‘The Match Game’, NBC Studio 8H…Photo 4 of 5
‘The Match Game’, NBC Studio 8H…Photo 4 of 5
This cameraman Vincent Kane behind this RCA TK41B. He’s the camera 1 position shooting Gene Rayburn while 2 -4 are on the other side of the set shooting the panel members. Unlike their brethren at NBC Brooklyn who seemed to prefer the doughnut box and cue card viewfinder shades, the 30 Rock crews used the RCA viewfinder hoods with a slight mod…the bottom of the enclosure was cut out to give them a better line of sight into the VF. With so many audience show here, management probably had a say in this too.
The slanted box on top of the small single vent door is also a custom NBC mod. This is over the high voltage area of the camera and houses the more powerful of it’s two internal fans. With boom mics flying, this hollow baffle was created by Fred Himelfarb to damp the fan noise, yet keep the air flowing. The draping of the zoom demand cable is a cool idea too. I’m not sure what the lens is, but it’s not the common Varitol Mark V by Rank Taylor Hobson. The square light hood is an add on which can be used with many lenses, but the neck of the lens is thinner than the V and has a square drive box where the V’s is tent shaped. I suspect this is the Angenieux equivalent. The wall behind him is the west wall and he is shooting toward the north wall. If you were standing on the SNL band stage, this would be to your left. Remember…Visit This Page! Thanks to Bob Batsche for these great photos.
Never worked with the TK 41’s but did the 42’s. And “it took a village” to remove and later re-install those to their heads..
I’m wondering: How much did those cams weigh back in the day? They look massive.
Supporting the zoom cable like that was necessary because the cable is a fixed length and it must be supported to relieve stress on the lens. Also, this keeps the cable out of the way of the pan/tilt head.
I’m trying to get the orientation understood. You say that the 8H west wall is behind Mr. Kane. The west wall of Studio 8H is the long wall that runs the length of the stage (effectively, from 49th St to 50th St). When you enter the studio from the elevators, the west wall is directly in front of you. The west wall is behind SNL’s bandstand/homebase. The direction Mr. Kane is shooting his camera is towards the north wall, which is the direction of what is now the right side of the SNL set; where the raised platform is and where the right end of the bleacher seating is. Do I have it right?
Year?