Alvin Wyckoff — Little Close-Ups of the A. S. C. (1922) 🇺🇸
Alvin Wyckoff, A. S. C, will very soon be able to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his espousal of the photographic art as a profession.
It was way back in the early days of Selig Polyscope Company that young Wyckoff decided to follow the camera trail and the first shot he took with his Pathé was when Otis Turner staged “The Wizard of Oz” for Selig Polyscope Co. Then the Jeffries–Johnson fight was staged at Reno and Wyckoff was sent to film it. He was first to set up and first to get his film away and onto the screen and he repeated the stunt at the Gotch–Hackenschmidt wrestling match and the Nelson:Gans fight at San Francisco.
“Count of Monte Cristo,” directed by Colin Campbell, was his last picture with Selig [William Nicholas Selig] after which he went to Famous Players–Lasky where he has remained ever since. His early pictures at Lasky’s [Jesse L. Lasky] were among the best of their day — The Cheat with Fanny Ward and Joan the Woman with an all star cast headed by Geraldine Farrar. Since that time Mr. Wyckoff has been chief cinematographer for Cecil B. De Mille and has personally held first camera on all pictures directed and produced by Mr. De Mille.
Several years ago Mr. Wyckoff was made director of photography at Lasky’s and heads a staff of twenty-six photographers at that studio. Commenting on the cameraman Mr. Wyckoff recently said:
“The successful cameraman must not only be possessed of an artistic sense, but he must be a man of resourcefulness and cool daring. He must be a quick thinker who will act instinctively in moments of emergency. In addition he also must be a man of considerable agility, capable of almost acrobatic feats. Cameramen are called upon to take pictures from airplanes, from the tops and sides of moving trains and automobiles, suspended by ropes from the sides of buildings, and the masts of ships, in fact from every conceivable angle and perilous position that the requirements of the story they are filming may demand. It is no job for a nervous person or one who cannot stand altitudes.
“The camera must always come first. That is the creed of the motion picture photographer. No matter what happens he must keep on turning. As the newspaper reporter’s motto is ‘Get the Story’ so the cameraman’s is ‘Get the Picture.’”
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Collection: American Cinematographer, February 1922
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