Oliver G Pike

Books - La Nature et ma Ciné-Camera

Oliver Pike had a strong presence in Europe, and particularly in France, through the early films that were made for Pathé Frères and were published in (silent) French, German and English versions.

He had written a book called "Nature Photography" (published in 1931) in which he passed on many tips and tricks for obtaining good photographs of birds and animals. This had become out-of-date so he wrote two new books called (in English) "Nature and my Camera" (1943) and "Nature and my Cine Camera" (1946).

Both of these books were translated into French.

La Nature et ma Cine-Camera Cover

La Nature et Ma Ciné-Camera

This was published in French by Editions Prisma, Paris in 1947. The translator was G.-M. Villenave.

The cloth front cover of the French edition has a stylised sketch of a bird feeding its young.

This book contains a wealth of advice to the budding nature cinematographer drawn from the author's wide experience over many years. This ranges from the basic ideas for filming to planning the shots and the commentary.

An example is made of the procedure for filming "The Shadow in the Stream", a film about an otter and its cub, with a strong chase and a final reunion.

Other chapters describe the making of "The Nightingale" and trips to Scotland and St Kilda.