American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1959)

Record Details:

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FO R SALE 35mni Wall Camera With Complete Sound Outfit SPECIAL PRICE: $2,500.00 « Also Other 35mm Wall Camera Without Sound Complete with 12 volt motor, 4 lenses and 2 magazines. PRICED AT $1,200.00 Camera Equipment (o., Inc. 315 West 43rd St. New York 36, N.Y. Includes: Modulite Galvenometer, Amplifiers, 2 Magazines, 4 lenses — 35mm Variable Area PRECISION CONTROLLED OPERATIONS complete 16mm services DAILY REVERSAL PROCESSING (INCLUDING CUSTOM PROCESSING OF EASTMAN TRl-X & DwPONT 931) COMPLETELY EQUIPPED aO'x 60' SOUND STAGE; FINEST QUALITY SOUND RECORDING AND RE-RECORDING; COLOR DUPLICATING; TITLING AND ANIMATION AURKONS CONVERTED 1600 Ft. $495.00 600 Ft. $349.00 Torque motor take up — useid Coast to Coast in TV stations. 60 Day Money Back Trial. GREAT LAKES MOTION PICTURE SERVICE 12037 Grand River Ave., Detroit 4, Mich. DUAL POWER VIEWER for BOLEX REFLEX From an original 6X to an 8X full field and 16X critical focus LARGER IMAGES — BETTER SHARPNESS CONTROL WITH ANY LENS Easy to Operate — Guaranteed for Life — More Information Available — When Viewer only is sent $54.00 — When sent with Camera $60.00. PELLEGRINI-PIEK 1545 Lombard St., San Francisco 23, Calif. Movers of Variable Shutter Units for all Bolex H Cameras. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Conducted by Walter Strenge^ A.S.C. UESTIONS relating to cinematog^ raphy or other phases of film pro¬ duction are invited from readers and will be answered by letter by Walter Strenge or by other qualified mem¬ bers of the American Society of Cine¬ matographers. Questions and answers considered of general interest will appear in this column. — Ed. QWhat do studio special effects men add to ordinary water to make it appear like sea water? Also, how are ripple effects produced on a small scale for special effects and miniature shots? — V.E.S., Jersey City, I\.J. Answer: A pool of clear water will reflect the color of the sky or of a sky-hacking, thus it is unnecessary to use dyes for the purpose of coloring water for miniature sea shots. How¬ ever, where shallow tanks or pools are used, the water must be dyed so the bottom will not show through. For this, No. 623 blue aniline dye powder is used — approximately one pound to 250,000 gallons of water. — James B. Gordon, A.S.C., 20th Century Fox Studio. QOn numerous Burns & Allen TV shows, George Burns has appeared sitting in front of a television set watching a picture that shows action in another part of his home or a nextdoor neighbor’s house. Please tell how this is done in TV camera work, what it is known as in photography, length of time used in motion pictures, etc. — J. R. White Plains, IS.Y. Answer: The Burns & Allen shows, as you may or may not know, are on film. The method by which the effect described is accomplished is known as optical printing. The picture observed by George Burns on the TV screen was photographed separately, then op¬ tically reduced to exact size of the TV screen and printed in on the nega¬ tive in the laboratory procedure that produces the prints. The method has been employed for many years in mak¬ ing motion pictures — both feature films and films for TV — both here and abroad. — James Van Trees, A.S.C., McCadden Productions. QI have a Filmo 70-DA camera hav¬ ing a single-frame exposure re¬ lease. What f/stop should be used for single-frame exposures with this cam¬ era, where normal exposure for same subject at 24 f.p.s. is f/8 with the same lighting? — /. /. L., Toronto, Canada. Answer: According to Bell & Howell, the exposure interval for single frames shot with the 70-DA camera is the same as when shooting at normal camera speeds. Therefore, in the in¬ stance described, you would set your lens at f/8. — Ray Mercer, A.S.C. QI am planning to shoot scenes of a military parade in 16mm Kodachrome, and would like to superim¬ pose a waving flag over the parade scenes in such a way thl the marchers may be seen clearly through the flag. How can I do this? — M. S. T., Los Angeles, Calif. Answer: For a good, professional re¬ sult, this is a job requiring the serv¬ ices of a film laboratory which can superimpose the flag over the parade shots in the right density. First make a shot of the waving flag of sufficient length to match the footage of the parade scenes; or this can be shot after the parade scenes have been filmed. Then submit all footage to a competent film laboratory with ad¬ vice as to the result you want. The lab will edit the flag footage and the parade scenes for A & B rolls for spe¬ cial effects printing, and superimpose the flag footage over the parade foot¬ age in the printing operation. — Lou Vincent, A.S.C. Associate. 70 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER