Home Movies (1951)

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SHOOT DEVELOP PROJECT ■ * YOUR MOVIES IN HOURS mo vie mti; i lis iv ;s IT'S EASY WITH THE MORSE G-3 DAYLIGHT DEVELOPER With the Morse G-3 Daylight Developing Tank, reversal or positive motion picture film can be processed quickly and economically at home. From filming to projection is a matter of hours with this compact, efficient unit. A darkroom or changing bag is necessary only for loading. The stainless steel film reels accommodate up to 100 feet of Double 8 m.m., 16 m.m. or 35 m m. film — adjust to either size by a turn of the top flange. Dry Fast with the MORSE M-30 Film Dryer a Simple, Portable. Dries film in 10 minutes. Reel collapsible and removable for storage or carrying. The M-30 Dryer and G-3 Developer belong in every miniature film fan's equipment. SEE YOUR DEALER OR WRITE by TAMARA Any movie amateur ever attempting to shoot a travel or foreign countrv sequence is always faced with the problem of authenticity. You can't take such a picture entirely on home-constructed sets. It just won't ring true. Even the most skillful montages won't help you. You have to film some footage in the actual locale. Nor can you hurry the procedure. Movie companies take from one to two years to scout out a proper local, as was the case here. Of course the budget of an average amateur does not permit such a lavish time expenditure, but still scouting will help to keep your picture intact later, instead of leaving most of it on the cutting room floor. Another lesson of the movies toward finding just the right scene or sequence is shooting much more footage than actually necessary. This is especially important in a travel film, for frequently you can't go back to reshoot it. The extra passages were later eliminated and still enough material was left for a cohesive story. FRIENDLY ISLAND, TwentiethCentury Fox You mav have wondered sometimes, how such by-products of hard emotion as sweat can be produced on a moment's notice for the benefit of the camera. This is being made a lot easier these days, thanks to cinematographer Leon Shamrov. To emphasize the tropical setting of "Friendly Island," the stars had to have beads of perspiration show on their brows. Before Shamroy's invention, this was customarily handled bv make-up men, using an atomizer to sprav globules of water or oil on the actor's face. Shamrov simplified the procedure, so sweating can be produced automatically, at will. A special infra red lamp, low in wattage so that it can cause no harm, was mounted atop the camera box. Whenever the actors got close enough, they were within the heating range of the bulb — and seconds later, moisture took its appearance. If vou can't go this far, perhaps you can "preheat" your subjects in advance. Shamrov describes his invention as the Jungle Bulb. ROYAL WEDDING, MGM Although a movie amateur can only dream about such equipment it is still interesting to note the ingenuity of 35mm movie makers in certain difficult shots. The filming of Fred Astaire's "human fly" dance in MGM'S "Royal Wedding" was marked by the most unusual job ever drawn by a cameraman in a musical. Astaire performed his number in a set built in a huge barrel-like steel structure. It was me ANDREEVA chanically arranged to revolve and to be stopped and started on musical cue. Outside of the room set, but inside of the steel framework was placed a technicolor camera strapped in place. And behind it was the cameraman, likewise strapped in position. As the set revolved, he revolved with it, thus photographing part of the number while lying flat on his back, and other parts of the dance while on his side. • Universal 's Dorothy Shay is an avid movie maker. She always parallels in • Continued on Page 216 Book Review FILM AND IT'S TECHNIQUES — by Ravmond Spottiswoode, 516 pages, published bv the University of California Press,' Berkeley, Calif. (S7.50). The essential and unwritten lore of documentarv film making is ably repsented by Mr. Spottiswoode in this book. Written so that the professional cinematographer can understand it, as well as the amateur, the book deals first with the ideas for a documentary film, and shows how they are embodied in the script. It explains how the production unit is assembled, and then goes on to describe the mechanism of the camera, in simple language. The chapters which follow, discuss the important creative process of editing, optical printing, and negative cutting. A special section deals with the phvsics of sound, the technical methods of recording it, and the creative uses to which sound can be put in a film. Current color processes and 16mm techniques are also discussed. Successive chapters take the reader through all the steps of production from script to screen, and here is its prime value. The information, clearly explained, suggest what practices the cinematographer should adopt, and what to avoid, and at the same time supplies him with the latest technical information. Mr. Spottiswoode delves into recent advances in 16mm techniques, both sound and picture — magnetic recording, and also a number of simplified procedures in animation are described here, for the first time. A thousand word glossary of film terms, defined with the needs of the amateur in mind, are listed together with an annotated bibliography of technical works on film. The author has had considerable experience in film making. He spent • See "REVIEWS" on Poge 216 190