American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1946)

Cinematography Magic A scene from the violently realistic storm sequence of "A Stolen Life", produced with the aid of process backgrounds, wind machines, and 90,000 gallons of water released from "typhoon chutes". (Confinued from Page 197) Van Enger, A.S.C.,— all of the Warners’ special effects department. In addition to the obviously high qual¬ ity of the trick effects, it can also be said that the caliber of general photog¬ raphy in “A Stolen Life” is far above average. Polito managed to inject mood by means of straight-forward yet at¬ mospheric treatment of the subject mat¬ ter. In one exterior sequence he used a combination of fog and harshly real¬ istic lighting to produce a flat grey effect very well suited to the key of the action at that particular point in the story. The entire film evidences a generous amount of production value and shows fine attention to detail in every depart¬ ment. Requiring six months of continu¬ ous shooting, and utilizing thirty-six ma¬ jor sets, the film establishes the rugged New England coast as a provocative setting for dramatic action. In reality, these sequences were shot at Laguna Beach — a swank, colorful, seaside artists’ colony not too far from Hollywood. But the locales were selected with care and have a genuine rockbound Yankee char¬ acter about them. During filming of scenes at this location, natives of Laguna were delighted to see a lighthouse take shape on a small island just off the mainland. They had been campaigning for just such a lighthouse for years; but they were sadly disappointed when, after two weeks of shooting the prop cardboard lighthouse was dismantled, packed up, and sent back to the studio. Further location trips were made to Monterey and to Long Beach, where air¬ port footage was shot. In addition, two complete New England towns were con¬ structed on the back lot — one a simple fishing village, the other a pleasure re¬ sort erected on “Lake Warner.” Here a full-size ferry boat was built upon iron trucks moving on rails beneath the surface of the water. From the audience standpoint, “A Stolen Life” should play a merry tune at the box-office. From the technician’s standpoint it proves that teamwork in production shows up favorably on the screen. In presenting something truly unusual and outstanding in the way of cinematographic special effects, it em¬ phasizes the point that the purpose of such effects is not to fool an audience, but to place on the screen as an in¬ tegral part of the story an illusion of reality that could not be effectively achieved in any other way. Monson Ansco Trade Advisor Harry Monson has been appointed to newly-created post of special advisor on trade relations by Ansco. Recently dis¬ trict manager for the company in Chi¬ cago, Monson is veteran of 42 years in the photographic business. Harold A. Edlund takes over the Chicago post for Ansco. Armat Honored by SMPE Thomas Armat, inventor of the first projection machine employing a loop¬ forming means and giving the film longer period of rest and illumination than the time required for movement from frame to frame, was presented with a Scroll of Achievement at semi-annual technical conference of Society of Mo¬ tion Picture Engineers last month in New York. Presentation to Armat was on 50th anniversary of his first exhibition of his projector at Foster and Bial’s Music Hall, New York. Albert Warner accepted achievement scroll presented to Warner Brothers for pioneering leader¬ ship in the development of sound mo¬ tion pictures, 20th anniversary of which is being celebrated for the next several months. Los Angeles Eight Entries in the Los Angeles 8mm. Club’s 50 foot contest were exhibited at May 14th meeting held in the Bell & Howell auditorium. Sylvia Fairley’s “There Ain’t No Justice” was the winner; second honors went to “Swim Meet” by Fred Evans; while “Bringing Down Father” by L. B. Reed won third prize. Contest committee chairman William Wade also showed his “Hello, Honey, How Yo’ All?”, which he filmed on a recent trip through the deep south. Club’s first outing of the year will be staged June 2, with members journeying to Charlton Flats on the Angeles Crest Highway for combination social and filming activities. Westwood, San Francisco Program of nationally-famous ama¬ teur films and contest winners was pre¬ sented by Westwood Movie Club of San Francisco on May 24th at Aptos Junior high school auditorium for members, guests and the general public. Pictures included: Frank E. Gunnell’s “While the Earth Remaineth,” “Grand Canyon,” by Fred Harvey; “Chromatic Rhapsody,” by Robert P. Kehow; and “Outside the Big Top,” by Guy Nelli. PSA Organizing Movie Division Organization of a motion picture di¬ vision for the benefit of PSA members and other amateur cinematographers and their clubs has been announced by the Photographic Society of America. Acting chairman of the new division is Harris B. Tuttle, of Rochester, who is an As¬ sociate of PSA and Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and of the So¬ ciety of Motion Picture Engineers. The new Division, which takes its place beside PSA’s Camera Club, Color, His¬ torical, Nature, Pictorial, Press, and Technical Divisions, will sponsor authori¬ tative articles in “PSA Journal,” ar¬ range for club interchange of amateur productions, and report on the use of equipment and methods of interest and aid to amateur movie makers. The di¬ vision plans to cooperate with the Ama¬ teur Cinema League, Society of Motion Picture Enginers, and the American So¬ ciety of Cinematographers, and to pro¬ vide material of interest to operators of 8mm. and 16mm. equipment. Organization of the division has been planned for some time in an effort toprovide PSA members with complete photographic service, but was interrupt¬ ed by war. The first 100 PSA members to become affiliated will be recognized as charter division members. GE Photolamp Data Sheet Essential data pertaining to all G-E lamps used for photographic purposes have been compiled and highlighted in a new free folder published by G. E. Lamp Department at Nela Park, Cleve¬ land. Departmentalized by subject, the fold¬ er permits the user to quickly put his finger on any desired bit of photolamp information. It represents an enormous amount of photographic information boiled down to “sugar” in the form of time-light curves, exposure and lamp specification tables, photos, and charts. 210 June, 1946 • American Cinematographer