Boy, that was a small, crowded studio. Hard to reposition cameras. I worked TV production 1982-85 and this brought back memories. I remember when we got our first weather computer (1983?). We wrote up weather and sports stats on a Chyron II.
This is one of the most fascinating videos I've ever seen. The quality is so crisp I feel like I've been transported back in time. I absolutely love the part showing how the fake grid ceiling was aligned to the set. This "effect" was a big thing in the 70s. Also, the old teleprompter with the taped scripts was amazing to see. Thanks so much for posting this!
My first job on the crew in the 1980s was to run the paper TelePrompter and I thought that was one of the hardest things to do, especially when a sheet of paper would decide to fly off the conveyor belt before the anchor got to read it! LOL
I was an engineer doing live local news in 1980. We had the same cameras, pedestals, prompter (also known as the boloney slicer!) Surprised to see menu board for the weather, we had already been using Chiron II for several years. When the IV model came out the company name had changed to Chyron.
one of the cameramen was the Dad of a high school friend of mine...I remember when he got laid off because they were making the transition to robotic cameras in the 90s
I can definitely confirm that the fake ceiling was fact. I was a college student in the late 70s and worked on the WEWS floor crew during several summer and holiday vacations. The floor crew operated the TV cameras, lights, assembled the temporary sets, and so on. As a newbie, when we were filming, my job was to cue the talent on set - like the guy you see doing the countdowns in this video. I also just happened to be there when the fake “ceiling” was added. It looked impressive, but as you can see in one shot in the video, it was actually nothing more than a 3 x 3 foot piece of wood and plastic that was shaped to look like it covered the entire studio and was flush with the walls. It weighed no more than 15 pounds and was suspended from the studio ceiling by a chain and pulley. When the evening news would kick off, the “ceiling” would be lowered so that it was just in front of and above Camera #1 which took the opening shot as the news started. Immediately after the opening shot, the Director would switch to Camera #2 which was on a tight shot of Dave Patterson who always covered the lead story. As soon as Camera #2 was live, a member of the floor crew (sometimes me) would raise the fake ceiling up so that Camera #1 could move 20 feet to the right and get a tight shot of Ted Henry who would cover the second news story. One evening, I was plugged into Camera #1 for the opening shot, and as I went to cue the news team (Dave Patterson, Ted Henry, Dorothy Fuldheim, Gib Shanley, and Don Webster), I swung my arm too wide and hit the fake “ceiling.” Since it was very light and hanging from a chain, it started swinging. But to the TV audience, it looked like the entire building was experiencing a massive earthquake. Took a while for me to live that one down as you can imagine!
Oh yeah that's Joel Rose the broadcaster that they started running a bunch of hit pieces on and he ended up killing himself and later it was proven it was not his DNA
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Boy, that was a small, crowded studio. Hard to reposition cameras. I worked TV production 1982-85 and this brought back memories. I remember when we got our first weather computer (1983?). We wrote up weather and sports stats on a Chyron II.
That was great just to hear a bit of the theme song!
I remember touring channel 5 with my father in 1979
This is one of the most fascinating videos I've ever seen. The quality is so crisp I feel like I've been transported back in time. I absolutely love the part showing how the fake grid ceiling was aligned to the set. This "effect" was a big thing in the 70s. Also, the old teleprompter with the taped scripts was amazing to see. Thanks so much for posting this!
My first job on the crew in the 1980s was to run the paper TelePrompter and I thought that was one of the hardest things to do, especially when a sheet of paper would decide to fly off the conveyor belt before the anchor got to read it! LOL
I was an engineer doing live local news in 1980. We had the same cameras, pedestals, prompter (also known as the boloney slicer!) Surprised to see menu board for the weather, we had already been using Chiron II for several years. When the IV model came out the company name had changed to Chyron.
one of the cameramen was the Dad of a high school friend of mine...I remember when he got laid off because they were making the transition to robotic cameras in the 90s
Can't believe that ceiling was fact. Fascinating.
@jay bird Fake ceiling in studio.
I can definitely confirm that the fake ceiling was fact. I was a college student in the late 70s and worked on the WEWS floor crew during several summer and holiday vacations. The floor crew operated the TV cameras, lights, assembled the temporary sets, and so on. As a newbie, when we were filming, my job was to cue the talent on set - like the guy you see doing the countdowns in this video.
I also just happened to be there when the fake “ceiling” was added. It looked impressive, but as you can see in one shot in the video, it was actually nothing more than a 3 x 3 foot piece of wood and plastic that was shaped to look like it covered the entire studio and was flush with the walls. It weighed no more than 15 pounds and was suspended from the studio ceiling by a chain and pulley.
When the evening news would kick off, the “ceiling” would be lowered so that it was just in front of and above Camera #1 which took the opening shot as the news started. Immediately after the opening shot, the Director would switch to Camera #2 which was on a tight shot of Dave Patterson who always covered the lead story. As soon as Camera #2 was live, a member of the floor crew (sometimes me) would raise the fake ceiling up so that Camera #1 could move 20 feet to the right and get a tight shot of Ted Henry who would cover the second news story.
One evening, I was plugged into Camera #1 for the opening shot, and as I went to cue the news team (Dave Patterson, Ted Henry, Dorothy Fuldheim, Gib Shanley, and Don Webster), I swung my arm too wide and hit the fake “ceiling.” Since it was very light and hanging from a chain, it started swinging. But to the TV audience, it looked like the entire building was experiencing a massive earthquake. Took a while for me to live that one down as you can imagine!
Oh yeah that's Joel Rose the broadcaster that they started running a bunch of hit pieces on and he ended up killing himself and later it was proven it was not his DNA
so rare.
Jenny Crim was a gorgeous woman, tall too! I miss her presense on Cleveland TV.
I had the honor of lighting her cigarette at an event!