Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

TITLES AND SPECIAL EFFECTS 225
reader would be surprised to learn which were real night shots.
It was found that infrared light offered a wonderful means of
obtaining night effects which were much more like night than
previous attempts. Of course, certain changes are necessary in
make-up and costuming, and such things as street lights and auto
headlights have to be made more powerful to overcome the light
of day and register through the filters for the infrared film. Over-
cast days are best for this type of operation. However, unless the
photographer is very experienced
and can afford to waste a lot
of film on experiment, he would be well advised to ignore this type
of work if he is shooting for a television station working on the
proverbial shoestring.
In using special effects it is important to apply common sense
in choosing which to use and when to use them. It is extremely
easy to overdo effects and then a film, instead of being a medium
of expression or a story, is merely a vehicle for the cleverness of
the editor, effects man, or producer. Anything tending to confuse
the issue or crowd the screen will not go over well with the viewer
since his screen is so small and lacking in detail in other words,
don't use effects just for the sake of using them!
Although many effects can be produced solely by the use of a
camera and auxiliary equipment, considerable ingenuity is re-
quired to perform some of them. Quite often the end results do
not justify the work involved. But the requirements of some producers
are a challenge to the film department on occasion. Often
the answer is simple, but it sometimes takes a long time to uncover.
One production required a scene to spin and then come to rest
and commence the action. It was quite a long time before the
obvious solution was found. It was to photograph the scene, mount
it on a turntable in front of the camera, and start filming with
the camera inverted. Then the table was started and it gradually
increased in speed until the picture was a blur. Since the same
cast was used in the still for the photograph and for the production
all the players did was to take up the positions they were in when
the still was made and commence their actions from there. In