Video clips on TheLetterheads.com

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 6:34 pm

Hi all,
About a year ago, I started trying to figure out how to work with digital video, including making DVD demo disks for Tyler and his skateboarding endeavors. Besides the family DVD projects, transferring VHS and Hi8 tapes to DVD, I have been trying to find a bunch of old tapes having some interesting old interviews and TV segments. Some were on Beta Max tapes, but most of the ones I found were actually on VHS tapes.

A while back, I figured out how to create MPEG files that I could load on an Internet page for playback with a QuickTime player. The roadblock has been trying to get the old VHS information onto my computer for editing, and thanks to a terribly cold day in January (too cold to even think about fishing), I managed to connect that missing link. I just posted the first little video on this site, showing Steven Parrish explaining why he normally did business with banks.
http://www.theletterheads.com/lhparts/p ... banks.html

If things go right, I should be able to show some little quick segments for other little techniques....such as snapping a line without a helper.

While going through some of the tapes, I found one with Rick and Lola at our shop here in Jackson Hole demonstrating Angel Gilding on both a poured and also a vertical surface. I had simply set the camera on a tripod and let it roll. Intrestingly, he was using the very basic squirt bottles and a couple of photographic trays and not the more high tech rinsing table he had back at this shop. I hope to get that to a DVD format someday. At least now I know how to do it.

I also found photos of Rick's angel gild table, plus I found some of my recreation of his table. I should be able to post those someday soon.

After a big struggle with the new technology, I think I cleared a hurdle today.

Mike

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:58 pm

Since i am unfortunate enough to miss some of the most important people in the 'Letterhead-scene' that have already passed away before my revelation in the crafts of glasswork, handlettering etc...
I have an inmense lust and hungre to get to know all that has been passed and gone...

Where are those (home-made) video's?
People please do not let them disapear in old boxes and have them be thrown away after some years or so.
Make all of us happy and introduce us or remember those early masters and friendly people of these crafts.
Like: Steven Parrish, Rick Glawson, Lola Grey, maybe even some old 8mm from Frank Atkinson or any other 'pre Ghraphics III vinyl plotter era' signwriter you have some moving pictures from.
Upload them on http://www.youtube.com and post the link here.

Be part of writing the history books and upload.
If you do not know how, i can help... Maybe an exchange of old 8mm film, VHS-tapes (or any other film-medium) is possible and we will digitize them for you.

Kelly Thorson · Post by **Kelly Thorson** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:49 pm

"That's where the money is"
Too cute!

Raymond Chapman · Post by **Raymond Chapman** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:18 am

Great memories there, Mr. Jackson. Thanks for going to all the trouble of figuring out how to share them with us.

It was good to hear his voice again. Brings back lots of telephone conversations....and unusual stories.

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:38 am

Raymond Chapman wrote:Great memories there, Mr. Jackson. Brings back lots of telephone conversations....and unusual stories.

Raymond,
Do you have any moving pictures somewhere in a dusty shelf or shoebox?

Mike,
Did you have ever continued this digitizing of old video's? And is this clip in a higher resolution?

Spoiled by to much youtube crazyness,
Erik

Roderick Treece · Post by **Roderick Treece** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:15 am

Thanks Mike,
That was very cool.Now I've got to go out and find a banker that wants some gilding.

Roderick

Doug Bernhardt · Post by **Doug Bernhardt** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:56 pm

Oh.....that was great.....never met the man and it seems he is the character I expected.

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:44 am

On the Letterheads site http://www.theletterheads.com/lhparts/parrishkits.html Mike wrote: "Steven reported he put curtains or paper in front of a door or window for many years when doing his vertical screen process. He didn't want competitors, sneaky or otherwise, to see his techniques. After the "Letterhead" bug hit grabbed him in the Summer of 1982, he showed the technique freely to all.".

Did anyone taped this or is there only one photo made of this historical moment?

Erik (who missed it all.....

