Club Obi Wan

Oh...

I'm sorry, Dalex.

Not as sorry as I am that you work on an Avid

Seriously. I'm also a Mac user, and I prefer Strains to Morgans any day of the week, so I tend to go against the grain. No offence. I just got snubbed by an Avid rep at NAB one year, and I don't forgive too easily. Avid makes great products, and if it wasn't for them, I don't think there would be such a thing as desktop nonlinear editing. But my system won't ever be an Avid...

ANYWAY...Off-Topic BS aside. I can pull the footage in, (if, as I said, the VHS copy I've got came out, though DVR would be better,) and compress it down as whatever. I can also leave it in native Quicktime DV and zap it to you when I have a broadband connection at work. (28.8 here at home. Dial-up only. No cable, and I'm not paying the extortion fees to Rupert Murdoch for "DirectWay"! Cost of living out where it's quiet.)

If no one else can do it with a higher res version, I'll step up to the plate. Though, chances are, NBC will send a DVD copy to Chris, who can upload it himself.

Whatever's easier.

-Dan

Spooky wrote:With my High Def ... it should come out a little cleaner

This is getting OT again, but you've got a Hi-Def Camcorder?

I think he means HiDef DVR/TV.
I know that NBC broadcasts most of its shows in 1080i HD. And I know that Leno actually shoots with in HD.
So if the DVR supports it, it should have been recorded in HD.

Whoops, my bad.

(Thanks, Dalexs!)

We now return to the topic on hand...

Dalexs wrote:I think he means HiDef DVR/TV.
I know that NBC broadcasts most of its shows in 1080i HD. And I know that Leno actually shoots with in HD.
So if the DVR supports it, it should have been recorded in HD.

Yep - that's right, Dalexs.
I taped it in Hi-Def.

I've watched it a few times now - Chris did a great job.

DVR,,QT,,WMV,,AVI,,VHS,,DVD,,VCR,,FCC,,NAB,,NBC,,HDTV,, I'm gonna have a freakin' anneurism!!


anybody order the KFC?



have a nice D.A.Y.

OK, because VP is such a lazy mother and I don't need no stinkin' acronym finder
(Don't blink! )

DVR: Digtial Video Recorder (sort of like TIVO)
QT: QuickTime (Apples friendly media format)
WMV: Windows Media File (Bill Gates not so friendly...)
AVI: AudioVideo Interweaved (see above)
VHS: Video Home System (out-marketed the Betamax!)
DVD: Digital Video Disk (or versatile now a days)
VCR: Video Cassette Recorder (Because people are too lazy to say Video Cassette Recorder)
FCC: Federal Communications Commission (Think Evil Empire!)
NAB: National Association of Broadcasters (where everyone with lots of $$$ goes to see & buy really expensive professional video gear once a year. Think IBC for you Europeans)
NBC: National Broadcast Company (First tv station/network invented)
HDTV: High Definition TeleVision

(and don't even get VP started on internet acronyms!)

Dalexs wrote:NBC: National Broadcast Company (First tv station/network invented)

Er, shouldn't first TV station go to the BBC founded in 1922 and first regular TV broadcasts in 1926?

Don't get me started!



-Dan

Hi Chris ~

Sorry to be responding to this so late, but I just recently got back from our convention in Texas.

Mark & Karole Mulligan, John & Marilyn Lewis, Joe Darrah & I all watched your national debut together at the Mulligan's ranch. Mark even got a few still shots. He's going to be getting them out to you - I have copies also, if nothing else.

Looking forward to hearing more details, or seeing any pictures you might have from it.

Congratulations again, Chris!

Cathy

For anyone not in the US or who missed it here are a few screen caps:













The thumbnails are supposed to link to bigger pics./[/i]

Thanks for the BitTorrent link. Just watched it. I might rip it if somebody could tell me how to.

You're welcome VP!

Anyone know how to chop a bit out of an AVI?

