[From the Washington Post, Weekend, Oct. 21, 1983]

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS

(By Roger Piantadosi)

Used to be, your childhood was seen, not heard. And your old friends or departed family posed-faded and still between the pages of a dusty album, or squinty-eyed and miming into the harsh floodlight of a trusty Bell & Howell.

Perhaps your dad once spent an entire weekend snipping, taping and gluing together countless three-minute reels of 8-mm memorabilia into a 20-minute epic. And perhaps when he showed it Sunday night and froze the projector on a particularly interesting frame, the bulb burned a black hole right through your cousin's birthday cake.

Things have changed.

Maybe you knew that in 1983, a Baltimore Oriole can be hit in the head with a World Series pitch eight times in a minute and a half-seven times in slow-motion. Maybe you didn't know that, in 1983, so can a Silver Spring Little Leaguer. Videotape.

It hit broadcast television 15 years ago and changed it forever. It's now hitting home-where it will do likewise.

Your family gatherings, office parties and visits to grandma can now be reconvened-in sound and color and even, with luck, in focus-at any time after they happen. Or at any time while they are happening.

Your old photographs and slides-and, yes, even those old 8-mm or Super 8 movies can be transferred to videotape and watched musslessly and fusslessly, on the living room TV.

You may have misgivings about video-that it's just not as warm or pretty a medium as film, or that it's still more cumbersome than Super 8 or Instamatic technology (through not for long), or that all this electronic self-immortalization is plain bad for us, particularly for our kids. These are valid worries, chiefly allayed as most fears are: through moderation.

Meantime, as a certain Wolf used to warn Washington:

Let's go to the videotape.

FAREWELL TO FILM: VIDEOTAPE IS THE FUTURE FOR THE PAST

(By Roger Piantadosi)

Good morning. Sell your Super 8 camera.

Well, a slight overreaction, perhaps. But you should know right off that in 1982, U.S. sales of consumer video cameras surpassed those of Super 8 cameras for the first time ever.

"That's a very significant number," says David Hajdu, the editor of Video Review magazine who, unlike you, has paid close attention to video since fourth grade. "It means the average person is beginning to see video as a home-movie medium to replace film."

Correct: a home-movie medium. In other words, we won't be discussing movie rental clubs versus HBO, component versus compact or even Beta versus VHS. We're talking about doing here, not viewing—about using video to record, in living color, Your Life Story.

Zoom to close-up of Barbara Gasper of Potomac.

"We wanted something more than just a photo album," says Gasper, speaking of her daughter Christine's wedding last April. "We wanted something to show more of the warmth and animation and intimacy of the day." Gasper got, and still has, what she wanted. It's on a video cassette.

Imagine those episodes of your life story that could be recorded and played backinstantaneously, unlike Super 8, and without having to change reels every three minutes. Scenes such as your parents' 50th anniversary, your kids at the Lincoln Memorial, your grandfather's recollections of the old country, your touch-football team's annual barbecue, your daughter's piano recital, your week in Rehoboth, your next date. . . well, that's enough.

You can even put your TV itself on TV-for insurance-inventory purposes. Imagine that.

To do more than imagine all this, of course, you'll need a camera and a video cassette recorder (VCR); the good news is that you don't necessarily have to buy them.

The best news is that no special equipment whatsoever is required to digest the following rough guide to home video moviemaking. It's in black-and-white, for effect.

THE SMALL-SCREEN BIG PICTURE

You'll find a VCR in about 8 or 9 percent of the homes in America today, but that number is rising rapidly-as technology drives equipment prices down and capabilities up. "In five years," says Jim Corrado of Memory Makers, a Silver Spring audiovideo recording studio, "video decks will be as common as audio decks are now." Fifteen years ago, an awkward, 50-pound reel-to-reel video tape deck and camera-both black-and-white-might've cost close to $2,000. Today, $2,000 buys a sophisticated, low-light color camera (probably with auto-focus, auto-iris, power zoom and a character generator for titling and timing), plus a portable, roughly 10pound color video tape deck and its tabletop tuner-timer mate.

And that's if you want results nearly indistinguishable from what you see on the 6 o'clock news. You can also get a no-frills, all-purpose system-camera and VCR— for under $700. Just don't try shooting by candlelight.

This year, both Sony and JVC introduced the first truly one-piece camera-recorders, making it tougher still for a Bell & Howell executive to get a decent night's sleep. The price hovers around $1,500.

