American cinematographer (Oct 1930)

October, 1930 AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER Twenty-three fade-outs. In short, whereas in the silent picture directions could be given during takes by either director or cameraman, these verbal directions must now be supplanted by silent cues. On long and complicated scenes a very elaborate set of signals is often necessary and considerable time is consumed in getting them to operate satisfactorily. “Shooting” A Picture So far this paper has described a number of devices without giving adequate explanation as to how they fit into the general problem of photographing and recording motion pictures. Now let us go into a sound stage with a typical motion picture feature in production and observe the actual “shooting.” Before doing so, however, it would be well to fortify ourselves with an understanding of some of the fundamental operations involved. The average feature-length photoplay which we see in a theatre is usually around 7000 feet in length when completed. To produce this footage, it is necessary to shoot 100,000 to 150.000 feet of picture negative. A current production which now has a length of 10,000 feet required the shooting of over 2.500.000 feet of picture negative alone in order to secure good “takes” of the very intricate scenes involved. The unused footage on the cutting-room floor compares with the superflu- ous manuscript of the writer except that film costs more than waste-paper and much more than just one man’s time. The 7,000 feet to the finished feature is made up of many short scenes which have been taken with the view to being spliced together. There are as many as 200 to 500 scenes in the average film. These scenes are very often not taken in the same order in which they are to be used in the final produc- tion. It is very common to shoot the end of the picture first, for example, or to shoot all the scenes dealing with a particular character or setting at one time. This is done in the interest of economy. The effort on the part of the many individuals collaborating in making the production is to get what we term the “perfect take,” and here is the procedure: The director examines the script and tells the cameraman and the sound man where and what kind of action is going to take place. These two men in turn set up their equipment to photograph and to record the action in the best possible manner. A complete rehearsal is held and all the adjustments checked. Finally, when the equipment has all been checked and is satis- factory, the director is notified that all is ready for a take. The actors take their positions, the order “Camera” or “Turn ’em Over” is given, and with that the recording and photographing equipment is started. When it is running smoothly, which means but a few feet of film, the signal for the start of the take is given. The actors then go through their lines and at the end of the take a synchronizing mark is placed on the film, together with an announcement as to the number of the take which is not only recorded but is also photographed on the picture negative. If everything has gone exactly as in rehearsal, this scene is done and “in the bag,” and another few minutes of picture has been added toward the total. Practical Difficulties In actual practice, however, there are any number of things which can happen to break up this chain of events. Beginning at the beginning, we have as the first requisite the director explaining to the cameraman and the sound man what he is going to do. It may sound peculiar to those not intimately acquainted with motion picture production to say that the director does not always know what he wants even on the day when he is supposed to shoot, but such is often the case. Motion pictures being fundamentally a creative art, new ideas and better methods of telling the story present themselves very frequently. The director does not dare to ignore these new ideas and to follow along the lines of his original script, because in many cases the very spontaneity of the thought is the one quality which makes the difference between success and failure. It has been said that a stage play is not written, but re- written, and the same expression holds true even more literally in the case of motion pictures. If it were not for the fact that a definite limit is set on the amount of money that may be spent on a photoplay and a time limit also set as a release date, a director might go on making and remaking his picture for months, as he would always keep finding newer ideas to improve it. A very striking example of a picture which was practically shot this way is now current in one of the special photoplays recently released. In this case there was no limit as to time or budget. The result is that the picture contains some of the most difficult scenes which were ever photo- graphed and the excellence of these scenes is far above what has been done heretofore. Some particularly difficult scenes were re-shot as many as forty times before- they were satis- factory, and each time some new idea was incorporated into the story. This method of production, which is unique in motion pic- ture history, is really the method which every director would use if he were given an unlimited amount of time and money, and it is the only way to keep motion pictures on a creative plane. The same infinite slowness and painstaking re-editing is noted in every creative art, in writing, in painting, and in all others. In many of these arts, the re-editing process can be allowed to go on as long as it is desired, because the work is usually that of an individual and his is the only time lost. In the case of the motion picture with tremendous expenses going on hourly, only a limited amount of changing can be allowed. The producing organization, however, strives to keep its facilities mobile so as to allow the director as much leeway as possible. The Conference We see, then, that the first requirement of this formula for making the perfect take is very difficult to obtain. Let us assume, however, that the director has his action quite defintely in mind and that he imparts the necessary information to the recording and photographing units. They immediately proceed to line up their equipment so as to get all there is in the scene, each without regard to the other. When their work is done, they turn to one another and discuss the situation and im- mediately they face several impossibilities. The first and most important is usually this: The sound man, in an endeavor— and a very righteous one at that—to get the best possible quality of sound, has placed his microphone to suit the acous- tics of the set and the action, but unfortunately he has reck- oned without the cameraman and the microphone is in full view of the camera. Or, looking at it another way, the camera- man has chosen a pictorial angle that will give him the best photographic composition, and this angle chances to include the microphone as well as the characters and the background. We have reached a complete standstill. Nothing can be done until either one or the other of these two men gives way and takes a second choice in the matter of sound or photog- raphy. In either case, it is very difficult. In photography there is usually very definitely one correct angle from which to shoot the scene to get the true feeling out of it. Similarly in sound, a second best position for microphone placing is also usually much inferior to the one which was originally chosen. The playing of the action, the acoustics of the set, and the types of voices, all enter into this consideration. Very fre- quently the director must be called in and asked if it will be possible for him to take a second choice in the matter of action so as to give either photography or sound a little better chance to get something satisfactory. Usually, then, before a com- plete rehearsal can be had, all three have been forced to make (Continued on Page 32)