Designing for films (1949)

THE PAINTERS Every kind of paint is used in a film studio: oil-bound water paint or distemper, all the quickdrying paints containing different forms of spirit varnish (shellac and methylated spirits) and occasionally cellulose. The craftsmen also apply their paints in many ingenious ways to get the varied effects required. Spray guns are used extensively, and it is extraordinary what can be done with different guns in the hands of a skilled craftsman. Paints can be sprayed, when they are almost as thick as plaster. Adhesives can be sprayed on to an area through a stencil and flock can be sprayed on top, resulting in an effect like patterned velvet. Cellulose can be sprayed through a special nozzle that gives a fine or coarse splutter resulting in a wonderfully textured stipple. Considering the scope and interest of this work it is surprising that many would-be designers do not take it up as part of their experience. Unluckily there are not enough artists among the painters to-day and the jobs often suffer for that reason. As the paint department is allowed so very little time in which to get its results, it is essential that all the wood used for mouldings, doors, etc. that have to show a good finish is free from knots, rough edges and resin. The painters seldom have time to put on an undercoat and use sandpaper, though for quickness they sometimes paper bad woodwork instead of giving it an undercoat. For papered effects the paper is generally not applied directly upon the plywood flats unless they have been previously waxed; they are covered with grease-extracted hessian, or scenic canvas, and papered upon that. It is useful to keep a stock of different naturalcoloured papers as well as your patterned papers, so there is no need for them to be painted. Any kind of wood, from Indian laurel to Italian walnut and best English limed oak, can be found reproduced perfectly on paper by such firms as Sanderson's, who also make up special coarse oatmeal papers for the studios. These wood papers when handled properly in panels are perfect for photographic purposes. The Pearl Wallpaper Co make some really marvellous varnish paper representing different kinds of parquet flooring, which also photographs well. By repainting certain segments of the patterns with darker spirit varnish, bolder patterns can be made to appear and a greater variation is thus achieved. Certain wallpaper effects can be stencilled upon the paper after it is up, using the spray gun instead of a brush. With the development of the silk screen process almost any design can be reproduced at very short notice. All kinds of marble can be imitated very simply and cheaply by floating oil or water colours on a solution of carragheen moss and laying lengths of tinted wallpaper on the surface, the paper picking up the colour that is floating in streaky marble-like patterns on the gummy solution. The use of the spray gun to emphasize light and shade is very extensive in studio work. As sets are lighted from above they nearly always have an unnecessary amount of light at the top, unless covered in by a ceiling, and they are therefore generally toned down with a darker colour from the top edge. This is done with a spray gun with a wide nozzle, in order that the blend shall be invisible. I always build up the shadows as dictated by the natural source of light, strong nearest the source and softening farther away. To bring out the texture of a plastered 93