Home Movies (1954)

continuity by m-nmm you can make 8mm | Lap Dissolves By TOM BUTLER I have yet to see anything about the use of on 8mm magazine cameras for lap disolves and super-imposed shots. The secret lies in the fact that when you turn an 8mm magazine over, the film runs in the reverse direction. This is the way to make a double exposure, such as a title superimposed on a moving background, but be sure to check the footage dial before you start, so WOULD you build a house without first working out a plan? Would you plan a trip without getling a ma]) and choosing a route? Of course not. And planning first before shooting, is one of the essential moves that can be made by anyone anticipating the making of a movie. This includes any kind of movie, from the simple record film of your family and its activities, to the more complicated documentaries and drama films. But let's discuss the family type film, because this is the kind which is made most, by more people. How about Grandma? She's getting along in years, bless her heart, and life, to her, is nothing more than the activities and the problems of her grandchildren. Through them, she re-lives once more her fond experiences with her children and for many a Grandma, this is the most important phase of her life. A series of shot showing Grandma is not enough, if we want a living vi brant record of her as she is and as she was. A movie sequence of her should have a certain amount of continuity, and this can only be achieved if a simple script is planned and used to shoot this kind of film. How to begin : Let us show her first in her own environment. Does she still live in the old house where you were born? Fine. Let s get down there and choose a few sequences which will show her at her best in her own home, doing the things she has done so well. Perhaps she has a garden which has been her pride and joy, lo, these many years. If so, then what is more natural than a decent sequence showing her working there, aided and abetted by her young grandson? This way Grandma is tied in with contemporary things, and yet we make a record of her at the same time. Want to preserve the memory of an ancient living room or parlor where grew up. and which may perhaps contain many happy memories? Then • See "PRE-PLANNING" on Page 128 that is can be reset later. Time your first shot, (the title for instance) very carefully. Do this by continuing one thousand, two thousand, etc., for the length of the scene. Now turn the magazine over, and making sure the lens is covered run the camera for the same length of time as the first scene. This brings the film back to the starting point of the scene. Reset the footage dial as it was when you started the scene and turn the magazine over again. Now you are ready to shoot the second scene, that will appear as the background for the title. Suppose that you would like to make a lap disolve. (That is where one scene fades out as the next scene fades in.) Make the first scene as you ardinarily would, except that you will make about a one or two second fade at the end. You can do this with any of the various fading devices or simply by smoothly closing the lens three or four stops. Next reverse the magazine and. as before, with the lens covered run the camera for the same length of time that you made the fade. Be sure to set the footage scale back the equivalent of twice the length of the fade I two feet for each five seconds of fade). This is done because the footage counter always runs forward, even when you are reversing the film. You are now ready to make the second scene. Start with the lens stopped all the way down or with the fading device closed, and gradually fade in the scene so that it takes about the same time as the fade-out. By using this technique and a little imagination you will be able to spice up your 8mm films no end.