Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1931)

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82 FEBRUARY 1931 On Jack Frost's trail PAUL D. HUCON And, if you go north for winter travels, here is what to do WITH winter vacations ever growing in popularity, the click of movie cameras will be heard everywhere as jolly parties more and more conquer the deep snows — not to mention the deeply cushioned lounges of comfortable hotels. If you are among the lucky ones to visit Lake Placid or Montreal, or to sail an ice boat on the Shrewsbury River, what will you bring back in pictures besides the actual shots of your sports? Assuming that your skating, skiing or toboganning will constitute one or more reels, each telling it's own story, what will you wish you had made, after you return home and see the trip in perspective? So many amateurs overlook the possibilities of everything but the immediate object of their trip that, when they afterwards tell the story around the luncheon table or in the club room, one wonders why they took a camera along. They are like the reporter who turns in a formal story and afterwards tells in vivid details to his intimates a much more entertaining one which he forgot to include in his notes. Our criterion of what to film will be — what will you tell about it on your return? "It is a long trip," you will tell your friends. Very well, shoot some scenes showing how long a trip it is — the changes of train at wayside towns, the long ride in the sleigh, with enough scenics in between to carry them gradually from city to country. Two or three scenes in which the action, while continuous, proceeds at slow tempo are more convincing of distance than a quick jump through many locations. If, on your way to winter camp, there is a steep hill to ascend, take a long shot of that hill and give plenty of footage to the slow ascent of the vehicle going away from the camera. A scene that lasts a whole minute or two on the screen, if the action is all in the same direction and without intervening thoughts, creates a profound impression of length. That is the trick used in all exploration films, whether the travelers are crossing the frozen steppes or the You can travel of a very your "place" goal by means long view lOwing Gallo hot sands of the desert — an extremely long shot and continuous footage of it. Such shots should be very steady. "It was frightfully cold," you may tell your friends on your return. Very well, show it. Perhaps you left your sweater out all night and, when you picked it up the next morning, it was frozen stiff. Take a shot of it, holding it at arm's length by one sleeve, as stiff as a piece of cardboard. Perhaps one of your party, after standing outdoors for a week without doing anything worth while, happens to be caught nicely backlighted, with a thick haze of warm breath issuing from between his cap and muffler. If so, shoot the scene there and then. It will illustrate your subtitle, It was cold, better than any closeup of the thermometer. And, if the postman's horse looks like a snorting Pegasus in the crisp morning air, take a side view of it against the light or against a dark tree but so lighted that the steaming nostrils will clearly show. If the eaves of the club house are decorated with icicles, arrange for a shot from the inside outward to secure the back lighting so essential in all winter pictures to give transparency to the ice and Take a quarter of those with one close to the camera and making a huge iceberg on the screen, the others gradually diminishing in size as they cross the screen. A turn from left to right, if possible, will help the illusion of cold by making the scene last longer but a quick "panoram" will destroy this and any other illusion. If you across a waterfall, hind or side of it and study it at all hours of the day until you discover just the one and only lighting it requires to look like candy dipped in silver paint. There is a great deal of fun in stalking scenery with your [Continued on page 100] snow, three view icicles come frozen get beat one