Business screen magazine (1938)

Can Business Use Realism? ANOTHER VIEW ON THE BRITISH FILMS-BY ANDREW BUCHANAN TnoucH Britain luis failed fiiiaiitially. not technically, to win success with her feature films, she has no equal in an entirely different class of picture which is growing in importance every day — the Documentary, Now what is this kind of film all about? Why does it have such a ponderous, austere name? Because it provides evidence of existing conditions — good or bad. It presents facts, and dramatizes reality without falsifying it. It projects the soul of a nation instead of merely its supper parties. I believe, w'ith a few others, that the true function of film is to show what other media cannot, instead of always feeding on the legitimate theatre and the novel. Consequently, I favor Documentary films, because they feature real backgrounds instead of studio settings. Documentalists in England are a race apart, having little connection with the makers of fictional features. They work economically. Their overheads are not crushing. They utilize the living material around them. Their films are created out of industry, education, housing, travel, and all kinds of ordinary things. They contain no entertaining stories. The characters are real people going about their usual jobs. Therefore, the average Documentary lacks glamour. It must necessarily do so. but it appeals to people who prefer facts. Moreover, it is encouraging the film to establish itself as a medium capable of portraying material which no other can attempt to present. That is the vital ])oint. The finest and most intelligent Andrew Biiclianan is editor of the Gau7no7it British Netvs and jamiliar with the movement arotind which the many commercial documentary jilm activities in England are centered. craftsmen have concentrated upon Documentary film-making and industrialists and educationalists are becoming increasingly film-conscious by reason of those efforts. Many Documentary films are sponsored by great industries and corporate bodies, but do not confuse the results w'ith advertising films. They are bigger than that — far bigger. The resources and ramifications of a nation can be projected clearly and dramatically by a wellmade Documentary production. But I advocate carrying this vital work a stage further, for I contend that as on the one hand, we have failed, through possessing only a limited market, to make feature films which secure profits, and, on the other, have succeeded in making first-class Documentaries, we should extend the work at which we succeed into the sphere in which we fail, and create the Fictional-Documentary film — that is. employ documentary principles to the creation of Fictional stories. What does that mean? That our features would be enacted against real backgrounds that could never be recreated in a studio. Make industry, city life and scenic splendour form the backgrounds against which our dramas and comedies would be enacted. It has been done se\'eral times. There is a film called The Edge of The World that is a fine example. Many American features have been framed by realistic surroundings, but the Documentary angle has not been sufficiently emphasized, and artificiality has crept in as usual. The great expensive .system of making motion pictures has established a belief throughout the world that there is only one way to make them, but the world outside the studio is offering an alternative. In time, the pioneer work of Documentalists will mould picture-making into new shapes, and backgrounds will star equally with the players. However, apart from the Fictional-Documentary of the future, which will surely place Film in a category as being an independent medium of expression which has no need to borrow its material, the present perfection of (Continued on Page 43) EVERYTHING YOU NEED CREATIVE STAFF CAPABLE CREWS HOLLYWOOD EQUIPMENT LARGE MODERN STAGE EFFICIENT LABORATORY TO PRODUCE YOUR PICTURE CHICAGO FILM LABORATORY, INC. SOUND STUDIOS 18 West Walton Place CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MOTION PICTURES SLIDE FILMS