American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1952)

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(Local and state taxes where applicable, extra) Send for free detailed informative booklet, “Variable Shutter Units for Bolex HW TULLIO PELLEGRINI 1545 Lombard Street San Francisco 23, Calif. I 1 16 mm & 8 mm 1 “T/tatitot 'Picture Senvtce I 1 6 mm Reduced to 8 mm 8 mm Enlarged to 1 6 mm 16 mm Duplicates 8 mm Duplicates Color and Black and White 35 mm slide duplicates and film strip service GEO. W. COLBURN LABORATORY, INC. 164 North Wacker Drive, Chicago 6, Illinois PREPARE NOW FOR JOBS IN TELEVISION FILMS One of America's top schools offers concentrated courses in TV commercial film making. Fully equipped shooting stage. Eves. Easy terms. Write or phone Dept. A. Also courses tor Amateur Movie Makers. STerling 3-9444 29 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn 17, N. Y. paper cut-outs and a vast amount of patience on the part of the operator. Whereas there is no saving in camera time over full animation because it’s still a single-frame method, there is a tremendous saving in artwork. The eight spots we’ve completed that use this technique may lack fluidity, but they are a great step up from their predeces¬ sor, the spot made with static artwork and the zooming camera. This cut-out technique may well give full animation a real run for its money in the TV spot field. Our editing is handled in a relatively standard manner, except for the omis¬ sion of the workprint. Our editing desks are specially designed for short lengths. Many of the features of these desks, such as magnetic film clips and the surface slot with a constantly available supply of different leaders, are, as far as we know, original with Video Films. They do not make the difference between good spots and bad, but they do make handl¬ ing our short epics a little easier. Final printing and processing is done for us in New York by Precision Film Laboratories. Since we achieve our de¬ sired contrast ratio through lighting and exposure of the original film, we do not ask the lab to depart from its normal procedures. Our 35mm footage is pro¬ cessed by either DeLuxe in New York or General Film in Detroit. Looking ahead, we believe the future holds many challenges, the greatest of which is the nightmare of shooting for color TV. We have made eight 60-sec¬ ond spots in color for a client who wants to have a backlog of spots when color TV goes commercial. We know, how¬ ever, that there will be much for us to learn in the meanwhile. We suspect that very soft colors and very soft contrasts will be required on the release print be¬ cause they will be strengthened by TV until they look somewhat like today’s Kodachrome on the home screen. The present CBS mechanical system, for in¬ stance, overemphasizes reds to a con¬ siderable degree. Correct backgrounds, lighting and processing are going to be even more important than in black-&white TV. Disregarding the dangers of improper station panel settings which might easily turn golden butter a bilious blue-green, Video Films fears most the future client, who may remark after a closed circuit screening, “But my pro¬ duct isn’t quite that color!” In conclusion, it is evident that we have had to work and may always have to work without much of the fine tech¬ nical equipment available to the major Hollywood producer. We will always have to race against the inflexible, quick deadline, which means high shooting ratios for self-protection, bypassing certain standard procedures, and much improvisation. Despite this, TV film methods bear watching. The days of the unlimited budget for even the biggest feature producer are waning. Many of the time and money-saving short cuts our industry has had to employ may prove helpful in lowering the costs of the bigger pictures. Conversely, the products of our trade are being compared by the client and Versatile Towmotor Serves Film Producers Proof that profitable uses for Towmotor fork lift trucks are not limited to industrial plants is emphasized by oper¬ ations at Alexander Film Company, Colorado Springs, Colo. Day-in and day-out, this busy movie making organ¬ ization keeps a Towmotor equally busy at dozens of varied jobs. As illustrated, using Towmotor as a camera dolly facilitates high-angle shots and the taking of pictures going up or down. In the moving of scenery and equipment from set to set, the fork lift truck’s speed and ease of maneuver¬ ability has proved highly advantageous for the Colorado studio. Other typical Towmotor motion picture production applications include raising and posi¬ tioning heavy lights; stretching wire and rope wherever needed ; all high rig¬ ging shots; loading and unloading heavy equipment; jacking-up cars in a hurry; and moving hard-to-handle flats on location. In between such handling tasks, the Towmotor serves as a scaffold for both painters and carpenters, and Fork lift camera dolly. replaces ladders for safer general stage maintenance work. 542 American Cinematographer December, 1952