Documentary News Letter (1944-1945)

DOCUMENTARY NEWS LETTER 29 more or less artificial clash of sex or personality. It must come from the presentation of information "in such a way that the audience is thrilled and excited and prepared to accept the information, not necessarily as true, not necessarily as the last word on the matter, but as important— as having bearing on their own individual lives". For Alexander, "the greatest single need of our time is ... to achieve coherence, to get people to understand and believe that their own lives, scientific knowledge, and the machine, are all part and parcel of the same coherent 'thing' — 'humanity'." The documentary film, he argues, has been developed in answer to "a crying social need ... to use every means at our disposal to combat [the present] incoherent situation, with its devastating effects on humanity, culminating in two world wars in twenty-five years". From a broad general treatment of his subject, he passes on to a detailed examination of the documentary film, its uses, and the changes he considers to be necessary if it is to flourish. He ends with a trenchant plea to decentralise film making. He would break down what he conceives to be its London isolation. He would send out the filmmakers to live and work in the great cities in the Midlands and the North, fitting their efforts into a nationally conceived plan. Alexander's pamphlet provides a most useful answer to the often repeated question: What does Documentary really mean? It is constructively critical at the same time. FILM TITLING (Continued from page 26) A responsible film organisation, possibly in co-operation with a number of important film companies, the Central Office of Information and the various documentary concerns, should found between them a chair, scholarship or bursary to enable the artist to go into the whole subject thoroughly. He would produce titles which were static, and others which had movement. He would experiment fully with the use of colour, types old and new, hand-drawn letters, cut-out letters, scripts, roman capitals, italics and halfuncials, moving backgrounds, moving captions, illustrations, decorations, lights and shadows, transparencies, superimpositions, perspectives and fade outs. Indeed, every method of tampering with the three dimensions and their manifold possibilities would be fully gone into, to the lasting benefit of the British film industry. The right man would produce a volume of work that would set a high standard. A distinguished textbook could be published on the final results, which should have a great sale for students and practitioners of the film. The fee paid to a designer should bear some relation to the vast sums of money spent annually on rubbish. Most of the important film companies in this country buy rubbish, like it, and understand nothing else. They will not consider these remarks of any merit whatever. Perhaps the documentary film makers, who have a great sympathy and understanding of such subjects, will get together and do something about it. The Horizon Film Unit IS MAX MUNDEN • ERIK CRIPPS • ALBERT RAYNER • ERNEST HILTON in association with The Film Producers' Guild This unit made during 1945 (Royal Society for the Prevention of (British Council) Accidents) CALLING ALL DRIVERS Nos. 1, 2 and 3 PICTURE PAPER (Ministry of Information) KEEP DEATH OFF THE ROAD RESETTLEMENT ADVICE BUREAU (Ford Motor Company Ltd.) PLAN FOR A FOUNDRY • And 4 stories for the War Office's '■''Letter from home'''' GUILD HOUSE, UPPER ST. MARTIN'S LANE, LONDON, W.C.I Temple Bar 0135-6 BLACKHEATH FILM UNIT LIMITED * Producers of Scientific, Educational, Industrial and Public Relations films Studios and Offices: 9 NORTH STREET, LEATHERHEAD SURREY Telephone: LEATHERHEAD 3377