The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

MarchApril, 1952 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN 43 Editorial THE CROWN FILM UNIT SHUT DOWN by George Elvin THE Government's threat to close the Crown Film Unit has materialised. A.C.T. at once swung into action to do everything within its power to get the decision reversed. It has been supported from many quarters. A case has been made in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, bodies such as the British Film Academy and the Association of Specialised Film Producers joined in the protest, and there has been an imposing series of letters and articles in " The Times." The Unit has a magnificent record. It was started by the Empire Marketing Board some 22 years ago and has continued in operation ever since under that name, as the G.P.O. Film Unit and under its present title. It has become the leading documentary film production group in the world, bringing enormous prestige to the Country and playing an invaluable part in the training of film technicians. Not only have many leading British technicians of today had their early training with the Unit, but observers and students have come to Crown from all over the world. In recent months, for instance, there have been observers and students from Denmark, Norway, Turkey, India and Uruguay. Over four hundred films have been made. To recall just a few of them they include Drifters, North Sea, London Can Take It, Listen to Britain, Western Approaches, Trooping the Colour, Nightmail, Britain at Bay, Coastal Command, Instruments of the Orchestra, Target for Tonight and Daybreak in Udi. The last two named have won Oscars giving to the Crown Film Unit the distinction of being the only documentary unit in the world to win two such awards. The closing of Crown is not just a disaster for the sixty members of this Unit who will be thrown .out of work. It is a disaster for the whole film industry both at home and abroad. As Mr. Attlee said in his broadcast on February 23rd, the Crown Film Unit " is a most valuable national asset which has produced first-class documentary films. By common consent it is doing first-class work. It is to be destroyed to save £250,000. It is just not worth while." We hope that good sense will prevail and that in the words of the editorial of " The Times " of February 13th, there will be an " appreciation by authority of the importance of the documentary film in general, and the part Britain has played in the past evolving that particular form and technique and can play, in the present complex and difficult times. The cinema, largely through faults of its own, has not yet won for itself the respect automatically paid to the other arts, but at least that part of it which devotes itself to the interpretation and exposition of our own way of life, to the propagation of ideas, to the task of illustrating, by means of the moving picture, the aims and achievements of the Commonwealth to the world, deserves encouragement rather than extinction." Learning from TV ! JULIAN LESSER, the film producer, has declared that film-makers " owe TV a big debt." " In our latest film, for example, Whispering Smith Versus Scotland Yard," we've swiped five techniques right from TV's book. " On TV, the play's the thing," he observed. " Performances are emphasised, rather than star names. So in casting Whispering Smith we passed up manufactured personalities in favour of experienced, competent players. We didn't care if the public had heard of them or not." Lesser also borrowed the television trick of concentrating action in the foreground of the screen. " We didn't want tiny figures running around the back or top of the screen," he explained. " We wanted our characters to be seen and the audience to see the expressions on their faces." In trying to do this, Lesser said, like TV, he frequently used close-ups. " The close-up actually is a film invention, but Hollywood often forgets its advantages by filming huge background sets and tremendous crowds. A magnified frown on a good actor's face gives a better effect than hearing him bellow in rage from a distance." Lesser said the movie industry was also giving more attention to props which provide atmosphere and are quickly and easily recognised. " For instance, a hand prop like a Scotland Yard hand stamp banging down on a paper gives a sharper dramatic impression than seeing the entire Scotland Yard building, or a small portrait of a murdered woman is more startling than seeing her grave in a large cemetery setting." " Finally, we've borrowed TV's fluid camera technique — the camera moves around, focussing attention on characters rather than dialogue."