American Cinematographer - February 1988 - 66

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Wire, Tape and Rubber Band Style

have it

cameramen

just

good at

as

other labs."

Many cinematographers
piece of equipment that they
have developed and are accustomed
to using which then becomes their
have

a

Sonnenfeld's

trademark.

trade¬

mark is the

"Shakycam." Mount¬
Arriflex camera with a
9.8mm lens at the center of a long
2x4 piece of wood, Sonnenfeld is
ing

an

able to create
that

camera

coaster ride

movement with the

a

feel like

can
even

ting in the last
While there is

for

row

a

roller¬

someone

sit¬

of the theater.

no camera

operator

to look

through the lens, a grip is on
either side of the long wooden
board. The grips run with the con¬
traption making sure that the hori¬
zon is
straight-just as with a
Steadicam. The shot is

so

wide that

you don't have to worry too much
about framing. In Throiv Momma
...

(Photo is of Kenworthy Snorkel Camera in
...

a

use on

Sonnenfeld

out the

"Logan's Run")

book about MOVIE MAGIC

In

originated many
special effects
plausible. He began when the movie business was
young, was long-time chief of special effects at
20th Century-Fox, and completed a brilliant career
in the '80s. His legacy is this book, which tells
how a flying saucer was landed in the heart of
Washington, D.C.; Paul Newman and Robert
Redford leapt 80 feet into a rocky creek; the
world's tallest building was destroyed; Raquel
Welch took an odyssey through a man's
of the illusions that made movie

a giant lizard; the
turned upside down;

Shaky cam. We started the shot
Shakycam traveling just

inches above the rails of the train

tracks. As
car, we

Rubber Band Style

right into Ann Ramsey's face. We
ran

copies Special Effects-Wire, Tape and

at 18 frames per
The effect is that your

camera

stomach

really drops out for a mo¬
The audience gets an emo¬

tional

feeling from the shot. You
physically feel from the shot that

Name

she is at the end of the train."
The sequences on

Address

City
□

Payment enclosed

State

Zip

□ Charge by VISA

□ Mastercard

the train
posed the greatest challenge for
Sonnenfeld. While the script calls
for a high speed stunt sequence on
the train, Sonnenfeld was faced
a train that would
only go 12 to

with

15 miles per

Add $2.50 postage

and
handling per copy USA: $5 per
copy foreign. Calif, residents add
$1.95 state tax. U.S. funds only.

the

ment.

Hollywood, CA 90078

$29.95

we
got closer to the train
boomed up with our arms

second.

Please send

advantage of this

with the

moth to the moon; and much, much more.

P.0. Box 2230

(Ann

little moment," Sonnenfeld says,
"and did a series of shots with the

luxury liner Poseidon was
Rex Harrison rode a giant

The ASC Press

sequence on

door and stares out at the track in
horror. "We took

bloodstream; James Mason almost was devoured

by

again brought

the
Ramsey)
thinks that Larry is a killer. She
tries to run away from him and
runs the
length of the train to the
last car although we, the audience,
don't know this. She opens the last
one

Momma

train,

The late L. B. "Bill" Abbott, ASC,

once

Shaky cam.

Card #

Exp. Date

Signed
Allow 6-8 weeks for

times

as

hour. For as many
possible, the shots were

filmed at 18

or even 12 frames
per
second. The actors had to accom¬

modate this

delivery

by moving slightly
American Cinematographer - February 1988

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