Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

325 WINTER CALLS YOUR CAMERA Union Pacific Railroad AN AMUSING sidelight sequence for your skiing film might be fashioned by picturing one of the many dry-run summer classes in sport. DO YOU live in the frozen North where the cold winds blow? Then recording winter sports on film is as inevitable as frostbite and shoveling out long driveways, hip-deep with snow. In California skiing is even a summer sport. For at Stanford University they spread straw over the campus green so that the co-eds, attending dry-skiing class, can practice the kick turn and other maneuvers while waiting for the white flakes to fly. While your camera may call for some forms of special care under winter conditions, they are not really as demanding as one often hears. Only under the most extreme low temperatures, for example, is it necessary to have all lubricants removed so that their thickening will not slow the spring action. Under average winter conditions, here are the simple procedures recommended by the experienced : First, to protect the lens from driving snowflakes, keep the lens cap on at all times save during actual picture taking. Second, except during actual picture taking, keep the camera under your coat or parka. Third, if you make a tripod setup and wish to maintain it for five, ten or fifteen minutes, wrap a spare coat or sweater around the camera to conserve its warmth. For actually there is more likelihood of the cold air stiffening the film loops — and thus causing trouble — than of it affecting the camera's lubrication. Coming indoors after or during a filming session creates one further problem. Moisture in the warm air is condensed on the chilled lens surfaces and a fine "sweat" will becloud them. The routine here is to wait a few moments till the lenses have lost their extreme chill; then wipe away this moisture gently. Do not return your Here's advice from an expert on the out-of-doors ORMAL I. SPRUNGMAN, ACL camera to the cold of outdoors with these droplets still on the lens surfaces. They will freeze and, of course, distort any future pictures. Any 8mm. or 16mm. camera can be used for winter sports filming; and while the f/1.9 or faster lens permitshooting under poor light, the f/3.5 and //2.8 lenses will fill the bill in most cases. In fact, because of the reflecting power of the white snow blanket, much smaller // stops will be used for average shots. If the budget permits, a wide angle lens is a useful accessory, together with a 3 or 4x telephoto. The long lens will be useful in closeup-ing sports action at safe distances, while the wide angle will gather in the scenic beauties of nature as she dons her white coat. Variable film speeds are desirable to diversify your shooting. To increase skating tempo, or show toboggans tearing downhill at breakneck speed, shoot at 8 frames per second, closing down the lens one stop to compensate for the increased light. To reveal the beauty and grace of the ski jumper as he floats through the air, set your frame speed at 32 or even 64, opening up the lens aperture one // stop for each doubling in shutter speed. Only the haze filter is needed for Kodachrome filming, and here only sparingly in winter. For the reflected blue light is not undesirable in giving a moody effect of cold and loneliness. For still more striking effects, the polascreen will darken skies, enhance clouds and tone down snow-borne reflections. Use of the polarizing filter must not be overdone, otherwise its effectiveness is lost. If you shoot in black and white — and many winter filmers prefer monochrome to color — the deep yellow and red filters will give dramatic [Continued on page 336] A WIDE ANGLE LENS is the best objective for picturing the full sweep of a ski slope. Here (at Sun Valley) the skiers move across film frame for good action viewpoint.