Home Movies (1954)

sleepy little town of Port Royal, once the haunt of pirates and privateers and known then as "the wickedest city in the world." Further along the south coast, past Spanish Town ( the old capital ) are the alligator swamps. Inland are sugar plantations, hundreds of acres of bananas and citrus, ancient great-houses set in tropical gardens, and the majestic hills crowned in dense greenery. Before Christopher Columbus beached his boats on the white sands of what is now, naturally, known as Discovery Bay, the only inhabitants were a gentle race of Indians called the Arawaks. There were no palm or breafruit trees then — those were to be brought later by a chap named Bligh on a boat called the Bounty. (Captain Bligh, you may remember, had a few personnel problems on his early attempts to deliver the goods, but the trees finally arrived.) The Spaniards, of course, were Jamaica's first rulers, and the coastal towns they established were soon to become the toughest ports on the Spanish Main. When Jamaica was wrested from Spanish control by the British several more pages of history were written. Henry Morgan, the bloodiest pirate of all, was to turn respectable and be appointed Governor of the Island. Horatio Nelson, a young British soldier, commanded a garrison at Port Royal. And rich British planters, through the slave trade, were responsible for the present complexion of Jamaica, which is predominantly dusky to dark. In addition to the descendants of African slaves, who now hold responsible positions in all walks of life, there are communities of Chinese, East Indians and Syrians. Also present is the British colony — which is why your "American plan" guest house offers you afternoon tea. In addition to the visiting shutterbugs and professional movie-makers who shoot the Island, there is an up and coming government film unit engaged in the making of Jamaican doc • See "JAMAICA" on Page 424 — FOOTBALL FILMS FUl In the collective sports consciousness of America, the Fall season is synonomous with football, a game that is tops as a spectator sport. No wonder that gridiron contests have long been favorite movie fare. Football has everything to make for color and excitement. Perhaps the major feature about football that attracts movie filmers is the fact that it provides a real challenge for camera skill and ingenuity. Indeed, it might be said that any amateur who can make a really good football movie is just about ready — from the standpoint of ability — to join the ranks of professional cinematographers. Any professional cameraman who can recreate on film the highlights and atmosphere of a football game may feel sure that he had not lost his touch with the magic box. No matter how many movies you have shot, a great new thrill awaits you this Fall if you try to make your football films the best ever. Yet. if you have never made a movie, you can find in football filming a proper kickoff to your own career as an amateur filmer. Tyro or advanced worker can both benefit from careful planning days or weeks in advance of the games. The following notes, taken from the writer's filming experienced combined with that of others, is designed to give you some practical first aid for your own gridiron filming problems. These items are arranged in alphabetical order for ready reference. Basic Element's Reduced to its simplest elements,, the combined tournament and pageant of a football game may be divided into these four main parts: Part I, the Build-Up, including such things as torchlight parades the night before and the events on the field just preceding the game; Part II. The Actual Game Action, which is of course the very heart of your film; Part III, Crowd action and individual spectator reactions; Part IV, Action of cheerleaders, cheering sections, and bands. The success of your general football film will depend first of all on your recording wisely selected segments of the above four elements; second, upon your ability to weave all this together into a coherent, interesting story on the editing table. Camera Speed. A favorite speed to allow some study of football action is 32 frames per second. When projected at 16 frames per second, this speed slows down the action by one-half. • See "FOOTBALL" on Page 432 417