Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

100 TIPS FOR THE TOURIST Here, based on inquiry and experience, are practical pointers for the Europe-bound filmer LE ROY SEGALL, ACL SO YOU'RE going to Europe this summer! Perhaps, even as you read these words, your travel agent is already taking care of such basic needs as tickets, lodging, place-to-place transport and the many other details which make for smooth traveling. They did it for me last summer (when I went to the Olympic Games) and it helped a lot. But there is one phase of your preparations — and a crucially important one to every movie maker — on which I found the average travel agent relatively uninformed. That phase is photography. Perhaps, then, some advice based on my experiences of last summer will be of aid. Register Your Camera: The first move you will want to make — and you should make it right now and here at home — is to register your camera and all its lenses if they are of foreign manufacture. This registration is a simple and relatively swift operation. It can be carried out at any U. S. Customs office in the United States. And, if there is no such office in or near your home town, registration still can be effected at the customs inspector's office on any steamship pier or international airport. But remember, sailing day is a busy time for these men; so safeguard yourself, and give them a break, by dropping in a day or so ahead of your departure. The purpose, of course, of any such registration is to protect your foreign-made equipment — on which duty was paid when it was imported— from being subject to duty once again when you bring it back in your luggage. Film Supplies: An adequate supply of the kind of film stock you intend using, especially if it is in color, is also a matter which (in my experience) is best attended to at home. By early last spring the Eastman Kodak Company was publicly warning both photo dealers and tourist photographers that European supplies of color films would vary from extremely limited to non-existent. I decided therefore to take with me or send on in advance all of the film footage which I thought I might need — and could afford. What with the Coronation and other attractions during this summer, I believe that this is still good advice. However, your adoption of this policy may tend to create new and other problems in place of the film supply one. For example, if your overseas transport is by air (as mine was) , any considerable number of film packets may soon subject you to excess baggage charges. In seeking to avoid this, I considered and partially acted on the idea of sending on ahead to countries I would visit caches of film to await my arrival. This plan, I soon found, was excellent when it involved a European country where the duty on film was light. (Denmark, for example, levies a very modest duty on photo film based on its weight. At about 15 cents a pound, therefore, I was able to ship ahead to Copenhagen a sizable supply which awaited me about halfway through our trip.) This same plan, however, becomes exhorbitant to follow where the duty on film (as in France, for example) is assessed on an ad valorem basis. Customs Duties Abroad: Still another matter into which the prudent movie maker may wish to inquire be fore setting sail is the scale of customs duties on cameras and film which he will encounter from country to country once he is abroad. Such official data for any country you are likely to visit can be obtained on request to our own United States Department of Commerce. And it probably is a good idea to secure this information as a safeguard against surprises. You will find (as I did) that almost all European nations provide officially for the collection of customs fees on more than this or that number of cameras per person and on more than a varying amount of film footage. In actual practice, however, these duties are almost universally waived for foreign visitors v/ho clearly are bringing in their cameras and films as personal possessions and as clearly will be taking them out of each country when they leave. To facilitate this gracious treatment of your potentially dutiable goods, be sure to exhibit them openly as you pass each customs barrier and to declare them as personal possessions for private use only. Where to Process: On any sort of protracted trip the question soon arises as to what to do with your exposed films. To accumulate them again brings up the problem of excess baggage if you are flying — even flying about Europe. And, while Kodak has processing stations equipped to handle Kodachrome in three European capitals (London, Paris and Stockholm), the company itself reports that European color processing is generally disappointing to American filmers. The resulting hues simply are not so vivid as those to which we are accustomed. Therefore they suggest that you send (or bring back) your color films to the United States for development. If, on a long trip, you decide to send back your exposed films in batches, you should in turn keep in mind that only Kodak's Rochester laboratory is equipped to clear them through the U. S. customs. To facilitate this operation, be sure to accompany each shipment with a statement that your films are being returned to the United States solely for non-commercial use. And ship them by air parcel post! The rates are reasonable and the service is swift. Otherwise, you may find yourself arriving home even before your precious pictures. In closing, here are a few random words of wisdom on actual filming operations in any of the European countries. Objects of military and naval significance are still on the banned list; and since you probably would be surprised as to what can be of military importance, it is best to err on the side of caution. Bridges, for example, and railroad stations may well be proscribed for the photographer, as well as (in Holland) the dikes with which many of the canals are bordered. So ask your guide or a policeman if filming is permitted. The use of a tripod (which, of course, you will insist on using!) is another filming operation which is generally banned on certain subjects. But here again a polite query to a neighboring policeman will set you straight — and if you want to bother, it is not at all difficult to secure the necessary tripod permit. And don't forget: Your ACL membership card and a friendly attitude will overcome almost all difficulties everywhere.