Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1952)

MOVIE MAKERS 341 thy of special commendation. While The Big City is not an epic, it is a capable, factual presentation with just enough skyscraper shots to make it authentic, enough stores and people to give it pulsating life, and enough pathos to arouse the emotion. The Carabi Incident Once again Harry W. Atwood has used the desert locales of the Southwest and his mastery of outdoor color filming to mount a dramatic and exciting action picture. Although The Carabi Incident is truly an incident rather than a full-fledged photoplay, it does manage to include an abandoned mine, a lost prospector, a worried young girl and her companion — and both a happy and a tragic ending! The production is enriched with Mr. Atwood's usually fine selection of camera angles and suspenseful editing. For these reviewers, however, an excess of dialog subtitles was a drag on the film's development. The Israeli Story Oscar H. Horovitz, you may recall, already has told in words (see Israel Invites, March Movie Makers) about his month-long visit of last year to this newest of the world's democracies. In The Israeli Story, with all personal references excised, he now sets forth in film a record of this hard-won republic as he found it. Covered, in step-by-step reporting, are its polyethnic citizens, its social, economic and educational centers, and, briefly, its hopes for the future. Supplementing this visual reportage there is a technically excellent magnetic recording on film, in which music is used sparingly and the narrative is both written and delivered with restraint. As such, The Israeli Story is a competent documentary record which should serve (and, in fact, has served) the public relations program of the new Jewish state effectively. An objective observer of the film, however, draws from it little if any of the emotional uplift which is eagerly hoped for by every sympathetic viewer. What God Hath Wrought While motoring through Zion National Park, Leo J. Heffernan photographed the mountains, trees and canyons as they passed by his camera. The resulting picture. What God Hath Wrought, filmed almost entirely from his moving car, has an amazing threedimensional effect. Changes in depth and perspective give the viewer a strong sense of participation, a true feeling that he is actually on the spot. For, traveling along the main high ways, where so many tourists drive each year, Mr. Heffernan shows us this usually static subject from a tourist's level — but with new and refreshing viewpoints. Woods and Waters of Winterland With a sensitive feeling for nature's changing patterns, even in her least productive season, Herman E. Dow has captured the flavor and beauty of New England's quiet countryside in Woods and Waters of Winterland. Closeups of streams trickling through icebound banks and selective compositions of snow-laden boughs and bleak branches contribute to the overall theme of a pleasant scenic study. A musical accompaniment for the film is well chosen and recorded. Notes from magnetic [Continued from page 328] turntables through it and into a big 12 inch speaker which was placed on the card table next to the suspended mike. Now we were able to record with the projector volume control in a fixed position, for we raised and lowered the music volume as required with the controls on the dual turntables. In other words, we were bringing in all the sound through the mike, and not using the phono input on the 202 at all. STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH This setup was better, but not good enough. Our voice recording was good; but the music was shrill and high pitched, having lost the bass side entirely. This was partially remedied by placing the mike right alongside of the speaker, which meant that the narrator's lips would be farther from the mike than ever. Actually this made the voice sound better, but I wanted still more bass music and less noise in the background. So I blanketed off the area in which the mike, the loudspeaker and the narrator sat. In other words, I hung blankets from the ceiling to make a three-sided cubicle, or enclosure. This deadened the echo from the walls of my cellar studio, eliminated all mechanical noise from the projector and gave me the tone quality which I desired. This may sound like a lot of trouble; but it can be done in half an hour, and the results are well worth the effort. WHEN YOU FLUB ONE, WHAT THEN? Bell & Howell makes it sound pretty easy to stop, back up and re-record. It is easy, too. But you must remember that the sound drum has to gain momentum each time you start the projector or you will record a "drag" or "wow" on the sound stripe until speed is up to normal. So, to avoid this, we back our film up about fifteen feet ahead of the error. Then, with all controls set except for Precis/on Engineered Movie Camera by Europe's Finest Camera Craftsmen I EUMIG 88 The Only 8mm Movie Camera with Automatic Built-in Exposure Regulator! The Camera That Thinks for You ! EUMIG 88. With Color Corrected. Anastigmat fl.9 Coated Lens S139 50 ELECTRIC BRAIN ELECTRIC EYE Popular in Europe for Years ! Now Available in the U.S.A. I The outstanding Eumig 88 actually prevents incorrect exposure whether you use color or black-and-white film I The unique built-in coupled photo-electric cell which controls the diaphragm opening automatically regulates the correct exposure required. 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