Close Up (Jul-Nov 1927)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jul-Nov 1927
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
00065
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Switzerland, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
As an active film magazine, CLOSE UP lasted only a short time, from 1927 to 1933. Yet the legacy of this English-language periodical, which was published in Switzerland, continues to matter. Edited by Bryher and her husband Kenneth Macpherson, CLOSE UP became THE magazine for energetic debates about the nature of cinema and manifestos imagining new forms of filmmaking and spectatorship. The magazine published articles by filmmakers, such as Sergei Eisenstein, and female literary modernists, such as H.D. and Gertrude Stein. As film scholar Anne Friedberg explains in the anthology CLOSE-UP, 1927-1933: CINEMA & MODERNISM, 'CLOSE UP became the model for a certain type of writing about film -- writing that was theoretically astute, politically incisive, critical of films that were simply 'entertainment.' For six and a half years, CLOSE UP maintained a forum for a broad variety of ideas about the cinema; it never advocated a single direction of development, but rather posed alternatives to existing modes of production, consumption, and film style.' Like Friedberg's own writing, CLOSE UP continues to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of film and media theory. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
August 29, 2022
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CLOSE UP expert handling and a knowledge of machinery seldom possessed by the amateur. * * * Those about to begin, or having begun making films of their own, are sure to have moments of panic, when the 'hows' and the 'whats' begin to submerge them, and moments of intense despondency when their first results are revealed. Usually it is a case of kill or cure. But although the only way to learn is through one's hideous errors, it would be a great help to have a good, plain text-book, putting down the sort of thing one really needs. Like a Latin grammar, starting at the beginning with the first facts. What is a reel ? i.ooo feet. How long does a reel take to show ? i6 minutes. Does one have to move slowly in order not to appear jerky ? Does one have to use make-up, and how ? A professional camera has indications of number of feet used, number of turns, and speed of turning. Speed of turning should be normally i6, which simplified down means 120 turns per minute. Etc. etc. Things like that. Information about lengths, times, exposures, probable traps, arc lamps, installations, reflectors, tripods, lenses, everything. Perhaps the best way would be a record of a beginner's experience. And alphabetical arrangements. CLOSE UP will be on the look out for such a book, and fete it when it does arrive. 53