On mac on PC?

I watched it last night too!
Short, but very nice. Next time I'll be you'll be in the chair, Chris.

There are several file splitters out there that will do the job. Try searching for mpeg or avi splitter and you should find share or freeware.

Regards,
Swindiana

Just splitted it. Here's the YouSendIt.com link:

http://s57.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=048X ... ABRNUY2DCI

So Chris, tell us some of the backstage scoop. Thanks for the heads up on the segment. I enjoyed watching it.

Chris, where you at, man? Give us the straight dope!

Waiting to hear some juicy details Chris, unless now that you are famous you have forgotten us humble peasants

Dan

NEVER! NEVER!
Just got back into town last night from Paducah, KY.
Sorry I'm so late.
I'm gonna start typing it up right now in sections. (i.e. "the call", the follow up, the trip, rehersal, the show ... etc.)
That way if I don't get it all done tonight, I can at least get some up.
I also want to make sure I answer all the questions too.

I'm on it!
C

You want some dope?
You came to the right guy. Wait. That sounded bad.

O.K.
I'm really sorry for the delay. I'm trying to write this up with as much detail from begining to end. I'm doing it in chunks and this is the first one. Sort of a serial type thing.

SO.
Here is the first installment.
THE CALL -parts 1 and 2



THE CALL — Part One
Well, it all starts like this.
While attending the WWAC regional convention in Ohio,I got a call from Bryan Branly, the assistant producer from The Tonight Show. The voice mail went something like this “...Hi chris, This is Bryan Branly from the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I read an article about you in the Chicago Tribune and went to your web site which I really like and would like for you to send me a video showing what it is that you do and would like to talk to you about about a possible appearance on the show ...”

RIght away I could feel my ears getting hot. Holy @#$%! I thought. This has got to be a joke.

I yelled to Paul (Nolan). “Paul! Paul! Come here come here! Holy Sh-t! Listen to this. Listen to this!
I remember Paul asking what was wrong. As soon as he heard “the Tonight Show with Jay Leno” he jumped about as high as I did. We immediately (and calmly) ran over to a table of other participants our fair NavyBlueAngel i.e. Cathy being one of them along with other heavy weights like Joe Darrah, Ed and some others. “Joe ... Shut up! No one cares anyway” I said nudging him with a smile. “Listen to this,” I said as I fumbled through my voice mail messages.
After hearing the message everyone wished me luck (trying not to congratulate for fear of jinxing). Man I was a bit giddy. Everyone else was excited too.

It wasn’t until 3 days later that I actually got to talk with Bryan.
In our conversation (around 10 minutes)I told him a lot about the show an he asked lots of questions. He told me that he would need a video that stated “who I was” and What I did” as well as showing me doing the deed.
I had some video shot in Ohio by Dan Trout (thefish) specifically for this project, but needed more and explained that it might be a couple of weeks before I could get something to him as I really had no finished video. Plus, four days later I would begin a ten day run at the Illinois State Fair.
Bryan told me that was no hurry, just show us what you do.

Two days later I went to the Hugland Art Center here in Springfield and with the help of Paul Lamantia (a personal friend) his digital video recorder, and my wife's all-to-blond-tall-and-lovely cousin Megan, I began to shoot video.
Some of the tricks included were cutting carrots and cucumbers while Megan held them, lots of targets from all over her and me, body wraps, neck wraps etc. I included some solo whip cracking with both double and single whips. (At some point here soon I will have short clips of this on my web site).

The next job was editing. Something I was not familiar with. I dumped everything onto my Mac and with Imovie, went to town.
A few days later, out the door went the dvd.

By this time nearly a month has passed and I gave Bryan a call to let him know that the dvd was in the mail. wouldn’t you know... On vacation until September 6.

THE CALL — Part Two
On September 8th (Thursday), I received a call from Bryan just to let me know that he had received my dvd and that he would watch it, pass it on, and let me know.
To be honest, I thought that it would be weeks or more before I heard back. If I ever heard back.

