"LET [HERE BE LIGH! "--ENOUGH A DISCUSSION OF ILLUMINATION AND CAMERA PROBLEMS FOR THE TAKING OF INDOOR BASKETBALL MOPION PICTURES by DR. JAMES E. BLISS Director of Cinema Laboratory Western Reserve University WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE sUPHOR TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL > °KETBALL COACHES ASSOCI TION February, 1958 "LET THFRE BE LIGHT"’--ENOUGH & Discussion of Tllumination and Camera Problems ‘or Indoor Basketball Co&ching Motion Picture Films The problem of enough light is one of the greatest hurdles between the basket- ball coach and successful coaching motion pictures for his use. If sufficient photographic light is available over the court, the present day 16 mm. fast lenses and film emulsions will do the rest. Of course, the camera responsibility must rest in competent hands. Since experiments ore sometimes costly, a lighting plen that will bring re~ sults may be of value. From the experiences of Coach Roy Clifford and myself in experimenting in basketball filming at Western Reserve University, we have evolved two lighting plans that will prodwe satis factory 16 mm. motion pictures with any of the following films;- AGFA Superpan, DUPONT Superior Panchromtic Negative, or EASTMAN Supersensitive Panchromatic 16 mm. motion picture emulsions. It is also desirable to have either aa f 1.5 or f 1.9, one inch (25 mm.) comera lens. The £2.65 lens may get good pictures too, but it is better to have the faster lens speed available. Basketball floor sizes may vary from the 40' x 60* as a minimum, to the ex- treme of 50 x 95'. For this presentation, a lighting plan suited to « court of 50° x 84° will be discussed. A total of fifteen floodlights should be used, clthough we have had good re- Sults with thirteen. Reflectors that will give enough light throw are the aluminum Alzak Bejamin, intermediate spread, "satin" or "sand" finish, deep bowl type. Their mogul sockets will allow the use of 2000 Watt frosted bulbs in each. ‘the 1500 Watt fr. sted bulb is sot bettie Rew bosey as the 2000, and should not be considered as an alternate. it the #4 Photoflood, photographic bulbs are substituted for the regular Mazdas, two 115/32 Volt--2KVA-—air cooled transformers should be used in the circuit. These transformers on a 16 circuit toggle switch panel that has also two 60 ampere n® 7 omnactmanneentiny Mearns -"" w@® a@ Oo ee ee ee a Doom two pole, double throw dead front switches, will make it possible to burn these Photoflood bulbs at half voltage during practice periods and between halves to pro=- long the life of the bulbs. The average burning life--at full line voltage--of these flood bulbs is «bout ton hours. These #4 Photoflood bulbs will give a Watt output of 2500--500 Watts more then the regular 2000 Wett Mazdas. This extra candle power source may enable the cameraman to use semi-slow motion film speed of 4 franes /second or even 32 frames / second for better coaching enalysise The reflectors should be twenty feet from the floor to the bulb. They may pe placed at 25' height but the light loss from this extra 5* is not desirable. If the reflectors are 18", as they are in the Western Reserve gymnasium, heavy duty guards should be used over them. There will be «= a ee from the use of these guards. At the 20° height, the reflectors will not interfere with the aver~ age shots at the basket. With baske thall floor illumim tion of this type, we have been able to "shoot™ coaching films very satisfactorily at the normal or 16 frane s/second camera speed. The lenses we use are the 1", f 1.9 in focusing mount. I say “lenses" for we have some times used more than one camera to cover & gamee The lights should be in three rows of five each along the length of the floor. The string that runs along the side lines should be in from the boundary lines from 8 to 10 feet, (Pig. l--1-2-5-4-5, 11-12-13-14-15) and spacec as nearly to 15" apart as is possible, starting with the ones in the center of the lines. However, the lights in the corners, that is, those closest to the end boundaries, should be ten feet from the side and end lines. {Fige J--1-5-11-15). One reflector should be directly over the center ring (#8), with one on either side ina mid-line 15' toward each end (lights 7-9), One light should be placed over each basket area just above the inside end of the foul lanes. (lights #6-10). These will not interfere with the players when attempt ing foul shots or “free throws". This light placement will give enough overlap of illumination so that there will be no Gistracting floor shadows from the players. The outside “spilil™ of light will inelude a short photographic distance beyond the boundary lines. We wun have heard no objection from teams pleying in Cleveland under this much light. In addition to good photographic illuminstion, the spectators can see the game much better. Where the cost of vat anton replacement may be prbhibitive, very satis factory film results are possible if the ordinary gymnasium bulbs are replaced by the #2 rh-toflood bulbs. Each lamp gives about 1500 Watts of light, and if there are fif+ teen or more fixtures over the floor, 