TeleVISIONS (1977)

14 misrepresentations were, perhaps, a stronger reflection of the subject's emotions than the facts. Even so, we used several safeguards. We encouraged people to speak only from direct experience. More importantly, we ourselves tried to be forthright, always explaining how the material was going to be used, who would see it and in what context. When we talked with a particular group of anti-bussers, we hesitated to have them talk about the fact that they had all been arrested the day before in a demonstration. At first we talked about the quality of education and found that the anti-bussers voiced some of the same concerns as the moderates and pro-bussers we interviewed. Perhaps such an introduction enables an audience with contrary views to better hear and understand the antibusing sentiment that follows. It is relevant to note this tape of antibussers proved extremely useful when we played it back to another anti-busing group who seemed resistent to talk to us at first. Several years ago George Stoney taught me the magic of playback and, in this instance, it worked like a charm. After they viewed the tape, we recorded for three hours. During that time they let their hair down, cheered, cried and sang, as well as explaining themselves in a non-defensive, forthright manner. Generally we use playback in every taping situation as & means to break the ice. It enables people about to be interviewed a chance to see what others have said and gives them some idea what their taping experience will be like. Then we begin taping only to stop about five minutes in and playback their own interview. This serves as a technical check for us and allows them to see themselves. Interviews always seem to go smoother after that. At the end of the interview we playback the complete tape, giving subjects a chance to delete by erasure and/or restate any portion of the tape. Going to Other Cities As phase II-B (the third year of desegregation) swung into effect, Boston and its schools settled down considerably. Although the need to work with the media and the community was less, we continued taping, especially in schools, to document the change. We began to make our collection of tapes available to other cities who were about to desegregate their schools. Our recent experience with the Greater Cleveland Project is a good example of how this process can work. The Greater Cleveland Project is a coalition of over 50 local and civic agencies that are working for smooth desegregation of that city’s public schools. We spent several days in Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Project scheduled four of our presentations per day. These were attended by representatives of the Mayor's office, a school board member, parent organizers, teachers and community leaders. The Greater Cleveland Project had a staff and video equipment to make further use of the tapes. The audience and staff had begun to formulate plans to use them similar to our community showings in Boston. They made out a shopping list of what tapes they wanted and how they wanted them arranged or edited. At the same time we were able to familiarize them with our technique of presentation. Including an additional visit, salary, travel, rental and tape costs will come to $1,500 for our work with Cleveland. We’ve done similar work with Philadelphia and are currently working with Buffalo and Columbus, Ohio. Also, we are working with the League of Women Voters and the Lamar Society who have the ability to disseminate the Boston experience to a broad audience. The Institute for Educational Leadership used our tapes at a workshop attended by legislative aids whose voter districts are or will be affected by desegregation. For further information, contact Rika Olsen, Boston Media Project, c/o City Missionary Society, 14 Beacon St., Boston, MA. 02108. (617) 742-6830. Ms. Olsen is now director of the project. Jim Brown, a documentary filmmaker who has worked on several video projects, has joined George Stoney to work on a film in Ireland. REVIEWS Broadcast Documentaries, Clinical Demonstrations, Video Performances More of the Same from HEW Our first attempt at reviewing These four reviews illustrate our commitment to social and aesthetic criticism that will accumulate the lessons of video production in all areas. Let us know about tapes you think we should review. Send unsolicited reviews at no more than 500 words for our consideration. Write us about longer projects. The Police Tapes and Chinatown By THERESA MACK Two video documentaries, both about ghetto life, were broadcast recently on WNET in New York City. Chinatown, by Downtown Community Television, aired December 3, 1976, is an hour-long report on the plight of the Chinese immigrants who live in lower Manhattan’s Chinatown. Alan and Susan Raymond’s The Police Tapes, aired January 3 and 19, is an hour and a half documentary about the everyday work and experiences of policemen of the 44th precinct in the South Bronx, which has the highest crime statistics in New York City. Both are video documentaries, but are strikingly different in technique and tone. The Police Tapes was shot in black-andwhite, using the low-light nuvicon tube; Chinatown is in color. Chinatown takes the form of a TV report, making heavy use of narration; The Police Tapes is predominantly cinema verite, with statements from cops to the camera providing essential background information. The Police Tapes is an in-depth look at one aspect of life in the Bronx; Chinatown is an overview, briefly touching on many aspects of the immigrants’ lives. And, interestingly, the producers of each have very different backgrounds. Jon Alpert, Yoko Maruyama and Keiko Tsuno of DCTV have been working with video since 1970. Their last major work was Cuba the People, the first color video documentary aired on WNET. For Alan and Susan Raymond, this was their first