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CINEMATOGRAPHY UNSURPASSED
Filming of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” rated the biggest photographic undertaking of all time.
By ARTHUR ROWAN
IN sheer MAGNITUDE alone, the photography of Cecil B.
DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” surpasses all other motion picture productions. This monumental photographic achievement, in terms of pre-production preparation, execu¬ tion, and the amount of color negative used, has never been equalled in the annals of Hollywood motion picture history.
Ten years were spent in planning the production; three years were required for preparation and writing of the script; and. finally, more than two years were spent in the actual filming. In its final form the picture runs three hours and forty minutes.
The medium of VistaVision was chosen in order to capture the spectacle scenes in all their scope and majesty. These eye-widening scenes include the building of the glittering, magnificent city of Per-Rameses, with the toiling masses of the Children of Israel laboring in tears and sweat under the lash of the taskmasters; the endless expanses of the actual Biblical wilderness of Shur and Sin through which Moses passed ; the drama of the Burning Bush for which key scenes were filmed upon Mt. Sinai itself; the Biblical plagues, such as the waters turning to blood, the hail from a cloudless sky and the death of Egypt’s first-born; the Exodus of the Children of Israel from the city of the Pharaoh, involving scenes on a scale never before captured by a motion picture camera ; the hosts of Pharaoh’s chariots thundering after the freed slaves; the parting of the Red Sea through which the Children of Israel pass; the chariots of the Pharaoh being engulfed by massive walls of water smashing down upon them ; the evil mass worship of the Golden Calf and the tremendous impact of the fiery finger of God writing the Ten Commandments upon the Tablets of Stone.
The sequence in which the Red Sea is divided and then closes again is likely to be acclaimed the most spectacular special effects sequence ever conceived and produced since movies were invented.
Loyal Griggs, A.S.C., directed the photography of “The Ten Commandments.” Contributing additional photography under Griggs’ supervision were A.S.C. members John War¬ ren, Wallace Kelley, and J. Peverell Marley. John Fulton, A.S.C. , directed the Special Photographic Effects of the picture, considered the greatest single contribution of its kind. And in the final phases of the production there were the Optical Effects Photography by Paul Lerpae, A.S.C., and the Process Photography directed by Farciot Edouart. A.S.C.
Loyal Griggs was the logical candidate for the assignment to direct the photography of DeMille’s greatest production. Culminating a photographic career of some 30 years on the ( Continued on Next Page)
SACRED SITE — On a steep slope of remote and hallowed Mount Sinai, Cecil B. DeMille directs a scene for “The Ten Commandments.” Covering the action are two VistaVision cameras. Location site, selected for its authenticity, proved toughest of all locations in Egypt.
YUL BRYNNER rehearses for a doseup as Director Cecil B. DeMille, right, and Director of Photography Loyal Griggs look on. Ready to roll for the take is the VistaVision double-frame camera.