Amateur Cine World (November 1936)

to be commended ;_ professional shorts have to a large extent exploited grotesquerie. Chaplin, for example, made his world reputation largely on the short films he produced at the beginning of his career, and in which he had the most amusing and incredible adventures. He was a clown, and had the good fortune to discover within the modest length of the short how his own arts, ideas, and sense of the comic could be fully exploited. As a great tragedian he was to wait for many years before he was “ discovered,” for the short is unsuitable on many grounds for truly serious subjects. What has been said above is also true of amateur productions: the shorter the film, the less space there is for the building and development of the story, characters, and acting, and the less room in which refinements in the underlying moral of the plot can be introduced. Just on this account a coarser and more rapid form of effect is required, in which comic situations, accidents, F:: a really short film a grotesque style is particulaily To arrive on the first floor of their —_—— and improvisations made on the spur of the moment must quickly follow each other. To make a “ hit” with a short film it is necessary to introduce humour, and above all the rapid-fire type of humour associated with the slapstick comedy: Unfortunately (or, more probably, fortunately), we are not all Chaplins, so that our films must embrace a more modest aim than his did. This does not mean that we must be contented with more modest ideals—the rules of the game, on the contrary, are just the same whether we are filming in the back yard or in a studio under forty-five sun ares and all professional refinements. A grotesque film, however short, should at all events have the following qualities : It must have a “story” house, Mr. Mrs. ewlywed have to use a ladder. (See script ‘* The Unfinished Symphony,” on opposite page.) ‘‘ accidents ’’ and hold them together as a concrete whole. It will be the “ backbone” of the film, and intimately connected with the scenes and situations of the action displayed. In general, we may either adopt a crazy treatment of which—however slight it may be—will serve to introduce the “ situations ”’ and _ Makin The short film is the best vehicle for slapstick comedy because there is little room in it for character building and plot development. 100 ft. is quite sufficient to produce a really entertaining film as the example published with this article shows. “| everyday life and surroundings (as with Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, etc.), or else put the simple and most homely treatment into a background which could never occur in real life (as in the following script). It is, of course, perfectly possible to combine crazy treatment with impossible surroundings, or to modify the formula to some extent in other ways, if we feel that this will give the best results, but the contrast between treatment and surroundings is usually useful to accentuate the grotesque note of the whole film. In all cases, though, type and character must be given to the figures appearing in the film. ‘ Modelling’’ the Film into Shape We have then our story which runs right through the film, and the outer frame of the surroundings in which the action takes place. The next point is to decide the high-spots and quiet points of the film, to colour the details, and to polish the highest lights until they shine In a word, the film must be modelled into shape to give it colour and rhythm. Here we are thrown back once more on our own talents : what we require, according to the length of the film, is a greater or lesser number of really witty, telling comic situations either of a pictorial or actional nature. On these the film must stand or fall. Quite a number of such situations will naturally occur to the amateur when writing the script, while others will only appear while shooting is actually in progress, in the form of sudden waves of inspired intelligence. The best ideas of all will, of course, only arrive after all the shots have been taken and the film is being projected, and the only thing to do is to put them down at once for inclusion in the next film. A script for a grotesque film—and this includes the script hereafter—can thus at best only show a sort of general main plan of the film as it will appear. The actors, the new improvisations, and—not least—the treatment given in cutting, give it its final form and tone. Many completely entertaining situations look anything but humorous on paper, so that the script will seldom give a real impression of the finished film. By ALEX STRASSER (Author of ‘Amateur Films: Planning, Directing, Cutting.’’) 358