The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

October 1955 process has been adapted to take 70mm. or 35mm. with or without anamorphic. By changing mechanism this can be carried out in approximately three minutes. Spool boxes of 3,000 ft. are used and the light source is increased from normal to just over 200 amps. With the increase of heat and light film buckle was found to occur but by curving the gate and altering the optics a satisfactory picture was obtained. Editing the film is carried out quite normally. Viewing the image is done on a converted Westrex machine that has literally been cut in half, opened to 65mm. with larger runners and sprockets mounted to take film and a new magnifying optical system added. The first processing labs have converted one of these plants, having added larger rollers and modified mechanisms to take the film. This has been done by Consolidated Laboratories. At the conclusion of the lecture Mr. O'Brien, Jnr, answered a number of questions on various aspects of the process. The lenses used, he said, were 128° at f2 (8|" diameter), 64° at f2.2, 48° at f2.8, and 32° at f2. All lenses are calibrated in degrees of angle in preference to the normal 40mm., 50mm., etc. This is in order to assist art directors when designing sets. The weight of the camera was approximately 4 lbs. greater than that of the B.N.C. Mitchell. The viewfinder is a standard Mitchell tvDe with modified lenses to cover 64°, 48°, and 32°, but no satisfactory modification had been found for the 128°, and this is judged by using the hand when standing on the set. One thousand foot magazines are fitted to the camera. Running time is approximately seven minutes per thousand feet. For viewing rushes, dubbing and post syncing, a large stage had been converted, with a screen 51' wide, 25' high and 13' deep. THIS MONTH'S LECTURE The next Technical Lecture will be on Wednesday, October 26th, at Hammer House, at 7.30 p.m. Subject: " Organising a Television Service " by T. M. Brownrigg, General Manager of Associated Rediffusion Chairman : Anthony Asquith CINE TECHNICIAN 151 Book Review CONCISE GUIDE TO MAKE-UP Photographic Make-up, by Jack Emerald. Fountain Press, 18/-. Among the few books on the art of make-up which have been written in this country, this new manual on the subject of cosmetics for the camera by Jack Emerald is clear and concise and, on the whole, well abreast of most of the up-to-date methods of photographic make-up. I shall comment first on the sections dealing with basic and corrective make-up for straight portraiture. The information contained in these chapters should prove invaluable to stills cameramen who lack the services of a fully qualified make-up artist. The methods of application recommended are first class and easy to follow, but I must add that some of the technique is slightly out of date compared with the most advanced methods used in film studios today. This is inevitable, however, as the art of make-up for the screen, like all other facets of film photography, is constantly developing. As far as the section dealing with character make-up is concerned— and I assume that this book has been written primarily for stills cameramen — I cannot see the photographers going to the great lengths advised in this book to produce a photographic charac ter study unless they are also interested in amateur dramatics. Through my own long experience of character make-up in the film industry, I can affirm that it takes years of trial and error tactics to reach the stage of perfection attained by such make-up artists as Buddy Westmore, whose work forms one of the pictorial strips in the book. Also the case of character make-up on which he is engaged, that of transforming Yvonne de Carlo into a seventyfive-year-old woman for a film role, is almost as much of a laboratory job — that of manufacturing the basic skin-tight rubber mask — as a make-up assignment. Such a task would be impossible for any stills photographer to attempt without the facilities of a film studio behind him. Jack Emerald's " Photographic Make-up " is most tastefully presented and contains a host of well reproduced and highly interesting illustrations of his subject, although one or two of them seem irrelevant to the main theme. It is nevertheless a book which should prove of absorbing interest, both to the professional photographer and to the mere ' dabbler ' in this art. W.P. Gossip Round the Globe ACROSS THE CURTAIN. Following his recent visit to Harrogate, Mr. Malik, the Russian Ambassador, has sent to Harrogate a full-length film in colour of the Russian State Ballet Company performing " Romeo and Juliet " with music by Prokofiev. — Daily Film Renter. ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. Although still unfinished, The Ladykillers, new Alec Guiness comedy produced by Sir Michael Balcon at Ealing Studios, has been sold unseen for Broadway showing early in the New Year. — Daily Film, Renter. ACROSS ATLANTIC AND CURTAIN. The Soviet Government has authorised M-G-M to film four Van Gogh pictures in the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. The film on the life of the painter, which is entitled Lust for Life, will feature Kirk Douglas (Van Gogh) and Anthony Quinn (Paul Gaugin); Vincente Minnelli is directing. — Cinema Nuovo. EAST PAKISTAN will soon have an up-to-date film studio. Located at Dacca, it will be the first of its kind in East Pakistan. The studio is Government-sponsored and some German experts of UFA have arrived to assist in the production of films. — Filmindia.