Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

288
THE PROGRAM ANGLE
unusual, it will hit the national papers and good footage can prob-
ably be sold ; charity drives are always good for publicity especially
if tied in with veterans in some way.
One of the most important if not the most important
things in newsreel work, apart from film quality, of course, is
accuracy. Names MUST be spelled properly, titles given correctly,
and personalities treated with respect. Facts must be given a
meaning and be right, as must the actual identification of places.
This means that positive identification must be made at the time
the film is exposed and accurate notes taken on the occasion, since
the writer of the commentary will need these for his script. Some-
times research is needed to trace back an event and tie it in with
former news stories. In this case the New York Times, World Al-
manac, or Chicago News are about the best sources. Generally
speaking, small station operation will not demand a great deal of
research, and those subjects which do will generally be local personalities
so that local papers will probably have all the informa-
tion required.
The question whether to shoot silent or sound is sure to crop
up sooner or later, so we may as well settle it now. Almost every
newsreel film is shot silent, that is at least 90 per cent of them.
Most functions and events do not require either synchronized
sound or sound that is recorded at the location. The only time
that lip sync sound is required is for interviews or events where
the mayor or some other public person is appealing for something
such as money or re-election. Then, of course, sound must be
used and it must be synchronized. On all other occasions sound
is not only not necessary, but is also expensive and, strangely
enough, it is not as satisfactory
to record the actual sounds as it
is to fake and dub them in, in the laboratory. Everyone is familiar
with the sound effects man used in movies and sound broadcasting.
He never uses the real thing to produce film sound. For a large
explosion he uses a .38 revolver fired in a barrel blank, of course.
It sounds like 100 pounds of dynamite blowing up a building.
Airplane motors are produced by rotating small wheels with
strips of leather on them very rapidly on an electric motor. It