American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1952)

Record Details:

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Industrial CINEMATOGRAPHY sasser^r MARCH OF TIME crew that produced the coal industry film, "Powering America's Progress" in 16mm color. L to R: Wm. Shaw, electrician; John Garrambone, props; Reggie Wells, Asst, director; John Geisel, cameraman; Al Kern, assistant; Edward Fenton, sound man; and James Maloney, grip. Documentary On Coal transparencies on underground and sur¬ face coal mining operations for the In¬ stitute. So it was that a rare combina¬ tion of talent was united to document the coal mining operations on 16mm Kodachrome. The assignment not only called for a superb continuity of pictures on the mechanized might and power of the coal industry itself hut for a vivid, dramatic portrayal of coal’s impact on the might of America. This coal documentary was to he a story of America at work. From the engineer on the coal train, to the miner operating a shuttle car; from the steel worker directing the tapping of the open hearth, to the busy production line foreman ; from the satisfied customer of coal in the friendly warmth of his rumpus room, to the research scientist solving the problems of liquefying coal, the movie was to depict the dependence of America’s industrial might upon coal, and the benefits accruing to the people of America from the numerous products made possible by an abundance of coal. The filming task presented a chal¬ lenge in techniques and an opportunity to blaze a pioneering trail in the han¬ dling of a commercial 16mm color motion picture. A modern American un¬ derground bituminous coal mine might be likened to a complex city with ave¬ nues, streets, building lots and homes, with an electric-powered transportation system not at all dissimilar to a trolleycar network familiar in many American cities and towns. But there is one vast difference. In the underground coal mine giant machines move along the “avenues and streets” of the passage¬ ways and operate in the “building lots” or rooms. With push-button ease these mechanical monsters, governed by to¬ day’s highly skilled miners, go about The color camera goes underground to record bitu¬ minous coal mining operations and follows through for the story of "Powering America's Progress/ WITH A MAURER 16mm camera, John Geisel left) photographed nine major sequences underground on modern mining. Discussing a new scene with him is assistant cameraman Al Kern. By CLIFFORD H. ADAMS Photographs By The Author Filming a coal mine in color! There’s an assignment to challenge any cine¬ matographer ! But oddly enough, there is color even in the depths of a coal mine. And the Bituminous Coal Insti¬ tute of Washington, D. C., has an ex¬ cellent 16mm color-and-sound produc¬ tion to back up the statement. When the Institute elected to make Powering, America s Progress, a motion picture depicting the myriad facets of American Cinematographer one of America’s greatest industries, the decision was to film it in color; and the film producer who received the assign¬ ment was March of Time. Cameraman Johnny Geisel did the photography; yet a measure of photographic credit is also due William Vandivert who directed the picture. A noted industrial still photog¬ rapher, Vandivert earlier had demon¬ strated his photographic skill by turn¬ ing out a superb set of 4 or 5 color — 16 January, 1952