)

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:36 am

Erik,
Camcorders may have been around in 1982, but they would have been big and expensive. I didn't buy my first one until 1987 or 1988. Video clips won't exist of much of those kinds of events unless a TV crew happended to have taken it. Most TV clips that might have shown up on the tube would have been short and usually include a quick clip of the host talking about the event, vs a documentary of the techniques. Before the camcorders, most events were captured on film recorders. Few had sound. Most consumer level cameras had a crank on the side that wound a spring that fed the film. Those Ken Burns documentaries are usually made up of scratchy consumer movies, still photos, and archived professional film movies of the time.

Taking this one step, IF there was something on TV, such as the Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt, it would have been a copyrighted broadcast. I put that little clip on the page, hoping they don't mind, or don't find out, but I don't plan on adding a bunch more from that show.

The clip I did get came from a VHS tape Raymond Chapman loaned me that I burned to a DVD with one of those automatic duping devices. After the DVD was made, I tried to capture the clip back on to a computer, but for some reason, the soundtrack wasn't where the capture software wanted it to be and I only got a faint soundtrack. I beefed it up as far as I could in our editing software, but that's the best I could do.

I think I have it recorded on a Beta Max tape here somewhere, in some box of tapes in some unknown region of the house. You wouldn't know it, but at one time Sony Beta Max tapes were the main format, but VHS took over and Sony lost the war. I kept an old dinosaur Beta player, but still would need to find the tapes.

So, most of what you are asking is not very practical and bordering on impossible. The current crop of kids grew up with mini recorders (better than anything we had back in 1988), cameras that can capture video, and even cell phones that capture it. The world is a different place now and capturing a video clip is commonplace.

With all that said, once you saw him do the vertical screening, you wouldn't have needed a video of it. With all due respect for Steven, what he was doing wasn't that novel. He taped his screen against the glass with an off-surface spacer at each corner, loaded ink on a squeegee, stood on a stool and did a single upward pass (no flood coat). Once screened, he took the screen off, cleaned it, and cleaned the squeegee and the palette knife he used to load the squeegee. He almost always screened with black laquer ink. Past the technical side of the process, Steven did make a big show out of the deal, with half a dozen tables, sign kits, and a bunch of little jigs to hold the screen after it had been used, a jig to hold the squeegee, and so forth. He also made a jig to help hold and level the screen, but I respectfully suggest not much of it was really needed. Steven definitely had a "secret" to keep, but in reality, part of the secret was it wasn't that hard.

Even then, for him to share all the steps and information was a BIG deal to him and to all that saw it.

If people have videos they want to share, I'd suggest they go ahead and upload them to U-Tube and create a post and link here.

Mike Jackson

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:02 am

Ha Mike!

I do remember Beta max tapes!

I even remember my dad filming us constantly with 8mm film. Even so, i asked him the same thing: "Did you ever made any photographs or films of your gilding or brush work on windows in the 60-thies?". His anwer: "Nope... film costed too much at that time and my family was more important to film than 'normal' window-work...". In the early 80-thies, he had chosen for VHS tapes and a lot of my friends their parents had to throw away their Beta max investments at the time VHS took the lead. Now his hobby is to digitize his old 8mm film and VHS tapes on dvd. Unfortunatly when he was first filimng at an age of 19 (back in eeuhm,.... 1963) he filmed my grandad who was a painter, signpainter and (window-)gilder also. He only took the kitchen table shots. For me great, but now that i have seen the 'Letterheads'-light i regret that our family-trade was not saved for me and future Winkler generations to come. Now my dad forgot most of his handlettering and gilding skills and he will re-invent them at Dave Smiths course with me next week in England. This also because he says that doing everything by hand was even in his time a waste of time. He made handcut stencels even then, rather than laying out, with a stabillo pencil, on the glass itself.

So for me a simple film of Steven Parrish or who-ever from that time gets me back into memorylane and will give me a 'false' identity of the family-trade back in the 1920-1970-thies. Not that i have an identity crisis haha

, but i just want to know!

A detail: During the war my grandfather was even forcefully transported to the German filmstudios to handpaint and decorate the elobarate decors of the Nazi filmindustrie. Can you imagine how strange that is for me when i look at those old German films?... All information lost in time.

