Amateur Cine World (August 1935)

EDITOR to hisREADERS holiday films is in full swing. For this reason this number of Amateur Cine World is devoted principally to the making and taking of films, rather than to those aspects of amateur cinematography which are concerned with the after treatment of the exposed film. The actual shooting of your holiday film is purely a mechanical process and is, indeed, one of the least important parts of film production ; it is the preparation before shooting on which the success of a film of any kind largely depends. In the case of a holiday film it is rarely possible to prepare a detailed script, but it is possible and necessary to visualise the film in outline, as it were, and this can be done only if you have a clear idea of the form the film is to take. The beginner—and not only the beginner, but often the experienced movie-maker as well—is inclined to shoot quite haphazardly. This involves an inevitable wastage of stock and makes editing a difficult task since most of the shots so taken are unrelated. Hence the beginner gets the idea that editing is a difficult business—as indeed it may well be when the sequences to be welded together are so indifferent. Not even the experienced amateur can make bricks without straw, far less the tyro. First get a clear idea, then, of what the film is to be about. In other words, you must have singleness of purpose. We know the film is to be about a holiday, but what sort of holiday ? Let us assume that it is a seaside one. Are the holiday-makers-to-be young and jolly, or are they older, staider folk ? On the answer to this largely depends whether the film will be a personal production or one featuring the resort visited rather than personalities. If it is to be the latter type of film, then your aim should be to capture the characteristics of the particular resort, for only by so doing can you give the film an individual flavour. Filmed haphazardly it might be a picture of any seaside place. Search out the essentials, make the camera inquisitive. The essence of a large seaside town is its multifarious attractions and its light-hearted gaiety. A smaller place may rely on its scenic attractions, another on its quaintness, another on its quietness. On these depend the tempo of the film. she: is the time of the year when the shooting of 197 In the case of the personal holiday film in which the resort is subsidiary to the people, you will have to depend largely on the visual memory when filming. That is, you must carry in your mind’s eye the shots you have already taken and film subsequent scenes with a view to matching them with the earlier ones. The matching of shots often avoids the use of. sub-titles. Much of the value of a personal holiday .record lies in its spontaneity and for this reason a hard and fast script often defeats its own ends. But refuse to let yourself be hurried. ‘Take your time, study the subject carefully, choose the most effective angle. Think as far as possible in complete sequences. Before you shoot pause awhile and think of the contemplated shot in relation to the whole. Will you be able to fit it in easily, will it contribute to the logical building up of the film? And if you cannot give satisfactory answers to these questions, is it worth while taking the shot? If you will school yourself to think before you shoot you will save film and get an immeasurably better result. OUR: “FILM : THE FAMILY”. COMPETITION Only two months from the date on which this issue is on sale and this competition closes. The last day on which entries can be received is September 15th. The remarks above apply particularly to the films entered for this contest. The fact that the running time of all sizes of film—8mm., 9.5mm. and 16mm. is limited to about 74 minutes—entries in the 16mm. size must not exceed 200 ft. in length and pro rata for the other sizes, necessitates methodical planning. Last year the entries reached a high level of merit and we confidently expect a similar standard this year. What was particularly gratifying was the large number of films received from beginners, the great majority of which were surprisingly good. Don’t be deterred by the thought that others may have more skill than yourself. Experience is not of itself a virtue and if you have no opportunity of comparing your productions with other amateur efforts you may not realise how favourably yours compare with them. A dainty little subject in a delightful setting of the kind that should catch the alert cinematographer’s eye