16 frame /second movies may be taken with a fast lens. Since these bulbs have a life of about 6 hours, a transformer system to burn them at 60 volts when camera light is not necessary, will add to their life. In this way, two full games may be played safely without danger of bulbs burning out. Thi: suggestion may enable the athletic department with a very modest budget to have coaching films for little cost. Camera technique is importmt. The best motion pictures of any kind are those shat have a steady background and the minimum of camera movenent--even in sports filming. To achieve this result, a steedy tripod with a smoothly acting panorama head is necessary forcsmera support. DO NOT USE THE CAMERA “FREE HAND". A distomce from the floor that will allow the lens to include just about haif of the floor area is very cesirable. This position should be in the balcony or froma high place to prevent & jumble of players from obscuring the play. Shoot down on the game. The distance necessary to include half the floor will call for a lens setting at the INFINITY or the 50° mark,--or half way betwem the two. When filming at an aperture of f1.9, the depth of field at the INFINITY setting will give good focus from 44 to INFINITY and at the 50° mark, good focus from 23* to INFINITY. The f 1.5 lens will have similar depths of field. We found the best position for the camera to be just about opposite one or the other foul or "free throw” ‘ines. This will minimize the camera swing neces- sary to follow the plays from onc basket to the other, since the lens takes in half the floor area, The camera will have to move in an arc of from 30 to 45 degrees, whereas a center cameras position would mean 4 swing of close to 90 degrees from bas- ket te basket. It is not necessary to move the camera for every pass or movement wndion of the players. Let the play get beyond the center of the camera field somewhat and then bring it into the lens area with a smooth swing. Avoid the dizzy jerks to right and left as the ball is feinted or short passes are made There are few sports other than basketball that offer such continuous, un- interrupted action, with little time for the cameraman to rewind his spring motor without missing some of the play. Since most cameras carry 100* of film, a re- loading is necessary after about 4 minutes of filming. The answer is:-use two camera- men with two cameres. When #1 cameraman finishes his first film, #2 starts his roll. 31 #2 completes the second hundred feet of film, #1 carries on with the third hundred,--and so on through the gamee The intervals between shooting will allow for reloading. The popular 50° magazine loading motion picture cameras make this doubling unnecessary, but the spring drives require frequent rewimling. The Cinema Laboratory camera is one of the advanced 16 mm. models with interchangeable film charbers, so that with an assistant to reload the chambers, one tripod set up is ail that is necessary. Even ti «gh the spring drive will run 32' of film at a wind- ing, Often in the "no tip-off" game, the spring has run down before a score has ‘cen madee The ideal camera equipment is the motor drive type with external 400! film chambers,--qmough film to cover an entire half of a gane continuous Ly. & very satisfactory gane amlysis that will be quite complete my be made with 8 rolls (800) of film. Some coaches prefer to use less footage by "spotting" his film, part at the start of the game and some during the various periods of play. It is our hope that this “illuninating advice" and camera counsel my en- ‘ourege other besketball mentors throughcut the country to make motion picture analyses of their tean's play. By these studies they may perfect their boys in one of the most fascinating am popular of the American spor ts--Basketball. Dr. Janes E. Bliss Assistant Professor of Prosthetics School of Dentistry Director, Cinem: Laboratory * Febriary, 1938 WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERS IfY IS BASKETBALL TuU STRENUOUS? Introduction Much has been written about the strenuousness of the game of basketball. Many statements have been made about. the deleterious effects of this intense game upon the players. All of these statements kasd have come to the attention of the writer were based on Opinion and not upon any facts that were experimentally or scientifically determinede Because of the crescendo of these charges in recent years, the writer set about to find out just how strenuous basketball really Was. He knew, of course, that in 1924 and 1925 Dr. James Naismith’, the inventor of the game, had studied by urino-analysis the effects of the game upon high school boys during strenuous tournament play. He found, With two exceptions, no evidence whatever of casts or sugar in the urine to indicate the tearing down of body tissues. There was no indication whatever of albumin or blood in the urine. It is probably pertinent to remark at this point that Dr. ¥. A. Storey made similar examinationsof college basketball players at the College of the City of New York. His findings Were diametrically oppo= site to those of Dr. Naismith. As a result of further