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One Of My All Time Favorite Photos

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

One Of My All Time Favorite Photos

I’ve had this 8 x 10 glossy photo since 1966. Starting at age 14 (’64) I would write to NBC, CBS and ABC asking for photos of the cameras in action. Mrs. Katheryn S. Cole at NBC was gracious enough to always reply with big packs of photos like these. Only in the last year or so have I come to know the name of one of the cameramen from posts here by his daughter. Manning the TK41 at the bottom is long time NBC cameraman Don Mulvaney who was also one of NBC’s first portable camera operators starting with the 1952 political conventions. This shot is on the set of ‘The Mitch Miller Show’ from NBC Brooklyn. Don’s camera is mounted on the electric RCA TD 9 pedestal. The center camera is mounted on a McAlister crab dolly and the top camera is mounted on a Chapman crane, but it not an Electra (like in 8H) as the seat is different. Notice under the crane camera the wedge between the cradle head and camera that tilts it down about 30 degrees. This is done to give more flexibility to tilt down because without it, the camera would always be at the forward end of the pan head track and unable to tilt down and farther. Notice also the boom cable goes to a ceiling port in order to eliminate as many floor cables as possible. FYI, the sleeveless guy is one of the dancers in a medley of country songs.

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12 responses to “One Of My All Time Favorite Photos”

  1. Jay Ballard

    I agree with Peter Basil-that is NOT Don on the lower TK-41. Frank Gaeta is a good guess.

  2. Maureen Stamm

    Not Al Frisch, but I don’t remember his name, wish I did.

  3. Mike Cain

    I think the mic boom operator was Al Frish.

  4. Clay Davis

    Days of big iron, tubes, high voltage, and glass. Engineers today don’t know about 12AU7’s 6HF5’s, and fly back taps.

  5. Maureen Stamm

    Preston, no they didn’t, being that they were all in a Union. TD’s were paid more.

  6. Howard Malley

    Wow. Love your postings. Who are you in real life? I had the pleasure of seeing some shows when my dad took me from Rochester to NY and we saw some classic shows.

  7. Peter Basil

    I am fairly certain the camera op is actually Frank Gaeta.

  8. Christopher Landy

    So curious about the temperature in the studio. Most studios at NBC are kept in the low 50’s with yet crew forced to wear winter jackets and even gloves. I see these guys in short sleeve shirts, underneath thousands of watts from the lamps right above their head. Perhaps Mitch Miller did not sweat! 😉

  9. Jim Glynn

    Great picture! Thanks for sharing. I still have a drawing I made in Civics class in high school of a scene very similar to this picture. I used to love the shape of those cameras and would daydream in class of working in a TV studio like this. That dream came true!

  10. Preston Trusler

    I wonder if the guys who worked high up got any more money than the guys on the floor?

  11. Gar Thaddeus Gernstein

    These ‘behind the scenes’ photographs are fantastic !

  12. Neil Bobrick

    They look like lights to me.

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