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‘"Dreaming Out Loud." This film has a combination of speed, gradation, brilliance and fine-grain quality I've found nowhere else. Nothing like it has been available anywhere in Europe, and I certaiidy wish I could have used it on some of my pictures there.
Few Process Specialists
There is vastly less photographic specialization abroad. If your picture calls for process-shots, or miniatures, or aerial scenes, you seldom have a specialist to turn them over to; instead, you do them yourself — and like it. Of course, this makes the work technically interesting, and in some cases may be of an artistic advantage. But it would seem less efficient than the Hollywood system of having specialists in these fields to collaborate with you, and sometimes to take complete charge of these scenes while you concentrate your efforts on the straightforward, dramatic portions of the production.
For the same reason, there is very little, if any “second unit” work done abroad.
Another advantage I've found since I've returned was Agfa's Infra-Red negative. This film is not available abroad, and although one or two foreign firms offer emulsions of a somewhat similar type, they do not have the inimitable characteristics of the American product. And yet I think Infra-Red would be of even greater value over there than it is here, for location night-work is very difficult, and often quite impossible in England. Here in Hollywood, when we have such sequences to film, we know we can either take a gas-power
ed generator set, or cut an M-G set into a local transmission-line.
That can't be done in England. There are very few gas generator rigs available there, and most of those that are available are of insufficient capacity for important work. At the same time, it is almost impossible to cut into England’s excellent, sprawling network of power-transmission lines (commonly called “the Grid”), as it takes literally months of endless red-tape to gain permission to do so. Infra-Red night effects, if a material equal to Agfa Infra-Red were available, would have been a great advantage to us over there.
Speaking of such special photographic effects, there is one point where I think we in Hollywood might benefit by following England’s lead. Over there, when such special cameraeffects come up, the director of photography has a more ample opportunity to make advance tests so that he knows precisely how to get the effect he wants ; here he is expected to take it in his stride, with perhaps a handtest to guide him. The Hollywood method saves some time, it is true, and it is a very nice professional compliment to know that we cinematographers are expected to be able to have the complete answer to any technical problem immediately. But
I think most of us would be willing to forego the implied compliment for the greater precision and ultimate efficiency that more ample testing would give us.
So, as I said at the outset, Hollywood and European methods and conditions are not nearly so far apart as one might expect from their geographical separation.
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