Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1930)

IVaO^'KE IMIym.K.ERLS h: m MISS IZAAK WALTON A Delightful Reel Resulted From The First Fishing Trip Of The Author's Little Daughter. Riding Hood's costume was nothing more than a dark pillow slip cut down one side so it formed a combined hood and cape. Shot 1 shows her mother adjusting this cape, taken on the porch fixed up to represent an interior; 2 — Red Riding Hood comes out of the front door carrying her basket as her mother waves goodby; 3 — she walks along a wooded path; 4 — the wolf sitting beside a tree (he was kept on location by means of a wire attached to his collar with the other end attached to a tree limb directly above him, as this gave him sufficient latitude of movement without his being able to get tangled up in it, while the wire itself proved invisible to the camera) ; 5 — • Red Riding Hood approaches the wolf; 6 — they regard each other, a woodsman working in the background; 7 — Red Riding Hood and the wolf from a different angle, as she points the way to grandmother's house; 8 — ^wolf running through the woods (this was easy I : 9 — the wolf rushes up to the door of grandmother's house, jumps against it and enters (the director, my wife, was inside the partly open door, holding a piece of candy) ; 10 — the wolf is shown devouring the last few morsels of grandmother (this scene was also taken on the porch, the bed covers rumpled up and a few dog biscuits discreetly buried in them, so that the dog is chewing away merrily) ; 11 — Red Riding Hood enters the house; 12 — Red Riding Hood at the bedside as the wolf who, wearing bonnet and spectacles, lies there complacently (this was the only place we had trouble as he was so ashamed he jumped out four times before I finally got a shot of Red Riding Hood pointing to his mouth, but cutting and splicing fixed all that) ; 13 — the wolf jumps out of bed as if to attack Red Riding Hood; 14 — the woodsman runs in the front door ; 15 — the wolf runs out still wearing specs and bonnet, chased by the woodsman; 16 — the woodsman reappears carrying Red Riding Hood. She has been saved, and there you are. Any cameraman, any baby that can walk and any dog can do the same. I have made several other equally successful pictures and the baby is not yet two and one-half years of age. One is a golfing story in which a little girl, after doing some gardening, puts away her tools only to notice a set of toy golf clubs. She decides to play and after telephoning her little friend climbs into the car. Having arrived at the home of the friend, she is shown waving to him as he comes out. He joins her in the car, and they both move off. At the golf club they get out, tee off on the first hole and make shots on the fairway (any lawn will do for this, as semi-closeup shots will not show surrounding country ) . One removes flag marked eighteen, they putt, the baby picks up her ball and drops it in the hole: they mark up scores; a dollar is handed over while they sit on the club house porch having tea or, for farcecomedy, water from a familiar looking square bottle. The camera shots are obvious. Of course, I inserted explanatory conversational titles which can be lettered on a child's blackboard and photographed outdoors or made on a title-board. Another simple but effective story was as follows. A little girl is shown blowing bubbles; she finally sees a fish in one of them ( we used one of the clear celluloid toy bubbles having a fish float such a vision reminds her of fishing so that she digs worms, gathers some gear and walks off clad in her play overalls; arriving at the brook, she sees a "No fishing" sign but tries it anyway; title indicates passage of time and no fish ; finally, in weariness, she drinks from a bottle taken from her pocket and pours the balance in the stream; there is a closeup of the bobber being pulled under with a jerk; she lands a fish with great delight (there are some fine toy fish made of rubber to be found in the stores I , only to have it stolen by a dog who wanders by. This is the last straw, so the child gives up, stops in the butcher shop on the way home and emerges with a splendid mess of fish from which she demonstrates to her mother at home the size of the one the dog stole. There is another story where the child is rescued by her dog from a kidnapper; there are her Christmas pictures, birthday pictures, beach pictures and mountain pictures; in fact we have her in every sort of setting, costume and mood, but every film tells its story, even though most of them, like the Red Riding Hood picture, are only one hundred feet. We very seldom have to retake due to acting, even with the dog. The secret lies in coaxing rather than coercion and in planning shots so that intricate action is not required to carry the theme. It is possible to make any film tell a story. H you want to photograph your adult friends, it isn't necessary to evolve a complicated photoplay; a simple plot motif will always serve as (Continued on page 63) It) : IN CHINA, TOO Movie Makers In Every Corner Of The World Are Enriching Their Films With Storv Interest. 21