The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

112 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN TITLE BOUT IN 3-D John W. Boyle, A.S.C., on filming the Marciano Walcott fight in 3-D r\NE of the shortest 3-D film produc^-' tions on record, perhaps, is the motion picture we made of the recent Marciano-Walcott fight in Chicago. The first title-fight record ever filmed in 3-D, it was conceived and produced by Nathan Halpern and his associates. In planning the production, one of the first steps was to protect the producers against just such an eventuality as took place — a quick knockout. Had we filmed only the initial round of the fight, there would not have been enough film to thread a projector, and the producers would have lost heavily. As it was, because of astute planning, considerable random footage was available to round out an interesting fifteen minute programme film. Weeks before the initial event, we took our SterioCine 3-D cameras and crews first to Holland, Michigan, and later to Chicago where we shot intimate action scenes in close up of the contenders in training. This footage later became the prologue to the scenes of the big fight, which culminated in the surprise first-round knockout of Walcott. Because bad weather prevailed while we were in Holland and later in Chicago, we never were able to get any interior shots of training action. Thus we had to devise some novel action staged indoors in the gyms — something that would have definite 3-D punch pictorially. One of the interesting things we did was to mount a large panel of shatterproof glass in a wooden frame set up before the camera. The glass was cushioned in the frame with sponge rubber so that it would resist cracking in the event it was struck a hard, direct blow. With this glass immediately before the lens, we filmed Marciano in close-ups as he demonstrated his mighty rights and lefts aimed directly at the lens. Finally he moved in too close, and a heavy blow cracked the glass. Fortunately, we already had more than enough footage of this action. Preparing to shoot the title bout in Chicago Stadium posed a number of problems. The Stadium, used almost daily, was not available to either the fight management or ourselves until the day of the title bout. At 9 a.m., Friday morning, the Stadium was opened and construction crews set to work erecting the ring. At the same time we brought in our crews, our cameras and miscellaneous equipment and began preparations that did not end until just moments before the big fight began. The photographic equipment consisted of two Sterio-Cine 3-D cameras (each comprising two 35mm. Eclair Camerettes), one Mitchell 3-D camera (comprising two Mitchell NC's mounted in opposed position and photographing through angular mir rors), two standard 35mm. Mitchells operating at 72 frames per second for slow-motion footage, and one Wall 35mm. single-system sound camera. The latter was used to record a master picture and sound track as an aid to editing the collective footage made by the other cameras. The positions in which these various cameras were set up with relation to the ring are shown in the accompanying sketch. The two Sterio-Cine cameras were mounted on " high-hats " set up on special camera platforms that were erected close to the ring and at either side. This method of mounting was favoured in place of using conventional tripods in order to take up as little space as possible. (As it was, we were taking up valuable space normally occupied by ring-side seats selling for $50 each!) Because the Sterio-Cines set up so close to the ring presented possible hazards in the event a boxer was knocked from the ring, the Illinois Boxing Commission at the last minute compelled us to provide some form of protection. This we did by mounting panels of J-inch plywood covered with inch-thick sponge rubber above the cameras. These were securely mounted so as to break the fall of a fighter, should he be forced through the ring, and thus protect both fighter and cameras from injury. Lenses of the Sterio-Cine 3-D cameras were virtually on a level with the floor of the ring. By shooting with cameras close to the ring, the ropes greatly enhanced the depth effect of 3-D photography, especially where there were no other comparable elements in the scene to accent depth. In 3-D cinematography, depth effect falls off rapidly with distance, so we had to get all the depth we could pack into the scenes right in the foreground. The Mitchell 3-D cameras were mounted on a tripod above one of the aisle tunnels of the stadium, about 60 feet from centre of the ring. Because we were using 6-inch lenses on the 3-D Mitchell, we had to force the interocular on a good many shots. Up in the Stadium balcony, 120 feet from ring centre, we mounted two standard Mitchell 35mm. cameras, set to operate at 72 frames per second. Two cameras were used here in order to insure a