I See Chicago: The Space Age
I See Chicago: The Space Age
On Preview Cassette # 218329 A news production about Chicago's contribution to the United States space program. Opens with an EST shot of the Dearborn Observatory at Northwestern University; cut to high angle MS of a scientist (Dr. Aaron Heinrich) and a student standing at a machine (computer?); low angle INT shot of the observatory's dome and telescope; CU's of Dr. Aaron Heinrich (sp) and student; MS of another student turning on a television (followed by great CU of the screen), diss to LS's of a rocket taking off from a launchpad. LS of the dome oscillating; MS of the telescope; CU of dials and gears on a control panel. Excellent ECU's of a TV relaying images of the cosmos. Cut back to the rocket, now a distant dot in the stratosphere. Newsreel of JOHN GLENN and his excursion aboard the Friendship 7: CU's and MS's of Glenn (in space suit) squeezing into the tiny capsule; CU's and MS's of ground control talking on radios, preparing for liftoff; LS's of the liftoff. MS's of a contracting truck driver (INT cab) driving on Chicago's Kennedy Expressway (which probably hadn't yet been named as such since JFK was still alive). Excellent montage of men and women at work in a television assembly plant. MS of 2 men lifting a TV in ashowrrom, placing it on a raised tier; a woman and salesman enter frame, walk to the TV. CU's of the sale. MS of a man in a lab coat putting restraints around a small rocket silo. Tight LS inside an engineering room, numerous men working at desks, their backs to the camera. MS's of a man testing a manufactured unit at a desk. Panning CU of a mainframe computer, a reel-to-reel deck gathering information for processing. MS's and CU's of assemblers. MS of a man retesting circuitry (an unholy mess of electrical wires). MS of man assembling completed circuits. MS's and LS's of people standing in line for public assistance (unemployment lines); CU of an old fashioned card catalogue filing system. MS's and CU's of a young engineering graduate of Northwestern University talking to the camera about his career options (though he wants to stay in Illinois he knows he'll only find a job on the West or East Coasts). Accompanying him is his wife and their adorable four kids (the oldest, a boy, sleeps soundly on the kitchen table). EST and INT shots of University of Illinois's Stage Field (?), or what remains of it. CU of a plaque inside a hall: ON DECEMBER 2, 1942, MAN ACHIEVED HERE THE FIRST SELF-SUSTAINING CHAIN REACTION AND THEREBY INITIATED THE CONTROLLED RELEASE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY.