In the Beginning...
Let me start at the beginning. On May 23, 1986 I got my
first VCR. My AW viewing until then had been spotty at
best. I don't think I was able to watch an episode all year
(school, y'know). But on that day I was able to tape my
first full episode That day's freeze frame still ranks up
there among my favorites: Cass diving from Cecile's boat into, supposedly, shark-infested waters. I
continued the next couple of weeks taping and saving each full episode.
I decided that I only liked the Cass/Kathleen/Cecile story, so I began saving those bits. Then I realized that a second VCR would be ideal as I could save exactly those extracts I wanted. My grandmother promised me one in the fall (I was raised by my grandparents). She was turning 65 in mid-September and earmarked her first pension check to get me that machine. But she was to die unexpectedly a couple weeks after her birthday. (I still vividly remember that last Friday night. I was showing her that day's episode of AW, which I had taped earlier. It freeze framed with Vince coming face-to-face with his dead wife, Mary. The actor mumbled something out, then was freeze framed. We couldn't figure out what the hell he was saying. I rewound it half-a-dozen times, and it sounded like "Who's betrayed me?") For Christmas that year, my grandfather surprised me with the second VCR. He had used my grandmother's first and only check to buy it for me. I just held it in my arms and sat there and cried as I realized she had kept her promise to me even in death. I've been able to make a lot of people very happy because of that second VCR, Grandma, and I wish you could know that.
Early Editing
So in January I had the big job of going over all my videos and editing them together. For the next
six months, there was no plan or method to compiling scenes. Mostly it was stuff I liked that I
kept, often lengthy extracts. It wasn't until June that I finally decided to save each and every freeze
frame scene. I remember the last one I ever passed over, of Jamie hanging his head in his hands
after Lisa had been rescued from the Sin Stalker. From '86 to mid '88, the videos largely consisted
of lengthy extracts from the major stories: the Sin Stalker, John's introduction, Cass's
return/Kathleen's death/Rex Allingham, then into Reginald goes crazy. When I decided to
distribute the videos years later, I went back and "redid" 86-88, to keep the length more in line
with the formula that was emerging, of 4 months per tape. The Cass 1986 summer story alone was
18 hours of material, and was no good to anyone that way. I was able to reduce it to 2 hours. I did
the same for the Sin Stalker story. (The Rex and Reginald goes crazy stories still exist in their
original lengthy formats and are available as such in the Chronological Highlight series. And
people have said they enjoyed all those lengthy scenes.)
Getting into the Groove
The April 1988-October 1988 tape marks the modern era of the AWVL. It set the standard which still
exists to this day. (In the first couple weeks of that tape I experimented with including extracts
from each and every end credit. But since that slogged the viewing down I dropped it.) Now
whenever I watched I had a notebook nearby (actually that blue book in the photo was my main
book that lasted many years) and whenever I saw a scene I wanted to keep I would jot down the
counter number. At the end of the week I would connect the two VCRs and do my double-taping,
as I liked to call it.
What Gets Saved
Okay, here goes: intro and exit scenes of major characters, first meeting of couples and sometimes
non-couples, proposals, wedding highlights, first kisses and lovemaking, music montages, fight
scenes, births, deaths, location shots, shootings, dream sequences, parties, the evolution of the
opening credits, and of course freeze frame scenes. By the latter I don't mean just the freeze
frame, I mean the little scene leading up to it. It might be only the last few seconds before the
freeze, but more likely it is a few lines exchanged between characters before the freeze. Personally
I love the freezes, and while the one you see today might be so-so, seeing it years from now makes
it extra special.
Not Commercial Free
From 1988-1994 I was able to tape many AW promotional commercials. These were a *itch to
find sometimes as the NBC station would often shift them around, but since I had the entire week
to hunt for it, I would usually find it by Friday. I've got some real treasures in my collection,
including the commercials that introduce Jensen Buchanan and Judi Evans Luciano to the show. There are
also three thematic ones, of various characters dancing (including Sam and Amanda doing a Dirty
Dancing take-off). Regular commercials of the week-to-week happenings are nothing to scorn
either, not when they portray things like Vicky and Ryan's first meeting.
What Makes the AWVL Special
If it were just those scenes that I describe above that made it, the videos wouldn't be nearly as
popular as they are. It's the instinct, the eye, that I've developed that tells me what to save and
what to ignore. My motto is Never Compromise. Meaning, don't save a scene just because it seems
important or interesting at the time. I use the perspective of, Will this scene be of interest five years
from now, or ten years. The flip side to that motto is to save what feels good to me, no matter how
small or insignificant it might seem. So there are scenes such as Alli pointing out a bird while
sitting on Amanda's lap; Alli interrupting Sam's boastful father's talk with an unscripted "Guk!"'
Gregory's gurgle that interrupts a John/Lily scene; Ryan and Steven playing hide-and-seek with
Vicky. I try to put heart into the videos. There's more. Sets: I try to show the first/last appearance
of major sets. And of course humor.
Making Sense of It All
While I do the videos to please myself only, there is an imaginary new viewer for whom I tailor the
material. It's extremely important that the videos tell a story, and not be just a collection of scenes
strung together. I'll often relay plot developments using one character's summation of the issue to
another. I provide a sense of continuity by often saving scenes of characters remembering past
history.
What Really Makes the Videos Special
I still haven't captured the fun you have watching them. It think it has to do with the rapid
succession of clips. Because of my no compromise rule, I know I don't have to worry if all I'm
saving are just a few seconds of a funny little scene, or if all I want to save for a particular day is
the freeze frame (which happens at least once per week). I believe my videos are unique. While
others may save whole episodes, or just those with major scenes, I save the best bits from each and
every single episode. Watching a typical video is a roller-coaster ride, with virtually every scene
being one that will grip your interest.
