The Akeley Specialists - Text 1
After the First World War, American camera operators who had used the Akeley in Europe took it with them to the U.S. West Coast to work in the Hollywood studio system. The operators had to master the device in order to adapt it to this film industry and become a part of the industry themselves.
These operators’ use of the Akeley began by acquiring and developing special skills in handling it. Because of their specialization, they were called “Akeley specialists”:
[The Akeley camera] was designed with the idea of portraying the most elusive and ungovernable speeds in the world; the gaits of wild animals. It is operated in the commercial studios by men who specialize in the photography of moving objects. These men “shoot” no other motion picture camera professionally. They are known as Akeley Specialists. They are specialists in speed, the Akeley camera is their medium of expression.[1]
