Making Offon1981

In the summer of 1967, Mike MacNamee, Glen Mckay and Scott Barlett met for America's first electrovideographic jam. Barlett's film loop and Mackay's light show liquids were mixed through a video effects bank and the results were filmed by MacNamee directly off the studio monitor with a rented kinescope camera. Barlett edited a portion of this material and then built a sound track with the help of Tom DeWitt, who had also supplied many of the original film loops, and Manny Meyer, electronic sound composer. The finished film was called OFFON. in 1980, Bartlett recreated the event in a video production class at UCLA. With his student' help, he composed a video primer: MAKING OFFON. Wipes, keying, feedback – all the standard functions of a studio switcher – are first illustrated and named, then woven into a sound and picture puzzle of the 60's. A MUST for all video students, especially when shown along with the original OFFON. –S.B.