Documentary News Letter (1947-1949)

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1><)CUMENTAR\ III \l M W S 15 Ken Cameron asks What Shall It Profit a Man? the body responsible for the organization and the regulation of the working lives of those engaged in the technique of British film production is known as the Association of Cine and Allied Technicians. This rather implies a proficiency in technical executance as opposed to the more peative work of the artist. This of course is not intended, and a film always has been and always will be known as the work of a director, or a writer, or a producer. The names of those who actually expose the film are rarely familiar to the audience. Perhaps that is a little unfortunate, but the lights of the more functional of the population are apt to be hidden beneath bushels. The technician is, after all, a very important person. The most far-reaching of films of educational or social significance would for ever remain in the minds of those who conceived them were it not for the individuals who press the right knobs at the right time. But in documentary as in the feature film phrases such as 'creative treatment of actuality' and 'drama in the living fact', coined by Grierson and hackneyed by his disciples, all ignore the work of the men who act as pure technicians behind the camera. And even the densest ninepenny must realize if it was put to him that the increasing number of studios soon to open or reopen in this country will create a demand for skilled technical people which will rapidly swallow up the unfortunate bulk of ACAT's list of unemployed. And what are we doing to supply that demand? Apprenticeship The new apprenticeship scheme has been planned and discussed far too long. It is absurd that a plan of such obvious benefit to producer and worker alike should only now be reaching the stage of possible operation. Hitherto a potential newcomer to the industry could achieve his wish only if he knew somebody of influence. And then he was lucky if he entered the branch best i suited to him, and phenomenally lucky if he got a well thought out training, not only in that branch but also in the allied crafts of those working around him. And we cannot deny that a grounding in editing would help a cameraman to do his job well. This apprenticeship scheme, evolved jointly by the ACAT and the BFPA, is due to start operation early this year, but as this is being written the details are not fully known. It is, however, recognized that newcomers to the industry can do so only by undergoing the training that it entails. This should do a lot to cut down the number of passengers carried by most producing organizations. That section of film production personnel which is supposed to work with its head rather than its hands is a happy hunting ground for deadheads whose contribution to the country's movie output is pathetically small. But even when this apprenticeship plan is operating, just how are we in documentary going to get on? The dividing line between feature and documentary is real enough by the very nature of the films and those who make the n The inc\ uablc difference in salary ratings makes this line much more formidable. Certainly the companies who do not cater for the theatrical market cannot be expected to pay the inflated salaries now prevailing in the major studios: that is unless the results of the new Films Act are far more satisfactory than we ever dare hope. But somehow or other this fact must not prejudice documentary's chances of recruiting worth-while newcomers. And by worth while we also mean those who will not take the first opportunity of leaving the movement for the attractions outside. The tendency to get into the industry by way of the documentary film, to get a good training there, and to leave it as soon as his company is beginning to get value for the training, has been far too common during recent years. The skill and adaptation needed for our type of film is every bit as highly developed as that for the feature picture — in some ways a whole lot more so. Documentary is not a school for Denham, and must not be looked upon as such. Crown Film Unit Recent developments would indicate that a larger proportion of Government-sponsored films will be handed over to the Crown Film Unit for production. This Unit at Beaconsfield has technical facilities which are, or soon will be, no mean item in this country's film making potential. It has technicians whose standard of workmanship during the past years has shown that they are quite capable of giving the necessary quality of work. But whether it has enough of these vital factors to cope with all the work understood to be coming its way is questionable. It is not the easiest thing in the world to attracl cameramen and soundmen who can undergo with equanimity the rigours of a British location in these piping days — and our best work is still done many miles from the convenience of the studio and the comfort of the home —and who will produce technical excellence on the screen in spite of the war-weary equipment which is all that most of us can offer. Certainly the blame for the dilatoi mess in putting the new scheme into full operation does not lie exclusively on any one body. Such a plan to be efficient must cost mone>, and it is never too easy to get funds for the most worthy ol sauscs The Lafl of the Closed Shop One wonders whether the attitude of ACAT these days is entirely beyond reproach. I heUnion is maintaining a rigid adherence to the unwritten and quite unwarranted I iw of the Closed Shop, and while bringing all its guns to bear upon trivial and doctrinaire del tils it has successfully avoided the main issue of keeping its membership not only well looked after, but /.;/. we must remind readers that the expressed m am article (even one written M <j membei •>/ the Board) do not net oincide with those oi ili,' Board I D united. Ii is certainly high tune tor those members who do not altogether agree with piesent take a less in tctive at tun ■ at their studio meetings and at the annual ge M meeting, just precisely what they think. The reluctance of so many of the rank and lii office and to attend the AGM leives the waj too clear for those of an extremist viewpoint whose eagerness to be aym everything and everybody is not tempered by anj readiness to see anybody else's point of view Unfortunate Just how much the policy which is sometimes tantamount to obstructionism prevailing in & units at the moment is dictated by the General Council, and how much emerges from privatedecisions made by local shop stewards and their intimate confreres is hard to determine It would be unfortunate to say the least it' the In ion's democratic ideals were jeopardized by the lew autocrats who rule the far too rare full studio meetings, and present fails </. omplis to their obedient if somewhat sheeplike satellites They smugly stigmatize their critics as reactionary, and maintain their nattering-in-the-corner tactics under the impression that they are considered the altruistic saviours of mankind. Some of them are all too quickly developing into the sell-appointed destroyers of the goose that lays the golden eggs. Money for Jam In the past ACAT has done work of inestimable value. Salary rates and working condil have reached levels undreamt of before the war, although the cost of living has done its best to keep pace. But can the General Council not seethat all upgrade movement is bound sometime to reach a point when it becomes downgrade' And when one gets near that point it is wise to stop and think for a moment. We must not proceed further with a policy which makes u m siblc for an enthusiastic technician who upon bis job as something more than a vehick gaining his daily bread with butter and jam on both sides -to work all night long it the spirit moves him. The Union has done ere it work in the past. Ok Hut the sweat shop has become the closed shop, and the Malt' Crown I nil is rapidly becoming the Money I 01 lam i ii se the solution is obv ions if we can only see it through. We, that is all o\ us w ho value jobs and think our work worth while, must examine very thoroughly any action which tends in any way to discourage rather than encou production And it that action smacks too much of stubborn inflexibility .^^^ not i ofconv monsense, then it must tv gently but verv firmly put in its place It is a pity, hi; I the ordinary decent members of this industry arc going to have to do a little quiet propaganda work themselves <>' the skuld the test.