American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1952)

TEMPO (Continued, from Page 537) excitedly. The first man would be pho¬ tographed at a distance in a series of long shots, and from angles that would minimize his apparent motion within the frame. The second man would be filmed in closer shots and from angles that would tend to emphasize his move¬ ment. Also, the shots of the first man would be lengthier, while those of the latter would be of short duration. Now, if the desire is to build up the contrast between these two extreme tempos of action, this can be accom¬ plished by intercutting the scenes — switching from one subject to the other, alternately. To build up the tempo of the running man’s scenes, the proper way would be to begin with moderately distant shots, of fairly long footage, and then with each succeeding cut, use closer shots of shorter screen duration — until perhaps when the man arrived at his goal you would climax the tempo build-up with just the shortest of “flash” cuts, only a few frames in length, of the man’s face as he rushes directly into the camera and ending with his face in a big, screen-filling closeup. In contrasting these movements, the runner can be made to appear pursuing the walking man, or to be dashing away from him. This, of course, would be simply a matter of keeping their re¬ spective directions of movement on the screen continuous. If one is to pursue the other, both should move across the screen in the same direction ; if they are to appear moving oppositely, they should be so filmed and edited accord¬ ingly. Another point worth remembering in connection with tempo is that much of the power of the cinema lies in sug¬ gestion. It isn’t necessary to show every¬ thing as long as the action is suggested or implied. For instance, where it is desired to show a person entering a room and crossing over to talk to someone on the other side, it is unnecessary to waste a lot of film showing the complete action. After making a shot of him coming through the door, cut immediately to a shot of the second person greeting him. That’s all that is necessary. You save film and at the same time the tempo of the scene is stepped up. Similarly, attention to suggestion and tempo can bridge gaps in continuity. Suppose we wish to show a person trav¬ elling from Hollywood to New York. The trip itself isn’t important; no im¬ portant action is to take place during the trip; all we need to show or imply is that the man starts out and arrives White IjOSi 1 beialU Al&ue etjfUifMneHt auailatle jpsi immeJUaie delioehy SALES • RENTALS • REPAIRS ic CAMART BLIMP for ARRIFLEX 35mm CAMERA Geared follow focus control. Reflex viewing through the blimp eliminates parallax problem. I 1 0 volt 60 cycle single phase sync motor. Geared footage .counter. Accepts cam¬ era with 400' magazines. New advanced glide steering. Plat¬ form for assistant and accessories. Adjustable swivel seat. Rigid clamps for tripod legs. For tripod, baby tripod, and hi-hats. Size 35 x 46 inches, it comes apart. ★ CAMART CAMERA DOLLY Professional motion picture or TV camera dolly. Two seats for operator and assistant. Geared lift for smooth operation of boom arm from 26" tor seven feet. 30" width wil go through standard door. Weight 350 pounds. Easily transported. CAMART PRODUCTS ★ CAMART TV MIKE BOOM Rear handle for directional mike control. Sturdy 13' extension arm. Entire unit folds to fit in your car. ★ OPTICAL FX UNIT and PRISMS For 16mm, 35mm, and TV cam¬ eras. Will reproduce multiple images in rotation. Excellent for TV, animation, or film commercials. ★ CAMART TRIPOD Lightweight friction head tripod for semi-professional l6-35mm cameras. Smooth, well-balanced pan and tilt action. Rigid leg locks. t»e •mflfiT inc. MOTION PICTURE AND TV PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT 1845 BROADWAY Phone; Circle 6-0930 NEW YORK 23, N. Y. Cable Address CAMERAMART