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t he air. there were several night-effect sequences to he h lined. Some of these called for clear weather, others for ominous-looking clouds, a n d still others demanded storms. There were also both day and night-effect background plates to be made in the air.
As if these problems weren’t enough, the distributors were anxious for their film, and our schedule couldn't allowr us much chance of waiting for ideal weather, or for making aerial retakes. We would have to work fast and accurately— and both the flyers and 1 were supposed to turn out something just a bit better than ever before!
Several Films Tested.
The first problem I tackled was that of making the flying night-effect scenes. If these scenes were to he made on the ground, few of us would have been perplexed; for during the last few years most of us have grown used to solving the night-effect problem by simply loading up a magazine of Agfa Infra-Red negative, slipping on a 23-A filter, and letting the him do the rest. But doing a night-effect from an airplane two or three miles up in the air yanks you up to a set of different atmospheric and lighting conditions, and technique that is good on the
Lockheed monoplane with two fixed-mount cameras under wings.
ground may often prove the wrong thing for aerial filming.
So I began by making tests of practically every type of him available, testing not only Infra-Red, but a variety of background, high-speed and super-speed panchromatic types with such conventional filterings as the familiar 23-A-56 combination and the 72.
When these tests were completed. I had a pretty good idea I knew which gave the most convincing night effects, but to make sure I wasn't being carried away by purely photographic enthusiasm, I ran the tests for Producer-Director Hawks a n d his staff, and left the final decision to him. We all agreed that the tests shot on Agfa Infra-Red negative were by long odds the best and most convincing of the lot.
Night-Effects Two Miles Up.
With this decided, we went to work. Quite a few of our scenes were made flying over the high Sierras around Mt. Whitney, w here we flew at altitudes of 11,000 feet or more. Some of the scenes were made with cameras in fixed mounts, rigidly attached to the plane; others had to he shot from mobile mounts so that I could 'follow’ the action of other ships. At times we had as many as three or four cameras in operation at once, including a couple of Bell & Howells in fixed mounts, and my Akeley in a mobile mount.
While a medium light red filter gives the best night-effects when Agfa Infra-Red negative is used on the ground, I found that for aerial work — especially at the high altitudes at which we flew — a somewhat heavier filter is preferable. After a hit of ex
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