Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

80 DOCUMENTARY FILM NEWS Gregg Toland, Film-maker Part 2 Reprinted by kind permission of the 'Screen Writer' gregg is a man with opinions who is not afraid to air them, and as a result he is not known for his ability to make himself popular with other cameramen. Recently Gregg showed me a telegram he sent to a very well-known colleague of his. In it, he deflated that gentleman considerably for taking credit in a magazine article for a 'new' development in lighting technique. Gregg pointed out how ridiculous his colleague's claim was, and added that he himself had used the same 'new' technique several years before. T hope has a sense of humour,' Gregg said. T think he'll need more than a sense of humour. He isn't going to like you very much when he sees this.' 'Well, that's all right,' Gregg said, grinning. 'I do this sort of thing all the time. They resent it, but they're probably used to it by now.' In response to my questions, Gregg gave me a few of his views which have not served to endear him to members of the ASC. 'In my opinion,' he stated, 'there are about twenty really top cameramen in the world. I would say that about twelve of them are in Hollywood. The others run from "adequate" to "use only if necessary".' 'What's the trouble with them?' I asked. 'Well, most of them take the road of least resistance. They do whatever is easiest. But worse than that, I think too few cameramen realize dramatic and story values. They don't keep abreast of current plays and books. Their interest seems to centre mainly on how late a call I can manage in the morning to how early can we finish today.' 'We hear many criticisms about Hollywood's lack of maturity in terms of story material,' I pointed out, 'but it is taken for granted that the technical job Hollywood does is the finest in the world. How does this fit in with what you just said?' T disagree that all our technical jobs are done as well as they can be done. For instance. I feel that too many cameramen are apt to work out a certain key which they can handle, and then photograph everything, tragedy or comedy, in the same way. They don't work to adapt their style to their story. Furthermore, cameramen often have ideas which might entail extra work on their part, and which they don't suggest to the director for that reason. I'll give you a theoretical example which will give you some idea of what I mean : 'Supposing the script indicates a group of partisans making plans for a raid. In the far corner is the leader's girl. She listens, worried. 'One approach to this might be a group shot "A girl is often so old by the time she proves her ability that out comes the burlaps in front of the lens." and several tighter shots, always with the leader as the focal point. The director might plan to make cuts of the girl listening. Now, the cameraman might suddenly think, "It would be better to start with a group, slowly move past intent faces, with the leader always in the background. The camera nears the leader and then slowly pans into a big close-up of the girl. We see how upset she is, and we dissolve on her doubt." Our cameraman thinks that might be swell, but does he bring it up? Well, let's see: it would mean a large problem in lighting faces with lights that would miss a camera shadow. It would involve focus of foreground faces and background faces; also a problem of sliding diffusion as the camera pans to the girl; also he probably couldn't get the light exactly where he wanted it for the girl due tc camera movement. So, does he mention it? No, indeed. Why stick out his neck? Even though his idea would have furthered the dramatic tension of the scene and planted the girl's worry more pointedly, our cameraman will go along with the no more than" adequate idea of the director. That's what I mean by taking the path of least resistance.' 'Okay,' I said, 'suppose all you've said is true. It is particularly the fault of the individual cameraman, or is there a deeper fault?' 'Yes, 1 think there is,' Gregg said. 'A great many of the stories we make aren't very stimulating. Sometimes you wonder why they're made at all. That's not a great inducement to do your best work. 1 know when it's been my misfortune to have to photograph one of those run-of-the-mill pictures, I've been pretty unhappy. There's absolutely no opportunity for ideas. I've said to my wife, "I feel just like a whore, doing it for money. If I had any guts, I'd quit this picture and we would go down to Rio, or some place." But you never do. You just keep on hoping that the next opportunity will be better. I suppose that's the human weakness of comfort and security.' 'You sound exactly like any number of writers who've had to write that stuff you didnt like,' I told him. 'Well, they haven't got any monopoly on frustrations, you know.' 'I'm sure it'll make them much happier to hear that. By the way, what about writers in relation to cameramen. Do you think closer liaison is practical?' 'Definitely,' said Gregg. 'The cameraman should be asked to sit down with a lot of other people on the picture before production, and that would include the writer. I am positive that great production economies can be effected by cameramen and writers discussing the script.' 'Here's a question a lot of writers would like to have answered : What happens to the camera directions they put into their screenplays in capital letters? You know, CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY TO. HIGH ANGLE SHOT. CAMERA TRUCKS. MEDIUM CLOSE. REVERSE TWO SHOT BUD PAST BEULAH. and so on?' 'The answer to that is pretty simple. Directors and cameramen over the years have developed a method of reading scripts so they do not see these directions at all.' 'Is that your last word on the subject?" 'No. the director can't work out staging and mechanics in his office, so why should the writer worry about trucking shots, panning shots, boom shots and all the rest? Usually he's talking about a subject of which he has a very limited knowledge. (Although I'll grant most writers have had no opportunity to learn.) Writers like Sherwood write in master scenes and don't go into detailed camera instructions. That's the way it should be. My advice to writers, especially the \ounger ones who are feeling their way in the medium, would be to concentrate their worrying on the content of the scene and the dialogue." among other factors which keep cameramen from doing more creative work, Gregg includes the unimaginative quality of a great deal of