Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

MOVIE MAKERS 163 Motion Picture Club, the New York local group. In the ten years since then he has served that club for six years as a director, two as vicepresident and three as general chairman of the club's annual Gala Show committee. Three of his travel studies have won through to program honors in that show. Harry Groedel began life 67 years ago in Newark, N. J. His early schooling led him through high school in that city and thence to further studies at private schools in Germany and Switzerland. He is in business for himself as an estate management counselor and is a director of a number of eastern industries. His other hobbies are gardening, golf, art collecting and — most importantly — his two grandchildren. HARRISON F. HOUGHTON, ACL A graduate economist, Harrison F. Houghton first undertook the hobby of movie making with no other investment than the cost of a marriage license. This feat of economic legerdemain was accomplished in 1941, on his honeymoon, by using his wife's 8mm. Revere, a camera which he thoughtfully had urged her mother to give his bride-to-be as a birthday present. The training which was to result in this sort of domestic double-entry operation began in the public schools of Des Moines, Iowa, near which city (at Valley Junction) Mr. Houghton was born on December 24, 1911. It continued at Drake University, from which Des Moines institution, having majored in economics and accounting, he graduated in 1933 as a Bachelor of Commercial Science. There followed four years of graduate study in economics at Columbia University. From the campus, Mr. Houghton went first into private enterprise, then (in 1941) into government service at Washington, where he currently is an economist with the Department of Justice. However, just as it was his wife (nee Virginia Richards, of Louisville, Ky.) who got him started in movie making, it was she also who persuaded him by 1948 that he might as well make good movies. For it was in that year that Mr. Houghton joined the Washington Society of Cinematographers. Here, inspired by the fine films being produced by club members, he forsook what he has described as the "garden hose" technique and began to attack the upper echelons of amateur film production. This attack was to lead him, equipment-wise, through a three-lens Revere 8 to (in 1950) a Bolex H-16, which is now fitted (says Mr. Houghton) with practically every accessory known to the gadget-minded. Within WSC, Mr. Houghton's dedication to finer filming was to lead him to four annual terms on the club's executive committee, one term as secretary-treasurer, and three consecutive terms as the club's presi dent. It was in that office that he recently mounted the highly successful world premiere of ACL's Top of the Ten Best, which was presented at Washington, D. C, in mid-March. Today, Mr. Houghton's other hobbies are tennis, gardening, stereo still photography and their two daughters — aged 8 and 4. Quite a few years earlier, however— and without any assists from Mrs. Houghton — his one compelling interest was the collection of jazz records. Beginning in 1928 with the purchase of some now-priceless sides by Bix Beiderbeck and Louis Armstrong, Mr. H. has amassed in the quarter century since then well over 2,000 items. As a matter of fact, he himself played jazz cornet in a college dance band during his Drake years. Gave it up, however, as bad economics. New rules for lenses [Continued from page 155] of the longer focal length lens being used. The lens on the 8 or 16mm. movie camera which corresponds to the studio "portrait" lens is the telephoto. Even with the reduced film size the proportions remain the same. So we are now ready for Basic Rule Number Three: Use the telephoto lens for closeups, particularly those of people. There are a few things to watch out for, though, when you use this plan. First, don't let the plan do your thinking for you. If the shot calls for a telephoto lens and the plan calls for a wide angle, then by all means use the telephoto. No plan can possibly fit all situations. Second, don't use a wide angle lens for a closeup of your friends unless you are trying to get a comic effect. The wide angle distorts perspective to such a degree that you will get the fun-house effect: the crazy mirrors that give you a big nose and a pin head. Other than these two warnings, you will find that the plan works pretty well on practically all movies. If you are just starting out and are wondering whether to add a telephoto or a wide angle to your normal lens, I would advise the wide angle first. You will find more use for it for the time being than the telephoto. For the normal lens is approximately a compromise between these two and will perform adequately for your portrait closeups until you are ready for the telephoto. So there you have it. Remember the three rules: 1. Use a wide angle for long shots. 2. Use a normal lens for medium shots and small groups. 3. Use a telephoto for closeups. When you try this on your next movie, I think you will notice that your films have improved to such an extent that even your worst critic will say you have a "new touch." Try it! It works. Add a VARIABLE SHUTTER UNIT To Your Bolex H-16 The type of shutter, standard for all professional movie cameras. • Full range from open to closed at any camera speed. • 3 convenient intermediate stops, Vt open, Vl open and V4 open, enable you to expose from 1/18 sec. at true 8 f.p.s. at open to 1/560 sec. at V4 open at true 64 f.p.s. • Make comple.e transition lap dissolves anytime. • Fade-ins and fade-outs at your fingertips. • Neutral density filters no longer needed when filming outdoors with fast film. Audible warning sound when shutter in closed position when filming forward or hand-cranking either way. • Avail yourself of the ma.iy other advantages obtainable only wiih a controlled variable shutter speed. • Give your next movies that sparkling professional touch. PRICES (within U.S.) Cameras with inside frame counter. $ 99.60 With the Yolo automatic dissolve attachment (for H-16 with built in frame counter only) $57.00 extra. Cameras with outside frame counter $109.80 Price includes camera transportation back to you, insurance coverage, and one year guarantee. (Local and state taxes where applicable, extra) Send for free detailed informative booklet, "Variable Shutter Units for Bolex H16" TULLIO PELLEGRINI 1545 Lombard Street San Francisco 23, Calif. •AM— 16MM KODACWROMS BLACK &WHITB ^^ NATIONAL CINm LAB BOX 44-Z5 • WASHINGTON 17. DC GEO. W. CO LB URN LABORATORY INC. 164 NORTH W A C K £ H O f) I V C • C H I C A 0 0 6 TCLIPHONC STATE 2-7316 8 and 16mm SERVICES