investigations on his part he has concluded that while there is undoubtedly some signi=~ ficance to the presence or absence of albumin, casts, blood, sugar in the urine, we do not at present have sufficient information to interpret these facts relative to fatigue from athletic competition. +yaismith, J.N., "Effects of Basketball on High School Students" eo Official Basketball Guide, 1925-26 Page 10 2 The following study does not tell whether basketball is too strenuous or not, but it does give a relative idea of how tiring the game may be. On the theory that there is a direct relationship between the strenuousness of the activity and the time required for the pulse to re~ turn to its normal rate after the activity, tests were run on track men and basketball players. Seven 440 yard runners were used to run a 410 yard dash. A pace Was set so fhat they all ran their 440 in less than one minute. Ten basketball players were used to play regulation basketball games. In order to remove the influence of the factors of training, condition and efficiency in each activity, the best varsity matérial available was used in each case. A World's record holder in the #40 was used while the basketball players were the ten best Stanford University varsity players. They were all college MeN » For purposes of uniformity, each contestant followed the same routine before and after his activity. Each athlete was tested a the same time of day and each ate at the same time before exercising. Before the activity the contestant was required to lie on a cote Pulse readings Were taken at intervals of five minutes until two successive readings were the same. After the activity the athletes went immediately to their cots to rest until their pulses returned to the resting state, cei same as before the exercise began. The time elapsed between the finish of the activity and the recovery of the pulse to its resting state was taken as “Lowsley, 0.8, "The Effects of Various Forms of Exercise on Systolic, Diastolic and Pulse Pressure and Pulse Rate" American Journal of Physiology Vol 27 (1911) Page 446 De @s an indication of the strenuousness of the activity. The intensity of the 440 yard run could be controlled by setting a definite pace. Conditions here then Were Somewhat constant. The in= tensity of basketball games varies considerably even though the same two teams are compe ting. In order to get average conditions several regula tion games Were played and the players tested after each game. Since the players who ran the 440 were not the same as those who played basketball, some means of equating their rates of recovery was necessary. This was accomplished by requiring each athiete to do the same exercise and then to measure the time for recovery of each. This exercise consisted of running for two minutes at the rate of fifteen feet per second, three steps per second, (pace set by a metronome) , pulling a revolving drum about a circle #4 feet & inches in diameter. By taking the time of recovery of any one of the athletes for this standard exercise, the rate of all the others could be equated to this one. Likewise, the recovery of an athlete from the 440 yard dash could be expressed in definite relation to the recovery of a player from @ basketball game. On this basis, it was found that the average time for recovery after a basketball game was 56.15 minutes, While the average time for recovery after running & uO yard dash in less than one minute was 60.5 minutes. The range of scores for recovery of the basketball players was from 109.38 minutes to 23.32 minutes. The range for the Me ALO yard runners Was from 118.13 minutes to 44.37 minutes. The results are based on twenty-six tests of basketball players and seven 4UO men. These tests in no Way indicate whether basketball is too strenuous a game or not. They do, however, show that on the average it takes half again as long to recover after running a 440 as it does after playing a basketball game. It follows then, that the 4WWO is a more intense activity than a basketball game. The 4uio is, of course, @ continuous activity and because of its high intensity causes an oxygen debt to build up rapidly. A basketball game, on the other hand, is of varying intensity and has been found to have from 100 to 130 interruptions’. It would seem logical to conclude, therefore, from the foregoing, that if our present game of basketball is too strenuous then certainly there is even more reason to question the wisdom of permitting boys to run a 40, Certainly more conclusive evidence is necessary before either activity may be condemned. pean, Everett, Baseball Coach, University of Indiana. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL COACHES (Presented by W. S. Chandler) Rule 2, Section 2. Partial extension of the end lines, Extend the middle portion of the end lines by drawing an are with a radius of 24 feet with the center at the outer edges of the foul circle where it intersects the long axis of the court. This arc shall act as an extension of the end line and shall terminate where the arc intersects the present end line. (Carried 27-7) Rule 8, Section 8(Note). Ten second rule.