Evening star., 1952-08-24
Camera Angles:
~ J. Wedderburn
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian lnsf;f,,t;an

me SmifhSontdn Institution
There's only one practical way
to learn how to make movies
and that's by personal expert
ence. There are q few rules Of
cinematography which must be
followed If you are to turn out a
passable movie 1--WE will discuss
these today but the main thing
is to shoot plenty of film. A
study Of the footage will reveal
the mistakes you have made as
well as the better scenes and
you will have a firm basis for
subsequent filming.
We shall avoid a discussion
of the relative merits of Is and
8-mm. movie cameras at this
time and simply presume that
you have a camera and want to
get started as q movie maker.
Since the important thing is to
shoot usable footage with the
very first roll of film, we shall
also refrain at this time from
going into the more technical
phases Of cinematography. This
one is strictly for the beginner.
Taking first things first, let's
get the film in the camera. If
yours is a magazine job, you
simply insert the magazine in
the camera. But if your cine
camera takes a roll of film, you
should seek a shaded spot, or it
can be safely loaded in the
house.
Follow the White Line
There is always the danger of
Jogging the edges Of the film if
it is loaded in direct sunlight.
Almost all roll load cameras
have a white guide line which
will indicate exactly where the
film should be placed. It is very
important to have the film fol-
low this line if your loops are
to be correctly formed. If your
loops are too small or too big,
trouble is sure to follow-ei-
ther by a film jam or by jumpy
cinematography. Also be sure
that the pull-down claws are
engaged in the sprocket holes
before closing the gate.
The next point is spring ten
sion. AS you know, your cam
era operates by spring tension
which you apply by turning the
winding key. Modern cine CAM
eras are SO geared that a con-
slant speed Is maintained as
long as there is tension on the
spring. Our advice Is to keep
your camera wound at all times.
It is both embarrassing and
wasteful to have your camera
run down in the middle Of a
scene. A good habit to &C
quire is that Of rewinding i'm
mediately after each scene.
Then you will always be pre-
pared to grab an unexpected
scene when action develops.
However, when you have fin
ished filming for the day, be
sure to allow the camera to
run down. Never put it away
with tension on the spring.
Before we start shooting film,
let's consider why we have a
movie camera in hand rather
than the one that takes stills.
Our whole object is to take
MOVING PICTURES. There
fore let's be sure that we are
ready to shoot moving pictures
before pressing the release but
ton. There is seldom any point
in running movie film through
q camera to record a scene
where nothing is in motion
we can do that just as well with
our still camera. So wait until
you are sure of your action be-
fore starting.
Action Is Essential
At first you may hsve a bit
Of trouble in this respect for
most people are somewhat self
conscious when they react for
the first time to a motion pic
ture machine. This will
straighten out in time when
your subjects become ac-
customed to the idea, One way
to avoid this trouble is to have
the action planned in advance
so that each participant knows
exactly what he should do. This
doesn't work too well with chill
dren but fortunately they are
usually less Self-conscious than
their elders and therefore make
excellent subjects. But one way
or the other. the whole point of
this paragraph is that move
ment or action is the essence of
movie making-don't shoot stills
with your movie camera.
Your camera, take note, will
probably have at least three
Speeds, 16 and "a frames.
For normal amateur shooting,