Home Movies (1944)

HOME MOVIES FOR FEBRUARY er the scene the larger the image must be to enable complete audience perception. Long shots depend on continuous action to determine footage. Suppose we have a continuous long shot of an airplane coming down the runway, taking off, and as it starts to circle the field, it suddenly bursts into flames and crashes. Such a scene would be packed with drama and the camera would play upon it even though it consumed a full roll of film. Such action would be worth the footage. On the other hand, a series of ten-foot shots of scenery would invariably leave an audience yawning. Continuous action in the distance as captured in long shots must be out of the ordinary to hold interest beyond a reasonable time. A horse race in long shot is not nearly so interesting as when intercut with close shots. Such variations in scene length command the audience attention desired in successful movies. It is up to the cameraman, of course, to get his scenes in the proper proportion of long, medium and closeup shots and in the right amount of footage. The experienced filmer, of course, will never stint on his footage while shooting but will allow ample latitude for cutting by the editor. On the subject of editing, our Hollywood film editor said that the final editing of any picture is an undertaking that only experience or a sixth sense can dictate. Studio producers, directors and cutters still disagree among themselves on matters of cutting — usually a case of personal ideas steadfastly held to. Nevertheless, if the amateur editor will acquire, through study and experience, a feci for suspenseful story telling, he will more readily recognize what an important part medium shots and closeups and shots of brief footage play iri injecting emphasis and excitement in his pictures. A well-cut film screens smoothly and interestingly. There are no dull spots. No scenes are so lengthy as to be tediously boring. Every frame must justify its inclusion, and this applies just as much to a movie of family activities about the home as to a carefully planned scenario picture. To do a job of correct cutting, the movie maker must steel himself to what might be termed a hard-hearted, impersonal judicial mood. Naturally, it will be difficult at first for him to see expensive and perhaps carefully photographed film ruthlessly deleted. Our natural human tendency is to let shots run full just as they were filmed. To some, snipping only a single frame is a sacrilege. But every movie amateur must realize this vital point: It is not the length of the film that controls its screen value, but the form and style in which it is presented. There is a fitting, realtive size for all things. A builder does not make a house larger because he happens to have a few extra bricks, nor does a seamstress make a dress longer or fuller because she has extra yardage. By the same token, there is a happy medium in cutting and editing a picture where the exact footage of scenes is established by the action and interest they contain and the relation they bear to the scenes that precede and follow them. The first step in editing a picture is to screen, several times, the film just as it is received from the processing laboratory, studying each scene carefully and allowing the novelty to wear off. Afterward, the film may be taken to the editing board and broken down into separate scenes and made ready for re-splicing in regular order. Usually a moderate cut is made in each scene and all scenes spliced together in a rough cut and screened again. Now, a more exacting J study should be made of both continuity and timing of scenes; here scene length must be watched and notes made for the final editing that will result in cutting each scene to its required length. And here a few basic editing fundamentals are worth noting: When cutting directly from long or medium shots to closeups, make sure the positions and movements of subjects match correctly. (Of course, this should have been watched at time of filming.) Don't have a person looking to left in the medium shot and to right in the closeup. By progressively shortening the length of scenes, tempo or pace of the film is stepped up. Long scenes have a quieting effect. Thus, having a beautiful scene play longer on the screen imparts an effect of quietude and peacefulness. The very nature of the shot, therefore, and the way it is used in the complete film, influences its length. The shorter a scene is to be cut, the closer the subject should be photographed. Closeups can be cut to shorter lengths than long shots. The eye requires a certain period of time to take in the increased detail in larger areas of long shots, whereas in closeups of single persons or objects, the eye covers the subject instantly. To leave a closeup play on the screen as long as a long shot is to waste footage and slow action. In scenic and travel films, the filmer should avoid making an endless parade of scenes from one camera position or identical camera setups. It is not difficult to understand why variety is also the spice of lively filming and that an • A fine example of camera editing. The housewife busily baking a cake is interrupted by a persistent peddler. With an emphatic "No!" she sends him on his way. The filmer, by wise choice of camera angles, conveyed the idea quickly and effectively in two closeups. Note the compelling composition of these two scenes from "Calumet's Christmas Contest" by Mrs. Jean Holbrook. occasional closeup of an interesting subject intercut with a sequence of scenic shots makes for greater audience interest. When the visual action fails to make the screen story clear, one should not hesitate to insert an informative title explaining the situation. Many a gap in continuity can be bridged by adroit use of informative or spoken titles. Awkward transitions of locale from one point to another, or of one subject to another may be smoothed by use of fades, wipes and dissolves. Wipes and fades, where omitted at time of filming, can easily be added during editing by means of chemical preparations available at camera stores. When scenes and titles have finally been assembled, and the result as filmed is not altogether satisfying, the amateur should not become discouraged. Few films produced in Hollywood go out into the nation's theatres as originally cut. Often they are subjected to a "polishing" process that goes on for weeks, even months, afterward. And I know cf one amateur who won a recent national award for his film who, still unsatisfied with his editing, is constantly working the film over on his editing board. ~k * * 61