American cinematographer (May 1930)

Twenty American Cinematographer May, 1930 De Vinna Wins Academy Award For Outstanding Photography Clyde De Vinna and trophy awarded him for outstanding cinematography "y HE HIGHEST honor that can be paid an American Cinema- tographer has been bestowed upon Clyde De Vinna. A. S. C., for his work in photographing “White Shadows in the South Seas.” This honor consists of the award of merit of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The award was based on feature pictures released in Los Angeles during the year ending July 31, 1929. The prize is a beautiful gold statuette, and was presented to Mr. De Vinna by William C. deMille. President of the Academy, at a banquet held at the Ambassador Hotel. Mr. De Vinna has been in the motion picture field for many years and has long been recognized as one of the outstanding cinematographers of the industry. Prom his camera has come many unusually beautiful pictures, but when “White Shadows in the South Seas” made its appearance De Vinna was shower- ed with praise from all parts of the world. The sheer beauty of the photography in this picture brought gasps from audi- ences all over the world, and when De Vinna landed in Lon- don a year ago, on his way to Africa, he was called to be the special honor guest at the London opening of the picture. Poliowing the completion of “White Shadows in the South Seas,” De Vinna returned to the “The Pagan,” another pic- ture which excited much comment for its cinematography. He then went to Africa as chief Cinematographer on “Tader Horn.” Reports from the MGM studios indicate that he has another pictorial delight in this one. Among the other awards of merit given by the academy are the following: To Warner Baxter, for his distinctive performance in “In Old Arizona;” Mary Pickford for her work in “Coquette;” to Frank Lloyd for his directorial work in “Weary River,” “The Divine Lady” and “Drag;” Cedric Gibbons for his art direction in “The Bridge of San Luis Rey:” to Hans Kraly for writing the story of the artistic motion picture. “The Patriot.” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation was awarded first honors for the production of “The Broadway Melody.” Rumania T^OLLOWING general unemployment of musicians in Ru- mania, which is claimed to be caused by the advent of sound- film, the Minister of Labor has prohibited the activities of for- eign musicians in the country, with the exception of those who come to work in Rumania, as members of an orchestra, of en- tirely foreign origin. Putting Industry in the Movies (Continued from Page 9) spots: balloons, seaplanes, airplanes, the tender of a locomotive, on a speeding fire engine, on a monorail crane 75 feet in the air, on the world’s largest electric shovel, on top of the frame- work of a bridge 175 feet in the air. I could go on until the list became tiresome. The average two or three reel industrial production contains about eighty per cent of interiors and requires about seven work- ing days for shooting. The crew consists usually of a director, cameraman, electrician, two to five assistants, and a man from the factory. Often we find ourselves in difficult spots as regards light placement. Sometimes we have to take the lights all apart, carry the parts through peculiar places and put the lamps together when we get them where we want to set them up. I recall one job on which we had to do this and in order to do it had to have the plant shut down for just fifteen minutes. We had to make it fast for production cost was $1000 an hour in the plant. The great variety of subjects we are called upon to photograph makes our business an enjoyable, if at times a trying one. This week wc may be up in Glacier Park working on the edge of a treacherous ice crevice where a slip of the foot would mean almost certain death. Next week the same man may be shooting some humble home in connection with a “drive” for a Community Fund. Or perhaps, he may be photo- graphing a surgical operation in a hospital. One of the most unusual bits of work I have ever done in the line of industrial work was the making of a two-reel pro- duction in which snakes, lizards, alligators, scorpions, turtles and birds were the principal subjects. The climax of the picture was to be a scene showing “Huckleberry Finn,” a tame, four- foot rattlesnake, shedding his skin. But that was something we could not hurry. No one but the snake could do that and he wouldn’t do it until the psychological time. The snake’s owner watched him day after day, waiting for the peculiar look of the snake’s eyes which would just precede the start of the skin shedding operation. But that snake just wouldn’t shed! And then—at three o’clock one morning I was awakened by the ringing of the telephone. The excited snake owner was on the phone yelling that “Huckleberry” was about to shed. “Bring him over to the studio,” I answered. So, he dashed through the early morning darkness and in twenty minutes the snake was lying on the floor beneath my camera. And the way that snake wriggled was a sight one could never forget. When the old skin had been shed, believe it or not, that snake actually looked proud! I could go on indefinitely, but at this point thing it best to do a fadeout. Germany B erlin exhibitors are up in arms against the Berlin munici- pality, which has entered into direct competition with them. The municipality is starting a film department “for the production and exhibition of film records of events and work in the Metropolis.” The Berlin Eastern suburb of Lichtenberg has done this sort of work for a considerable time the Municipal Film Archive and Picture Theatre of Lichtenberg, located in a school house, completed its tenth year last week. Now that the Berlin Municipality is to follow this example, the Exhibi- tor’s Association is reported to take action. During the past year the Lichtenberg authorities showed 30 feature films certi- fied as “educationals” at prices with which no exhibitor can compete. These “educationals” included also entertainment fea- tures. The Berlin Municipality runs a Grand Opera House, concerts, lectures and other entertainments at a loss. Warner Engineers Make 37-Pound Camera Case A camera case weighing 3 7 pounds, as against the thousands of pounds of the present sound-proof camera booths, has been developed by Warner engineers. Called the “Warner Brothers Blimp,” the device, which is also proof against fire and water, is to be placed on the market, with Continental Accessories Co. as the distribiutors. Teaching by Films Washington—A partial list compiled by the Department of Commerce, of U. S. Primary and secondary schools using films for educational purposes, shows about 300 of these institutions as already using motion pictures in teaching.