American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1959)

The freqHency response of the tran¬ sistorized amplifier, when it was com¬ pleted, was Hat within one dh from 20 to 15,000 cps. When we made the re¬ sponse tests we found that the galvan¬ ometer of the Auricon Cine-Voice cam¬ era was “bass sensitive” below about 300 cj>s. We found that with a roll-off from 300 cps down to 20 cps we ob¬ tained a relatively Hat resultant re¬ sponse off the processed film. In addition to the advantages of re¬ duced weight, long life, and the low^ noise level of transistors, the linearity of the amplifier stages eliminated to a great extent the saturation on over¬ loads common with tube amplifiers. A single small 45-volt hearing aid bat¬ tery with a possible life of 100 hours is included in the amplifier section. The accompanying photo of the cam¬ eraman in action illustrates portability of the equipment. The ElectroVoice mike is shown mounted on the camera immediately below the view finder. This is used for interviews between the cameraman and a personality or for recording actual sounds of a spot news event. The additional microphone chan¬ nel permits two-mike interviews or the recording of voice-over-narration with mixing of speech or music background from another point. The author now has on the drawing board plans for a smaller, ultra-com¬ pact unit to be mounted on the cam¬ era itself, thus reducing further the weight that must be carried on a shoul¬ der strap. The new unit will permit audio level adjustments to be made by the cameraman while shooting is in progress, without having to take his eye from the view finder. The VU meter movement in this unit will be located within the view-finder housing. The new compact amplifier de¬ scribed here was designed as a separate instead of a camera-mounted unit be¬ cause the use of a zoom lens — which is frequent in news work — precludes the mounting of such a unit on the convenient left-hand side of the cam¬ era. It is interesting to note that, follow¬ ing the successful weight-reducing op¬ eration on our news-camera amplifier unit, it is now being considered by the news film heads of other television sta¬ tions in the Crosley network, particu¬ larly in Columbus, Dayton, and Cincin¬ nati, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia. ■ “THE F.B.I. STORY” Continued from Page 287 firing tommy guns, using real am¬ munition. To protect the camera and the company crew from fragments re¬ sulting from the firing, a protective sheet of clear plastic was set up in front of the camera. Before the company moved on to New York to film scenes there, it com¬ pleted an interesting sequence of shoot¬ ing near and within historic Herzog’s Restaurant overlooking the Potomac River. Here were photographed scenes showing Jimmy Stewart and Miss Miles arriving at the picturesque waterfront eatery, and dining on its panoramic balcony. Because this action in the story takes place in the early 20s, the street in front of Herzogs had to be filled with vehicles of that day — both automobiles and horse-drawn carriages and wagons. Stars, bit players and extras all were costumed in keeping with the era. For the street scenes, Biroc had the Mitchell camera mounted on a dolly. Later, in order to photograph the im¬ portant scene of Stweart and Miss Miles at the table, a high parallel was built in the street for the camera and necessary booster lights, which brought the lens to the level desired by director LeRoy for the scene. One interesting photographic prob¬ lem encountered by cinematographer Biroc was introduced when director LeRoy, displaying his customary imagi¬ native Hare, decided upon a scene in the Lincoln memorial. He was survey¬ ing the memorial’s interior using the little viewer which is customary with him, and attempting to find a camera angle that would include something of the memorial that would be easily identifiable on the screen yet encom¬ pass more than a little of its impressive dignity — plus including for an atmos¬ pheric backdrop the pool and monu¬ ment that may be seen through its portals. “Meantime,” said Biroc, “I was sizing up the situation, too. Presently, LeRoy observed me pacing off the dis¬ tance between Lincoln’s statue and the wall at the rear, and studying the com¬ ponents of the structure, and came over and said: ‘Got any ideas?’ “One of the things I like about Mervyn LeRoy is the way he looks for — indeed invites — ideas from those who work with him. and the fact that Every shot . . . i i i I AAAY • 1959 305