Movie Cameras at the Film Festival

The Films Division of India had put up this amazing exhibition of movie cameras and other equipment at the 38th International Film Festival at Panjim. Here's a brief overview.

Steenbeck 35mm (Four Plate) Used for film and sound sync , track making and final editing.

Westrex 35mm Triple Reproducer - 40 years old - Used to play 3 audio tracks for mixing.

Mitchel Camera

"The emergence of sound films had an immediate dampening effect on the use of handheld shots. By 1929, camera manufacturers and studios had devised shells called blimps to encase the camera and dampen the mechaical noise to allow the cameras to be free of booths. When the soon to be ubiquitous Mitchel Camera emerged in 1934, it weighed 135 pounds. This clearly precluded any handheld usage. The aesthetic style of films from this period thus reflcted their available technology and handheld shots were for the most part avoided."

Moviola Editing Machine made in USA. 35mm picture and sound track used for film editing. Used in 70s and 80s.

The Arriflex 16ST is a very small reflex 16mm camera with electric drive and bright viewfinder. It takes 100ft of film in the body and can take 400ft magazines for longer running times. in 100ft mode the camera is very small and portable. widely used in 70s.

35 mm Bomb spotting camera, make - Bell & Howell, Chicago. Used in wartime for aircraft bomb spotting.

This piece of heavy artillery is a 800mm lens on an Arriflex camera. The Arriflex 35 IIIA is one of the most significant movie cameras of all time. It is in use from 1953 and has 180 deg shutters.

Nutan, one of the most accomplished actresses of the black & white era smiles happily at the IFFI curtains reflected on her face.

This is a classic photograph of Madhubala, a sensuous apsara who would probably make the Gods swoon.

More lovelies from the yesteryears of Indian cinema. They were sensual and yet demure compared to the in-your-face oomph of today's vixen-stars.