Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197255
that this was all new technology, and even though he was technically a contracted employee and still worked for Bell Labs, he and his crew would sleep at the stages in order to complete the job. Little did Jerry know he was wiring the stages for The Jazz Singer, which created a whole new line of work for him and many others. After the success of the movie, Jerry was asked to join Warner Bros. full time in 1929 as a "transmission engineer." As technology developed and went from sound-on-disc to optical recording, audio became more efficient. Shortly after Jerry joined the team, IATSE Local 695 and 700 were born, which ensured a quality of life for all studio sound technicians, and protection from being taken advantage of. Eventually, the sound department was split to production and post-production sound, and Jerry became the lead dubbing mixer for Warner Bros., where he would carry out his career working in post. He used the old RCA console, with four twist-pots for dialogue, music, & effects, and an extra one for additional content. The sound department at that time consisted of about 12 people on the set recording the sound, and about 6-8 working on it in post. They often had parties up at George Grove's place in Idyllwild, and it was all quite glorious from what I've been told. Jim was hesitant to follow in his father's footsteps. Although he saw that people seemed to be having a good time, he was also aware of the long hours. He said, "I liked climbing telephone poles. It was a great workout and I liked being outside." He decided to give it a shot, knowing he could always return to his former job if he wanted. He worked at First National Studios, then RKO. At first, he didn't really like working with film; it was tedious, and you had to get the cues just right. He tells of a reel becoming so unraveled that he had to take it outside and run it down the street to roll it back up again. There was also trouble with the "pops" when loading a reel, due to the hard cuts between the tape. This was an arduous task; you would get in a lot of trouble if the dub mixer turned up the dial to hear a pop, so the timing of when you loaded the reel was critical. His uncle, Riley Alexander, a pharmacist at Toluca Lake Pharmacy, developed a chemical called "photo black" to help with this problem. Photo black allowed them to paint out the inconsistencies in the tape on their cuts, creating a smooth transition by "fading" or tapering the edges of the track. This became a widely used tool on the dubbing stage as it allowed certain sound FX to loop (crickets, etc.) without hearing the pops. After a few years working downstairs, Jim was offered a job outside, working as a cable person for a movie called East of Eden. He jumped at the chance, as doing long hours in confined spaces wasn't really his thing. From top: Booming on the set of Wagon Train; optical sound recording machine blueprint from the archives of Jerry Alexander (Jim's dad); mixing on the set of Coal Miner's Daughter.