Action (May 1941 - Mar 1958)

4 Action Set Designers at work in the Drafting Room in LYLE WHEELER'S Art Dept. situations and If they are not found, they must be made. Special effects play a big part in motion picture making and must be considered and worked out with the departments concerned before being definitely incorporated in the artist's end of the picture — rain, snow, fog, etc. In cases where trick effects and hookups between full scale and miniature sets are needed, or to show the complete working of a set or sets, the Illustrator will be called upon to make continuity sketches. These are small, rough sketches taken from the script, scene by scene, action by action, and give the complete story in picture-form to assure the working of all sets. Continuities are helpful to location men in showing them what to look for, also for cameramen and directors on location shooting for process plates to be certain that eye levels, angles and such are as needed. To add to the headaches, many times it is too costly, impractical, or impossible to build all of a set. In this case, art director and illustrator get together and design the unconstructed portion to be made by matte shot or glass shot. I won't go Into any lengthy discussion of this Important part of a production, which is under the very able supervision of FRED SERSEN. In the Scenic Department, under FRED KINDSCHI, the artists take the small scale sketches from the Art Department and paint them on 40 by 100 feet and up backdrops, so realistically that you can stand on the sets and swear you see 10 miles. Then to the Title Department — LOUIS DE WITTE coaching. The big little men of letters — Solber, Cabel, script, broadface, block letter, Roman, Italic, or you name it. These men design and letter the production title which must fit the character of the production they name, constantly creating new and different backgrounds. The Insert Department, WALLY CASTLE conducting, has the responsibility of creat ing the special Inserts to be cut into the continuity of the story, such as shots of magazines, books, posters, programs, letters, etc. The costume designers of CHARLES LE MAIRE create the special gowns, dresses and costumes for dance numbers and musicals, etc., drawing on their vast imaginative ability for original ideas as to style and color. The Make-up Department also has artists whose job is to draw or paint the actor or actress as he or she will appear when made up for the part to be played. The wood carvers in the Prop and Miniature Department create artistic figures and designs for specified objects. The sculptors and modelers in the Staff Department mold and model the beautiful replicas of anything and everything from handcuffs to elephants. In the Sign Department are experts in lettering and designing all styles of print, in all languages. There are furniture designers who design anything you can mention in furniture and the artists in New York who create the billboards and posters for the publicity end of the business. Yes, I'm afraid we do have artists in the motion picture business. Little ones, big ones, tall and short ones — thin and fat, old and young. All practical, hard-working, hard-thinking creative men and women. Prize winners in many exhibits. National and International — painters of sunsets that are sunsets and ham and eggs you can practically lift off the canvas and have everything but the taste and the aroma. So next time you think of art and artists, don't visualize some peculiar creature, but someone who plays tennis, golf, bowls, swims, fishes, hunts and does everything you can name just the same as you or anyone else. Drop over and see for yourself some time — so long! Blood Bank — April 5 SERSEN SHOTS By VIRGINIA GODF FRED SERSEN wen first prize at the Annual Painters and Sculptors Club exhibition at the County Museum. Nowadays Mr. Sersen has little time to indulge in "Art for Art's Sake," but when he does his paintings have a quality that always puts them among the winners. CLYDE SCOTT and EMIL KOSA Sr., have both been on our sick list — we have missed Scotty's genial personality and Mr. Kosa's lovely sense of humor. We had another interesting letter from Lt. VERNON LAW — Vern is now in Burma. He seems to have added well over a 1 ,000 hours to his flying time — I take it he has been busy. T/Sgt. HERB STEWART dropped in tor a visit a while ago, that is the first time Herb has been back on the Coast since he left for Quantico two years ago. It was nice to see him again. VON MULDORFER writes that he is on an island in the South Pacific and very busy at the moment. They had a very quiet Xmas, but New Year's Day the enemy proceeded to bomb the next island so that day was far from quiet. He is putting up a valiant but losing battle with the spiders and bugs, and as they can have no lights showing after sundown it makes the nights rather long. DORIS and MAX de VEGA (two of the nicest people who ever went to Mexico) have been back for a two weeks stay in California. Max is the same merry, genial and very busy person he ever was — full o^ stories of the happenings below the border and it makes Mexico sound like a lot of fun, if a bit hectic, at times. DAVE PRESTON spends these springlike week ends perched in his garden busily listening to the bulbs growing. I hope this year he doesn't become impatient again and pull them up to see how far along they are. It depleted his garden considerably last year! RICHARD GODFREY, of Eldo Chrysler's Model Dept, who is co-plloting one of those B-I7's over Berlin these days, says he has acquired an English bicycle and a handle-bar mustache to match. He is sharing a Neisen hut with his first pilot and the navigator and the stove that went with said hut wasn't throwing enough heat to warm a clam shell, so the boys 'borrowed' a 50 gal. oil drum and made themselves a stove that heats like mad — but they have a little difficulty in seeing each other through the smoke! Dick is with the 8th Air Force's hot bombing group, the 390th, the squadron is the proud possessor of the Presidential Citation with two clusters. Blood Bank — April 5