Home Movies (1954)

build a portable PROJECTION BOOTH BY H REECH EVER wished for some kind of projection booth that you could move around? Or a sound-proof cabinet for your projector to get rid of unwanted motor noise when preparing a narration on your tape-recorder? Well, the problem is not a big one and the pictures and diagrams shown here may help other amateurs to build such a case from scraps of wood with just the ordinary handtools being used. The case being described here was built to accommodate my Keystone 8mm projector but sizes and dimensions will have to be modified to suit other models and makes. Diagram 1, shows how I started the project; first I built a frame out of 2 x 1-in. white pine. The sides are glued together and can be mitred or butted. Two frames were made for front and back respectively, and then the whole framework was put together as shown in the diagram. Panels for the sides were cut • ..See PROJECTION on Page 35 SUN and SNOW Continued from Page 14 sensible clothing, and keep hands and feet warm also. If hands get numb, then it may be difficult to handle the camera controls and we might as well go home. If some of the controls of the camera are hard to handle even with thin gloves, then make some sort of control extension to make manipulation much easier. Another thing to remember is that changes of temperature create temporary condensation of moisture and other troubles, so give the camera a chance to cool down to weather conditions outside. Wait a few moments before starting to shoot. But here is one of the most important factors connected with shooting snow scenes. There lies a vast expanse of white, and even if you have a myriad of light and medium colored objects, the terrific reflection from the snow makes snow pictures a tricky problem to tackle — but it can be done and the results are well worth the effort. Snow scenes are not the average subjects for which the exposure meter was designed to read reflecting values. one's head swim a little. If the film is under-exposed then our films will have a preponderantly bluish cast, and this is especially bad since snowscenes already have too much blue anyway. But there are three possible solutions and here they are: 1. The Grey Card. Take all your readings by measuring the reflected light from a grey card — and do this at all times • — summer and winter. The card is held at arm's length from the meter, so that the prevailing light strikes the card and illuminates it properly. 2. Use An Exposure Factor. Determine, (by experiment) how much less light a certain scene will need when covered with snow. Say the figure is 3. Then check your summer exposure and multiply by three. 3. Take Near Readings. Choose some medium object nearby which is to be included in the shot and take a reading from that object. Then expose the whole scene at that speed. Another point in connection with the all-white color scheme is largely esthetic. One can make snow shots a lot more colorful and interesting if A meter is calibrated on the assumption that the scene photographed will have about 25% highlights, 50% middle tones and 25% shadow area. Since snow scenes are almost 100% highlight areas, meter readings made on snowscape may vary as much as three or four times too high. And this means only one thing; underexposure to that extent. And when you think about color films being under or overexposed that much, it is no wonder that it makes ways are devised to add to the composition a maximum amount of color in the costumes and props. Remember that colors which seem garish and brazen in a normal scene, often become tasteful and attractive when surrounded by large spaces of white. And this seems to be the principal used in advertising where a product is practically flooded with "white space" in order to give it glamor and tone. So have your subjects wear • See SUN & SNOW on Page 39 15