American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1963)

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Prairie Ave., Dallas 4, Texas Phone LAkeside 1-2672 mm FILM COMPANY 424 LI PO CHUN BUILDING HONG KONG COMPLETE 16/MM & 35/MM PRODUCTION FACILITIES could with little difficulty average 35 minutes of shooting time to a hole. That’s from tee-off to the final putt on the green. The commercials for this TV series, institutional in format, were a separate project and were photographed with sync sound on the same locations as the tournaments by Director of Pho¬ tography Eric Cross, B.S.C., and di¬ rected by Kenny Williams. Equipment Performed Well Except for the high-speed camera, we encountered very little difficulty with cameras and equipment during the five months we photographed the eleven tournaments. Our difficulty with the high-speed camera was in operating it at maximum speed — f44 frames per second— -which induced lateral move¬ ment in the film as it traveled past the gate. We reduced the speed to 120 frames per second — five times normal —which provided much better results in our slow motion studies of the in¬ teresting techniques of the various players. Sequences of speed shots were filmed at the conclusion of each match to demonstrate, in slow speed analytical action, each player’s driving, pitching and putting form. This is a highlight of the series which has met with instant favor with TV audiences. For trouble-free shooting of such action at high camera speeds, I feel best results would he obtained with one of the cameras specifically designed for high¬ speed cinematography — such as one I used in shooting the original atomic bomb tests in the South Pacific several years ago. The two 35mm Arriffex cameras were always operated tripod-mounted except when required for some unusual low-angle shot (such as shown in the cover photo of this issue). Actually, these cameras are a little too heavy for any long, sustained shooting hand held. When a camera operator tires from long periods of shooting with an unmounted camera, unsteady shots in¬ variably result. One Arriffex served as the No. 3 camera, shooting spectator reaction, and the other was used exclusively in connection with magnetic tape record¬ ing of the running commentary during the takes. Equipped with an Arriffex sync generator working in conjunction with a remote Perfectone tape recorder, this camera was responsible for photo¬ graphing and recording the comments iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiii SHELL’S “WONDERFUL WORLD OF GOLF” MATCH SCHEDULE BROADCAST PLAYERS LOCATION DATE Gene Littler Eric Brown Gleneagles (Scotland) Jan. 20 DowFinsterwald Peter Alliss Tryall (Jamaica, B. W. 1.) Jan. 27 Dave Ragan Celestino Tugot Wack-Wack (Philippines) Feb. 3 Art Wall Stan Leonard Royal Quebec (Canada) Feb. 10 Doug Sanders Arne Werkell Halmstad (Sweden) Feb. 17 Jack Nicklaus Sam Snead Pebble Beach (California) Feb. 24 Byron Nelson Gerry de Wit Hague (Holland) Mar. 3 Phil Rodgers Frank Phillips Royal Singapore (Singapore) Mar. 10 Bill Caspar Harry Bradshaw Portmarnock (Ireland) Mar. 17 Bob Goalby Bob Charles Paraparaumu Beach (New Zealand) Mar. 24 Bob Rosburg Roberto De Vicenzo Los Leones (Chile) Mar. 31 [iiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmimiimiii of official narrator George Rogers and Gene Sarazen, star of the show, com¬ menting on the various plays as the competition progressed from tee to green throughout each 18-hole play. An interesting highlight of this whole undertaking was the effective use of camouflage to conceal some of the cameras, their carriers and oper¬ ators during the photographic coverage of the various matches. The sponsor, Shell Oil Company, made a special point of requesting that, if it were at all possible, none of our working cam¬ eras be visible in any of the shots ultimately used in the show series. Camera angles, therefore, were care¬ fully chosen so that the camouflaged Jeeps, Land Rovers or cherry pickers would blend naturally with the trees, shrubbery or the terrain of the courses. To conceal tripod-mounted cameras not mobile mounted, we placed spectators strategically in front of them in such a way as would not interfere with photography yet adequately conceal them. The pattern of camera coverage we used made it necessary for some cameras to face others directly, but so effective was the camouflage work that not a single camera is visible in any of the shots in the eleven shows of the series. The aerial shots seen in the shows I photographed myself from heli¬ copters. There are not more of them because an acceptable helicopter was not always available for photography in some of the countries we visited. But where a Sikorsky or a Bell Ranger could be had, we took to the air and shot interesting aspects of the tourna¬ ment golf course, over which footage narration was recorded later. This pho¬ tography took the place of static dia¬ grams that might otherwise be used for the same but less effective purpose. Continued on Page 120 118 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, FEBRUARY, 1963