Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1931)

MOVIE MAKERS 595 Cine touchdowns KENNETH F. SPACE AND DONALD BRADY THERE is a zest and sparkle in the air which presage that King Football is about to come into his own. Interesting and thrilling football films are not difficult to make if some of the conditions to be encountered are known in advance. To begin, having decided upon the game to be filmed, a football should be borrowed from one of the neighborhood boys and the names of the opposing teams, together with the date and place of the game, should be lettered upon one side of it with white chalk. The ball should then be placed upon the grass or on some neutral colored object such as a grey blanket and a closeup made with sufficient footage so that, while shooting, the wording can be read slowly twice. Then, by rubbing this lettering off and writing The End on the ball, filming it in a similar manner, novel and appropriate main and end titles will be secured for the film and can be spliced in later. (Remember that the diaphragm must be opened up one stop over the normal for closeups.) Seats for the game should be selected so that the sun, when it sets, will be back of them. This will protect the camera lens from fl V\ the direct rays. N^^^ Too, unless a tele ■ ^^ seats should be How football fans may score them with a camera and care well toward the front of the stand so that a plainer screen image will be secured upon projection. To begin actual filming, a few shots of the rapidly filling stands should be made and here is a fine chance to work in an amusing trick shot. If a long focus lens is used, the camera should be mounted upon a tripod and focused on some comparatively empty portion of the stadium. Two or three feet of film should be exposed and the camera left on the tripod for a few minutes until some more spectators have been seated. Then another two or three feet should be shot. By repeating this a few times, the effect on the screen will be that of spectators appearing as if by magic. In regard to exposure, if the sky is clear and the playing field is in bright sunlight, //8 will be the correct exposure for normal "pan" film. If light clouds partially obscure the sun, //5.6 or 6.5 should be used and, on cloudy days, //4 or 3.5. It should be remembered, however, that most games start around two or three in the afternoon when the sun is already declining and that, in the later periods, part of the playing field will be in shadow. It will be necessary then to open the lens a little wider as the game progresses. The new speed film will greatly help in these later shots. It is time now to make a few shots of the cheering sections and bands and, a little later, of the teams as they come on the field. The kickoff, the catch and the run back should be shot and, next, several of the plays. Filming a play after it has begun should be avoided except in the case of a spec tacular one, as this creates a disjointed appearance on the screen. While the players are standing in position, they should be sighted through the finder and, when they crouch over, the filming begun and continued until the play is over. After a few scenes of this type, unless seated close to the playing field, it is advisable to shift to a long focus lens for some closeups. A two inch lens is also valuable for many long shots. Care must be used in handling the long focus lenses. It is possible without a tripod to use a two and possibly a three inch lens, provided the filmer at all times keeps the player carrying the ball in the center of the finder. For absolute steadiness with lenses of greater focal length than these, the use of a tripod is essential and it would considerably improve pictures taken with the three inch lens. As a general rule, the same exposure is given with a long focus lens as with the regular length but a little overexposure is preferable to underexposure. In telephoto shots at football games, as well as close views with the regular lens, when light and lens speed permit, the camera should be used at the speed of twenty four frames a second or at double speed (thirty two). This will slow up the plays so they may be more readily followed on the screen and it will also iron out jerks resulting from "panning" with the telephoto. After several plays have been fijmed with the telephoto, the one inch lens should be put into position while waiting for a pass or a kick. A pass usually takes place when one player of the advancing team falls back some distance from the rest. If this position is taken on the fourth, or last, down, however, the possibility is that it will be a kick. In using different lengths of lenses during a game, two methods are employed. If the camera is equipped with a turret or revolving front, it is possible to make lens changes quickly to vary shots. In the event that the lenses must be removed to change them, it is more convenient and involves less danger of dropping and perhaps injuring a valuable lens if all the long shots are made at one time and the telephoto shots at another. It is well to secure shots of the score board, if possible, at the end of each quarter. It should be remembered, however, to take most of the shots of the play during the first half when the light is best, though some reserve film should be held. So far, it may be assumed, about a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet of film have been shot. As a general rule, three hundred feet will be a good length for one game, so a few humorous trick shots might be attempted. One might be the filming of a play at sixty four frames per second (slow motion) to be followed with a shot of the next play taken at normal speed but with the camera held upside down, this trick sequence to be concluded with a shot of the next play at half speed. When the film is edited, the scene photographed upside down should be cut out, turned end for end and spliced in again. The series will then appear with the men advancing as if weighted down. [Cont. on p. 616]