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PRODUCTION FOR AMATEURS
CHOOSING A SUBJECT
ANDREW BUCHANAN
Sometimes brilliant technicians select the most unsuitable subjects for their productions, and, quite naturally, there are others who possess a genius for selecting good subjects, but are unable to produce them adequately. So much depends upon the individual and his circumstances that no hard-and-fast rules can be laid down on this most difficult and fundamental matter.
However, the first advice I would give is to remember your medium and its demand for Movement. Secondly, that Movement is created both by the action taking place in shots, and also by the relation of a series of shots, one to the other. By the latter method, a number of shots of static images can be given movement by the skill of the cutter. Perhaps it seems elementary to ask an enthusiastic student of the film to remember Movement, but it is surprising how it is lost sight of when one is engrossed in filming a subject and encounters, at every turn, something unexpected, that is irresistible but totally unnecessary, which will probably upset one's cutting plans.
The documentary film is of primary importance, but one must arrive at that conclusion by logical reasoning and experience. Otherwise, to be filled at the outset with an intense desire to make documentaries means that one will probably copy characteristics of those who have succeeded, and consequently the individuality of the producer will fail to express itself fully, through having been preoccupied in striving to live up to certain standards set by others. Also, please eliminate from the mind the word "raw." Avoid "raw material," and "life in the raw." It is inclined to be boring — and inaccurate. Substitute the word "natural" for "raw."
Preliminaries over, I would urge the producer to plan his early subjects so that they are composed chiefly of exteriors. If his ambition extends to portraying fictional drama, make the setting in the open air, as far as possible.
Next, I suggest to him to give his camera away for at least two weeks, because his first job is to plan and produce his subject in his mind, and the camera fills one with impatience to start shooting. I would like to see him begin by making a film of the city, town, or village in which he resides, and, however well he knows the neigh
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