American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1963)

la movioid 1 constantly adds new products to its roster of depend¬ able equipment to serve the changing needs of the Motion Picture, Television and Photo Instrumentation industries. Write for free literature — specify items that interest you. r manufacturing co. 5539 Riverton Ave., North Hollywood Calif. Telephone: TRiangle 7-2173 Cable address: Moviola, North Hollywood, Calif. } ‘FIRE BRIGADE’ CAMERAMEN Continued from Preceding Page or pressurized moon-suits and also car¬ ry a reserve supply of oxygen as a pre¬ caution against the deadly gases that sometimes settle at the bottom of a silo. A typical film documentation of a missile site starts with photographing the removal of the first shovel-load of dirt, then shows bulldozers scooping out the foundation, the pouring of the concrete, methods of transporting and installing missiles in the launch area, etc. From the moment of ground¬ breaking until the missile is fired the cameraman filming the operation must understand everything that is being done so that he can emphasize impor¬ tant details and write accurate captions for his footage. As a result of this requirement the cameramen involved probably have more complete knowl¬ edge of the overall missile program than any other group of personnel in the Air Force. They must know the identifying characteristics of every type of missile in the inventory, its hardware, fueling procedure, etc. Because missile sites are constructed in some wildly remote areas, first aid and snake bite kits have become stand¬ ard equipment in all camera cars. At one site near Tucson, for example, more than forty rattlesnakes were killed in one day. A cameraman film¬ ing a site near Denver finished shoot¬ ing, stowed his equipment in the back of his station wagon, got into the driver’s seat, started the engine and shifted into gear. As he looked down, a rattlesnake which had been coiled in the other seat sprang into his lap. The cameraman leaped out the door. The car, idling in low gear, continued down the road another twenty five feet before careening over the embankment. This incident threatened to ruin the detachment’s perfect safety record of 1,000,000 driver-miles without an ac¬ cident. But since the rattlesnake was in full possession of the vehicle at the time, the statement can still be truth¬ fully made that the unit has never had an accident while one of its men was in the car. When Capt. Jung was in Viet-Nam recently directing the operations of sev¬ eral of his camera crews, two camera¬ men were forced down in a strategic village completely surrounded by Com¬ munist troops. Caught in a crossfire of hostile 50mm machine guns, the photographers stood with camera in one hand and gun in the other, unde¬ cided which to shoot first. On several other occasions cameramen shooting from helicopters hovering at low-level above a hot combat area have gone on shooting as bullets whistled right through the plane past their heads and the pilots kept up a running gun duel with hostile troops on the ground be¬ low. Tbe harassment to cameramen film¬ ing in Viet-Nam exists also in the cli¬ matic and terrain conditions under which they are called upon to shoot. The climate there is hot and humid and causes film emulsion to swell and become tacky so that it is difficult to load and tends to jam in the cameras. Also, because of some peculiarity of the actinic rays in that area, scenes exposed according to meter readings are invariably over-exposed. A major hardship was caused by the fact that there was no source of electrical cur¬ rent where Arriflex batteries could be plugged in for re-charging. One cam¬ eraman modified a 30-volt Frezzo-light battery so that it would deliver just 15 volts of current for running the camera. In another case a 25-volt bat¬ tery from a Hawker-Flunter British air¬ craft was pressed into service. Weigh¬ ing 50 to 60 pounds, it had to be hauled by the cameraman through the underbrush along with his camera equipment so that filming could pro¬ ceed. Hazards equally as threatening as those of combat are encountered by Detachment 2 camera crews assigned to film operations of the Air Force’s nuclear energy plant at Sundance, Wyoming. This installation, the first of its type utilized by the Air Force, provides all of the power needed to run a complex radar station plus the electricity for homes in the area. Cam¬ eramen filming the highly radioactive elements of this installation are volun¬ teers especially trained for this hazard¬ ous duty and expect to take certain cal¬ culated risks. In one case, for example, scenes were needed showing the installation of three nuclear cores projecting down into a water tank. Lights were care¬ fully lowered down to water level and the cameraman, clinging to a steel ladder with one hand and holding the camera with the other, shot the re¬ quired scenes. Had he dropped the camera, a light or himself into the water the consequences would have been most serious. 106 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, FEBRUARY, 1963