Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1930)

JAMlJAie'* 1930 ABOUT this time a lot of those who have received cameras for Christmas gifts are wondering just what to do witli their new machines during the winter months. They will soon realize that the cine camera is now a winter sport, indoors and out, and as much out as in. David Wark Griffith, the famous director, realized this many years ago in the days when all motion pictiire cameras were still a novelty. One day New York City was hit by an unusual fall of snow. In the public squares the branches of the trees were groaning under the weight of the clinging white. As this cine pioneer passed through Union Square on his way to the old Biograph studio at 11 East 14th street he noted the beauty of the scene. An hour later he was back in the Square with his cameraman and his little handful of players, shooting the outdoor scenes for a story he had mentally written on his short walk from the Square to the studio. It was not much of a plot; there never was much plot to those thousand footers, but the trade papers and public alike raved about the picture. It was one of the big hits of that season. The cameraman closed his diaphragm and "shot for the snow." He did not even have a filter, for filters were unknown in the studios of those days. Some of the characters looked like Moran and Mack, but nobody cared. The snow scenes were exquisite. They carried the plot. Today the amateur with his filters and panchromatic film can go far beyond that Biograph triumph. Your friends may tire of three or four hundred feet of just snow shots, no matter how beautiful. But the barest thread of a story tossed in — a girl waiting for her lover, their skiing party, followed by a lovers' quarrel with a reconciliation in which she takes back the ring under the snowy trees — will give life and interest, with a few indoor shots for contrast. You still have the WINTER WORK Some Of The Delights Of Post-Christmas Filmiji^ By Taylor White 'g four hundred feet of snow stuff but now it has a soul. You do not have to wait for a heavy fall. Use any snow and shoot for beauty. Perhaps Dad bets Junior he can shovel more snow. You see .Tunior hus I'lwlograpk By H. Armstrong Roberts PUTTING HEART INTEREST INTO THE SNOWDRIFTS She Is Waiting For Her Lover In This Wintry Scenario tling like a beaver. You see Dad very willingly "lose." The main point is that you have put a kick into some crack shots of snowbanks. Your audience will neither know nor care that the chauffeur did most of the shoveling for Junior. They see only the shots with Junior and these are interesting because they have an interest-carrying plot. But, in shooting for scenic effect, give the spectator a few seconds in which to admire the shot before you commence the pantomime. Keep your mind alert and you'll come to think in terms of story. Write some of the action to take place in interiors and you can film it on bright days near large windows with the aid of plenty of reflectors. Or you can do it at night if you have lighting equipment. Modern interior lights are inexpensive and easily available. Snow crystals are in the more exacting field of microcinematography but often you can obtain very pretty effects shooting through lightly frosted windows. If there is a pretty wintry landscape beyond the clear spot in the glass, so much the better, but just the window pane can be made to yield some pretty effects. Steam heat plays mischief with Jack Frost's brush, but you can leave the window of an unused room open on a clear, cold day, unscrewing the radiator valve for a few minutes to provide the proper humid atmosphere to cause condensation. Perhaps some cold morning you'll find some tub or barrel covered with a thin film of ice. Break out a piece and shoot through that. It will give an effect that will have even other cinematographers guessing. The ice must be very clear and you should aim so that the light does not halate from the back of the sheet. Here's another trick along the same line. Make a shallow frame for a sheet of clear glass, such as an old glass negative. Cover with water to the depth of an eighth of an inch and let it freeze. Set this vertically on a support which will enable you to place an alcohol lamp or a plumber's blow-torch below it. The gradual melting of the ice will give a dissolve effect. A little alcohol in a saucer can replace a missing lamp, if you are careful, but gasoline will give too much soot. In the country shoot the landscape through it. In the city shoot the skyline or the clouds. With a little practice and experimentation you'll have a very pretty effect. Winter is good for miniature work. If you have some artistic skill, you can spend many a pleasant evening building up your landscape and shooting from different angles. If you are not clever with pencil and brush, you can get a month or two of glorious evenings out of the glass-topped library table. Get a piece of black velvet or woolen stuff large enough to cover most of the top and place this beneath the glass, forming a "black mirror" such as artists use. Provide a neutral backing far enough away to be out of sharp focus and shoot to get a reflecton of a statuette, book-end, cone, cube or cylinder in any arrangement your fancy suggests. Even without the glass, you can make some wonderfully interesting "modern" effects but the mirror is more effective. [Note the use of the glass in the Hollyivood Revue.^ And you not only will be deriving enjoyment from the work but you'll learn more about lighting and angles than you can in any other way. Light from above, from the sides, from the back and from below. In using back lighting, have some minor illumination coming from the front. (Continued on page 52) 18