Business screen magazine (1971)

appointed by the lack of monuments. TTie reason, they were told, was there just wasn't anyone around yet worth building a monument to. Not true. Fact is. Congress just hadn't gotten around to forming a committee on monuments. Hardly had the shiny new capital opened its doors for business when the British came tromping into town. Annoyed by their reception, which admittedly was somewhat hostile, and having absolutely no appreciation of film requirements, they burned the place. No sooner did the civil servants get that mess cleaned up, when — whammo — it cot torched acain in the 1860s. But now everything's shipshape. Except for a few scorch scars here and there, there's little evidence left of fire. Either one. And the Congress finally got around to naming a real go-getter of a monument committee. It's planted monuments all over the place. In increasing torrents, filmmakers from around the world — amateur and professional — now flood into the sparkling city that looks much better as a capital than New York or Philadelphia. And much, much better than Newark. "They're coming because Washington is an exciting and receptive city for filmmakers," Van Nostrand said seriously. "In addition to its obvious visual assets, the city offers a deep reservoir of filmmaking talent, which comes as a surprise to many producers, and excellent cooperation of officials, provided you follow commonsense guidelines." Both he and Rogers stressed the cooperation of officials as perhaps greater than any other city in the nation. It's the news center of the world, they point out, and thus expertly familiar with the problems and needs of professional cameramen. Official cooperation exists even in turbulent moments, such as demonstrations, and they cited the massive peace march on the Pentagon as just one example. Anticipating film needs, offiials positioned two flatbed trailers as camera platforms along the line of march. "Where else would you find that kind of understanding and supoort under similar conditions?" Rogers asked. As for the talent pool, both emphaiized that Washington is rich in all 'ilmmaking skills, from cameramen to jrips, from soundmen to electricians. rhey're top pros, experienced in everyhing from docs to major features like Advise and Consent'," Van Nostrand aid. "Most learned their crafts in lews, and they're used to working lard and moving fast. TTiey put out Scouting Party: With director James Rogers, producer Ronald Van Nostrand sights through camera to line up travel shot for recent documentary on the frontier days of Nevada. In this article, they guide us through another wild frontier — -the monument forests of Washington, D.C. 1 1 0 percent for a producer." Rogers, however, cautions out-oftown producers not to be concerned when they hear the Washington members of their crew mumble strange codes, like seven-B, at each new location. He claims the Washingtonians have shot every possible location so often and from so many angles that they've assigned code numbers to the scenes. If you conjure up a world-smashing, first-of-its-kind scene from the Lincoln Memorial, for instance, don't be disturbed if the crew anticipates your setup by mumbling something like, "if it's seventeen you're after, it's seventeen you get." Seventeen, by the way, is the pillars of the Lincoln Memorial in the foreground with the sun rising as a huge ball of fire behind the Washington Monument in the distance. In case you're interested, seventeen-A calls for moving the camera six feet right or left to include the Capitol dome in the scene behind the Washington Monument. Van Nostrand and Rogers offer a grab-bag of guidelines to their city — CLEARANCES Government. Although tourists freely grind out millions of feet throughout Washington, professionals are required to have proper authorization to film on government prop>crty. From an official point of view, the chief distinction between amateur and professional filmmakers is a tripod. If you want to hand-hold your camera, you can shoot almost everywhere without clearances. But the moment you set down a tripod, chances are you'll have police company asking for your authorization. The Capital has as many police forces as some cities have gas stations, but obtaining official clearances and cooperation is not the nightmare of November/December, 1973 — BUSINESS SCREEN | 45