Close Up (Jul-Dec 1929)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Jul-Dec 1929
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
000587
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Global Cinema, Switzerland, and Early 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:
August 29, 2022
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CLOSE UP financially obligate themselves in their desire to secure a popular feature for film production. In the present instance these terms include a cash payment to Whiteman of fifty thousand dollars upon the signing of the contract ; another fifty thousand upon his arrival at the studio ; still another fifty thousand upon the completion of the picture ; and yet another fifty thousand on the day of the picture's release. Also, a salary of five thousand dollars a week during the two months he was scheduled to be at the studio, with a supplemental eight thousand a w^eek for his men. And as a further recognition of his value as a public attraction, the contract stipulates that he is to receive forty per cent, of the picture's profits, in addition to the various cash payments already recited. The contract was signed last November, and in preparation for the making of the picture, which the contract stipulated should begin on the 21st of June, Universal spent much ready cash. This included a big price to two authors for a collaborated story to fit the already selected title, The King of JazZy and an expenditure of ninety thousand dollars for the building of a vast futuristic set called for by the scenario — a set, which, like many another before it, is said to be the largest ever constructed on a studio stage. Besides, as a matter of gratuity and a show of good will, the company prepared a sound-proof bungalow for Mr. Whiteman's personal accommodation, in which as part of its elaborate equipment were installed a special cooling system and a fivethousand-dollar grand piano. Also, a special lodge was built on the studio lot for the accommodation of the orchestra members. 413