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Scope and Content Note
This guide describes and indexes in part a major portion of the film from three collections
dealt with under the NHPRC grant: the Vietnam Archives Television Newsfilm, 1965-1972; and
the 1968-1972 television newsfilm of two of the Madison, Wisconsin TV stations, WISC and
WKOW.
The film described here consists of rolls of varying footage, each containing numerous
segments of newsfilm. Segments usually are twenty-five or more feet long and often were
preceded by a piece of film leader or of masking tape carrying a brief title or
“slug,” e.g. “Council meeting 7/21/69.” For the WISC and WKOW film,
these individual segments were physically compiled into the larger rolls, either by the
station before transfer to the archives or by the archives from individual segments grouped
into roll-size cans by the station. In some cases, the reason for the grouping is clear,
e.g. film shot during one day or week. In other cases, the reason can only be surmised.
Though some of these film segments may be what was broadcast on the evening news, this
identification cannot be deduced from clues present now.
The Vietnam Archives also consists of large rolls, each containing numerous film segments.
This film was assembled during production of the award-winning documentary, The War at Home, which examined Madison's role in the anti-Vietnam
War movement of the 1960s and early 1970s. While making the film, producers Glenn Silber and
Barry Brown contributed over 6000 hours identifying footage from the three Madison
commercial stations and making lists of the individual segments' slug titles. The film
segments they compiled and described in a booklet, “Vietnam Demonstrations and Related
Film,” is the Vietnam Archives film included in this guide. Descriptions in this guide
correct occasional errors made in the booklet and sometimes include additional
identifications of individuals shown. The booklet however sometimes includes verbatim
excerpts from the footage and also sometimes notes the station which shot the footage. It
therefore may be of interest to researchers and is available for use.
USING THIS GUIDE
Segment Descriptions
This guide consists of three parts. First and largest are the segment descriptions
themselves. Grouped by collection (Vietnam Archives, WISC, then WKOW) and then in order by
the roll number, these descriptions note what each segment of film on the roll concerns, its
date when known, and form of coverage, e.g. “Studio interviews” or
“Features.” Descriptions also note physical features about the segment: its
length in feet of film, whether silent or sound (magnetic track or optical), color or black
and white, and negative or positive. These segment descriptions cover all film in the
Vietnam Archives and all WKOW and WISC film for the years 1968-1972.
The content descriptions were prepared during staff viewing of the film, augmented when
possible by the information recorded as film slugs or similar brief identifications from
shot log books prepared at the stations. Many segments have only form of coverage indicated
with no further description. In these cases, no more specific content information was
apparent in the viewing or present in logs or slugs. Roll numbers for the WISC and WKOW film
are those used by the stations themselves with the exception of WISC rolls numbered 9001 and
above. The Vietnam Archives roll numbers were assigned during the course of this
project.
Form Index
The second part of the printed guide is a Form Index consisting of a list of all the
segments grouped under the form of coverage headings noted in the descriptions, e.g.
“Studio interviews.” Citations indicate the segment date and its station and
roll and segment number, e.g. “WISC 328.12” (station WISC's roll 327, segment
12). This list is intended to assist researchers interested in the footage as examples of
certain kinds of media coverage and communication or in topics that may be incidental to the
goal of the coverage. Because these form headings are searchable in the
content descriptions in this online version of the guide, this second part of the printed
guide has not been duplicated in this online version of the guide.
FORM HEADINGS DEFINITIONS
The Form Headings listed below have been adopted to describe standard means of
communication or repeated events with a quite standardized method of media coverage. Based
on terms from Moving Image Materials: Genre Forms by Martha
Yee (Library of Congress, 1988), the list includes some additional terms as well as some
more specific definitions of terms. The definitions below reflect the terms' application in
this project.
