American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1963)

DAVID PHOTOGRAPHIC HUMOROUS REMARKS of speaker addressing audience gathered for Browning Awards pre¬ sentations amuse (from left) Paul Meistrich, Samuel Hyman, and Mrs. Anna Browning of Camera Mart, Inc., who were assembled on stage to congratulate award-winning students. Browning Memorial Awards By LEONARD HIRSCHFIELD VPI Productions, New York, N Y. The following address was presented by cinematographer Leonard Hirschfield at the presentation of the first Irving and Sam Browning Memorial Awards in New York, May 27th. For the edification of assembled student film makers , and using "'David and Lisa ” as the example, Hirsch field dis¬ eased the problems of making a suc¬ cessful low-budget film for theatre exhibition. His talk is reprinted by permission from Backstage, New York film industry trade paper. — Editor. Three New York university film makers named most promising film production students of the year. Camera Mart, Inc., New York, which for the past 27 years has catered to the needs of film makers, supplying everything from advice to the latest cameras and lighting equipment, recently in¬ augurated an annual awards program aimed at encouraging the amateur and semi-professional film makers of three New York universities. The first awards were presented to three students May 27th in ceremonies held in the Casa Italiana Auditorium on the Columbia University campus. The award-winning students were Harrison Engle of Columbia University, for direction of the film “ Legacy ” (17\ o min. B & W ) ; David Bienstock of C.C.N.Y. for direction of the film “ Long¬ ing ” ( 4 min. B & W) ; and Eli Bleich and Ares Demertzis of New York University for the co-direction of the film, ""Emil, Joe, Jack, Bob & Bill” ( 8 min. B & IV). The annual awards, known as the Irving and Sam Browning Memorial Awards, are named for the brothers who founded Camera Mart, Inc. 27 years ago. Camera Mart s present manage¬ ment, which includes Samuel Hyman, President, Paul Meistrich, Vice-president, Mrs. Anna Browning, Secretary-treasurer, and General Manager Charles Lipow plans to bestow the awards an¬ nually to the three university students achieving outstanding ac¬ complishments in motion picture film making. Eligible are film production students of three participating schools: Columbia University, C.C.N.Y., and New York University. Prof. Erik Barnouw of the Department of Film, Radio and Continued on Page 418 Tt is unfortunate that Frank Perry, the director of the film David And Lisa, is not here with us tonight be¬ cause I think that the key to the whole problem of making low-budget films really boils down to the presence of one dominant creative force — the di¬ rector. In this case, that man was Frank Perry and it is very difficult for me to speak for him; but he deserves every credit he has received for his contribu¬ tion in making David And Lisa what it is today. For those in the audience who may hope to make low budget pictures, I think the most important initial step is to pick the right people. You can talk about equipment, facilities, the¬ ories, etc., but I think we were very lucky when making David And Lisa to have people with us who were dedi¬ cated, who worked very closely to¬ gether, and who wanted nothing more than to make the best film possible. My specific job as Director of Pho¬ tography was to put on film a very sensitive story as inexpensively and yet as artistically as possible. The picture was not made in a studio but entirely on location. This presented the prob¬ lem that is most common in document¬ ary films, that of using available fa¬ cilities. However, the story is not a 404 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, JULY, 1963