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HOME MOVIES & HOME TALKIES
THE FIRST ARTICLE OF AN IMPORTANT NEW SERIES WRITTEN EXCLUSIVELY FOR "HOME MOVIES."
By
ADRIAN BRUNEL
{the well-known Film Director}
The author observing camera angles with the aid of a set model and scale
HOW TO PRODUCE A FILM
I. THE PRE'SCENARIO STAGE
You have decided to produce a film. What is it to be ? Or rather, what sort of film shall you make ? I don't know where you live, but the locality will obviously affect your choice of subject — ^whether it is a natural history film, a "travel" picture or a story. For instance, it might be any of the following : —
A Day in the Life of a Market Town
Summertime hi Shropshire
Queer Trades in the Five Towns
Life on a Farm
A Drama of the Canals
A Comedy of Suburbia
A Fairy Story
A Fantasy
A Tragedy
Each of these is of equal importance from the vie\\'point of the artisttechnician, for artistry, technique, psychology, craftsmanship and all the things that go to the making of a successful drama are just as much needed in the non-dramatic subject. It is just as essential to know when to take a close-up and where to insert it in a film of cows as it is in a film of crooks. While much of this may arise in the very important process of editing yoiu' film, the proper time to consider it is in the first stage, when you are planning your scenario.
Unless you have already had some experience of film making, I would stress the desirability of tackling the simpler subjects first. Walter Ruttmann's "Berlin" and Flahertv's "Moana " are just as important contributions to the cinema as the finest work of the most up-to-date studios. These men are as great or even greater artists than the greatest director of the conventional dramatic subjects. So never make excuses to
yourselves or youi friends for tackling the less pretentious subjects.
Suppose you decide to embark on a production of the town in which you live, you will find ample material of interest if you have anything of the creative cinematic artist in you. Don't dismiss your home -town as a dull place unworthy of being immortalised in your film. It isn't a dull place. If you are a bit of a cynic and find the people around you a dull lot — then make a cynical picture of a dull lot of people. If you find them
inexpressibly comic, let's have your angle on them. Be individual.
As for your method of tackling such a subject — apart from the spirit in which you tackle it — you would do well to consider your manner of presenting and arranging the film. Ruttmann dealt with "Berlin" collectively but chronologically — he began with the dawn, the early workers going off to their labours down deserted streets, the milk being taken in, the postman delivering the fii stpost, children going off to school, and
E. A. Dupont testing a camera angle during the shooting of " Cape Forlorn," a British. International Picture, which he directed