On September 12th (Monday) I got a call from Steve, the producer.
He asked lots of questions about what I could do. “Can you do this? Can you do this?”
He was asking me about target cutting tricks which I had put on the dvd as if he hadn’t seen the dvd.
I finally said something like “... Yeah, I can do that. In fact I actually do that on the dvd. I know I sound shorter on the phone, but that’s actually me.”
Steve then explained that they had a segment coming up rather quickly, and explained the “Dinner for Four”.
He said I would be doing a “To Tell The Truth” type routine. “Hi. I’m Chris, the real whip cracker”. and the other guy “Hi I’m Bill, the real whip cracker.”
Would you be willing to do something like that if we can get it approved by the executive producer?
Sure. I said.
“Would you be able to come out and do the show this Thursday if we flew you out on Wednesday and back on Friday?”
I nearly choked. This was already late after noon Monday.
“Sure. Not a problem”. I replied. (Knowing I was going to have to find a fill-in for a Thursday show.)
“Great. I’ll call you back later today.

So I waited.....

Wa' da dizzle wif da elipses? Shorty be lef' hangin' in suspizense n' ish...

Mang, why fo' yo' gotz ta be trippin' dat way?

(Translation: I can't wait to here the rest of the story!)

-Whitey Bear (aka Adam)

LOL, Adam!! BTW...I never got to see those flashcards you brought. I hope you can bring them next time I see you. Might help with the translation next time! LOL!

Chris - thanks for the detailed update. It's pretty cool that Joe & I were there from hearing the first phone call, to being able to watch you on the actual show while we were in Texas. Looking forward to the rest of story time!! (Gives us non-famous people a chance to live vicariously through you)!!!

INSTALLMENT II

Later that night I received another phone call from Steve.
Everything was a go.
Only one problem.
“We really want you to cut a carrot in someone's mouth and cut it out.” ( I had cut a carrot and a cucumber out of someone's hand in the video I put together for them.)
I had to tell them no. I explained that it wasn’t that I was afraid of missing, it’s that you have to hit a carrot really pretty hard and to have it not come flying out of someone's teeth would be short of a miracle if it didn’t unhinge their jaw in the process.
“Well, just bring all your stuff.” So I did. More on that later.

The next day, Tuesday, I received my flight information. I would need to be at the airport at 8:30am. Luckily our airport is small, so no long lines. I would fly out of Springfield, change planes in St. Louis, and arrive at LAX.
Not much time to pack or get ready but here’s what I took (more or less):
Suitcase #1:
6 WHIPS: 2-6 foot lone stars, 2-5ft stock whips, 1-8ft Terry Jacka, and 1-12ft Joe Strain Indy style whip.

TARGETS: Styrofoam strips, pasta (11”x .5” wavy pasta painted orange. This is what was eventually decided on) and flower heads of various sizes. The day of the shoot I also picked up 2 bags of celery (which cuts real nice) and 1 dozen roses.

Suitcase #2
CLOTHS: Lots of cloths. Steve wasn’t sure if he wanted cowboy or civilian clothing, so I packed a bunch of stuff including my regular travel gear. (My mark VII bag with all the flight arrangements and such) Lot’s of other stuff too, like cd’s of my band (Mr. Opporknockity - you can visit us at www.mr.opporknockity.com) I thought, Take ‘em. Ya never know.

ACCORDION CASE:
That big hat was in the accordion case.