Copyright questions are indeed very tricky, but here there is a higher goal!

Raymond Chapman · Post by **Raymond Chapman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:10 am

Erik,

Besides the Sunday Morning video segment of Parrish that Mike showed here, I have some VHS tape of the Letterhead gathering I hosted in 1983 but it is very crude. At some point I will convert it over to a DVD (whenever I get that round tuit thing).

I remember that at the "Letterheads on Main Street" that Gary Anderson hosted, a TV was set up with some tapes running of some previous meets...but I don't know who provided them.

One of my side-line projects is to convert a lot of early VHS tape to DVD and compile a Letterhead history. While at Fred's gathering last March I filmed interviews with a lot of the folks there along with some others that I have visited (or visited me). In September I will be at Gary Anderson's place and will take my video camera along to film his shop and house, plus an in-depth interview with him.

It is my goal to have an interview on DVD of a lot of the "old timers" before I leave this earth. A lot of still photos will be put into a DVD slide show. Since there is no income for this type project, it is just a hit or miss type thing that is done when there is some free time.

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:41 am

Raymond,

When reading all the Amal magazines Jeff Lang had sended to me (About 15 or 20 years of isues to read), i really had the feeling that i have missed out a lot.
I constantly thought: "Where was I?". I counted back the years and remembered that i, at that time, was not occupied with the bussines my parents had. I had to work at the firm (since 4 years old), but was not really into it.
Graffiti, going out in the cool and trendy places of Amsterdam and getting my masters degree in Chemistry and later Arthistory were my main things.

Now i have a few regrets... I could have met Rick Glawson and Lola Grey. Now it is too late, but i hope to see you guys soon at a letterhead meet if that is ok?!

So for me (and maybe others) looking at the transscripts of those old VHS tapes gives me the same "i was there a little bit" feeling, like i have with Elvis Presley stage film recordings

If you need help digitizing or want some of your expenses paid for copying, ofcourse there must be a way i can contribute.

Erik
Amsterdam 26 April 1972
Nederland Europe

Raymond Chapman · Post by **Raymond Chapman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:10 am

Thanks Erik. Time is the most important part of the process and I tend to not use it very wisely. Thank you for the offer of financial assistance. I just may let you help at some point.

Those early days of the Letterheads were something very special, although at the time we probably did not appreciate the people or the information as much as we should have. We did know that there was something magical happening. That Letterhead Spirit is still around and can be caught easily by attending a gathering of folks that love to work with their hands.

Kelly Thorson · Post by **Kelly Thorson** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:27 pm

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with Raymond. It's great to hear that you are capturing a bit of the magic before it is gone. What you get will be priceless, although you probably will not ever be adequately compensated for it.

Erik, I'm so glad to hear you are going to Dave's workshop. It will be great for you to connect face to face with others who share your passion! Have a great time!

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:20 pm

Raymond,

I can get you some very good digizing software. The only thing is that you need to have enough workmemory on your hardrive and lots of working speed...
The software is downloadable on the web and the serial is a present from me

You can cut and edit scenes, make textual frames over the pictures and have some music dubbed on the background...
Just ask...

Kelly,

How was he boat trip?

Raymond Chapman · Post by **Raymond Chapman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:06 pm

Thanks Erik, but I have the software necessary to do the job. Mine is Adobe Premier Pro, which does just about anything you can think of, plus Honestech 3.0 for converting VHS to DVD. Just upgraded my computer - actually a brand new computer with all the latest and greatest. Now, I'm all set - just need to find the time to get it done.

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:08 pm

Adobe premiere pro is great! You have the tools to be a professional!
I will not take anymore of your time;)

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:40 pm

To echo what Raymond said, each early Letterhead meeting was a treasure. We each experienced it "in the moment" and absorbed all we could, but I don't think many of us considered the later impact it might have one each of us. Besides the lack of good, compact video editing equipment, it just seems no one did it other than with still cameras. There are lots and lots of photos of people doing all kinds of techniques in people's closets and bins back at their shops.