The power of small scenes is evident with two tapes from the special series. The very first scene in The Very Best of Frankie was from June 1989. Cass and Stacey are talking in his law office when Frankie comes in singing/humming this tune. She hops up onto Cass's desk and finishes her song with a flourishing "Ta-Dah!" In the very first scene of Visions of Tomorrow, Grant walks up to Vicky and Ryan at TOPS and says, "Victoria. Ryan. How's it going?" They turn to look at him, and Ryan has this quirky expression on his face. The scene fades quickly to a commercial, which I replace with the opening sequence. (The very next scene in that tape is Bridget flirting with Ryan, another throw-away scene.) All these scenes, during their original broadcast, would not have a made a very big impression on anyone. But now, especially with Frankie, Ryan, and Bridget dead, those scenes are very powerful and worth their weight in gold.
Techno Babble
I don't have special equipment, just audio/video cables to connect the machines. Editing can be a
major headache sometimes because of the lag. You see, you have one VCR on pause-record, and
you get the other one playing the scene you want. But when you release the pause button, it
doesn't automatically start recording. There's a delay of up to a second or two before the recording
will start. That makes a crucial difference if you want to start a scene between two lines spoken by
the same character. So sometimes someone's speech will have a bit chopped off at the start, or a
bit of his previous line added at the beginning. I always hold my breath when I look over the
week's editing, to see what surprises may be waiting for me. The funniest thing that happened in
that respect was with a Matt/Jenna scene where he was telling her how he was conceived (which
makes it fall under the "Remembering Past History" heading). The little bit of dialogue
unintentionally saved at the beginning was Jenna saying, "Not yet"...
Until 1995 I edited every week, then I began doing it every two weeks to get a better perspective on what to save. I use a final end credit scene to "bookend" compilations. That's because a new editing job will eat just a bit of the end of the last scene, so I make sure it's unimportant, hence an end credit.
Early tapes are two-hour tapes. In 1994 I started using T-160's so that I could save more and have less tapes to be burdened with. I end up saving about 5-10 minutes per week. To this day some episodes are so uneventful that once or twice a week I will save just the freeze frame. Weeks with major holidays and sweeps months tend to offer more to save.
The Bias
The tapes are actually extremely biased. I show more of my personal favorites and less of the
others. Minor characters get very little notice. If there's a big scene, then sure, anyone can make an
appearance. But for those special little throw-away scenes (that are probably what make watching
a soap so enjoyable), I save only those with the long-term characters. I was burned too often in the
early years of taping. A new character would be introduced and I would take great pains to
establish them: show their first scene, their 1st meetings with other characters, and some dialogue
that explained who they were and what they were doing in Bay City. Then they would be gone in
under a year. I play it safe now. The only new character I "established" in my videos for the whole
of 1996 was Bobby. For people like Cindy and Chris, I showed their intro, and two other scenes
where they introduce themselves to somebody (and thus AWVL viewers). Then I ignored them. If
people object, well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I think the tapes are a lot more fun when 80-90% of
the time the characters you see are those that have been on for several years.
What's Missing
There are scenes in every year (even this one) that I wish I had saved. 20/20 hindsight, I guess. I don't have the first scene of Lucas (although this was shown in a musical flashback prior to his
wedding to Felicia), Cass and Frankie's first meeting (well, it was pretty unremarkable, and I had
no idea they would be a couple [what's particularly infuriating though is that they showed it again
in a flashback, and I STILL didn't save it]), or Vicky's last scene with Ryan on the plane (a power
failure negated that, but I do have her farewell scenes with Michael, Donna, Bridget, Steven, and
Marley, and the musical montage commemorating her four years on the show). It is also extremely
rare that I will save an entire scene, from start to finish. That would be a completely different kind
of video, and if that's what you're interested in, you'll have to look elsewhere.
The AWHP and the AWVL
The Another World Home Page would not be what it is without my videos. Files that owe their
very existence to them include Freeze Frames, Intro and Exit Lines, Couples Data, Location
Sequences, and Opening Sequences.
On the Road with the AWVL
I've moved around a lot during the past 10 years, and everywhere I've gone my VCRs have come
with me, sort of like a ball and chain. That has been a major hassle, especially since I don't have a
car. Surprisingly though I've missed very few episodes because of moves.
I visited my father in Florida for 2 months in 1993. I brought my VCR, and let's just say it wasn't a pleasant experience explaining to customs why I needed to bring a VCR with me on vacation! While there, I was able to save everything I wanted on about 10 tapes, by rewinding during the commercials and taping over stuff I didn't want. When I got back home I edited together all 2 months worth, and I doubt anyone would be able to tell any difference.
Distribution
There's a whole long story about how I started to share the videos, but that's another file. All I
want to say now is that it truly makes me very very happy to be able to share them and to know
that they are enjoyed. The Highlight series was distributed for free for many years. But it was a slow process (taking well over a year for someone to receive copies of 86-91 tapes), and the waiting list grew way too long. Now I make all copies myself, and orders are filled within two days of my receiving the letter in the mail.
In Conclusion
I would encourage any soap fan with two VCRs to start a similar collection. Unfortunately, most
everyone would think that they started too late, and that nothing happening now is really worth saving.
And they would be content to save just the big episodes, the "keepers," every couple months. The
secret is that while anything you would see in a current episode isn't worth rewatching now, it will
take on a whole new feeling 1, 5, and 10 years down the line. In fall 1996, the Vicky/Bobby/Jake
story was enjoyable to watch, but several years from now, I will really have a blast watching the best
bits of it from that entire period. Just like I have a great time every time I rewatch the
"Death of Jake" story from early 1995.
(In the late 1980s I finally figured out what Vince had been saying when he saw Mary. "I must be dreaming.")