FRANKIE DeGROOT | NSW | CONTACT
The infomercial industry is reeling this week, on news that famed “Before” cameraman Harvey Walterson has finally upgraded his wind-up black and white Bell & Howell Super8 camera to a new colour camera.
Although largely unknown to the general public, Harvey has singlehandedly provided the “Before” footage for almost every infomercial filmed in the past 60 years.
“I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew infomercials were my destiny” recalls Harvey
“I was a kid, playing in the kitchen while mum made dinner. She was cutting vegetables with a knife, which was a common thing to do before the Zyliss chopper and Magic Bullet were invented. “
“Suddenly her hand slipped and she cut off her entire arm before she fell out the kitchen window, was hit by a bus and assaulted by Rolf Harris. “
“It all happened in an instant. At that moment I knew I had to do whatever I could to get the message out to the world that unless you rushed out and bought the latest infomercial gadgets you were in danger of not being able to complete the most mundane task without totally fucking it up somehow”.
So that was exactly what he did. 8 year old Harvey saved up all his pocket money and 6 years later invested in his iconic black and white Super8 camera. He had no way of knowing how high the demand for his services would be, but his unique way of making ordinary people look like total fucktards is surprisingly hard to do, and nobody did it like Harvey, even though he still used the old Super8.
“So many producers kept asking me to shoot colour footage, but I knew the public weren’t ready for it yet. It was too advanced for their palette.” explains Harvey.
“Unless I filmed it in black and white how would they be able to tell they were looking at the old way of taking a lid off a jar without the JarMaster Deluxe? I think this is all about exploring a new artistic direction, taking my art to a new level; a more sophisticated market.”
“We’ll still feature someone accidentally impaling themselves on a broom whilst attempting to put a milk bottle in the fridge without the Fridge Doorganiser2000, and there will still be a star-wipe to the excited “after” lady putting the milk in the fridge without injuring herself, but this time both sets of footage will be in colour. It’s definitely the start of an exciting new era.”
Many in the industry are wondering if this is the beginning of the end for Harvey. Perhaps continually winding up the old camera was getting too much for his old hands. Maybe he is ready to wind up his glittering career?
“Not anytime soon” laughs Harvey
“there is still so much danger out there that I need to help protect people from. Just last week a close friend of mine was trying to change a lightbulb by standing on a chair instead of using the Flex-O-Ladder 8-in-1. He fell off, knocked himself out, and when he regained consciousness he realised he had bought a used Holden Captiva. It just goes to show that you can never be too careful”.
