TRICK SHOTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 526, 1 December 1928, Page 23

TRICK SHOTS

Daring Camera Man Swings from Rafters Many film "fans” have wondered how cameramen produce that extraordinary sudden approach of the camera to the scene being “shot.” One sees players in the distance, moving in a wide setting. Suddenly the scene begins to move toward the screen, growing in detail and diminishing in background until the camera comes to rest a few feet from the players. The method adopted is revealed in a description of the making of one of the big scenes for “Erik the Great.” a mystery film. A unique scheme was carried into effect in a scene depicting Erik the Great, stage magician, in the act of committing a crime under the guise of a spectaclar trick. Strapping himself into a swing suspended over the heads of some 300 extras, Mohr was pulled up Into the rafters of a “theatre.” At a given word the actors took their places while Veidt, as the magician, performed his routine of magic. Suddenly the ropes holding Mohr wer* released and the camera man swans swiftly to the stage, photographing the scene as he passed over the heads of the audience and actors on the stage. In this manner the sequence interrupted by stopping the long shot with a close-up.