BFI

This Topical Budget item consists of footage of a tiger challenging the elements, specifically water and fire.

It's an impressive showcase for Topical's cameramen. The first half, in which the tiger stalks through the undergrowth before taking a swim, looks as though it was shot in the wild. (Even if it was shot in a zoo, it's a tribute to the choice of camera position and angle that this isn't at all obvious).

The second half is unmistakably staged in a zoo, and consists of a well-composed shot of a tiger (it's not clear whether it's the same one) leaping through a burning hoop. Most striking about this shot is the fact that it is in slow motion, which would have been achieved by cranking the camera at a faster speed to increase the frame rate, subsequently slowed down by projecting the final film at normal speed.

Michael Brooke

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