American Cinematographer - September 1936 - 18

380

American Cinematographer

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September,

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1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood, Calif.
Cable Address: CAMERAS

FRIED 35MM

1936
the day, when the sunlight struck most
directly into the water, we secured a
satisfactory
exposure
at Technicolor
stop 3, which is roughy equivalent to
f:3.5.
Shooting
in
black-and-white,
with Super-X film, we could have
stopped down to f:8.
Ordinary panning shots proved con¬
siderably easier underwater than they
are on the surface, for even with the
tension of the tripod-head set loosely,
the resistance of the water acts as a
perfect brake to keep the movement
smooth.
Handling a camera while your head is
encased in a bulky diving-helmet is
something of a trick. The eye-ports in
even the best helmets are none too con¬
venient for close, accurate work. And
in following action in the finder, the
fact that the light must pass through
two windows on the finder's watertight
box, and through the window on your
helmet, introduces a considerable loss of
light; the finder-image is far from bril¬
liant. For this reason, I would certainly
not like to try any follow-focus shots
underwater, for in turning your head
from the finder to the focus dial and
back again, your eyes get out of adjust¬
ment for following the dark image in
the finder.
But aside from these minor incon¬
veniences, there is a definite advantage
to making underwater scenes in color.
Of course the color adds tremendously
to the audience's impression of being
undersea. Moreover, the colors of the
sea growths, the fish, and especially the
coral formations there in Tahiti, con¬

trasting with the blue-green water and
the fine white sand make a really in¬
teresting color picture.
The color of the water, though, is a
problem when it comes to making the
color-print. As might be expected, it
throws the printing off balance, for it
filters out much of the red end of the
spectrum.
We had anticipated this,
though, and we made all our shots
through a Technicolor 86A filter, which
somewhat offsets the excess of bluegreen. To enable the laboratory to have
a definite standard for comparison in
balancing the print, we made a test of
the regular Technicolor color-chart and
neutral scale with every scene. As we
were to work underwater, we had this
scale made on metal, and a duplicate
was made for the laboratory experts,
so that they could have an accurate
comparison in balancing the prints.
And this matter of color-balance
brought up a very interesting psycholog¬
ical point.
Underwater, everything is
definitely tinged with the blue-green of
the water. But after one has been down
a few minutes, he is no longer con¬
scious of this coloring. On the screen,
however, if the scene were printed ex¬
actly as your eye (and the camera) saw
it under water, that blue-green is ob¬
jectionably noticeable.
I suppose this
is due to the relatively confined area of
the screen; at any rate, the eyes does
not accommodate itself to this coloring
on the screen as it does underwater. Ac¬
cordingly, the print has to be balanced,
or rather unbalanced, toward the red, if
the audience is to accept it as natural!

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Hollywood, Calif.

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Hollywood Motion Picture
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645 Martel Ave.

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New Make-up that is Sculpture-like
Continued from page 375
odhesive is necessary; and the conven¬
tional spirit gum would not do, so Dawn
evolved his own liquid adhesive, which
not only holds better, but can be re¬
moved only by its special solvent. Sim¬
ilarly, in warm weather, or on hot stages,
a player may be expected to perspire
under a large molded headpiece. To
remedy this, Dawn has devised a special
perspiration-absorbent.
This is simply
brushed on before the sculptured make¬
up is applied.
One of the most important uses of the
new product is in creating bald heads,
receding hair-lines, and the like. At
times it is necessary for a player to ap¬
pear either bald or with a greatly al¬
tered hair-line; under ordinary circum¬
stances .using traditional methods of
make-up, this is very costly. When Re¬
liance Productions filmed "The Last of
the Mohicans" recently, Bruce Cabot
was cast as an Indian-an Indian of one
of those tribes whose braves shaved
their heads almost completely, leaving
only a bushy scalp-lock. No known type
of wig suited the camera, though ex¬

tensive tests were made. The only pos¬
sible course, it seemed, was to have
Cabot's head actually shaved; this would
of course involve a special bonus to the
actor, and further retaining him under
salary until his hair grew out again. At
the last moment, Dawn was called into
consultation. He applied his make-up,
and on the first test it was determined
that neither Cabot's hair nor the pro¬
ducer's budget need suffer.
This
make-up was
applied
very
simply. Using a cast of Cabot's head,
a thin, tight-fitting cap was made of
Dawn's preparation. The flowing scalplock was woven through this like an or¬
dinary wig. All that was necessary was
for Cabot to slip the cap over his nor¬
mal hair, and to apply over it the same
dark make-up which gave the rest of
his head and body the color of a red¬
skin. The dividing-line between the cap
and the real forehead, neck, etc., was of
course carefully blended by applications
of the Dawn liquid and plastic make-up,
and the normal outlines of the bony
American Cinematographer - September 1936

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