International photographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

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the attitude of pleasing yourself as a photographer and disregard the multi-opinions of others, the better photographic storytelling will you do. The great artist land I am not debating whether the cameraman is an artist) does not paint his picture for the people who come to see it but he paints it because he wants to make a good, honest effort to contribute his very best to his work. It is only human to want the societv in which you live to like you and like your work but artistically, if you are to progress, you must see through and beyond your immediate society and aim at basic values which represent your personal taste. While I'm taking pot-shots at the "shouldn*t-be-dones." here's another. I quarrel, photographically, with the laboratories which are still using the Test System. This antiquated system, to my mind, is in a class with cranking a camera by hand. As you know, there are two laboratory methods. 1 1 ) The Test Method, consisting This informal picture of Gregg Toland, chiej cinemato grapnel on "The Outlaw," mis shot during production by Ira Hoke. of developing some six-feet of the test of a scene to determine how much or how little development that particular scene requires. (2) The Time and Temperature Method, in which every foot of film is developed identically throughout the entire pictures. In the second method, Time and Temperature, the result is constant for the complete footage shot and it means that the constancy of the picure is entirely in the hands of the cameraman, where it belongs. It eliminates the judgment of a third party, the negative-timer. For instance, suppose we have a scene in which the girl is brilliantly lighted in the foreground. She plays the scene, walks to the back of the set, which is in shadow, to deliver some lines. She then returns to the foreground. Also suppose we want a close-up of the girl in the shadows as she speaks her lines. The laboratory man sees a test of both the scenes. One is very light. The other is very dark. "Ah-ha," says the lab-man. "This one must come up; that one must come down." So when he develops, he brings the light-values on both scenes closer together. Result: The girl walks out of the brilliantlv-Iighted foreground, goes into the deep shadow, speaks her lines and we cut to a close-up. We have just seen her in shadow but in the close-ups she pops onto the screen out of the gloom, because of an over-developed negative. The quality has also changed. But. with the Time and Temperature Method, each shot would automatically be developed to the same density. If you're looking for reasons, maybe this will answer your question. I think the only reason the Test System prevails is that a few years ago, before we were using accurate light-meters, the exposure depended upon the camerman's own judgment. This was subject to error. If the mans eyes were over-tired, he'd use more light, for example. Therefore, the Test System was valuable in those days. But now, with accurate light-meters at our command, there seems to me to be no reason for continuing this antiquated system. Personally, I have not used the Test System for two years. I believe I was the first man to use light-meters on black-andwhite pictures, although they were employed for a couple of years before that on color. And many cameramen laughed at my use of a meter. Possibly on the grounds that camera-work was getting so mechanical, anybody would be able to do it. But the use of the light-meter saved a lot of time and when this time was given over to discussion of the picture with the diicctor, with greater attention devoted to values, and the like, better photography was the result. In "The Grapes of Wrath" some scenes were photographically flat, muddy and grey. Photographically, "bad" pictures. But these pictures fitted the scene accurately and conveyed the mood and feeling of the scenes they were reproducing. In "The Long Voyage Home" there are a number of scenes in which the backgrounds are out of balance with the faces in the foreground. In printing these scenes down, so that the highlights on the faces were right, all that was left were the faces, the background was lost. And deliberately so, since the background would definitely detract from the actors. Again, in "Wuthering Heights." I was told constantly by the laboratory that the exposure was "dangerously low." But I do Mot think I am over-stating when I say that Oliviers performance was aided somewhat by the fact that many times he was in very deep shadow, with only his wellspoken lines to take care of the scene. And this "working in the gloom" was a deliberate advice to make the dialogue more effective by coming from sinister, provocative shadows. So, how does one get results one can say mean "good photography"? Well, after mastering the techniques, the craft-aspects of camerawork, one has to have a feeling for those refinements, those "experimentations." And this is the "hunch", or the "feeling" every competent craftsman or artist has when he sets about doing a job. Learn the orthodox methods thoroughly and, if you have this "sense of feeling," you'll find yourself reaching out for those effects that make "good photography." Still Cameramen Receive Recognition The First Annual Exhibition of the Artistry of Motion Picture Still Photographers will be held under the auspices of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at the Hollywood Studios' Still Photography Show, April 14 to 26. 1941. The Academy announces "It will be an annual event, created and maintained under strict supervision to bring greater recognition to motion picture still men and to advance the fine art of still photography, in the interests of motion pictures." Entries will not be received before March 3 and not later than March 15. Gold Academy medals will be awarded the best prints in the seven different exhibit classifications. Competition is limited to still pictures made during the filming of motion pictures between March 1, 1910 and March 1, 1941. Free lance still men are eligible for the competition and should direct their inquiries to Herbert Aller, Local 659, IATSE. 6461 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; or to Donald Gledhill. Executive Secretary of the Academy.