The Cine Technician (1938-1939)

May-Juuei 1938 r H E C I N E T E C H X I C 1 A N THIS year has seen the increased popularity of Switzerland as a location for exteriors — the ideally clear atmosphere and impressive settings giving a high-merit quality to photographic production of all kinds. During the "season" the outlook is, of course, full of animation and this, coupled with the gay clothing of the ski-ing, skating, and bob-sleighing enthusiasts, makes such locations as St. Moritz especially attractive for colour filming — definitely a revelation to those who have imagined that the great contrast between the bright blue sky and the white glare of the snow might produce unsatisfactory conditions. Any such possibility is offset by the quality of reflected light there, which throws up soft tints of blue-green and rose-pink into the shadows of the snow. Beautiful effects are obtainable in the glaciers, from the glassy green and rose-pink shadows in the undercuts of ice. In the distance the shadows on the sides of glaciers are mauve. I turned four thousand feet in all,* and the quality has turned out to be very good. The film, being in colour, really has something new. Particularly noticeable is the surprising range of colours, especially in the long shots. To give some indication of light values with regard to colour, it is possible at times to stop down to f.H and f.9 for exposures when shooting long and medium shots; and to t. 5.6 and f.6.3 on close-ups. I had no trouble with the running of the cameras with regard to oil ; the only danger was of grease or dirt freezing on the lenses. No special lubrication was used. The question has been asked whether filters are used with this system (Dufay-Chromex). On this particular trip no filters were used for normal shots ; but some experiments were made with a blue filter supplied by DufayChromex for shooting night effects by sunlight. These shots have proved quite successful. The only other aid to the photographic side of the camera-work was the use of soft silver and soft gold reflectors, which were very useful when shooting close-ups by the setting sun. * Mr. Kettlewell was cameraman to the DROCO MONTAGU Film Unit — St Moritz location. SNOW SHOOTING IN COLOUR by KAY KETTLEWELL. Diavolezzo Glacier, with Kay Kettlewell in foreground . ft is possible to obtain some unique effects by tracking on skis, having the camera on a sling supported round the shoulders. The result is quite steady, provided, of course, that the operator can control a pair of skis. It is really dangerous to attempt this stunt if not. That a nast\ accident could occur here will be realised when one remembers that it is easy to reach a ski speed of 30-40 miles per hour without any effort. Another method of tracking is on skates, but this again requires the necessary skill on the part of the operator. Perhaps the safest way is to fix the camera on the front of a bob-sleigh. Then the operator can sit behind his camera quite safely; and the sleigh is simply pushed from the rear. The only disadvantage is that it must be on quite smooth snow or ice. as the bob-sleigh cannot travel over gullies and depressions in the snow without bumping. On skis, this difficulty does not exist. The difficulty of keeping on one's feet, when photographing skating sequences on the ice, is overcome by wearing sheep-skin overboots with thick crepe rubber soles. With these it is possible to walk practically anywhere without slipping, and even to run if necessary. A snag which had to be overcome was the sinking of the tripod legs in deep snow. No matter to what length the legs were extended, the snow was always deeper, making it impossible to get a level camera. This difficulty was solved by the use of a triangle fitted with spikes at each cornoi-. This remained on the surface of the snow and carried the weight of the camera quite effectively When photographing on the glaciers with sheet ice under the feet, it was a simple matter to stamp on the corners of the triangle— which made the spikes pierce the surface of the ice and thus hold the triangle with camera perfectly firmly. On this St. Moritz job the unit shot scenes of the Kilometre Lance, the fastest ski race in the world (90 m.p.h.), while other sequences included the Cresta Run and Bobsleigh Run, and the Ski Jump (showing actual jumps of 70 metres). Other shots included Megan Taylor, the recent World Championship winner for (Continued on page 2)