Exhibitors Herald (1926)

80 EXHIBITORS HERALD October 30, 1926 Camera! A Department Devoted to News and Affairs of the American Society of Cinematographers and Its Members, Published as a “Studio Section” Feature. Good Films Are Too Frequently at Cinematographers’ Expense By FOSTER GOSS PROGRESSIVENESS shown by representative cinematographers in immediately adopting improvements in motion photography equipment is a decided factor in the steady advance in the refinement of the cinema, according to Daniel B. Clark, president of the American Society of Cinematographers. “'T'HE cinematographer,” Clark states, ‘‘never closes his imagination to newer or better things in the way of cinematographic paraphernalia. Our history shows that we have readily adopted and encouraged all meritorious devices that have presented themselves to our attention. This has meant much more than is apparent on the surface of things. Manufacturers of cinematographic equipment necessarily are not dealing in volume insofar as this particular trade is concerned. Hence, if the cinematographer had been content to follow the line of least resistance, if he had been content with old-line equipment and the results that such would obtain, we not only would have failed to bring about this wonderful progress in motion pictures; but, on the other hand, those creators of lenses and other items would have been discouraged in their efforts and would have had no incentive to spur them on to keep abreast of the ever-improving requirements of cinematographer. “While this foresighted attitude has proved a boon to the art as a whole, it has, at the same time, worked a great expense on those cinematographers who are not fortunate enough to be identified with studios whose policy is to obtain improvements in equipment once they have proven themselves. Such cinematographers, in order to follow the natural bent of their calling, find it imperative to purchase, out of their own pockets, such new paraphernalia as they may find they CHAS. G. CLARKE— A.S.C. PHOTOGRAPHER “RED” GRANGE’S “ONE MINUTE TO PLAY” F. B. O. RELEASE “LOVE OF WOMEN” FOX. JYfICK MUSURACA is at the camera L ’ on the truck. The photo was made in Los Angeles while the Preferred Pictures company was shooting scenes for “His New York Wife.” need in order to give expression the novel effects they have conceived for a given picture. While an era of admirable stability long since has been reached in the matter of the professional motion picture camera, expenditures on the part of the cinematographer for new types of lenses, irises, and the like, form a considerable portion of his salary — a portion that, in a couple of years, amounts to practically a dead loss. The reason for this is that the momentum of the progress which the camera artist has engendered in this profession is so great that the rapid changing of demands makes a type of lens, for instance, that is ‘the thing’, as of today, obsolete in a couple of years. “In the case of the freelance cinematographer especially,” Clark concluded, “his salary covers not only his artistry, skill and service, but really covers an investment as well — an investment which, comprising cameras, magazines, lenses and so on, amounts to several thousands of dollars. Therefore he has a right to expect to be reasonably rewarded for his services. Fortunately, the larger studios long ago recognized the economic wisdom of maintaining their own cinematographic equipment, and, in addition, in always ascertaining the cinematographers’ recommendations so that their outfits may always be kept up to date.” Charles Van Enger A. S. C. CINEMATOGRAPHER “PARADISE” “MEN of the DAWN” FIRST NATIONAL WALTER LUNDIN— A.S.C. Cinematographer “THE MOUNTAIN BOY” Harold Lloyd Prod. DAVID ABEL — A.S.C. CINEMATOGRAPHER HONEYMOON EXPRESS” "HIS OFFICIAL WIFE” Warner Bros. Nick Musuraca A. S. C. Cinematographer “His New York Wife” Preferred Pictures “Passionate Quest” J. Stuart Blackton Warner Bros.