American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1926)

Eight AMERICAN C I NE M AT O GR A PH ER September, 1926 horizon line appears to be tipping first one way and then another. The rougher it is, the more the ocean seems to jump about, while the ship, because the camera follows its motions, seems to be perfectly steady. Naturally, in the interest of realism, it was desired to portray the rolling of the ship, and not the illusionary heaving of the horizon. The important duty then was to devise a tripod which would make possible the showing of the movements of a real ship on the screen. There is a form of "sea-going" tripod that has been in common use for a long time. It, however, has marked limitations in that once the weight is started swinging by a roll of the ship, the camera continues to swing whether or not the ship continues to do so. This of course gives an unsatisfactory result. This form of tripod has its head swung in gimbals, just as a mariner's compass. A pendulum with a weight attached at the bottom counterbalances the camera. Three Types The tripod which we used was developed after a great deal of experimental work in the Lasky camera shop. Three different methods of controlling the sway of the pendulum were designed by Leigh M. Griffith, mechanical engineer. The tripods were then built in the shop. They were later tried out at sea under actual conditions. It was found that a hydraulic scheme of dampening the swing of the pendulum was much more satisfactory than either of two mechanical systems, so the former type was adopted. Hydraulic Method The hydraulic method works in the following manner: The motion of the pendulum swinging is transferred by shafts and gears to two double pistons working in a cylinder against oil. A tube connects the opposite ends of the cylinders. This tube is fitted with an adjustable valve by which the amount of oil flowing from one end to the opposite end of the cylinder may be controlled. By adjusting these valves it is possible to control the swing of the weighted pendulum to fit the roll of the ship at the time the scene is to be taken. Another view of "seagoing" camera, showing pendulum arrangement between tripod legs. Panchromatic Used "Old Ironsides" is the first Lasky picture to be photographed exclusively on panchromatic film. "The reason," Gilks states, "I decided to use panchromatic was because Mr. Cruze will not have make-up on any of his people, including the leading man and the leading woman. I realized how sunburned and tanned every one would become in three months of location shooting at sea and at Catalina Island. It was imperative that I use 'pan' which gave me a wide range of filters to bring into play properly photograph people in the foreground and to hold down the bright sky and water in the background. "Technicolor panchromatic was used to shoot certain night scenes in the daytime and gave very satisfactory results." Directions By Radio Mechanical proficiency in the form of radio was again brought into use to deliver commands over the wide area which was being photographed during the course of the production. "Radio," according t o Gilks, "proved a godsend in this picture. It was a marvelous help in the enabling the giving and changing orders at any instant. We know just when to begin photographing and when to 'cut.' As a result, no useless footage was shot because of any confusion of signals. (Continued on Page 16.)