I think this is my all time favorite TK41 color shot. My like for this may be influenced by the art of the shot and the set, and even though this is not very colorful, it shows how great the black registration was on this camera. I would have loved to have been at NBC Burbank when this was done. Were any of you there? Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-RAnkH8Jxc
Andy Williams – O Holy Night
A Genuine Rarity & Some NEW NBC Color History This rare photo shows the RCA engineers that were charged with the design and creation of the TK40. Many others (who’s work was part of the development of live color systems) were involved, but when it came to putting all of that into a final product […]
A Learning Moment; The First Mobile Units and Field Cameras In 1939, RCA designed and built the first mobile television production units ever. They were a pair but between them, supported only two cameras as one unit was a control room truck and one was a generator/transmitter truck. This is one of those two RCA […]
Rare Classic! Ed Sullivan Taping Holiday On Ice With TK41s Here is some great home movie footage of the taping at Madison Square Gardens in 1967. I notice Producer Bob Precht and Floor Manager Eddie Brinkmann are wearing different clothes in later shots, but I think this was all shot in one day. They may […]
Beatles 50th Sullivan Anniversary Count Down…7 Days The more I dig into the details, the more interesting this story becomes. Most of us never knew George Harrison was very sick with the flu and up till the last minute, it was 50/50 on whether he would be able to perform. As I had posted before, […]
Totally agree about the “art of the shot” Bobby. Absolute perfection. True artists behind the cams!
Back in the days when Video Engineers had hours to do camera setup to get it perfect. Now, I see newscasts where the people look orange due to codependence of computers and no Engineer on the shift.
Beautiful. A perfect example of what made color television so awesome in the early days.
Most of Andy’s production numbers were lip synced to guarantee best sound and no boom shadow. This made and camera moves and lighting easier. Great TK41 video and great crane operation-so smooth.
Artful set decoration and lighting, yes. BTW, registration covers all of the image and is not limited to ‘black’ or any color. It’s the alignment of the 3 I/O tubes to each other. This clip does show superb channel alignment, but it is also a bit soft. I’m sure the original recording was sharper than this clip.
While I have to give kudos to the video, the audio sounds GREAT!
…betcha the video engineers worked double time to adjust the 41’s just right.
41s could look great with a great engineer at the controls. A lot of knobs on a 41.
Watching our local news it appears no one knows how to adjust a camera properly…. they just push “auto-adjust” and go live with it.
I am really glad we got to see him in person a few years ago before his illness, he brought his Christmas Show here to the Twilight Zone, and was still able to nail all of the numbers…used all local singers as well, a huge treat for them!
I remember this!
I went to a taping of the Andy Williams Show in Burbank. The Temptations were performing. What a thrill!
I am so lucky to have learned shading from good engineers.
The video operator was the great Jerry Smith: The man behind the video for most of the great NBC music specials. His credits included the Sinatra specials, The Temptations and Supremes special, The Dean Martin shows, The Dinah Shore shows and many others.
The Andy Williams shows were not lip synced. He always sang live. Shows from this period employed orchestra pre records, recorded on stage, mixed live to mono tape and played back through an Altec A7. Andy sang on a boom mic, probably an RCA BK5B. he was also the first performer to employ reverb on television. The production and post production mixer was Bill Cole, He did every big musical special in the 60s through the early 70s.