The American cinematographer (Aug 1936)

324 American Cinematographer • August. 1936 LIGHTING EQUIPMENT FU^NI»H«D A'f MOTION PICTURE LIGHTING AND EQUIPMENT COaP. ^ 250 WEST 49"S“T., ' NEW YOR.K.N.y. N ow THAT THE Republican and Democratic na- tional conventions are history and all participants presumably have survived the ordeals of oratory, the newsreel crews have had time to catch up on lost sleep and are able to review the hectic days. Always one of the big stories of any year for newsreel cameras, the conclaves this year received coverages far surpassing any previous record. Practically no event of any kind has been worked out in so elaborate detail of preparation. With this thorough advance planning, we were able to get better shots and more of them, on floor and rostrum, to the result that there was a considerable increase in the footage actually released in all the newsreels. Newsreels offer a potential audience of some eighty- seven million people a week. This is more than the distri- bution of any newspaper chain. It equals the circulation of any broadcasting network but with the double-edged appeal of both sight and sound. Realizing this, the two larger political campaign committees are convinced that newsreel audiences are well worth fighting for. With the campaign now getting really hot and with both parties bringing all possible pressure to bear for publicity for their candidates, the newsreels have found it necessary to keep record of footage released on each party and bal- ance one against the other in strict impartiality. While footage must be kept equal, there is no evening of the ap- peal of effectiveness of the various newsreel stories. Cam- paign experts, sensing this, have token steps to get the best possible pictures made of their candidates' activities and hence obtain an edge to this audience. To this end, the Republican National Committee back in February appointed two men, John Begg and Russ Worth- ington, each of veteran newsreel experience, to serve as contact men with the newsreels and to provide for their needs. When the Philadelphia meeting got under woy, a simi- Newsreeling lar liasion was needed and at the request of all the news- reels, Edward Brown, of the Democratic National Com- mittee's publicity staff, was rushed from Washington to act as contact between the convention committees and the cameramen. Conditions at both conventions were much similar. The preliminary work at Cleveland was better, but at Phila- delphia we had the advantage of the previous experience. As instance, we had more control over lights and avoided the Cleveland incident where we couldn't cut the lights above the rostrum and just about burned the speakers out of the stand. Proper lighting of the huge halls was the first problem. With eighteen electricians, Charles Ross, of Motion Pic- ture Lighting and Equipment Company, New York, set this stage. Mounted on stands in the balcony were eight 24-inch GE 150-ampere high-intensity arcs, each giving the equivalent of four million candlepower when spotted. Each was manned by an electrician and swept the entire auditorium. Directly over the speakers' stand was a bank of eight 75-ampere 5-unit incandescent overhead strip lights, each equivalent to 100,000 candlepower. In addition, ten 5,- 000-watt incandescent solar spots, each equivaent to 66,- 000 candlepower, were suspended from a frame directly above and in front of the stand, in manner similar to that used in boxing rings.