WLS Channel 7 - Eyewitness News - "Film Developing" (1974)

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Here's a rare excerpt from WLS Channel 7's Eyewitness News, from back in the days when all reports from out "in the field" came from film, and sometimes were being developed as the newscast was running.

Frank Mathie introduces the "Action Seven" piece, with Geoff Smith reporting about how film stories aired on Eyewitness News are shot; in this instance, one film crew is shooting another film crew. Cinema Processors, Inc. at 211 East Grand was the lab where film reports from both Channel 7 and WGN Channel 9 were developed, amounting to 10 million feet of newsfilm a year (96,000 feet a month). Geoff gives a detailed account of the complex process for developing the film that airs on the two stations, and also mentions other Cinema Processors clients such as the Chicago Bears (for game film, of which 30,000 feet alone are processed every Saturday in season), five major colleges, several smaller ones and 225 high schools. Shots of the lab in action are seen all through this piece. Fahey Flynn can be seen for a couple seconds at the end too.

Notice that the "Action Seven" logo, set in Helvetica Bold, looks very reminiscent of the logo used in the early years of WLS's The 3:30 Movie (as well as The 4:30 Movie on both WABC Channel 7 in New York and WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit).

Note: This was originally broadcast in color, but captured on this early home videotape recording in black and white. There are some tape-tracking problems that are noticeable at certain points on this clip.

This aired on local Chicago TV on Tuesday, April 9th 1974.

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