So, I’m packed, my wife and I are at the airport, my bags are checked in and we are sitting at Subway when: “....Mr. Camp, your bag is over the weight limit. Somethings gotta go.”
Well I guess that there is a two bag limit with the check in and now a weight limit too. Well, I had put the 1st suitcase with the whips inside the 2nd suitcase with the cloths so I could check the accordion case with the hat.
SO, We took out the 1st Suitcase and checked both the 1st and 2nd suitcases and ditched the accordion case (It wouldn’t fit in the overhead) and i ended up carrying the hat. Only after the security people had gone through the 1st Suitcase containing all the whips and a gun belt full of phony bullets. “Those aren’t real” I said. “Let’s hope not” said the security guy.
The cool thing is, the guy who checked my luggage is an author who is writing a book about Wild West performers. We talked for a while.


THE FLIGHT:

The flight for th most part was uneventful. The whole way there I continued to pray one of two things.
1. “God, this is a real good opportunity for me. Please don’t pull and Alanis Morriset thing on me and send me crashing into the ground like some oversized lawndart.
2. “God. Please make my luggage arrive at the same place I do.”(I packed enough whips to do the job and left enough at home that I could do shows when I retuned if for some reason the whips didn’t make it back.)
On the flight from St. Louis to LAX took around 3.5 hours. .... by the engine, alone in my row .... with no one to talk to.
I flew over the Grand Canyon twice and didn’t see it once. Oh well.

ARRIVAL
I arrived and my bags did too.
It was just like you see in the movies. Me, my luggage and a guy in a limo suit holding a card up which read KAMP.
How cool I thought. Another person here named Camp, but they spell theirs with a K. What are the chances?
He collected my bags and off to the Beverly Garland hotel we went.

Great stuff Chris, keep it coming, we our on the edge of our seat!

Dan

P.S. Get to the part where you gave Jenny McCarthy my number, cause she won't stop calling me!

INSTALLMENT III

We packed the bags in the trunk and made the 40 plus minute drive to the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn, just a short 15 minute drive to the NBC studios.
It was a nice place, nothing out of the ordinary, hotel, restaurant, bar, hot receptionist.
I had promised some friends of mine who lived in the valley that I would give them a call when I arrived. We had hoped to get together for dinner and some great conversation. I made the call and within and hour the driver that they had sent came to pick me up. I won’t linger too much on this part other than to say, it was a great dinner and lots of laughing and talking and way too late into the night.
So, let’s fast forward.


THE DAY OF: Part One

I woke up earlier than I really wanted to. Around 5:45am L.A. time (7:45 home time). I had scheduled a radio interview with a hometown radio station 103.7FM WDBR. I had done an interview on “Light Rock 99” the previous day and a newspaper article was also to run today promoting tonight's show. Nick Rogers, the entertainment writer for the Springfield State Journal Register has covered my whip cracking exploits for a couple of years now.
The interview went really well. Dave and Deena, the hosts had covered a previous article written by Nick Rogers from the SJR.
They had me bring the whips into the studio. We did this cool wrap around live on the air which the continued to replay for quite some time. It went something like this. “swish-crack-SCREAM!. It was hilarious.
The interview ended, I got showered and dressed and off for a quick breakfast. I had lots to do today. I had come with lots of target material but felt compelled to by some celery and some other stuff, so after breakfast a the hotel restaurant, I headed down to the market.
I picked up two bags of celery with the tops still on, a dozen roses, a hair brush (I forgot mine) and a few other things and headed back to the hotel.
I proceeded to clean the celery and cut the ends down so they were easy to hold in someone's mouth. I made up some new targets using the wavy pasta and the flower heads that I had brought from home.
When that was done it was time to iron my cloths and get dressed.
The limo was due to arrive at 12:15, so at noon I went down to the lobby with my small suitcase full of whips and targets, my new hat case that I had bought around an hour earlier at Kings Western Wear, (just a short walk down Ventura Blvd) and my extra clothing. The bag of extra clothing consisted of two completely different cowboy outfits with a mix of accessories and a “civilian” outfit consisting of dark Docker's and a black shirt and a pair of R.M. Williams yard boots. (I hate to admit it, but I didn’t even take my Alden’s. The idea of Indy type gear was shot down during my first conversation with Steve.)

