Home Movies (1954)

Jackson Winter Independent Producer By JAMES RANDOLPH JACKSON WINTER Jackson Winter is a 40-year-old motion picture cameraman in Hollywood who has made more than a score of documentary films — all of them away from the movie center; in fact, he shot all of them abroad. Next month he leaves again for Panama, South America, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt on three separate shooting assignment. Oddest thing about Winter is that he writes, edits and shoots all his own stuff, to order and in this way eliminates the temperamental hassles so common when various kinds of talent must work together. Most outstanding thing about Winter's material is that he has a keen sense of flowing time plus a flaivless technique, no matter what the subject or where he happens to be at the time of shooting. A review of one of his films, "The Magic Walls of Carcassone" reviewed by Film World is reproduced below. * * * THE MAGIC WALLS OF CARCASSONE (Stories of Yesterdoy's World series' EDUCATIONAL. Sound, 12'/2 min., color. Sole. Produced by Jockson Winter. Users: Junior high through college history; general audiences. Content: Presents the history of Carassonne as revealed in its architecture. Dr. Jean Girou, physician and surgeon, who no lives in the castle of Carassonne. is shown as he makes notes one evening on the history of the castle. The walls, which once saw many battles, are shown as the sound track recreates battle sounds and as narration describes the implements of war. Various parts of the castle demonstrate the influence of the Romans, Visigoths, Saracens, and others. Many sequences show the antiquity of the town and the beauty of the countryside, as narration points out various bits of history surrounding the area. Comment: Use of smoke or mist across the screen when unseen battles are being waged is interesting and helps to create the illusion of time. The historical notes are also interesting, but some preshowing background needs to be presented to derive best results . Distributor: Simmel-Meservey, Inc., 854 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles 35. WHILE Winter's films might be classed as "travelogs" that much maligned word somehow falls short of the real description of his film. First of all Y\ inter weaves facts and a mass of information into his 121/2 minute films, each one complete in itself. For example, when he shot "The Six Faces of Pharoah" in Egypt, he produced a visual record of Egyptian history in a capsule and then related this to present day Egypt. This way. the viewer can compare present day events with ancient Egypt and get a better concept of the times and habits of that ancient civilization. "It's simply research, and then more research." said Winter. "And what's more, this is all done before I go out to shoot, because without notes and definite shooting script the work of the camerman becomes almost too much. What with angles, exposure and other items relative to the film iself, it is too much to expect that the cameraman will also work out a story pattern at the same time. But with notes at hand, it is a simple matter to shoot your stuff quickly and then get out to the next one." He has set up a series of basic rules for himself, and here they are: 1. Thorough research, compiled into note-books is paramount to the success of your picture. 2. Make a continuity rought (not a complete script) that outlines the subject as you'd like to see is in finished form. Many local conditions about which you know nothing until you arrive can throw a beautiful, prepared script into the wastebasket. 3. Once under production, the research notes, plus the continuity rough, plus the local conditions, will blend together and you'd be • See "WINTER" on Page 329 Petra, famed "City of Rock" in the mountains of South Jordan, was the subject of Winters' films. Note the tremendous size of the edifice by comparing the two horses, (bottom). Building is eight stories high. 321