VTR: TVTV

Documentary about the pioneering guerrilla television group, TVTV.

00:00Copy video clip URL Camera opens on the introductory sequence for VTR. Host Russel Connor introduces the program on TV, video, and video art. He discusses the need for a program on the art of TV, mentioning Nam June Paik as a video artist. He shows a model of a video tape recorder, and then discusses the advancement of video technology as well as the progression of video as an art form. He gives an overview of the program, introducing the group Top Value Television (TVTV). 

4:05Copy video clip URL Cut to a Michael Shamberg of TVTV speaking about videotaping people in spontaneous contexts. Footage of a CBS News crew filming at a political event. Footage of reporters asking questions. A man refuses to speak to a reporter. Shamberg talks about the project of videotaping at political conventions to try out professional filming with the new kind of technology. He speaks about the novelty of the project. 

8:39Copy video clip URL “A Thousand Years of Peace for People Who Want Peace: Millenium ’73, November 8, 9, & 10 at the Houston Astrodome.” Footage of buses and planes entering Houston. Footage of man speaking at the event. Cameraman speaks to attendees of the convention about why they’ve come and why they care about the event. Rennie Davis speaks about the Astrodome. Footage of the astrodome. Shamberg talks about filming that program. 

12:40Copy video clip URL Text on screen explaining TVTV’s project filming in Washington DC for the first three month’s of Gerald Ford’s administration. Footage from this program of Alan Rucker working with new color filming technology. Crew members of TVTV talk about experiences filming different political events, including a birthday party for Nancy Howe. Footage from the party. They speak about filming at the Iranian Embassy. Footage from the embassy. Skip Blumberg talks about getting footage that’s different from interviews. Footage of them spontaneously speaking to a man on the go. Frank Cavestany speaks about editing down all the raw footage. Footage of the crew accounting for equipment. Montage of color footage. Shamberg discusses the politics of TV and their goals as a group. Short credits sequence of the TVTV crew. Return to Shamberg talking about the always evolving technology.

27:53Copy video clip URL Connor gives a preview of next week’s episode. Credits for VTR. Black and static. 

31:49Copy video clip URL Tape ends.