From ian.hillson at gmail.com Sun Sep 1 07:56:10 2019 From: ian.hillson at gmail.com (Ian H) Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2019 13:56:10 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dad's Army In-Reply-To: References: <57d0cd3f-ab51-b399-82ba-29c9e56f18cc@gmail.com> Message-ID: Well said Barry! Those were the days when we engineers came to work, turned on the kit, and were pleased if it worked. Pictures looked rather electronic (until LDs started using filters) because tubes were small and BBC designed PAL decoders were soft! Pictures looked a lot sharper on home tellies. Cheers Ian On Sat, Aug 31, 2019 at 11:39 AM Barry Austin via Tech1 < tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote: > The lighting on the original series was mainly Howard King, with Duncan > Brown as well doing a few episodes, both highly respected, award winning > lighting men, alas no longer with us. I worked on some of episodes and > remember Howard and Duncan very well, both lovely, if slightly eccentric, > Duncan especially. > > They were both Technical Manager 1s, as at the time, there was no such > thing as a Lighting Director in BBC studios, the TM1 did the lighting, but > was also responsible for the total technical output of the studio, i.e. he > was God ! > > It is unfair to compare the lighting of 50 years ago to the present day > and say it is better now, each is very much of it?s time, it?s like saying > the technical output of the camera is better today, of course it is, but > what they had at the time is the best there was. > > Technical quality is not the be all, watch episodes of Fawlty Towers and > cringe at the wobbly sets, boom shadows, flares, dodgy zooms, 16mm film > inserts, and yet they are regarded as classics of the TV sitcom. It?s > appalling and wouldn?t be tolerated today, but I worked on them and > looking back, at the time, it was how we did things. > > Without trying to be too pretentious, lighting, like any art form, is > going to develop and change over time, just like any branch of the arts. > You wouldn?t say Turner is better than Rembrandt, they are each of their > time and both valid. > > Of course, not many present day LD?s would be happy today producing > pictures similar to those of 50 years ago, so if these new episodes were > meant to recreate he feel of the originals, perhaps the production should > have employed some of us old timers that are still around and who worked > through, and knew, that era ! > > Sent from my iPad > > > On 30 Aug 2019, at 22:10, Graeme Wall via Tech1 > wrote: > > > > > > ? > > Graeme Wall > > > > > >> On 30 Aug 2019, at 22:06, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 < > tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote: > >> > >> Has anyone watched the new versions on Gold? I just watched Sunday's - > very good. The actors are very well cast, and the directing is true to > Croft style original - no silliness. The lighting was much better - sorry > to whoever did the original. > > > > Howard King? > > -- > > Tech1 mailing list > > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ian.hillson at gmail.com Sun Sep 1 08:05:33 2019 From: ian.hillson at gmail.com (Ian H) Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2019 14:05:33 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Direct Debits In-Reply-To: <5d62b274.1c69fb81.2031d.913a@mx.google.com> References: <560791968.1499618.1566663921054.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <560791968.1499618.1566663921054@mail.yahoo.com> <5762698FCAF94A57A97AE90D537094E1@Gigabyte> <36482799.1641763.1566723167629@mail.yahoo.com> <5d6259a0.1c69fb81.901b6.1465@mx.google.com> <00f501d55b4e$87bb3f70$9731be50$@pgtmedia.co.uk> <5d62b274.1c69fb81.2031d.913a@mx.google.com> Message-ID: You can cancel a SO as you set it up - but you need to amend it if the regular amount changes (a subscription for instance) as the receiving party can't tinker with it. They can tinker with it if it's a DD. You can't. I On Sun, Aug 25, 2019 at 5:08 PM patheigham via Tech1 wrote: > Ah! That was me confusing DD and SO, as regards setting up. But it is > possible for the payer to cancel.. > > Apologies! > > Pat > > > > Sent from Mail for > Windows 10 > > > > *From: *paul at pgtmedia.co.uk > *Sent: *25 August 2019 15:08 > *Cc: *paul at pgtmedia.co.uk > *Subject: *RE: [Tech1] Direct Debits > > > > Rog, > > DD can never be set up by the payer! > > You authorise ?mandate? the company to give them the right to set up the > DD to deduct money from your account following the DD ?rules?. > > Paul > > > > > > *From:* Tech1 *On Behalf Of *patheigham > via Tech1 > *Sent:* 25 August 2019 10:49 > *To:* ROGER BUNCE ; dave.mdv via Tech1 < > tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> > *Subject:* Re: [Tech1] Direct Debits > > > > Hi Rog, > > I did get a postal reminder from DVLA, and as I use Internet Banking, was > able to pay my dues electronically, not by DD, and duly printed out a > receipt. > > As far as I?m aware, DD?s can only be set up or cancelled by the payer, > the company or merchant cannot cancel from their end. The Guild for which I > acted as membership secretary, offered DD for membership fees, and I > believe that we were able to adjust the amount when fees increased. > Standing Orders were another matter ? it was the devil of a job to get > members to adjust those! > > With Internet Banking, one can view DD?s in place and delete or set-up as > required, and my bank always sends a confirming text to my mobile ? saying > if it wasn?t me who ordered it, then contact them immediately. > > Pat > > > > Sent from Mail for > Windows 10 > > > > *From: *ROGER BUNCE via Tech1 > *Sent: *25 August 2019 09:53 > *To: *dave.mdv via Tech1 > *Subject: *Re: [Tech1] Direct Debits > > > > Hi David, > > > > I think the quill pen and Bob Cratchett rule still applies. A DD should be > controlled by the recipient. The Bank shouldn't have any say in the matter, > unless they've received specific instructions from us (which they haven't), > or, I suppose, if there are inadequate funds to pay it (which isn't the > case.) - Yes, open on Saturday morning, but with limited staff (they used > the phrase 'Skeleton Staff', but they all looked reasonably well fed to me). > > > > Hi Mike, Mike and Graham, > > > > It doesn't seem to be a scam, at least, not a simple one. These were > genuine Direct Debits and the Bank recognises that they have genuinely been > cancelled, without authorisation, but are unable to explain how or why. > They didn't mention any similar cases. They are hoping to find out more > after the Bank Holiday, when other departments reopen. > > > > luv, Rog. > > > > > > On Saturday, 24 August 2019, 19:40:03 BST, Mike Giles > wrote: > > > > > > More by way of a reverse scam! Had the bank any other instances of this? > > > > Mike G > > > On 24 Aug 2019, at 18:47, Mike Jordan via Tech1 > wrote: > > I think this is some sort of scam as I seem to remember I received an > e-mail a while ago saying my DVLA DD had been cancelled and I needed to > renew it or something. > > Since I don?t do it by DD but simply pay each year (I wonder if they are > still going to do official (postal?) reminders) I just deleted it without > doing my usual ?show properties - details ? message source? investigation. > > > > Mike > > > > *From:* ROGER BUNCE via Tech1 > > *Sent:* Saturday, August 24, 2019 5:25 PM > > *To:* dave.mdv via Tech1 > > *Subject:* [Tech1] Direct Debits > > > > Hi All, > > > > Not Tech-Ops related, but - Has anyone else had a problem with Direct > Debits being cancelled without authorisation. > > > > 1: A couple of days ago, we received an email from the DVLA saying that > the Direct Debit for our car tax has been cancelled, apparently by us. Ring > the DVLA to say we hadn't authorised this. Ring the Bank to reinstate it, > which they do, but this isn't good enough for the DVLA who say we have to > start again with a new Direct Debit. > > > > 2: The day before yesterday, we receive an email from the local council > saying that our Direct Debit for garden waste collection has been > cancelled. This time we go to the bank and get it reinstated. > > > > 3: Yesterday, a email from the TV Licensing people says that the Direct > Debit to them has been cancelled (The greatest crime of all!). Back to the > Bank to make sure that all three are reinstated. Meet the Bank's IT man who > is baffled. He can only suggest a "Glitch in the system". > > > > 4: Today we receive a letter from the Salvation Army, reporting that our > Direct Debit to them has been cancelled. To the Bank again, who now > discover that ALL our Direct Debits have been cancelled (something which > wasn't evident on their system even yesterday), apart from the three we had > already reinstated. So, we spend most of Saturday morning sitting with a > Bank Manager, going through all our Direct Debits, reactivating them. > > > > We don't do Internet Banking, so a malicious hack seem unlikely - anyway, > why would they? > > > > I don't suppose anyone has a solution - but I just felt the need to winge > at someone - and you lot were handy! > > > > luv, Rog. > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > > > > > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > > > > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gary_critcher at yahoo.com Sun Sep 1 08:29:07 2019 From: gary_critcher at yahoo.com (gary_critcher at yahoo.com) Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2019 13:29:07 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Tech1] This morning In-Reply-To: References: <560791968.1499618.1566663921054.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <560791968.1499618.1566663921054@mail.yahoo.com> <5762698FCAF94A57A97AE90D537094E1@Gigabyte> <36482799.1641763.1566723167629@mail.yahoo.com> <5d6259a0.1c69fb81.901b6.1465@mx.google.com> <00f501d55b4e$87bb3f70$9731be50$@pgtmedia.co.uk> <5d62b274.1c69fb81.2031d.913a@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <1385709784.1189425.1567344548157@mail.yahoo.com> ....it was 1985 all over again as I delivered part of my 1" collection to those nice people at Kaleidoscope. ? All the best! -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 20190901_115957.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 3762669 bytes Desc: not available URL: From saranewman at hotmail.com Sun Sep 1 09:11:57 2019 From: saranewman at hotmail.com (Sara Newman) Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2019 14:11:57 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Dad's Army In-Reply-To: <89F55798-B80F-4A45-BAB9-78733FC8D091@yahoo.co.uk> References: <57d0cd3f-ab51-b399-82ba-29c9e56f18cc@gmail.com> <0d982da5-25be-d630-b064-d6273d0d7309@ntlworld.com> <89F55798-B80F-4A45-BAB9-78733FC8D091@yahoo.co.uk> Message-ID: Hi, I worked on Sons and Lovers in the 1980s with Geoff Feld and Garth Tucker. The lighting Director had visited the locations where the scenes were set and made every effort to replicate the lighting as close to real life. There was a lot of mutterings as he seemed to take ages getting the light from a window correct. It was fascinating as there was lots of discussion at the time about the shadows and how they would appear on the suburban TV set. There was also hours of discussion regarding the candles used in the production and when I was training the endless discussion on cameras able to work in lighting less than 1 lumen. I had worked in the film industry before coming to the BBC and was amazed at how little time was spent on lighting scenes. One scene with Vanessa Redgrave in one of the films I worked on took over an hour not to mention the tweeking between takes for a single camera shot. Obviously economy of scale : time gives greater flexibility. I did my Lighting 1 and 2 at Evesham and found that its a difficult skill in practice for multicamera. Doing my degree course Millerson?s books were on the required list. I realised after working in the film industry they had limited relevance but were useful for reference. Later working for the Foreign Office in Africa I used some excellent BBC training books which I gifted to the Television services. I still have my copy of The Grammar of Television Production Davis/Wooller though. Cameras have changed progressively over the years and their tolerances are amazing also lights have changed. I see stuff now that makes me cringe with camera shadows and stuff that would never have been allowed. I saw all of the Dad?s Army and I thought they were very good. Much better casting than the film from a few years ago. Sara On 31 Aug 2019, at 18:09, barryaustin2000 via Tech1 > wrote: I suppose that?s been the big change in lighting over the years, the change from ?classic? lighting to ?natural? lighting. I remember Henry Barber ( what a smashing man ) lighting some long forgotten sitcom, it had the usual 3 sided sets with the open side towards the audience, this particular set was a travel agent shop, the missing fourth wall being the shop window to the street. Henry put up a long strip of cyc cloth above the cameras and bounced a load of light off it to simulate daylight through the fourth wall window, to my knowledge the first time it was tried on a sitcom. To those of us indoctrinated in classic TV lighting, this looked wrong, light coming from downstage instead of three quarter back lights as we?d been taught, whatever next, but I have to admit, it looked right in a realistic sense. I suppose we were following the film industry, in films in the 1940?s each close up of the leading lady would have a classic, slightly upstage of her eyeline, key light no matter what situation she was in, just watch Casablanca and look at the lighting on Ingrid Bergman, it wasn?t ?real?, but boy did she look good. I suppose that all changed with Cimena Verite and the new wave , now realism is everything, people have got so good at it it?s hard to tell if a shot is lit at all. Whether the close up of the leading lady is better or worse than in days of yore is in the eye of the beholder. Quite agree with you on the relative merits of Bob Wright and Gerry Millerson, in their day Bob was simply the best both as a lighting man and as a person, Gerry wasn?t Sent from my iPhone On 31 Aug 2019, at 16:49, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > wrote: I must admit that I've always had somewhat of a bee in my bonnet about TC lighting, almost from when I joined in 1966. I've told this story many times, but I'm going to bore you with it again - In the early sixties I really really wanted to be a BBC TV cameraman. I spent hours reading books from the library - Dewey Decimal 621 maybe? Anyway, the book I read several times was "The Technique of Television Production" by Gerald Millerson. Eventually, in late 1966, I was there, dragging cables (for years). One day I worked on Christ Recrucified, in TC1 with crew 2. The lighting man was going to be the legendary Gerry Millerson, and I looked forward to seeing the great man at work. The set was a Cypriot village, burning in the noonday sun. In the opening shot a man came in from the hills, nearly dead from exposure. He staggered across the town square in a huge wideshot - followed by three large sharp shadows. I was horrified - this man, who I had given years of respect to, didn't know that we only have one sun. And from then on, I wondered why TC lighting people didn't know that daylight comes in the window, and all that stuff we learned at Evesham about keylights and backlights had its place, but if you wanted anything realistic - and I for one did - you had to just stand in your living room and look - really look - at how the light works. After I left cameras in 1977 I didn't visit the studios that often, but at some point things changed rather rapidly - suddenly all the sitcoms had lots of pieces of cyc cloth hung around the front of the sets. Soft light at last! These days everything has huge reflectors everywhere, though that's a whole lot easier if you're only using one camera. So - though I have great respect for Howard and Duncan, even more for Bob Wright, and none at all for G. Millerson - I still wonder why it took people so long to notice that daylight comes in the window. Back at Dad's Army, I found the supersharp front and end a little off-putting. A small amount of effects work would have given a better context. B On 31/08/2019 11:39, Barry Austin wrote: The lighting on the original series was mainly Howard King, with Duncan Brown as well doing a few episodes, both highly respected, award winning lighting men, alas no longer with us. I worked on some of episodes and remember Howard and Duncan very well, both lovely, if slightly eccentric, Duncan especially. They were both Technical Manager 1s, as at the time, there was no such thing as a Lighting Director in BBC studios, the TM1 did the lighting, but was also responsible for the total technical output of the studio, i.e. he was God ! It is unfair to compare the lighting of 50 years ago to the present day and say it is better now, each is very much of it?s time, it?s like saying the technical output of the camera is better today, of course it is, but what they had at the time is the best there was. Technical quality is not the be all, watch episodes of Fawlty Towers and cringe at the wobbly sets, boom shadows, flares, dodgy zooms, 16mm film inserts, and yet they are regarded as classics of the TV sitcom. It?s appalling and wouldn?t be tolerated today, but I worked on them and looking back, at the time, it was how we did things. Without trying to be too pretentious, lighting, like any art form, is going to develop and change over time, just like any branch of the arts. You wouldn?t say Turner is better than Rembrandt, they are each of their time and both valid. Of course, not many present day LD?s would be happy today producing pictures similar to those of 50 years ago, so if these new episodes were meant to recreate he feel of the originals, perhaps the production should have employed some of us old timers that are still around and who worked through, and knew, that era ! Sent from my iPad On 30 Aug 2019, at 22:10, Graeme Wall via Tech1 wrote: ? Graeme Wall On 30 Aug 2019, at 22:06, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: Has anyone watched the new versions on Gold? I just watched Sunday's - very good. The actors are very well cast, and the directing is true to Croft style original - no silliness. The lighting was much better - sorry to whoever did the original. Howard King? -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alec.bray.2 at gmail.com Sun Sep 1 14:25:38 2019 From: alec.bray.2 at gmail.com (Alec Bray) Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2019 20:25:38 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] A propos of Rasputin In-Reply-To: <32372589-b0c8-c20d-c7b2-33a4a2fa0b10@gmail.com> References: <32372589-b0c8-c20d-c7b2-33a4a2fa0b10@gmail.com> Message-ID: Unfortunately, this tale needs a bit of a set up. I and my colleagues tried to save our company money, so usually on a week's consultancy, we would go by taxi on the first day to get the lie of the land - and then if possible use public transport for the rest of the week. And so it was that I was in Oulu, Finland: famous for hosting the world air guitar championship, but also the headquarters of Nokia. Out of the hotel, walk along the ice-coated street to the bus stop, to catch the bus to the street of Nokia - each building was a Nokia building (this was of course before the iPhone, when Nokia ruled the cellphone market. The same bus route, in the other direction, went to Oulu airport. It was the last day of a week of training, and some members of the class had not arrived. As I had a lot of MP3 tunes on the training PC, I said , "shall we have some music while we are waiting?". I scrolled down through the list of songs when one of the attendees exclaimed, " ah, Rasputin!". So we listened to BoneyM singing "Rasputin". It finished, the late arrivals appeared, the day's training began. The next day, Saturday, I was flying home. Out of the hotel, walk to the bus stop on other side of the road, boarded the bus to go to the airport. The main road was closed - an underpass was being built (dunno why - a traffic jam in Oulu was when the cars were 100 metres apart...). So the bus was diverted down the side streets - down a street in Oulu I not been down before. And there, on the street, was a nightclub - called Rasputin !! I wonder where the course attendee had spent the evening before the last day of the course!! Best regards,. Alec sent from my mobile phone. Apologies for any strange autocorrections. On Sat, 31 Aug 2019, 17:56 Bernard Newnham via Tech1, wrote: > I wish I'd made this - make sure your subwoofer is working and wind it up > to 11. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh-FKchjaPE > > I used to say to students that they could make something like this - > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEuo9aR7Qo > > ...and indeed they could have done, but they never did. > > B > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 2 07:51:48 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2019 13:51:48 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Lighting In-Reply-To: <000701d5604c$d71c1320$85543960$@talktalk.net> References: <57d0cd3f-ab51-b399-82ba-29c9e56f18cc@gmail.com> <0d982da5-25be-d630-b064-d6273d0d7309@ntlworld.com> <89F55798-B80F-4A45-BAB9-78733FC8D091@yahoo.co.uk> <000701d5604c$d71c1320$85543960$@talktalk.net> Message-ID: <5d6d1064.1c69fb81.177a4.84a8@mx.google.com> When I transferred from TV to the Film Industry, and was Boom Op on a good number of features, I found the BBC training invaluable in sussing out the DoP?s lighting plot, to see which lamps would give problems to the boom. One commercial I worked on, shot at Hatchlands, a National Trust property near my home (probably the nearest location I?ve ever had!), was the first Nescafe Gold Blend of the subsequent series. The DoP was none other than the great Freddie Young. He paused by the sound table and enquired who was the boom operator. Me! Asked me my name and said: ?I?m Freddie, and you won?t have any problems?. Standing in the artistes? position, I took a look ? perfectly textbook standard 3-point lighting ? key, fill, back. I learned some new words in this industry: ?Charlie Bar? a thin strip flag to put a shadow across the lady?s bosom to enhance the cleavage! The name of a certain lighting effect has derived from its first use in film. One example is the "obie," a small spotlight that was designed by the cinematographer Lucien Ballard (1908?1988) during the filming of The Lodger (1944) in order to conceal the facial scars of actress Merle Oberon. I saw this in use, later, mounted above the lens and it was fitted with a shutter, so that when the camera tracked in, the brightness could be progressively reduced. Some ?new? DoP?s favoured soft light all round, and built walls of poly to bounce light off ? this made it physically difficult to get the boom in, but lessened the shadow problems. Best Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Tech1 On Behalf Of barryaustin2000 via Tech1 Sent: 31 August 2019 18:09 To: bernard.newnham at ntlworld.com Cc: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dad's Army I suppose that?s been the big change in lighting over the years, the change from ?classic? lighting to ?natural? ?lighting.? I suppose we were following the film industry, in films in the 1940?s each close up of the leading lady would have a classic, slightly upstage of her eyeline, key light no matter what situation she was in, just watch Casablanca and look at the lighting on Ingrid Bergman, it wasn?t ?real?, but boy did she look good. ?I suppose that all changed with Cimena ?Verite and the new wave , now realism is everything, people have got so good at it it?s hard to tell if a shot is lit at all. Whether the close up of the leading lady is better or worse than in days of yore is in the eye of the beholder.? --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ian.hillson at gmail.com Mon Sep 2 09:24:56 2019 From: ian.hillson at gmail.com (Ian H) Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2019 15:24:56 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dad's Army In-Reply-To: References: <57d0cd3f-ab51-b399-82ba-29c9e56f18cc@gmail.com> <0d982da5-25be-d630-b064-d6273d0d7309@ntlworld.com> <89F55798-B80F-4A45-BAB9-78733FC8D091@yahoo.co.uk> Message-ID: I felt the 2016 film would have benefited from having John Sessions play Mainwaring, as he did so brilliantly in "We're Doomed!" (The Dad's Army Story) [image: Sessions.jpg] I On Sun, Sep 1, 2019 at 3:12 PM Sara Newman via Tech1 wrote: > Hi, > > I worked on Sons and Lovers in the 1980s with Geoff Feld and Garth Tucker. > The lighting Director had visited the locations where the scenes were set > and made every effort to replicate the lighting as close to real life. > There was a lot of mutterings as he seemed to take ages getting the light > from a window correct. It was fascinating as there was lots of discussion > at the time about the shadows and how they would appear on the suburban TV > set. > > There was also hours of discussion regarding the candles used in the > production and when I was training the endless discussion on cameras able > to work in lighting less than 1 lumen. > > I had worked in the film industry before coming to the BBC and was amazed > at how little time was spent on lighting scenes. One scene with Vanessa > Redgrave in one of the films I worked on took over an hour not to mention > the tweeking between takes for a single camera shot. Obviously economy of > scale : time gives greater flexibility. I did my Lighting 1 and 2 at > Evesham and found that its a difficult skill in practice for multicamera. > > Doing my degree course Millerson?s books were on the required list. I > realised after working in the film industry they had limited relevance but > were useful for reference. Later working for the Foreign Office in Africa > I used some excellent BBC training books which I gifted to the Television > services. I still have my copy of The Grammar of Television Production > Davis/Wooller though. > > Cameras have changed progressively over the years and their tolerances are > amazing also lights have changed. I see stuff now that makes me cringe with > camera shadows and stuff that would never have been allowed. > > I saw all of the Dad?s Army and I thought they were very good. Much better > casting than the film from a few years ago. > > Sara > > > > > On 31 Aug 2019, at 18:09, barryaustin2000 via Tech1 > wrote: > > I suppose that?s been the big change in lighting over the years, the > change from ?classic? lighting to ?natural? lighting. > > I remember Henry Barber ( what a smashing man ) lighting some long > forgotten sitcom, it had the usual 3 sided sets with the open side towards > the audience, this particular set was a travel agent shop, the missing > fourth wall being the shop window to the street. Henry put up a long strip > of cyc cloth above the cameras and bounced a load of light off it to > simulate daylight through the fourth wall window, to my knowledge the first > time it was tried on a sitcom. To those of us indoctrinated in classic TV > lighting, this looked wrong, light coming from downstage instead of three > quarter back lights as we?d been taught, whatever next, but I have to > admit, it looked right in a realistic sense. > > I suppose we were following the film industry, in films in the 1940?s each > close up of the leading lady would have a classic, slightly upstage of her > eyeline, key light no matter what situation she was in, just watch > Casablanca and look at the lighting on Ingrid Bergman, it wasn?t ?real?, > but boy did she look good. I suppose that all changed with Cimena Verite > and the new wave , now realism is everything, people have got so good at it > it?s hard to tell if a shot is lit at all. > Whether the close up of the leading lady is better or worse than in days > of yore is in the eye of the beholder. > > Quite agree with you on the relative merits of Bob Wright and Gerry > Millerson, in their day Bob was simply the best both as a lighting man and > as a person, Gerry wasn?t > > > Sent from my iPhone > > On 31 Aug 2019, at 16:49, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > wrote: > > I must admit that I've always had somewhat of a bee in my bonnet about TC > lighting, almost from when I joined in 1966. > > I've told this story many times, but I'm going to bore you with it again - > > > In the early sixties I really really wanted to be a BBC TV cameraman. I > spent hours reading books from the library - Dewey Decimal 621 maybe? > Anyway, the book I read several times was "The Technique of Television > Production" by Gerald Millerson. Eventually, in late 1966, I was there, > dragging cables (for years). One day I worked on Christ Recrucified, in TC1 > with crew 2. The lighting man was going to be the legendary Gerry > Millerson, and I looked forward to seeing the great man at work. The set > was a Cypriot village, burning in the noonday sun. In the opening shot a > man came in from the hills, nearly dead from exposure. He staggered across > the town square in a huge wideshot - followed by three large sharp > shadows. I was horrified - this man, who I had given years of respect to, > didn't know that we only have one sun. > > And from then on, I wondered why TC lighting people didn't know that > daylight comes in the window, and all that stuff we learned at Evesham > about keylights and backlights had its place, but if you wanted anything > realistic - and I for one did - you had to just stand in your living room > and look - really look - at how the light works. After I left cameras in > 1977 I didn't visit the studios that often, but at some point things > changed rather rapidly - suddenly all the sitcoms had lots of pieces of > cyc cloth hung around the front of the sets. Soft light at last! These > days everything has huge reflectors everywhere, though that's a whole lot > easier if you're only using one camera. > > So - though I have great respect for Howard and Duncan, even more for Bob > Wright, and none at all for G. Millerson - I still wonder why it took > people so long to notice that daylight comes in the window. > > Back at Dad's Army, I found the supersharp front and end a little > off-putting. A small amount of effects work would have given a better > context. > > B > > > > > On 31/08/2019 11:39, Barry Austin wrote: > > The lighting on the original series was mainly Howard King, with Duncan Brown as well doing a few episodes, both highly respected, award winning lighting men, alas no longer with us. I worked on some of episodes and remember Howard and Duncan very well, both lovely, if slightly eccentric, Duncan especially. > > They were both Technical Manager 1s, as at the time, there was no such thing as a Lighting Director in BBC studios, the TM1 did the lighting, but was also responsible for the total technical output of the studio, i.e. he was God ! > > It is unfair to compare the lighting of 50 years ago to the present day and say it is better now, each is very much of it?s time, it?s like saying the technical output of the camera is better today, of course it is, but what they had at the time is the best there was. > > Technical quality is not the be all, watch episodes of Fawlty Towers and cringe at the wobbly sets, boom shadows, flares, dodgy zooms, 16mm film inserts, and yet they are regarded as classics of the TV sitcom. It?s appalling and wouldn?t be tolerated today, but I worked on them and looking back, at the time, it was how we did things. > > Without trying to be too pretentious, lighting, like any art form, is going to develop and change over time, just like any branch of the arts. You wouldn?t say Turner is better than Rembrandt, they are each of their time and both valid. > > Of course, not many present day LD?s would be happy today producing pictures similar to those of 50 years ago, so if these new episodes were meant to recreate he feel of the originals, perhaps the production should have employed some of us old timers that are still around and who worked through, and knew, that era ! > > Sent from my iPad > > > On 30 Aug 2019, at 22:10, Graeme Wall via Tech1 wrote: > > > ? > Graeme Wall > > > > On 30 Aug 2019, at 22:06, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > > Has anyone watched the new versions on Gold? I just watched Sunday's - very good. The actors are very well cast, and the directing is true to Croft style original - no silliness. The lighting was much better - sorry to whoever did the original. > > Howard King? > -- > Tech1 mailing listTech1 at tech-ops.co.ukhttp://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Sessions.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 43007 bytes Desc: not available URL: From alanaudio at me.com Mon Sep 2 10:37:10 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2019 16:37:10 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Lighting In-Reply-To: <5d6d1064.1c69fb81.177a4.84a8@mx.google.com> References: <57d0cd3f-ab51-b399-82ba-29c9e56f18cc@gmail.com> <0d982da5-25be-d630-b064-d6273d0d7309@ntlworld.com> <89F55798-B80F-4A45-BAB9-78733FC8D091@yahoo.co.uk> <000701d5604c$d71c1320$85543960$@talktalk.net> <5d6d1064.1c69fb81.177a4.84a8@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <9D495333-2734-4B05-BAB0-065EECE4BE20@me.com> I did a several hour interview with Freddie Young and of course was rather thrilled at the prospect of meeting him. It became clear while we were travelling to site that our D.o.P didn't know who Freddie was, so I explained to him that Freddie was a living legend, having been David Lean's cinematographer for his epic movies and countless other famous movies too. As we were setting up, Freddie walked in and chatted to the crew for a while and our D.o.P. tried to ingratiate himself by saying how much he admired Freddie's lighting on Brief Encounter. Freddie smiled and explained that it wasn't one of his movies. When I switched from TV drama to film drama, one of the first shoots I did was with a lovely cameraman who warned me that he was using some rather wide angle lenses and that I should consider using radio mics. I had already twigged that the aspect ration was very wide and although the shots were indeed wide, the letterbox aspect ration meant that they weren't very high and the actors would mostly be quite close to the camera anyway. Alternatively, if the headroom wouldn't allow satisfactory boom coverage, the actors were going to be so small in the frame that we could easily post-sync the dialogue using a wild track recording made on location. I felt confident that there wouldn't be too much of a problem getting a boom mic over the actors and therefore situated my radio mics in the ideal position - still inside their boxes on my sound trolley. Talking of wide angle lenses, when I set up The Big Breakfast, the tech facilities were provided by an Ex-Beeb type 5 scanner, which I was very familiar with. The sound desk rapidly filled up and as we neared the date for for the first live Tx, I realised that we didn't have spare channels available on the sound desk for standby microphones in case the main radio mics failed. Part of the style of the show was that the cameras were hand-held, using wide angle lenses, so I tried listening to the built-in camera mics, which because of the wide angle lenses were only two or three feet from Chris Evans or Gaby Roslin. The results were more than satisfactory and we didn't need to bother with spare mics. Alan Taylor On 2 Sep 2019, at 2 Sep . 13:51, patheigham via Tech1 wrote: > When I transferred from TV to the Film Industry, and was Boom Op on a good number of features, I found the BBC training invaluable in sussing out the DoP?s lighting plot, to see which lamps would give problems to the boom. > One commercial I worked on, shot at Hatchlands, a National Trust property near my home (probably the nearest location I?ve ever had!), > was the first Nescafe Gold Blend of the subsequent series. The DoP was none other than the great Freddie Young. He paused by the sound table and enquired who was the boom operator. Me! Asked me my name and said: ?I?m Freddie, and you won?t have any problems?. Standing in the artistes? position, I took a look ? perfectly textbook standard 3-point lighting ? key, fill, back. > > I learned some new words in this industry: ?Charlie Bar? a thin strip flag to put a shadow across the lady?s bosom to enhance the cleavage! > The name of a certain lighting effect has derived from its first use in film. One example is the "obie," a small spotlight that was designed by the cinematographer Lucien Ballard (1908?1988) during the filming of The Lodger (1944) in order to conceal the facial scars of actress Merle Oberon. I saw this in use, later, mounted above the lens and it was fitted with a shutter, so that when the camera tracked in, the brightness could be progressively reduced. > Some ?new? DoP?s favoured soft light all round, and built walls of poly to bounce light off ? this made it physically difficult to get the boom in, but lessened the shadow problems. > Best > Pat > > > > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > > > > > From: Tech1 On Behalf Of barryaustin2000 via Tech1 > Sent: 31 August 2019 18:09 > To: bernard.newnham at ntlworld.com > Cc: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dad's Army > > I suppose that?s been the big change in lighting over the years, the change from ?classic? lighting to ?natural? lighting. > > I suppose we were following the film industry, in films in the 1940?s each close up of the leading lady would have a classic, slightly upstage of her eyeline, key light no matter what situation she was in, just watch Casablanca and look at the lighting on Ingrid Bergman, it wasn?t ?real?, but boy did she look good. I suppose that all changed with Cimena Verite and the new wave , now realism is everything, people have got so good at it it?s hard to tell if a shot is lit at all. > Whether the close up of the leading lady is better or worse than in days of yore is in the eye of the beholder. > > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From geoffletch at gmail.com Tue Sep 3 01:23:35 2019 From: geoffletch at gmail.com (Geoff Fletcher) Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2019 07:23:35 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Lighting In-Reply-To: <9D495333-2734-4B05-BAB0-065EECE4BE20@me.com> References: <57d0cd3f-ab51-b399-82ba-29c9e56f18cc@gmail.com> <0d982da5-25be-d630-b064-d6273d0d7309@ntlworld.com> <89F55798-B80F-4A45-BAB9-78733FC8D091@yahoo.co.uk> <000701d5604c$d71c1320$85543960$@talktalk.net> <5d6d1064.1c69fb81.177a4.84a8@mx.google.com> <9D495333-2734-4B05-BAB0-065EECE4BE20@me.com> Message-ID: Two really interesting posts Alan and Pat. Having started as a studio cameraman and later Unit Managing on both OB dramas and film dramas I found both the differences and the similarities fascinating. We tended to use hidden mics and two very tall fish pole operators at Anglia and avoid radio mics if at all possible. Anglia did a lot of drama productions and pioneered OB dramas with Weavers Green way back before I joined them. I was lent out to be UM on my only feature film type shoot too - Diamond Swords. I worked on the flying sequences shot at Fowlmere and Duxford. Thoroughly enjoyed it being a lifelong aviation buff! Geoff F On Mon, 2 Sep 2019 at 16:37, Alan Taylor via Tech1 wrote: > I did a several hour interview with Freddie Young and of course was rather > thrilled at the prospect of meeting him. It became clear while we were > travelling to site that our D.o.P didn't know who Freddie was, so I > explained to him that Freddie was a living legend, having been David Lean's > cinematographer for his epic movies and countless other famous movies too. > > As we were setting up, Freddie walked in and chatted to the crew for a > while and our D.o.P. tried to ingratiate himself by saying how much he > admired Freddie's lighting on Brief Encounter. Freddie smiled and explained > that it wasn't one of his movies. > > When I switched from TV drama to film drama, one of the first shoots I did > was with a lovely cameraman who warned me that he was using some rather > wide angle lenses and that I should consider using radio mics. I had > already twigged that the aspect ration was very wide and although the shots > were indeed wide, the letterbox aspect ration meant that they weren't very > high and the actors would mostly be quite close to the camera anyway. > Alternatively, if the headroom wouldn't allow satisfactory boom coverage, > the actors were going to be so small in the frame that we could easily > post-sync the dialogue using a wild track recording made on location. I > felt confident that there wouldn't be too much of a problem getting a boom > mic over the actors and therefore situated my radio mics in the ideal > position - still inside their boxes on my sound trolley. > > Talking of wide angle lenses, when I set up The Big Breakfast, the tech > facilities were provided by an Ex-Beeb type 5 scanner, which I was very > familiar with. The sound desk rapidly filled up and as we neared the date > for for the first live Tx, I realised that we didn't have spare channels > available on the sound desk for standby microphones in case the main radio > mics failed. Part of the style of the show was that the cameras were > hand-held, using wide angle lenses, so I tried listening to the built-in > camera mics, which because of the wide angle lenses were only two or three > feet from Chris Evans or Gaby Roslin. The results were more than > satisfactory and we didn't need to bother with spare mics. > > Alan Taylor > > > > > On 2 Sep 2019, at 2 Sep . 13:51, patheigham via Tech1 < > tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote: > > When I transferred from TV to the Film Industry, and was Boom Op on a good > number of features, I found the BBC training invaluable in sussing out the > DoP?s lighting plot, to see which lamps would give problems to the boom. > One commercial I worked on, shot at Hatchlands, a National Trust property > near my home (probably the nearest location I?ve ever had!), > was the first Nescafe Gold Blend of the subsequent series. The DoP was > none other than the great Freddie Young. He paused by the sound table and > enquired who was the boom operator. Me! Asked me my name and said: ?I?m > Freddie, and you won?t have any problems?. Standing in the artistes? > position, I took a look ? perfectly textbook standard 3-point lighting ? > key, fill, back. > > I learned some new words in this industry: ?Charlie Bar? a thin strip flag > to put a shadow across the lady?s bosom to enhance the cleavage! > The name of a certain lighting effect has derived from its first use in > film. One example is the "obie," a small spotlight that was designed by the > cinematographer Lucien Ballard > (1908?1988) > during the filming of *The Lodger *(1944) in order to conceal the facial > scars of actress Merle Oberon. I saw this in use, later, mounted above the > lens and it was fitted with a shutter, so that when the camera tracked in, > the brightness could be progressively reduced. > Some ?new? DoP?s favoured soft light all round, and built walls of poly to > bounce light off ? this made it physically difficult to get the boom in, > but lessened the shadow problems. > Best > Pat > > > > > Sent from Mail for > Windows 10 > > > > > > *From:* Tech1 *On Behalf Of *barryaustin2000 > via Tech1 > *Sent:* 31 August 2019 18:09 > *To:* bernard.newnham at ntlworld.com > *Cc:* tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Subject:* Re: [Tech1] Dad's Army > > I suppose that?s been the big change in lighting over the years, the > change from ?classic? lighting to ?natural? lighting. > > I suppose we were following the film industry, in films in the 1940?s each > close up of the leading lady would have a classic, slightly upstage of her > eyeline, key light no matter what situation she was in, just watch > Casablanca and look at the lighting on Ingrid Bergman, it wasn?t ?real?, > but boy did she look good. I suppose that all changed with Cimena Verite > and the new wave , now realism is everything, people have got so good at it > it?s hard to tell if a shot is lit at all. > Whether the close up of the leading lady is better or worse than in days > of yore is in the eye of the beholder. > > > > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From j at howell61.f9.co.uk Wed Sep 4 15:16:15 2019 From: j at howell61.f9.co.uk (John Howell) Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2019 21:16:15 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] The Capture Message-ID: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. John H. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From geoffletch at gmail.com Thu Sep 5 05:01:18 2019 From: geoffletch at gmail.com (Geoff Fletcher) Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 11:01:18 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] The Capture In-Reply-To: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> Message-ID: I wonder what Sky made of that character? It?s the OB companies contracted to Sky Sports that develop the new technology they ask for as clients. Geoff F On Wed, 4 Sep 2019 at 23:21, John Howell via Tech1 wrote: > I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. > > At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! > It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the > BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! > > Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right > place the original conviction is thrown out. > > John H. > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com Thu Sep 5 05:26:07 2019 From: geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com (geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com) Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 11:26:07 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] The Capture In-Reply-To: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> Message-ID: <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, Geoff Hawkes From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 To: TechOps Forum Subject: [Tech1] The Capture I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. John H. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidpcarter at btinternet.com Thu Sep 5 05:53:34 2019 From: davidpcarter at btinternet.com (davidpcarter at btinternet.com) Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 11:53:34 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville/The Capture In-Reply-To: <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> Message-ID: <185a5116.12fe.16d010edddf.Webtop.224@btinternet.com> I haven't seen The Capture yet, but Philip Saville had a long and distinguished career after working with you and Frank, Geoff. ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Saville David ------ Original Message ------ From: "geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1" To: "'John Howell'" ; "tech1" Sent: Thursday, 5 Sep, 2019 At 11:26 Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, Geoff Hawkes From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 To: TechOps Forum Subject: [Tech1] The Capture I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. John H. -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net Thu Sep 5 06:02:39 2019 From: dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net (David Newbitt) Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 12:02:39 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] The Capture In-Reply-To: <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> Message-ID: <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. Best wishes, Dave Newbitt. From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM To: 'John Howell' ; tech1 Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, Geoff Hawkes From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 To: TechOps Forum Subject: [Tech1] The Capture I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. John H. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alanaudio at me.com Thu Sep 5 09:08:42 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 15:08:42 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Message-ID: <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. I was the Sound Supervisor on "Life and Loves of a She Devil" and if I had to sum up working with him using just one word, it would be "challenging", in a good way and also a not so good way. When we shot She Devil, the very first scene we recorded involved an absolute swine of a complex tracking shot. It started outside of a house, the camera tracked indoors and the actors moved from one room to another, delivering a lot of dialogue as they went. It was all done on a single shot, which presented all manner of challenges for the camera operator ( Mike Winser), lighting ( John King ), myself and the boom ops and of course for the actors too. After we got it in the can, I mentioned to Philip that it was a hell of a difficult shot to attempt on the first afternoon of shooting. He smiled and said that he liked to see what the crew were capable of when put under pressure. We wrapped very early that day because the whole sequence was in the can and no additional shots were needed. Working with Philp was never dull and he never hesitated to demand what most of us initially regarded as impossible, but we always seemed to rise to the occasion and deliver what he envisaged. I soon discovered that the best way of getting him to do what suited my professional requirements was to encourage him to come up with the solution that I wanted. So long as he believed it was his idea, he was all in favour of it. The producer ( Sally Head ) once observed that at times there seemed to be more acting going on behind the camera than in front of it. The iconic image of the She Devil naked with her outstretched arms was shot in a back bedroom in Swindon. The actress ( Julie T Wallace ), was somewhat modest and as one of my boom ops was female ( Tina Gilvear ), it was a no brainer to make things a little easier for Julie by using a woman to cover that shot. Julie walked into the room wearing a dressing gown and Mike Winser discreetly panned away as Julie disrobed. As it happened, the camera ended up pointing at Tina and for those of us in the scanner, we observed Tina's reaction to Julie's disrobing. Now it has to be said that Tina was generously endowed, but Julie was in a different league altogether. Tina clearly had never seen such a bathycolpian woman for real ( look up the word ) and was visibly impressed. I hit the sound talkback button and said "You wouldn't get many of those in a bucket without pressing your foot on top". Tina was caught off guard and quietly chuckled, but Julie noticed and subsequently asked her why she had chuckled. Tina dropped me right in it and repeated what I said. Afterwards, Julie came to see me and joked that if I do anything like that again, she'll squeeze me to death between them. However Julie loved the word bathycolpian and wanted me to write it down to check it was for real and for future reference. I've subsequently shared that word with Dawn French, who was thrilled to find that it was a real word. Coincidentally, Julie subsequently appeared in the Bond movie The Living Daylights, where she smothered a guy between her breasts in order to facilitate Bond's defection. During the dubbing process, Philip made it clear that he despised the rather bureaucratic way the BBC operated when compared to commercial TV practices. He especially hated having to stop the dub at 21:00 and resume the next day if he felt we were making good progress and were on a roll. I would happily carry on a little longer, but we soon got hassled by engineers or security people and had to stop. There was one sequence where Philip was getting into a strop because we couldn't source a suitable background sound effect of an American hotel lobby ( for a sequence shot near Derby ). Whatever we came up with wasn't good enough or not American enough. When we packed up that night, I phoned an ex-Kendal Avenue engineer who I knew was then working in the BBC New York bureau and asked him if it was possible as a favour for a local recordist to make four or five atmos recordings of different New York hotel lobbies and get them over to me ASAP. He readily agreed and arranged for them to be sent overnight via Concord ( it was a daily matter to send stuff that way, so it was just bundled in with what would have been sent anyway ). He put on some impressive stickers on the tape box saying "Urgent via Concord" and they were waiting for me in TVC reception by the morning. Philip was impressed to say the least and he absolutely loved the recordings. I pointed out to him that there are times when the size of the BBC and the fact that parts of the BBC operate in different time zones can also work to your advantage. When you work with somebody over and extended period, you get to find out all sorts of things about them, especially when chatting in the BBC club bar. It's well known that he used to live with Diana Rigg in the 1960's, but other quirky things were mentioned in passing. At one time he trained to be a diamond cutter, but that career came to abrupt end when he was entrusted to cut quite a large rough diamond, but it didn't go to plan and ended up worth vastly less than anticipated. His claimed his lowest point was living in L.A. selling black satin sheets door to door. He didn't make much money, but did meet some interesting people. Alan Taylor On 5 Sep 2019, at 5 Sep . 12:02, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: > Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. > > Best wishes, > > Dave Newbitt. > > From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 > Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM > To: 'John Howell' ; tech1 > Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture > > I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. > > What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? > Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. > Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, > > Geoff Hawkes > > From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 > Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 > To: TechOps Forum > Subject: [Tech1] The Capture > > I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. > > At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! > > Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. > > John H. > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com Thu Sep 5 17:49:45 2019 From: geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com (Geoffrey Hawkes) Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2019 23:49:45 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> Message-ID: Alan, Thank you for your detailed memoir of Philip Saville which made for an interesting and illuminating read. He was clearly an impressive figure and one who rightly takes his place in the television hall of fame along with others like Rudolph Cartier and Christopher Morahan, stories about whom will abound among those who knew them. I had only the one brief encounter with Philip Saville and in accordance with the old saying, it was that impression which has lasted. Thank you to those with fuller experience who?ve given your own, Geoff Geoff > On 5 Sep 2019, at 15:08, Alan Taylor via Tech1 wrote: > > Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. > > I was the Sound Supervisor on "Life and Loves of a She Devil" and if I had to sum up working with him using just one word, it would be "challenging", in a good way and also a not so good way. > > When we shot She Devil, the very first scene we recorded involved an absolute swine of a complex tracking shot. It started outside of a house, the camera tracked indoors and the actors moved from one room to another, delivering a lot of dialogue as they went. It was all done on a single shot, which presented all manner of challenges for the camera operator ( Mike Winser), lighting ( John King ), myself and the boom ops and of course for the actors too. After we got it in the can, I mentioned to Philip that it was a hell of a difficult shot to attempt on the first afternoon of shooting. He smiled and said that he liked to see what the crew were capable of when put under pressure. We wrapped very early that day because the whole sequence was in the can and no additional shots were needed. > > Working with Philp was never dull and he never hesitated to demand what most of us initially regarded as impossible, but we always seemed to rise to the occasion and deliver what he envisaged. I soon discovered that the best way of getting him to do what suited my professional requirements was to encourage him to come up with the solution that I wanted. So long as he believed it was his idea, he was all in favour of it. The producer ( Sally Head ) once observed that at times there seemed to be more acting going on behind the camera than in front of it. > > The iconic image of the She Devil naked with her outstretched arms was shot in a back bedroom in Swindon. The actress ( Julie T Wallace ), was somewhat modest and as one of my boom ops was female ( Tina Gilvear ), it was a no brainer to make things a little easier for Julie by using a woman to cover that shot. Julie walked into the room wearing a dressing gown and Mike Winser discreetly panned away as Julie disrobed. As it happened, the camera ended up pointing at Tina and for those of us in the scanner, we observed Tina's reaction to Julie's disrobing. > > Now it has to be said that Tina was generously endowed, but Julie was in a different league altogether. Tina clearly had never seen such a bathycolpian woman for real ( look up the word ) and was visibly impressed. I hit the sound talkback button and said "You wouldn't get many of those in a bucket without pressing your foot on top". Tina was caught off guard and quietly chuckled, but Julie noticed and subsequently asked her why she had chuckled. Tina dropped me right in it and repeated what I said. Afterwards, Julie came to see me and joked that if I do anything like that again, she'll squeeze me to death between them. However Julie loved the word bathycolpian and wanted me to write it down to check it was for real and for future reference. I've subsequently shared that word with Dawn French, who was thrilled to find that it was a real word. Coincidentally, Julie subsequently appeared in the Bond movie The Living Daylights, where she smothered a guy between her breasts in order to facilitate Bond's defection. > > During the dubbing process, Philip made it clear that he despised the rather bureaucratic way the BBC operated when compared to commercial TV practices. He especially hated having to stop the dub at 21:00 and resume the next day if he felt we were making good progress and were on a roll. I would happily carry on a little longer, but we soon got hassled by engineers or security people and had to stop. There was one sequence where Philip was getting into a strop because we couldn't source a suitable background sound effect of an American hotel lobby ( for a sequence shot near Derby ). Whatever we came up with wasn't good enough or not American enough. When we packed up that night, I phoned an ex-Kendal Avenue engineer who I knew was then working in the BBC New York bureau and asked him if it was possible as a favour for a local recordist to make four or five atmos recordings of different New York hotel lobbies and get them over to me ASAP. He readily agreed and arranged for them to be sent overnight via Concord ( it was a daily matter to send stuff that way, so it was just bundled in with what would have been sent anyway ). He put on some impressive stickers on the tape box saying "Urgent via Concord" and they were waiting for me in TVC reception by the morning. Philip was impressed to say the least and he absolutely loved the recordings. I pointed out to him that there are times when the size of the BBC and the fact that parts of the BBC operate in different time zones can also work to your advantage. > > When you work with somebody over and extended period, you get to find out all sorts of things about them, especially when chatting in the BBC club bar. It's well known that he used to live with Diana Rigg in the 1960's, but other quirky things were mentioned in passing. At one time he trained to be a diamond cutter, but that career came to abrupt end when he was entrusted to cut quite a large rough diamond, but it didn't go to plan and ended up worth vastly less than anticipated. His claimed his lowest point was living in L.A. selling black satin sheets door to door. He didn't make much money, but did meet some interesting people. > > Alan Taylor > > > >> On 5 Sep 2019, at 5 Sep . 12:02, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: >> >> Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. >> >> Best wishes, >> >> Dave Newbitt. >> >> From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 >> Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM >> To: 'John Howell' ; tech1 >> Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture >> >> I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. >> >> What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? >> Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. >> Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, >> >> Geoff Hawkes >> >> From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 >> Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 >> To: TechOps Forum >> Subject: [Tech1] The Capture >> >> I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. >> >> At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! >> >> Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. >> >> John H. >> >> >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From keithwicksuk at gmail.com Fri Sep 6 02:33:22 2019 From: keithwicksuk at gmail.com (Keith Wicks) Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 08:33:22 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Balls Message-ID: The attached came soon after a discussion on the same channel about innuendo. It may become one of the classic clips, along with Brian Johnston's "leg over" piece, etc. KW -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: "Balls" - Good Morning Britain - 2019-09-08.mp4 Type: video/mp4 Size: 6496173 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Fri Sep 6 08:41:37 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 14:41:37 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> Message-ID: <5d726211.1c69fb81.e0a92.cbe8@mx.google.com> Another director I remember was Mervyn Pinfield, who used to plot the scenes with one camera per set, thus some tricky panning/tracking/developing shots, but he made full use of the five cameras for TC4 ? think he also had the spare fired up, maybe for captions? Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Geoffrey Hawkes via Tech1 Sent: 05 September 2019 23:50 To: Alan Taylor; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville Alan, Thank you for your detailed memoir of Philip Saville which made for an interesting and illuminating read. He was clearly an impressive figure and one who rightly takes his place in the television hall of fame along with others like Rudolph Cartier and Christopher Morahan, stories about whom will abound among those who knew them. I had only the one brief encounter with Philip Saville and in accordance with the old saying, it was that impression which has lasted. Thank you to those with fuller experience who?ve given your own, Geoff Geoff On 5 Sep 2019, at 15:08, Alan Taylor via Tech1 wrote: Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. ?In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. ?In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. I was the Sound Supervisor on "Life and Loves of a She Devil" and if I had to sum up working with him using just one word, it would be "challenging", in a good way and also a not so good way.? When we shot She Devil, the very first scene we recorded involved an absolute swine of a complex tracking shot. ?It started outside of a house, the camera tracked indoors and the actors moved from one room to another, delivering a lot of dialogue as they went. It was all done on a single shot, which presented all manner of challenges for the camera operator ( Mike Winser), lighting ( John King ), myself and the boom ops and of course for the actors too. After we got it in the can, I mentioned to Philip that it was a hell of a difficult shot to attempt on the first afternoon of shooting. ?He smiled and said that he liked to see what the crew were capable of when put under pressure. We wrapped very early that day because the whole sequence was in the can and no additional shots were needed. Working with Philp was never dull and he never hesitated to demand what most of us initially regarded as impossible, but we always seemed to rise to the occasion and deliver what he envisaged. I soon discovered that the best way of getting him to do what suited my professional requirements was to encourage him to come up with the solution that I wanted. ?So long as he believed it was his idea, he was all in favour of it. ?The producer ( Sally Head ) once observed that at times there seemed to be more acting going on behind the camera than in front of it. The iconic image of the She Devil naked with her outstretched arms was shot in a back bedroom in Swindon. ?The actress ( Julie T Wallace ), was somewhat modest and as one of my boom ops was female ( Tina Gilvear ), it was a no brainer to make things a little easier for Julie by using a woman to cover that shot. ?Julie walked into the room wearing a dressing gown and Mike Winser discreetly panned away as Julie disrobed. ?As it happened, the camera ended up pointing at Tina and for those of us in the scanner, we observed Tina's reaction to Julie's disrobing. ? Now it has to be said that Tina was generously endowed, but Julie was in a different league altogether. ?Tina clearly had never seen such a bathycolpian woman for real ( look up the word ) and was visibly impressed. ?I hit the sound talkback button and said "You wouldn't get many of those in a bucket without pressing your foot on top". ?Tina was caught off guard and quietly chuckled, but Julie noticed and subsequently asked her why she had chuckled. ?Tina dropped me right in it and repeated what I said. ?Afterwards, Julie came to see me and joked that if I do anything like that again, she'll squeeze me to death between them. ?However Julie loved the word bathycolpian and wanted me to write it down to check it was for real and for future reference. ?I've subsequently shared that word with Dawn French, who was thrilled to find that it was a real word. ?Coincidentally, Julie subsequently appeared in the Bond movie The Living Daylights, where she smothered a guy between her breasts in order to facilitate Bond's defection. During the dubbing process, Philip made it clear that he despised the rather bureaucratic way the BBC operated when compared to commercial TV practices. ?He especially hated having to stop the dub at 21:00 and resume the next day if he felt we were making good progress and were on a roll. I would happily carry on a little longer, but we soon got hassled by engineers or security people and had to stop. There was one sequence where Philip was getting into a strop because we couldn't source a suitable background sound effect of an American hotel lobby ( for a sequence shot near Derby ). ?Whatever we came up with wasn't good enough or not American enough. ?When we packed up that night, I phoned an ex-Kendal Avenue engineer who I knew was then working in the BBC New York bureau and asked him if it was possible as a favour for a local recordist to make four or five atmos recordings of different New York hotel lobbies and get them over to me ASAP. ?He readily agreed and arranged for them to be sent overnight via Concord ( it was a daily matter to send stuff that way, so it was just bundled in with what would have been sent anyway ). ?He put on some impressive stickers on the tape box saying "Urgent via Concord" and they were waiting for me in TVC reception by the morning. ?Philip was impressed to say the least and he absolutely loved the recordings. ?I pointed out to him that there are times when the size of the BBC and the fact that parts of the BBC operate in different time zones can also work to your advantage. When you work with somebody over and extended period, you get to find out all sorts of things about them, especially when chatting in the BBC club bar. ?It's well known that he used to live with Diana Rigg in the 1960's, but other quirky things were mentioned in passing. ?At one time he trained to be a diamond cutter, but that career came to abrupt end when he was entrusted to cut quite a large rough diamond, but it didn't go to plan and ended up worth vastly less than anticipated. ?His claimed his lowest point was living in L.A. selling black satin sheets door to door. ?He didn't make much money, but did meet some interesting people. Alan Taylor On 5 Sep 2019, at 5 Sep . 12:02, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. ? Best wishes, ? Dave Newbitt. ? From:?geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 Sent:?Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM To:?'John Howell'?;?tech1 Subject:?Re: [Tech1] The Capture ? I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. ? What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, ? Geoff Hawkes ? From:?Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk]?On Behalf Of?John Howell via Tech1 Sent:?04 September 2019 21:16 To:?TechOps Forum Subject:?[Tech1] The Capture ? I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. John H. --? Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk --? Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 4AB4A2E5D18A4CAF9FC865B0D8371D71.png Type: image/png Size: 136 bytes Desc: not available URL: From waresound at msn.com Fri Sep 6 13:42:36 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 18:42:36 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1>, <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com>, Message-ID: From: Nick Ware > Date: 6 September 2019 at 19:41:28 BST To: Alan Taylor > Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville A fascinating post, about as good as any I?ve read here, and covering a lot of ground. I know I must have worked on productions of his, but I can?t honestly say I remember much about him. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. I?ve always felt quite pleased that I got the bathycolpian fascination out of my system at a relatively early age. William and Kate?s wedding eventually confirmed what I had long suspected: that ?callipygian? is a word worthy of further study and consideration too. (No sexism intended in the above comment, as I haven?t specified to whom the word applies - Oh, alright, it was neither of them, but might have been someone close to Kate who attracted a lot of attention at the time!) Regards to all, Nick. Sent from my iPad On 5 Sep 2019, at 15:09, Alan Taylor via Tech1 > wrote: Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. [etc.] [edit] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Sun Sep 8 15:35:05 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2019 21:35:05 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] A warning for those still on old Windows Message-ID: This is part of an article on Ars Technica - / //"......The latest flaw, which is indexed as CVE-2019-0708 but is better known by the name BlueKeep, resides in earlier versions of the Remote Desktop Services, which help provide a graphical interface for connecting to Windows computers over the Internet. It affects Windows 2003 and XP, Vista 7, Server 2008 R2, and Server 2008. When Microsoft patched the vulnerability in May, it warned that computers that failed to install the fix could suffer a similar fate if reliable attack code ever becomes available. The reason: like the flaw that EternalBlue exploited, BlueKeep allowed for self-replicating attacks. Like a falling line of dominoes, a single exploit could spread from vulnerable machine to vulnerable machine with no interaction required of end users.// // //The risk was so great that Microsoft again implored customers to patch a month after its release. NSA officials also urged people to install the fix......."/ So either update or junk that XP machine, or switch it to running Linux. B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at terrymeadowcroft.co.uk Sun Sep 8 15:57:55 2019 From: mail at terrymeadowcroft.co.uk (terrymeadowcroft) Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2019 21:57:55 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] A warning for those still on old Windows References: Message-ID: <36FCEA10DC174581A9DFD2E023588199@MEDDIES2012> Many thanks Bernard, I had missed that for my trusty old XP. Job done. Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2019 9:35 PM Subject: [Tech1] A warning for those still on old Windows This is part of an article on Ars Technica - "......The latest flaw, which is indexed as CVE-2019-0708 but is better known by the name BlueKeep, resides in earlier versions of the Remote Desktop Services, which help provide a graphical interface for connecting to Windows computers over the Internet. It affects Windows 2003 and XP, Vista 7, Server 2008 R2, and Server 2008. When Microsoft patched the vulnerability in May, it warned that computers that failed to install the fix could suffer a similar fate if reliable attack code ever becomes available. The reason: like the flaw that EternalBlue exploited, BlueKeep allowed for self-replicating attacks. Like a falling line of dominoes, a single exploit could spread from vulnerable machine to vulnerable machine with no interaction required of end users. The risk was so great that Microsoft again implored customers to patch a month after its release. NSA officials also urged people to install the fix......." So either update or junk that XP machine, or switch it to running Linux. B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Mon Sep 9 05:02:32 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2019 11:02:32 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] A warning for those still on old Windows and other stuff In-Reply-To: <36FCEA10DC174581A9DFD2E023588199@MEDDIES2012> References: <36FCEA10DC174581A9DFD2E023588199@MEDDIES2012> Message-ID: <49134c75-bf3d-b6e0-27b9-13a1053e9f06@gmail.com> Don't know if I've told this story here, or just everywhere else - In about 2010 I bought an Acer Aspire netbook, the trendy new small computer, good for travelling.? It ran something called Windows 7 Starter, which turned out to be pretty average. Nevertheless, it wandered around the world in my bag for some years.? Then I thought that a tablet would be a better machine, and bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab.? It was fine, though typing the odd article on it wasn't great. Eventually the tablet battery got old, and I tried to replace it, failing dismally and breaking the screen. Should I buy a new tablet? I much preferred the keyboard on the netbook, and a mouse, so I did some work on it.? A new battery was cheap and easy to install. I gave it an SSD, a small one which was lying around, that had been replaced elsewhere. Then I loaded on Lubuntu, a lightweight Linux distro, an easy job. Now my old netbook is wandering the world again, with a modern sensible operating system and a fast drive. I don't need it to do fancy things, mostly run a browser, but it does have free LibreOffice if required. I have a feeling that running a browser is all a lot of people want these days, so if that's you maybe getting rid of an ancient vulnerable unsupported operating system like XP might be a sensible course of action. ++++++++++++++ On an allied subject, I'm now part of the group in our local U3A that offers computer help to less savvy members. The other day a chap wanted to set up to run a "Powerpoint" based lecture on climate change. I put Powerpoint in inverted commas because he didn't have Powerpoint (you have to pay). The two of us helping him have LibreOffice Impress and he turned out to have Apple Keynote. Hmmm...... ?I had briefly tried Google Slides, so I suggested it as a compromise. I'm not a fan of "cloudy" stuff - saving things on other people's drives - but as it turned out I was suitably impressed. Powerpoint is Microsoft bloatware? - "Of course you need the new version, it has this which you don't need", and is subscription these days. LibreOffice tends to follow along behind adding similar junk around the core application, which like Powerpoint makes it tricky to use, and even more tricky to teach - "Ignore all that stuff, you only need this bit". I know nothing of Keynote.? Google Slides turns out to have just the important bits, the things 99% of people need 99% of the time. It saves every change on some computer somewhere, but you can download hard copies in various formats, if like me you don't trust anyone else.? You can share it with other people and the changes show up there in real time. Impressive. Google Slides needs you to have a Gmail login, so we invented one for him, built his presentation, explained how to load Chrome onto his computer and sent him on his way. It took twelve hours for him to come back saying that he couldn't find his stuff. After an exchange of emails, then a phone call, it turned out that when he loaded Chrome, he'd invented a new Gmail login, and couldn't understand why his password didn't work. "Yesterday you were xxx at gmail.com, now you're yyy at gmail.com, try logging in as the person you were yesterday"......."Oh, now I can see my stuff". Surprise!! B On 08/09/2019 21:57, terrymeadowcroft wrote: > ? > Many thanks Bernard, I had missed that for my trusty old XP. Job done. > Terry > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > *To:* tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Sent:* Sunday, September 08, 2019 9:35 PM > *Subject:* [Tech1] A warning for those still on old Windows > > This is part of an article on Ars Technica - > / > //"......The latest flaw, which is indexed as CVE-2019-0708 but is > better known by the name BlueKeep, resides in earlier versions of > the Remote Desktop Services, which help provide a graphical > interface for connecting to Windows computers over the Internet. > It affects Windows 2003 and XP, Vista 7, Server 2008 R2, and > Server 2008. When Microsoft patched the vulnerability in May, it > warned that computers that failed to install the fix could suffer > a similar fate if reliable attack code ever becomes available. The > reason: like the flaw that EternalBlue exploited, BlueKeep allowed > for self-replicating attacks. Like a falling line of dominoes, a > single exploit could spread from vulnerable machine to vulnerable > machine with no interaction required of end users.// > // > //The risk was so great that Microsoft again implored customers to > patch a month after its release. NSA officials also urged people > to install the fix......."/ > > So either update or junk that XP machine, or switch it to running > Linux. > > > B > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alanaudio at me.com Mon Sep 9 06:17:49 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2019 12:17:49 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> Message-ID: <2C9F5EC7-7D4D-4D4A-B4AA-743C1D6C960C@me.com> With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. One of the principle locations was Mary Fisher's house, which the book said was a high tower overlooking the sea. The location manager, Simon Moorhead, was unable to find a location which looked the part while still being suitable for shooting. The solution adopted was to use the Belle Toute tower near Beachy Head and to build a massive set around it to provide the other features and in particular the huge modern lounge with picture windows overlooking the sea. *** See below for more trivia about Belle Toute*** When we started shooting in the living room set, there was a huge problem for sound because the set was effectively plywood cladding over a scaffolding frame and the exposed situation high on the cliffs meant that we were experiencing strong winds on a lovely sunny day. The wind was blowing through the scaffolding and sounding like the polar wind Fx disk which was much used by grams ops. The sound wasn't especially loud, but certainly audible. The issue with it was that we were indoors and there was nothing to explain that wind noise because everywhere looked calm. Even looking out to sea, the height of the cliffs meant that the visible parts of the sea were a couple of miles away and looked pretty smooth, even though it was horribly rough. We tried all sorts of ways to discover exactly what was causing the whistling, but it would have wrecked the scenery to get inside it to investigate or treat it, so we were stuck with it. The solution I adopted was incredibly simple. My main concern was that the wind noise was unexplained, so I asked the art department if they could put some pot plants on the balcony so that we would see them blowing in the wind. Once some potted conifers were put there and being seen to be blown very hard by the wind or even blown over in shot, the fact that we could hear the wind was no longer a major problem. Another challenge was that in the story, the She Devil character, Ruth ( Julie T Wallace ), undergoes extreme plastic surgery in America to look like her love rival, Mary Fisher ( Patricia Hodge ). Obviously there is a process of transformation as Ruth starts to look more and more like Mary Fisher, but there comes a point where Patricia Hodge has to play the part of Ruth in her transformed state. The problem is that their voices couldn't be more different and it was going to be essential to re-voice all of Patricia's dialogue with Julie's voice. I worked on a children's drama where a similar problem was faced because of prosthetic full face makeup making the actor's voices unusable and I had devised a way of re-recording the dialogue on set after everybody else had gone home. On that children's drama, the original dialogue was recorded on a timecode Nagra in the usual way ( the snoop tape ) and the director was invited to select no more than two or possibly three good takes for each shot. Those good takes were then copied to another timecoded Nagra and made into loops with an audible header edited in with three beeps at one second intervals, some loops included feed lines. The actor would then wear a wireless headset and listen to the the looped dialogue while moving around the set as before, repeating their lines. I recorded the boom onto a second timecode Nagra which was also being fed with the timecode from the loop. The director was listening for a good performance and I was listening on split cans, with the original in one ear and the new dialogue in the other. If I was satisfied that it was in sync, I gave a thumbs up and if the director was happy with the performance, she gave a thumbs up, at which point we stopped the tape. I then used a red Sharpie pressed against the tape as I rewound it to the point where I heard the beeps at the start of that take and then wrote the scene and shot directly on the tape, which conveniently had a matt white backing. The VT editor subsequently reported that it was doddle to get those tapes to automatically sync to the original VT and then use the replacement dialogue throughout the edit. Our workflow on site was very efficient and in post-production it needed hardly any effort at all. I mentioned to Philip Saville that this would be a neat way to solve our problem, but he was totally unconvinced and wanted to re-voice in a studio during the post production process, while I felt that it would be difficult to satisfactorily match the acoustics of the location sound in a studio. I sensed an opportunity when there was a scene at a funeral. Ruth had by that point completely transformed into the Mary Fisher lookalike, so Patricia Hodge was playing transformed Ruth sat in a Rolls Royce. She wound down the window and simply said to Bobbo ( Denis Waterman ), "Hi Bobbo, it's Ruth ? your wife". We shot the scene with Patricia performing it and while they were setting up the next shot, I persuaded Julie to sit in the Roller and repeat the lines to an audio playback. We didn't have any means of automatically syncing up 1/4" tape machines on site, so resorted to trial and error, hitting the play button at the right moment and recording it to the spare VT track, or another VT - I can't remember which. When we got it right, I asked Philip to look at the VT and he was very impressed to hear Julie speaking Patricia's lines just half an hour after we shout them and sounding exactly right for being in that car. He immediately agreed that we should re-voice all of the Patricia / Ruth dialogue on location. After those scenes were shot, myself and a boom operator spent a couple of days revisiting those locations with Philip and Julie to re-record all that dialogue. It all dropped into sync so effortlessly at such an early stage of the edit and sounded so natural that Philip sometimes forgot that we had ever re-voiced them. *** Some of you may recall that this tower was subsequently moved inland due to coastal erosion threatening it. A further interesting aside - the tower was in the process of being sold around the time we needed to shoot there and the vendor didn't want to remain responsible for it, but the prospective owner couldn't complete in time. The BBC ended up buying the tower and owning it for a short while until the original purchaser could complete. The lighthouse windows now seen on the top of the tower were not there previously, having been built for the shoot. The incoming owner asked for them to be left in place afterwards. Alan Taylor From alec.bray.2 at gmail.com Mon Sep 9 09:41:49 2019 From: alec.bray.2 at gmail.com (Alec Bray) Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2019 15:41:49 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] CPSE Emitron Message-ID: Hi all, I wonder if anyone has the Wood Norton notes and schematic for the CPS Emitron pick up tube? So far, I've not found anything on the Web. It was all a long time ago, and memory is dimming, but I seem to recall that if CPSE camera was pointed at a monitor, sized correctly, that because the tube sort of averaged the light on the tube target, it would reproduce the monitor picture across the whole picture area (it was something like this that made the CPSEs good for standards conversion pre-digital). (This is not the video howl round as per Dr Who titles, BTW!) Can anyone confirm this? Also thanks to Alan for all that info on "The Life and Loves of a She Devil" - it was so very interesting! Best regards, Alec sent from my mobile phone. Apologies for any strange autocorrections. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 9 15:32:03 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2019 21:32:03 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville et other In-Reply-To: <2C9F5EC7-7D4D-4D4A-B4AA-743C1D6C960C@me.com> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> <2C9F5EC7-7D4D-4D4A-B4AA-743C1D6C960C@me.com> Message-ID: <5d76b6c2.1c69fb81.84d73.28ab@mx.google.com> Totally fascinating, Alan, and a great example of ingenuity in solving a problem. As befits a BBC trained engineer. I would say, however that the system of sync beeps or clicks was utilised on a movie I worked on: ?Fiddler on the Roof? in 1971. I was keen to utilise two track playback for the picture, having been brought up with two track playback at the BBC (Orch and Vocal separate, so the relative levels could be adjusted simply on the pots), avoiding the need for lots of tapes with different ratio balances, as had been the norm. I wasn't about to make up loads of tapes with different ratios! But we needed a sync machine. Jim Willis was engaged in modifying an existing stereo Uher machine to run with sync-pulse lock, but abandoned that when news of Kudelski?s stereo Nagra was announced. Approaches to Switzerland only elicited the answer that it was then at least two years off and when it happened, it: ?would use half-inch tape!? From the time schedule, this was a no-no, so Jim set about creating two half-track recorders from existing Nagra 4.2?s. Special two-track heads were made by Branch & Appleby with a wider than normal guard band so that the existing Nagra Neopilot sync track could be accommodated. I helped him build the second channel record and play amps. They worked brilliantly, for Jim was a true engineer in the sense of being ?ingenious?. As Mirisch, the production company who made ?West Side Story? was very wary of our intention to use ?? tape, having done that previous musical off gramophone turntables driven with three phase linked to the camera drive, we considered 35mm magnetic film for the playback tracks, but the unwieldiness of spooling back ready for another take, and even if we went to 16mm, not a lot faster, they needed to be convinced that tape would work to the extent that a stage was booked at Pinewood, with camera crew and cast, for a day?s test. Only when they viewed rushes the next day did they acquiesce to our advice. Subsequently it was proved that spinning back the tape was quicker than the camera crew getting set up for another take. We enjoyed a long prep time to get everything ready ? ordering up all the kit required, making the playback tapes etc. and I made every single cable myself, XLR mic, PA speaker, and the 3-phase power cables for the cameras - yes, the camera dept. in those days, took the view that if Sound wanted it all to run in sync, then they should be responsible for the power supply! Whether this was a retaliation for our department shutting the 'noisy' cameras into a booth, I don't know, but it could have been! "Fiddler on the Roof" - a major playback situation, made complicated by the need to record live dialogue in between the mimed verses. I was intending to use line-source speakers from the dead side of mike, like we did in the BBC, with any leakage being covered by the laid in music tracks at the dub. However, the Music Editor explained that that wouldn?t work as the music tracks and the final dub would be stereo, and three-track at that. So, live dialogue pick-up was achieved by utilising 'silent' playback with an induction loop run around the set, the actors wore induction receivers with moulded earpieces. The long hairstyles helped hide these! When we could use loudspeakers, I opted for a number of line source type spaced around so that on a long tracking shot, the actors came away from one and onto another, so they were not too far from a speaker at any time, and the sound level could be kept lowish. They were Philips line-source speakers driven with 100v line and were pretty directional. The amps were Grampian (don?t laugh!). They could be powered from 240v AC or 12v battery. As the sound truck, fitted with a compressed-air mast carrying the aerial, also housed the shortwave radio comms to the production office back in the city, any time there was a need to talk to the office, the playback system had to be muted, as the radio signal induced into the amplifiers, and blasted out to the countryside! The Music Editor, who had cut ?West Side Story?, was supplied with a remote stop/start/dim control for the playback Nagra, as he stood close to the camera, intently watching the accuracy of the artistes? lipsync and would cut the take if unhappy. Clicks were provided for the players to know when to start miming and close their mouths at the end. I made up the ?? tapes from 3-track 35mm copies of the master music recordings ? vocal/orch/clicks, plus a load of cassettes for the artistes to practice in their hotel rooms before the number was due to be shot ? it could be many weeks between the original recording and appearing on set. One afternoon, preparing for the processional lead-in to ?Sunrise, Sunset?, Dick Carruth, the music editor arrived in the sound truck, which I had had customised fitted out, in a state of agitation. ?Norman (Director), wants 8 bars cut shorter for the procession! ? it?ll take three days for me to get my UK assistant to make the edit, get a ?? done and fly it out to us!? Me: ?When does Norman want to shoot?? ?This evening!? I quietly took down a spare tape from the rack, asking Dick where the cut was required. Razor blade and splicing tape in action ? ?Is that what you want?? ?Gee! I didn?t know you could do this on location!? Brownie point to the Brits! Best Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 Sent: 09 September 2019 12:18 To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 9 15:49:52 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2019 21:49:52 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville and other In-Reply-To: <2C9F5EC7-7D4D-4D4A-B4AA-743C1D6C960C@me.com> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> <2C9F5EC7-7D4D-4D4A-B4AA-743C1D6C960C@me.com> Message-ID: <5d76baef.1c69fb81.90644.43bf@mx.google.com> Totally fascinating, Alan. But the system of clicks for dialogue was utilised when I worked on ?Fiddler on the Roof? in 1971: I was keen to utilise two track playback for the picture, having been brought up with two track playback at the BBC (Orch and Vocal separate, so the relative levels could be adjusted simply on the pots), avoiding the need for lots of tapes with different ratio balances, as had been the norm. I wasn't about to make up loads of tapes with different ratios! But we needed a sync machine. Jim Willis was engaged in modifying an existing stereo Uher machine to run with sync-pulse lock, but abandoned that when news of Kudelski?s stereo Nagra was announced. Approaches to Switzerland only elicited the answer that it was then at least two years off and when it happened, it: ?would use half-inch tape!? From the time schedule, this was a no-no, so Jim set about creating two half-track recorders from existing Nagra 4.2?s. Special two-track heads were made by Branch & Appleby with a wider than normal guard band so that the existing Nagra Neopilot sync track could be accommodated. I helped him build the second channel record and play amps. They worked brilliantly, for Jim was a true engineer in the sense of being ?ingenious?. As Mirisch, the production company who made ?West Side Story? was very wary of our intention to use ?? tape, having done that previous musical off gramophone turntables driven with three phase linked to the camera drive, we considered 35mm magnetic film for the playback tracks, but the unwieldiness of spooling back ready for another take, and even if we went to 16mm, not a lot faster, they needed to be convinced that tape would work to the extent that a stage was booked at Pinewood, with camera crew and cast, for a day?s test. Only when they viewed rushes the next day did they acquiesce to our advice. Subsequently it was proved that spinning back the tape was quicker than the camera crew getting set up for another take. We enjoyed a long prep time to get everything ready ? ordering up all the kit required, making the playback tapes etc. and I made every single cable myself, XLR mic, PA speaker, and the 3-phase power cables for the cameras - yes, the camera dept. in those days, took the view that if Sound wanted it all to run in sync, then they should be responsible for the power supply! Whether this was a retaliation for our department shutting the 'noisy' cameras into a booth, I don't know, but it could have been! "Fiddler on the Roof" - a major playback situation, made complicated by the need to record live dialogue in between the mimed verses. I was intending to use line-source speakers from the dead side of mike, like we did in the BBC, with any leakage being covered by the laid in music tracks at the dub. However, the Music Editor explained that that wouldn?t work as the music tracks and the final dub would be stereo, and three-track at that. So, live dialogue pick-up was achieved by utilising 'silent' playback with an induction loop run around the set, the actors wore induction receivers with moulded earpieces. The long hairstyles helped hide these! When we could use loudspeakers, I opted for a number of line source type spaced around so that on a long tracking shot, the actors came away from one and onto another, so they were not too far from a speaker at any time, and the sound level could be kept lowish. They were Philips line-source speakers driven with 100v line and were pretty directional. The amps were Grampian (don?t laugh!). They could be powered from 240v AC or 12v battery. As the sound truck, fitted with a compressed-air mast carrying the aerial, also housed the shortwave radio comms to the production office back in the city, any time there was a need to talk to the office, the playback system had to be muted, as the radio signal induced into the amplifiers, and blasted out to the countryside! The Music Editor, who had cut ?West Side Story?, was supplied with a remote stop/start/dim control for the playback Nagra, as he stood close to the camera, intently watching the accuracy of the artistes? lipsync and would cut the take if unhappy. Clicks were provided for the players to know when to start miming and close their mouths at the end. I made up the ?? tapes from 3-track 35mm copies of the master music recordings ? vocal/orch/clicks, plus a load of cassettes for the artistes to practice in their hotel rooms before the number was due to be shot ? it could be many weeks between the original recording and appearing on set. One afternoon, preparing for the processional lead-in to ?Sunrise, Sunset?, Dick Carruth, the music editor arrived in the sound truck, which I had had customised fitted out, in a state of agitation. ?Norman (Director), wants 8 bars cut shorter for the procession! ? it?ll take three days for me to get my UK assistant to make the edit, get a ?? done and fly it out to us!? Me: ?When does Norman want to shoot?? ?This evening!? I quietly took down a spare tape from the rack, asking Dick where the cut was required. Razor blade and splicing tape in action ? ?Is that what you want?? ?Gee! I didn?t know you could do this on location!? Brownie point to the Brits! Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 Sent: 09 September 2019 12:18 To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alanaudio at me.com Tue Sep 10 03:43:02 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 09:43:02 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville and other In-Reply-To: <5d76baef.1c69fb81.90644.43bf@mx.google.com> References: <847c8405-e125-2545-5d09-13627b099370@howell61.f9.co.uk> <000d01d563d4$54726f60$fd574e20$@gmail.com> <22E71B274277468E8AC017AA7E897B01@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <03654F66-B03F-4F3E-92B7-969C78031E38@me.com> <2C9F5EC7-7D4D-4D4A-B4AA-743C1D6C960C@me.com> <5d76baef.1c69fb81.90644.43bf@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <0B654ACA-E26D-4000-A3A2-1A407A882182@me.com> The system I devised for on-site dialogue replacement used influences from many areas and I was always open to adapting promising ideas from anywhere. I was very fortunate during my BBC career for having an unusually wide range of experience within the BBC, far beyond the formal training at the time. Although being recruited into the engineering side ( TA course 30 ), I had actually wanted to be a sound recordist, but didn't know the proper job title when as a schoolboy I wrote to the BBC saying I fancied a job as a sound engineer. The BBC latched on to the engineer word and once I got to Wood Norton I realised it wasn't the job I intended. I managed to end up at Kendal Avenue and in those days, you pretty well stayed where you were sent and would rise through the ranks wherever you were based. Moving sideways to tech ops was viewed as demotion by my line manager in the engineering dept, so I slowed down my progression through the engineering ranks by seeking attachments to every other department that I could think of. I did camera operation, radio links ( comms ), video tape operation and even stage management, but crucially several attachments to the OB sound dept. This was long before new recruits were sent on a tour of different disciplines. After I eventually transferred to sound and rose through the ranks to becoming a Sound Supervisor, I unexpectedly found myself specialising in drama, but had a nagging feeling that there were better ways of approaching OB drama rather than being based solely in the truck. I eventually informally approached the Film Unit at Ealing and was warmly encouraged by Roger Turner and invited to see how they worked. He in turn was fascinated to find out more about how in video drama, it was the responsibility of the Sound Supervisor to record the sound during shooting and also to operate the Sypher dubbing suite in post-production. I was enthusiastic about how being responsible for pre-production, location shooting and also post production audio gave me unique advantages and it meant that my knowledge of the dubbing process could facilitate aspects of the location shoot, while being on location meant that the location recordings could be optimised for post production. Visiting film shoots demonstrated that there was a lot in common between how we worked on OBs and on film, but it also gave me a very early introduction to the Ursta Cart, which proved to be the key to escaping from the sound control room in the scanner in order to work on the set. A timecode Nagra served as the snoop recorder while a battery powered 6 channel mixer, or even an SQN mixer was used, finally a multi flail allowed me to hook up via a multi-cable to the scanner to send stereo audio both ways along with timecode. The need for communications via the scanner became minimal as there was no need for sound talkback and otherwise, the main requirement was to run VT and to report when it was at speed. Working adjacent to the director meant that communication was face to face, rather than via the First Assistant via a walkie talkie and I usually had visual contact with the boom op, so verbal communication was either easier or superfluous. Once I got that system perfected, I rarely worked in the sound end of the LPU unless there was a particularly complicated sequence with multiple microphones. This way of working is quite commonplace now, but I started working this way from the mid 80s onwards. I was surprised and delighted by the encouragement given to me by Roger Turner as he had just become a line manager in a rival department. At that time, most location drama work would either be shot on film via Ealing or via Kendal Avenue, so in effect he was assisting a competitor. He was also a strong advocate of M-S stereo recording and gave me custom built decoders and monitoring boxes so that I could experiment with M-S at Kendal Avenue. I was especially pleased that my workflow for dialogue replacement proved to be very efficient, but also only used standard equipment which was already on site and in editing suites. I knew that it was normal practice in VT to use a lay-off 1/4" tape recorder which was timecode synchronised with the VT machine, so it was obvious to me that providing replacement dialogue which appeared to be conceptually the same as a lay-off recording was going to make life easier all round. Writing take numbers directly on the tape and having a broad red line drawn through all the required takes meant that it was easy to find the takes. My first experiments revealed that life was impossible for the tape synchronising controller when the timecode had multiple instances of the same timecode, therefore by visibly marking the tape, it could be rapidly be set up at the playback head ready to run up to sync as soon as the VT has spooled to the next cue. It soon became obvious that it had to be spooled manually near to the appropriate point as each unwanted take also had the correct timecode so it couldn't be spooled and parked automatically. The two options were to either edit the tape to remove the unwanted takes, or to visibly mark it up to make identifying them easy, which also had the advantage that alternative takes remained available if needed and could still be dropped into sync in the same way. Early on when doing dubbing in the Sypher suites, those who had taught me the job, especially Ian Leiper, drummed into me how important it was to properly mark up the script, but when I did complicated sequences, I found it tricky to keep tabs on what was on each audio track and to see what's coming up. Part of the problem was that my script was already marked up with notes made during the shooting and there was often a lack of empty space. My solution was to use my home computer dot matrix printer to print vertical lines with two or three minutes per page corresponding to the audio tracks and grams feeds. It could be aligned with the faders and had minute and seconds markings along the vertical axis. Being fan-fold paper, it was continuous and could be printed to be either 30, 60 or 90 minutes per episode as required. The printout included stuff I already had planned prior to the dub and would additionally mark it up by hand as the dub progressed. During the dub it was easy to see what was about to happen on each fader and felt very natural. I was rather proud of this system and some years later when I was being shown around the Ealing Studios by Roger Turner, I noticed their dubbing sheets, with vertical coloured-coded columns representing what had been laid on what track. I felt somewhat miffed that they had copied my idea about twenty of thirty years before I ever thought of it. Digital dubbing systems now use a horizontal scroll, but in the 90's, a digital system called Dawn also incorporated an option for vertical scrolling which I liked using, but few people ever seemed to use it and it was eventually abandoned. One of the things I hated about the BBC was a tendency for people to work within ivory towers, I was always curious about what other people did and how things work, so it was natural for me to see what could be adapted from other disciplines to make my work better. I was also very fortunate to start my supervising career with line managers such as Colin White and Jeff Baker, who both encouraged such experiments ? or maybe just humoured me so that they could have a quiet life. Alan Taylor On 9 Sep 2019, at 9 Sep . 21:49, patheigham wrote: > Totally fascinating, Alan. > But the system of clicks for dialogue was utilised when I worked on ?Fiddler on the Roof? in 1971: > > I was keen to utilise two track playback for the picture, having been brought up with two track playback at the BBC (Orch and Vocal separate, so the relative levels could be adjusted simply on the pots), avoiding the need for lots of tapes with different ratio balances, as had been the norm. I wasn't about to make up loads of tapes with different ratios! But we needed a sync machine. Jim Willis was engaged in modifying an existing stereo Uher machine to run with sync-pulse lock, but abandoned that when news of Kudelski?s stereo Nagra was announced. Approaches to Switzerland only elicited the answer that it was then at least two years off and when it happened, it: ?would use half-inch tape!? From the time schedule, this was a no-no, so Jim set about creating two half-track recorders from existing Nagra 4.2?s. Special two-track heads were made by Branch & Appleby with a wider than normal guard band so that the existing Nagra Neopilot sync track could be accommodated. I helped him build the second channel record and play amps. They worked brilliantly, for Jim was a true engineer in the sense of being ?ingenious?. > > As Mirisch, the production company who made ?West Side Story? was very wary of our intention to use ?? tape, having done that previous musical off gramophone turntables driven with three phase linked to the camera drive, we considered 35mm magnetic film for the playback tracks, but the unwieldiness of spooling back ready for another take, and even if we went to 16mm, not a lot faster, they needed to be convinced that tape would work to the extent that a stage was booked at Pinewood, with camera crew and cast, for a day?s test. Only when they viewed rushes the next day did they acquiesce to our advice. Subsequently it was proved that spinning back the tape was quicker than the camera crew getting set up for another take. > We enjoyed a long prep time to get everything ready ? ordering up all the kit required, making the playback tapes etc. and I made every single cable myself, XLR mic, PA speaker, and > the 3-phase power cables for the cameras - yes, the camera dept. in those days, took the view that if Sound wanted it all to run in sync, then they should be responsible for the power supply! > Whether this was a retaliation for our department shutting the 'noisy' cameras into a booth, I don't know, but it could have been! > > "Fiddler on the Roof" - a major playback situation, made complicated by the need to record live dialogue in between the mimed verses. > I was intending to use line-source speakers from the dead side of mike, like we did in the BBC, with any leakage being covered by the laid in music tracks at the dub. However, the Music Editor explained that that wouldn?t work as the music tracks and the final dub would be stereo, and three-track at that. > So, live dialogue pick-up was achieved by utilising 'silent' playback with an induction loop run around the set, the actors wore induction receivers with moulded earpieces. The long hairstyles helped hide these! When we could use loudspeakers, I opted for a number of line source type spaced around so that on a long tracking shot, the actors came away from one and onto another, so they were not too far from a speaker at any time, and the sound level could be kept lowish. > They were Philips line-source speakers driven with 100v line and were pretty directional. The amps were Grampian (don?t laugh!). They could be powered from 240v AC or 12v battery. As the sound truck, fitted with a compressed-air mast carrying the aerial, also housed the shortwave radio comms to the production office back in the city, any time there was a need to talk to the office, the playback system had to be muted, as the radio signal induced into the amplifiers, and blasted out to the countryside! > > The Music Editor, who had cut ?West Side Story?, was supplied with a remote stop/start/dim control for the playback Nagra, as he stood close to the camera, intently watching the accuracy of the artistes? lipsync and would cut the take if unhappy. Clicks were provided for the players to know when to start miming and close their mouths at the end. I made up the ?? tapes from 3-track 35mm copies of the master music recordings ? vocal/orch/clicks, plus a load of cassettes for the artistes to practice in their hotel rooms before the number was due to be shot ? it could be many weeks between the original recording and appearing on set. > One afternoon, preparing for the processional lead-in to ?Sunrise, Sunset?, Dick Carruth, the music editor arrived in the sound truck, which I had had customised fitted out, in a state of agitation. > ?Norman (Director), wants 8 bars cut shorter for the procession! ? it?ll take three days for me to get my UK assistant to make the edit, get a ?? done and fly it out to us!? > Me: ?When does Norman want to shoot?? > ?This evening!? > I quietly took down a spare tape from the rack, asking Dick where the cut was required. > Razor blade and splicing tape in action ? ?Is that what you want?? > ?Gee! I didn?t know you could do this on location!? > Brownie point to the Brits! > > Pat > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 > Sent: 09 September 2019 12:18 > To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat > Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville > > With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. > > > > > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Tue Sep 10 05:48:30 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 11:48:30 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Fwd: Philip Saville and others Especially Alan Taylor In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <462f790f-4db3-be4a-9a09-06b696eb5302@gmail.com> -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Fwd: [Tech1] Philip Saville and others Especially Alan Taylor Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:11:43 -0000 From: William Nuttall To: Bernard Newnham Hi Bernard, Couple of superb explanations of Operational Techniques by Alan Taylor and how to achieve them. I do hope that there is some way of incorporating these e mails for future Sound chaps. So interesting to see Alan thoughts on sound problems and his mental provision of a Solution! The other plus was his way his thinking that provided a solution with existing kit. A?fine example of a BBC member of staff who encompassed all of his BBC training/production experience etc etc ?to provide exemplary sound. Regards Tony Nuttall Begin forwarded message: > *From: *Alan Taylor via Tech1 > *Date: *10/09/2019 > *To: *Tech-Ops-chit-chat > *Subject: **Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville and other* > > The system I devised for on-site dialogue replacement used influences > from many areas and I was always open to adapting promising ideas from > anywhere. ?I was very fortunate during my BBC career for having an > unusually wide range of experience within the BBC, far beyond the > formal training at the time. ?Although being recruited into the > engineering side ( TA course 30 ), I had actually wanted to be a sound > recordist, but didn't know the proper job title when as a schoolboy I > wrote to the BBC saying I fancied a job as a sound engineer. ?The BBC > latched on to the engineer word and once I got to Wood Norton I > realised it wasn't the job I intended. ?I managed to end up at Kendal > Avenue and in those days, you pretty well stayed where you were sent > and would rise through the ranks wherever you were based. ?Moving > sideways to tech ops was viewed as demotion by my line manager in the > engineering dept, so I slowed down my progression through the > engineering ranks by seeking attachments to every other department > that I could think of. I did camera operation, radio links ( comms ), > video tape operation and even stage management, but crucially several > attachments to the OB sound dept. ?This was long before new recruits > were sent on a tour of different disciplines. > > After I eventually transferred to sound and rose through the ranks to > becoming a Sound Supervisor, I unexpectedly found myself specialising > in drama, but had a nagging feeling that there were better ways of > approaching OB drama rather than being based solely in the truck. ?I > eventually informally approached the Film Unit at Ealing and was > warmly encouraged by Roger Turner and invited to see how they worked. > ?He in turn was fascinated to find out more about how in video drama, > it was the responsibility of the Sound Supervisor to record the sound > during shooting and also to operate the Sypher dubbing suite in > post-production. ?I was enthusiastic about how being responsible for > pre-production, location shooting and also post production audio gave > me unique advantages and it meant that my knowledge of the dubbing > process could facilitate aspects of the location shoot, while being on > location meant that the location recordings could be optimised for > post production. ?Visiting film shoots demonstrated that there was a > lot in common between how we worked on OBs and on film, but it also > gave me a very early introduction to the Ursta Cart, which proved to > be the key to escaping from the sound control room in the scanner in > order to work on the set. ?A timecode Nagra served as the snoop > recorder while a battery powered 6 channel mixer, or even an SQN mixer > was used, finally a multi flail allowed me to hook up via a > multi-cable to the scanner to send stereo audio both ways along with > timecode. ?The need for communications via the scanner became minimal > as there was no need for sound talkback and otherwise, the main > requirement was to run VT and to report when it was at speed. ?Working > adjacent to the director meant that communication was face to face, > rather than via the First Assistant via a walkie talkie and I usually > had visual contact with the boom op, so verbal communication was > either easier or superfluous. Once I got that system perfected, I > rarely worked in the sound end of the LPU unless there was a > particularly complicated sequence with multiple microphones. This way > of working is quite commonplace now, but I started working this way > from the mid 80s onwards. ?I was surprised and delighted by the > encouragement given to me by Roger Turner as he had just become a line > manager in a rival department. ?At that time, most location drama work > would either be shot on film via Ealing or via Kendal Avenue, so in > effect he was assisting a competitor. ?He was also a strong advocate > of M-S stereo recording and gave me custom built decoders and > monitoring boxes so that I could experiment with M-S at Kendal Avenue. > > I was especially pleased that my workflow for dialogue replacement > proved to be very efficient, but also only used standard equipment > which was already on site and in editing suites. ?I knew that it was > normal practice in VT to use a lay-off 1/4" tape recorder which was > timecode synchronised with the VT machine, so it was obvious to me > that providing replacement dialogue which appeared to be conceptually > the same as a lay-off recording was going to make life easier all > round. ?Writing take numbers directly on the tape and having a broad > red line drawn through all the required takes meant that it was easy > to find the takes. ?My first experiments revealed that life was > impossible for the tape synchronising controller when the timecode had > multiple instances of the same timecode, therefore by visibly marking > the tape, it could be rapidly be set up at the playback head ready to > run up to sync as soon as the VT has spooled to the next cue. It soon > became obvious that it had to be spooled manually near to the > appropriate point as each unwanted take also had the correct timecode > so it couldn't be spooled and parked automatically. ?The two options > were to either edit the tape to remove the unwanted takes, or to > visibly mark it up to make identifying them easy, which also had the > advantage that alternative takes remained available if needed and > could still be dropped into sync in the same way. > > Early on when doing dubbing in the Sypher suites, those who had taught > me the job, especially Ian Leiper, drummed into me how important it > was to properly mark up the script, but when I did complicated > sequences, I found it tricky to keep tabs on what was on each audio > track and to see what's coming up. ?Part of the problem was that my > script was already marked up with notes made during the shooting and > there was often a lack of empty space. ?My solution was to use my home > computer dot matrix printer to print vertical lines with two or three > minutes per page corresponding to the audio tracks and grams feeds. > ?It could be aligned with the faders and had minute and seconds > markings along the vertical axis. ?Being fan-fold paper, it was > continuous and could be printed to be either 30, 60 or 90 minutes per > episode as required. The printout included stuff I already had planned > prior to the dub and would additionally mark it up by hand as the dub > progressed. ?During the dub it was easy to see what was about to > happen on each fader and felt very natural. ?I was rather proud of > this system and some years later when I was being shown around the > Ealing Studios by Roger Turner, I noticed their dubbing sheets, with > vertical coloured-coded columns representing what had been laid on > what track. I felt somewhat miffed that they had copied my idea about > twenty of thirty years before I ever thought of it. Digital dubbing > systems now use a horizontal scroll, but in the 90's, a digital system > called Dawn also incorporated an option for vertical scrolling which I > liked using, but few people ever seemed to use it and it was > eventually abandoned. > > One of the things I hated about the BBC was a tendency for people to > work within ivory towers, I was always curious about what other people > did and how things work, so it was natural for me to see what could be > adapted from other disciplines to make my work better. ?I was also > very fortunate to start my supervising career with line managers such > as Colin White and Jeff Baker, who both encouraged such experiments ? > or maybe just humoured me so that they could have a quiet life. > > > Alan Taylor > > > > > On 9 Sep 2019, at 9 Sep . 21:49, patheigham > wrote: >> Totally fascinating, Alan. >> But the system of? clicks for dialogue was utilised when I worked on >> ?Fiddler on the Roof? in 1971: >> I was keen to utilise two track playback for the picture, having been >> brought up with two track playback at the BBC (Orch and Vocal >> separate, so the relative levels could be adjusted simply on the >> pots), avoiding the need for lots of tapes with different ratio >> balances, as had been the norm. I wasn't about to make up loads of >> tapes with different ratios! But we needed a sync machine. Jim Willis >> was engaged in modifying an existing stereo Uher machine to run with >> sync-pulse lock, but abandoned that when news of Kudelski?s stereo >> Nagra was announced. Approaches to Switzerland only elicited the >> answer that it was then at least two years off and when it happened, >> it: ?would use half-inch tape!? From the time schedule, this was a >> no-no, so Jim set about creating two half-track recorders from >> existing Nagra 4.2?s. Special two-track heads were made by Branch & >> Appleby with a wider than normal guard band so that the existing >> Nagra Neopilot sync track could be accommodated. I helped him build >> the second channel record and play amps. They worked brilliantly, for >> Jim was a true engineer in the sense of being ?ingenious?. >> As Mirisch, the production company who made ?West Side Story? was >> very wary of our intention to use ?? tape, having done that previous >> musical off gramophone turntables driven with three phase linked to >> the camera drive, we considered 35mm magnetic film for the playback >> tracks, but the unwieldiness of spooling back ready for another take, >> and even if we went to 16mm, not a lot faster, they needed to be >> convinced that tape would work to the extent that a stage was booked >> at Pinewood, with camera crew and cast, for a day?s test. Only when >> they viewed rushes the next day did they acquiesce to our advice. >> Subsequently it was proved that spinning back the tape was quicker >> than the camera crew getting set up for another take. >> We enjoyed a long prep time to get everything ready ? ordering up all >> the kit required, making the playback tapes etc. and I made every >> single cable myself, XLR mic, PA speaker, and >> the 3-phase power cables for the cameras - yes, the camera dept. in >> those days, took the view that if Sound wanted it all to run in sync, >> then they should be responsible for the power supply! >> Whether this was a retaliation for our department shutting the >> 'noisy' cameras into a booth, I don't know, but it could have been! >> "Fiddler on the Roof" - a major playback situation, made complicated >> by the need to record live dialogue in between the mimed verses. >> I was intending to use line-source speakers from the dead side of >> mike, like we did in the BBC, with any leakage being covered by the >> laid in music tracks at the dub. However, the Music Editor explained >> that that wouldn?t work as the music tracks and the final dub would >> be stereo, and three-track at that. >> So, live dialogue pick-up was achieved by utilising 'silent' playback >> with an induction loop run around the set, the actors wore induction >> receivers with moulded earpieces. The long hairstyles helped hide >> these! When we could use loudspeakers, I opted for a number of line >> source type spaced around so that on a long tracking shot, the actors >> came away from one and onto another, so they were not too far from a >> speaker at any time, and the sound level could be kept lowish. >> They were Philips line-source speakers driven with 100v line and were >> pretty directional. The amps were Grampian (don?t laugh!). They could >> be powered from 240v AC or 12v battery. As the sound truck, fitted >> with a compressed-air mast carrying the aerial, also housed the >> shortwave radio comms to the production office back in the city, any >> time there was a need to talk to the office, the playback system had >> to be muted, as the radio signal induced into the amplifiers, and >> blasted out to the countryside! >> The Music Editor, who had cut ?West Side Story?, was supplied with a >> remote stop/start/dim control for the playback Nagra, as he stood >> close to the camera, intently watching the accuracy of the artistes? >> lipsync and would cut the take if unhappy. Clicks were provided for >> the players to know when to start miming and close their mouths at >> the end. I made up the ?? tapes from 3-track 35mm copies of the >> master music recordings ? vocal/orch/clicks, plus a load of cassettes >> for the artistes to practice in their hotel rooms before the number >> was due to be shot ? it could be many weeks between the original >> recording and appearing on set. >> One afternoon, preparing for the processional lead-in to ?Sunrise, >> Sunset?, Dick Carruth, the music editor arrived in the sound truck, >> which I had had customised fitted out, in a state of agitation. >> ?Norman (Director), wants 8 bars cut shorter for the procession! ? >> it?ll take three days for me to get my UK assistant to make the edit, >> get a ?? done and fly it out to us!? >> Me: ?When does Norman want to shoot?? >> ?This evening!? >> I quietly took down a spare tape from the rack, asking Dick where the >> cut was required. >> Razor blade and splicing tape in action ? ?Is that what you want?? >> ?Gee! I didn?t know you could do this on location!? >> Brownie point to the Brits! >> Pat >> Sent fromMail for >> Windows 10 >> *From:*Alan Taylor via Tech1 >> *Sent:*09 September 2019 12:18 >> *To:*Tech-Ops-chit-chat >> *Subject:*Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville >> With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there >> were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. >> >> >> Virus-free.www.avast.com >> >> >> > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alawrance1 at me.com Tue Sep 10 06:12:46 2019 From: alawrance1 at me.com (Alasdair Lawrance) Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 12:12:46 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Fwd: Philip Saville and others Especially Alan Taylor In-Reply-To: <462f790f-4db3-be4a-9a09-06b696eb5302@gmail.com> References: <462f790f-4db3-be4a-9a09-06b696eb5302@gmail.com> Message-ID: <12C38E0E-21F3-4ECE-A512-CE8EA43889CF@me.com> Being a mere cameraman, I don?t fully understand everything that Alan has described, but his pieces are a joy to read, and I understand the general principles. The only things I can add to the thread about Philip Saville are that I once shared a house with Mike Winser (and others) somewhere near Northfield Avenue, and met Philip Saville at a conference/film festival in Birmingham. Mike and I both thought the sound on the Rolling Stones second album was dreadful, and we could do a better job. It was after we?d been for refreshment, but I don?t remember where?.. I thought ?She-Devil was a terrific series, and a tour-de-force on all levels. I have it on DVD, but it?s currently ?unavailable' on Amazon, but copies may be lurking on e-bay. Alasdair Lawrance alawrance1 at me.com Don?t blame me, I voted Remain. > > > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > Subject: Fwd: [Tech1] Philip Saville and others Especially Alan Taylor > Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:11:43 -0000 > From: William Nuttall > To: Bernard Newnham > > Hi Bernard, > Couple of superb explanations of Operational Techniques by Alan Taylor > and how to achieve them. I do hope that there is some way of incorporating these e > mails for future Sound chaps. So interesting to see Alan thoughts on sound problems > and his mental provision of a Solution! The other plus was his way his thinking that provided > a solution with existing kit. A fine example of a BBC member of staff who encompassed all of > his BBC training/production experience etc etc to provide exemplary sound. > Regards > Tony Nuttall > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 >> Date: 10/09/2019 >> To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat >> Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville and other >> >> The system I devised for on-site dialogue replacement used influences from many areas and I was always open to adapting promising ideas from anywhere. I was very fortunate during my BBC career for having an unusually wide range of experience within the BBC, far beyond the formal training at the time. Although being recruited into the engineering side ( TA course 30 ), I had actually wanted to be a sound recordist, but didn't know the proper job title when as a schoolboy I wrote to the BBC saying I fancied a job as a sound engineer. The BBC latched on to the engineer word and once I got to Wood Norton I realised it wasn't the job I intended. I managed to end up at Kendal Avenue and in those days, you pretty well stayed where you were sent and would rise through the ranks wherever you were based. Moving sideways to tech ops was viewed as demotion by my line manager in the engineering dept, so I slowed down my progression through the engineering ranks by seeking attachments to every other department that I could think of. I did camera operation, radio links ( comms ), video tape operation and even stage management, but crucially several attachments to the OB sound dept. This was long before new recruits were sent on a tour of different disciplines. >> >> After I eventually transferred to sound and rose through the ranks to becoming a Sound Supervisor, I unexpectedly found myself specialising in drama, but had a nagging feeling that there were better ways of approaching OB drama rather than being based solely in the truck. I eventually informally approached the Film Unit at Ealing and was warmly encouraged by Roger Turner and invited to see how they worked. He in turn was fascinated to find out more about how in video drama, it was the responsibility of the Sound Supervisor to record the sound during shooting and also to operate the Sypher dubbing suite in post-production. I was enthusiastic about how being responsible for pre-production, location shooting and also post production audio gave me unique advantages and it meant that my knowledge of the dubbing process could facilitate aspects of the location shoot, while being on location meant that the location recordings could be optimised for post production. Visiting film shoots demonstrated that there was a lot in common between how we worked on OBs and on film, but it also gave me a very early introduction to the Ursta Cart, which proved to be the key to escaping from the sound control room in the scanner in order to work on the set. A timecode Nagra served as the snoop recorder while a battery powered 6 channel mixer, or even an SQN mixer was used, finally a multi flail allowed me to hook up via a multi-cable to the scanner to send stereo audio both ways along with timecode. The need for communications via the scanner became minimal as there was no need for sound talkback and otherwise, the main requirement was to run VT and to report when it was at speed. Working adjacent to the director meant that communication was face to face, rather than via the First Assistant via a walkie talkie and I usually had visual contact with the boom op, so verbal communication was either easier or superfluous. Once I got that system perfected, I rarely worked in the sound end of the LPU unless there was a particularly complicated sequence with multiple microphones. This way of working is quite commonplace now, but I started working this way from the mid 80s onwards. I was surprised and delighted by the encouragement given to me by Roger Turner as he had just become a line manager in a rival department. At that time, most location drama work would either be shot on film via Ealing or via Kendal Avenue, so in effect he was assisting a competitor. He was also a strong advocate of M-S stereo recording and gave me custom built decoders and monitoring boxes so that I could experiment with M-S at Kendal Avenue. >> >> I was especially pleased that my workflow for dialogue replacement proved to be very efficient, but also only used standard equipment which was already on site and in editing suites. I knew that it was normal practice in VT to use a lay-off 1/4" tape recorder which was timecode synchronised with the VT machine, so it was obvious to me that providing replacement dialogue which appeared to be conceptually the same as a lay-off recording was going to make life easier all round. Writing take numbers directly on the tape and having a broad red line drawn through all the required takes meant that it was easy to find the takes. My first experiments revealed that life was impossible for the tape synchronising controller when the timecode had multiple instances of the same timecode, therefore by visibly marking the tape, it could be rapidly be set up at the playback head ready to run up to sync as soon as the VT has spooled to the next cue. It soon became obvious that it had to be spooled manually near to the appropriate point as each unwanted take also had the correct timecode so it couldn't be spooled and parked automatically. The two options were to either edit the tape to remove the unwanted takes, or to visibly mark it up to make identifying them easy, which also had the advantage that alternative takes remained available if needed and could still be dropped into sync in the same way. >> >> Early on when doing dubbing in the Sypher suites, those who had taught me the job, especially Ian Leiper, drummed into me how important it was to properly mark up the script, but when I did complicated sequences, I found it tricky to keep tabs on what was on each audio track and to see what's coming up. Part of the problem was that my script was already marked up with notes made during the shooting and there was often a lack of empty space. My solution was to use my home computer dot matrix printer to print vertical lines with two or three minutes per page corresponding to the audio tracks and grams feeds. It could be aligned with the faders and had minute and seconds markings along the vertical axis. Being fan-fold paper, it was continuous and could be printed to be either 30, 60 or 90 minutes per episode as required. The printout included stuff I already had planned prior to the dub and would additionally mark it up by hand as the dub progressed. During the dub it was easy to see what was about to happen on each fader and felt very natural. I was rather proud of this system and some years later when I was being shown around the Ealing Studios by Roger Turner, I noticed their dubbing sheets, with vertical coloured-coded columns representing what had been laid on what track. I felt somewhat miffed that they had copied my idea about twenty of thirty years before I ever thought of it. Digital dubbing systems now use a horizontal scroll, but in the 90's, a digital system called Dawn also incorporated an option for vertical scrolling which I liked using, but few people ever seemed to use it and it was eventually abandoned. >> >> One of the things I hated about the BBC was a tendency for people to work within ivory towers, I was always curious about what other people did and how things work, so it was natural for me to see what could be adapted from other disciplines to make my work better. I was also very fortunate to start my supervising career with line managers such as Colin White and Jeff Baker, who both encouraged such experiments ? or maybe just humoured me so that they could have a quiet life. >> >> >> Alan Taylor >> >> >> >> >> On 9 Sep 2019, at 9 Sep . 