{"id":10479,"date":"2020-04-01T15:38:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T15:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/?p=10479"},"modified":"2025-05-08T10:55:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T10:55:43","slug":"topics-issue-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/2020\/04\/topics-issue-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Topics Issue 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThis collection of \u201cTopics\u201d  –  composed of emails written by BBC Technical Operators – was inspired by the comments of the Tech Ops group following the release of the film \u201c1917\u201d.  This film tells the story of the day, 6th April 1917, when two soldiers are assigned to race against time to deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap. The director was Sam Mendes, and the screen-play was by Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns.  The film is notable for \u201capparently\u201d being one long single shot \u2013 the idea was to fully engage the audience with these two characters when really we know very little about them.\n

\nRather artificially, the discussion of \u201c1917\u201d is split between the photography and the sound: \n

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\u201c1917\u201d – The Sound of Silence<\/strong><\/h3>\nA very important piece by Alan Taylor introduces the topic of sound in film and television, starting with \u201c1917\u201d and discusses other soundscapes and sound supervisor contributions.\n

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\u201c1917\u201d – An apparent single shot<\/strong><\/h3>\nThere have been a number of single shot productions in both film and television. This article considers \u201c1917\u201d photography and other notable (single|)shots.\n

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Get It Right<\/strong><\/h3>\nCrossing the line in a Railway Carriage….\n
     – and the horrible framing and reverse cuts in \u201cShetland\u201d …\n

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Oh The Irony<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe BBC\u2019s jewel, the BBC Television Centre, destroyed and the rump now used by ITV.\n

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The Elephant in the Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n…is of course, the Coronavirus, Covid-19.  Some bits and pieces about this unprecedented affair in our lives. Some humourous, some serious…\n

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ETD Memories<\/strong><\/h3>\nEvesham station, the Wood Norton Hall Bus timetable (1963) and more …\n

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Presentation Times<\/strong><\/h3>\nTwo pieces from Bernie.  \n
\nThe first one is a video of people in the Presentation Department in 1986. \n

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\nThe second one is Bernie’s take on the production of Christmas programme trails.\n

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Special Feature:  The Camera as Actor<\/strong><\/h3>\nBernie Newnham\u2019s daughter asked him to write down all the shows that he had ever worked on (for a specific project).  He was trying to remember the series name of a documentary that he had worked on and typed his name into a search engine. To his surprise, his name came up in an entry about a book called “Exploring Television Acting”.  One chapter in this book takes an academic look at the performance of the camera as an actor in the drama.\n

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Quatermass Quiz<\/strong><\/h3>\nSome questions for you to answer, based around the last scene of the last episode of  \u201cQuatermass and the Pit\u201d.\n

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Studio Planning Stencils<\/strong><\/h3>\nIt started out as a request for dimensions of the microphone booms, and the replies included a number of studio planning stencils.\n

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Back In Time For Christmas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\u201cBack in time for Dinner\u201d, \u201cBack in time for the Corner Shop\u201d\u2026\n

\nSome of us would like to book a seat on Tardis back to a 1950s Christmas …\n

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Back to the summer of 1986…<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnd while we are at it … a photo from the summer of 1986 provoked a discussion about cameras and crews and cheap cameras and no crews…\n

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Doctor Who<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnd, of course, time travel automatically means a visit to the Doctor. \n
(N.B. the first series with Jodie Whittaker.)\n

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Sangers Yard<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe number of the early episodes of “Doctor Who” were telerecorded in Studio D, Lime Grove.\n

\n Lime Grove was an untidy collection of seemingly ad-hoc construction and alleys and yards, fire escapes and strange corners…\n

There was Sanger’s ?Yard…\n

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More About Moles<\/strong><\/h3>\nThere are always stories about the Mole Crane;  This page also includes the \u201cCode of Practice\u201d for using the Mole.\n

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Peds, Cranes and Mountings<\/strong><\/h3>\nDavid Lawson remembered a database that he  compiled  about 2000 giving data for most camera mountings available at that time, including  and many from the history of camera peds, cranes and other mountings. It is written in hand coded HTML so is a bit crude by today\u2019s standards but at least this one works. If anyone wants to take the data, upgrade it and make a proper database out of it, David says, feel free.\n

\n
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\nRoger Bunce also has produced a draft data book.\n

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Sounds Sensational<\/strong><\/h3>\nA miscellany of articles about sound, starting with the amazing Voces8 then on to miking up multiple singers…\n

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Sound Matters<\/strong><\/h3>\nA miscellany of articles about sound, starting with TD7s, press conferences, and such like of interest to the gentlemen of sound, seguing to favourite films.\n

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Articulated MCRs<\/strong><\/h3>\nWere there any articulated Mobile Control Rooms? Find out here\u2026\n

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TV Theatre \u2013 trip and stories<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nWe were invited to visit the newly refurbished Shepherd\u2019s Bush Empire, known to us as the Television Theatre.  Bernie Newnham has pictures of the visit. \n

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\nHugh Sheppard commented: \n
\nLovely piccies of the onetime ‘TV Theatre’, but whither the back seats of the stalls?  I can recall sitting there at tea-breaks circa 1960 with a 3-legged performer (and very nice chap) called Rolf… something-or-other.  Maybe they all had to be taken out in case of contamination by association…\n

\nVernon Dyer commented: \n
\nEmpty, house lights or not, doesn’t it look different without the ramp, apron, etc. The refurbishment looks splendid – back to how it presumably looked in its music-hall heyday.\n

\nLots of us worked in the television Theatre over the years.  Here are some more tales \u2013 or should that be Mole tales\u2026 \n

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TV transmitters and aerials<\/strong><\/h3>\nTechnical information about TV transmitters and aerials.\n

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Railway … Stations<\/strong><\/h3>\nStarts out talking about a railway program and ends up considering two nations divided by a common language.\n

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Bits and Pieces<\/strong><\/h3>\nA miscellany of items that didn\u2019t fit anywhere else but are really interesting\u2026\n
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PLUGE<\/strong><\/h3>\nPicture Line-up Generating equipment and Vision Control\n

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Dancers on Camera<\/strong><\/h3>\nBallet dances and TV cameras\n

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Connections<\/strong><\/h3>\nA little bit of whimsy ….\n

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Colour Supplement<\/strong><\/h3>\nWoking U3A Video Production Group create their own cookery show \u2013 How to Make a Microwave Mug Cake.\n

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Colour (Separation Overlay) Supplement<\/strong><\/h3>\nFloella Benjamin and the dancing cameras.\n

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FREE GIFT!!<\/strong><\/h3>\nConstruct your own Vinten Heron from card!\n

\n(You will have to supply your own Lynda Barron …)\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBBC 3 : Lynda Barron on a Heron.  Pssst!  What happened to the lens \u2026\n

\nTo construct your own Heron , here is all you need – full instructions and the parts sheets. \n

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\"ianfootersmall\"<\/p>\n\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This collection of \u201cTopics\u201d  –  composed of emails written by BBC Technical Operators – was inspired by the comments of the Tech Ops group following the release of the film \u201c1917\u201d.  This film tells the story of the day, 6th … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Alec Bray","author_link":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/author\/alec\/"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Uncategorized<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Uncategorized<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on April 1, 2020","modified":"Updated on May 8, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on April 1, 2020 3:38 pm","modified":"Updated on May 8, 2025 10:55 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10479"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19903,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10479\/revisions\/19903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}