Home Movies (1953)

¥*MOVI£S ON APPROVAL Most entertaining 8MM MOVIE FILMS for home movie shows. Write today and we'll SEND YOU A 50 ft. SMM FILM — POSTPAID — ON APPROVAL. (Return the film within 5 days without obligation, if it's not worth more than the $1 .50 we ask.) MOV I E-OF-T HE-MONTH 6516 Selmo Avenue, Hollywood 28, Colif. Automatic Daylight Processing Equipment DEVELOPING TANK • Processes up to 200 Ft. • 8mm-16mm-35mm » Movie — X-Ray — Microfilm • Metor driven portable • Tough plastic tanks • Uniform Density Assured • 70mm tank also available FILM DRYER • Motor driven — Heatad • Speedy drying • Automatic shrinkage allowance • Stainless steel and aluminum construction • Easily assembled without tools • Compact, Portable Guaranteed. Write for Free Literature MICRO RECORD CORP. Dept. H 225 W. 28 St., N.Y. I, N.Y. CLASSIFIED Continued CAMERA FILM m Request Complete 16mm Title Service INSERTS ANIMATION ARTWORK QUALITY UNSURPASSED DON ARLEN PRODUCTIONS 10118 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Pacoima, Calif for Y Title Distinctive TITLES and Expert EDITING For the Amateur and Professional 16-8mm Black and White Kodachrome Price List on Request STAHL EDITING & TITLING SERVICE 33 West 42nd St. New York 36, N.Y. Send for your FREE Sample Copy of FILM and A-V WORLD THE NEWS MAGAZINE OF THE AUDIO VISUAL FIELD Easily readable reports of the latest developments and trends in non-theatrical 16mm films and equipment — departmentalized in all phases, including schools, industry, television, and churches. For your cinema club programs, a special review section gives descriptions and availability of 60 to 75 new film releases every month. One Year Subscription — $4.00 FILM and A-V WORLD 1159 N. Highland Ave Los Angeles 38, Calif. • SAVE 50°o on developing sets, chemicals and bulk movie film in 100 or 400 ft. rolls Send us postal card for Free Circular. FROMADERS, Box 637-F; Davenport, Iowa. • SAVE 50°o on double 8mm or 16mm movie film with 24-hour free processing service. Send postal card for free circular and sample film. FROMADERS, Box 637-F, Davenport, Iowa. • WE develop oil makes of black and white movie film. 25 ft. double 8mm. 75c — 50 ft. 16mm — SI. 00 — 100 ft. 16mm, SI. 35. We return spools and magazines. FROMADERS, Box 637-F, Davenport, Iowa. • GUARANTEED FRESH 8mm roll, magazine; 16mm roll, magazine movie films. Color, 8&W Free cotalog. ESO-B, 47th and Holly, Kansas City 2, Missouri. MISCELLANEOUS • FREE BOOKLET — Make better home movies — PROSPECT PROD. CO., 9 Crary Ave., Mount Vernon, New York. • "HOW to Expose Ansco Color Film" by Lars Moen should be on your movie library shelf. A working handbook for the photographer using Ansco color material, it discusses shutters and lenses, color lighting, three-dimensional color pictures, portraits, color temperature, exposure meters, composition, exposure tables, mixed color light sources and many other subjects so valuable to the movie maker. Only $3.00. Write to VER HALEN PUBLICATIONS, 1159 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood 38, Calif. • BUXOM BABES! For those who appreciate feminine beauty and the body beautiful, a series of artistic Pin-Up photos. Set 8 Photos — S2.00, 6 sets (48 photos) S8.00. REYELLE, Box 95, Dept. M.P., Hammels, L. I., N. Y. • NUDE MODEL FACTS EXPOSED. Shocking use of peephole cameras, "Art Study" salons, illicit practices, all boldly revealed, illustrated. SI. 00. Dept. M, Knight Press, 524 W. 25th, N.Y.C. 1. • MARILYN MONROE Art Color Calendar. You Know The One, It's Famous! SI. 00. Three for S2.00. Sterling. G.P.O. Box 1513-V. New York City 1. SEQUENCE • Continued from Poge 472 his hand to his back as though he had a cramp in it, straightens up with an effort, and reaches in his back pocket for a cigaret. This seems to be about enough from this angle, so we stop the camera again, and move in to about half of that distance, and a little bit more in front of Bill. This brings us into line for a good close-up. so we have him start from the business of reaching for the cigaret. take one out and light it. sigh deeply as he blows out a puff of smoke, wipe the sweat from his brow with his handkerchief, lean his chin on the end of the hoe handle and look about dejectedly at the amount still left to hoe. Now all of the foregoing is only a fragment, and may add up to less than 20 or 25 seconds of film time — but try something of the sort and see for yourself how much more interesting even a simple bit of action becomes when you tell it in a brisk sequence of shots, with constant variety and change. Don't worry yet about the fine points of matching action from one shot to another, and the like, which we will go into later. Just get used to the idea of telling your story in brief, interesting scenes, with constant change, and you will have made a big step toward competent movie making. \ ou won't use more film. In the long run, you'll use less, because for each shot you pick the camera position from which the desired action is gotten over with a minimum of footage. Nor is it more complicated. On the contrary, it is much easier to shoot three simple bits than one long and complicated scene. Easier to shoot — and much easier on the audience! Trv it and see! How long should a scene be? A scene should be long enough to convey what we want to tell, but never long enough to become boring. In practical terms, this means that few scenes should be less than four seconds long, and not many should be more than ten seconds long. You'll notice that we don't say "never". Once in a blue moon you will have a close-up for which two seconds is quite sufficient, and once in a month of Sundays you will have a scene that will justify a length of fifteen or twenty seconds. So for the present, don't worry about those scenes. Plan your action so as to fall somewhere between four and ten seconds for each shot, and after you have screened a few rolls of your film several times, you will begin to develop a natural sense of judgment of how long the spectator needs to see what you want him to see in a scene. That is the real criterion. ^ hen in doubt, shoot a few seconds more rather than less. \ou can always trim off the excess and make a scene shorter, but you can never put in what you failed to shoot. Remember that each time you stop the camera you must move to a different distance or angle before you start shooting again. If you stop, then continue the same sequence from the same point without any change, there will be an ungainly jump in the action— a fault seen constantly in bad amateur films, and a fault for which there is not the slightest excuse. All you need to do to avoid it is to move in closer or step back a bit. at the right or the left. Then there will be no unpleasant, jarring jump in the action, and you will have avoided one more amateurish fault. Most people count seconds too fast. Since it will be helpful to get this fairly accurate, try the old trick of putting the words "one thousand" between the numbers, like this: "Naught — one thousand — one — one thousand — two — one thousand — three — one thousand — four — one thousand" and so on. Practice this a bit with the second hand of a watch, saying the numbers without haste, and you will find that you can count intervals of up to a minute with surprising accuracy. 474