21:49, patheigham > wrote: >>> Totally fascinating, Alan. >>> But the system of clicks for dialogue was utilised when I worked on ?Fiddler on the Roof? in 1971: >>> >>> I was keen to utilise two track playback for the picture, having been brought up with two track playback at the BBC (Orch and Vocal separate, so the relative levels could be adjusted simply on the pots), avoiding the need for lots of tapes with different ratio balances, as had been the norm. I wasn't about to make up loads of tapes with different ratios! But we needed a sync machine. Jim Willis was engaged in modifying an existing stereo Uher machine to run with sync-pulse lock, but abandoned that when news of Kudelski?s stereo Nagra was announced. Approaches to Switzerland only elicited the answer that it was then at least two years off and when it happened, it: ?would use half-inch tape!? From the time schedule, this was a no-no, so Jim set about creating two half-track recorders from existing Nagra 4.2?s. Special two-track heads were made by Branch & Appleby with a wider than normal guard band so that the existing Nagra Neopilot sync track could be accommodated. I helped him build the second channel record and play amps. They worked brilliantly, for Jim was a true engineer in the sense of being ?ingenious?. >>> >>> As Mirisch, the production company who made ?West Side Story? was very wary of our intention to use ?? tape, having done that previous musical off gramophone turntables driven with three phase linked to the camera drive, we considered 35mm magnetic film for the playback tracks, but the unwieldiness of spooling back ready for another take, and even if we went to 16mm, not a lot faster, they needed to be convinced that tape would work to the extent that a stage was booked at Pinewood, with camera crew and cast, for a day?s test. Only when they viewed rushes the next day did they acquiesce to our advice. Subsequently it was proved that spinning back the tape was quicker than the camera crew getting set up for another take. >>> We enjoyed a long prep time to get everything ready ? ordering up all the kit required, making the playback tapes etc. and I made every single cable myself, XLR mic, PA speaker, and >>> the 3-phase power cables for the cameras - yes, the camera dept. in those days, took the view that if Sound wanted it all to run in sync, then they should be responsible for the power supply! >>> Whether this was a retaliation for our department shutting the 'noisy' cameras into a booth, I don't know, but it could have been! >>> >>> "Fiddler on the Roof" - a major playback situation, made complicated by the need to record live dialogue in between the mimed verses. >>> I was intending to use line-source speakers from the dead side of mike, like we did in the BBC, with any leakage being covered by the laid in music tracks at the dub. However, the Music Editor explained that that wouldn?t work as the music tracks and the final dub would be stereo, and three-track at that. >>> So, live dialogue pick-up was achieved by utilising 'silent' playback with an induction loop run around the set, the actors wore induction receivers with moulded earpieces. The long hairstyles helped hide these! When we could use loudspeakers, I opted for a number of line source type spaced around so that on a long tracking shot, the actors came away from one and onto another, so they were not too far from a speaker at any time, and the sound level could be kept lowish. >>> They were Philips line-source speakers driven with 100v line and were pretty directional. The amps were Grampian (don?t laugh!). They could be powered from 240v AC or 12v battery. As the sound truck, fitted with a compressed-air mast carrying the aerial, also housed the shortwave radio comms to the production office back in the city, any time there was a need to talk to the office, the playback system had to be muted, as the radio signal induced into the amplifiers, and blasted out to the countryside! >>> >>> The Music Editor, who had cut ?West Side Story?, was supplied with a remote stop/start/dim control for the playback Nagra, as he stood close to the camera, intently watching the accuracy of the artistes? lipsync and would cut the take if unhappy. Clicks were provided for the players to know when to start miming and close their mouths at the end. I made up the ?? tapes from 3-track 35mm copies of the master music recordings ? vocal/orch/clicks, plus a load of cassettes for the artistes to practice in their hotel rooms before the number was due to be shot ? it could be many weeks between the original recording and appearing on set. >>> One afternoon, preparing for the processional lead-in to ?Sunrise, Sunset?, Dick Carruth, the music editor arrived in the sound truck, which I had had customised fitted out, in a state of agitation. >>> ?Norman (Director), wants 8 bars cut shorter for the procession! ? it?ll take three days for me to get my UK assistant to make the edit, get a ?? done and fly it out to us!? >>> Me: ?When does Norman want to shoot?? >>> ?This evening!? >>> I quietly took down a spare tape from the rack, asking Dick where the cut was required. >>> Razor blade and splicing tape in action ? ?Is that what you want?? >>> ?Gee! I didn?t know you could do this on location!? >>> Brownie point to the Brits! >>> >>> Pat >>> >>> Sent from Mail for Windows 10 >>> >>> From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 >>> Sent: 09 September 2019 12:18 >>> To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat >>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville >>> >>> With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Virus-free. www.avast.com >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alanaudio at me.com Tue Sep 10 07:24:53 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 13:24:53 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville and others Especially Alan Taylor In-Reply-To: <12C38E0E-21F3-4ECE-A512-CE8EA43889CF@me.com> References: <462f790f-4db3-be4a-9a09-06b696eb5302@gmail.com> <12C38E0E-21F3-4ECE-A512-CE8EA43889CF@me.com> Message-ID: <4A2ABE98-95FB-4E50-AAFF-543D4D588655@me.com> There are doubtless hundreds of Philip Saville and She Devil stories, but I offer an additional one about Philip and the voice overs at the end of each episode. This one is less technical. Each episode ended with a highly dramatic voice over by Julie playing the She Devil, in which she relishes the evils which she had bestowed upon those who wronged her and then hinted at what she planned for next time. We recorded the voice overs in the sound studio adjacent to Sypher II and Philip had a clear vision of the immensely powerful delivery which he required. Julie was a wonderful and versatile actress, but I had to agree with Philip that were weren't getting the performance which we knew she was capable of delivering. Eventually Philip declared that the problem was the studio fluorescent lights and what was needed was moody lighting with most of the studio in darkness. I found a couple of anglepoise lamps and put a scrap of green gel over one lamp, illuminating her face from below. Julie could see her evil reflection in the studio window while she performed. We minimised the lighting level in the Sypher suite so that Julie was largely unaware of us and could see her reflection better. Philip approved the lighting and Julie ultimately delivered a performance which exceeded our expectations. It gave me a golden opportunity to wind up John King by later pointing out that we even had to resolve lighting problems in the voice over booth, but the truth is probably that the improved delivery was nothing to do with the lighting, but more down to having a few moments respite for Julie to be fussed over and get into the role before continuing, however the exact reason didn't matter because we got the result we needed. Personally I didn't like the way that Philip insisted on the voice being quite so massively over compressed in order to make it super-loud whiles the closing music swelled behind it, but I had to admit that her sinister voice made the hairs on my neck tingle when it was transmitted. I later discovered that Philip was delighted to observe that the She Devil closing voice over was so loud that presentation announcements after the programme were rather quiet by comparison. Alan Taylor On 10 Sep 2019, at 10 Sep . 12:12, Alasdair Lawrance via Tech1 wrote: > Being a mere cameraman, I don?t fully understand everything that Alan has described, but his pieces are a joy to read, and I understand the general principles. > > The only things I can add to the thread about Philip Saville are that I once shared a house with Mike Winser (and others) somewhere near Northfield Avenue, and met Philip Saville at a conference/film festival in Birmingham. > > Mike and I both thought the sound on the Rolling Stones second album was dreadful, and we could do a better job. It was after we?d been for refreshment, but I don?t remember where?.. > > I thought ?She-Devil was a terrific series, and a tour-de-force on all levels. I have it on DVD, but it?s currently ?unavailable' on Amazon, but copies may be lurking on e-bay. > > > > > Alasdair Lawrance > alawrance1 at me.com > > Don?t blame me, I voted Remain. > > > > > > > > > > >> >> >> >> >> -------- Forwarded Message -------- >> Subject: Fwd: [Tech1] Philip Saville and others Especially Alan Taylor >> Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:11:43 -0000 >> From: William Nuttall >> To: Bernard Newnham >> >> Hi Bernard, >> Couple of superb explanations of Operational Techniques by Alan Taylor >> and how to achieve them. I do hope that there is some way of incorporating these e >> mails for future Sound chaps. So interesting to see Alan thoughts on sound problems >> and his mental provision of a Solution! The other plus was his way his thinking that provided >> a solution with existing kit. A fine example of a BBC member of staff who encompassed all of >> his BBC training/production experience etc etc to provide exemplary sound. >> Regards >> Tony Nuttall >> >> Begin forwarded message: >> >>> From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 >>> Date: 10/09/2019 >>> To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat >>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville and other >>> >>> The system I devised for on-site dialogue replacement used influences from many areas and I was always open to adapting promising ideas from anywhere. I was very fortunate during my BBC career for having an unusually wide range of experience within the BBC, far beyond the formal training at the time. Although being recruited into the engineering side ( TA course 30 ), I had actually wanted to be a sound recordist, but didn't know the proper job title when as a schoolboy I wrote to the BBC saying I fancied a job as a sound engineer. The BBC latched on to the engineer word and once I got to Wood Norton I realised it wasn't the job I intended. I managed to end up at Kendal Avenue and in those days, you pretty well stayed where you were sent and would rise through the ranks wherever you were based. Moving sideways to tech ops was viewed as demotion by my line manager in the engineering dept, so I slowed down my progression through the engineering ranks by seeking attachments to every other department that I could think of. I did camera operation, radio links ( comms ), video tape operation and even stage management, but crucially several attachments to the OB sound dept. This was long before new recruits were sent on a tour of different disciplines. >>> >>> After I eventually transferred to sound and rose through the ranks to becoming a Sound Supervisor, I unexpectedly found myself specialising in drama, but had a nagging feeling that there were better ways of approaching OB drama rather than being based solely in the truck. I eventually informally approached the Film Unit at Ealing and was warmly encouraged by Roger Turner and invited to see how they worked. He in turn was fascinated to find out more about how in video drama, it was the responsibility of the Sound Supervisor to record the sound during shooting and also to operate the Sypher dubbing suite in post-production. I was enthusiastic about how being responsible for pre-production, location shooting and also post production audio gave me unique advantages and it meant that my knowledge of the dubbing process could facilitate aspects of the location shoot, while being on location meant that the location recordings could be optimised for post production. Visiting film shoots demonstrated that there was a lot in common between how we worked on OBs and on film, but it also gave me a very early introduction to the Ursta Cart, which proved to be the key to escaping from the sound control room in the scanner in order to work on the set. A timecode Nagra served as the snoop recorder while a battery powered 6 channel mixer, or even an SQN mixer was used, finally a multi flail allowed me to hook up via a multi-cable to the scanner to send stereo audio both ways along with timecode. The need for communications via the scanner became minimal as there was no need for sound talkback and otherwise, the main requirement was to run VT and to report when it was at speed. Working adjacent to the director meant that communication was face to face, rather than via the First Assistant via a walkie talkie and I usually had visual contact with the boom op, so verbal communication was either easier or superfluous. Once I got that system perfected, I rarely worked in the sound end of the LPU unless there was a particularly complicated sequence with multiple microphones. This way of working is quite commonplace now, but I started working this way from the mid 80s onwards. I was surprised and delighted by the encouragement given to me by Roger Turner as he had just become a line manager in a rival department. At that time, most location drama work would either be shot on film via Ealing or via Kendal Avenue, so in effect he was assisting a competitor. He was also a strong advocate of M-S stereo recording and gave me custom built decoders and monitoring boxes so that I could experiment with M-S at Kendal Avenue. >>> >>> I was especially pleased that my workflow for dialogue replacement proved to be very efficient, but also only used standard equipment which was already on site and in editing suites. I knew that it was normal practice in VT to use a lay-off 1/4" tape recorder which was timecode synchronised with the VT machine, so it was obvious to me that providing replacement dialogue which appeared to be conceptually the same as a lay-off recording was going to make life easier all round. Writing take numbers directly on the tape and having a broad red line drawn through all the required takes meant that it was easy to find the takes. My first experiments revealed that life was impossible for the tape synchronising controller when the timecode had multiple instances of the same timecode, therefore by visibly marking the tape, it could be rapidly be set up at the playback head ready to run up to sync as soon as the VT has spooled to the next cue. It soon became obvious that it had to be spooled manually near to the appropriate point as each unwanted take also had the correct timecode so it couldn't be spooled and parked automatically. The two options were to either edit the tape to remove the unwanted takes, or to visibly mark it up to make identifying them easy, which also had the advantage that alternative takes remained available if needed and could still be dropped into sync in the same way. >>> >>> Early on when doing dubbing in the Sypher suites, those who had taught me the job, especially Ian Leiper, drummed into me how important it was to properly mark up the script, but when I did complicated sequences, I found it tricky to keep tabs on what was on each audio track and to see what's coming up. Part of the problem was that my script was already marked up with notes made during the shooting and there was often a lack of empty space. My solution was to use my home computer dot matrix printer to print vertical lines with two or three minutes per page corresponding to the audio tracks and grams feeds. It could be aligned with the faders and had minute and seconds markings along the vertical axis. Being fan-fold paper, it was continuous and could be printed to be either 30, 60 or 90 minutes per episode as required. The printout included stuff I already had planned prior to the dub and would additionally mark it up by hand as the dub progressed. During the dub it was easy to see what was about to happen on each fader and felt very natural. I was rather proud of this system and some years later when I was being shown around the Ealing Studios by Roger Turner, I noticed their dubbing sheets, with vertical coloured-coded columns representing what had been laid on what track. I felt somewhat miffed that they had copied my idea about twenty of thirty years before I ever thought of it. Digital dubbing systems now use a horizontal scroll, but in the 90's, a digital system called Dawn also incorporated an option for vertical scrolling which I liked using, but few people ever seemed to use it and it was eventually abandoned. >>> >>> One of the things I hated about the BBC was a tendency for people to work within ivory towers, I was always curious about what other people did and how things work, so it was natural for me to see what could be adapted from other disciplines to make my work better. I was also very fortunate to start my supervising career with line managers such as Colin White and Jeff Baker, who both encouraged such experiments ? or maybe just humoured me so that they could have a quiet life. >>> >>> >>> Alan Taylor >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 9 Sep 2019, at 9 Sep . 21:49, patheigham wrote: >>>> Totally fascinating, Alan. >>>> But the system of clicks for dialogue was utilised when I worked on ?Fiddler on the Roof? in 1971: >>>> >>>> I was keen to utilise two track playback for the picture, having been brought up with two track playback at the BBC (Orch and Vocal separate, so the relative levels could be adjusted simply on the pots), avoiding the need for lots of tapes with different ratio balances, as had been the norm. I wasn't about to make up loads of tapes with different ratios! But we needed a sync machine. Jim Willis was engaged in modifying an existing stereo Uher machine to run with sync-pulse lock, but abandoned that when news of Kudelski?s stereo Nagra was announced. Approaches to Switzerland only elicited the answer that it was then at least two years off and when it happened, it: ?would use half-inch tape!? From the time schedule, this was a no-no, so Jim set about creating two half-track recorders from existing Nagra 4.2?s. Special two-track heads were made by Branch & Appleby with a wider than normal guard band so that the existing Nagra Neopilot sync track could be accommodated. I helped him build the second channel record and play amps. They worked brilliantly, for Jim was a true engineer in the sense of being ?ingenious?. >>>> >>>> As Mirisch, the production company who made ?West Side Story? was very wary of our intention to use ?? tape, having done that previous musical off gramophone turntables driven with three phase linked to the camera drive, we considered 35mm magnetic film for the playback tracks, but the unwieldiness of spooling back ready for another take, and even if we went to 16mm, not a lot faster, they needed to be convinced that tape would work to the extent that a stage was booked at Pinewood, with camera crew and cast, for a day?s test. Only when they viewed rushes the next day did they acquiesce to our advice. Subsequently it was proved that spinning back the tape was quicker than the camera crew getting set up for another take. >>>> We enjoyed a long prep time to get everything ready ? ordering up all the kit required, making the playback tapes etc. and I made every single cable myself, XLR mic, PA speaker, and >>>> the 3-phase power cables for the cameras - yes, the camera dept. in those days, took the view that if Sound wanted it all to run in sync, then they should be responsible for the power supply! >>>> Whether this was a retaliation for our department shutting the 'noisy' cameras into a booth, I don't know, but it could have been! >>>> >>>> "Fiddler on the Roof" - a major playback situation, made complicated by the need to record live dialogue in between the mimed verses. >>>> I was intending to use line-source speakers from the dead side of mike, like we did in the BBC, with any leakage being covered by the laid in music tracks at the dub. However, the Music Editor explained that that wouldn?t work as the music tracks and the final dub would be stereo, and three-track at that. >>>> So, live dialogue pick-up was achieved by utilising 'silent' playback with an induction loop run around the set, the actors wore induction receivers with moulded earpieces. The long hairstyles helped hide these! When we could use loudspeakers, I opted for a number of line source type spaced around so that on a long tracking shot, the actors came away from one and onto another, so they were not too far from a speaker at any time, and the sound level could be kept lowish. >>>> They were Philips line-source speakers driven with 100v line and were pretty directional. The amps were Grampian (don?t laugh!). They could be powered from 240v AC or 12v battery. As the sound truck, fitted with a compressed-air mast carrying the aerial, also housed the shortwave radio comms to the production office back in the city, any time there was a need to talk to the office, the playback system had to be muted, as the radio signal induced into the amplifiers, and blasted out to the countryside! >>>> >>>> The Music Editor, who had cut ?West Side Story?, was supplied with a remote stop/start/dim control for the playback Nagra, as he stood close to the camera, intently watching the accuracy of the artistes? lipsync and would cut the take if unhappy. Clicks were provided for the players to know when to start miming and close their mouths at the end. I made up the ?? tapes from 3-track 35mm copies of the master music recordings ? vocal/orch/clicks, plus a load of cassettes for the artistes to practice in their hotel rooms before the number was due to be shot ? it could be many weeks between the original recording and appearing on set. >>>> One afternoon, preparing for the processional lead-in to ?Sunrise, Sunset?, Dick Carruth, the music editor arrived in the sound truck, which I had had customised fitted out, in a state of agitation. >>>> ?Norman (Director), wants 8 bars cut shorter for the procession! ? it?ll take three days for me to get my UK assistant to make the edit, get a ?? done and fly it out to us!? >>>> Me: ?When does Norman want to shoot?? >>>> ?This evening!? >>>> I quietly took down a spare tape from the rack, asking Dick where the cut was required. >>>> Razor blade and splicing tape in action ? ?Is that what you want?? >>>> ?Gee! I didn?t know you could do this on location!? >>>> Brownie point to the Brits! >>>> >>>> Pat >>>> >>>> Sent from Mail for Windows 10 >>>> >>>> From: Alan Taylor via Tech1 >>>> Sent: 09 September 2019 12:18 >>>> To: Tech-Ops-chit-chat >>>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville >>>> >>>> With regards to the shooting of Life & Loves of a She Devil, there were some interesting problems which we faced when shooting. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Virus-free. www.avast.com >>> >>> -- >>> Tech1 mailing list >>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 11 04:22:38 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 10:22:38 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] How it's made now Message-ID: <5c313805-27d6-98da-cc51-7ae0ed8cc166@gmail.com> Alan Taylor has written some fascinating stuff recently, explaining how he got over problems with sound in different situations. Alec Bray has his permission to wrap it up into a page of the Tech-ops website to save it as a little piece of valuable history. Alan says that you can do all that stuff easily now, and it's true, but that doesn't detract from the abilities of innovative people to get a job done in the many years before "two clicks and it's sorted". Here's a? recent video about the latest version of DaVinci Resolve and the new features it has available (for free!) https://youtu.be/1kNp9PBkdag In the early days of non-linear editing we used to make multi camera recordings of sound checks, the biggest being at RAH on three Sony VX1000s. The offline editor we had was Eidos Optima, which only had one video track. How we would have loved to be able to do what this man does in a couple of clicks. If you're a sound person, trip on to about twenty minutes in, after you've watched him syncing cameras. B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com Wed Sep 11 09:04:51 2019 From: geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com (geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:04:51 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Audio recordings made by Alan Kerridge - are they of any use? Message-ID: <002c01d568a9$e11d1940$a3574bc0$@gmail.com> Dear All, The relative of Alan Kerridge who is clearing his house has found a collection of old audio cassettes along with a note from Alan saying that they might be of use to the BBC for archive purposes. Do you have any thoughts on this and whether anyone is likely to want them? We occasionally hear news of rejoicing over long lost recordings that have been found under similar circumstances, so it seems a pity to bin them if they're likely to be of any value: The cassette tapes are plays, music Alan taped off the radio. There are 10 boxes (If full, each box contains 30 cassettes) The following are some of the cassettes in one box. The Amazing Howard Hughes - original recording parts 1 - 5 Cider with Rosie Parts 1 - 4 Patrick McGee as Monk O'Neil A Sketch of the Imagination Luther - A play from John Osborne parts 1-4 Snapping Out - Based on a true storey - A play about the Moonies Swimmer - A play for radio Nothing but my genius - Oscar Wilde Portrait of Ludwig Koch / Gloucestershire night life - wildlife recording The Treasure of the SierraMadre1-4 In Parenthesis - Radio play Under Milkwood Part 1-2 The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter Ludovick Kennedy Back to the Roots / The Inwardness of War The Crofters Way / Cult Heroes - Buddy Holly Your thoughts on the above and what might be done with them would be welcome. If no-one wants them, they will be disposed of, Geoff Hawkes -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From waresound at msn.com Wed Sep 11 09:50:34 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 14:50:34 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Audio recordings made by Alan Kerridge - are they of any use? In-Reply-To: <002c01d568a9$e11d1940$a3574bc0$@gmail.com> References: <002c01d568a9$e11d1940$a3574bc0$@gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi Geoff, I think it would be good idea to give The National Sound Archive first refusal. (Now part of the National Library). 0207 412 7148 or 412 7205 or take a look at: support.bl.uk/Page/Contact-us . I think the above now incorporates what used to be the BBC Sound Archive in the days when they could be bothered with such things. Cheers, Nick. Sent from my iPad On 11 Sep 2019, at 15:05, geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 > wrote: Dear All, The relative of Alan Kerridge who is clearing his house has found a collection of old audio cassettes along with a note from Alan saying that they might be of use to the BBC for archive purposes. Do you have any thoughts on this and whether anyone is likely to want them? We occasionally hear news of rejoicing over long lost recordings that have been found under similar circumstances, so it seems a pity to bin them if they?re likely to be of any value: The cassette tapes are plays, music Alan taped off the radio. There are 10 boxes (If full, each box contains 30 cassettes) The following are some of the cassettes in one box. The Amazing Howard Hughes - original recording parts 1 - 5 Cider with Rosie Parts 1 - 4 Patrick McGee as Monk O'Neil A Sketch of the Imagination Luther - A play from John Osborne parts 1-4 Snapping Out - Based on a true storey - A play about the Moonies Swimmer - A play for radio Nothing but my genius - Oscar Wilde Portrait of Ludwig Koch / Gloucestershire night life - wildlife recording The Treasure of the SierraMadre1-4 In Parenthesis - Radio play Under Milkwood Part 1-2 The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter Ludovick Kennedy Back to the Roots / The Inwardness of War The Crofters Way / Cult Heroes - Buddy Holly Your thoughts on the above and what might be done with them would be welcome. If no-one wants them, they will be disposed of, Geoff Hawkes -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 11 10:07:22 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:07:22 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! Message-ID: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# Page 24. Bernie -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From graeme.wall at icloud.com Wed Sep 11 10:23:25 2019 From: graeme.wall at icloud.com (Graeme Wall) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:23:25 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> Message-ID: <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it. ? Graeme Wall > On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > > Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# > > Page 24. > > Bernie > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From waresound at msn.com Wed Sep 11 11:09:42 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:09:42 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Audio recordings made by Alan Kerridge - are they of any use? In-Reply-To: References: <002c01d568a9$e11d1940$a3574bc0$@gmail.com>, Message-ID: Oops, now British Library of course (since 1973), not National Library. Nick. Sent from my iPad On 11 Sep 2019, at 15:50, Nick Ware > wrote: Hi Geoff, I think it would be good idea to give The National Sound Archive first refusal. (Now part of the National Library). 0207 412 7148 or 412 7205 or take a look at: support.bl.uk/Page/Contact-us . I think the above now incorporates what used to be the BBC Sound Archive in the days when they could be bothered with such things. Cheers, Nick. Sent from my iPad On 11 Sep 2019, at 15:05, geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 > wrote: Dear All, The relative of Alan Kerridge who is clearing his house has found a collection of old audio cassettes along with a note from Alan saying that they might be of use to the BBC for archive purposes. Do you have any thoughts on this and whether anyone is likely to want them? We occasionally hear news of rejoicing over long lost recordings that have been found under similar circumstances, so it seems a pity to bin them if they?re likely to be of any value: The cassette tapes are plays, music Alan taped off the radio. There are 10 boxes (If full, each box contains 30 cassettes) The following are some of the cassettes in one box. The Amazing Howard Hughes - original recording parts 1 - 5 Cider with Rosie Parts 1 - 4 Patrick McGee as Monk O'Neil A Sketch of the Imagination Luther - A play from John Osborne parts 1-4 Snapping Out - Based on a true storey - A play about the Moonies Swimmer - A play for radio Nothing but my genius - Oscar Wilde Portrait of Ludwig Koch / Gloucestershire night life - wildlife recording The Treasure of the SierraMadre1-4 In Parenthesis - Radio play Under Milkwood Part 1-2 The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter Ludovick Kennedy Back to the Roots / The Inwardness of War The Crofters Way / Cult Heroes - Buddy Holly Your thoughts on the above and what might be done with them would be welcome. If no-one wants them, they will be disposed of, Geoff Hawkes -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Wed Sep 11 11:13:37 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 17:13:37 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Audio recordings made by Alan Kerridge - are they of any use? In-Reply-To: <002c01d568a9$e11d1940$a3574bc0$@gmail.com> References: <002c01d568a9$e11d1940$a3574bc0$@gmail.com> Message-ID: <5d791d31.1c69fb81.32db8.4e8a@mx.google.com> Please contact: Charles Norton 19 Sweetbriar Road Leicester LE3 1AP 0116 2290558 candjnorton at yahoo.com He?s a young guy who seems to be instrumental in maintaining BBC Archive material. He was very helpful in assisting me to obtain DVD?s of a programme I had worked on, but at a price charged by the BBC!! Pat Heigham Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 Sent: 11 September 2019 15:05 To: tech1 Subject: [Tech1] Audio recordings made by Alan Kerridge - are they of any use? Dear All, The relative of Alan Kerridge who is clearing his house has found a collection of old audio cassettes along with a note from Alan saying that they might be of use to the BBC for archive purposes. Do you have any thoughts on this and whether anyone is likely to want them? We occasionally hear news of rejoicing over long lost recordings that have been found under similar circumstances, so it seems a pity to bin them if they?re likely to be of any value: The cassette tapes are plays, music Alan taped off the radio. There are 10 boxes (If full, each box contains 30 cassettes) The following are some of the cassettes in one box. The Amazing Howard Hughes - original recording parts 1 - 5 Cider with Rosie Parts 1 - 4 Patrick McGee as Monk O'Neil A Sketch of the Imagination Luther - A play from John Osborne parts 1-4 Snapping Out - Based on a true storey - A play about the Moonies Swimmer - A play for radio Nothing but my genius - Oscar Wilde Portrait of Ludwig Koch / Gloucestershire night life - wildlife recording The Treasure of the SierraMadre1-4 In Parenthesis - Radio play Under Milkwood Part 1-2 The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter Ludovick Kennedy Back to the Roots / The Inwardness of War The Crofters Way / Cult Heroes - Buddy Holly Your thoughts on the above and what might be done with them would be welcome. If no-one wants them, they will be disposed of, Geoff Hawkes --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 11 11:54:32 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 17:54:32 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> Message-ID: <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them B On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: > Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it. > ? > Graeme Wall > > >> On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: >> >> Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# >> >> Page 24. >> >> Bernie >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From graeme.wall at icloud.com Wed Sep 11 11:56:19 2019 From: graeme.wall at icloud.com (Graeme Wall) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 17:56:19 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: <8A8882FE-870B-4EBB-948F-C17F45FC519A@icloud.com> A funny in Safari then, or I?m doing something wrong! ? Graeme Wall > On 11 Sep 2019, at 17:54, Bernard Newnham wrote: > > Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them > > B > > > > On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: >> Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it. >> ? >> Graeme Wall >> >> >> >>> On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 >>> wrote: >>> >>> Kit Plus magazine is out now - >>> https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# >>> >>> >>> Page 24. >>> >>> Bernie >>> -- >>> Tech1 mailing list >>> >>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >> > From pat.heigham at amps.net Wed Sep 11 12:30:15 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 18:30:15 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: <5d792f27.1c69fb81.f3f33.469a@mx.google.com> I tried it in Firefox, but couldn?t exit it! Almost like a virus taking over. Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: 11 September 2019 17:54 To: Graeme Wall Cc: Bernard Newnham; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them B On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it. ? Graeme Wall On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# Page 24. Bernie -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From waresound at msn.com Wed Sep 11 13:24:25 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 18:24:25 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com>, <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: Works fine in Google Chrome, and you can zoom to any size you want using your mouse scroll wheel. Nick. Sent from my iPad On 11 Sep 2019, at 17:54, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > wrote: Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them B On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it. ? Graeme Wall On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# Page 24. Bernie -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 11 15:38:39 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 21:38:39 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <5d792f27.1c69fb81.f3f33.469a@mx.google.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> <5d792f27.1c69fb81.f3f33.469a@mx.google.com> Message-ID: <49887278-7042-d66b-3802-c3f10028d5c0@ntlworld.com> The back button works B On 11/09/2019 18:30, patheigham wrote: > > I tried it in Firefox, but couldn?t exit it! > > Almost like a virus taking over. > > Pat > > Sent from Mail for > Windows 10 > > *From: *Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > *Sent: *11 September 2019 17:54 > *To: *Graeme Wall > *Cc: *Bernard Newnham ; > tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Subject: *Re: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! > > Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and > Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them > > B > > > On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: > > Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari.? Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it. > > ? > > Graeme Wall > > On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > > Kit Plus magazine is out now -https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# > > Page 24. > > Bernie > > -- > > Tech1 mailing list > > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > > > > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Wed Sep 11 16:05:48 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 22:05:48 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! In-Reply-To: <49887278-7042-d66b-3802-c3f10028d5c0@ntlworld.com> References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com> <027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com> <22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com> <5d792f27.1c69fb81.f3f33.469a@mx.google.com> <49887278-7042-d66b-3802-c3f10028d5c0@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: It all worked fine in my Firefox and very interesting it was too! Cheers, Dave From geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com Wed Sep 11 16:07:08 2019 From: geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com (Geoff Hawkes) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 22:07:08 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: <0MH07e-1hsOop3Xqk-00Doow@mail.gmx.com> References: <0MH07e-1hsOop3Xqk-00Doow@mail.gmx.com> Message-ID: <1E27B2E4-FEF7-41D5-BC6F-863169A4E1A3@gmail.com> Hi Peter and all, I'm amazed at how many fascinating stories/tributes arose about Philip Saville after my casual reference to him in an earlier email, all of which made for interesting reading. What I wrote was based on my first (and what I thought was my only) encounter with him, the memory of which stuck in my mind though I can't remember what the production was. Peter mentioned another, Mahagony. It was done in TC1 and I remember it well as I was on Frank's crew at the time worked on it too, though I'd forgotten about Philip Saville's involvement. Details of the storyline elude me but I remember that the actor/singer Denis Quilley had a leading part. It's a pity that no record remains of it but that happens sometimes. One of the dramas I worked on during my first three months of employment pre-Evesham as it was in those days, was of "The Physicists" in TC3, Crew 5 with Dickie Ashman as Senior Cameraman an Jim as his no.2 and Kevin White as SA1. The play had an all star cast including Eric Portman, Marius Goring (The Scarlet Pimpernel), Tom Watson and Mary Morris. I was on Sound at the time doing boom tracking duties and listening to the repetitive rehearsals made such an impression on me that I can still parrot some of the speeches. It was an important if new play that was staged on tv and radio, but no reference appears anywhere of the BBC Television production, neither under its name or that of the actors. There are clearly gaps in the record keeping that should be filled if sufficient detail can be found. Incidentally what sparked my first comment was a reference by someone to The Capture currently showing on BBC1 on Tuesdays and I complained about the wobbly camerawork that was clearly deliberate and intended to enhance the sense of urgency in the plot-line. Having watched it subsequently I realise that it was not on that production, which all ran smoothly, but on "A Confession" showing on ITV on Monday nights. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean, Geoff > On 6 Sep 2019, at 10:07, phider wrote: > > I really enjoyed working with Philip as he had tremendous energy and creativity. He was also a rebel. Back in the early 60s I worked on a production of Benjamin Britten's choral piece "Mahagony" of which I can find no trace. It was Crew 2 with Frank Wilkins as Senior Cameraman > > Philip always had a lit cigar in his mouth and would come down to the floor to direct. A fireman politely asked him to put it out. Philip took a big draw on it, threw it on the floor and said "Fireman there's a fire, put it out." Without saying anything the fireman stubbed it out with his foot and left the Studio. He reappeared with the Centre's chief fire officer bristling with crowns, pips and scrambled egg on his cap who threatened to close down the studio if Philip didn't apologise. Philip's wonderfully acted grovelling abject apology lasted a good 5 minutes and really embarrassed the junior fireman. > The two firemen left the studio and Philip then took out a new cigar and lit up as if nothing had happened. > One of a kind. > Regards to all > Peter > > > > Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2 > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Geoffrey Hawkes via Tech1 > Date: 05/09/2019 23:49 (GMT+00:00) > To: Alan Taylor , tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville > > Alan, > Thank you for your detailed memoir of Philip Saville which made for an interesting and illuminating read. He was clearly an impressive figure and one who rightly takes his place in the television hall of fame along with others like Rudolph Cartier and Christopher Morahan, stories about whom will abound among those who knew them. I had only the one brief encounter with Philip Saville and in accordance with the old saying, it was that impression which has lasted. > Thank you to those with fuller experience who?ve given your own, > Geoff > > > > Geoff > On 5 Sep 2019, at 15:08, Alan Taylor via Tech1 wrote: > >> Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. >> >> I was the Sound Supervisor on "Life and Loves of a She Devil" and if I had to sum up working with him using just one word, it would be "challenging", in a good way and also a not so good way. >> >> When we shot She Devil, the very first scene we recorded involved an absolute swine of a complex tracking shot. It started outside of a house, the camera tracked indoors and the actors moved from one room to another, delivering a lot of dialogue as they went. It was all done on a single shot, which presented all manner of challenges for the camera operator ( Mike Winser), lighting ( John King ), myself and the boom ops and of course for the actors too. After we got it in the can, I mentioned to Philip that it was a hell of a difficult shot to attempt on the first afternoon of shooting. He smiled and said that he liked to see what the crew were capable of when put under pressure. We wrapped very early that day because the whole sequence was in the can and no additional shots were needed. >> >> Working with Philp was never dull and he never hesitated to demand what most of us initially regarded as impossible, but we always seemed to rise to the occasion and deliver what he envisaged. I soon discovered that the best way of getting him to do what suited my professional requirements was to encourage him to come up with the solution that I wanted. So long as he believed it was his idea, he was all in favour of it. The producer ( Sally Head ) once observed that at times there seemed to be more acting going on behind the camera than in front of it. >> >> The iconic image of the She Devil naked with her outstretched arms was shot in a back bedroom in Swindon. The actress ( Julie T Wallace ), was somewhat modest and as one of my boom ops was female ( Tina Gilvear ), it was a no brainer to make things a little easier for Julie by using a woman to cover that shot. Julie walked into the room wearing a dressing gown and Mike Winser discreetly panned away as Julie disrobed. As it happened, the camera ended up pointing at Tina and for those of us in the scanner, we observed Tina's reaction to Julie's disrobing. >> >> Now it has to be said that Tina was generously endowed, but Julie was in a different league altogether. Tina clearly had never seen such a bathycolpian woman for real ( look up the word ) and was visibly impressed. I hit the sound talkback button and said "You wouldn't get many of those in a bucket without pressing your foot on top". Tina was caught off guard and quietly chuckled, but Julie noticed and subsequently asked her why she had chuckled. Tina dropped me right in it and repeated what I said. Afterwards, Julie came to see me and joked that if I do anything like that again, she'll squeeze me to death between them. However Julie loved the word bathycolpian and wanted me to write it down to check it was for real and for future reference. I've subsequently shared that word with Dawn French, who was thrilled to find that it was a real word. Coincidentally, Julie subsequently appeared in the Bond movie The Living Daylights, where she smothered a guy between her breasts in order to facilitate Bond's defection. >> >> During the dubbing process, Philip made it clear that he despised the rather bureaucratic way the BBC operated when compared to commercial TV practices. He especially hated having to stop the dub at 21:00 and resume the next day if he felt we were making good progress and were on a roll. I would happily carry on a little longer, but we soon got hassled by engineers or security people and had to stop. There was one sequence where Philip was getting into a strop because we couldn't source a suitable background sound effect of an American hotel lobby ( for a sequence shot near Derby ). Whatever we came up with wasn't good enough or not American enough. When we packed up that night, I phoned an ex-Kendal Avenue engineer who I knew was then working in the BBC New York bureau and asked him if it was possible as a favour for a local recordist to make four or five atmos recordings of different New York hotel lobbies and get them over to me ASAP. He readily agreed and arranged for them to be sent overnight via Concord ( it was a daily matter to send stuff that way, so it was just bundled in with what would have been sent anyway ). He put on some impressive stickers on the tape box saying "Urgent via Concord" and they were waiting for me in TVC reception by the morning. Philip was impressed to say the least and he absolutely loved the recordings. I pointed out to him that there are times when the size of the BBC and the fact that parts of the BBC operate in different time zones can also work to your advantage. >> >> When you work with somebody over and extended period, you get to find out all sorts of things about them, especially when chatting in the BBC club bar. It's well known that he used to live with Diana Rigg in the 1960's, but other quirky things were mentioned in passing. At one time he trained to be a diamond cutter, but that career came to abrupt end when he was entrusted to cut quite a large rough diamond, but it didn't go to plan and ended up worth vastly less than anticipated. His claimed his lowest point was living in L.A. selling black satin sheets door to door. He didn't make much money, but did meet some interesting people. >> >> Alan Taylor >> >> >> >>> On 5 Sep 2019, at 5 Sep . 