Home Movies (1944)

PAGE 54 Gearmaster The Revolutionary Geared Pan Tilt Head Enables you to make real professional pnnoram or tilt shots with any movie camera, and eliminates the use of a long handle. It is heavily chrome plated and has 2 controls, one for panning and one tor tilting. $17.50 MAIL ORDERS FILLED 32d St., near 6th Ave., N. Y. World's Largest Camera Store Built on Square Dealing New HAL ROACH Feature Release On 16mm. Sound * ROAD SHOW With Adolphe Menjou, Carole Landis, Charles Butteru orth, and The Charioteers. Musical comedy at its best! A whirlwind « of gags, gaiety, glamour and all the hectic excitement of life with a traveling + carnival show. Available for rental at your film library. Write for Free Catalogue listing other Sound Films • POST PICTURES CORP. * 723 Seventh Ave. Dept. 14 New York 19. N. Y. • HOME MOVIES FOR FEBRUARY REVIEWS. .. 0/ cAmateur film A By I H. SCHOEN KODACHROME films in which colorful autumn foliage dominates the scenes are always interesting screen fare, but what makes Autumn Escapade of more than usual interest is fact it was shot on Kodachrome outdated by more than two years. By allowing a full stop and a half in exposure, perfectly normal exposures resulted with no appreciative loss or change in color values. Filmed by F. H. Grantham of Johnstown, Pa., Autumn Escapade runs 150 feet in 1 6mm. As a premise for shooting the exquisite autumnal beauty of a New England countryside, Mr. Grantham injected interesting continuity with the aid of family and friends. All are introduced in the opening sequence suggesting a tramp through the woods and start of the trip. As various members of the party stop to admire the countryside, the camera cuts to bring into view the scenes of their admiration. Here composition and viewpoint is well chosen. Presently, the children decide to take another trail and become lost. But they encounter a hunter who kindly shows them the way back to the main trail. In the meantime, their parents having discovered their absence, turn back in search for them. The children soon reappear to allay their fears, and the happy group retrace their steps homeward. Photography, editing and titling are near-perfect. There's a back-lighted shot that's a masterpiece. A little closer cutting on scenes where hunter encounters and speaks to children and where children speak to hunter will improve the continuity. One or two spoken titles were not cut in soon enough. They appear after the person speaking is seen to speak the words. Spoken titles should be cut in in the middle of such shots. The picture easily deserves the 3 -Star merit leader awarded it. A CLEVER continuity thread offered a premise to picture two sailors and a girl in a 50-foot 8mm. Ko dachrome picture made by Mrs. A. W. Kortkamp, of Moline, 111. Title of the picture is Two Shore-leaves and A Lady Fair. The young lady is introduced in her home obviously impatiently waiting a caller. Soon the bell rings and she admits a young sailor. They embrace, then sit down to talk. The doorbell rings again and she is surprised by the visit of another sailor friend. Turns out, too, that the two sailors also are old friends who have not seen each other in a long time. They fall into talking about their experiences, ignoring the girl. Finally giving up hope, the girl slumps in a chair to sulk and a fadeout here ends the picture. How much better would it have been to show the girl dialing the telephone at this point and dating another beau then giving the preoccupied sailors the slip! But, of course, there may not have been enough film for this. Photography was generally good and the cutting well handled. A few more titles would have improved the continuity. It's a 2-Star picture just bordering on the 3 -Star class. EXCESSIVE panning and lack of visual action are two of the faults to be found in Old Dutch, a 400-foot. Kodachrome picture filmed by Ralph Ruger of Binghamton, N. Y. A pictorial of the famed Pennsylvania Dutch country, Mr. Ruger's film otherwise is a color classic. The locale offers abundant camera material and this filmer evidently put in a good deal of time in the research and exploration that must have preceded actual shooting. He offers many interesting views of the country, many off the beaten track. Marring otherwise good photography are the many panning shots; but these can be cut to greatly improve presentation of the picture. Continuity could have been greatly improved had some subject been introduced to move throughout the picture, as a visitor or • Continued on Page So