I was going to share the limo ride to the NBC Studios with Joe Sedano, the whistling guy and his competitor and her husband.
I forget both of their names but they were both very nice and pleasant.
Joe on the other hand was very nice, but a poultry farmer who had obviously spent a little too much time with the birds.
This was made only more evident by his spontaneous outbursts of turkey calls, both male and female. Once would have been ok, but it was more than once .... and it was loud. Joe could also whistle any tune in multiple keys although he didn’t know it.

At 12:15 sharp our limo arrived, I loaded all my @#$% (whistlers don’t need to take much), and we piled into the limo. I’m usually an “I can get it myself, thank-you” kinda guy, but after a couple of times I got used to people opening the doors for me.
We pulled out of the hotel lot and were on our way. There was all the expected talk; “... what do you think he’s like?”, “Have you ever picked up anyone else famous?”, “...can we take our camera? They said we couldn’t take our cameras.”, “Hey, any of you mind if I open up this Tanqueray? Anyone, anyone? Cool. Hand me that glass there would ya Joe.” Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough booze in any limo to dull the piercing squall of the Joe Sedano turkey call.

Luckily we arrived at the NBC Studio front gate. “I’ve got a drop off.” the driver said to the man at the station. The man waved us on and we entered the lot. We drove past stage after stage. The only one I remember is “Ellen”, but I would soon find out that they shoot a lot of soap operas there.
Then I saw it. The big letters on the side of the building. “CLOSED FOR REMODELING”. (Just Kidding!) If you’re a fan of this show then you’ve seen the logo. “The TONIGHT SHOW with JAY LENO”. “Wow”, I thought, “This is gonna be cool.”
The driver opened the door opposite me, so I opened my own door. I stood up and turned around to look at the logo and that’s when I noticed it. The parking space closest to the door. The sign read “Reserved for Jay Leno” and in that spot was the prettiest, shiniest, orange Ferrari.

fo' shizzle. Dizatz some ill ish, le' me tell ya. Now git ta da part where ya'll represent, cuttin' flowaz n' ish, n' Jenny McCarthy, be some fine headlights shinin' there, mos def....

Great narrative ...you've got us all hooked Chris ... (for Day of part II).
Pretty funny about the whistler ... one of my former office-mates was a classical choral member ... nuff said.

Best Regards,

Chris, Timing is everything, don’t leave us waiting in suspense forever!

Dan

OK, I'm still picturing the Ferrari - now I'm stuck out in the parking lot. What happens after we go into the studio?? LOL!

Chris, you still have "fans" waiting out here.

I'm not waiting in the parking lot, I'm taking the Ferrari for a spin.

Bufflehead Jones wrote:I'm not waiting in the parking lot, I'm taking the Ferrari for a spin.

LOL! Now that's a great plan!

That will give us something to do while we wait for Chris to let us into the studio.



(Touring Los Angeles in s-t-y-l-e)......

BlueAngel,

Sure, you can come along, but I'm drivin'.





WARNING: Licensed race car driver behind the wheel, please be sure to buckle up your chinstrap! Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times and enjoy the ride.

Hi guys.
I'm really sorry for the delay. I've been runnign lots lately and haven't had much time at home, much less time inn front of the computer.
BUT, I'm home now until the 12th, so park the Ferrari 'cause here comes installment IV.
I'm gonna try to type a bit for the next couple of days so I can get it done.

C


INTALLMENT IV - or - WHO YOU CALLIN' HANK?

We were met at the sound stage door by Bryan, the assistant producer who introduced himself to us. Right away I thought, “Man, this guy sounds a lot older on the phone, but he’s young”. Maybe late twenties. Bryan was very, very nice. He led us to the entrance and right away the tour began. We passed the “green room” and the back of the back stage which turned into a hallway which brought us to a set of stairs leading down to the dressing rooms.
There are doors on each side of the hallway. On the doors are these little 3x5 plaques that are black with the Tonight Show logos in the bottom corner and the name of the guest centered. “Donald Trump”. I walk on. “Adam Sandler” Hmmm I thought. I didn’t know that he was gonna be on the show. Then across the hall, two name plates; Chris Camp and Joe Sodano.
Wow! I thought, my very own dressing room WITH my name on the door. I felt the plaque. It wasn’t just some piece of paper that had been printed out, trimmed and taped. It was mounted on a bristol board backing and the names were all “press-on” letters. “Man, These are cool.” I said to Joe and Bryan. (That's one of the cooles souvenirs I came home with.)
Here’s your room guys, I’ll be right back and he continued down the hall with the whistling lady and her husband.
The room was a good size with couches, a couple tables and a television. I laid down my bag full of stuff and hung up my cloths.
Then I noticed the three sets of blue paper laying on the table.
“Look at this Joe. We’ve got scripts.”
The entire “Dinner for Four” segment had a script. I don’t know why I was surprised. But I was a bit.
I few short minutes later Bryan returned and advised us to look over the scripts. We would be heading up stairs to the studio in a few minutes to begin rehearsal. Bryan also told me that the “other whip cracker” would be coming in very soon.
We made our way up the stairs where we were met by Steve, the producer. He introduced himself and shook hands. As he shook Joe’s hand, Joe let out with this amazing and frightful male turkey call. “Gobble-obble-obble!” Loud and disturbing.
“There will be no more of that in this building from this moment on.” Steve said and he turned to lead us down the hall to the back stage.
We were introduced to the back stage crew including the sound guys and Rita the stage manager.
I set down my bag full of stuff and we headed around the the interior of the studio.
The first thing I noticed is that the studio was really small and close. I’m guessing that the studio held around 350 people and that the front row of the chairs on the floor was around 6 feet from the edge of the stage.
We were introduced to more of the stage hands, lighting crew and camera guys.
On the stage where the desk sits were two podiums with a metal serving tray and lid on each. I also noticed some carrots and celery. “Oh no” I thought. “Didn’t I talk them out of the carrots?”
The staging area including the chairs, couch, desk and other accessaries were covered with moving blankets with large signs that say “ Do not walk or stand on set. NO PHOTOS ALLOWED IN STUDIO.”
It was about that time that “Hank”, the other whip cracker showed up on stage. As it turns out, Hank's real name was Melvin.
Steve and “Hank” and I talked for a moment about some preliminary ideas, one of which was actually calling Melvin Hank.
“Melvin’s just not a whip cracking name” Steve said. “It’s a good thing Chris is.” I replied.
Hank and I move to the front row of the audience to wait our turn. In the meantime the whistlers did their rehearsing.
We chatted and waited until it was our turn.

(OK, tour of Los Angeles in the stolen....uh, I mean "borrowed".... Ferrari coming to an end. Bufflehead, we better park this thing back in Jay's space before he notices it's gone).


Welcome back, Chris! Thanks for giving us such a detailed tour of your TS experience. Looking forward to the continuing saga....

Yeah, I've driven some Ferraris at insane speeds on the racetrack, so I don't mind parking this one. I just want to hear the end of the story.

The mental image of Joe letting out the turkey call and the expression that must have been on Steve's face is too much. LMAO

Now business is starting to pick back up Chris. Thought we might have to get a hold of your agent! You Hollywood types .

Seriously, Great stuff, please keep it coming.

Dan

OK, well at least he left us in the studio this time. More interesting stuff to look at & play around with!

Canasta wrote: The staging area including the chairs, couch, desk and other accessaries were covered with moving blankets with large signs that say “ Do not walk or stand on set.

Well, to me, movable blankets are just begging to get moved! I've got dibs on Jay's chair!!! Who wants to be my first "guest"??

OK, well at least he left us in the studio this time.

Hmmm, Maybe he is just waiting for the show to rerun so is fresh in everyone’s memory