vanished footage mystery

Hi guys,

I filmed an event for a client recently with a radio mic plugged into the mic socket. The format was mini dv.

Today I went back to watch the footage and there was nothing on the tape not even a timecode but the tape was at the end which suggests it had been recording.

This has never ever happend before. HAS ANYONE EVER EXPERIENCED THIS??

Could the train ride back from the shoot have deleted the footage through magnetic forces? The tape was not faulty as I have since recorded on it.


I'm in deep **** on this one. Any comments would really please me.

Dominic

have you tried playing the tape on different cameras/decks?
I was going to ask has it recorded any sound but if there is no TC i guess thats a no!



Post Edited (08-19-06 07:18)

Yeah no TC. Does that mean its a pretty sure chanvce nothing got recorded.
I've tried it on another camera yes.

I've been a cameraman for 3 years and would not forget to press record. Its so strange!!!!!! Any further ideas?

thanks

Try recording something else on that camera. Something failed somewhere.

I briefly flirted with the idea hat the record button got pressed twice--once for the show and then again once in the camera bag on the way back, but that would have left you with TC and black.

I'm going with the heads died on the recording camera. Did you play back a small part of the tape at the end of the show?

<<<Could the train ride back from the shoot>>

Subway? Metrotrains have powerfull electric motors right under the floor. I've never heard of this, but if you happened to sit right over one of the motors, you would have serious electric fields inside the cab. We did an analysis of how much power the average, full, New York rush-hour train pulled from the third rail when starting up and it made our eyes water.

Koz

thanks Kos,

Yes I tried using the same camera to record something else and yes it worked fine. Could the heads work some days on not others if they are old? Unlickly I'm guessing!

Could well be the subway although I'm more inclined to tell the client I got robbed than this as it sounds so ridiculous.
Thoughts?

Thanks again for you time

are you sure that was the tape that the event was recorded on?

<<<I've been a cameraman for 3 years>>>

I think we are about to greatly expand your skill set.

The tape could not have been left in the camera because you would have had to rewind and remove it to put a label on it (see: bj, above).

And you would know immediately that you had a bad tape because you would have played a little of it back in the camera *before* you left the shoot.

It's difficult to get the tape next to a dangerous subway motor if it's in your pocket.

And finally, you will get good at tap-dancing in front of a disappointed client.


"My dog ate your tape. Yeah, yeah, that's it. My dog ate your tape."

"On the way back from the shoot, a Giant New York Condor swooped down and grabbed............"

Koz



Post Edited (08-19-06 10:09)

1. The tape was NOT wiped in the subway. That's too good to be true.

2. I'm inclined to go with poster "bj"s theory (above) since this sounds like the kind of thing I (an idiot) do all the time.

3. Take heart! Invariably when I am convinced that something has been stolen/eaten/irretrievably lost it shows up in my jacket pocket.

With sympathy,

Harry.



Harry Bromley-Davenport.

<<<2. I'm inclined to go with poster "bj"s theory (above) since this sounds like the kind of thing I (an idiot) do all the time.>>>

That *never* happens to me.

Koz