Captain Video Returns!

Operating from his secret mountain headquarters on the planet Earth...

This site chronicles the ongoing efforts to create a short film based upon the very first science fiction television series, Captain Video.

From 1949 to 1955, Captain Video's adventures enthralled a generation of kids and adults. Unfortunately, as one of the flagship titles of the destitute DuMont netwok, Captain Video suffered accordingly when the network collapsed in 1955. Today, only a precious few episodes survive of the more than 1500 produced, making this show truly a lost classic.

There are far better sites than this one about the intricacies of the show. Interested readers should point their rocketships to the following pages:

Wikipedia's entry on Captain Video
Roaring Rockets: Captain Video
The Space Hero Files

And a web search will bring up even more sites -- proof that this show still lives on in the imaginations of thousands!

The Short Film

As stated before, this site will document an attempt by a graduate film student to create a narrative Captain Video short film. It won't be an easy undertaking, but then again, it should be child's play compared to thwarting the efforts of the diabolical Dr. Pauli!

UPDATE: 2/28/06

Preliminary preparations continue. A test miniature of Captain Video's secret mountain headquarters has been completed (and used in the title graphic). Knowledge gleaned from this test will be used to construct a much more comprehensive miniature set for a dolly shoot using a probe lens on March 6th. Story details continue to be considered. Right now an attempt is being made to aquire a transcript or photocopy of an original script from one of the lost episodes, as a remake of an original script would be preferable to a new one. Additional photos of the miniature have been added below.

Miniature Construction Pictures

UPDATE: 3/8/06

It's finals week and I'm exhausted! Nevertheless, the project keeps moving forward. First, I now have a solid lead on a few Captain Video scripts and should actually have some copies in my possession within the next few weeks. Second, work on the miniature footage continues. After the construction of the initial miniature (used in the title graphic above), I was still unsatisfied. With only a few days till the fully crewed miniature shoot, I decided to construct a second miniature of Captain Video's Headquarters that would more closely match the one used in the 1951 Al Hodge episode in my possession. I managed to complete it the day before the shoot and then turned my attention to a backdrop. It was a mistake to wait so long before completing this crucial component, but my wife saved my hide -- she managed to hastily paint one with almost improvised materials at the last minute. Hmm, improvised materials and no time to work… sounds a lot like the original Captain Video! Fortunately, my spaceman's luck held long enough for the shoot to go fantastically, and I now have excellent footage to recreate an updated title sequence. Here's a few choice pictures. First row: side by side comparisons between the original miniature and a still from the new footage. Second row: A few images of the shoot itself.

2nd Update Pics

UPDATE: 3/13/06

Well, the rough cut of the series opener is done, and I mean it when I say rough. Still, I think it provides a good starting point and reflects an attempt to remain as authentic as possible to the original series. While there's a good chance I may experiment with a more modern version, I've decided to make this one available in the meantime. Download a lo-res quicktime version here, or an avi version here (right click and use "save as"). It's 18 megs -- sorry about the size, but I'm used to making files as big and high-quality as possible, not shrinking them down!

More about the rough cut: It's an amalgamation of the two openers available to me via kinescopes. The narrative is from the Coogan era, while the miniature style dates to the early Al Hodge period. I chose the jagged-edge "electro-font," however, solely because it's my favorite. The voice-over is done by yours truly, but that's only a placeholder until I can get studio time for a proper recording (and announcer!). For obvious reasons, this opener hews to the earlier episodes of CV, but I thought that was the most appropriate as the scripts I'm getting date from 1951.

Regarding the scripts, I've really lucked out! One of the biggest problems with the available films is that they're single episodes from a larger story, but thanks to the Museum of American Broadcasting, I'm getting one contiguous week's worth from the Mona Kent Collection. I can hardly wait! Hopefully my next update will include a few choice scans from those rare pages. Until next time, rangers…