E-mail us: amdb@ucalgary.ca

Date produced: 1932

Filmmaker(s):

W. T. McCarthy

Languages:

English

Format:

format unknown

Colour:

B&W

Sound Notes:

Silent

Awards/Recognition:

ACL Ten Best 1932

Description:

"Garden Closeups, by W. T. McCarthy, ACL, demonstrates its right to be placed among the ten best films because of the painstaking care and time expended in its preparation and because of the exceptional results achieved. The film covers a subject which is almost entirely in miniature, but which, in its motion picture interpretation, reveals a whole new world which only the eye of a discriminating filmer and a nature lover could catch. Here are excellent closeups of the common varieties of garden flower, pictured so skillfully that the technique used is forgotten and the actual, living flower seems revealed on the screen, sometimes swaying gently in the breeze, sometimes rifled by a gigantic bumblebee pictured in alarming closeup. Another sequence will show the honeycombed intricacies of a wasp's nest, a time condensation technique showing its gradual cessation of activity as the winter comes on. An outstanding achievement in closeup technique showed the praying mantis in the very unprayerful act of devouring its victim. The film was made almost entirely with the aid of a telephoto lens with special extension, which enabled the patient cameraman to capture his flower and insect subjects from a moderate distance. Focus and exposure alike show the result of painstaking care in Garden Closeups." Movie Makers, Dec. 1932, 560.

Resources:

McCarthy discusses garden filmmaking in "Garden Closeups" (Movie Makers, June 1932, 247, 262-264).

Subjects:

Genre:

Form:

Screenings:

  • Screened by the Amateur Cinema Club of Hartford in 1933: Hartford, CT
  • Screened at the Amateur Cinema League headquarters in 1932: New York City, N.Y.
  • Screened in competition at the Third International Contest for the Best Amateur Films in 1933: Paris, France

Do you know where this film is? Get in touch with us at amdb@ucalgary.ca.