Cinema Canada (Aug 1979)

underwater documentary shows called The Mysteries of the Indigo Depths. To start with, I could not believe anyone would mass produce a documentary series. Each show had already been edited with a voice-over English narration. After procuring the rights, Max wondered who on earth would want to watch 110 half-hours of fish, no matter how interesting it might be. He decided to take all the shows, give them to a Canadian-based company and have them re-edited using the best footage, to make 39 half-hours. The original director was now totally out of the picture. I was shocked to realize how little the director’s work was considered. My second awakening came while having lunch with the person who had put up the money for the production of the shows and who was now handing them over to Max. I had been screening his demo reel to interested buyers that morning and I enthusiastically began to describe the sequence which attracted the most attention: a slow, unsuspecting octopus being vehemently attacked and strangled by a strange looking fish. As I was talking I realized that behind his polite nodding there was a blank look.-I went on to describe another scene, more enthusiastically, only to be met by the same polite blank look. I stopped in mid-sentence and asked him if he had seen any of the shows. He burst out laughing and shook his head. You quickly get a feel for what most of the buyers are looking for: commercial products, that’s where the money is. They’re not interested in “esoteric rubbish,” they cater to a middle of the road taste, and the middle of the road taste exists in all countries. I was told that a Belgium company had been coming to MIP for the past three years, trying to sell a film it had produced. It is called Heureux comme un bébé dans l’eau. It is a 48 minute film about the natural birth of a baby, inspired by the theories of Dr. Leboyer. I caught a few seconds 821 Kipling Avenue Toronto, Ont. M8Z 5G8 Phone: 416-233-1101 The quiet revolution. Average noise level less than 28 dB. Aaton exposuremeter with accurate reading whatever the camera speed, including variable AATON AATON wean Totally integrated video viewing system which allows the orientable viewfinder to retain total freedom of movement. Clear and coded numerals for time mark:ng without increasing the overall dimensions of the camera. \WKingsway Film Equipment Ltd. Warehouses in Toronto and Vancouver. Service across the country. of it as it was being screened next door. I saw a wrinkled, bloody baby emerging from the vagina. It was gently placed in a tub of water. Then I had to dash off to my own booth and stick on a cassette of Et Ca Tourne, a disco show made by Télé Métropole. Victor Ramagge had already sat down with three Nigerians. I éxpertly zipped fast forward to the Village People strutting their stuff before the camera, a few seconds of that and then fast forward again to the dance contest. I felt their excitement in the small sweaty cube, I saw them tapping their feet to the rhythm of the music. I told them how this disco show was different from all the other disco shows-because you can really see the people dance, the camera doesn’t flit from one obscure close-up to an equally obscure long shot. The kids can watch the show and learn the steps in their own bedroom, living room or wherever the TV had is place of honor in the house. They can practice along with the show and then go out that night and DO IT. They are only half-listening, they are too absorbed in the dancing. The show is sold, they want all 26 half-hours and I think glibly to myself, how can an underexposed, wrinkled baby compete with such dynamic material, with such energy. This business is about money, money, money. Phrases like cultural exchange do not have a high premium on the premises of the Palais. As a matter of fact, cultural unity, the frame of reference being set by the American shows, is more in line with the needs of this event. After all the excitement had died down, an uneasy question surfaced in my mind: in this shrinking world of satellites and cross-bred entertainment, who wields the power over the world’s leisure time? Who is the Big Decision Maker: the buyer, the seller, or the public? How much influence can a director or producer hope to have? O 8606 Fraser Street Vancouver, B.C. V6K 1N7 Phone: 604-324-7988 The state of the art in 16mm film editing tables, featuring digital counters, 18-faced prism for flickertree picture, 30 watt amplifier with volume treble and bass controls, 3 motor drive system locked to line frequency, 240 fps rewind speed. oT 921 Also available with EBU time code. automatic start marking system, stereo sound reproduction, electronic interlock to other machines. Cinema Canada/31