"Sales," says JVC of America spokesman Ron Marin, "are climbing on the order of triple-digit increases over a year earlier. At the same time, as the prices of color cameras come down to the affordable range, more people are buying cameras and using their VCRs not just as a home viewing device for prerecorded video cassettes, but also more actively-as a home-movie tape system."

"I think we're probably two, three years away from people doing most of their own camera work," says Greg Warrick, 36, owner of Stage Door video centers in Arlington and Fairfax. "But I also think this is going to be the year of the video recorder-this Christmas, the next 12 to 15 months, VCRs are going to become mainstream products."

Noreen McKinney of Greenbelt, who with husband Haven videotapes other people's weddings for a living, has discovered something odd, if not portentous: Most of their customers don't even own VCRs. "They get these tapes anyway," she says, "and I guess they figure they'll eventually have a machine."

"Video is sexy," says Video Review's Hajdu. "It's the riding mower of the '80s. Video stores are popping up in all the malls, the neighbors are getting video equipment, its catching on like crazy. Prices are getting extremely appealing to the average person-down to $300 to $500 [for the basic VCR]. That's low enough that the average person would not have to buy on time.

"And in cameras," says Hajdu, "two things are happening that at first seem almost contradictory: Video cameras are getting both more sophisticated and simpler. They're getting closer, actually, to being extraordinarily sophisticated . . Brownies.'

True, but still kind of expensive. How does a normal person afford such Brownies, riding mowers of the '80s or whatever?

Funny you should ask.

AFFORDING IT

There are three basic ways to become a home videographer and still leave enough in the bank to keep free checking:

1. Buy a VCR for yourself and share the cost of a camera—ideally the system's most expensive component-with friends, relatives or business associates.

2. Buy one for your business; deduct it during the day, bring it home nights and weekends. (Probably not feasible, tax-wise, for pharmacists or GS-7s at the Department of Agriculture.)

3. Rent.

We'll devote the most space here to renting-because renting is a cheap, sure-fire way to learn what you want or need in a video-movie system, or whether you want one at all. But a few words first about buying. Actually, one word: read.

Read any consumer video magazine, Sears catalogue or manufacturer's literature available at any dealer-to see what's available in videoware and what sounds best for you: portable, stereo, el cheapo, VHS, Beta, etc. Then go to a dealer for a demonstration, tryout, questions and answers. Then, if you really want to save money at the risk of forfeiting hassle-free service later, consider buying the quipment you want from one of the numerous national discount centers you'll see advertised in such magazines as Video Review and American Film. Most ship by United Parcel Service (and damaged or failed units have to be returned that way to the

manufacturer, usually), but the prices are the lowest outside midtown Manhattan. (One Panasonic camera selling at most area video stores for about $1,100, for instance, was available for $850 at one Miami discount center.)

But enough about buying equipment. Let's talk about something else.

RENTING IT, FOR INSTANCE

Meet these three conditions before you leave the store with your $25- to $75-a-day toys, or else:

Did you operate the equipment in the store or get a demonstration at least? You didn't?

Do you have all the accessories you need? Enough battery packs, an AC adaptor, a tripod? Did you remember to buy tape? Would you pick up some milk and a dozen eggs on the way home? Thanks.

Do you have something in mind to tape? Well, you should. A kid's ball game or an office party would be fine-something casual, not quite as crucial as a wedding or an Olympic qualifying competition, because you'll probably screw up.

We sampled a few local video rental places (as should you), and found the most reasonable deals are made on weekends, not surprisingly-when you can rent a camera and portable cassette deck for $75 to about $200. Most places allow you to pick it up Friday afternoon and bring it back Monday morning. Most want a large deposit, but will settle for an imprint of your major credit card.

At Royce's, the electronic sales and service center on Georgia Avenue NW (7235600), a weekend rental costs $75. For that you get a Sharp VC2250 portable deck (VHS) with carrying case and a one-hour battery pack, and a compatible Sharp camera. The camera is nothing fancy-which means you'll need more light indoors than you think, plus you'll have to focus and zoom manually. It's fine for firsttimers.

Those seeking a simple system can also find one at Granada, a TV-video rental dealer downtown on M Street NW (466-6770) and in Laurel (301/498-3800). Granada will rent you a no-frills RCA-009 video camera and Magnavox VHS portable recorder for $50 a day, $100 a weekend or $250 a week. The recorder comes with a shoulder-strap carrying case and one-hour battery; a tripod is extra.

The Stage Door video centers in Arlington and Fairfax have a slightly more lightsensitive RCA video camera and compatible deck to rent for $70 a day ($25 for the camera, $45 for the recorder, carrying case and battery).

