The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

492 The Educational Screen The Theatrical Field Conducted by Marguerite Orndorff Discovering the Camera Man "S HOOT!" says the great director, after he has spent hours — or days — on the perfection of every least detail of his scene. "Clickety-clickety" begins the camera, "Clickety-clickety," as the film rolls past its winking eye. You marvel at the genius of the great director, who can thus transform thought into action; you catch your breath with the beauty of the setting and the costumes; you weep surreptitiously at the moving performance of the famous actress; and all the time you are missing something. When you watch a scene, your eyes are all for the star or the director. The man behind the camera you are conscious of only in the same way that you are conscious of a necessary piece of furniture. True, he appears to be doing something, though very little in comparison with the others. He may move his camera backward or forward, he may squint through his lens, he may wiggle something here or jiggle something there, but beyond that — and grinding when, he's told to grind — he is hardly busy enough to be noticeable. But "clickety-clickety," continues the camera in its unemotional way, "clickety-clickety," as the scene progresses. And it gradually dawns upon you that, besides the directors, and the artists and the stars, here is somebody else who's important, too, the camera man! When you have reached this conclusion, it is time for you to talk to a camera man. Then you learn things. It was Guy Wilky of Lasky's who gave me an idea of what it means to be a camera man. He has been one for eleven years — the last four with William C. DeMille— and he ought to know. Possibly the most interesting statement he made in the course of our conversation, was this: Perfect photography is that which attracts no attention to itself. It sounds peculiar, but when you analyze it, it is sound. The whole purpose of a motion picture, says Mr. Wilky, is to present drama. The photography is merely the means of presenting it. If the means is allowed to dominate, and the end is subordinated, the purpose of the picture is lost— you get, not a drama, but a picture. The camera man must read the story he is to photograph, and must visualize it from the dramatic standpoint and the psychological standpoint as well. Then he must adapt his photography to match the moods of the story. If the spirit of a scene is gloomy, cold, dismal, his photography must catch that mood. If he does not possess that dramatic understanding, he can not co-operate in the fullest sense with his director— and a close understanding and cooperation between camera man and director is the greatest essential in the actual making of a picture. No two people of all those concerned in the picture are closer than these two. To produce the best results, therefore, it is not enough that the camera man obey the director's orders; he must understand the director's viewpoint, and be able to translate in terms of photography the latter's dramatic idea. However, as Mr. Wilky pointed out, there are other factors besides the dramatic instinct that are necessities in a good camera man. A thorough technical knowledge of the medium and its possibilities and limitations is assumed in the case of any expert, and in the camera man, this includes many, many requirements that we may never have thought of. There is, for example, the matter of spacing. He must know, when the director calls for a long shot, where to place his camera so as to take in the biggest portion of the set, and what sort of lens to use — for spacing varies with lenses. He must know, when a close-up is required, whether conditions demand that he move his camera up to a few feet of the actors, or use a long-focus lens. Then there is lighting, one of the most fascinating phases of motion picture work. Here again, character and mood play an important part: cold hard lights for drab, dismal scenes: soft, diffused lights for gentler humors. And when it comes to lighting the actors themselves, the variety is almost unending. DiflFerent sub jects require different methods, and the expert