12:02, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: >>> >>> Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. >>> >>> Best wishes, >>> >>> Dave Newbitt. >>> >>> From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 >>> Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM >>> To: 'John Howell' ; tech1 >>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture >>> >>> I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. >>> >>> What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? >>> Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. >>> Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, >>> >>> Geoff Hawkes >>> >>> From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 >>> Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 >>> To: TechOps Forum >>> Subject: [Tech1] The Capture >>> >>> I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. >>> >>> At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! >>> >>> Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. >>> >>> John H. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Tech1 mailing list >>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >>> -- >>> Tech1 mailing list >>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >> >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at terrymeadowcroft.co.uk Wed Sep 11 16:17:37 2019 From: mail at terrymeadowcroft.co.uk (terrymeadowcroft) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 22:17:37 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com><027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com><22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com><5d792f27.1c69fb81.f3f33.469a@mx.google.com> <49887278-7042-d66b-3802-c3f10028d5c0@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: Quick double-click anywhere on the page zooms in! Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 To: patheigham ; Graeme Wall Cc: Bernard Newnham ; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2019 9:38 PM Subject: Re: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! The back button works B On 11/09/2019 18:30, patheigham wrote: I tried it in Firefox, but couldn?t exit it! Almost like a virus taking over. Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: 11 September 2019 17:54 To: Graeme Wall Cc: Bernard Newnham; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them B On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it.? Graeme Wall On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# Page 24. Bernie-- Tech1 mailing listTech1 at tech-ops.co.ukhttp://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk Virus-free. www.avast.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at terrymeadowcroft.co.uk Wed Sep 11 16:36:36 2019 From: mail at terrymeadowcroft.co.uk (terrymeadowcroft) Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2019 22:36:36 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! References: <64593fd3-1f00-4fa7-5c83-23394078a19d@gmail.com><027560D5-D00E-480A-B8F6-4809A729D56D@icloud.com><22785c07-1f8d-7a7c-6b63-fb3fff8125a9@ntlworld.com><5d792f27.1c69fb81.f3f33.469a@mx.google.com> <49887278-7042-d66b-3802-c3f10028d5c0@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: Thanks for this, Bernard. Very inspirational for this 74-year-old! Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 To: patheigham ; Graeme Wall Cc: Bernard Newnham ; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2019 9:38 PM Subject: Re: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! The back button works B On 11/09/2019 18:30, patheigham wrote: I tried it in Firefox, but couldn?t exit it! Almost like a virus taking over. Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: 11 September 2019 17:54 To: Graeme Wall Cc: Bernard Newnham; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] KIt Plus magazine - fame at last! Strange. I just tried it in Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera and Internet Explorer and it worked fine in all of them B On 11/09/2019 16:23, Graeme Wall wrote: Nice article but the magazine is not the easiest web-interface to navigate, at least in Safari. Ended up going full screen on my 27? iMac and still only just able to read it.? Graeme Wall On 11 Sep 2019, at 16:07, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: Kit Plus magazine is out now - https://www.kitplus.com/images/magazine/issues/3d/issue139/index.html?page=1&mc_cid=3d9b33a7f2&mc_eid=7197010bb8# Page 24. Bernie-- Tech1 mailing listTech1 at tech-ops.co.ukhttp://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk Virus-free. www.avast.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From peter.neill at icloud.com Thu Sep 12 08:43:45 2019 From: peter.neill at icloud.com (Peter Neill) Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 14:43:45 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville In-Reply-To: <1E27B2E4-FEF7-41D5-BC6F-863169A4E1A3@gmail.com> References: <0MH07e-1hsOop3Xqk-00Doow@mail.gmx.com> <1E27B2E4-FEF7-41D5-BC6F-863169A4E1A3@gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi Peter - a quick look at the library tells me that this was a 35mm film recording of which various reels still exist This google search comes up with several references including a recent showing of the film (at the bottom of the first result) Best Peter Neill > On 11 Sep 2019, at 22:07, Geoff Hawkes via Tech1 wrote: > > Hi Peter and all, > I'm amazed at how many fascinating stories/tributes arose about Philip Saville after my casual reference to him in an earlier email, all of which made for interesting reading. What I wrote was based on my first (and what I thought was my only) encounter with him, the memory of which stuck in my mind though I can't remember what the production was. Peter mentioned another, Mahagony. It was done in TC1 and > I remember it well as I was on Frank's crew at the time worked on it too, though I'd forgotten about Philip Saville's involvement. Details of the storyline elude me but I remember that the actor/singer Denis Quilley had a leading part. It's a pity that no record remains of it but that happens sometimes. > One of the dramas I worked on during my first three months of employment pre-Evesham as it was in those days, was of "The Physicists" in TC3, Crew 5 with Dickie Ashman as Senior Cameraman an Jim as his no.2 and Kevin White as SA1. The play had an all star cast including Eric Portman, Marius Goring (The Scarlet Pimpernel), Tom Watson and Mary Morris. I was on Sound at the time doing boom tracking duties and listening to the repetitive rehearsals made such an impression on me that I can still parrot some of the speeches. It was an important if new play that was staged on tv and radio, but no reference appears anywhere of the BBC Television production, neither under its name or that of the actors. There are clearly gaps in the record keeping that should be filled if sufficient detail can be found. > > Incidentally what sparked my first comment was a reference by someone to The Capture currently showing on BBC1 on Tuesdays and I complained about the wobbly camerawork that was clearly deliberate and intended to enhance the sense of urgency in the plot-line. Having watched it subsequently I realise that it was not on that production, which all ran smoothly, but on "A Confession" showing on ITV on Monday nights. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean, > Geoff > > On 6 Sep 2019, at 10:07, phider > wrote: > >> I really enjoyed working with Philip as he had tremendous energy and creativity. He was also a rebel. Back in the early 60s I worked on a production of Benjamin Britten's choral piece "Mahagony" of which I can find no trace. It was Crew 2 with Frank Wilkins as Senior Cameraman >> >> Philip always had a lit cigar in his mouth and would come down to the floor to direct. A fireman politely asked him to put it out. Philip took a big draw on it, threw it on the floor and said "Fireman there's a fire, put it out." Without saying anything the fireman stubbed it out with his foot and left the Studio. He reappeared with the Centre's chief fire officer bristling with crowns, pips and scrambled egg on his cap who threatened to close down the studio if Philip didn't apologise. Philip's wonderfully acted grovelling abject apology lasted a good 5 minutes and really embarrassed the junior fireman. >> The two firemen left the studio and Philip then took out a new cigar and lit up as if nothing had happened. >> One of a kind. >> Regards to all >> Peter >> >> >> >> Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2 >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: Geoffrey Hawkes via Tech1 > >> Date: 05/09/2019 23:49 (GMT+00:00) >> To: Alan Taylor >, tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville >> >> Alan, >> Thank you for your detailed memoir of Philip Saville which made for an interesting and illuminating read. He was clearly an impressive figure and one who rightly takes his place in the television hall of fame along with others like Rudolph Cartier and Christopher Morahan, stories about whom will abound among those who knew them. I had only the one brief encounter with Philip Saville and in accordance with the old saying, it was that impression which has lasted. >> Thank you to those with fuller experience who?ve given your own, >> Geoff >> >> >> >> Geoff >> On 5 Sep 2019, at 15:08, Alan Taylor via Tech1 > wrote: >> >>> Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. >>> >>> I was the Sound Supervisor on "Life and Loves of a She Devil" and if I had to sum up working with him using just one word, it would be "challenging", in a good way and also a not so good way. >>> >>> When we shot She Devil, the very first scene we recorded involved an absolute swine of a complex tracking shot. It started outside of a house, the camera tracked indoors and the actors moved from one room to another, delivering a lot of dialogue as they went. It was all done on a single shot, which presented all manner of challenges for the camera operator ( Mike Winser), lighting ( John King ), myself and the boom ops and of course for the actors too. After we got it in the can, I mentioned to Philip that it was a hell of a difficult shot to attempt on the first afternoon of shooting. He smiled and said that he liked to see what the crew were capable of when put under pressure. We wrapped very early that day because the whole sequence was in the can and no additional shots were needed. >>> >>> Working with Philp was never dull and he never hesitated to demand what most of us initially regarded as impossible, but we always seemed to rise to the occasion and deliver what he envisaged. I soon discovered that the best way of getting him to do what suited my professional requirements was to encourage him to come up with the solution that I wanted. So long as he believed it was his idea, he was all in favour of it. The producer ( Sally Head ) once observed that at times there seemed to be more acting going on behind the camera than in front of it. >>> >>> The iconic image of the She Devil naked with her outstretched arms was shot in a back bedroom in Swindon. The actress ( Julie T Wallace ), was somewhat modest and as one of my boom ops was female ( Tina Gilvear ), it was a no brainer to make things a little easier for Julie by using a woman to cover that shot. Julie walked into the room wearing a dressing gown and Mike Winser discreetly panned away as Julie disrobed. As it happened, the camera ended up pointing at Tina and for those of us in the scanner, we observed Tina's reaction to Julie's disrobing. >>> >>> Now it has to be said that Tina was generously endowed, but Julie was in a different league altogether. Tina clearly had never seen such a bathycolpian woman for real ( look up the word ) and was visibly impressed. I hit the sound talkback button and said "You wouldn't get many of those in a bucket without pressing your foot on top". Tina was caught off guard and quietly chuckled, but Julie noticed and subsequently asked her why she had chuckled. Tina dropped me right in it and repeated what I said. Afterwards, Julie came to see me and joked that if I do anything like that again, she'll squeeze me to death between them. However Julie loved the word bathycolpian and wanted me to write it down to check it was for real and for future reference. I've subsequently shared that word with Dawn French, who was thrilled to find that it was a real word. Coincidentally, Julie subsequently appeared in the Bond movie The Living Daylights, where she smothered a guy between her breasts in order to facilitate Bond's defection. >>> >>> During the dubbing process, Philip made it clear that he despised the rather bureaucratic way the BBC operated when compared to commercial TV practices. He especially hated having to stop the dub at 21:00 and resume the next day if he felt we were making good progress and were on a roll. I would happily carry on a little longer, but we soon got hassled by engineers or security people and had to stop. There was one sequence where Philip was getting into a strop because we couldn't source a suitable background sound effect of an American hotel lobby ( for a sequence shot near Derby ). Whatever we came up with wasn't good enough or not American enough. When we packed up that night, I phoned an ex-Kendal Avenue engineer who I knew was then working in the BBC New York bureau and asked him if it was possible as a favour for a local recordist to make four or five atmos recordings of different New York hotel lobbies and get them over to me ASAP. He readily agreed and arranged for them to be sent overnight via Concord ( it was a daily matter to send stuff that way, so it was just bundled in with what would have been sent anyway ). He put on some impressive stickers on the tape box saying "Urgent via Concord" and they were waiting for me in TVC reception by the morning. Philip was impressed to say the least and he absolutely loved the recordings. I pointed out to him that there are times when the size of the BBC and the fact that parts of the BBC operate in different time zones can also work to your advantage. >>> >>> When you work with somebody over and extended period, you get to find out all sorts of things about them, especially when chatting in the BBC club bar. It's well known that he used to live with Diana Rigg in the 1960's, but other quirky things were mentioned in passing. At one time he trained to be a diamond cutter, but that career came to abrupt end when he was entrusted to cut quite a large rough diamond, but it didn't go to plan and ended up worth vastly less than anticipated. His claimed his lowest point was living in L.A. selling black satin sheets door to door. He didn't make much money, but did meet some interesting people. >>> >>> Alan Taylor >>> >>> >>> >>> On 5 Sep 2019, at 5 Sep . 12:02, David Newbitt via Tech1 > wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. >>>> >>>> Best wishes, >>>> >>>> Dave Newbitt. >>>> >>>> From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 <> >>>> Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM >>>> To: 'John Howell' <> ; tech1 <> >>>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture >>>> >>>> I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. >>>> >>>> What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? >>>> Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. >>>> Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, >>>> >>>> Geoff Hawkes >>>> >>>> From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk ] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 >>>> Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 >>>> To: TechOps Forum >>>> Subject: [Tech1] The Capture >>>> >>>> I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. >>>> >>>> At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! >>>> >>>> Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. >>>> >>>> John H. >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Tech1 mailing list >>>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>>> http://track.smtpsendemail.com/20919/c?p=IksqJL5DiLuGmHtACWfUkLOxEv1ENjk-ocJY8OTdKvVNZeDE3VGSq84Kg23cdh5Fvk9k0ybYeSWT128huufR6H5HFniC0DmlkVy_PCTfuKqqPP5xacZpK8g836ENQ8d36JGGq_9LTbQNBP22UvAzJCHza5WKPeRi1zNldtn-ccO6UDQf8WchQYBp4x_CWrw4 >>>> -- >>>> Tech1 mailing list >>>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>>> http://track.smtpsendemail.com/20919/c?p=gATNns6ftuWTHNx5xTrqKizsYANuDn5eTZgy5fg5EBjKLm0fTt36WEHRthCym6gaaskLJYSuBp-iCteB4mv4DecfY24g6Io0m9lDsRfm6Y5MktxoFpQhM6v7CBNFGkC6F1CmHTT9SPQdNmL8PUeAdZWLn1hIVBumAHnX-kYIivlJuvWu8TM-8Uj_49SvPs1M >>> >>> -- >>> Tech1 mailing list >>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>> http://track.smtpsendemail.com/20919/c?p=ogAW6OMZs88KMp5J_WFGk6WQD72CRayi0FRiwaE1O7UUc7Y2Vs4m4lEhUj2OwujLcHMNRCGmONDiiW_7xP-wnzDr8S-aBkyU93VZfpKbnofbKnrcsRyw9osCa1wDNopZlhcS05sCCPggUqYjqs_pWKtuAXbIHWLHEeNCabr2CVC4FMTU8_f1YYkWtAKX8Iue > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://track.smtpsendemail.com/20919/c?p=dxcL7Pnc4qIJQfVPvzrsLbarU2CK-jkyw0p6wnftDhXzdD8QgXlCslxJhFr_ZojDjlX3TuE6EKa31DC9vdf7DWlPY8amiJijSSn_A2g7jZuy4EcvGy1nASA4RSmU_H2iWMlV6JTU3O73wr9_R2EvFW9P7UWulu5TgnGcHEsFkGO3w7ZeTXxJJXiasgsGFTdl -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ggstable at mac.com Thu Sep 12 13:36:58 2019 From: ggstable at mac.com (GRAHAM GILES) Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 19:36:58 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Philip Saville memory In-Reply-To: References: <0MH07e-1hsOop3Xqk-00Doow@mail.gmx.com> <1E27B2E4-FEF7-41D5-BC6F-863169A4E1A3@gmail.com> Message-ID: 'The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny? Hello Peter Hider, I need to correct you that this opera was not by Britten but by Kurt Weill. It is a firm favourite of mine and I?ve attended several productions. On one occasion even mixing it at the NY Met and memorably meeting the composer's widow - Lotte Lenya - star of the original production in 1930. Several versions are available now on DVD but when Philip did it it was hardly known. It is so relevant to the modern world though written in 1927, and hated by Hitler and the Nazis. I do have a sound cassette of the 1960 Saville production and even a copy of the unpublished score I used to mix it. Some years later I viewed the telerecording of it at Ealing. You may remember the Cranes duet with Anne Pashley in bed with Emile Belcourt which Sydney Newman personally edited later when Philip refused to cut it on recording ! Like other shows of that time it wasn?t completed in the days allocated, so some time later the orchestra and cast were assembled to record the final crowd marching scene. Unbelievably this was done in TV theatre. I worked with Philip for ten years on at least nine of his many productions. ?The Machine Stops? in the 'Out of the Unknown? science fiction anthology has become available with several others from that series as a box set of DVDs issued by the BFI. I remember being in Liverpool for 'Question Time' where we both stayed at the Adelphi Hotel and met at breakfast. He was doing a new show called ?Boys from the Blackstuff.? The last time I saw him was when we passed on an underground escalator, each of us going in opposite directions. A great director who I just happened to get on with. Thanks to Alan Taylor for his interesting memory - another good piece of entertainment directed by Philip. Graham Giles > On 12 Sep 2019, at 14:43, Peter Neill via Tech1 wrote: > > Hi Peter - a quick look at the library tells me that this was a 35mm film recording of which various reels still exist > > This google search comes up with several references including a recent showing of the film (at the bottom of the first result) > > Best > > > Peter Neill > > > > > > >> On 11 Sep 2019, at 22:07, Geoff Hawkes via Tech1 > wrote: >> >> Hi Peter and all, >> I'm amazed at how many fascinating stories/tributes arose about Philip Saville after my casual reference to him in an earlier email, all of which made for interesting reading. What I wrote was based on my first (and what I thought was my only) encounter with him, the memory of which stuck in my mind though I can't remember what the production was. Peter mentioned another, Mahagony. It was done in TC1 and >> I remember it well as I was on Frank's crew at the time worked on it too, though I'd forgotten about Philip Saville's involvement. Details of the storyline elude me but I remember that the actor/singer Denis Quilley had a leading part. It's a pity that no record remains of it but that happens sometimes. >> One of the dramas I worked on during my first three months of employment pre-Evesham as it was in those days, was of "The Physicists" in TC3, Crew 5 with Dickie Ashman as Senior Cameraman an Jim as his no.2 and Kevin White as SA1. The play had an all star cast including Eric Portman, Marius Goring (The Scarlet Pimpernel), Tom Watson and Mary Morris. I was on Sound at the time doing boom tracking duties and listening to the repetitive rehearsals made such an impression on me that I can still parrot some of the speeches. It was an important if new play that was staged on tv and radio, but no reference appears anywhere of the BBC Television production, neither under its name or that of the actors. There are clearly gaps in the record keeping that should be filled if sufficient detail can be found. >> >> Incidentally what sparked my first comment was a reference by someone to The Capture currently showing on BBC1 on Tuesdays and I complained about the wobbly camerawork that was clearly deliberate and intended to enhance the sense of urgency in the plot-line. Having watched it subsequently I realise that it was not on that production, which all ran smoothly, but on "A Confession" showing on ITV on Monday nights. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean, >> Geoff >> >> On 6 Sep 2019, at 10:07, phider > wrote: >> >>> I really enjoyed working with Philip as he had tremendous energy and creativity. He was also a rebel. Back in the early 60s I worked on a production of Benjamin Britten's choral piece "Mahagony" of which I can find no trace. It was Crew 2 with Frank Wilkins as Senior Cameraman >>> >>> Philip always had a lit cigar in his mouth and would come down to the floor to direct. A fireman politely asked him to put it out. Philip took a big draw on it, threw it on the floor and said "Fireman there's a fire, put it out." Without saying anything the fireman stubbed it out with his foot and left the Studio. He reappeared with the Centre's chief fire officer bristling with crowns, pips and scrambled egg on his cap who threatened to close down the studio if Philip didn't apologise. Philip's wonderfully acted grovelling abject apology lasted a good 5 minutes and really embarrassed the junior fireman. >>> The two firemen left the studio and Philip then took out a new cigar and lit up as if nothing had happened. >>> One of a kind. >>> Regards to all >>> Peter >>> >>> >>> >>> Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2 >>> >>> -------- Original message -------- >>> From: Geoffrey Hawkes via Tech1 > >>> Date: 05/09/2019 23:49 (GMT+00:00) >>> To: Alan Taylor >, tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] Philip Saville >>> >>> Alan, >>> Thank you for your detailed memoir of Philip Saville which made for an interesting and illuminating read. He was clearly an impressive figure and one who rightly takes his place in the television hall of fame along with others like Rudolph Cartier and Christopher Morahan, stories about whom will abound among those who knew them. I had only the one brief encounter with Philip Saville and in accordance with the old saying, it was that impression which has lasted. >>> Thank you to those with fuller experience who?ve given your own, >>> Geoff >>> >>> >>> >>> Geoff >>> On 5 Sep 2019, at 15:08, Alan Taylor via Tech1 > wrote: >>> >>>> Phillip Saville had quite a long and successful career. In the mid 50's through to the 70's, he did a lot of dramas for ABC TV, especially on the Armchair Theatre strand and I've met some people who worked with him in those days. In the 80's the BBC engaged him to direct "Boys from the Black Stuff" and then "Life and Loves of a She Devil", both of which were very successful and critically acclaimed. >>>> >>>> I was the Sound Supervisor on "Life and Loves of a She Devil" and if I had to sum up working with him using just one word, it would be "challenging", in a good way and also a not so good way. >>>> >>>> When we shot She Devil, the very first scene we recorded involved an absolute swine of a complex tracking shot. It started outside of a house, the camera tracked indoors and the actors moved from one room to another, delivering a lot of dialogue as they went. It was all done on a single shot, which presented all manner of challenges for the camera operator ( Mike Winser), lighting ( John King ), myself and the boom ops and of course for the actors too. After we got it in the can, I mentioned to Philip that it was a hell of a difficult shot to attempt on the first afternoon of shooting. He smiled and said that he liked to see what the crew were capable of when put under pressure. We wrapped very early that day because the whole sequence was in the can and no additional shots were needed. >>>> >>>> Working with Philp was never dull and he never hesitated to demand what most of us initially regarded as impossible, but we always seemed to rise to the occasion and deliver what he envisaged. I soon discovered that the best way of getting him to do what suited my professional requirements was to encourage him to come up with the solution that I wanted. So long as he believed it was his idea, he was all in favour of it. The producer ( Sally Head ) once observed that at times there seemed to be more acting going on behind the camera than in front of it. >>>> >>>> The iconic image of the She Devil naked with her outstretched arms was shot in a back bedroom in Swindon. The actress ( Julie T Wallace ), was somewhat modest and as one of my boom ops was female ( Tina Gilvear ), it was a no brainer to make things a little easier for Julie by using a woman to cover that shot. Julie walked into the room wearing a dressing gown and Mike Winser discreetly panned away as Julie disrobed. As it happened, the camera ended up pointing at Tina and for those of us in the scanner, we observed Tina's reaction to Julie's disrobing. >>>> >>>> Now it has to be said that Tina was generously endowed, but Julie was in a different league altogether. Tina clearly had never seen such a bathycolpian woman for real ( look up the word ) and was visibly impressed. I hit the sound talkback button and said "You wouldn't get many of those in a bucket without pressing your foot on top". Tina was caught off guard and quietly chuckled, but Julie noticed and subsequently asked her why she had chuckled. Tina dropped me right in it and repeated what I said. Afterwards, Julie came to see me and joked that if I do anything like that again, she'll squeeze me to death between them. However Julie loved the word bathycolpian and wanted me to write it down to check it was for real and for future reference. I've subsequently shared that word with Dawn French, who was thrilled to find that it was a real word. Coincidentally, Julie subsequently appeared in the Bond movie The Living Daylights, where she smothered a guy between her breasts in order to facilitate Bond's defection. >>>> >>>> During the dubbing process, Philip made it clear that he despised the rather bureaucratic way the BBC operated when compared to commercial TV practices. He especially hated having to stop the dub at 21:00 and resume the next day if he felt we were making good progress and were on a roll. I would happily carry on a little longer, but we soon got hassled by engineers or security people and had to stop. There was one sequence where Philip was getting into a strop because we couldn't source a suitable background sound effect of an American hotel lobby ( for a sequence shot near Derby ). Whatever we came up with wasn't good enough or not American enough. When we packed up that night, I phoned an ex-Kendal Avenue engineer who I knew was then working in the BBC New York bureau and asked him if it was possible as a favour for a local recordist to make four or five atmos recordings of different New York hotel lobbies and get them over to me ASAP. He readily agreed and arranged for them to be sent overnight via Concord ( it was a daily matter to send stuff that way, so it was just bundled in with what would have been sent anyway ). He put on some impressive stickers on the tape box saying "Urgent via Concord" and they were waiting for me in TVC reception by the morning. Philip was impressed to say the least and he absolutely loved the recordings. I pointed out to him that there are times when the size of the BBC and the fact that parts of the BBC operate in different time zones can also work to your advantage. >>>> >>>> When you work with somebody over and extended period, you get to find out all sorts of things about them, especially when chatting in the BBC club bar. It's well known that he used to live with Diana Rigg in the 1960's, but other quirky things were mentioned in passing. At one time he trained to be a diamond cutter, but that career came to abrupt end when he was entrusted to cut quite a large rough diamond, but it didn't go to plan and ended up worth vastly less than anticipated. His claimed his lowest point was living in L.A. selling black satin sheets door to door. He didn't make much money, but did meet some interesting people. >>>> >>>> Alan Taylor >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 5 Sep 2019, at 5 Sep . 12:02, David Newbitt via Tech1 > wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi Geoff. Re Philip Saville ? don?t know whether you might have ploughed through my post of Feb 12th this year under the title ?First Studio Experiences? but I included a piece about Philip in connection with his direction of ?Madhouse on Castle Street? in Dec 1962. >>>>> >>>>> Best wishes, >>>>> >>>>> Dave Newbitt. >>>>> >>>>> From: geoff.hawkes134--- via Tech1 <> >>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2019 11:26 AM >>>>> To: 'John Howell' <> ; tech1 <> >>>>> Subject: Re: [Tech1] The Capture >>>>> >>>>> I wondered about that sound business myself and what bearing it will have, if any, on the later video capture of the assault he is said to have carried out. >>>>> >>>>> What I was not amused by was the amateur-night camera work with wobbly shots and jerky pans from hands to faces which had me groaning throughout with, ?Not another director who?s trying to make a name for himself with unconventional techniques that shout, ?Hey look at me, aren?t I clever!? >>>>> Perhaps I shouldn?t have said ?Amateur night? as it was an insult to any self-respecting amateur could do better than that. I wonder how the actual operators felt about it, I?m sure they?d have been making some choice comments behind the scenes. >>>>> Some of you may remember one Philip Saville, a drama director in the mid-sixties who insisted on close-ups being framed with the eyes on the lower third rather than the upper third. I can?t recall what Frank Wilkins had to say about it but he went along with it though he wasn?t impressed. Unsurprisingly the idea didn?t catch on and I don?t know what became of Philip Saville after that, >>>>> >>>>> Geoff Hawkes >>>>> >>>>> From: Tech1 [mailto:tech1-bounces at tech-ops.co.uk ] On Behalf Of John Howell via Tech1 >>>>> Sent: 04 September 2019 21:16 >>>>> To: TechOps Forum >>>>> Subject: [Tech1] The Capture >>>>> >>>>> I was amused by a courtroom scene in the BBC's new drama 'The Capture'. >>>>> >>>>> At 13:12 Mins an expert is called to explain 'out of sync' to the court! It seems quite believable but how did he do all that without mentioning the BBC? Okay, okay it's fiction! >>>>> >>>>> Having pulled up the late sound track to what he believes is the right place the original conviction is thrown out. >>>>> >>>>> John H. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Tech1 mailing list >>>>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>>>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >>>>> -- >>>>> Tech1 mailing list >>>>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>>>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Tech1 mailing list >>>> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >>>> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ggstable at mac.com Fri Sep 13 08:36:48 2019 From: ggstable at mac.com (GRAHAM GILES) Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:36:48 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Correction Message-ID: Regret a typo got in to my last posting. The recording of ?Mahagonny' was done in November 1964 not 1960. The completion was done in Jan.1965 at TV theatre. For this the orchestra had been recorded at the previous studio session in TC1. Best wishes Graham Giles -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Sun Sep 15 15:19:56 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 21:19:56 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel Message-ID: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv.? At ten years old, I think it's dying slowly.? In the process of trying to find the fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not at all digital or wideband enough. So, new aerial -? which didn't make any difference -? but it did set me off looking at MUXs and other stuff.? It seems that Channel 55 has a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. Any thoughts? B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Sun Sep 15 15:58:44 2019 From: paul at pgtmedia.co.uk (Paul Thackray) Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 21:58:44 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Sun Sep 15 16:06:15 2019 From: paul at pgtmedia.co.uk (Paul Thackray) Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 22:06:15 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <2ngicqjh1ee1scrakom3tq46.1568581575126@pgtmedia.co.uk> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Sun Sep 15 16:44:29 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 22:44:29 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <47e86e81-c176-70b0-9899-fae4d817e68f@ntlworld.com> Maybe it's old machinery then. I'll look at new USB sticks Thanks B On 15/09/2019 21:58, Paul Thackray wrote: > Hi Berni > 2 different versions of coding, the original DVB-T and the more > efficient DVB-2 introduced to do HD but can do SD more efficiently. > > cP on ch 30 55 and 56 use the later version. If you have an old > decoder stick or box or TV it will only do the other mpx s. > > Otherwise it has to be some co channel issue. > > 55 and 56 are likely to cease within 2 years to make way for 5G phones. > > I will check my reception. > > Paul Thackray > > PGT Media Consulting Ltd. > > 07802 243979 > > Mail;?paul at pgtmedia.co.uk > > Web;?http://www.pgtmedia.co.uk > > Linkedin;???http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/paul-thackray/19/379/746 > > IMDB;?http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1488554/ > > sent from my BlackBerry?the most secure mobile device?via the O2 Network > *From:* tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Sent:* 15 September 2019 21:21 > *To:* tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Reply to:* bernie833 at gmail.com > *Subject:* [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel > > > Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? > > I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in > the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv.? At ten years > old, I think it's dying slowly.? In the process of trying to find the > fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not > at all digital or wideband enough. > > So, new aerial -? which didn't make any difference -? but it did set > me off looking at MUXs and other stuff.? It seems that Channel 55 has > a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another > properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. > > Any thoughts? > > B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From martin at theeccles.uk Sun Sep 15 17:06:18 2019 From: martin at theeccles.uk (Martin Eccles) Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 23:06:18 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> Message-ID: <008401d56c11$cd2b0490$67810db0$@theeccles.uk> I can get it sometimes but other times it is breaking up or crossed out in the channel list Same effect as with Ch 109 Channel 4+1HD and Ch 110 4Seven HD which usually come good at night. I wonder if they are time shared frequencies like BBC4 ? Martin. From: Tech1 On Behalf Of Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: 15 September 2019 21:20 To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv. At ten years old, I think it's dying slowly. In the process of trying to find the fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not at all digital or wideband enough. So, new aerial - which didn't make any difference - but it did set me off looking at MUXs and other stuff. It seems that Channel 55 has a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. Any thoughts? B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net Sun Sep 15 17:06:52 2019 From: dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net (David Newbitt) Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 23:06:52 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Hi Bernard, By coincidence my local transmitter (Mendip) also uses channel 55 for the COM7 HD Mux and as well as the Smithsonian on local channel 99 which I receive ok there are are 9 or 10 others, also fine. As Paul says , this Mux and also COM8 HD on channel 56 (again Mendip mirrors Crystal Palace) are scheduled for switch off by 2022. I have been unable to discover whether the lost stations will be somehow squeezed in elsewhere. My Panasonic and also my Humax PVR are both fine, but when I set about re-tuning my elderly neighbours older equipment for them it was no go. Dave Newbitt. From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2019 9:19 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv. At ten years old, I think it's dying slowly. In the process of trying to find the fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not at all digital or wideband enough. So, new aerial - which didn't make any difference - but it did set me off looking at MUXs and other stuff. It seems that Channel 55 has a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. Any thoughts? B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Mon Sep 16 02:42:09 2019 From: paul at pgtmedia.co.uk (Paul Thackray) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 08:42:09 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Message-ID: <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> Their are a few options for 'replacement' of these channels, but the politics and economics are difficult. I suspect 'they' are waiting for firm dates, and then looking at the best fit. 1) You could change all the FreeView Multiplexes to the modern codec. Plenty of room for all the existing channels and more, without the Com7 & 8 UHF channels, BUT this means all those who bought a box or TV at analogue switch off would not get anything. Politically different unless someone is funding new STB / TV's for those that keep everything until it dies (And Bernards old stick). 2) You could lose all the SD channels where an identical HD exists, assuming everyone has a HD TV. This is even worse than 1), but gives even more channels. It also does not help BBC 1 until they fix regional HD. (BBC has no time scale for this due to high cost) 3) You could use the streaming solution (Like the other FreeView streams- Racing UK Ch etc) These channels are only available to smart TV's & Boxes with a (good) internet connection. - These work by having an EPG page on Freeview which when selected tells your Smart TV/Box where on the internet to find the program. (Similar with catch up & Iplayer on Freeview Plus boxes) Option 1 +2 are the best, and are the best 'if we were starting fresh' options. 