The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

November, 1953 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN 145 do not think a really satisfactory tripod is made for this sort of work, but I finally settled for a Films and Equipment Ltd. tripod which was specially cast from light alloy and knocked ten pounds off the weight. Even so, my equipment with a day's supply of film weighed 30 lbs. The magazine cameras weighed only 4 J lbs. but I could not use them myself on account of the doubt I felt about their reliability. The light when it was fine was brilliant. It was not possible to study the scene without goggles, and I had special goggles of colour-viewing glass. I used an incident light meter — a reflected light meter just goes off the scale. But exposures are only at most a stop down on " normal," and underexposure is easy. On previous occasions I had tended to keep exposures down and this gives very pictorial shots, but with black figures. However, on Everest I decided that the people were the interesting thing, and I decided to keep these and let the snow burn out. I think now this was a wise policy. Of course the U.V. in the light is enormous, and a 2B haze filter was necessary throughout. THERE does not seem anything I can usefully ■*■ say about the march in, except perhaps to point out the great value of using pola filters on telephoto shots of distant peaks when obscured by light reflected from a dust haze. I took shots with and without a pola filter and find the shots used are always those taken with the filter. Filming the icefall was an unpleasant, but straightforward job of work, but it was here that the " wrinkles " I have talked about came in useful and I will list some of these in case they are useful to some other unfortunate in the future. The books usually tell you that you must keep your cameras outside in order to avoid the condensation that takes place when a cold camera is brought into a warm(?) tent. In my experience this is asking for trouble, and when filming in the cold you should always try to keep your cameras warm. This means that your cameras will not have time to get really stuck up. The condensation is very easily overcome by sealing the camera up in an airtight tin or bag, before bringing it inside. Filming in a snowstorm or blizzard is another matter that demands a slightly special technique, and such storm shots, though unpleasant to take, are very effective. It is surprising what colour the film will pick up in such a swirling white world, though the snow itself will only show up against dark objects or shadows. Changing film in a blizzard is a question of keeping the snow out of the camera. A large waterproof bag which will fit over your head and shoulders down to the waist will work well provided you lie down facing up wind. This bag is also necessary when you clean up the camera and lens, and can be tied over the camera and tripod head to keep snow away between shots. A deep lens hood — which you need anyway for snow, and you can get shots in anything. One further word of advice. The cinematographer's job on an expedition is just about the coldest job of all. You need at least as good equipment as anyone else, if not better, and you should never allow anyone to cut you down on the grounds that you are not so needy as the shock troops of an expedition. On Everest I had the same clothes as everyone else, but I did NOT get any oxygen, which was a great handicap. The more uncomfortable you are the less work you can do. Finally, and whilst I am giving advice, when you are filming on a mountain remember all the time where you are, and don't get excited and step backwards without looking, and don't, where you can slip, try to film unless you are roped. This is especially so, since a tripod leg suddenly slipping on ice can throw you right off balance. One of the greatest difficuties I found on Everest was due to something I had not noticed before. Whilst I have the camera running with the tripod head free — as is almost always necessary when filming unrehearsed scenes — I always hold my breath. Holding your breath at high altitude means that you collapse panting afterwards. Indeed you cannot always do it. This was one of the small troubles of using a cold friction head tripod on Everest. \ WORD about George Lowe, without whose help ■^* the Everest film could never have been made. His presence was sheer good luck. During my first visit to the top of the icefall I got a slight dose of pneumonia and was out of action for a week. George Lowe had never taken a foot of film in his life, but with a few tips he carried on getting vital material. Subsequently, he carried one of the baby [TURN TO PAGE 154 Lowe, Pugh, and Stobart, who is seen sealing a can of film after shooting