixer and the Director, who was a very competent lady of many years experience.
After a considerable time setting up a sequence the instruction came to run recording, but "Squire" Hills who was acting TM2 was nowhere to be seen. I was dispatched to look for him. He was sitting on the gantry reading a paperback totally oblivious to the activities. I said "What are you doing out here Pete?" he replied "I had to get out, I can’t stand the sound of that woman’s voice!"
The Director was known for "Three day plays" (as they were called) in the mid-60s, often lit by Bob Wright, Designer Natasha Kroll, Sound mixed by Derek Miller-Timmins or George Ageros, and Crew 5 with Dickie Ashman or Jim Atkinson.
Pat Heigham
A lady director (Naomi Capon?) had such a boring little voice on talkback that one tuned her out – until she said something that concerned me on Grams, and I invariably missed it!
In speaking of TV Directors – as a Gram Op in the ’60’s, I frequently worked with the lady directors, and actually preferred them, but there were lovely people like George Inns, Gerry Blake and Gerry Mills, David Maloney.
Michael Mills and I had a bit of a head-to-head!
Tony Palmer
Geoff Fletcher
Tony Palmer was pretty innovative. … he did a Cream concert at the Albert Hall (I think) using video and film cameras? On another Cream production I worked on at TVC(?) with him directing, he borrowed a slow-mo VT machine from BBC Sports and pre-recorded a number, the drum breaks from which he then played back on the audience monitors on the actual show recording, cutting the replay in while the band performed live in front of cameras.
He then slowed the replay on the monitors right down to a stop, and the studio audience just couldn’t get their heads around what was happening as the monitor pics didn’t match what they were seeing with their own eyes!
Rumour had it that poor old Tony got a reprimand from the BBC upper echelons for his pains, when it was discovered that he had used a piece BBC Sports kit on an LE Production without authorisation!
Michael Mills
Dave Plowman
Seems we could have a whole group devoted to stories about him!Mine was a “Some Mothers Do have Them”. Frank was training as an entertainer, and part of his novelty act was a ‘Human Vesuvius’ with fireworks strapped to his back. The tag to this was when he performed it, the venue ‘sprinklers’ got set off. Michael Mills had arranged for an airport foam machine – the sort of thing used for aircraft fires – to be set off in the studio. And naturally, only on the actual take. Many had misgivings about this device, but of course Michael Mills wouldn’t listen.
It filled the entire set to a depth of several feet. Last I saw of it was Michael Mills pushing one of those wet vacuum cleaner thingies around, as the studio attendant had opted out of clearing up. I’d guess he was there all night.
I seem to recall that Michael Crawford got injured on this stunt too.
Michael Mills sort of followed me across to Thames – as did so many at that time. But he seemed a bit more under control there.
Pat Heigham
I have a story, when, as a senior Grams Op. I was given the programme to celebrate Sir Winston’s 90th birthday. This took the form of reconstructed music hall acts of the time of his life, and I worked on all the separate elements.
Time to meld it all together – Studio G, LG. Noel Coward in vision, lots of captions, and tape play-ins of music and narration, and Ampex inserts.
I was busy, on grams, and accidentally ran through a leader to the next narration off tape, with the fader still open! Michael Mills, who could be fierce at his calmer times, went ballistic, stormed into the sound gallery and pilloried me, shouting: "That’s going all over the world – 625, 525, 35mm and 16mm,
and YOU’VE MADE A MISTAKE!" Oh! Could the floor have swallowed me up!
Moments after that, the vision mixer cut to a camera on captions, which focussed up on shot, then the Ampex was miscued, and Len missed the opening bars of the next music number. It all ground to a halt, and we went back to my mistake to retake from there – so I wore it!
But the worst Director for bad language had to be Brian Cowgill!
John Hays
This reminds me of another incident while recording "Scoop" in 1972. The scene required torrential rain in a forest with Michael Mills demanding more and more rain. With the delectable Valerie Leon in attendance upstairs and against all advice he insisted on full on rain for the whole scene with the inevitable result that the tarpaulin overflowed and the studio floor was under a considerable amount of water.
Result, long delays and furious engineers.
Steve Jellyman
Michael Mills! My first show in TV Centre after Evesham was ‘The World of Wooster’ in April 1965. I cablebashed on Crew 12; Squire Pete Hills with Pete Ware, Peter Phipp, Chris Glass, Jack Gardner and others I can’t remember! All I remember was a lot of verbal shouting from Michael Mills!
Hugh Sheppard
[I recall] a Friday night cabaret show from TC3 (I think) in its earliest days, say Autumn 1960, when I was a Crew 6 dolly op.
Producer Michael Mills, compere Duncan MacRae, regular dancers Una Stubbs and April Olrich. The latter stood on Macrae’s desk in fishnets for all the links; high-heels to thighs were all the viewers saw, while MacRae sat behind the desk pretending not to be distracted. (We certainly were).
Memorable moment? Mills and TOM 1 Sam Neeter were having a stand-up in the gallery during rehearsal, over whether bright lights in shot would cause a camera tube-burn, or some-such. Suddenly, Mills came on loudspeaker talk-back: “I’ve just been told by Colonel Neeter that we can’t do the shot I want to do, so we’re going to do it anyway!" Oooh! How brave we all thought!
Crossing the line
Crossing the line
This is based on a guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters, and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character is always frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. The camera passing over the axis is called jumping the line or crossing the line. (Sometimes known as a reverse cut.)
[Wikipedia]
Alec Bray
There was scheduled a high profile political programme in Lime Grove during which there was to be a long live interview with the then Prime Minister (the programme may have been a “Panorama” but I am not sure).
We rehearsed a set up which basically had camera positions around the interview set – with many of the camera having more than one position. During the set up and stagger, we all realised that there could be a possible problem with cameras seeing each other, as the cameras were moving around the set.
However, this was not a problem if the director choreographed this stately dance correctly and with thought – it would add an extra dimension to the production.
Come transmission, all was going well: then the director told me to move from Position A to Position B. I knew that the camera currently on air would see me as I moved position, so I shook the camera (panned left and right in imitation of a head shake – the only way to communicate back to the gallery live on air in those days). The director again insisted that I change position – again I shook my head (er .. camera). Then the Technical Manager (TOM or TM2? In those days) came on Talkback and told me that I should move as the director wanted. So I did.
And that is why I appeared in shot behind Harold Wilson.
Pat Heigham
The BBC used to have training programmes for Directors, pity they don’t now. A freelance cameraman I worked with, crossed the line, and couldn’t understand what the problem was!
The production tried to flip the image in the edit to preserve the correct eye-line – didn’t work. (Look at Roger Moore in a mirror – it ain’t him, anymore!)
Peter Cook, Roger Bunce
In a recent episode of “Death in Paradise’”, I lost count of the number of times two characters swapped sides of the screen. My wife was so pissed off with me when I spooled back to count them that I gave up. But it was a dozen or more in the space of 2 minutes.
I can understand a PSC Cameraman becoming confused amongst a large crowd of individuals, all looking in various directions, but this was a just a two-way conversation, and every cut seemed to be a reverse! No excuses. I’m also becoming irritated by the reverse looking-room which seems to have become fashionable in so many recent dramas.
Peter Neill
I’ve worked on many PSC directors courses as a sound recordist.
One location we used fairly frequently was a house in Harpenden where the owner had a collection of railway memorabilia (including a signal box) in his back garden.
One item was a sign which read: "Do not cross the line – penalty forty shillings"
Every student thought they were being very funny/clever by including a shot if it.
