Dancy Street

I’ve been getting a lot of interest in this film I made back in the 20th century by the name of “Dancy Street.” If you don’t want to read the story first, which is utterly fascinating I assure you, feel free to skip down the page and just watch the movie. Enjoy the magic of glorious black and white, 16mm film. Those were the days!

The Story…

I say “I” but mean “WE.” “A Film by Cary White and Greg McGee.” This means we did everything right down the middle from writing and shooting, to editing soundtracks, cutting, mixing, and on and on. Fun, fun, fun! Even the conforming was done by us, wearing these cute little white gloves. Anybody want to hazard a guess as to what “conforming” is?

The actual Academy Award Nomination Certificate, on my wall. That’s my actual finger pointing at it.

“Dancy Street” was nominated for an Academy Award in the “Student Film” category in 1975. We lost the statue to some fancy dudes out at the UCLA film school. Go figure. Right next door to Hollywood.

Here’s a little gem:

We had to post-dub the dialog because the sound guy — another student like Cary and me — didn’t know a Nagra tape recorder from Niagra Falls. He lied all day long, telling us the recordings were “great!” Turned out, he had his earphones plugged in to monitor INPUT, not OUTPUT from the tape. Sigh…. At the end of the day, we listened back and there was this 60 cycle ground loop buzz throughout the tracks. Totally worthless.

The Nagra III tape recorder. An awesome invention. Click to learn more about it.

We couldn’t even fire the guy because he was working for free!

I don’t mean to rag on this guy. He was an amateur, just like Cary and me. I wish I could remember his name so I could thank him. Really. It was due to his blunder that we got the opportunity to learn how to post-dub dialog. If you can guess which character has MY voice, you get a free cookie.

There’s a lesson to be learned here, all you aspiring filmmakers. What is it?

A Historical Note

Pretty much everybody we consulted on the story back in 1975 thought it was absurd, two smart ass punks Cary and me blabbering on about “student hi-rises” west of campus at U.T. Austin. So ridiculous! And to have a voice that just starts playing by merely walking up to a picture, and other futuristic stuff. Impossible!

luxury high rise shot from West Campus — This is student life in the year 2020.
Even more luxurious than we imagined it.

Hmm. Ain’t it funny how all THAT turned out? Take a little stroll down Rio Grande or Nueces St. from 10th to 24th Street and get back to me.

I guess that’s why the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. wanted a copy for their archives. DARPA hasn’t given us any credit on the sensor voice. Yet.

By the way, 2804 Dancy Street is STILL THERE! But, PLEASE. Don’t bother the occupants.

I think they have a pit bull.