Harrison's Reports (1944)

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A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXVI SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1944 No. 39 Wanton Waste in Production — No. 3 (Concluded from The technician who chooses the "takes" that will be put in the film is the film editor, commonly called "film cutter," unless, of course, the director gives definite orders, in which case the first "rough assembly" must be assembled as desired by the director. This is his prerogative in accordance with the rules of the Directors Guild. But once the director views the first assembly, then either the unit producer or the film editor takes charge. When either does so, he can overrule the director by taking out scenes which the director had approved, but which, in the opinion of the film editor, did not give the best results. When the film editor is done with the editing, the picture is said to have been cut to the proper length, unless, of course, the picture belong to a minor classification and must be brought down to a standard length. In such a case, the film editor often is compelled to take out scenes that are, in his opinion, essential to the proper unfolding of the action. Because of the nature of his work, the film editor knows more about the wastefulness of the directors than the mem' ber of any of the other crafts. I sought the viewpoint of some film editors for presenta' tion in this article. "There is no excuse," one of them said to me, "for the so many 'takes' of each scene most directors 'shoot.' In one case I know, a director shot fifty 'takes' of one scene. When I was making the first assembly, I asked him which 'take' to use. 'Oh,' he said to me, — -'any one of them will do! Use "take One!" ' The remainder of the 'takes* were thrown, speaking figuratively as well as almost actually, on the cutting room floor. (Editor's J^ote: The film editors have fine hoo\s on which they hang the superfluous film.) "The trouble with many directors is that they lack the power of visualization and in order for them to cover themselves they take shots right and left of almost every scene so that the film editor may have plenty of material on hand to use in case a scene does not 'cut.' By having the cameraman photograph many 'takes' of the same action, he hopes that somebody will put them together to make something out of them. He shoots from all sides, from all angles, all around the actors. Thus the waste piles up. "A capable director shoots no more than two or three 'takes' if neither the first or the second 'take' answers his requirements. Only when an actor 'muffs' his lines is he compelled to continue shooting 'takes' until that actor pronounces his lines correctly. Under such circumstances, he is justified for shooting many 'takes.' "The wise director has his film editor on the set, watching every scene while the shooting goes on. If the film editor thinks that a certain scene will not 'cut' as it is shot, he warns the director and a modification is made on the spot. The bigger the director, the more easily he accepts his film editor's suggestions. The director who shoots 'wild' is the one who accepts no suggestions lest it be said that he does not know his business. It is an attempt to hide his ignorance, for a director who knows his business realizes that this is a composite art and, being such, every detail cannot be thought out by one person. Oftentimes an 'outsider' will see something that the director may miss, for the director is immersed in the details of handling his actors and of seeing that everything on the set is correct. If he is an intelligent director, he will invariably accept a suggestion, not only from his film editor, but also from his script clerk, and even from a grip. (Editor's T^ote: A 'grip' is a general technician.) Such a director does not have to shoot all around the actors; he knows what the script calls for and he goes about getting it. "Some studios construct their scripts with only master scenes. (Editor's T^ote : A master scene gives the director last wee\'s issue) only a general idea of the action, leaving it to his discretion how to split it into individual scenes so as to ma\e the action unfold smoothly and logically.) While such a method of screen-play construction is economical, it requires that the director know his business. The good Lord help the studio if the director who is given such a screen play should happen to lack the power of visualization. "Another fault with some directors is the fact that often, when they keep on shooting additional 'takes' of a scene, they fail to tell the players why they are shooting the new 'take', with the result that the actor repeats the error, if an error was the cause of the 're-take.' "Most directors keep on shooting a scene over and over again because raw stock is, in their opinion, cheap; they forget that, not only time is consumed, but printing and developing cost money." Another film editor told me that he had seen a director shoot 'take' after 'take' of miniature scenes where there was no action and no chance for anything to go wrong. "It was," as he put it, "cruel waste." * * * Of the members of the craft that know more about the ability or lack of ability of directors, none is more qualified to speak, excepting the cameraman, than a member of the grip craft. (Editor's T^ote: A "grip" is, as it has already been said, a general technician, a sort of "jac\-of -all-trades." A head grip told me that it would ta\e a day for him to define what the duties of a grip are. T^either the director nor the cameraman can ma\e a move without him. A s\illed grip is a great asset.) So I sought the opinion of one of them, a person with whose knowledge I am thoroughly familiar. He said to me: "I have seen directors shoot 'take' after 'take' without any rhyme or reason. Their only excuse was that they were trying to attain perfection. And I have seen directors shoot sequences that cost thousands of dollars, afterwards thrown on the 'cutting room floor.' Of course, often the directors were not responsible for the fact that the sequence was superfluous; when the director is handed a script and is asked to shoot it, the fault lies with the faulty construction of the script. And the unit producer should have seen to it that the script was right. But in the case of directors with a name, they are as much to blame, for the reason that, before shooting starts, the director is handed the script and is asked to read it with a view to making suggestions for alterations. "Anyway, you want to know about waste and here it is. "We watch the director and, if we had not worked with him before, we know at once whether he knows his business or not by the way he acts. A good director seldom raises his voice; he knows what he wants and he doesn't have to shout his orders to the actors. Such a director shoots few 'takes.' On the other hand, the faker shouts so that there is no mistake that he is heard, for he thinks that only by shouting can he impress the actors and the technicians of his genius. "I have worked with directors who gave their orders to the actors during actual shooting. It is true that they spoke their orders in either scenes or spots in the scenes where there was no dialogue, but the 'virgin' sound track was ruined, and the dubbing department had to use library sound to replace the sound that was ruined. "But library sound can never be as satisfactory as original sound, for example, when the actor's foot sinks into sand, you hear a crunching sound, which is in unison with the movement of the foot. To use library sound to take the (Continued on last page)