THE MOOG SHOW • • • • •   This is what it sounded like on headset during a student production at WCNY-TV on April 22, 1970, as I recalled it in a letter I wrote three days later.  On the production, I served as what we would now call a Tape A.D., sitting beside a VTR in the video tape room.  In the control room, next to the director was another A.D., or Assistant Director.   ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:  Okay, roll and record for program. ME (to a nearby engineer):  Roll and record, please.  (He starts the other VTR recording.)  We are rolling and recording. A.D.:  Take slate and tone for ten seconds.  (Pause.)  Slate out.  Start the insert tape. ME (to the engineer):  Roll it.  Ten.  Nine.  Eight. DIRECTOR:  Ready to come up on effects, ready to bring up audio. A.D. and ME (counting in unison):  Seven.  Six.  Five.  Four.  Three.  Two.  One.  Mark. DIRECTOR:  Come up on effects, and bring up audio.  Camera Three, zoom in slowly.  Ready to take out Two; take it out.  Change card. STAGE MANAGER:  Change the card. DIRECTOR:  Ready to go to Three and Five key over One external.  Take it. ME:  One minute until you lose the commercials. DIRECTOR:  Dissolve to Four.  Set up Two over One.  Not external, not external, internal!  Use internal!  Okay, ready effects, take effects. ME:  Thirty seconds left in the commercials. DIRECTOR:  All right.  Watch your clipper level, Barry.  Ready to dissolve to Three; dissolve to Three.  Camera Two, change polarity.  Stage Manager, you want to get the dancers ready? S.M.:  Okay.  Dancers, standy by! A.D.:  Tom, how are we doing on time? ME:  You're going to lose the commercials in about eight seconds. A.D.:  No, I mean the overall time of the show. ME:  Oh, I've got about 11:20 now. A.D.:  Hmm.  My clock seems to be gaining. ME:  The commercials are gone; you have one minute until the insert. A.D.:  One minute until the insert. DIRECTOR:  Ready Two; take Two. ME:  Another thing, Steve, on my monitor I saw the video come up about two and a half seconds late when we started the show. A.D.:  You did? DIRECTOR:  Set up One over Five internal. ME:  We can correct for that later; run over a couple of seconds. TECHNICAL DIRECTOR:  Do you want to wipe to it? ME:  Steve, if you want I'll give you a hack at twelve minutes. A.D.:  Yeah, do that. DIRECTOR:  No, let's not wipe, let's dissolve. T.D.:  You're on Two now. DIRECTOR:  I know. ME:  Coming up on twelve minutes; mark, twelve minutes. A.D.:  I'm five seconds fast. ME:  Thirty seconds until the insert. A.D.:  You've got thirty seconds before the insert, Price. DIRECTOR:  Okay, this will be just a dissolve to the insert this time. T.D.:  No key? DIRECTOR:  No key.  Just dissolve to Four. ME:  Twenty seconds. S.M.:  Twenty seconds! A.D.:  I wonder why my clock's gaining. ME:  Ten seconds. DIRECTOR:  Are you ready to dissolve to Four? T.D.:  Of course. ME:  Five. DIRECTOR:  Okay, do it, slowly. ME:  Two seconds.  One.  Insert! DIRECTOR:  All right, tell the dancers to begin right after this insert.  Slide projectors, I want drum 1-A on projector one, drum 2-B on projector two, and take them through backwards.  Get ready to key Two over Three internal, and watch your level.  Two, you can come back to normal polarity now. And so it went.

To return to the letter, click here.