American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1938)

396 American Cinejmatographer • September, 1938 Filming Unusual Travelogue with Rare Ocean Background (Continued from Patje 38U) and street scenes and then away again into another sea sequence as we steamed toward Long Beach. As we passed the Gulf of Tehuantepec the worst storm I ever experienced was in the brewing. Water Breaks Over Bow As the tempest gained in violence, shots of the bow of the ship taken from the signal bridge showed the water breaking over in everincreasing torrents, and a view of the Indianapolis caught it plunging and bucking through the storm. As a climax to these scenes, telephoto shots taken of the bow of my ship were completely obliterated by walls of spray as each successive wave rolled over. Shortly thereafter I proceeded to the security of my bunk. Several telephoto shots of schools of leaping fish and close-ups of several porpoise taken through a port hole preceded our arrival at Long Beach. I recorded the ride by small boat from ship to shore as we passed breakwater, ships and motor launches on our way. Disembarking at the dock I photographed other boats as they discharged passengers and the welcoming group waiting on the dock which concluded my cruise to South America. I arrived home with thirteen rolls of film in my handbag and a ten day furlough in which to cut and splice them. After editing my footage, I found that innumerable titles would be required throughout and decided they should be in narrative form. To this end, a movie party was filmed with myself in the role of narrator to carry out the idea. The first reel opens with me arriving at home from the cruise. After greetings are exchanged a close-up shows me delving into my handbag and extracting several rolls of film which I show to Mrs. Teorey. A title cut in at this point reads in effect that the pictures are those taken on the voyage and that it would be nice to show them to our friends in the near future. Slight Illusion A fadeout followed by a fadein of our friends entering continues the idea. A long shot next shows them seated about my projector as I chat to them while engaged in threading a reel of film. A couple of titles cut in during this procedure explain the nature of the films and a few statistics of the cruise. A close-up of the projector in action is next seen with a cut to the opening title, which was photographed with the projector arranged in the left foreground to show only full and take-up reels in action, creating a slight illusion that it was projected. A title with the same arrangement began each additional reel, and upon conclusion of the last one an appreciative audience is disclosed applauding as the performance ends. To enhance further the narrative titles, which were in "quotes," I included a couple of low key shots of myself in each reel indicating my position at the projector while I moved my lips in conversation. The finished pictures emphasize the fact that the greater portion of our time was spent on the water. Each steaming sequence shows from one to three shots vignetted by an open port and taken from various angles. Our sister ship, passing steamers, islands, clouds and the ocean in various .stages of unrest were recorded on film in this manner. Many shots were taken from vantage points above decks and each included a portion of a rail, small boat, mast or rigging in order to establish my camera position. Two Filters Only While on these travels I employed two filters. One, a red (2.3A) was effective where heavy seas required a storm effect and for obtaining evening and sunset scenes. Cloud formations taken with the aid of this filter through port holes appeared very striking. My other filter, a yellow-green (Aero 2) came in useful for cloud effects, and while it brought them out very effec tively it didn't darken the sky and water as in the case of the former. Lighting conditions on the cruise were constantly changing as we progressed into different latitudes, and a careful check on this was maintained at all times and especially at sea, where the added reflections of masses of water made estimation more difficult. Nearly 17,000 miles were covered by my photographic record, which was completed in slightly more than five weeks. Of course our steaming speed was far above normal, as we ran at about 25 knots an hour nearly all of the trip. As previously stated, the time spent in most ports was just a matter of hours, thus limiting photographic work ashore to subjects found at a short distance from the docks, and while many interesting places were omitted for that reason yet sufficient shots were obtained at each port to complete a satisfactory record of the cruise. Coupling the sea and port sequences in the manner outlined gave me continuity throughout my reels, while my movie party together with the narration flashed by my titles gave me a 600-foot story in pictures that always will be refreshing to me and I hope a source of entertainment to mv friends. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FOR SALE BELL & HOWELL SINGLE SYSTEM, COMplete; rebuilt B&H sound printers; rebuilt Duplex sound and picture printers ; 200 ft. Stinemann developing reels ; used measurinc machines. Complete Akeley camera equipment. Akeley 1000-ft. magazines, synchronous camera motors. Motors, sunshades, finders, lenses and all accessories. Write, wire or cable : MOTION PICTURE CAMERA SUPPLY, INC. 723 Seventh Avenue New York City Cable: Cinecamera THE WORLD'S LARGEST VARIETY OF Studio and Laboratory equipment with latest improvements as used in Hollywood at tremendous savings. New and Used. 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