International photographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

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TnibuTE to The mocIeI By WILLIAM MORTENSEN This month I want to pay a small tribute to the forgotten girl — the model who poses for our pictures — yours and mine. Seldom do we give her a thought after we have succeeded in getting a good print, but it is her hearty and self-effacing collaboration that makes our pictures possible. In the Elizabethan era. tolerant and progressive though it was in many respects, women were not permitted to appear on Ithe stage. It was not until the free and easy times following the Restoration that women were allowed to tread the boards |of the English theatre. These courageous pioneers had to contend against intense social projudice. The ladies of the theiatre, in fact, were rated only a little higher than the ladies of the evening. It is only ; within recent memory that the last of this ancient prejudice against "actresses" has evaporated. A similar prejudice has been held against those girls who pose for artists. This feeling has been particularly in evidence against those who pose in the nude. In Victorian times, of course, when virtue was practically inseparable from clothes, the prejudice was at its strongest. Some people, unfortunately, have not yet rid themselves of it, and are still convinced that a girl who poses thus is not quite 'nice." Photographers, being more ignorant of artistic tradition than they should be, sometimes make this mistake. A few foolish photographers of my acquaintance have gained in wisdom, I am glad io say, by having their ears resoundingly slapped down when they assumed that a model doffed her dignity along with her clothes. A model who poses in the nude offers much, and she is justly proud of it. None but a boor or an utter ignoramus would do anything to blemish this fine instinctive pride. Pride in the body has been characteristic of the best and most productive ■i\ ilizations, so these girls bear themselves like the aristocrats they are. I have rather specialized in the representation of the nude, and, in the last twenty years, I have honestly lost count of the scores who have posed for me. But, in all the lot, I have never encountered anything cheap or vulgar. These girls have, with the fewest exceptions, been good sports, eager and cooperative in the tasks assigned them, taking it uncomplainingly on the chin when the lights were hot and the hours long. Their greatest joy was pride in a job well done. And they should be proud: for they bring us the most vital fruit of good breeding, good health, good living, good manners and good sense. UqkriiNq "TobAcco roacT No matter what inspired mood may have helped a writer turn out a perfect script and what understanding a director may put into the handling of the players and the scenes, it is still a long way from being a perfect picture unless the work of the cameraman matches their contributions. That this three-way artistic combination has been reached is the opinion of those at 20th Century-Fox who have seen the first cut of "Tobacco Road." Nunnally Johnson, who wrote the script and acted as associate producer, and John Ford, who directed it, both agree that the camera work of Arthur Miller had a large share in giving complete realization to the ideas they were trying to portray. While the bouquets are being tossed back and forth amongst this triumvirate, Arthur Miller now confesses that he had little sleep during the entire production. Night after night he would lie in bed worrying and planning the next day's shots. "Everything in the picture was entirely unorthodox from the cameraman's point of view," Miller said. "The character work in this picture demanded a new set of technical principles which we had to work out as we went along. "And before we go any further, I want to credit John Ford with a great deal of the success we had with the camera in the filming of 'Tobacco Road.' Any camreaman who has worked with Ford can tell you that his technical knowledge of the camera's capabilities and his imagination makes the cinematographer's job one of vitally interesting teamwork. "When I say that our methods were unorthodox, I can mention, for instance, John Ford's idea of reversing the usual procedure in utilizing outdoor light. "There were sequences in the picture which were in a low mood, requiring a low key lighting. For those scenes, Ford picked the dullest, cloudiest days on which to shoot outside. There were many times when we worked indoors while the sun was shining the brightest. About three o'clock in the afternoon when clouds would begin to cover the sun and things turned gray. Ford would rush us off the set and spend the rest of the afternoon getting outdoor shots. "For one sequence showing Charley Grapewin and Elizabeth Patterson as Jeeter and Ada Lester on their march to the poor farm we had a very painstaking camera job, because bits of the sequence were filmed here and there, indoors and outdoors, over a period of time. "Mood and character had to be kept consistent. This was one of the low key sequences where we picked clouds and gray weather whenever we could get them. Then there were some of the shots that had to be done on an indoor set that had to be lighted to match the almost lightless outdoors." One of the biggest helps in the filming of "Tobacco Road," Miller admitted, was the new camera recently developed and put into operation by 20th Century-Fox. It was the use of this camrea that allowed excellent results under low light conditions. Its shutter opening of 220 degrees gave it a latitude that was not possible with the earlier camera. Its coated lenses allowed shooting directly into sunsets without any resulting flares, and they could have shot into sunrises as well if John Ford ever got into the habit of starting work that early in the morning. "Realism was the principal aim in this picture," Arthur Miller said. "Artificiality of every kind had to be avoided, particularly in lighting and camera setups. "Not one single closeup, as we generally know it, was made for this picture. There were no big heads, and the closest shots made throughout the entire production were from the waist up. "There was n6 fancy movement of the camera, and. as a matter of fact, the camera rarely moved throughout production. Dolly shots were conspicuously absent and there was an absolute minimum of panning. "In very few spots where it was absolutely necessary in the telling of the story to follow the action did the camera move with it. On the whole, the camera setups were all stationary. "The entire picture, according to John Ford's conception and execution, consists International Photographer for February, 1941