American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1952)

Amateur CINEMATOGRAPHY THIS COMPOSITE photo shows three different camera positions in a continuous dolly shot made possible by mounting the lights on camera tripod so that the lighting will remain more or less con¬ stant as the players move from one position to another. Path taken by the moving camera is indicated by the three positions. The re¬ sultant shots made at these positions are illustrated on next page. Commonsense Lighting For Indoor Movies The cine amateur’s most important resource will always be the reason¬ ing power Nature has bestowed upon him, plus the accumulated information gleaned from his own experiences and that which has been passed on to him by others. In approaching the lighting problems for interior Riming, without having given them previous careful thought, the amateur is apt to experience moments of panic. Actually, there is no mystery about photographic lighting. The basic principles are simple. Reason Am erica n Cinematographer By LEO J. HEFFERNAN Photos By The Author ing power, intuition, and the gradual development of good taste in lighting will ultimately lead any cameraman to the point where he possesses the lighting know-how necessary to good movie making. LInconsciously, all of us have been studying lighting ever since we were born. For example, only by evaluating highlights and shadows are we able to determine the shape of everyday objects. Why do we like certain lighting arrange¬ ments and disapprove of others? Per • haps it is because over the years our eyes have become accustomed to seeing certain lighting effects, and those which we see most often become pleasing to us principally because we have become fa¬ miliar with them. They are old friends, as it were. Like many others, I forgot all about these old friends when I first started to make movies indoors. My tendency was to clamp two lamps to chair backs, and placing one on either side of the camera I managed to produce the finest third 28 January, 1952