Close Up (Jul-Nov 1927)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jul-Nov 1927
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
000519
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Switzerland, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
As an active film magazine, CLOSE UP lasted only a short time, from 1927 to 1933. Yet the legacy of this English-language periodical, which was published in Switzerland, continues to matter. Edited by Bryher and her husband Kenneth Macpherson, CLOSE UP became THE magazine for energetic debates about the nature of cinema and manifestos imagining new forms of filmmaking and spectatorship. The magazine published articles by filmmakers, such as Sergei Eisenstein, and female literary modernists, such as H.D. and Gertrude Stein. As film scholar Anne Friedberg explains in the anthology CLOSE-UP, 1927-1933: CINEMA & MODERNISM, 'CLOSE UP became the model for a certain type of writing about film -- writing that was theoretically astute, politically incisive, critical of films that were simply 'entertainment.' For six and a half years, CLOSE UP maintained a forum for a broad variety of ideas about the cinema; it never advocated a single direction of development, but rather posed alternatives to existing modes of production, consumption, and film style.' Like Friedberg's own writing, CLOSE UP continues to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of film and media theory. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
June 20, 2024
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CLOSE UP hillside setting with a huge crucifix in the foreground. Shortly after we left it crashed to the ground, severing two fingers of a mechanic who was holding a wire support. This gave a somewhat grim significance to a similar scene built up in the same place a few days later. The hill was there but the crucifix wasn't. The usual gnarled trees gave the usual ghostly effect, aided by the poisonous green light of the mercury vapour lamps. A small platform containing chairs supported an intent audience of wives and relations. As usual the Debrie Parvo, Model L camera was in use. These are easily the most popular in Germany. Indeed we did not visit a set where they were not in use. Fritz Lang works on his new film "in private". When we peeped in he was engaged in "shooting" an hotel bedroom. A young man in a bright magenta suit lounged in the hotel doorway. Wagner, who photographed 7)^^ L^'^S^ D^r J eanne N ey , wdi^ intent over his camera (a Debrie again) and carpenters were filhng the studio with more huge buildings in the Metropolis style. We had to walk on elevated boards, as in a flood, as they were "tarring" the road. Lang said he expected to finish the film in January. It will be another super-film. 77