3) is the easy one, but making those Channels less available. Depending when it happens, it might be a bit of every option. A side effect of the introduction of CH 55 & 56 for COM 7 & 8 a few years ago was a few models of TV's (even quite modern ones) failed to get any freeview at all. The whole industry has been silent about this and will not admit it. (Essentially because it was poor design on those models, which resulted in their processors running out of memory and crashing) I had a Panasonic I had only had 5 years which failed like this. As I say the industry will not admit this happened, as they would have to admit poor design, and people demanding replacements. Paul On 15/09/2019 23:06, David Newbitt wrote: > Hi Bernard, > By coincidence my local transmitter (Mendip) also uses channel 55 for > the COM7 HD Mux and as well as the Smithsonian on local channel 99 > which I receive ok there are are 9 or 10 others, also fine. As Paul > says , this Mux and also COM8 HD on channel 56 (again Mendip mirrors > Crystal Palace) are scheduled for switch off by 2022. I have been > unable to discover whether the lost stations will be somehow squeezed > in elsewhere. > My Panasonic and also my Humax PVR are both fine, but when I set about > re-tuning my elderly neighbours older equipment for them it was no go. > Dave Newbitt. > *From:* Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > *Sent:* Sunday, September 15, 2019 9:19 PM > *To:* tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Subject:* [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel > Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? > > I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in > the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv.? At ten years > old, I think it's dying slowly. In the process of trying to find the > fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not > at all digital or wideband enough. > > So, new aerial -? which didn't make any difference -? but it did set > me off looking at MUXs and other stuff.? It seems that Channel 55 has > a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another > properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. > > Any thoughts? > > B > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Paul Thackray PGT Media Consulting Ltd. +44 7802 243979 Mail; paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Web; http://www.pgtmedia.co.uk Linkedin; http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/paul-thackray/19/379/746 IMDB; http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1488554/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mikej at bmanor.co.uk Mon Sep 16 04:28:33 2019 From: mikej at bmanor.co.uk (Mike Jordan) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 10:28:33 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> Message-ID: <0D350C21702A41D48978D2E926DEEA6B@Gigabyte> Of course, just realised the major problem. Smithsonian is in HD ONLY so your old tele would probably never receive it anyway. I suspect that the other channels in that MUX who do not Tx in HD are not useable either as stuck on the new coding. Certainly Vintage TV and Quest red (what???) don?t show up either on my kitchen (vintage) SD TV and haven't appeared on my PC Freeview/freesat tuner as on DVBT Mike From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2019 9:19 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv. At ten years old, I think it's dying slowly. In the process of trying to find the fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not at all digital or wideband enough. So, new aerial - which didn't make any difference - but it did set me off looking at MUXs and other stuff. It seems that Channel 55 has a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. Any thoughts? B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave at davesound.co.uk Mon Sep 16 05:14:18 2019 From: dave at davesound.co.uk (Dave Plowman) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 11:14:18 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <0D350C21702A41D48978D2E926DEEA6B@Gigabyte> References: <0D350C21702A41D48978D2E926DEEA6B@Gigabyte> Message-ID: <57f45b19a2dave@davesound.co.uk> Interesting. I'm line of site to CP (about 5 miles away) and have a log beam aerial. Newish satellite co-ax cable running to a DA in the cellar then on to all the rooms. On all the TVs etc that show signal strength, all 'channels' show max apart from 55, which is near zero. And I occasionally get some break up on it. Tried bypassing the DA and patched it direct to the main TV. Same thing. -- *Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now * Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12 From dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net Mon Sep 16 05:29:24 2019 From: dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net (David Newbitt) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 11:29:24 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> Message-ID: <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Thanks Paul for taking the trouble to outline what the future may hold for us all! Do I understand you correctly that the COM7 & COM8 Muxes are now universally on Channels 55 and 56? I had assumed that the musical chairs switching about would still have different transmitters using different channels. Our Mendip transmitter has had numerous shuffles on the way to Nirvanah including three this year. Until 5th June COM8 was on 35 (now 56) and until 19th June COM7 was on 36(now 55). Some West Country transmitters (and no doubt others) never had a full complement and some lost one or more Muxes this year. I feel enormous sympathy for the many folk who struggle to cope with it all. Best wishes, Dave Newbitt. From: Paul Thackray Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 8:42 AM To: David Newbitt ; Bernard Newnham ; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel Their are a few options for 'replacement' of these channels, but the politics and economics are difficult. I suspect 'they' are waiting for firm dates, and then looking at the best fit. 1) You could change all the FreeView Multiplexes to the modern codec. Plenty of room for all the existing channels and more, without the Com7 & 8 UHF channels, BUT this means all those who bought a box or TV at analogue switch off would not get anything. Politically different unless someone is funding new STB / TV's for those that keep everything until it dies (And Bernards old stick). 2) You could lose all the SD channels where an identical HD exists, assuming everyone has a HD TV. This is even worse than 1), but gives even more channels. It also does not help BBC 1 until they fix regional HD. (BBC has no time scale for this due to high cost) 3) You could use the streaming solution (Like the other FreeView streams- Racing UK Ch etc) These channels are only available to smart TV's & Boxes with a (good) internet connection. - These work by having an EPG page on Freeview which when selected tells your Smart TV/Box where on the internet to find the program. (Similar with catch up & Iplayer on Freeview Plus boxes) Option 1 +2 are the best, and are the best 'if we were starting fresh' options. 3) is the easy one, but making those Channels less available. Depending when it happens, it might be a bit of every option. A side effect of the introduction of CH 55 & 56 for COM 7 & 8 a few years ago was a few models of TV's (even quite modern ones) failed to get any freeview at all. The whole industry has been silent about this and will not admit it. (Essentially because it was poor design on those models, which resulted in their processors running out of memory and crashing) I had a Panasonic I had only had 5 years which failed like this. As I say the industry will not admit this happened, as they would have to admit poor design, and people demanding replacements. Paul On 15/09/2019 23:06, David Newbitt wrote: Hi Bernard, By coincidence my local transmitter (Mendip) also uses channel 55 for the COM7 HD Mux and as well as the Smithsonian on local channel 99 which I receive ok there are are 9 or 10 others, also fine. As Paul says , this Mux and also COM8 HD on channel 56 (again Mendip mirrors Crystal Palace) are scheduled for switch off by 2022. I have been unable to discover whether the lost stations will be somehow squeezed in elsewhere. My Panasonic and also my Humax PVR are both fine, but when I set about re-tuning my elderly neighbours older equipment for them it was no go. Dave Newbitt. From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2019 9:19 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel Can anyone here on the Crystal Palace transmitter actually receive it? I've been having Freeview reception problems, which I think are, in the end, a problem with the tuner in the kitchen tv. At ten years old, I think it's dying slowly. In the process of trying to find the fault I discovered that the aerial was, being about 15 years old, not at all digital or wideband enough. So, new aerial - which didn't make any difference - but it did set me off looking at MUXs and other stuff. It seems that Channel 55 has a number of stations, but tuning my computer stick and another properly working tv gets nothing, no signal on 55. Any thoughts? B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Paul Thackray PGT Media Consulting Ltd. +44 7802 243979 Mail; paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Web; http://www.pgtmedia.co.uk Linkedin; http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/paul-thackray/19/379/746 IMDB; http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1488554/ Virus-free. www.avast.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From teateatone2 at gmail.com Mon Sep 16 06:33:59 2019 From: teateatone2 at gmail.com (Tony Grant) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 12:33:59 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms Message-ID: Up to last weekend, we had a week or more of visitors, and it wasn't till they left that I discovered Yuja Wang had been playing Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto in one of the proms. Off to BBC iPlayer, but......almost no proms there at all! I was well and truly gob-smacked. I thought the Proms were always hailed as one of the 'jewels in the crown' so to find that the BBC has only kept about half a dozen on iPlayer is IMHO disgraceful, unless there's a copyright/repeat fee issue, although I'd have thought with classical music this would be unlikely. There is a BBC Proms website which lists the proms, but the links to videos from there are not the actual proms. Talk about adding insult to injury. If anyone can shed any light on the situation, I'd be interested, but I can see that next year I'll have to keep a closer eye on the proceedings. TeaTeaFN - Tony -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From martin at theeccles.uk Mon Sep 16 06:51:06 2019 From: martin at theeccles.uk (Martin Eccles) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 12:51:06 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <003e01d56c85$0629a3a0$127ceae0$@theeccles.uk> Programmes on iPlayer are usually available for 30 days only so a lot of the Proms have lapsed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/programme-availability/programme-availability-info/programme_avail_duration Martin. From: Tech1 On Behalf Of Tony Grant via Tech1 Sent: 16 September 2019 12:34 To: TechOps Forum Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms Up to last weekend, we had a week or more of visitors, and it wasn't till they left that I discovered Yuja Wang had been playing Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto in one of the proms. Off to BBC iPlayer, but......almost no proms there at all! I was well and truly gob-smacked. I thought the Proms were always hailed as one of the 'jewels in the crown' so to find that the BBC has only kept about half a dozen on iPlayer is IMHO disgraceful, unless there's a copyright/repeat fee issue, although I'd have thought with classical music this would be unlikely. There is a BBC Proms website which lists the proms, but the links to videos from there are not the actual proms. Talk about adding insult to injury. If anyone can shed any light on the situation, I'd be interested, but I can see that next year I'll have to keep a closer eye on the proceedings. TeaTeaFN - Tony -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Mon Sep 16 08:27:22 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 14:27:22 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Message-ID: <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> This is becoming quite intriguing...... I have three ways to receive Freeview - the kitchen TV, now known to be faulty, the living room TV, now being the kitchen TV, and the USB stick on this computer. The living room TV is a few years old, and receives what it receives very well, both SD and HD, but not Channel 55. The USB stick is an iViewHD, reasonably recent, and attached to the same new aerial and masthead amplifier.? It's possible to download lots of receiver software to work with this, so I'm doing just that.? Results vary enormously - I normally use SichboPVR, which works fine, but doesn't seem to see Channel 55, though lots of HD, and London Live, work fine. I've tried Media Portal, NextPVR and Emby, but deleted all for one reason or another. DVB Dream can? make a channel list, but only seems to do HD, and can't display them.? Some codec problem maybe. DVBViewer Pro demo has a huge list, and - surprise - has the Smithsonian Channel and the other stuff on COM7.? What the 746 below means, I don't know. All of these receiver programs are using the same iVewHD stick. Like Dave Newbitt, I feel great sympathy for those who just want a working service. B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: lejgfhmdpinlgebe.png Type: image/png Size: 15250 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Mon Sep 16 08:37:59 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 14:37:59 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: MCR21 Progress Report September 2019 In-Reply-To: <24da6d5790bf363b61ed2e195.27b31bf3ae.20190916132426.f64a68cbbe.17db07d8@mail72.atl51.rsgsv.net> References: <24da6d5790bf363b61ed2e195.27b31bf3ae.20190916132426.f64a68cbbe.17db07d8@mail72.atl51.rsgsv.net> Message-ID: -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: MCR21 Progress Report September 2019 Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 13:24:33 +0000 From: Nick Reply-To: Nick To: Bernard MCR21 Progress Report September 2019 MCR21 MCR21 PROGRESS PLUS MORE SEPTEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER 4 Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. If you would prefer not to receive our newsletter, please tick the unsubscribe box at the bottom of the page. If you have received this newsletter from a colleague or another organisation and you would like to receive the newsletter direct, please get in touch by pressing the button below Contact MCR21 *MCR21 PROJECT LAUNCH AT AMBERLEY MUSEUM* Our MCR21 Project Launch at Amberley Museum in Sussex attracted many visitors to our exhibition, which was held in 'Humphreys Barn', located close to the Museum entrance. As a consequence, a high percentage of visitors passed though our exhibition. Many people decided to spend a considerable time talking to our volunteers, trying their hand at operating the cameras and tracing the history of MCR21 through the poster display boards, then filling in the feedback forms. These will come in useful when we design our more permanent display, which will accompany the restored MCR21. A number of young people took part in the written quiz - finding the answers to questions about MCR21 from the displays. The ?20 prize was won by eleven year old Nicco from Seaford. Thank you to all the people who took an interest in the Project and the volunteers who gave their time and knowledge to tell people about MCR21? - Brian Summers, Richard Harris, Andrew Peakin, Paul Bicknell, Rob Burn, John Stevens, Stuart Harris, Jeremy Owen, Paul Elkington and Nick Gilbey. Thank you as well to Paul Elkington for arranging for his company, West End Limited, to sponsor the event by supplying much of the display equipment. All this was made possible through the kind invitation from Museum Curator, Julia Edge, and Events Organiser, Nikki Austin. We hope to be back at Amberley in the not too distant future. *PROGRESS AT CAMBERLEY* Wednesday afternoons has been a regular time for volunteers to help Brian Summers strip out the equipment from MCR21 before the vehicle restoration begins. Helping out in this latest session are Jeremy Owen, Len Symth with John Stevens - not in the pictures as he is taking the photos. MCR21 on the move at last. Just a few feet back to remove more equipment MCR21 is nearly ready for its trip to the vehicle restorers THE BBC HELPS THE MCR21 PROJECT The MCR21 has received considerable publicity with the help of the BBC staff based in Reading. On Monday 22nd July the Radio Berkshire Breakfast Show sent reporter, Michelle, and engineer, John, with a radio outside broadcast unit to Brian Summer's home. They broadcast a number of 'chats' with Brian about MCR21 throughout the programme. South Today - Features the MCR21 Project Click on the picture to start the video *THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL* Last weekend the MCR21 Project went to? the Revival? to capture the 1960s motor racing in order? to use the recordings in our restored 1960s television outside broadcast. We took the feeds from four cameras, the preview and programme output, so that they can be replayed, in sync, on the monitors in MCR21. Inside Cloudbass OB1 Production Area Westbury Gillett cutting the Cameras on OB1's Vision Mixer Oscar Williams from Solent University Controlling the 6 SSD Recorders Stephen Watkins, Cloudbass, connecting up the SDI feeds to the SSD Recorders. Cloudbass OB1 Everybody approached about our request to record? a race a the Goodwood Revival, has been only too willing to help. The MCR21 Project would like to thank the Duke of Richmond, Goodwood Revival - Tamara Drew, Lee Flay and Westbury Gillet at Aurora Media - James Wilson and Stephen Watkins at Cloudbass - Matt Hickling and Oscar Williams at Solent University. *BBC SWAINS LANE CLOSES* After more than eighty years service to the BBC, the receiving? station for outside broadcasts at Swains Lane in Highgate, which was also used to transmit communications, was finally closed with the last piece of working kit, a 442MHz talkback transmitter, was switched off in August. Swains Lane played an important part in the early television broadcasts. Not so well known as Alexandra Palace, its 150 ft high mast is a familiar landmark on the northern hills around London. The power supply to the last bit of working kit at Swains Lane is switched off Cable ends connecting Swains Lane to Alexandra Palace and Broadcasting House Thank you to Mike Steed and Mike Jordan for the information and photos *FUNDRAISING* The grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund remains at ?99,000 but they have agreed to a lesser budget of ?110,000 which means that we have to raise the lesser sum of ?11,000 (previously ?24,000). So thank you very much to the Heritage Fund. Our funds have been boosted by a very generous donation to the Project from Timeline Television. Thank? you to Timeline TV MD, Daniel McDonnell, and our volunteer Andrew Peakin for arranging the donation. Once again - Thank you to the National Lottery players for making the MCR21 Project happen. We still need help with the Project. Please do get in touch if you have some time you could devote to the Project or would like more information about the Project or perhaps you have a story to tell about MCR21. There are lots of ways people can help. Please contact Brian Summers or Nick Gilbey brian at mcr21.org.uk - nick at mcr21.org.uk or telephone Nick 07831 219957 Newsletter Feb 2019 Newsletter May 2019 NewsletterJuly 2019 Newsletter Compiled by Nick Gilbey /Copyright ? February 2019 ?Broadcast Television Technology Trust, All rights reserved./ Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list . *The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting the MCR21 Project* This email was sent to bernard.newnham at ntlworld.com /why did I get this?/ unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences MCR21 ? The Abbots House ? The Street ? Charmouth, Dorset DT6 6QF ? United Kingdom Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chris at chriswoolf.co.uk Mon Sep 16 09:06:03 2019 From: chris at chriswoolf.co.uk (Chris Woolf) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 15:06:03 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: <54ef0f0d-e229-e64d-ee64-e5e372f5b321@chriswoolf.co.uk> An added complication for some elderly devices is that they do not have sufficient channel memory for the current offerings. This can show up when the device auto tunes and the highest numbered multiplex(s) simply don't show up in the list. You can sometimes get round this by manually tuning and avoiding the uninteresting multiplexes. Chris Woolf On 16/09/2019 14:27, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > This is becoming quite intriguing...... > > I have three ways to receive Freeview - the kitchen TV, now known to > be faulty, the living room TV, now being the kitchen TV, and the USB > stick on this computer. The living room TV is a few years old, and > receives what it receives very well, both SD and HD, but not Channel 55. > > The USB stick is an iViewHD, reasonably recent, and attached to the > same new aerial and masthead amplifier.? It's possible to download > lots of receiver software to work with this, so I'm doing just that.? > Results vary enormously - > > I normally use SichboPVR, which works fine, but doesn't seem to see > Channel 55, though lots of HD, and London Live, work fine. > > I've tried Media Portal, NextPVR and Emby, but deleted all for one > reason or another. > > DVB Dream can? make a channel list, but only seems to do HD, and can't > display them.? Some codec problem maybe. > > DVBViewer Pro demo has a huge list, and - surprise - has the > Smithsonian Channel and the other stuff on COM7.? What the 746 below > means, I don't know. > > > > All of these receiver programs are using the same iVewHD stick. Like > Dave Newbitt, I feel great sympathy for those who just want a working > service. > > B > > --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: lejgfhmdpinlgebe.png Type: image/png Size: 15250 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 16 09:19:33 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 15:19:33 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: <5d7f99f7.1c69fb81.e0e67.ef8d@mx.google.com> I can get Smithsonian (Ch99) from CP, on the Samsung Smart TV in my bedroom, but the sitting room TV is fed from a DVD recorder, which doesn?t do HD. So nuffink there. The audio from the DVD goes into the hi-fi ? I?m merely using that TV as a monitor, its own tuner doesn?t get HD either. My block of flats has a dedicated aerial trained on CP and Croydon ? pretty well in the same direction, with a dis amp feeding 8 flats. Thinking about a new 32? Sony or Samsung, but having just paid molto $$$ for car insurance renewal ? it went up 20% on last year! It?s on a back burner at present. What I would love is that all the shopping channels get shifted to the bottom of the channel spectrum, but that wouldn?t suit them at all! Perhaps someone knows how to re-edit the ?guide? to adjust the channel positions. (favourites?) Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: 16 September 2019 14:27 To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Cc: Bernard Newnham Subject: Re: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel This is becoming quite intriguing...... I have three ways to receive Freeview - the kitchen TV, now known to be faulty, the living room TV, now being the kitchen TV, and the USB stick on this computer. The living room TV is a few years old, and receives what it receives very well, both SD and HD, but not Channel 55. The USB stick is an iViewHD, reasonably recent, and attached to the same new aerial and masthead amplifier.? It's possible to download lots of receiver software to work with this, so I'm doing just that.? Results vary enormously - I normally use SichboPVR, which works fine, but doesn't seem to see Channel 55, though lots of HD, and London Live, work fine. I've tried Media Portal, NextPVR and Emby, but deleted all for one reason or another. DVB Dream can? make a channel list, but only seems to do HD, and can't display them.? Some codec problem maybe. DVBViewer Pro demo has a huge list, and - surprise - has the Smithsonian Channel and the other stuff on COM7.? What the 746 below means, I don't know. All of these receiver programs are using the same iVewHD stick.? Like Dave Newbitt, I feel great sympathy for those who just want a working service. B --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: C5CED7F8FEED476DAB6BA6BD7493050A.png Type: image/png Size: 15250 bytes Desc: not available URL: From paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Mon Sep 16 09:28:47 2019 From: paul at pgtmedia.co.uk (Paul Thackray) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 15:28:47 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <54ef0f0d-e229-e64d-ee64-e5e372f5b321@chriswoolf.co.uk> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> <54ef0f0d-e229-e64d-ee64-e5e372f5b321@chriswoolf.co.uk> Message-ID: I believe this is the problem that Crashed my Panasonic. Freeview in the UK was individual transmitters, with spacing between TX's on the same channel (Needed for regional offerings.) Each MPX needs to have EPG info for all other MPX's 'around' your area. Without this your EPG would only show the things on the same MPX, not other MPX's from the same site (Until you changed Channel) As part of switch over , MPX's that are planed long term are being moved in to CH that are not been given up and the 'Temporary ' Com 7 & 8 are being moved to Ch 55 & 56 which will be given up around 2022... I believe CH 55/6 are being run as Single frequency networks across the UK (So no variations across the uk & all locked together so they do not interfere with each other, but run as a uk wide network) Suddenly as these need to carry all the info for all regional variations of every other MPX, its suddenly a mass more EPG data. Much more than some RX's can store / process! So with CP (And a number of other main stations) you have masses of EPG data and com 7 &8 are the other end of the band to the rest of your MPX's CP was a 'Band A' site and CH55 is probably C/D RX Ariel. A wide band aerial will also pour lots of 4G phone signal in to the front end of your RX (As its in the bit at the top already given up!) Paul On 16/09/2019 15:06, Chris Woolf via Tech1 wrote: > > An added complication for some elderly devices is that they do not > have sufficient channel memory for the current offerings. > > This can show up when the device auto tunes and the highest numbered > multiplex(s) simply don't show up in the list. You can sometimes get > round this by manually tuning and avoiding the uninteresting multiplexes. > > Chris Woolf > > > On 16/09/2019 14:27, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: >> This is becoming quite intriguing...... >> >> I have three ways to receive Freeview - the kitchen TV, now known to >> be faulty, the living room TV, now being the kitchen TV, and the USB >> stick on this computer. The living room TV is a few years old, and >> receives what it receives very well, both SD and HD, but not Channel 55. >> >> The USB stick is an iViewHD, reasonably recent, and attached to the >> same new aerial and masthead amplifier.? It's possible to download >> lots of receiver software to work with this, so I'm doing just that.? >> Results vary enormously - >> >> I normally use SichboPVR, which works fine, but doesn't seem to see >> Channel 55, though lots of HD, and London Live, work fine. >> >> I've tried Media Portal, NextPVR and Emby, but deleted all for one >> reason or another. >> >> DVB Dream can? make a channel list, but only seems to do HD, and >> can't display them.? Some codec problem maybe. >> >> DVBViewer Pro demo has a huge list, and - surprise - has the >> Smithsonian Channel and the other stuff on COM7.? What the 746 below >> means, I don't know. >> >> >> >> All of these receiver programs are using the same iVewHD stick. Like >> Dave Newbitt, I feel great sympathy for those who just want a working >> service. >> >> B >> >> > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > > > > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > -- Paul Thackray PGT Media Consulting Ltd. +44 7802 243979 Mail; paul at pgtmedia.co.uk Web; http://www.pgtmedia.co.uk Linkedin; http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/paul-thackray/19/379/746 IMDB; http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1488554/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: lejgfhmdpinlgebe.png Type: image/png Size: 15250 bytes Desc: not available URL: From alan_machin at hotmail.com Mon Sep 16 09:54:12 2019 From: alan_machin at hotmail.com (alan machin) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 14:54:12 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Tony, The Proms which are televised are usually available on iPlayer for 30 days, as Martin said. Currently there are more than 20 if you include the various Last Night venues and they are listed with the most recent first and those due to expire last. Unfortunately since BBC Sounds was set up Radio 3 Proms cannot be accessed via iPlayer, only via BBC Sounds, or occasionally the Radio 3 website, again for 30 days. The Yuja Wang /Rachmaninov Prom which you mention was not televised as far as I know, but can be found, with some difficulty, on BBC Sounds. This link might do it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0008422 While on the subject of televised Proms, I am reconciled to the excellent sound balances being credited to the collective 'Sound Alliance', but on the Last Night credits, where every last man, woman, and the proverbial dog(sbody?) were named, could they not have emerged from their anonymity to take a bow? Avoiding credits was understandable in the days when members of staff were moonlighting, but now..? All the best, Alan. [https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x576/p07mmh54.jpg] BBC Proms - 2019 - Prom 63: Yuja Wang plays Rachmaninov - BBC Sounds Live BBC Proms. Staatskapelle Dresden, Myung-Whun Chung and Yuja Wang. www.bbc.co.uk ________________________________ From: Tech1 on behalf of Tony Grant via Tech1 Sent: 16 September 2019 12:33 To: TechOps Forum Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms Up to last weekend, we had a week or more of visitors, and it wasn't till they left that I discovered Yuja Wang had been playing Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto in one of the proms. Off to BBC iPlayer, but......almost no proms there at all! I was well and truly gob-smacked. I thought the Proms were always hailed as one of the 'jewels in the crown' so to find that the BBC has only kept about half a dozen on iPlayer is IMHO disgraceful, unless there's a copyright/repeat fee issue, although I'd have thought with classical music this would be unlikely. There is a BBC Proms website which lists the proms, but the links to videos from there are not the actual proms. Talk about adding insult to injury. If anyone can shed any light on the situation, I'd be interested, but I can see that next year I'll have to keep a closer eye on the proceedings. TeaTeaFN - Tony -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Mon Sep 16 09:57:38 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 15:57:38 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Message-ID: This is becoming quite intriguing...... I have three ways to receive Freeview - the kitchen TV, now known to be faulty, the living room TV, now being the kitchen TV, and the USB stick on this computer. The living room TV is a few years old, and receives what it receives very well, both SD and HD, but not Channel 55. The USB stick is an iViewHD, reasonably recent, and attached to the same new aerial and masthead amplifier.? It's possible to download lots of receiver software to work with this, so I'm doing just that.? Results vary enormously - I normally use SichboPVR, which works fine, but doesn't seem to see Channel 55, though lots of HD, and London Live, work fine. I've tried Media Portal, NextPVR and Emby, but deleted all for one reason or another. DVB Dream can? make a channel list, but only seems to do HD, and can't display them.? Some codec problem maybe. DVBViewer Pro demo has a huge list, and - surprise - has the Smithsonian Channel and the other stuff on COM7.? What the 746 below means, I don't know. All of these receiver programs are using the same iVewHD stick. Like Dave Newbitt, I feel great sympathy for those who just want a working service. B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: lejgfhmdpinlgebe.png Type: image/png Size: 15250 bytes Desc: not available URL: From hughsheppard at btinternet.com Mon Sep 16 09:57:53 2019 From: hughsheppard at btinternet.com (Hugh Sheppard) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 15:57:53 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0f07859c-80e7-5ade-098d-9ddd90b8102e@btinternet.com> So, the 30 day rule strikes again!? I had been hoping to reprise Concert 22 of 4th August, partic. Shostakovitch's 11th Symphony for which the mesmerising coverage was credited to several of the usual suspects, Bernie Davis, Hilary Briegel, ?? sound ?? with Helen Mansfield directing.? Try tracking that down on ANY BBC website! Did others see it - and agree? Hugh On 16-Sep-19 12:33 PM, Tony Grant via Tech1 wrote: > Up to last weekend, we had a week or more of visitors, and it wasn't > till they left that I discovered Yuja Wang had been playing > Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto in one of the proms. Off to BBC > iPlayer, but......almost no proms there at all! > > I was well and truly gob-smacked. I thought the Proms were always > hailed as one of the 'jewels in the crown' so to find that the BBC has > only kept about half a dozen on iPlayer is IMHO disgraceful, unless > there's a copyright/repeat fee issue, although I'd have thought with > classical music this would be unlikely. > > There is a BBC Proms website which lists the proms, but the links to > videos from there are not the actual proms. Talk about adding insult > to injury. > > If anyone can shed any light on the situation, I'd be interested, but > I can see that next year I'll have to keep a closer eye on the > proceedings. > > TeaTeaFN - Tony > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Mon Sep 16 11:58:46 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 17:58:46 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: <5d7f99f7.1c69fb81.e0e67.ef8d@mx.google.com> References: <2351d789-f683-cdf7-d98f-669277b25d8c@gmail.com> <4EA220D2AC66433EACAE5A3487D7203F@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <64d9a482-15b9-2b02-4a36-11632ed1475a@pgtmedia.co.uk> <28C6F0A6DA4F416093087F2D16EC73B0@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> <321718b7-fa5e-8401-44dc-5471a3a2152c@ntlworld.com> <5d7f99f7.1c69fb81.e0e67.ef8d@mx.google.com> Message-ID: I've finally made SchiboPVR find all the stations, by lying to it about where I live.? So now I can watch Jewellery Maker, Vintage TV and Smithsonian.? Wow. Not that I cared about the Smithsonian Channel, it just annoyed me that after lots of effort it wasn't appearing. So, apart from having to buy a new TV for the kitchen, case closed and thanks to all B On 16/09/2019 15:19, patheigham via Tech1 wrote: > > I can get Smithsonian (Ch99) from CP, on the Samsung Smart TV in my > bedroom, but the sitting room TV is fed from a DVD recorder, which > doesn?t do HD. So nuffink there. The audio from the DVD goes into the > hi-fi ? I?m merely using that TV as a monitor, its own tuner doesn?t > get HD either. > > My block of flats has a dedicated aerial trained on CP and Croydon ? > pretty well in the same direction, with a dis amp feeding 8 flats. > Thinking about a new 32? Sony or Samsung, but having just paid molto > $$$ for car insurance renewal ? it went up 20% on last year! It?s on a > back burner at present. > > What I would love is that all the shopping channels get shifted to the > bottom of the channel spectrum, but that wouldn?t suit them at all! > > Perhaps someone knows how to re-edit the ?guide? to adjust the channel > positions. (favourites?) > > Pat > > Sent from Mail for > Windows 10 > > *From: *Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > *Sent: *16 September 2019 14:27 > *To: *tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > *Cc: *Bernard Newnham > *Subject: *Re: [Tech1] Smithsonian Channel > > This is becoming quite intriguing...... > > I have three ways to receive Freeview - the kitchen TV, now known to > be faulty, the living room TV, now being the kitchen TV, and the USB > stick on this computer. The living room TV is a few years old, and > receives what it receives very well, both SD and HD, but not Channel 55. > > The USB stick is an iViewHD, reasonably recent, and attached to the > same new aerial and masthead amplifier.? It's possible to download > lots of receiver software to work with this, so I'm doing just that.? > Results vary enormously - > > I normally use SichboPVR, which works fine, but doesn't seem to see > Channel 55, though lots of HD, and London Live, work fine. > > I've tried Media Portal, NextPVR and Emby, but deleted all for one > reason or another. > > DVB Dream can? make a channel list, but only seems to do HD, and can't > display them.? Some codec problem maybe. > > DVBViewer Pro demo has a huge list, and - surprise - has the > Smithsonian Channel and the other stuff on COM7.? What the 746 below > means, I don't know. > > > > All of these receiver programs are using the same iVewHD stick.? Like > Dave Newbitt, I feel great sympathy for those who just want a working > service. > > B > > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > > > > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From doug.prior at talktalk.net Mon Sep 16 12:54:50 2019 From: doug.prior at talktalk.net (douglas prior) Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 18:54:50 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Re: Smithsonian Channel In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <94849205-2b12-43eb-9966-7da009099518@email.android.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alec.bray.2 at gmail.com Tue Sep 17 03:44:03 2019 From: alec.bray.2 at gmail.com (Alec Bray) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 09:44:03 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Windows 10 Disappearing clock in Task Bar Message-ID: <526c2c5b-0ba4-5cb2-fe1e-cb3a44867987@gmail.com> Hi All, I prepared this for another group I belong to: I thought it might be of interest to you! Depending on how you have set up your personalisation in Windows 10, you may have a black Task Bar - and in this case, you may well have found that your clock has "disappeared". (actually, it's black text on a black background.) It seems that this is due to a bug in a system file:?AeroLite.msstyles To correct the error, you need to revert to a different (older?)system file.? This took some finding on the Internet! 1. SAVE your current theme with a easy to find name: /Right-click /on the Taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Click on Themes. 2. OPEN this new them file in a text editor: the theme file is located at ??? C:\Users\[your login name]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes 3.? REPLACE AeroLite.msstyles with Aero.msstyles ??? [VisualStyles] ??? ;Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\AeroLite.msstyles ??? Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles ??? (The ;(semicolon)? is a comment marker so the old line is ignored) 4.? SAVE the theme file. 5.? In the Personalisation > Themes window, change theme to the SAVED theme:? you may have to scroll to find it! ??? (you may have to restart your Windows: WIndows only registers stuff on a Start or Restart (unlike *Nix or Apple))) 6.? Clock now appears (as does Language!): I hope that this is useful! -- Best Regards Alec Alec Bray alec.bray.2 at gmail.com mob: 07789 561 346 home: 0118 981 7502 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: nbkeffdhalpmcnmh.png Type: image/png Size: 28925 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pboidnepgmemdgak.png Type: image/png Size: 86861 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: felcpnikifpilbbf.png Type: image/png Size: 113420 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: igglnbmkcgibnidn.png Type: image/png Size: 42522 bytes Desc: not available URL: From teateatone2 at gmail.com Tue Sep 17 04:17:46 2019 From: teateatone2 at gmail.com (Tony Grant) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 10:17:46 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Not a lot of Proms In-Reply-To: <0f07859c-80e7-5ade-098d-9ddd90b8102e@btinternet.com> References: <0f07859c-80e7-5ade-098d-9ddd90b8102e@btinternet.com> Message-ID: No, it wasn't the 30 day rule interfering, as I'd just read a newspaper review of the concert, which is how I knew it was only just over a week since the performance. And thank you Alan for the link, it was a good performance, and the sound excellent, more kudos for those on sound, they should certainly have the names in capitals at the end of each programme. As for BBC Sounds, well, I was labouring under the impression that all BBC output was bundled under iPlayer, radio & tv, for 30days. Shows how much I ever try to catch up. I find the +1 on ITV, Ch4 & 5 to be far more useful for everyday viewing (that's for her who must be obeyed to watch). No doubt, next time I want to watch/listen, someone will have changed the rules/channels/coding, etc. TeaTeaFN - Tony On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 3:57 PM Hugh Sheppard wrote: > So, the 30 day rule strikes again! I had been hoping to reprise Concert > 22 of 4th August, partic. Shostakovitch's 11th Symphony for which the > mesmerising coverage was credited to several of the usual suspects, Bernie > Davis, Hilary Briegel, ?? sound ?? with Helen Mansfield directing. Try > tracking that down on ANY BBC website! > > Did others see it - and agree? > > Hugh > On 16-Sep-19 12:33 PM, Tony Grant via Tech1 wrote: > > Up to last weekend, we had a week or more of visitors, and it wasn't till > they left that I discovered Yuja Wang had been playing Rachmaninov's 3rd > piano concerto in one of the proms. Off to BBC iPlayer, but......almost no > proms there at all! > > I was well and truly gob-smacked. I thought the Proms were always hailed > as one of the 'jewels in the crown' so to find that the BBC has only kept > about half a dozen on iPlayer is IMHO disgraceful, unless there's a > copyright/repeat fee issue, although I'd have thought with classical music > this would be unlikely. > > There is a BBC Proms website which lists the proms, but the links to > videos from there are not the actual proms. Talk about adding insult to > injury. > > If anyone can shed any light on the situation, I'd be interested, but I > can see that next year I'll have to keep a closer eye on the proceedings. > > TeaTeaFN - Tony > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From waresound at msn.com Tue Sep 17 05:21:12 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 10:21:12 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Windows 10 Disappearing clock in Task Bar In-Reply-To: <526c2c5b-0ba4-5cb2-fe1e-cb3a44867987@gmail.com> References: <526c2c5b-0ba4-5cb2-fe1e-cb3a44867987@gmail.com> Message-ID: Have a look at DS Clock by Duality Software. It?s free to download from Dualitysoft.com/dsclock/ and is fully customisable. It can be locked in position wherever you want it. The options window in my screen grab is opened by right clicking on the display (in my case centred in the toolbar). Works in all Windows versions, and is available in 32 or 64bit. I wouldn?t be without it! Cheers, Nick. [image1.jpeg] Sent from my iPad On 17 Sep 2019, at 09:44, Alec Bray via Tech1 > wrote: Hi All, I prepared this for another group I belong to: I thought it might be of interest to you! Depending on how you have set up your personalisation in Windows 10, you may have a black Task Bar - and in this case, you may well have found that your clock has "disappeared". (actually, it's black text on a black background.) It seems that this is due to a bug in a system file: AeroLite.msstyles To correct the error, you need to revert to a different (older?)system file. This took some finding on the Internet! 1. SAVE your current theme with a easy to find name: Right-click on the Taskbar and select Taskbar settings. Click on Themes. 2. OPEN this new them file in a text editor: the theme file is located at C:\Users\[your login name]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes 3. REPLACE AeroLite.msstyles with Aero.msstyles [VisualStyles] ;Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\AeroLite.msstyles Path=%SystemRoot%\resources\themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles (The ;(semicolon) is a comment marker so the old line is ignored) 4. SAVE the theme file. 5. In the Personalisation > Themes window, change theme to the SAVED theme: you may have to scroll to find it! (you may have to restart your Windows: WIndows only registers stuff on a Start or Restart (unlike *Nix or Apple))) 6. Clock now appears (as does Language!): I hope that this is useful! -- Best Regards Alec Alec Bray alec.bray.2 at gmail.com mob: 07789 561 346 home: 0118 981 7502 -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: nbkeffdhalpmcnmh.png Type: image/png Size: 28925 bytes Desc: nbkeffdhalpmcnmh.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pboidnepgmemdgak.png Type: image/png Size: 86861 bytes Desc: pboidnepgmemdgak.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: felcpnikifpilbbf.png Type: image/png Size: 113420 bytes Desc: felcpnikifpilbbf.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: igglnbmkcgibnidn.png Type: image/png Size: 42522 bytes Desc: igglnbmkcgibnidn.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image1.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2304576 bytes Desc: image1.jpeg URL: From waresound at msn.com Tue Sep 17 05:25:32 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 10:25:32 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Windows 10 Disappearing clock in Task Bar In-Reply-To: References: <526c2c5b-0ba4-5cb2-fe1e-cb3a44867987@gmail.com>, Message-ID: Pic this time, hopefully. Sent from my iPad On 17 Sep 2019, at 11:21, Nick Ware > wrote: Have a look at DS Clock by Duality Software. It?s free to download from Dualitysoft.com/dsclock/ and is fully customisable. It can be locked in position wherever you want it. The options window in my screen grab is opened by right clicking on the display (in my case centred in the toolbar). Works in all Windows versions, and is available in 32 or 64bit. I wouldn?t be without it! Cheers, Nick. [image1.jpeg] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image1.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2304576 bytes Desc: image1.jpeg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image1.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2304576 bytes Desc: image1.jpeg URL: From tuckergarth at me.com Tue Sep 17 09:11:21 2019 From: tuckergarth at me.com (Garth Tucker) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 15:11:21 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney Message-ID: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> I have just received very sad news that Rodney Taylor died this morning. I know there are a lot of us who remember working with him with much love and affection. He taught many of us to think long and hard about how we operated in order that our contribution enhanced the story being told. I shall always be grateful for the help and friendship I received from him. Many, many thanks Rod. Garth From graeme.wall at icloud.com Tue Sep 17 10:06:39 2019 From: graeme.wall at icloud.com (Graeme Wall) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 16:06:39 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> References: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> Message-ID: <4D2A0EFC-BA6D-4815-8A00-B6B6AF6C7DF3@icloud.com> Sad to hear, I learnt a lot from Rod. ? Graeme Wall > On 17 Sep 2019, at 15:11, Garth Tucker via Tech1 wrote: > > > I have just received very sad news that Rodney Taylor died this morning. I know there are a lot of us who remember working with him with much love and affection. He taught many of us to think long and hard about how we operated in order that our contribution enhanced the story being told. I shall always be grateful for the help and friendship I received from him. Many, many thanks Rod. > > Garth > > > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From ravenscourt1 at btinternet.com Tue Sep 17 10:56:30 2019 From: ravenscourt1 at btinternet.com (Albert Barber) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 16:56:30 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <4D2A0EFC-BA6D-4815-8A00-B6B6AF6C7DF3@icloud.com> References: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> <4D2A0EFC-BA6D-4815-8A00-B6B6AF6C7DF3@icloud.com> Message-ID: He was one of those people who you knew would make a contribution to your programme and a pleasure to meet at the start of your day in the studio. Quite recently I met him on a visit he and his wife made to Canterbury Cathedral. Meeting him after the years brought back the feeling and pleasure in seeing an old friend and colleague. He made both a joyful and great contribution to my time at the BBC and I?m sure in all things. Both me and my wife remember him fondly. Condolences to his family and friends. There is a place for each of us to journey to in love and grateful thanks. He certainly has a place there now. Albert Barber Producer and Director BBCTV > On 17 Sep 2019, at 16:06, Graeme Wall via Tech1 wrote: > > Sad to hear, I learnt a lot from Rod. > > ? > Graeme Wall > > >> On 17 Sep 2019, at 15:11, Garth Tucker via Tech1 wrote: >> >> >> I have just received very sad news that Rodney Taylor died this morning. I know there are a lot of us who remember working with him with much love and affection. He taught many of us to think long and hard about how we operated in order that our contribution enhanced the story being told. I shall always be grateful for the help and friendship I received from him. Many, many thanks Rod. >> >> Garth >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From hughsheppard at btinternet.com Tue Sep 17 11:47:05 2019 From: hughsheppard at btinternet.com (Hugh Sheppard) Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 17:47:05 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> References: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> Message-ID: <42dba772-f90a-35c9-7faf-3935acc0aca5@btinternet.com> RIP Rod; you were an example to us all, both personally and as an outstanding cameraman. And you had a pre-war BMW 328 Roadster... Hugh On 17-Sep-19 3:11 PM, Garth Tucker via Tech1 wrote: > I have just received very sad news that Rodney Taylor died this morning. I know there are a lot of us who remember working with him with much love and affection. He taught many of us to think long and hard about how we operated in order that our contribution enhanced the story being told. I shall always be grateful for the help and friendship I received from him. Many, many thanks Rod. > > Garth > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rogerbunce at btinternet.com Wed Sep 18 04:18:40 2019 From: rogerbunce at btinternet.com (ROGER BUNCE) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 09:18:40 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <42dba772-f90a-35c9-7faf-3935acc0aca5@btinternet.com> References: <5A346C93-F41B-4F56-82B0-094B70C714F3@me.com> <42dba772-f90a-35c9-7faf-3935acc0aca5@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <785338099.6106945.1568798320678@mail.yahoo.com> A very sad loss. Rodney was a true individual, one of a kind. A hippy and a gentleman. Always quietly spoken, polite, kind, helpful to everyone. His humour was always benevolent. His knowledge seemed inexhaustible. I never heard him lose his temper, whatever the stress. Being on his crew was a pleasure and an education. Who can forget the care and consideration given to crewing-up, all written on paper plates with a fountain pen, in his immaculate handwriting. Occasionally, I found him giving me (and everyone else) strange stares in the tea bar. He finally explained that, when looking at people's faces, he liked to line them up against different areas of the background, seeking the most aesthetic composition - the constant artist! Farewell and Got bless, Rodney, it was a delight to have known you, and thank you for so much. love, Roger. P.S. With Jimmy Cellan-Jones and now Rodney, the ranks of us sandal wearers are becoming sadly depleted. On Tuesday, 17 September 2019, 17:47:37 BST, Hugh Sheppard via Tech1 wrote: RIP Rod; you were an example to us all, both personally and as an outstanding cameraman. And you had a pre-war BMW 328 Roadster...? Hugh On 17-Sep-19 3:11 PM, Garth Tucker via Tech1 wrote: I have just received very sad news that Rodney Taylor died this morning. I know there are a lot of us who remember working with him with much love and affection. He taught many of us to think long and hard about how we operated in order that our contribution enhanced the story being told. I shall always be grateful for the help and friendship I received from him. Many, many thanks Rod. Garth -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave at davesound.co.uk Wed Sep 18 05:08:42 2019 From: dave at davesound.co.uk (Dave Plowman) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 11:08:42 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney Message-ID: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> A true gentleman. RIP, Rodney. -- *Just remember...if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off* Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12 From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 18 05:50:06 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 11:50:06 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> References: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> Message-ID: <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> I've been looking for a Rodney picture on the website, but I don't seem to have any. In my head I see him in TC1 looking up at an EMI 203 at the top of the stalk on "Much Ado About Nothing", or similar, because that was the only time I was on the same crew (5). If you have any kind of picture, please send it in. B On 18/09/2019 11:08, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: > A true gentleman. RIP, Rodney. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 18 05:50:25 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 11:50:25 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> References: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> Message-ID: <26e7ece7-2397-ab65-7698-a43ecd8cf9a9@gmail.com> I've been looking for a Rodney picture on the website, but I don't seem to have any. In my head I see him in TC1 looking up at an EMI 203 at the top of the stalk on "Much Ado About Nothing", or similar, because that was the only time I was on the same crew (5). If you have any kind of picture, please send it in. B On 18/09/2019 11:08, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: > A true gentleman. RIP, Rodney. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave at davesound.co.uk Wed Sep 18 08:32:55 2019 From: dave at davesound.co.uk (Dave Plowman) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 14:32:55 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> References: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: <57f574f518dave@davesound.co.uk> In article <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed at ntlworld.com>, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > I've been looking for a Rodney picture on the website, but I don't seem > to have any. In my head I see him in TC1 looking up at an EMI 203 at the > top of the stalk on "Much Ado About Nothing", or similar, because that > was the only time I was on the same crew (5). Oddly, one of my main memories of Rodney was the 'flippers' he and his crew fitted to the 2001s. To help with flares. Fascinating to watch from the top of a boom. And I also remember him being very sound aware too. I only wish I'd known him better as a person. -- *How's my driving? Call 999* Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12 From tuckergarth at me.com Wed Sep 18 09:20:53 2019 From: tuckergarth at me.com (Garth Tucker) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 15:20:53 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] A photo of Rodney Message-ID: <2E0EC167-FE80-4E5B-B66D-360C6783CA9E@me.com> Hi Bernie, hope this is of help,. Garth -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Rodney in TC4 copy.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 337139 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 18 10:11:18 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 16:11:18 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture Message-ID: <5ff10ec5-db24-85da-f6a7-dfb9391bed78@gmail.com> From Roger Bunce . Nearly..... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: kffpkokdfhiigccl.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1319517 bytes Desc: not available URL: From geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com Wed Sep 18 10:26:17 2019 From: geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com (geoff.hawkes134 at gmail.com) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 16:26:17 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] BBC micro - free for anyone who'd like it Message-ID: <002b01d56e35$6ab29c30$4017d490$@gmail.com> Dear All, Among Alan Kerridge's possessions was a BBC micro (photo attached). If anyone would like it, please let me know and it's yours for free, Geoff Hawkes -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: BBC Micro.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 509480 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net Wed Sep 18 11:05:45 2019 From: dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net (David Newbitt) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 17:05:45 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture In-Reply-To: <5ff10ec5-db24-85da-f6a7-dfb9391bed78@gmail.com> References: <5ff10ec5-db24-85da-f6a7-dfb9391bed78@gmail.com> Message-ID: I do hope no one will be offended but I?ve tried a couple of tweaks to possibly render the image a little clearer. Dave Newbitt. From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2019 4:11 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture >From Roger Bunce . Nearly..... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Rod%20Taylor%202%20edit[4].jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 307866 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: kffpkokdfhiigccl.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1319517 bytes Desc: not available URL: From graeme.wall at icloud.com Wed Sep 18 11:35:07 2019 From: graeme.wall at icloud.com (Graeme Wall) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 17:35:07 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture In-Reply-To: References: <5ff10ec5-db24-85da-f6a7-dfb9391bed78@gmail.com> Message-ID: Just realised what is wrong with that picture, the panbar is in the wrong position. IIRC Rod always worked with the panbar in the beer handle position on the 2001s. ? Graeme Wall > On 18 Sep 2019, at 17:05, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: > > I do hope no one will be offended but I?ve tried a couple of tweaks to possibly render the image a little clearer. > > > Dave Newbitt. > > From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2019 4:11 PM > To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture > > From Roger Bunce . Nearly..... > > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From david.plaice at googlemail.com Wed Sep 18 12:50:35 2019 From: david.plaice at googlemail.com (David Plaice) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 18:50:35 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> References: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: Hi Bernie, There is one of Rodney on the Tech-ops site but it's not particularly clear. http://www.tech-ops.co.uk/page138.html Dave On Wed, 18 Sep 2019, 11:50 Bernard Newnham via Tech1, wrote: > I've been looking for a Rodney picture on the website, but I don't seem to > have any. In my head I see him in TC1 looking up at an EMI 203 at the top > of the stalk on "Much Ado About Nothing", or similar, because that was the > only time I was on the same crew (5). > > If you have any kind of picture, please send it in. > > B > > > > On 18/09/2019 11:08, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: > > A true gentleman. RIP, Rodney. > > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: coldwell_BluePeter_DaveSkerry_RodneyTaylor1980_large.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 93992 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidpcarter at btinternet.com Wed Sep 18 14:57:40 2019 From: davidpcarter at btinternet.com (davidpcarter at btinternet.com) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 20:57:40 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> References: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> Message-ID: <136d12d7.c81.16d45f3ac4b.Webtop.49@btinternet.com> As with so many of you I feel a great sadness at the loss of Rodney. He was an inspiration to me with his quiet way of encouraging me to see an image or scene differently. A lovely man. I have this image from a location shoot for "The Sharp End" (1990). It's a scan from a print and very low resolution which is the best I have until I can get to my hard drive next week. David ------ Original Message ------ From: "Bernard Newnham via Tech1" To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Cc: "Bernard Newnham" Sent: Wednesday, 18 Sep, 2019 At 11:50 Subject: Re: [Tech1] Rodney I've been looking for a Rodney picture on the website, but I don't seem to have any. In my head I see him in TC1 looking up at an EMI 203 at the top of the stalk on "Much Ado About Nothing", or similar, because that was the only time I was on the same crew (5). If you have any kind of picture, please send it in. B On 18/09/2019 11:08, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: A true gentleman. RIP, Rodney. -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 41135_456620459738_479803_n.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 100093 bytes Desc: not available URL: From rogerbunce at btinternet.com Thu Sep 19 05:00:31 2019 From: rogerbunce at btinternet.com (ROGER BUNCE) Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 10:00:31 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture In-Reply-To: References: <5ff10ec5-db24-85da-f6a7-dfb9391bed78@gmail.com> Message-ID: <452325023.6523597.1568887231173@mail.yahoo.com> Hi Graham, A: That's not a 2001! B: I think that was taken after Rodney had left, or was in the process of leaving. He'd dropped in to see his old crew, so we stuck him on a camera, and took a picture, just so the gallery could give him a cheer. Hence, no doubt, the unadjusted panning handle. luv, Rog. On Wednesday, 18 September 2019, 17:35:39 BST, Graeme Wall via Tech1 wrote: Just realised what is wrong with that picture, the panbar is in the wrong position.? IIRC Rod always worked with the panbar in the beer handle position on the 2001s. ? Graeme Wall > On 18 Sep 2019, at 17:05, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: > > I do hope no one will be offended but I?ve tried a couple of tweaks to possibly render the image a little clearer. > >? > Dave Newbitt. >? > From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2019 4:11 PM > To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture >? > From Roger Bunce . Nearly..... > > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From graeme.wall at icloud.com Thu Sep 19 05:03:02 2019 From: graeme.wall at icloud.com (Graeme Wall) Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 11:03:02 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture In-Reply-To: <452325023.6523597.1568887231173@mail.yahoo.com> References: <5ff10ec5-db24-85da-f6a7-dfb9391bed78@gmail.com> <452325023.6523597.1568887231173@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6D5A4923-40DC-4638-85C9-A5D16EECF90C@icloud.com> I know it?s not a 2001, the camera in the pic is after my time :-) ? Graeme Wall > On 19 Sep 2019, at 11:00, ROGER BUNCE via Tech1 wrote: > > Hi Graham, > > A: That's not a 2001! > > B: I think that was taken after Rodney had left, or was in the process of leaving. He'd dropped in to see his old crew, so we stuck him on a camera, and took a picture, just so the gallery could give him a cheer. Hence, no doubt, the unadjusted panning handle. > > luv, Rog. > > On Wednesday, 18 September 2019, 17:35:39 BST, Graeme Wall via Tech1 wrote: > > > Just realised what is wrong with that picture, the panbar is in the wrong position. IIRC Rod always worked with the panbar in the beer handle position on the 2001s. > > ? > Graeme Wall > > > > On 18 Sep 2019, at 17:05, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: > > > > I do hope no one will be offended but I?ve tried a couple of tweaks to possibly render the image a little clearer. > > > > > > Dave Newbitt. > > > > From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 > > Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2019 4:11 PM > > To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > > Subject: [Tech1] Rod picture > > > > From Roger Bunce . Nearly..... > > > > > > > > -- > > Tech1 mailing list > > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > > Tech1 mailing list > > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From rogerbunce at btinternet.com Thu Sep 19 14:43:57 2019 From: rogerbunce at btinternet.com (ROGER BUNCE) Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 19:43:57 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Tech1] Rodney In-Reply-To: <57f574f518dave@davesound.co.uk> References: <57f56242b7dave@davesound.co.uk> <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed@ntlworld.com> <57f574f518dave@davesound.co.uk> Message-ID: <1675050499.6725446.1568922237642@mail.yahoo.com> How could I ever forget those Flippers? The greatest invention ever made from old caption cards; camera tape, and off-cuts of magnetic rubber isobars, thieved from Pres. A. luv, Rog. On Wednesday, 18 September 2019, 14:33:35 BST, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: In article <519e5633-5840-8858-8a5a-b2ae35ae2bed at ntlworld.com>, ? Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > I've been looking for a Rodney picture on the website, but I don't seem > to have any. In my head I see him in TC1 looking up at an EMI 203 at the > top of the stalk on "Much Ado About Nothing", or similar, because that > was the only time I was on the same crew (5). Oddly, one of my main memories of Rodney was the 'flippers' he and his crew fitted to the 2001s. To help with flares. Fascinating to watch from the top of a boom. And I also remember him being very sound aware too. I only wish I'd known him better as a person. -- *How's my driving? Call 999* ? ? Dave Plowman? ? dave at davesound.co.uk? ? London SW 12 ? ? -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From geoffletch at gmail.com Fri Sep 20 02:36:44 2019 From: geoffletch at gmail.com (Geoff Fletcher) Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2019 08:36:44 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod Taylor Message-ID: RIP Rod Taylor. Another legend gone. I can only echo Rogers thoughts although I only worked with him when I was on pools. Geoff F -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jan.goldring at me.com Fri Sep 20 09:59:28 2019 From: jan.goldring at me.com (Janis Goldring) Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2019 16:59:28 +0200 Subject: [Tech1] Rod Taylor Message-ID: <1B71A49D-0FD6-422D-8B6A-6AD10B81ED8A@me.com> On a scaffolding course - in the 80s we think -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: IMG_3743.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 106497 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: IMG_5497.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 147931 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: IMG_9647.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 138849 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Sat Sep 21 06:48:21 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2019 12:48:21 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Spoof News names Message-ID: <5d860e06.1c69fb81.b08c6.e4e4@mx.google.com> Hi All, I caught a programme recently on various spoofs and jokes played on presenters. There was this one, which I found again on YouTube. Poor newscaster ? just read the Autocue and didn?t realise! Upset the South Koreans ? see next item on that website. Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Sat Sep 21 11:01:41 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2019 17:01:41 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Test for Peter Woodley only Message-ID: <110fb1c8-807e-2004-a196-f882f62c61e3@gmail.com> Testing -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From waresound at msn.com Sat Sep 21 16:01:28 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2019 21:01:28 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Rod Taylor In-Reply-To: <1B71A49D-0FD6-422D-8B6A-6AD10B81ED8A@me.com> References: <1B71A49D-0FD6-422D-8B6A-6AD10B81ED8A@me.com> Message-ID: He?s looking glum in that top picture because he thought he was auditioning for Scaffold (Lily the Pink, etc.) - maybe ? Nick. Sent from my iPad > On 20 Sep 2019, at 16:00, Janis Goldring via Tech1 wrote: > > On a scaffolding course - in the 80s we think > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From waresound at msn.com Sun Sep 22 14:14:48 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2019 19:14:48 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Test In-Reply-To: References: <1B71A49D-0FD6-422D-8B6A-6AD10B81ED8A@me.com>, Message-ID: New iPad test Nick. Sent from my iPad > On 21 Sep 2019, at 22:02, Nick Ware via Tech1 wrote: > > He?s looking glum in that top picture because he thought he was auditioning for Scaffold (Lily the Pink, etc.) - maybe ? > Nick. > Sent from my iPad > >> On 20 Sep 2019, at 16:00, Janis Goldring via Tech1 wrote: >> >> On a scaffolding course - in the 80s we think >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Sun Sep 22 18:53:26 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2019 00:53:26 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Panasonic Sound Base In-Reply-To: <455DFE2C-94E7-4F8B-88F6-5885778318EA@gmail.com> References: <455DFE2C-94E7-4F8B-88F6-5885778318EA@gmail.com> Message-ID: <9a9d7b39-2325-e60d-bf19-55b71cda69ae@btinternet.com> From Mike York, please contact him directly if you are interested. Cheers, Dave -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Panasonic Sound Base Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 10:47:44 +0100 From: Michael York To: dave.mdv at btinternet.com, Dave LeBreton Hi Dave?s, I?ve had a Panasonic SC-HTE80 sound base in use in our conservatory but have decided to upgrade so it has to go. It has amazing bass performance and is a vast improvement on the TV speakers. You can look up reviews and it?s not bad! Refurbished ones are available for around ?100. Mine is in full working order and has mains lead, HDMI lead, Remote and I?ve printed a manual. There are a few minor marks on the top where the TV has stood. It works from the HDMI ARC socked so it comes on with the TV and the TV remote controls the sound level. You can also use it separately using Bluetooth. I?m looking for ?45, do you know anyone who might be interested before I put it on eBay. Cheers, Mike From crew13 at vincent68.plus.com Mon Sep 23 06:04:48 2019 From: crew13 at vincent68.plus.com (John Vincent) Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2019 12:04:48 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod Taylor Message-ID: <32AA50BF-9CBD-4B66-83F2-0A20275F1BFA@vincent68.plus.com> Just seen the sad news about Rod. As has been said he was one of the good guys. I think I only survived my time on Jim Atkinsons Crew 5 thanks to Rod (and Geoff Clarke). They were the ones us junior guys could turn to after our daily bollockings from Jim! I vaguely remember a story about Rod going for a BBC interview and he borrowed a jacket which was far too big for him. He pulled it in with bulldog clips at the back. He went into the interview OK but had to back out on leaving! RIP John V From rogerbunce at btinternet.com Mon Sep 23 10:51:39 2019 From: rogerbunce at btinternet.com (ROGER BUNCE) Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2019 15:51:39 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Tech1] Talking TV Shows References: <1742043813.7720421.1569253899675.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1742043813.7720421.1569253899675@mail.yahoo.com> Has anyone, apart from me, been watching 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes' on the 'Talking Pictures' channel. I remember seeing some of them when they first went out, and being unimpressed. But this time I'm really enjoying them. O.K. some of the plots are complete turkeys, but there are also some little gems. Nostalgia helps, of course, reliving old-fashioned, studio-based drama, with developing peds, and that not-entirely-slick quality that comes with shooting things as-live. Somehow it adds to the sense of reality and draws you into the performances. Much of the pleasure comes from seeing those old TV actors, who used to appear so regularly in our plays and series. I'd forgotten what a wonderful on-screen presence Peter Barkworth had. Last night's offering was pleasantly silly, and included Douglas Wilmer, Michael Gough and a brief appearance from Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier). TV drama, as we knew it, is a lost art form, and it's good to see that Thames has preserved some, even if the BBC has wiped so many. luv, Rog.? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alawrance1 at me.com Mon Sep 23 11:29:29 2019 From: alawrance1 at me.com (Alasdair Lawrance) Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2019 17:29:29 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Talking TV Shows In-Reply-To: <1742043813.7720421.1569253899675@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1742043813.7720421.1569253899675.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1742043813.7720421.1569253899675@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <9EC34F2C-AD04-4DB8-8FB5-FE1FDB336DE6@me.com> Like, I suspect, many of us, it?s a real treat to see this ?old fashioned? stuff. Talking Pictures recently showed a few ?Callan?s with Edward Woodward. At least you could see what was going on in the sequences set at night, which seems to be a lost art these days. We still get a lot of pleasure from ?Jeeves & Wooster?. It's ITV (Granada) I know, but the pictures are still cracking from DVD. It?s extremely silly, but a joy to see shots developed and actors, mainly Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie, hitting marks especially in the (frequent) mirror shots. > On 23 Sep 2019, at 16:51, ROGER BUNCE via Tech1 wrote: > > Has anyone, apart from me, been watching 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes' on the 'Talking Pictures' channel. I remember seeing some of them when they first went out, and being unimpressed. But this time I'm really enjoying them. O.K. some of the plots are complete turkeys, but there are also some little gems. Nostalgia helps, of course, reliving old-fashioned, studio-based drama, with developing peds, and that not-entirely-slick quality that comes with shooting things as-live. Somehow it adds to the sense of reality and draws you into the performances. Much of the pleasure comes from seeing those old TV actors, who used to appear so regularly in our plays and series. I'd forgotten what a wonderful on-screen presence Peter Barkworth had. Last night's offering was pleasantly silly, and included Douglas Wilmer, Michael Gough and a brief appearance from Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier). > > TV drama, as we knew it, is a lost art form, and it's good to see that Thames has preserved some, even if the BBC has wiped so many. > > luv, Rog. > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 25 06:44:10 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 12:44:10 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Mystery Late-1965 BBC Studio Photograph In-Reply-To: <011901d57388$dc8778f0$95966ad0$@blueyonder.co.uk> References: <011901d57388$dc8778f0$95966ad0$@blueyonder.co.uk> Message-ID: <30a48746-850f-85d7-4379-4045362607fc@gmail.com> Can anyone help Richard? B -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Mystery Late-1965 BBC Studio Photograph Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 11:01:30 +0100 From: Richard Bignell To: Bernard Newnham Hello Bernie, Here?s another puzzle that I wonder if the Tech-Ops boys can help with? Attached is a photo from a BBC production that probably was taken for an unknown magazine around December 1965, but I?ve had no luck trying to trace what the programme is. Obviously a ballet of some sort, but I can?t see anything on BBC Genome from around that time that would fit a studio presentation, so it may well have been a smaller item being done for another programme. I wonder if anyone recognises it? The crew are all in shadow and are therefore pretty unidentifiable, but perhaps someone might know some more about it. Best, Richard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Unknown 1965 BBC Production.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2193656 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidvbrunt at gmail.com Wed Sep 25 07:42:06 2019 From: davidvbrunt at gmail.com (David Brunt) Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 13:42:06 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Mystery Late-1965 BBC Studio Photograph In-Reply-To: <30a48746-850f-85d7-4379-4045362607fc@gmail.com> References: <011901d57388$dc8778f0$95966ad0$@blueyonder.co.uk> <30a48746-850f-85d7-4379-4045362607fc@gmail.com> Message-ID: <7B3F88B13E71477C8B9E1BCDBA596AA0@AdminPC> Could well be https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3e95c78895ee4efbbb72b0952855b360 Although the RT preview article says their act was based on the first Melbourne Cup race. From: Bernard Newnham via Tech1 Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2019 12:44 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Mystery Late-1965 BBC Studio Photograph Can anyone help Richard? B -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Mystery Late-1965 BBC Studio Photograph Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 11:01:30 +0100 From: Richard Bignell mailto:rbignell at blueyonder.co.uk To: Bernard Newnham mailto:bernard.newnham at ntlworld.com Hello Bernie, Here?s another puzzle that I wonder if the Tech-Ops boys can help with? Attached is a photo from a BBC production that probably was taken for an unknown magazine around December 1965, but I?ve had no luck trying to trace what the programme is. Obviously a ballet of some sort, but I can?t see anything on BBC Genome from around that time that would fit a studio presentation, so it may well have been a smaller item being done for another programme. I wonder if anyone recognises it? The crew are all in shadow and are therefore pretty unidentifiable, but perhaps someone might know some more about it. Best, Richard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Wed Sep 25 12:05:26 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 18:05:26 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Ravensbourne Message-ID: <9d09a095-e58b-0125-a1a8-f43d432660d2@gmail.com> I know that lots of people here used to work there, and I was very impressed when I went to a couple of open days back at the old campus. Sad to see that in the new Sunday Times good universities guide, Ravensboune is the very bottom of the list. B -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From w12rogers at gmail.com Thu Sep 26 03:02:17 2019 From: w12rogers at gmail.com (Georgie and Steve Rogers) Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 09:02:17 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod Taylor Message-ID: Any updates on Rods funeral? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roybailey100 at gmail.com Thu Sep 26 14:43:19 2019 From: roybailey100 at gmail.com (Roy Bailey) Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 20:43:19 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rod Taylor In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I have been in communication with Rod's wife but no news as yet. Roy On Thu, 26 Sep 2019 at 09:02, Georgie and Steve Rogers via Tech1 < tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote: > Any updates on Rods funeral? > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Thu Sep 26 15:55:38 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 21:55:38 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Input Message-ID: <1bb477a3-d82a-4e7d-393c-f190e9f950a4@btinternet.com> Someone recently asked me if I was still alive as he hadn't seen any input from me to this wonderful newsgroup for a while! I have just had a pleasant week on the Isle of Man, apart from the 'cases out at 0500', 'breakfast at 0600' and 'depart at 0730' to catch the slowest ferry on Earth! The weather was great all week so that was a bonus for this time of year. Another of our colleagues is starting radio-therapy for prostate problems and was advised by his consultant that the best way to avoid such problems is to keep the prostate gland busy! That is to say, more SEX! That was also advised in our daily newspaper this week so it's up to you! As Bruce Forsyth said every week, 'Keep ____ing', or similar! Cheers, Dave. PS. Gosh, who's blushing? From mibridge at mac.com Thu Sep 26 17:45:19 2019 From: mibridge at mac.com (Mike Giles) Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 23:45:19 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Input In-Reply-To: <1bb477a3-d82a-4e7d-393c-f190e9f950a4@btinternet.com> References: <1bb477a3-d82a-4e7d-393c-f190e9f950a4@btinternet.com> Message-ID: Surprising that the Isle of Man hasn?t been declared non-PC by now. Mike G > On 26 Sep 2019, at 21:55, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > > Someone recently asked me if I was still alive as he hadn't seen any input from me to this wonderful newsgroup for a while! I have just had a pleasant week on the Isle of Man, apart from the 'cases out at 0500', 'breakfast at 0600' and 'depart at 0730' to catch the slowest ferry on Earth! The weather was great all week so that was a bonus for this time of year. Another of our colleagues is starting radio-therapy for prostate problems and was advised by his consultant that the best way to avoid such problems is to keep the prostate gland busy! That is to say, more SEX! That was also advised in our daily newspaper this week so it's up to you! As Bruce Forsyth said every week, 'Keep ____ing', or similar! Cheers, Dave. PS. Gosh, who's blushing? > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From rogerbunce at btinternet.com Fri Sep 27 03:23:39 2019 From: rogerbunce at btinternet.com (ROGER BUNCE) Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 08:23:39 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Tech1] Input In-Reply-To: References: <1bb477a3-d82a-4e7d-393c-f190e9f950a4@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <1451052969.71894.1569572619982@mail.yahoo.com> As John Donne (I think) once remarked, "No Man Is An Island" . . . apart from that one. luv, Rog. On Thursday, 26 September 2019, 23:45:53 BST, Mike Giles via Tech1 wrote: Surprising that the Isle of Man hasn?t been declared non-PC by now. Mike G > On 26 Sep 2019, at 21:55, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > > Someone recently asked me if I was still alive as he hadn't seen any input from me to this wonderful newsgroup for a while! I have just had a pleasant week on the Isle of Man, apart from the 'cases out at 0500', 'breakfast at 0600' and 'depart at 0730' to catch the slowest ferry on Earth! The weather was great all week so that was a bonus for this time of year. Another of our colleagues is starting radio-therapy for prostate problems and was advised by his consultant that the best way to avoid such problems is to keep the prostate gland busy! That is to say, more SEX! That was also advised in our daily newspaper this week so it's up to you! As Bruce Forsyth said every week, 'Keep ____ing', or similar! Cheers, Dave. PS. Gosh, who's blushing? > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From waresound at msn.com Fri Sep 27 03:45:28 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 08:45:28 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Input In-Reply-To: References: <1bb477a3-d82a-4e7d-393c-f190e9f950a4@btinternet.com>, Message-ID: Sadly, it will probably happen. And what about Manchester, and all those surnames that end in man? I?m in Menorca at the moment - not much hope for that either, I daresay. Cheers, Nick. (Pic attached to cheer you all up) [image2.jpeg] Sent from my iPad mini 5 On 27 Sep 2019, at 00:45, Mike Giles via Tech1 > wrote: Surprising that the Isle of Man hasn?t been declared non-PC by now. Mike G On 26 Sep 2019, at 21:55, dave.mdv via Tech1 > wrote: Someone recently asked me if I was still alive as he hadn't seen any input from me to this wonderful newsgroup for a while! I have just had a pleasant week on the Isle of Man, apart from the 'cases out at 0500', 'breakfast at 0600' and 'depart at 0730' to catch the slowest ferry on Earth! The weather was great all week so that was a bonus for this time of year. Another of our colleagues is starting radio-therapy for prostate problems and was advised by his consultant that the best way to avoid such problems is to keep the prostate gland busy! That is to say, more SEX! That was also advised in our daily newspaper this week so it's up to you! As Bruce Forsyth said every week, 'Keep ____ing', or similar! Cheers, Dave. PS. Gosh, who's blushing? -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image2.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2288258 bytes Desc: image2.jpeg URL: From alanaudio at me.com Fri Sep 27 13:40:00 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 19:40:00 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Baron Boxes Message-ID: With the restoration of MCR21, they have an original Baron Box, which those who worked on OBs up until around the 80's will remember was the heart of the commentator's facilities. I was surprised not to find any references to them on-line, nor any pictures of one, not even in the background of pictures of commentators or commentary boxes. Does anybody have any pictures of any in use, any documentation for them, anecdotes about them or any information about their history? I understand that they acquired their name from their inventor, but although I was told about him many years ago, I can't now remember his christian name nor what job he did. It would be good to collect and preserve whatever information is known about them because it's one of those bits of equipment which could so easily have vanished without trace. For those unfamiliar with them, it was a passive device which connected to the scanner via a single microphone cable. By utterly ingenious design, that single pair and a screen carried - Production talkback Programme sound ( if I remember correctly ) A cue signal to light a lamp on the sound desk ( typically warning the sound supervisor that the commentator is about to speak ) A call button to ring the producer's telephone switchboard. A telephone handset to talk to the producer. From what I can recall, much of the magic was all done by using special transformers to create phantom circuits between the permutations of the wires, but I never really got to mess around with their innards as they were ultra-reliable and never needed repairs, unless dropped from a great height - and even then it was mechanical repairs rather than internal repairs. Alan Taylor Picture of the Baron Box by Mike Summers -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: DSC_1959.jpeg Type: image/jpg Size: 93320 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Fri Sep 27 14:49:55 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 20:49:55 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Baron Boxes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I seem to remember them at the party conferences and also the black 8-way multis, weren't they also part of the set-up? Cheers, Dave From alanaudio at me.com Fri Sep 27 14:57:27 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 20:57:27 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Baron Boxes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Correction - The photo credit should of course be Brian Summers. On 27 Sep 2019, at 27 Sep . 