If you'd like to be more flexible or fancy when shooting, see someone at Pro Video on Wisconsin Avenue NW (333-9200). For $95 a day, or $150 a weekend, Pro Video will rent you a system that includes a Panasonic portable recorder and case (and up to three hours of batteries), a tripod and a Panasonic PK-956 camera. The camera, better in low light than most, has ultrasonic auto-focus, automatic iris, variablespeed 6:1 zoom and a built-in character generator/stopwatch for titling and clocking. Pro Video lets you pick up a weekend rental after 3 on Friday, and by all means do so. It will take you most of the night to learn to use it.

For one of the best systems you can rent and still be considered a "consumer" (as opposed to a "commercial" customer), call CTL Communications in Silver Spring (585-6311; ask for rentals). For under $200 for the weekend, CTL provides a fiveinch monitor, a portable deck and a video camera with most of the aforementioned Panasonic's features, but the camera also has a newvicon tube-the most light-sensitive of all consumer-grade camera innards. Tripod, case and batteries are included.

AND DOING IT

Commit this section to memory. Your Memorex will be the better for it.

Lighting

Only the more expensive ($800 and up) cameras will give you a decently bright, color-perfect picture in typical indoor light. If you're taping in a church with a $400 camera, for instance, most colors will be reduced to a range somewhere between brown and very dark brown.

Zooming

Resist the temptation, particularly with motorized-zoom cameras. On the screen, it's distracting, and usually unnecessary. The zoom is best used between shots, to frame the next scene.

Panning

Same here. Keep in mind how your eye works-it doesn't pan, it jumps very quickly and efficiently from one "scene" to another. The camera is considerably

heavier and slower and its field of sight much smaller. Most current portable decks allow you to go into the "pause" mode without risking picture distortion or noise, so take advantage of this "editing-in-the-camera" capability. Shoot Aunt Maude, for instance, then pause. Then focus across the room on Uncle Vernon, and start shooting again.

Tripods

Use them. They'll free you to be on camera yourself, but there are many other reasons. Most of them are back muscles.

Audio

Notice that the microphone built into most cameras will pick up everything, including the things you, the cameraman, say. So get a remote mike, put up with your own intrusions, or shut up.

Planning

You won't be working from a script; a Vague Idea is always helpful, though. So are titles, and wide shots to "establish" a setting before you get close. If you're terribly depressed about your continuity, editing videotape requires no razor blades or glue.

Editing

You can edit, roughly, with no more than two interconnected VCR's-to change the sequence of events, remove rough spots and garbage, etc. Some video dealersCTS and Stage Door, mentioned above, come to mind-have sophisticated VHS editing systems for sale (expensive) or for rent ($35 an hour and up, depending on whether you need a technician's help).

Advice

CBS/Fox Video, distributor of theatrical film releases on videotape, has just begun selling its first original production, "The CBS/Fox Guide to Home Videography." The $30 tape, available at many video dealers in both Beta and VHS, teaches camera movement, framing, planning and lighting, by showing how they're done, and the results thereof. This is infinitely better than reading about how it's done.

Well, sometimes it is anyway.

FOR THE PROFESSIONAL LOOK, LOOK TO THE PROFESSIONALS

During some special events you may have more crucial things to do than videotape the proceedings-such as recite your marriage vows, propose a toast, sob. In such cases, you rent a tuxedo and a videographer.

A videographer is someone you pay to record an event-be it wedding, bar mitzvah, family reunion, softball championshp, birthday, anniversary or funeral-on videotape. He may be a traditional portrait photographer who's kept a free eye focused on technology and has expanded the business accordingly. He may be a commercial film or video production type with spare time and/or equipment. He may be a student or professor of video or film. He may be a she. You never know, actually; most of these people don't even call themselves "videographer" yet, but it doesn't matter. With your money in hand, the'll put your memories on Mylar.

If it's a wedding you'd like to preserve till death do ye erase-and weddings comprise the bulk of the consumer videographer's business right now-be prepared to pay no less than about $200, and more like $400 if you'd like not only the ceremony but the reception (or highlights thereof) taped as well. It'll cost more still-perhaps as much as $700 or $800—if you'd like some degree of imagination beforehand and/ or editing afterward.

Consumer videographers are somewhat tougher to track down than their industrial-commercial counterparts (though the same person or company will often do both consumer and commercial work). The Yellow Pages doesn't yet recognize them as a bona fide category, listing them under such various headings as "photographers," "Recording services," "Video Recorders (Dealers)" and "Weddings." A few advertise, usually in local papers or bridal magazines. But most work largely by referral.

