American cinematographer (Mar 1933)

12 American Cinematographer • March 1933 RIDDLE The Riddle: Is it in your opinion advantageous to maintain a separate special- effects department, or would better results be had if the production cameramen handled all of the special-process work on their pictures? DANIEL B. CLARK, A.S.C. To my mind, the maintenance of a separate special-effects department is unjustifiable, especially so in certain instances I have recently experienced, in which the special-effects personnel have gone to absurd lengths to avoid cooperating with the production camera- man. After all, special-effects scenes are not individual scenes, but must be closely intercut with regular produc- tion work. As such, they should carry out the same technical and artistic treatment as does the rest of the production: therefore, they should be made under the immediate super- vision of the production cinematographer, upon whose shoulders rests already the responsibility for the photography of the picture as a whole. Moreover, with the increasing amount of process work (especially projected-backgrounds) now being used in most productions, the production camera- man should certainly be able to handle any routine process work. If the process work of a picture fails to match success- fully with the regularly-produced sequences, whether or not the production cameraman had any say in making the process shots, he receives the blame: therefore it is only fair that he should at least be consulted during the making of these scenes, and preferably that he should be as much in charge of them as he is of the regular run of work. This may be the case in some studios, but I have recently had a number of experiences with process departments which seemingly went out of their way to avoid cooperating with the production cinematographers. In the making of the process scenes for several of my recent productions, for instance, not only was I never consulted, but I was not even allowed on the process stage, and I understand (the results bear this out) that the process man did not even trouble to view the scenes which I had made, and which were to be used with the process shots. When my com- pany went on location, a man from the special-effects de- partment was sent along simply to make some background- plates which I—or any other production cinematographer— could have made equally well and at less expense. Therefore I feel that the maintenance of a separate special-effects department is entirely superfluous, involving unnecessary expense, duplication of effort, impairment of the technical and artistic quality of the pictures, as well as unnecessarily shifting the authority for such work from the first cinematographer, to whom it rightfully belongs, without any commensurate shifting of the responsibility for the ultimate results. ME THIS gained from the maintenance of a properly operated special- effects department. The entire trend of the industry is toward specialization. Pictures must be made faster and more efficiently than ever before—and on greatly reduced shooting schedules. If therefore a production can be sched- uled so that the process work is held until the last, a much- reduced crew can be used for this, and only those members of the cast retained who are actually to be used in the process scenes; the rest can be closed out. It is a well known fact that process work requires much careful plan- ning, some of which is often extremely intricate: if this can be handled by a special-effects staff which need con- centrate on nothing but this work, it is obvious that the process sequences can be done far more efficiently than if the production cinematographer had to figure everything out himself, and then stop production for experimentation, tests, etc., which the process staff can do (if necessary) while the regular crew continues with production. There are many other features, less obvious to most of us, such as the importance of accurately-planned back- ground-plates, perfect laboratory work, and so on, which, although not usually considered as part of the actual process of making process scenes, contribute vitally to the ultimate success or failure of every process shot. Such things are by all means best handled by a completely organized special- effects department. On the other hand, no special-effects cinematographer or department can hope to succeed single-handed, for every process scene must fit perfectly into the picture it is made for, or fail in its purpose. Therefore, the special-effects technician must inevitably work in the completest harmony and cooperation with the production cinematographer in charge of the regular camerawork on a production. It is not enough that a process scene be acceptably photographed: it must carry out the same style and mood of lighting, the same type of compositions, the same artistic and technical treatment as the individual sequence into which it is to be cut. To that end, the special-process technician will find it indisputably to his advantage to make every effort to have the production cinematographer in charge of a picture work with him on the set while he is making the process scenes for that cinematographer’s picture. If each will do this, each making plain to the other just what his aims and problems are, both will succeed; the result of their joint efforts will be a production that one can be proud of, and process scenes that the other may rejoice in. If they do not cooperate, neither one will have anything in which to take pride—and the picture will suffer proportionately. There is no need for misunderstanding between the pro- duction cinematographer and the special-effects personnel: both are working toward the same end, and each must rely upon the other for the cooperation that will bring complete success. If either of them cannot or will not cooperate with the other, he is hurting himself just as much as he injures the other man. FARCIOT EDOUART. Speaking as a former production cinematographer, as well as a special-process worker and department head, I feel that there is a real benefit to be KARL FREUND, A.S.C. I feel that the policy of maintain- ing a separate special-effects department is ridiculous. It leads to undesirable confusion, duplication of effort and