Stock Footage San Diego Tales
Marco videotapes a snake charmer in New Delhi, India
Stock footage San Diego library, New and Unique Videos, was the city’s first and largest stock footage library, established in 1987. Throughout the 1990’s this subsidiary of Crystal Pyramid Productions was very busy sending out lots of clips to various clients.
History of San Diego Stock Footage
Article in Orange County San Diego Video News Magazine about San Diego’s first Stock Footage Library, New and Unique Videos, February 1999
Technology was different back then. There were no computers, no digital files, no High-Definition footage, no Dropbox, no Cloud. Everything was slower. So the way it usually went was as follows:
We’d get a phone call from a potential client. “Do you have footage of a red Porsche going fast around a corner?” “Do you have kangaroos boxing?” or “Do you have a family riding bicycles in a park?”
At that point, we would search our video logs for any footage matching the client’s description. Then we’d put together a VHS reel of selected shots. These time-coded VHS “masters” were actually dubs from original Betacam SP footage, and were Standard Def. Then we’d ship out the VHS tape, wait for the client to see it and get back to us.
Channel Umptee-3
Channel Umptee-3 is a now-defunct animated television series that was broadcast on Saturday mornings for one season on the WB in 1997.
It was a show directed towards children that featured a lot of high-quality video, including stock footage which was designed to teach kids the wonders of life.
The video excerpt below includes several images from the New & Unique Videos stock footage library. Keep an eye open for the snake charmer in New Delhi, India; and Polynesian dancers in Papeete, Tahiti.
Indian Snake Charmer, Painted Elephants and Tahitian Dancers
We came across the Indian snake charmer while riding around New Delhi in a taxi. We had two shots on our list that we really wanted to collect, the snake charmer and some elephants. So we were thrilled to see the snake charmer. He had a large bag of snakes including a Cobra and Python. He played a generic tune on his wind instrument repetitively. The serpents certainly seemed mesmerized. After paying him a few rupees for his time, we asked the snake charmer to sign a video release. When he said he did not know how to write, we wetted his thumb with ink, and he imprinted that onto the release form.
In case you were wondering, we did finally find some painted Indian elephants down a steep stone stairway.
In Papeete, the Polynesian dancers were much more pleasant and less deadly than that snake charmer and his bag of vipers.
The Value of Stock Footage
Video producers understand the value of stock footage. One remarkable clip could make or break a video production. Establishing shots of exotic cities or buildings give the viewer the impression that the rest of the show has been shot at that location when in reality, it may be produced on a lot in Burbank, Studio City or Vancouver, Canada.
Industry Changes
The stock-footage industry has changed radically within the last two decades. For instance, when a client called asking for certain stock-footage clips, let’s say, the San Diego city skyline, then we would edit clips from a time-coded VHS tape (a dub of the Betacam SP master) onto another VHS tape which we would then Fed Ex to the client. They would then look at the tape and select any shots they wanted. They would then sign a contract. We would ship them a Betacam SP dub from the master tape. They could expect to receive the footage in about a week.
These days, footage is now available digitally online for immediate download. Plus there are an infinite number of agencies that can provide contemporary digital high definition footage of cities and landmarks.
Not everyone has footage of underwater mountain bikers, tarantula hawks or painted elephants. Why do you think we call it New & Unique Videos?