Chances are, someone you know has had their wedding or some other event videotaped-in which case, fine. The one thing you always want to do, before hiring someone to perform a service thwarted just as easily by poor judgment as by poor lighting, is to see what he or she has done before. So, see your friend's tape; if your friends have no tapes, or if you have no friends, make it unmistakably clear to your potential videographer that you want to see some samples first. If he says he has no sample tapes handy, you ought to balk.

Why? In real life, your guests don't have purplish-green skin and blurred features, and the chances of an earthquake visiting your reception hall are slim; no reason for such things to seem true to a camera that "doesn't lie."

Make sure you also know the VCR format-such as Beta or VHS-in which a videographer works, and whether opposite-format copies are possible (they usually are, at $20 to $50 per). Ask if lights are necessary; they usually are especially if the videographer doesn't use one of the newer, low-light cameras.

You'll also want to ask what the videographer needs at the shooting site-such as electricity and space (for cables, lights, assistants), access (to priests, ministers, rabbis, restaurant managers and the various establishments they run, for visits beforehand) and time (for delivery of a finished tape, if it's not to be at the end of the event).

You may also want to know what the crew will wear-tuxedos, jeans, jumpsuits, gym shorts-and whether you're supposed to feed them.

One final caution before we get to sampling area videographers and their various degrees of image-consciousness: If your videoman says, "Oh, that's no problem," more than twice, expect it to be a problem. Consumer videography-in terms of both equipment and the people who own it or rent it-is still in its infancy. And you know how well-behaved and predictable infants can be.

Besides, you're supposed to cry during the wedding, not after the replay.

TALE OF THE TAPE

Capital View Productions-16 South Aberdeen Street, Arlington, 920-1539. Thomas Bertch, like a lot of consumer videographers, works elsewhere in the business (in various commercial video and film productions) but spends frequent weekends trying to make electronic sense of other people's happy occassions. "The principal reason I do non-broadcast work is I enjoy it, being out there, and it gives me a lot of experience in lighting and shooting, for myself," says Bertch, whose $300-minimum tapes (that's the ceremony only) reflect his professional concern, particularly with sound and lighting-areas often slighted by others. (He'll try not to cut abruptly from one scene to another, for instance, until the band finishes the song.) Bertch tries to work a wedding with a still-photographer partner if he can, to provide both the traditional and the televised for roughly the price of the traditional alone (namely, about $1,000).

HLM Productions-Westway Road, Greenbelt, 474-6748. Most consumer videographers are always trying for more industrial-commercial business—training tapes, commercials, sales presentations, inventories, depositions—but not Haven L. McKinney and his wife, Noreen. McKinney did that kind of work for 12 years until he got out of it last year. Now he'll do your wedding ceremony and reception for about $475, including standard editing. (HLM edits on a broadcast-quality, 4-inch tapeediting deck-and dubs the finished tape onto whichever consumer-grade, half-inch tape format you want, Beta or VHS.) "We did one wedding where everybody hated each other, and there was no music or anything," says Noreen McKinney. "It was awful. So we dubbed in the soundtrack of another wedding, just music and crowd sounds. They loved it." HLM also has a film chain-for putting your home movies or slides on video tape, with or without a soundtrack.

Independent Video Productions-401 Church Street, Vienna. 255-3415. Like HLM, but unlike most others, IVP does all its taping and editing on 3⁄44-inch, broadcastquality equipment, and will transfer the results to half-inch VHS or Beta. IVP's Andrew Barton says a wedding (ceremony and reception) will cost $300, and he and his partners are also available for bar mitzvahs, performing artists' portfolio tapes, even for "Tony's Day at the Zoo," which stars a cute one-year-old whose life is being documented by IVP, with titles, close-ups and musical soundtrack, for Tony's dad. ("Tony's Day at the Park," a sequel, cost about $300, for example.) Film- and slideto-tape transfers are also possible at IVP.

Memory Makers-Montgomery Industrial Park, Silver Spring, 622-5900. Chief memory-maker Jim Corrado says he will charge $275 to $400 for a wedding ceremony and reception shot in half-inch tape, and handed to the bride and groom at the end of the day. Editing video isn't standard at Memory Makers, mostly an audio recording studio. "I prefer to keep it reasonable, and I'd also rather have it just the way it was," says Corrado.

Mel Morganstein-2048 Seattle Avenue, Silver Spring. 384-5858. Morganstein, a professional photographer for 15 years, two years ago attended a party that the host had videotaped. "That was it," says Morganstein, 48, remembering how much fun the guests had seeing themselves on TV later. "I knew I had to do it." He does it for