American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

mh% ^mm^y Many Glacier region; scene from Yale's film "In All fhe World." ing conditions at such altitudes naturally are somewhat different from those most of us are accustomed to in making pictures at home, in lower altitudes. In many of the most pictorial long-shots, too, your lens will be taking in a tremendous expanse of landscape, which means there's often much more light than you realize entering the lens. "I've noticed there is a general tendency among amateur still and movie photographers visiting Glacier Park for the first time to overexpose. Accustomed to the light-values encountered at lower altitiudes, they are amazed when I tell them that in shooting our Kodachrome movies, our average exposure ranges between f :6.3 and f:8 at 24 frames per second; that works out to f:8 to f : 11 at the 16-frame speed of the average silentpicture camera. Keep to that sort of exposure, except of course for close-ups and in shade, and you're likely to be pretty successful. Glacier National Park Moviemaker By WILLIAM STULL, A.S.C. WILLIAM S. YALE has one of those jobs most of us can only dream about. As Chief Cinematographer for the Great Northern Railway, he spends his summers wandering around Glacier National Park with a Cine-Kodak Special, making Kodachrome movies of "the Alps of America" — and getting paid for it. And Bill Yale's movies are outstanding. In camerawork, composition, continuity, sound and presentation they are far and away above the general run of commercial movies. Many amateur cine clubs, like the critical and movie-wise Los Angeles Cinema Club and the Los Angeles 8mm. Club, have a definite aversion to including commercial 16mm. films in their program material: but both of these clubs, in common with many others throughout the country, have spontaneously extended to Yale an unreserved invitation to attend their meetings any time he happens to be in town, and to show them any films he may happen to have with him. Definitely, he stands in the front rank of the nation's top Kodachrome filmers. But if you ask Bill Yale about it all, he will modestly disclaim all personal credit. "You can't help making good pictures in Glacier Park," he will insist. "You know, the Blackfoot Indians there have a saying that in that region, no matter in which direction you look, you'll find a picture. In the last four years I've shot over 100,000 feet of 16mm. Kodachrome in and around Glacier Park, and I'm pretty well convinced that the Indians have put it just about right. The park is located right astride the ridge of the Rocky Mountains, you know, and it offers just about every type of pictorial scenery you could imagine, ranging from rolling prairies, in which here and there towering granite buttes stand up like sentinels, to some of the highest and most spectacular mountain scenery in America. I've never been to Switzerland, but people who have assured me that our own Glacier Park region is even more impressive scenic-ally and photographically. "Glacier Park, by the way, gets its name from the fact that it is one of the few places in continental America where living glaciers are still to be found. Within the park's area there are a total of 60 glaciers, many of them surprisingly easy of access. For good measure, too, there are more than 250 lakes in the park, with enough prairies and forests, rivers and waterfalls, wildflowers and wild animals to provide just about every picture ingredient anyone could wish for. It's no wonder that nine people out of every ten who come to the park seem to have some sort of a camera; and a surprising number carry 16mm. or 8mm. cine cameras and Kodachrome. And no wonder, for it's one of the most colorful spots in the world. "There are naturally a number of technical tips that will help anyone who visits Glacier Park bring back better pictures of his trip. Take the matter of exposure, for instance. Practically all of that mountain country is at elevations ranging from 6,000 to 7,000 feet above sea-level. Atmospheric and light "The safest guide to exposure anywhere is of course a dependable, photoelectric exposure-meter. I use one religiously in my work. As a matter of fact, I use two, for when I'm out on the trail filming a saddle-trip, ther-e's always the possibility I may drop one meter and break it just when I need it most. "If you use a meter, be sure and point it well down when you take your readings, for the sky at those altitudes re Trick Falls " Glacier Park; scene from Yale's film, "In All the World." 116 March, 1!M1 American Cinematogkaphek