Worse yet, any host can tell you that you spend almost no time getting to enjoy the event while it is happening. I made a blank door available for Steven Parrish at the Oklahoma Bash, and helped make a jig to hold it up while he worked on it, but I only caught passing glimpses of him actually doing his vertical screening. In another part of the shop, someone else was gilding parchment and in another they were putting down marble effects on a large piece of glass. Outside there were several people carving on a sign panel or two. The weekend went really fast, but the host's time is spent orchestrating everything and making sure people had what they needed.

Those events were truly magical happenings. The Boise Bar-B-Q and the Oklahoma Bash stand out in my mind, but they were my first two meetings. I suspect most people will tell you their first two meetings were also their most memorable, no matter when they happened, so be prepared to get your own dose of magic when you attend one.

Mike Jackson

erik winkler · Post by **erik winkler** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:53 pm

Mike,

I read about these points you mentioned here: Lots of work prior to the meet in organising, lots of time spended in preparing while no jobs are being done and regular clients have to wait, complaning that the fee to attend is too high and ofcourse the host running around and missing all the good stuff....
I am sure people who have attended your meets also have those excellent memories!
I have them even with your work here on the forum and also on the articles you wrote on the Letterheads website or Signcraft magazines.

So please remember that even there across the ocean in Amsterdam, some strange tall guy, notices the work and words of you guys and they are well appreciated!
Photo's or even films are a plus. And just a tool to make history alive again.

Raymond Chapman · Post by **Raymond Chapman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:10 pm

Just a few memories from an old guy...like Mike said, your first meets are probably the ones that influence you most. Mike and I flew out to the Boise B-B-Q (1982) together and probably slept a total of about eight hours in five days. There was just too much to try to absorb. On the plane on the way back to Oklahoma, Mike was already planning the Bash to come later in that same year. Even Jackson was probably surprised by the number that turned out. And many will tell you that their professional lives changed that weekend and they went back home with a new resolve to do a different kind of signwork from that day forward.

That was the first time that I had met Mike in person and just that experience was well worth the trip and filled me with an enthusiasm that I still draw upon today.

Looking back on the photos from those events is a very special hobby. All those guys looked so young and there is a sparkle in every eye. Of course, some of it was just the result of what the guys were drinking.

One the greatest changes from then until today's meet was that there was only one female in attendance at Noel's (except for Lucy).

Last week I was in Long Beach doing a workshop for Sign Business Magazine and couldn't help but notice the vast differences in that gathering and how we used to stay up all night working on a project in someone's small shop. Tramp Warner and Cisco were about the only people that spoke my language. It's a totally different world out there now. The changes are not all negative, but there is certainly a different aire to our profession today.

Now, I've got to go coat out some MDO.

Post by **Mike Jackson** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:32 pm

I just got off the phone with Bill Kent who attended the Oklahoma Bash. I seemed to recall him with one of those jumbo, over the shoulder video cameras at the OK Bash. He told me it belonged to a guy named Kerry and he'd jot him an email to see if any of the tapes still exist. She said Kerry is pretty much a techie, so it is remotely possible Kerry might have dubbed the old tapes to a DVD somewhere along the way. Bill said he has moved from house to house a few times, so the odds are pretty good the old tapes got tossed somewhere along the way. Maybe we will get lucky.

It was nice to hear his voice again.

Mike Jackson

Raymond Chapman · Post by **Raymond Chapman** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:28 pm

I have a Bill Kent original sandblasted redwood panel on my wall. It was received as a panel exchange....at my meet, I think. Royal Sign and Pictorial...right?

So, how are things with Bill? Still in the sign business?

Jerry Berg · Post by **Jerry Berg** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:53 pm

I would really like to see these too.

Video clips on TheLetterheads.com

Video clips on TheLetterheads.com

Ok..... now we are in year 2008 and we need video's

Steven Parrish

Old movies

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME! Video's of Letterhead meets...

Digitizing software

Adobe

Letterheads meets gone bye