Close Up (Mar-Dec 1933)

Page scan 000221 from Close Up

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Mar-Dec 1933
Publisher:
[London, etc., Pool]
Volume:
Close up ... devoted to the art of films
Leaf #:
000221
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 209 Among the contributors is Robert Fairthorne, whose article in this issue will probably inspire readers to seek out his article on The Principles of the Film in this new quarterly. Orlton West explains the meaning and different methods of Montage. There are other articles well worth reading, and reviews of films, in all of which is discernible an honesty of purpose and freedom from commercialism which will make Film a welcome addition to cinema literature. J' Accuse! (Published by the World Alliance for Combating Anti-Semitism. British Empire Headquarters, Salomon House, 33, St. James's Street, London, S.W.I. 1/-.) Germany Puts the Clock Back, by Edgar Ansel Mowrer. John Lane. 7/6. Readers of Close Up who wish to understand the present position of Germany would do well to read the above books, J' Accuse prints extracts from The Times, The Manchester Guardian and other responsible sources, which give an accurate representation of what has happened and is happening to the German Jews. Messages of sympathy from members of the church, legal and medical professions, and others in England are included and there are interesting photographs. Mowrer in his volume, gives an excellent and comprehensive account of anti-Semitism and of the different factors that produced the present German revolution. It must be remembered that in 1920, German books were not read nor the films shown in other countries of Europe, except Austria. In the twelve years up to the end of 1932, writers such as Heinrich Mann, and directors such as G. W. Pabst, had opened libraries and cinemas all over the world to German books and films. In one day their work was destroyed, and they themselves, forced into exile. Why this has happened is explained clearly and concisely in Germany Puts the Clock Back. An alteration in German foreign policy will not affect the position of the exiles nor of the many political prisoners. It is to be hoped therefore, and for our own safety, that the above volumes have as wide a circulation as possible. Making Better Movies, by Arthur L. Gale and Russell C. Holslag. New York : Amateur Cinema League. For members only. This paper-bound volume of 205 pages is a manual of the technique (hardly of the art) of the sub-standard (8mm and 16 mm) film-making. Chapter I is instruction in camera-handling, from which the book goes on to treat of the mechanism of editing and splicing, types of lenses, lights and reflectors, slow motion, koda colour into " avant-garde " amateurism, montage, etc., concluding with advice on " How to Use the Amateur Cinema League." The book should be a valuable primer, very complete in its data, to the miniaturist, especially if he utilizes only the authoritative mechanical advice, and avoids the occasional thematic suggestions and the conception of devices as " tricks." H. A. P.