19:40, Alan Taylor wrote: > With the restoration of MCR21, they have an original Baron Box, which those who worked on OBs up until around the 80's will remember was the heart of the commentator's facilities. I was surprised not to find any references to them on-line, nor any pictures of one, not even in the background of pictures of commentators or commentary boxes. > > Does anybody have any pictures of any in use, any documentation for them, anecdotes about them or any information about their history? I understand that they acquired their name from their inventor, but although I was told about him many years ago, I can't now remember his christian name nor what job he did. > > It would be good to collect and preserve whatever information is known about them because it's one of those bits of equipment which could so easily have vanished without trace. For those unfamiliar with them, it was a passive device which connected to the scanner via a single microphone cable. By utterly ingenious design, that single pair and a screen carried - > > Production talkback > Programme sound ( if I remember correctly ) > A cue signal to light a lamp on the sound desk ( typically warning the sound supervisor that the commentator is about to speak ) > A call button to ring the producer's telephone switchboard. > A telephone handset to talk to the producer. > > From what I can recall, much of the magic was all done by using special transformers to create phantom circuits between the permutations of the wires, but I never really got to mess around with their innards as they were ultra-reliable and never needed repairs, unless dropped from a great height - and even then it was mechanical repairs rather than internal repairs. > > Alan Taylor > > > > Picture of the Baron Box by Mike Summers > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alex.thomas1 at talktalk.net Sat Sep 28 07:50:34 2019 From: alex.thomas1 at talktalk.net (Alex Thomas) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 13:50:34 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Baron Boxes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000c01d575fb$522e3a20$f68aae60$@talktalk.net> I seem to remember something called a Benn Box which was placed in front of the Editor, Margaret Douglas, who was situated in the conference hall alongside the commentators. It was like a small box with lots of keys and the editor was able to talk to captions, the production office, research, etc. All communications to the director were via the lazy. This piece of kit was , I believe, commissioned by someone, possibly an EM called Eric Benn? I am sure that Brian Summers will know the history. More modern scanners had a PABX which improved internal comms dramatically Alex Thomas. -----Original Message----- From: Tech1 On Behalf Of dave.mdv via Tech1 Sent: 27 September 2019 20:50 To: Alan Taylor ; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Baron Boxes I seem to remember them at the party conferences and also the black 8-way multis, weren't they also part of the set-up? Cheers, Dave -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Sat Sep 28 09:18:02 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 15:18:02 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Baron Boxes In-Reply-To: <000c01d575fb$522e3a20$f68aae60$@talktalk.net> References: <000c01d575fb$522e3a20$f68aae60$@talktalk.net> Message-ID: <5371be06-93f2-8fd3-3d1b-ba0de14e40f1@btinternet.com> Thanks Alex, you are right, the black multis were for the Benn boxes! Cheers, Dave From roybailey100 at gmail.com Sat Sep 28 11:28:23 2019 From: roybailey100 at gmail.com (Roy Bailey) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:28:23 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Rodney Taylor 'Get Together' Message-ID: I have been in contact with Rodney's wife Nuala and his funeral is to be a private family affair, but they would like his friends to come to a Get Together. His family will hold a private gathering at the graveside on the morning of Monday 28 October, and then afterwards they would like to meet his friends at a local pub to remember Rodney. The pub is very close to Chiswick main line station but details have not yet been confirmed. I will let you all know as soon as they have, in the meantime if you are likely to attend please could you let me know so that Nuala has an idea of numbers. Roy roybailey100 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mibridge at mac.com Sat Sep 28 11:57:29 2019 From: mibridge at mac.com (Mike Giles) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:57:29 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Baron Boxes In-Reply-To: <5371be06-93f2-8fd3-3d1b-ba0de14e40f1@btinternet.com> References: <000c01d575fb$522e3a20$f68aae60$@talktalk.net> <5371be06-93f2-8fd3-3d1b-ba0de14e40f1@btinternet.com> Message-ID: And yes, Eric Benn was a Bristol EM who covered many party conferences. Mike G > On 28 Sep 2019, at 15:18, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > > Thanks Alex, you are right, the black multis were for the Benn boxes! Cheers, Dave > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From ohbytheway.tv at gmail.com Sat Sep 28 15:33:06 2019 From: ohbytheway.tv at gmail.com (David Denness) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 21:33:06 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] disorganised Message-ID: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> Sorry to say I will not be making it to Ickenham this week, my favourite disorganised venue I am currently absorbing large quantities of antibiotics to get me over an acute chest infection. subsequently I'm currently as weak as a kitten Have a great evening Dave D David Denness 2 Cambridge Park Court Twickenham TW1 2JN 07836 371108 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From waresound at msn.com Sun Sep 29 03:01:12 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 08:01:12 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] disorganised In-Reply-To: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> References: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> Message-ID: We should try to organise a disorganised here in Fornells! It?s full of retired (and not so retired) TV folk. Mostly they seem to be ex-LWT, but all with interests and reminiscences in common with our own. And, plenty of sunshine and Rioja too! My return EasyJet flight this time was ?35. Cheers, Nick. Sent from my iPad mini 5 On 28 Sep 2019, at 22:33, David Denness via Tech1 wrote: ? Sorry to say I will not be making it to Ickenham this week, my favourite disorganised venue I am currently absorbing large quantities of antibiotics to get me over an acute chest infection. subsequently I?m currently as weak as a kitten Have a great evening Dave D David Denness 2 Cambridge Park Court Twickenham TW1 2JN 07836 371108 -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Sun Sep 29 03:08:59 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 09:08:59 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] disorganised In-Reply-To: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> References: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> Message-ID: <62fee2e6-0677-3f2d-1d99-a24078a78ec4@btinternet.com> I think that you missed Bernie's reminder where he said that the next disorganised was at the Horniman's at lunch time. Sounds like you have had a nasty infection, we have just been offered our annual 'flu jabs, I might take them up on it! My mate Dave Kirby told me that the jab made his wife go 'stiff', so there's always hope! Cheers, Dave From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Sun Sep 29 04:16:45 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 10:16:45 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] disorganised In-Reply-To: References: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> Message-ID: You are making me feel quite jealous, Nick! Here, we are in the middle of a monsoon and you are in lovely Fornells! Having been there several times I can almost taste the local produce. Cheers, Dave From bernie833 at gmail.com Sun Sep 29 04:24:12 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 10:24:12 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] disorganised In-Reply-To: <62fee2e6-0677-3f2d-1d99-a24078a78ec4@btinternet.com> References: <001901d5763b$efbd8260$cf388720$@gmail.com> <62fee2e6-0677-3f2d-1d99-a24078a78ec4@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <14fd663d-6435-b6dc-91f8-9744a5881758@gmail.com> Our practice here in West Byfleet is big on flu jabs. I booked mine online via Patient Access, but when I saw a GP on another matter the other day he said "Want a flu jab?"? "Well, I have a booking...." but it was done in a painless instant.? Booking now cancelled. B On 29/09/2019 09:08, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > I think that you missed Bernie's reminder where he said that the next > disorganised was at the Horniman's at lunch time. Sounds like you have > had a nasty infection, we have just been offered our annual 'flu jabs, > I might take them up on it! My mate Dave Kirby told me that the jab > made his wife go 'stiff', so there's always hope! Cheers, Dave > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alec.bray.2 at gmail.com Sun Sep 29 06:47:34 2019 From: alec.bray.2 at gmail.com (Alec Bray) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 12:47:34 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Tech Ops before two clicks and it's done Message-ID: Hi all, Following a prompt from Tony Nutall that Alan Taylor's and Pat Heigham's reminiscences should be captured so that the next generations working in this industry should understand how we did it as pioneers in the old days, here is a collection which I hope you enjoy http://tech-ops.co.uk/next/2019/09/topics-issue-1/ It does not cover all the conversions that we have had: there are lots of emails! -- Best Regards Alec Alec Bray alec.bray.2 at gmail.com mob: 07789 561 346 home: 0118 981 7502 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From roybailey100 at gmail.com Sun Sep 29 15:58:07 2019 From: roybailey100 at gmail.com (Roy Bailey) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 21:58:07 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fwd: Rodney Taylor 'Get Together' In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rodney's wife Nuala has confirmed the venue for the 'Get Together' to be The Station House, 2 Grove Park, Chiswick, W4 3SG on Monday 28 October from Noon. Again she would like an indication of numbers please. Roy roybailey100 at gmail.com ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Roy Bailey Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 at 17:28 Subject: Rodney Taylor 'Get Together' To: , I have been in contact with Rodney's wife Nuala and his funeral is to be a private family affair, but they would like his friends to come to a Get Together. His family will hold a private gathering at the graveside on the morning of Monday 28 October, and then afterwards they would like to meet his friends at a local pub to remember Rodney. The pub is very close to Chiswick main line station but details have not yet been confirmed. I will let you all know as soon as they have, in the meantime if you are likely to attend please could you let me know so that Nuala has an idea of numbers. Roy roybailey100 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Sun Sep 29 17:45:16 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 23:45:16 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma Message-ID: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! How thinks you? Cheers, Dave From waresound at msn.com Mon Sep 30 02:00:03 2019 From: waresound at msn.com (Nick Ware) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 07:00:03 +0000 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> Message-ID: Hi Dave, Good call! We?ve just gone through all that too, and for that matter, so did the old couple we bought our ?new? (built 1975) house from. They had no offspring, so merely did what had to be done in order to sell. Text or email me your best contact number privately and we?ll chat. Very happy to meet up and discuss, maybe at ours so that you can see what we have and haven?t done. The kitchen and main bathroom have been done while we?re in Menorca so that we could avoid the huge upheaval. Our biggest challenge has been undoing a lot of hidden bad DIY - not a problem you?ll leave behind, I?m sure!! Ditto to anyone else facing this dilemma. Cheers as always, Nick. 07802 246088. ( back home Thursday AM) Sent from my iPad mini 5 > On 30 Sep 2019, at 00:45, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > > ?Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles > etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! How thinks you? Cheers, Dave > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From davidslawson at btinternet.com Mon Sep 30 02:55:48 2019 From: davidslawson at btinternet.com (David Lawson) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:55:48 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <0B2FF0C2-10EC-4A03-A9F2-289280DC3FD2@btinternet.com> Hi All When we were looking for our bungalow about 12 years age I viewed any new kitchen or bathrooms having been fitted as cheaply as possible just to make it look good to sell. The one we settled on was in prime condition for refitting to our needs and design, it was clean and useable but old and tired. Perfect. We?ve recently ripped out the kitchen and many walls to make a kitchen/dinning room while loosing a small bedroom. It?s now almost as we want it. Dave Lawson > On 30 Sep 2019, at 08:00, Nick Ware via Tech1 wrote: > > Hi Dave, > Good call! We?ve just gone through all that too, and for that matter, so did the old couple we bought our ?new? (built 1975) house from. They had no offspring, so merely did what had to be done in order to sell. Text or email me your best contact number privately and we?ll chat. Very happy to meet up and discuss, maybe at ours so that you can see what we have and haven?t done. The kitchen and main bathroom have been done while we?re in Menorca so that we could avoid the huge upheaval. > Our biggest challenge has been undoing a lot of hidden bad DIY - not a problem you?ll leave behind, I?m sure!! > Ditto to anyone else facing this dilemma. > Cheers as always, > Nick. 07802 246088. ( back home Thursday AM) > > Sent from my iPad mini 5 > >> On 30 Sep 2019, at 00:45, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: >> >> ?Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles >> etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! How thinks you? Cheers, Dave >> >> -- >> Tech1 mailing list >> Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk >> http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From dave at davesound.co.uk Mon Sep 30 08:17:50 2019 From: dave at davesound.co.uk (Dave Plowman) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 14:17:50 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <57fba19b77dave@davesound.co.uk> I'd say keep or change things by what you want. Not to benefit those in your will, after you've gone. Unless a starter home, most buyers simply want a sound house they can fettle to their tastes. In other words, you'll not get back the costs of a designer kitchen or bathroom etc. Of course it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-) In article <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0 at btinternet.com>, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and > I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 > and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled > it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife > is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles > etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I > have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new > white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying > the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my > central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door > neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a > six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would > prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! > How thinks you? Cheers, Dave -- *Not all men are annoying. Some are dead. Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12 From chris at chriswoolf.co.uk Mon Sep 30 08:50:09 2019 From: chris at chriswoolf.co.uk (Chris Woolf) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 14:50:09 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <57fba19b77dave@davesound.co.uk> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> <57fba19b77dave@davesound.co.uk> Message-ID: <3d2a8e9c-41f6-81eb-acf4-b8c79da67b4b@chriswoolf.co.uk> I'd absolutely agree. It is impossible to put in kitchens, bathrooms etc that will please a future buyer. About the only cost-effective thing you ~might~ do is put white emulsion round every room and replace "interesting" fitted carpets with something utterly plain and innocuous (and cheap), two weeks before you put the house on the market. A house that is slightly cheaper than the average but allows the buyer to put their own stamp on it is far more attractive than having to buy ?30k's worth of somebody else's taste in lavatories. Above all, a house has to be somewhere ~you~ want to live. It has become ridiculous that people only see houses as "assets" rather than "homes".? Add in all the things ~you~ want to enjoy your home, and leave a future buyer to do the same. Chris Woolf On 30/09/2019 14:17, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: > I'd say keep or change things by what you want. Not to benefit those in > your will, after you've gone. > > Unless a starter home, most buyers simply want a sound house they can > fettle to their tastes. In other words, you'll not get back the costs of a > designer kitchen or bathroom etc. > > Of course it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-) > > > In article <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0 at btinternet.com>, > dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: >> Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and >> I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 >> and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled >> it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife >> is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles >> etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I >> have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new >> white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying >> the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my >> central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door >> neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a >> six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would >> prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! >> How thinks you? Cheers, Dave --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus From keithwicksuk at gmail.com Mon Sep 30 08:58:18 2019 From: keithwicksuk at gmail.com (Keith Wicks) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 14:58:18 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <57fba19b77dave@davesound.co.uk> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> <57fba19b77dave@davesound.co.uk> Message-ID: As DP said: "...it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-)" So it might be cheaper to change your wife, rather than the house. ;-) On Mon, 30 Sep 2019 at 14:26, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: > I'd say keep or change things by what you want. Not to benefit those in > your will, after you've gone. > > Unless a starter home, most buyers simply want a sound house they can > fettle to their tastes. In other words, you'll not get back the costs of a > designer kitchen or bathroom etc. > > Of course it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-) > > > In article <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0 at btinternet.com>, > dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > > Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and > > I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 > > and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled > > it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife > > is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles > > etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I > > have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new > > white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying > > the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my > > central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door > > neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a > > six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would > > prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! > > How thinks you? Cheers, Dave > > -- > *Not all men are annoying. Some are dead. > > Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12 > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bernie833 at gmail.com Mon Sep 30 09:09:06 2019 From: bernie833 at gmail.com (Bernard Newnham) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 15:09:06 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> I just looked at Zoopla and discovered that my house is now worth lots of money, four times what we paid.?? When we're gone the children will get large pots of money that they didn't earn, just as my siblings and I got when our parents were gone. ? I'm not planning to redecorate just so that they get even more free dosh - not that I begrudge them the house money, but there is a limit. I think you should spend the cash on yourselves. If that means your wife is happy with a new kitchen, fine, but leave the children out of it. Go out and have fun instead. I've only recently got into the "spend the money" frame of mind, now I'm past 70.? One of my sons is in SE Asia and I went to visit. My wife is off long flights these days, so I went alone and didn't have to pay for anyone else. So I went business class - the first time I've done that and paid.? It's come up in the world these days, and the personal sleeping pod on Royal Thai was brilliant. Spend, spend, spend! B On 29/09/2019 23:45, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: > Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future > and I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in > 1973 and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and > re-tiled it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the > 'end', my wife is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom > suite and tiles > ?etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I > have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a > new white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple > buying the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art > my central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door > neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a > six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would > prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building > site! How thinks you? Cheers, Dave > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chris at chriswoolf.co.uk Mon Sep 30 09:25:48 2019 From: chris at chriswoolf.co.uk (Chris Woolf) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 15:25:48 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> Message-ID: <8d1279a5-7abf-e73a-9ab6-0d90adbf6261@chriswoolf.co.uk> On 30/09/2019 15:09, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > ... When we're gone the children will get large pots of money that > they didn't earn,... > > Or maybe they will get just enough to keep their parents in the care home they desperately need when serious ill-health, mental incapacity etc makes that essential;} We all dream of a gentle demise but we've watched several friends and associates needing 2-3 years of expensive care following strokes, dementia and other horrors. That can sup up a house-value of dosh remarkably quickly, if you happen to be unlucky. Expecting cash to rattle down the generations is becoming a less likely scenario for all but a few nowadays. Chris Woolf --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave at davesound.co.uk Mon Sep 30 09:20:40 2019 From: dave at davesound.co.uk (Dave Plowman) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 15:20:40 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> Message-ID: <57fba75c2bdave@davesound.co.uk> In article <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5 at gmail.com>, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > I just looked at Zoopla and discovered that my house is now worth lots > of money, four times what we paid. We could start a competition. I've been here perhaps longer than most. Since 1974. Last similar house in the street sold for 96.2 times what I paid for this one. On that basis, an SA2 would now be earning over 1/4m a year. -- *If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible? Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12 From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 30 09:46:01 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 15:46:01 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <57fba75c2bdave@davesound.co.uk> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> <57fba75c2bdave@davesound.co.uk> Message-ID: <5d921529.1c69fb81.88d5c.9b4b@mx.google.com> Did Bernie build in the different value of money between 1974 and now? I bought my one bedroom flat for ?14,500 in 1977, but these similar flats are now commanding a market price of around ?250,000. But what of the purchasing power of the two values? Maybe Chris W has a comparison chart in play? Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Dave Plowman via Tech1 Sent: 30 September 2019 15:30 To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma In article <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5 at gmail.com>, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: > I just looked at Zoopla and discovered that my house is now worth lots > of money, four times what we paid. We could start a competition. I've been here perhaps longer than most. Since 1974. Last similar house in the street sold for 96.2 times what I paid for this one. On that basis, an SA2 would now be earning over 1/4m a year. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alanaudio at me.com Mon Sep 30 10:13:26 2019 From: alanaudio at me.com (Alan Taylor) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 16:13:26 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <8d1279a5-7abf-e73a-9ab6-0d90adbf6261@chriswoolf.co.uk> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> <54b641b8-2112-7ca2-f833-b6a12bdff5c5@gmail.com> <8d1279a5-7abf-e73a-9ab6-0d90adbf6261@chriswoolf.co.uk> Message-ID: <4D52CA00-BCC7-48C6-B7F3-F1652D8A85D3@me.com> The cost of a decent residential care home is eye watering. When my mother had dementia and a series of strokes, it eventually became impossible for her to safely live at home, despite having had many years of carers visiting three times per day. Finding a suitable care home was very difficult. Some of the more 'affordable' care homes were utterly dreadful. In order to get decent residential care, it cost four figures per month and she needed residential care for many years. Selling her home was the only way to finance that care. I don't know what residential care costs these days, but by extrapolating from my previous experience back then, I wouldn't be surprised if it currently costs ?20k-30k per year. My wife used to work as a carer and then a manager in the private care sector and it's worth bearing in mind that many care companies charge one rate for private clients and a significantly lower rate for local authority clients. In effect the private clients are subsidising the local authority clients. On the face of it, the care companies themselves appear to be potentially making huge sums of money, but in reality, many of them are running on razor thin profit margins and are in quite a precarious financial position due to the massive costs of premises, servicing borrowing, the rising cost of the workforce and the increasing scarcity of workers willing to do rather unpleasant work for very low wages. I don't know what the answer is for provision of care, it's something that politicians should have properly addressed long before now, but I do know that as things currently are, it can be massively expensive and could rapidly erode any money that might have been earmarked for the sprogs. Alan Taylor On 30 Sep 2019, at 30 Sep . 15:25, Chris Woolf via Tech1 wrote: > > On 30/09/2019 15:09, Bernard Newnham via Tech1 wrote: >> ... When we're gone the children will get large pots of money that they didn't earn,... >> >> > Or maybe they will get just enough to keep their parents in the care home they desperately need when serious ill-health, mental incapacity etc makes that essential;} > > We all dream of a gentle demise but we've watched several friends and associates needing 2-3 years of expensive care following strokes, dementia and other horrors. That can sup up a house-value of dosh remarkably quickly, if you happen to be unlucky. > > Expecting cash to rattle down the generations is becoming a less likely scenario for all but a few nowadays. > > Chris Woolf > > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net Mon Sep 30 11:22:50 2019 From: dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net (David Newbitt) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 17:22:50 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fw: Dilemma Message-ID: -----Original Message----- From: David Newbitt Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 4:02 PM To: Chris Woolf Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma Interesting topic this. Strongly agree with Chris about seeing one's house as a home rather than an asset. Like me, I'm sure many of you will have known people who make a lifetime's work out of property development of their own homes thereby gradually working their way towards owning something spectacular for the Jones' to envy. Not much in the way of a happy homestead en route however. Although Dave Plowman is quite right about the improbability of recouping the cost of fancy bathrooms and kitchens, one has to consider the issue of whether the house is actually going to sell at all 'as is'. For example look at the scenario of the selling market being difficult and several similar properties on offer in a particular locality. There are things which can tip the buyer your way and which, despite not showing the ideal investment return, may be the difference between a sale and a no sale. We moved just short of two years ago having spent 37 years in a cottage in bandit-country in the West Somerset hills. Our furniture was Old Charm Oak which had cost serious money when bought. The estate agent advised it was so out of favour as to be a turn-off, so we took the lot to an auction house and replaced with simple modern units knowing full well the cost of the exercise would be money written off. As the auctioneer (whose family I had known since schooldays) predicted, the Old Charm went for peanuts. Can't prove the significance of the advice but it was probably right. I like Nick's point about 'bad DIY'. However, having spent a good many years around the building trade I would venture it's quite likely to be bad tradesmen! In the end, life's just a lottery I suspect! Dave Newbitt. -----Original Message----- From: Chris Woolf via Tech1 Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 2:50 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma I'd absolutely agree. It is impossible to put in kitchens, bathrooms etc that will please a future buyer. About the only cost-effective thing you ~might~ do is put white emulsion round every room and replace "interesting" fitted carpets with something utterly plain and innocuous (and cheap), two weeks before you put the house on the market. A house that is slightly cheaper than the average but allows the buyer to put their own stamp on it is far more attractive than having to buy ?30k's worth of somebody else's taste in lavatories. Above all, a house has to be somewhere ~you~ want to live. It has become ridiculous that people only see houses as "assets" rather than "homes". Add in all the things ~you~ want to enjoy your home, and leave a future buyer to do the same. Chris Woolf On 30/09/2019 14:17, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: > I'd say keep or change things by what you want. Not to benefit those in > your will, after you've gone. > > Unless a starter home, most buyers simply want a sound house they can > fettle to their tastes. In other words, you'll not get back the costs of a > designer kitchen or bathroom etc. > > Of course it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-) > > > In article <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0 at btinternet.com>, > dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: >> Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and >> I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 >> and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled >> it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife >> is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles >> etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I >> have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new >> white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying >> the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my >> central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door >> neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a >> six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would >> prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! >> How thinks you? Cheers, Dave --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk From ravenscourt1 at btinternet.com Mon Sep 30 11:26:20 2019 From: ravenscourt1 at btinternet.com (Albert Barber) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 17:26:20 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <9E4752A1-AA66-45FB-AE04-DA3326229DEE@btinternet.com> > On 30 Sep 2019, at 17:22, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: > > > > -----Original Message----- From: David Newbitt > Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 4:02 PM > To: Chris Woolf > Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma > > Interesting topic this. Strongly agree with Chris about seeing one's house > as a home rather than an asset. Like me, I'm sure many of you will have > known people who make a lifetime's work out of property development of their > own homes thereby gradually working their way towards owning something > spectacular for the Jones' to envy. Not much in the way of a happy homestead > en route however. > > Although Dave Plowman is quite right about the improbability of recouping > the cost of fancy bathrooms and kitchens, one has to consider the issue of > whether the house is actually going to sell at all 'as is'. For example look > at the scenario of the selling market being difficult and several similar > properties on offer in a particular locality. There are things which can tip > the buyer your way and which, despite not showing the ideal investment > return, may be the difference between a sale and a no sale. > > We moved just short of two years ago having spent 37 years in a cottage in > bandit-country in the West Somerset hills. Our furniture was Old Charm Oak > which had cost serious money when bought. The estate agent advised it was so > out of favour as to be a turn-off, so we took the lot to an auction house > and replaced with simple modern units knowing full well the cost of the > exercise would be money written off. As the auctioneer (whose family I had > known since schooldays) predicted, the Old Charm went for peanuts. Can't > prove the significance of the advice but it was probably right. > > I like Nick's point about 'bad DIY'. However, having spent a good many years > around the building trade I would venture it's quite likely to be bad > tradesmen! > > In the end, life's just a lottery I suspect! > > Dave Newbitt. > > -----Original Message----- From: Chris Woolf via Tech1 > Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 2:50 PM > To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma > > I'd absolutely agree. > > It is impossible to put in kitchens, bathrooms etc that will please a > future buyer. About the only cost-effective thing you ~might~ do is put > white emulsion round every room and replace "interesting" fitted carpets > with something utterly plain and innocuous (and cheap), two weeks before > you put the house on the market. > > A house that is slightly cheaper than the average but allows the buyer > to put their own stamp on it is far more attractive than having to buy > ?30k's worth of somebody else's taste in lavatories. > > Above all, a house has to be somewhere ~you~ want to live. It has become > ridiculous that people only see houses as "assets" rather than "homes". > Add in all the things ~you~ want to enjoy your home, and leave a future > buyer to do the same. > > Chris Woolf > > > On 30/09/2019 14:17, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: >> I'd say keep or change things by what you want. Not to benefit those in >> your will, after you've gone. >> >> Unless a starter home, most buyers simply want a sound house they can >> fettle to their tastes. In other words, you'll not get back the costs of a >> designer kitchen or bathroom etc. >> >> Of course it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-) >> >> >> In article <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0 at btinternet.com>, >> dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: >>> Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and >>> I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 >>> and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled >>> it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife >>> is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles >>> etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I >>> have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new >>> white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying >>> the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my >>> central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door >>> neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a >>> six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would >>> prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! >>> How thinks you? Cheers, Dave > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk > > -- > Tech1 mailing list > Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk > http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Screen Shot 2019-09-30 at 17.25.48.png Type: image/png Size: 111831 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net Mon Sep 30 11:48:19 2019 From: dnewbitt at fireflyuk.net (David Newbitt) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 17:48:19 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <9E4752A1-AA66-45FB-AE04-DA3326229DEE@btinternet.com> References: <9E4752A1-AA66-45FB-AE04-DA3326229DEE@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <6324938CD1224D7E8628FCD2241B8AF5@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Often think how contradictory values are. Many items new cost a great deal yet seem of little s/hand value. Dave Newbitt. From: Albert Barber Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 5:26 PM To: David Newbitt Cc: Albert Barber ; tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma On 30 Sep 2019, at 17:22, David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: -----Original Message----- From: David Newbitt Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 4:02 PM To: Chris Woolf Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma Interesting topic this. Strongly agree with Chris about seeing one's house as a home rather than an asset. Like me, I'm sure many of you will have known people who make a lifetime's work out of property development of their own homes thereby gradually working their way towards owning something spectacular for the Jones' to envy. Not much in the way of a happy homestead en route however. Although Dave Plowman is quite right about the improbability of recouping the cost of fancy bathrooms and kitchens, one has to consider the issue of whether the house is actually going to sell at all 'as is'. For example look at the scenario of the selling market being difficult and several similar properties on offer in a particular locality. There are things which can tip the buyer your way and which, despite not showing the ideal investment return, may be the difference between a sale and a no sale. We moved just short of two years ago having spent 37 years in a cottage in bandit-country in the West Somerset hills. Our furniture was Old Charm Oak which had cost serious money when bought. The estate agent advised it was so out of favour as to be a turn-off, so we took the lot to an auction house and replaced with simple modern units knowing full well the cost of the exercise would be money written off. As the auctioneer (whose family I had known since schooldays) predicted, the Old Charm went for peanuts. Can't prove the significance of the advice but it was probably right. I like Nick's point about 'bad DIY'. However, having spent a good many years around the building trade I would venture it's quite likely to be bad tradesmen! In the end, life's just a lottery I suspect! Dave Newbitt. -----Original Message----- From: Chris Woolf via Tech1 Sent: Monday, September 30, 2019 2:50 PM To: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma I'd absolutely agree. It is impossible to put in kitchens, bathrooms etc that will please a future buyer. About the only cost-effective thing you ~might~ do is put white emulsion round every room and replace "interesting" fitted carpets with something utterly plain and innocuous (and cheap), two weeks before you put the house on the market. A house that is slightly cheaper than the average but allows the buyer to put their own stamp on it is far more attractive than having to buy ?30k's worth of somebody else's taste in lavatories. Above all, a house has to be somewhere ~you~ want to live. It has become ridiculous that people only see houses as "assets" rather than "homes". Add in all the things ~you~ want to enjoy your home, and leave a future buyer to do the same. Chris Woolf On 30/09/2019 14:17, Dave Plowman via Tech1 wrote: I'd say keep or change things by what you want. Not to benefit those in your will, after you've gone. Unless a starter home, most buyers simply want a sound house they can fettle to their tastes. In other words, you'll not get back the costs of a designer kitchen or bathroom etc. Of course it could just be that SWMBO wants a new kitchen. ;-) In article <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0 at btinternet.com>, dave.mdv via Tech1 wrote: Most of you are going to come across this problem in the near future and I am wondering what you feel about it. We moved into our house in 1973 and over the years I have re-wired, re-plumbed, re-gassed and re-tiled it etc. to the fashion at the time. Now, as we reach the 'end', my wife is contemplating re-decorating, changing the bathroom suite and tiles etc. so that our off-spring will get a better price for the house. I have already removed a perfectly good Avocado toilet and installed a new white one, but where does it end? I know that any young couple buying the house will instantly gut it, no matter how state of the art my central heating is, and won't move in for months. Our next-door neighbours ripped out a perfectly good new kitchen and installed a six-ring hob etc. but do all their meat cooking on a barbecue! I would prefer to enjoy what time we have left and not live in a building site! How thinks you? Cheers, Dave --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -- Tech1 mailing list Tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk http://tech-ops.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/tech1_tech-ops.co.uk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Screen Shot 2019-09-30 at 17.25.48.png Type: image/png Size: 111831 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 30 11:50:53 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 17:50:53 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <9E4752A1-AA66-45FB-AE04-DA3326229DEE@btinternet.com> References: <9E4752A1-AA66-45FB-AE04-DA3326229DEE@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <5d92326d.1c69fb81.8b1d0.0990@mx.google.com> When my parents passed on, I was left with furniture ? some of which I wished to keep, other that I had no room for. These items were put into storage, but with the years passing, no way was I going to find a living space large enough. So, a Welsh dresser, which had been valued by Bonhams and Christies, from photos, as being around ?1500, went to the local auctioneers. It didn?t reach the reserve price of ?1500, so I paid ?50 for transport to Bonhams, where it did! OK, one loses a bit on the commissions, but it was out of my hair, I just hope that whoever bought it had a country kitchen for which it was just the thing! I do like watching ?Flog It? which actually puts the items up for auction to see if the valuers have got it right. Unlike Antiques Roadshow which doesn?t. I do wonder if the items on ?Flog It? might realise a better price if they had been put to a prestigious auction house in London, but there are bids coming in by phone and internet so maybe it is a wider spread. One example was a silk embroidered kimono, which was locally valued at ?400, but eventually knocked down at ?4,500! Best Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pat.heigham at amps.net Mon Sep 30 11:52:50 2019 From: pat.heigham at amps.net (patheigham) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 17:52:50 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <6324938CD1224D7E8628FCD2241B8AF5@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> References: <9E4752A1-AA66-45FB-AE04-DA3326229DEE@btinternet.com> <6324938CD1224D7E8628FCD2241B8AF5@DESKTOP6GGCRV1> Message-ID: <5d9232e3.1c69fb81.c8672.20fc@mx.google.com> One Man?s junk is another?s antique! Pat Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: David Newbitt via Tech1 Sent: 30 September 2019 17:48 To: Albert Barber Cc: tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk Subject: Re: [Tech1] Dilemma Often think how contradictory values are. Many items new cost a great deal yet seem of little s/hand value. ? Dave Newbitt. ? --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Mon Sep 30 17:22:56 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 23:22:56 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Dilemma In-Reply-To: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> References: <0410a86b-4674-65b8-6414-d94e85a04ae0@btinternet.com> Message-ID: <9d5d2120-c3f8-c6ef-8d87-b3716d110718@btinternet.com> Many thanks to all of you who have responded to this conumdrum! I've no doubt that all of our readers will eventually have the same decision to make! Cheers, Dave From dave.mdv at btinternet.com Mon Sep 30 17:37:35 2019 From: dave.mdv at btinternet.com (dave.mdv) Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 23:37:35 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] PayPal Message-ID: <76059505-729b-eda4-7887-8c568fc98c4b@btinternet.com> I had a problem with my wife's camera microSD card recently where it somehow got corrupted and I couldn't retrieve any of her photos. I 'googled' for rescue software and found 'Recoverit'. I chose a 1 month subscription (nearly ?40) as it was only one SD card I needed to sort out. The program found nearly 2000 images and saved them, but there were .wmf files not .jpgs so I have had to convert them plus there were as many .chk files as well! Anyway, I have just received notification that my 'recurring' subscription is about to be renewed! I don't want to renew it so I have been trying to access my 'pre-arranged payment' folder on PayPal but have been unable to do so. I keep getting a message that there have been 'a few errors in retrieving my data, please try again in a few minutes'. This has been going on for several days, I have e-mailed PayPal and the reply states that 'as a valued customer they don't want me to wait for a reply and here is an automatic reply' which tells me what I already know how to look at your pre-approved payments. I have had 4 of these and still I can't talk to a human being! Baa, bl**dy computers! Cheers, Dave From dave at davesound.co.uk Mon Sep 30 18:27:28 2019 From: dave at davesound.co.uk (Dave Plowman) Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:27:28 +0100 Subject: [Tech1] Fw: Dilemma In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <57fbd96b9adave@davesound.co.uk> In article , David Newbitt via Tech1 wrote: > Although Dave Plowman is quite right about the improbability of > recouping the cost of fancy bathrooms and kitchens, one has to consider > the issue of whether the house is actually going to sell at all 'as is'. > For example look at the scenario of the selling market being difficult > and several similar properties on offer in a particular locality. There > are things which can tip the buyer your way and which, despite not > showing the ideal investment return, may be the difference between a > sale and a no sale. Unless a starter home, which would you rather have? A house with a designer kitchen and bathroom - or exactly the same house reduced in price by what they cost? -- *Do paediatricians play miniature golf on Wednesdays? Dave Plowman dave at davesound.co.uk London SW 12