International photographer (Jan-Dec 1937)

Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1937 What Research Means In Making Motion Pictures By Frances Cary Richardson Research Department, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation dom. HAT a dreadful thing it must be to be bored with one's job! That is something we never know in research work for pictures. Sometimes pandemonium — yes, but never bore Working on a production such as "Lloyd's of London," for instance, is a real adventure into the past. The fascination of reconstructing a period of long ago must be experienced to be appreciated. A general survey or panoramic view of the background of world events of the period, is a good starting place because it has the effect of establishing a sort of backdrop in time in one's mind. Then come the historical events in the country with which we are immediately concerned. These two things help, because to some extent, we already know the outstanding happenings of the past and we feel more at home when we hear of them. Next perhaps, we consider the principal personages who were alive and active at that time — in the case of Lloyd's there was Samuel Johnson and Boswell. Benjamin Franklin visited in London at the time of the story and somehow we have heard so much of these people, we almost feel like saying, "Why, I know him!" Others were Richard Sheridan, actor and playwright; Lord Wellington, Beau Brummel; Sir Thomas Lawrence, the artist, and George IV of course. None of these was introduced in "Lloyd's" except George IV and Sir Thomas Lawrence. However, they might have been, and research must be ready with descriptions of celebrities who may be used in the picture, either for background atmosphere or to place the period in people's minds. The Casting Office must know the height and weight of the person to be represented, the color of his eyes and hair, and whether he wore a beard or was clean shaven at the time of the picture. In the case of Nelson, who lost an eye and an arm in battle, we must be sure which eye was lost and which arm. In the case of John Wilkes Booth, who appeared in "Shark Island," we must know which leg it was he broke when he fell from the box in the theatre. Incidentally, I might add, much paraded as a "movie boner," was an incident which occurred in this picture — Booth shot Lincoln with a pistol but appeared a minute later on the stage handling a dagger. As a matter of fact, according to eye witnesses as well as indisputable fact, this is just what occurred — Booth shot Lincoln, grabbed his dagger and stabbed the major who rose to grapple with him, then jumped upon the stage — his dagger still in his hand. We should start another column and call it, "Boners of Movie Boner Hunters." Further foundation for research for historical pictures must include the general social life of the rich and of the poor, the homes in which they lived, what sort of furniture they had — how they entertained their friends, what they ate for dinner, what flowers grew in their gardens and how they watered them, how they got from place to place — their carriages and coaches, carts and wheelbarrows. These and all manner of things more that went to make up the every day life of the people who must be made to come to life again in their own surroundings by the magic of the screen, must be ferreted out in both description and pictorial form for the writer and the art director. Without meaning to encroach upon the dignity of the industry — one might liken the making of a motion picture to the putting together of a jig-sawpuzzle ! The representatives from the many departments fashion and prepare their "pieces" which will be taken by the director and fitted into the particular niches for which they were made. The script prepared by the writer is the model for the finished picture. This simile persists in one's mind as the different members of a production unit come to the Research Department for answers to their various problems. For instance, the scenic artist comes seeking a picture of an Alpine Village with the snow-capped mountains in the distance for a background "shot" in let us say, "One in a Million." He is followed by the property man who must have a picture of a sleigh such as is used to meet a train in a small village near San Moritz; next comes the painter, who must make a license plate for a taxi on a street in Paris, and he in turn meets the costume designer, who has come to see "winter costumes" of the Swiss peasants. The art director wants to know what the interior of a small Swiss station looks like and also the lobby of an inn, while the man from the insert department must have a copy of the program used at the winter Olympics. For quite another picture a call comes that we must rush a wire to New York asking our office there 1 | Variable area recorders' P POTENT NO. 1985584. OTHERS PENDING ALSO ^^ 35 mm to 16 mm ^^ k M REDUCTI0N SOUND PRINTER 1 1 1 Hi SOUND EQUIPMENT R ' ^^ Cable address CRSCO ^J > C.R. SKINNER MFG. Co. 290 TURK STREET. PHONE ORDWAV 6909 ^ ^ San Francisco. California U. S. A. j \