WEE GEE’S CAMERA MAGIC

Year Published: 1960

Description: This 1960s instructional film released by Castle Films for the home market, demonstrates various camera tricks performed by “Wee Gee,” or “Weegee,” the pseudonym of Arthur Fellig, a famed photographer and cinematographer who worked in Manhattan and New York City’s Lower East Side. Wee Gee worked as a press photographer, but also experimented with different lenses and camera angles to produce effects that distorted images. The black-and-white film begins by focusing on Wee Gee’s torso (a cigar is visible in the lower corner of his mouth) as he screws a kaleidoscope lens into a 1940s camera on a tripod (0:34). A busy New York City street is shown with people walking. Signs for Coca Cola and the Mayfair Hotel are visible in the background (0:36). The image distorts into a 4-way kaleidoscopic view. A man and woman kiss outside on a bench while Wee Gee takes a photo using a right-angle prism. Then the “compact/stretch” car trick is shown: Wee Gee holds a makeup compact with mirror in front of the camera (1:23). A split screen shows cars driving down the streets of New York (1:33) and then over the George Washington Bridge (1:47). The screen spins and splits into a 4-way distorted kaleidoscopic view, with cars coming from every angle. The “stretch cars” trick is shown: One driver’s car bumps the fender of the other. The male driver of the car that was hit jumps out and gestures to the other female driver, but his car, under Wee Gee’s lens, is squished to become a “compact” car that fits into the parallel parking spot (2:30). The female driver puts her high heel-clad foot on the rear bumper of the car, and then it is “stretched” to become longer than the space (2:47). After that, the “double vision” trick is shown: With Wee Gee’s lens, a woman conversing at a restaurant table appears to have two heads and three legs as the waiter approaches (3:25). The two women from the restaurant look at movie posters outside as the posters are distorted: one, featuring a man named Steve, stretches and shrinks his head (3:58). The women then stand next to a sign for the Great Northern Food Hall and then go into a Larry Matthews Hair Salon (4:06). A cocker spaniel is shown distorted with two heads (4:12). One of the women picks up a Siamese cat, which is then distorted to show the cat with three eyes (4:28). Three women are shown performing calisthenics in a gym while wearing Lycra bodysuits (4:45). One woman’s body is distorted and split in half horizontally as she stands with hands on hips (4:53). Two women in white bath towels stand on a scale before entering a steam bath; their torsos are stretched and then shrunk so that they appear overly wide or tall (5:22). A woman taps ash from a cigarette into an ashtray; the ghostly silhouette of a ballerina rises from the ashes and pirouettes, as the narrator proclaims her “Lady Nicotine” (6:05). Two women climb the stairs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (6:08) and look at the Mona Lisa; her smile dips and is distorted (6:20). The gates of Fort Totten, U.S. Army Defense Headquarters, are shown next, along with a closeup of a rocket with “U.S. Army” written on it (6:39). The rocket takes off through the sky and is shown heading for the New York skyline. Wee Gee overlays a piece of misshapen plastic glass over the camera lens to create a distorted reflection of the skyline (7:25). Light-up signs for Chevrolet, Canadian Club, and Admiral Television Appliances shine in Times Square at night (7:30); a sign for Pepsi-Cola can be seen (7:31). The camera pans to show lit up signs for Camel cigarettes (“Have a Real Cig” written below), Kleenex tissues, and Trans World Airlines (TWA) (7:57). Suddenly the view distorts into fractured reflections of the Time magazine, Life, Channel 7, and Noblemen 1959 logos (8:02). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Shorts remixing this video Famed cameraman WEEGEE at an exercise class! 4.5K views Famed photographer WEEGEE at work! 3.7K views Famed cameraman WEEGEE at work — ! 2.1K views Transcript Follow along using the transcript. Show transcript PeriscopeFilm 759K subscribers Videos About Support Us on Patreon 14 Historic Films about the U.S. Navy Construction Battalions CBs SEABEES by PeriscopeFilm

Complete Record: This 1960s instructional film released by Castle Films for the home market, demonstrates various camera tricks performed by “Wee Gee,” or “Weegee,” the pseudonym of Arthur Fellig, a famed photographer and cinematographer who worked in Manhattan and New York City’s Lower East Side. Wee Gee worked as a press photographer, but also experimented with different lenses and camera angles to produce effects that distorted images. The black-and-white film begins by focusing on Wee Gee’s torso (a cigar is visible in the lower corner of his mouth) as he screws a kaleidoscope lens into a 1940s camera on a tripod (0:34). A busy New York City street is shown with people walking. Signs for Coca Cola and the Mayfair Hotel are visible in the background (0:36). The image distorts into a 4-way kaleidoscopic view. A man and woman kiss outside on a bench while Wee Gee takes a photo using a right-angle prism. Then the “compact/stretch” car trick is shown: Wee Gee holds a makeup compact with mirror in front of the camera (1:23). A split screen shows cars driving down the streets of New York (1:33) and then over the George Washington Bridge (1:47). The screen spins and splits into a 4-way distorted kaleidoscopic view, with cars coming from every angle. The “stretch cars” trick is shown: One driver’s car bumps the fender of the other. The male driver of the car that was hit jumps out and gestures to the other female driver, but his car, under Wee Gee’s lens, is squished to become a “compact” car that fits into the parallel parking spot (2:30). The female driver puts her high heel-clad foot on the rear bumper of the car, and then it is “stretched” to become longer than the space (2:47). After that, the “double vision” trick is shown: With Wee Gee’s lens, a woman conversing at a restaurant table appears to have two heads and three legs as the waiter approaches (3:25). The two women from the restaurant look at movie posters outside as the posters are distorted: one, featuring a man named Steve, stretches and shrinks his head (3:58). The women then stand next to a sign for the Great Northern Food Hall and then go into a Larry Matthews Hair Salon (4:06). A cocker spaniel is shown distorted with two heads (4:12). One of the women picks up a Siamese cat, which is then distorted to show the cat with three eyes (4:28). Three women are shown performing calisthenics in a gym while wearing Lycra bodysuits (4:45). One woman’s body is distorted and split in half horizontally as she stands with hands on hips (4:53). Two women in white bath towels stand on a scale before entering a steam bath; their torsos are stretched and then shrunk so that they appear overly wide or tall (5:22). A woman taps ash from a cigarette into an ashtray; the ghostly silhouette of a ballerina rises from the ashes and pirouettes, as the narrator proclaims her “Lady Nicotine” (6:05). Two women climb the stairs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (6:08) and look at the Mona Lisa; her smile dips and is distorted (6:20). The gates of Fort Totten, U.S. Army Defense Headquarters, are shown next, along with a closeup of a rocket with “U.S. Army” written on it (6:39). The rocket takes off through the sky and is shown heading for the New York skyline. Wee Gee overlays a piece of misshapen plastic glass over the camera lens to create a distorted reflection of the skyline (7:25). Light-up signs for Chevrolet, Canadian Club, and Admiral Television Appliances shine in Times Square at night (7:30); a sign for Pepsi-Cola can be seen (7:31). The camera pans to show lit up signs for Camel cigarettes (“Have a Real Cig” written below), Kleenex tissues, and Trans World Airlines (TWA) (7:57). Suddenly the view distorts into fractured reflections of the Time magazine, Life, Channel 7, and Noblemen 1959 logos (8:02). We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Shorts remixing this video Famed cameraman WEEGEE at an exercise class! 4.5K views Famed photographer WEEGEE at work! 3.7K views Famed cameraman WEEGEE at work — ! 2.1K views Transcript Follow along using the transcript. Show transcript PeriscopeFilm 759K subscribers Videos About Support Us on Patreon 14 Historic Films about the U.S. Navy Construction Battalions CBs SEABEES by PeriscopeFilm