American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

16mm. BUSINESS MOVIES IN ALL THE WORLD 1400 feet, Kodachrome, Sound. Presented by Great Northern Railway. Produced and Photographed by William S. Vale. Recording: direct 16mm. by Sound Masters, N. Y. Processing: Kodachrome dupe by Precision Laboratory, N. Y. "In All The World" is in some ways rather more routinely commercial than some of Yale's previous films for the Great Northern, but it is none the less as unusually attractive presentation of the vacation attractions of Glacier National Park. The film opens with an opticallyprinted main title, embodying a series of intricate wipes which are not one whit behind 35mm. practice. This introduction certainly shows to what an extent 16mm. in its professional application has group up. The picture maintains this impression from start to finish. This is particularly noticeable as regards the recording, which is without doubt the finest direct 16mm. recording we have yet heard, and greatly to the credit of the Berndt-Maurer recording and re-recording equipment upon which it was done. Narration, musical background and a variety of sound-effects have been blended as skillfully as any 35mm. sound department could wish. Photographically, the film is well up to Yale's usual standard, and places him definitely among the nation's best commercial Kodachrome filmers. His exposure-technique is virtually flawless, under the many and varied conditions applying to making a picture in this mountainous region where altitude and atmospheric conditions can be so deceptive. Yale makes excellent use of reflectors in his more intimate shots, using them to good effect to lighten up the dark faces of the Indians, and to relieve the shadows under the broadbrimmed western hats worn by many of the people shown. The interior scenes are surprisingly good, when it is considered that they had to be made on the actual locations, rather than in a studio, and in more or less isolated resort-hotels in which the maximum permissible electrical load was presumably none too high for colorlighting standards. There are a few dolly-shots in these interior scenes, executed with commendable skill and an understanding of the use of such camera-movement which could well be studied by many Hollywood directors. In the same connection may be mentioned Yale's wisely sparing use of camera-movement and panning on his exteriors, even though in a region which tempts any cinematographer to pan in order to capture as much as possible of the scenic attraction he is filming. Yale's pans are few and far between — and when he pans, it means something, both in photography and storyinterest. His cutting is worth careful study. He uses short scenes and frequent cuts, keeping his total running-time to an almost over-brief minimum, and leaving the audience perpetually feeling that although it has seen everything clearly, it would still like a little more. In many instances, too, the film is cut to coordinate with the phrasing and tempo of the narration. This is very capably done, both in the editing, and in writing and speaking the narrative. His treatment of the subject-matter is excellent. It is no small task to effectively cover the wide range of attractions he had to, and to do it within a strictly limited running-time. He does it excellently, giving almost every member of the audience something to draw his interest to Glacier Park, regardless of what his personal interests may be. Yale manages to keep several characters running all through his picture. However, it may be suggested that he does not take full advantage of these characters; to this reviewer, at least, it would appear that for a film intended for general showing, there would be a great deal of advantage in personalizing these characters — making the audience feel they were Mr. and Mrs. Average man and their daughter actually visiting Glacier Park and exploring its attractions. AIRCRAFT DIE CASTING Technical and Educational; 1350 feet Kodachrome, sound (including direct sync, recording.) Presented b>T Harvill Aircraft Die Casting Co. Produced by Hubbard Hunt; Sterling Barnett, Production Manager, Pacific Industrial Films. Recording: Direct 16mm. by Pacific Industrial Films, Hollywood (BerndtMaurer System.) Processing: Kodachrome dupe by Pacific Laboratories, Hollywood. This film was made to tell the story of die casting in the aircraft industry to aircraft producers, engineering organizations and students. As such, it necessarily combines a certain amount of entertainment-appeal with educational and technical exposition. Beginning with an introductory sequence (sync, recording) of a radio commentator broadcasting a talk on die casting, it swings into its institutional promotion quickly after hinting at the wide range of die-cast products used in ordinary home life. From this point on, it concentrates on a semi-technical exposition of the methods of die-casting, and the advantages and uses of this method in making aircraft parts. There are naturally a considerable Sixteen millimeter commercial filming has long since outgrown the experimental stage and become a legitimate and highly-specialized field of professional cinematography. The technicians in this field stand definitely apart both from the 16mm. amateur and from their 35mm. professional fellows. But it has been our experience that these men who are so earnestly striving to build a new field of cinematography welcome comments of a professional and technical nature upon their work, and how it can be improved. To meet this need, this new department of THE AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER is being inaugurated. We see many 16mm. commercial films in the course of our work, and have almost invariably been asked for frank criticism. We propose to give that criticism written expression here. We will welcome opportunities to review and analyze any such films made by our readers. THE EDITOR. number of scenes made actually in the plant involved, showing, with the aid oi some animations, how die castings are made, tracing the progress of the operj ation from the drawing-board of the engineer through the various steps 0$ die-making, casting, finishing, inspection and delivery. The treatment, both directional and photographic is excellent, giving a graphic idea of a com-' paratively little-known process. In its presentation, the film makes use of some of the first transparency process-work we have seen in 16mmi This was done only on a small scale in this picture, but with today's increasingly powerful 16mm. projectors, it seems probable that the process will soon be capable of utilization to an increasing extent. The photographic quality of the film is better than adequate, especially the limitations of subject-matter are considered, and the restrictions of photographing in plants like these which are working to capacity on defense orders. It may be mentioned that this last was responsible for one of the film's faults — the use of scenes made some time ago, using old-type Kodachrome, in various aircraft plants where photography is today impossible due I military restrictions. The sound is good, though there are some bad jumps in sound-levels as the track cuts from direct sync recording to conventional offstage narration. Cutting is good, though it seems likely that the introductory sequence might conceiveably be shortened somewhat. The color-print is quite good, though due to the mixture of old and recent Kodachrome mentioned, the color-balance is not uniform, and in some scenes, the contrast is rather high. 184 April, 1941 Ami khwn I'inim \to<;k \imii i;