Evening star., 1951-05-06
Camera Angles
Detectives of q Home Movie Fan
By Alexander J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The cyn;4hsor;<.y lrs sk;k,,A;a,,

Amateur motion picture pho
Biography is more than inserting q
fresh magazine in the camera,
pointing it at the kids, pressing a
button. You can try it that way
| if you wish, but we guarantee that
1T won't work no matter how per-
sistent you are or how much good
film you shoot.
There must still be a number of
people who try this magical ap-
proach that can't possibly work.
I know because when I made a
recent visit to one of the largest
film processing plants in the
country literally thousands OF feet
OF wasted movie film was passing
through the tanks.
Certain cynics have been known
to observe that this is good for
the f1lm industry because the
camera fan will promptly shoot
away another hundred or so feet
OF film trying to make up for past
mistakes. But this is not so at
all. In practice these people who
constantly make costly mistakes
give it up as bad job after q
while and miss all the fun of tax
ing good home movies. They lose
and the industry loses as well
when the camera fans stop buy
ing film.
You Still Have to Think.
So many improvements in
movie-making equipment have
been made and announced in re-
cent years that many people who
buy their first movie camera seem
to believe that the camera will
do everything for them. Unfor-
tunately this is not true and never
Will be true as long as the human
element remains a factor. Until
a camera is produced that can
think up a story as it goes along.
refuses to operate under poor
lighting conditions, moves in and
out from the subject of it's own
accord and changes camera angle
at frequent intervals, the camera
fan is going to have to 90 his own
thinking or give it up as q bad
job.
If you are interested in making
your own movies you might as
well face a few facts. First. movie
photography is a more expensive
hobby than still photography.
Yes, the film keeps slipping
through the camera just as long
as you hold the button down.
And then, too, you have to have
projection equipment as well as
the camera and other accessories
that are SO important to filming
good movies. But, in the long
run, If you can afford to invest
in good equipment, you will get
more enjoyment, in my opinion,
from movies than you will with
still pictures. There should be
no doubt of this if you have chill
dren.
Whether your home movies will
ultimately be expensive or not
depends largely upon yourself
If you waste film you will lose a
lot of money in the process. But,
if you understand how best to
use your equipment, you should
be able to produce films that are
worth many times the cost of the
film-films that will increase in
sentimental value as the years
go by.
Some Lack a Story.
The lack of an idea or story is
another reason why so much am
ateur film is eventually thrown
away. So many beginners herd
their subjects out in front of the
camera, start it going, and then
frantically tell the now-petrified
factors" to "do something" The
net result is a roll of film showing
"a group of self-conscious indi-
viduals helplessly eyeing the cam
era or doing things under the
stress of the moment that they
would never do under ordinary
circumstances. This, of course,
defeats the purpose of the movie
maker right at the start, for he is
really anxious to make a film of
the people as they normally are,
Now let's see what can be done
to straighten out the beginner on
these two most important points,
To begin with, analyze your needs
before you start buying your mo-
tion-picture equipment. Do you
want a movie outfit just to make
periodic record pictures of your
family? Or do you have friends
who belong to an amateur movie
club that you are considering ap-
plying to for membership?
In the first instance you would
need very little more than an g.
nm. camera, a tripod, light meter
protector and screen, and an in
expensive editing outfit. But If
you plan to take up amateur
movie filming with the idea of
turning out films on competitive
basis with members of a movie
club, you will have to consider
buying more expensive and ad-
vanced equipment that would not
be needed for pictures of the
family.
Choice of Equipment.
Some clubs use only 16-mm
cameras while others prefer 8-mm
and still other groups use both
This is an important point be-
cause the entire club membership
will often work as a production
unit in shooting a major film
Because Of the high standards o1
work demanded by most movie
clubs. you will undoubtedly have
use for semi-professional equip.
ment and supplementary lenses
Keep this in mind when buying
your camera for you may neec
one that can switch from lens tx
lens with a minimum lapse oi
time.
Another point: Be sure that 70,
understand how your camera ane