video production. They are filmmakers, best known for their work as camera man and sound woman on An American Family. These two documentaries attest to the fact that “video” is not a genre or style, but a tool which is increasingly used in unique ways by individual producers. The Police Tapes was edited from 40 hours of tape shot by the Raymonds during April, May and June, 1976, as they rode with the cops on the night shift and recorded the events that took place. Darkness permeates the piece — dark street corners and hallways and the desperation of people whose lives are limited by poverty. We are there as two cops answer a woman’s complaint about the neighbor who broke down her door. The neighbor turns out to be a defiant middle-aged woman wielding a flat-iron angered by the noise her neighbors door makes. “The marks on her door are the marks she'll have on her damn body.” We see a lonely body on a social club floor, the victim of armed teenage robbers, and watch as the police cooly examine his wounds to write their report. A young rapist, just brought in, talks to his mother on the phone. “I was going down on this broad in the park, Mama, and the police came.” A man comes to the station house with his Downtown Community Television’s Chinatown documents low pay, not only about the incidences, but also about the policemen speaking. In their descriptions we gain insight into their attitudes toward their work and their feelings about the people they serve. Anthony Bouza, bourough commander, whose permission to tape made this documentary possible, addresses the camera twice. He is eloquent and perceptive and ruthless in his analysis of police work in an urban poverty area like the Bronx. He tells us that poverty generates criminals, and that Americans and the federal government are increasingly trying to ignore the poor. “To the degree that | succeed, to that degree I’m deflecting America’s attention from this problem. Maybe I’d be better off failing.” Chinatown is also about the despair of poverty and the callousness of Americans to the poor. Narrated by Jon Alpert, China long hours and unhealthy working conditions wife and mother to find a place to stay. His old apartment burned out, his new one has no heat or water, Welfare has given him the run-around, and he needs to clean up before appearing in court the next morning to try and regain custody of his children. As he puts it wearily, “It’s just a messed up story, believe me.” We see the police apprehending criminals, but most of their work is dealing with people whose lives are coming apart. Much of the violence or threatened violence is between friends or within families, and the police work as referees, trying to defuse the tension. There are no heroes or villains in The Police Tapes. We see tired men doing a job the best they can. We see pathos, humor, tension and despair. A 70year old woman is brought in because she hit her daughter in the face with an iron. “She’s always pickin’ on me,” the old lady protests, then sobs “lord have mercy” as the policeman tells her she’s under arrest. We learn later, though, that she’s been arrested several times before for petty crimes and was “just mad because they wouldn’t let her keep her cane in the cell.” Throughout all these scenes, the videotape rolled. Alan Raymond’s camerawork is sensitive and unobtrusive. He uses mostly wide angles, panning or walking to follow the action; close-ups and zooms are used with restraint. Because the scenes are shot in cinema verite style and edited to maintain the flow of the entire experience, we are kept tense and expectant throughout, never knowing what might happen next — like the subdued car thief who suddenly goes berserk, screaming and kicking as several cops rush to restrain him. The Raymonds wove each segment together with statements from the cops involved about what happened — sometimes asked for immediately, other times a few months later for follow-up information. These statements are informative, town takes us into the streets, restaurants, back rooms, factories and tiny apartments of the residents of this popular tourist center. An early scene shows a busload of tourists entering Chinatown. One enthusiastic visitor sings the praises of the neighborhood, but when asked about the people who live and work there, like the waiters, she says with disdain, ‘They seem so uninvolved in what they do, like paper mache dolls.” Edited from 70 hours of videotape shot by DCTV over a year and a half, Chinatown is a report that attempts to cover every aspect of life in this ghetto. We see cooks and waiters at work, and hear their stories about long hours and low wages. We learn of the struggles of many to set up their own businesses, which frequently fail. We see women of all ages at work in the textile factories, earning 12¢ for a pair of pants that later retails for $12. We learn of the power of the conservative CCBA, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, whose members are successful businessmen, and function as the informal government of Chinatown. We are confronted with the myth of “free enterprise” and reminded of America’s tradition of exploiting the immigrant. Throughout we are shown the integrity of these people, who work hard and value family life and education above all else. Says a father about himself and his wife, “We don’t expect big things.’ His three young Children are his future. Besides its extensive look at working conditions, Chinatown also touches on housing, education, recreation, youth, the aged, illegal aliens, health, attitudes to the People’s Republic of China, banking and credit organization, and the power of the CCBA. This attempt to be comprehensive gives the documentary a superficial quality. It is filled with disturbing information, and each topic raises many questions which | wish had been explored further. Alpert’s almost non-stop narration, voiced