- Awards ceremonies
- Award, plaque, medal, commendation, etc. presented to person(s) in public
ceremony
- Banquets
- Guests seated at banquet tables, tables set for food service, head table seen or
implied. A special occasion, not just a meal
- Candidacy announcements
- Person(s) making formal, public announcement of political candidacy or announcing
they will not run for office
- Celebrity visits
- Well-known “personality” (excluding political figures) arrives and/or
departs, scenes at airport, greeting ceremony by mayor or governor, maybe followed by a
press conference, presentation of key to the city
- Features (Newsfilm)
- “Soft” news quality, human interest appeal
- Graduation ceremonies
- High school, college, technical college, university, police and fire academies, etc.
Shows processions, speakers, diploma presentation, views of audience
- Groundbreakings
- Dignitaries posing with shovels or trowels, digging, cornerstone laying
- Hearings
- Public proceedings with testimony by citizens, interested individuals, or
representatives. Shows official(s) present; people testifying at microphones. Held by
municipal, county, state, and federal governments as well as school boards and other
official bodies
- House fires
- Firefighters at scene of house fire or aftermath
- Judicial proceedings
- Courtroom proceedings including arraignments, trials, people entering or exiting
courtroom, scenes in judges' chambers, State Supreme Court sessions, and swearing-in
ceremonies (those taking place in court, such as citizenship ceremonies)
- Man on the street interviews
- Public opinion poll; people asked topical questions in public settings
- Meetings
- People convened for discussion, planning, etc. Includes deliberative sessions of
legislative bodies
- News
- On the scene reporter giving coverage of news event “as it
happens”
- On-site interviews
- Interview conducted in subject's own surroundings -- office, home, workplace, etc.
-- or at the scene of an event
- Openings
- Includes grand openings (shopping centers, businesses), formal dedications, ribbon
cuttings
- Panel discussions
- Group of speakers taking turns addressing gathering (participants usually seated so
they face audience); audience may or may not be shown
- Political announcements
- Includes political endorsements, political statements. Does not include candidacy
announcements
- Press conferences
- Includes person(s) addressing the media, making statements or announcements (other
than candidacy announcements). Shots of TV and newspaper reporters taking notes,
cameras, banks of microphones in front of speakers
- Promotional materials
- Can be generated by the stations themselves or by the armed forces, industry, and
others to highlight products, career opportunities, or a cause
- Public announcements
- Announcements other than those of a political or candidacy nature. Person(s) usually
seated facing camera and making direct address
- Special reports
- Produced after event(s) for in-depth reporting. Topical; issue oriented
- Speeches
- Speaker is addressing a group or gathering which may or may not be shown. Includes
portions of speeches and instances of people who appear to be making a speech
- Sports
- Includes footage of actual games and practices as well as coaches and others talking
about sports
- Studio interviews
- Interview conducted in TV studio or anonymous setting
- Traffic accident reports
- Vehicle accident reports, shots of damaged vehicle(s), police, ambulance, wreckers,
onlookers often on scene
- Unknown
- Completely unidentifiable as to participants, events, place, and time
- Wire service
- Film shot by wire service company (UPI, Hearst, etc.). Story usually national in
scope. Many are feature or “soft news” variety
Partial Name and Subject Index
The third and final part of this guide is a partial index to names and topics represented
in the descriptions. The descriptions of the Vietnam Archives and the 1968 and 1969 WKOW and
WISC film have been indexed by both name and subject headings; 1970-1972 WKOW and WISC film
is described in the segment descriptions but not indexed. The index is arranged in one
alphabetical sequence. Each entry notes the date of the segment cited and its station and
roll and segment number. Some citations include an asterisk (*) before the citation number;
this means that the person or topic is not just talked about in the segment but is actually
pictured to some degree. For example, a citation with an asterisk under
“Elections” may show campaigning or voting activity; a citation without an
asterisk may be a studio interview in which possible election results are discussed. Users
can go from the index to the segment descriptions for further details. To view the film
itself, researchers should note the station/collection and the roll and segment numbers and
seek assistance from the reference staff.
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