Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1949)

378 COMPOSITION FINDER Those movie makers using the Bolex camera — either 8mm. or 16mm. — should keep in mind the slight additional convenience provided by the detachability of its tubular viewfinder. This is that it can be used off the camera and simply in the hand as a finder for composition, lighting, angles and the like. Also, when lining up shots in this way, the cameraman should not forget the selective possibilities offered by the finder's optical correction for lenses of three focal lengths. f have often used the finder in this way, both on occasions when I have the camera along and intend shooting, as well as on exploratory walks when I carry the finder only, making scene notes for future shooting. Ralph R. Eno, ACL New York City LEVEL ON TRIPOD Reading in May Movie Makers the most interesting article by Maury Kains, ACL, called Gadgets for Your Camera, prompts me to outline my own method for mounting a two-way level in connection with tripod and camera. My difficulty (which I imagine may be that of many others) was that there was no room for the level on either the fixed head or the pan and tilt head of my tripod. I solved this by obtaining a circular sheet of stainless steel .06 of an inch thick ami 5 inches in diameter. This latter dimension should be determined by the diameter of one's pan-tilt head — which it obviously must exceed. A hole was drilled in the center of this sheet big enough to pass the 1/4 inch tripod screw and the level was mounted at the edge of the plate with removable machine screws — for easy replacement if accidentally damaged. In use. the stainless steel sheet is placed over the fixed head of the tripod and the pan-tilt head over the sheet, thus holding it in place. There is, in my arrangement, just enough room for the level and. mounted in this way. it can be used in con junction with a number of combinations of tripods and pan-till heads. William C. Roeger, ACL Chalfont Pa. ILLUMINATED TITLES An effective method of making illuminated titles — either in black and white or color, and without a formal titling setup — is to cut a stencil of the title in paper, put a flood light in back of it and shoot. For either monochrome or color titles, first house an RFL-2 photoflood in a wooden box, making sure that it is accurately centered in the open side of the box. From opaque paper now cut a frame with outside dimensions the size of the box opening and extending in from it 2 inches on each side. The title lettering is cut in your selected sheet of paper with a stencil cutter such as is commonly used in most shipping rooms. If you are shooting on color film, the paper to be stencil-cut should be translucent in character (so that some light will glow through it) and one of the darker colors such as blue, green or maroon should be selected. If monochrome is your title stock, cut your stencil in opaque paper similar to the frame. In either case, the title sheet is now gummed to the opaque paper frame, the combination backed with a sheet of white tissue paper to diffuse the light passing through the stencil, and the whole thing is attached to the box opening with thumbtacks. Then film as usual. This type of stenciled setup need not be limited to title letters only. It can be extended effectively to filming such seasonal cutouts as pumpkins and witches for Hallowe'en, rabbits for Easter or bells and a tree for Christmas. Ernest J. Oliver Trenton, N. J. IMPROVED 8MM. SPLICES As every careful 8mm. filmer will know, the splice created on that film by available splicing instruments extends well into the film frame (sometimes over as much as 50 percent of the area) and is unavoidably notice Pictures, plans and ideas to solve your filming problems able on the screen. Dissatisfied with this situation, I have for some time now been splicing my 8mm. films as follows: (1) The ends of the two strips of film to be joined are both cut at the frame line. (2) The emulsion is scraped from the entire area of the end frame of the left strip. (3) Cement is applied over this scraped area and the entire corresponding frame of the right strip is positioned over it. (4) Pressure is applied till the splice welds, and then excess cement is wiped carefully from both sides of the film. The resultant splice is wholly unseen during projection and, because of the full-frame overlay, is far stronger. Since no existing splicer is designed to apply pressure over an entire frame, this part of the operation must be done manually. The benefits, however, I believe are worth it. F. B. Harrison Twyford, Berks., England CUTTING TITLE LETTERS To those unfortunates who, like myself, can scarcely draw a straight line, may I suggest my method for creating block titling letters for use with colored films. First secure a supply of suede finished papers in color and on the back of the one selected rule off quarter inch squares. Then, with a razor blade or other sharp instrument, cut out units of nine squares each — i.e., larger squares of three l/i inch blocks on each side. From these any letter may then be cut with ease and mounted on your selected background. A further refinement may be attained by mounting one's letters on a black matte background and, with a 60 degree square, marking off a shaded effect behind them from the black paper. This shading is then trimmed out with the razor and the entire thing mounted on a second background. J. Maddison Ilford. Essex, England