Amateur Cine World (December 1936)

Lk hy Four Hundred Feet ? run for less than that time. Why should the amateur think differently ? But, it will be urged, the circumstances of the amateur film society are vastly different. That is just the trouble. As far as facilities for making films go, the professional and amateur are poles apart, and yet the amateur too often imitates the professional and still further handicaps himself by attempting to compress into a quarter of the relative length the type of film that the professional, with all his advantages, cannot reduce to less than an hour or so. The Wrong Standard The amateur is probably a little tired of being told that he is not fettered by the box office and is free to express his own individuality in his own way; but at least this means that he has not to work to a certain standard of footage ; he is under no necessity of tailoring the film to fit the length. But not only does he restrict his freedom of expression by accepting 400 ft. as a standard, he puts an almost insurmountable barrier across his path by accepting the wrong standard. Although the essence of the film is action, the feature film must be largely concerned with the interplay of character. All plots about people, whether fiction or film, have as a basic element conflict of some kind: the conflict of man versus woman, man v. nature, man v. circumstance, man v. fate. It can be treated humorously or seriously. It can be dragged into the limelight or thrust into the background, but it is there and we cannot escape from it, for the book and the film are a mirror of life and life is itself a perpetual conflict—the survival of the fittest. Development of Character It follows, then, that the expression and development of character are as important to the feature film as action. We can only sympathise with a character, pity him, hate him, or laugh at him if his character is clearly delineated. Mr. Andrew Buchanan has stated in Amateur Cine—and his words have been widely quoted—that the function of the moving film is to move us emotionally. It must engage our hearts as well as our heads. A puppet cannot arouse any emotion in us. If the characters are not vividly presented—and how can they be if our acquaintance with them lasts no more than fifteen minutes ?— they remain only puppets—things that move and go through various actions, but not of their own volition. The feature fiction film, therefore, is unsuitable for presentation in a mere 400 feet, but that is not to say that it is unsuitable for amateur presentation at. all. Successful results can be achieved, although not easily. The thing to do is first to rid ourselves of that arbitrary standard of one super reel. If we have the time, money, cast, technical crew, facilities and opportunity for (Continued from previous page) producing a six reel film then we can produce the amateur counterpart of the professional feature film, but it is most unlikely that it will compare favourably with it for the simple reason that we have none of the thousand advantages of the professional. Nor does the amateur who respects his craft want them. They can be a hindrance as well as a help. But it is our experience that the long amateur film is rarely successful. Must, then, we be denied the fiction film altogether and concentrate on documentary films and the like ? Let us admit it, the making of a documentary can sometimes be dull. We join a society not only to improve our knowledge and experience of film production but also to have a good time. The film may have a high mission; we have all heard about its tremendous potentialities for good and evil, but to the vast majority it is an escape from life. If it becomes merely a soporific then admittedly it is decadent, but the fiction film can be as much a work of art as the documentary and certainly for a group the making of it is usually much more fun. Let us get the most enjoyment out of our hobby that we can and if we feel that the film play offers the best opportunity in this respect, by all means let us make one. It matters comparatively little what the film is about, provided it is done well, with sincerity and intelligence. A Solution If we accept the contention that the feature film cannot be adequately presented in one reel and are unable or unwilling to go to more, then we must look around for some other type of fiction film. The feature film is a series of incidents with a number of minor climaxes and a major one. Why should we not take one incident and build a film round that ? In two hundred feet we can produce a little cameo, comic, dramatic or what you will, but we must be careful to keep the plot simple ; it must not be cluttered up with extraneous incident and the interplay of character is not for us. Quite obviously the cast must be small. In a few societies—but not many—-this may be a drawback, but one not difficult to overcome. The club might be split up into two groups, both working simultaneously on different productions. Or the same production might be made by both. The plot would be outlined and the sets decided on, but each group would write its own script and find its own cast and director. Each would use the same sets but in its own way and a spirit of healthy rivalry would thus be engendered. Next month I will elaborate on this theme of the one incident film and give practical suggestions and examples both for clubs and the individual worker. Meanwhile I would urge you to dethrone from its quite unmerited and unsuitable pedestal that standard of four hundred feet. Tue Epiror. 406