Early case of AVID-itis

Found in the dusty archives of the Internet is this early 1961 KTTV “television tape” demo of the revolutionary wipes, fades, effects and keying newly available at the time. Today we would call this “AVID-itis.”

Southern News

Unidentified Fox Movietone News newsreel crew in Guntersville, Alabama, mid 1930s.

Cinesound Review

Newsreel crews of Cinesound Review of Australia out front of their studios in the mid 1930s.

Fox Movietone News Views

Fox Movietone News’ Eric Bierre (paying bridge toll) and Ray Vaughan on the roof of their Packard.

The History of the Press Conference

Ever wonder who was the fool who came up with the concept of a press conference? Those lovely events where someone wearing very nice clothing stands before a podium full of mics, drones on and on while you silently pray the event ends before you die of boredom? (yes the author of this site once did time behind a betacam at many a long school board meeting and highly sympathizes with this Baton Rouge photog’s silent sentiment)

You can blame an ingenious Warner-Pathe News cameraman and an ornery general who was a stickler for military decorum for it.

During World War II, Warner-Pathe’s Cliff Poland joined the Army as a photographer for the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps, following the Joint Chief’s across the globe from event to event to record the proceedings for posterity. One of Poland’s assignments sent him to Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945 to record the formal surrender of the Japanese Empire to the Allied Forces aboard the USS Missouri (Poland can be seen behind his newsreel camera on the left in the photo to the right).

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur, demanded absolute dignity for the proceedings about to take place on the Missouri’s 01 level deck right down to the words he chose in his speech announcing the surrender to the world – and made it absolutely clear that he would not tolerate the attending newsmen sticking a cluster of microphones in his face.

So Cliff Poland, in a fit of ingenuity, rigged up a stand to hold the cluster of microphones in a manner that was acceptable to the general, history was made upon the teakwood decks of the Missouri and a system still used in press conferences today was born.