Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

THE THREEPENNY OPERA II5 speech, so the movement of the camera has correspondingly become more frequent, until in such films as Morocco and The Front Page, the instrument is in motion practically throughout the picture. This, of course, has come about only since cameras were freed from their entangling booths. The result of such continuous movement on the part of the spectator, which is what camera movement actually amounts to, cannot be called altogether pleasing, for as well as violating the fundamental cinematic principles of cutting, the perpetual motion seriously disturbs the comfort of the audience by bewilderment and eye-strain. Mobility of the camera has always demanded discretion in its use, and has been proved suitable only to certain kinds of action, just as cutting has been found indispensable when achieving stimulating effect. An instance of admirable moving camerawork may be seen in the famous tracking shot over the roofs and down into the street in Clair's Sous les toils de Paris. It is significant from a technical point of view to note that the wide difference existing between the Russian cinema and that of America is apparent in that whereas the Soviet cinematographers rarely employ the camera in motion, American directors strongly favour the travelling camera shot, having assimilated the idea from the Germans in the days of Vaudeville and The Last Laugh. It would seem that this tendency towards the elimination of the direct cut between one shot and another in favour of the moving camera is but one of many, of which the wide-screen, stereoscopic effect and colour are others, all leading the cinema back towards the single scene and actual H*