Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1946)

DON McCLURE After graduating fro??! Carnegie Tech, Don McClure spent four years in Hollywood as a writer, actor, and director. Moving to New York, he applied, the same trio of talents to Broadway. In 1936 lie turned to radio and joined the radio writing and directing staff of the J. Walter TJiompson Advertising Agency. Later, he wrote and directed radio programs for Young ir Ruhicam. From Pearl Harbor until last autumn he served as a test engineer for Consolidated Ship Builders, producers of PC boats. He is now director of television for N. W. Ayer & Son, Inc. One of the pioneer members of the American Television Society, he is sen>ing Jiis second term as treasurer. definiiion is lost. With the proper placement ot more cameras, various areas on the field can be covered so that every bit of action will be a close-up. Often the fielding of the baseball is not the dramatic highlight of the play. Other areas of the diamond hold the spotlight; the phiy whi( h (jin'ie often decides the game. COMFORT AT THE TRACK At the track, once the horses have left the post they invariably binich up on the turn, glowing smaller and sniallti as they go into the backstretch. Binoculars help if you're at the track but strategically located television cameras keep the bangtails in close-up on your set from '^ They're off!" to "WJiirlaxvay wins by a nose!" And how comfortable it all is. You're there with the color, excitement and atmosphere, but the crowd can never see what you see. The view from your front row-center is almost as if you were riding in the race itself. In football, we have been continuously developing coverage techniques of the University of Pennsylvania home games for the Atlantic Rf.fining Company since 1940. Our early experiments were handicapped, mainly by the lack of pickup equipment. We soon learned that two cameras placed on the respective 20-yard lines was not satisfactory. As long as the play was near either goal line, good action shots were available. Of coiuse, one camera did most of the work. However, when the teams moved to the center of the gridiron the residting pictures were far from satisfactory. Again, during those early days we tried using the voice of the radio announcer for our television commentary. We realized only too soon a sportscaster for television woidd have to clevelop a special technique. In radio, the announcer must continually paint a word ]>icture while in television the picture is always there. Rather silly telling the viewer what he's seeing. And, (juite often onr radio ainiouncer was descril)ing a particidar play many seconds after it had taken place. RIGHT ON THE FIELD N. 226 )\v, we've oin special telexision commentator seated on the camera platform hung fiom the second tier of the stadium who lias a line monitor before him so that he can always be sine that his connnents arc tied-in with what is being telecast at the moment. We now use three cameras on the r)()-yard line, a wide angle, taking in about two-thirds ol the playing field, a medium shot camera taking in both teams when in a close formation, a telescopic close-iq) camera which just about pernnts three or four players in the pictinc. Players' ninnbers and laces are easily lecogin/able with the telephoto lens giv RADIO SHOWMANSHIP