International photographer (Feb-Dec 1929)

Eighteen T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 192* ^tills £till ^fCove the z^fCovies "Cut!" The director, cameraman and actors relax, the lights go out, and the scene is over. Now out of the obscurity comes an unobtrusive person, carrying another type of camera. "Still, please," he says, apologetically. "Gosh, you hear again!" — from the cameraman. "Get that cheesebox out of here!" — from the director. The actors have vanished, electricians have already shifted the lights for another scene. "But how about a still, stir; this was an important scene?" "Oh, make it after lunch!" "All right, sir," and back to obscurity goes the still man, to discover too late that after lunch the company is to go on location and another golden opportunity is lost forever. To him alone? Nay, to his employers and to the production, also. This is a concrete example familiar to every still man, for until recently, he has been an object of derision and opprobrium to every one on the set — until he brings forth his finished pictures. Then he hears remarks: "Oh, gimme!" "Say, don't I look awful!" "That's a rotten composition, with the star off on the side that way!" "Can't you make me any better looking than that?" "Whoever told you you could make photographs?" "You ought to wear glasses — that's way out of focus!" "Guess your camera moved or something — why don't you get a decent lens?" "Oh, well, life's just one d — photograph after another!" The still man slinks off, but later, after the production is finished, from producer, director, stars, and all down the line comes the plaintive — or otherwise, usually — wail: "Why in hell didn't you get more stills?" The still man can only photograph what he sees, consequently if the actors are bored and uninterested, naturally his pictures will be mediocre, and if published, will call violent protests from said players, who, if they are high priced and temperamental, can have the still man fired — it has been done! What a difference it would make in the resulting photographs, were the actors to be gracious and obliging, as many of them are, and what a joy to the still man to have an appreciative subject! Many a weary waiting hour is forgotten, and the day counted well spent, that finds the still man gloating over negatives that are well exposed, well developed and printed and, above all, graced with the hearty co-operation of the leading players. BY FREDERIC COLBURN CLARKE [Frederic Colburn Clarke, who will soon contribute a front cover to THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, had an enviable reputation as an artist in New York, his pen ami ink illustrations ranking with the works of Abbey, Remington, Pyle, and other contemporary craftsmen. With the advent of general improvement in reproductive processes, it was inevitable that photography should attract his attention as another superlative phase of illustration. After two years intensive study at the New York Camera Club, he was employed for seven years by the New York Herald, also contributing to the pages of Scribner, Harper, Century, Town and Country, Collier's, Delineator, and many periodicals. From the Herald Brother Clarke took his newspaper experience to the Kalem Company, and toured the South with a moving picture camera, choosing his own subjects for short features. Preferring the still camera work, he took charge of that department at the Coldwyn Studio in Fort Lee, and photographed Mary Garden's introduction to the movies in "Thais." Coming to Hollywood, he took a similar position with the old Metro Studio, where he not only used the camera, but developed and printed the negatives as well. After two years of this arduous occupation, Brother Clarke began free lancing and for the past ten years has been an integral part of some of the greatest pictures produced in Hollywood. Needless to say, his training as an artist and illustrator imparts to his photographs a quality comparable to paintings — his composition and balance never at fault — a quality greatly prized by editors, who are ever seeking photographs of merit. — -Editor's Note.] Perhaps the still man is conscientious, and has leanings towards the artistic. His orders, through the insistence of the publicity department, are: "Get 'em sharp," so he, perforce, is constrained to focus accurately and create a negative that will give prints showing with meticulous exactitude every infinitesimal molecule of the leading lady's features, usually to the tune of "Oh, hurry up!" He may spend days of careful study of said leading lady's best angles, but — "Get 'em sharp!" and "Oh, hurry up!" brings to naught all his good work. Then the producer sends aforementioned leading lady to some downtown studio, with all her costumes, where she spends the day, has fifty or more poses made and the still man sees the results emblazoned on full pages of the illustrated papers, with the downtown photographer's name prominent on each — all soft focus. Does the still man ever get credit on a published picture? He does NOT. Someone in the laboratory develops the still man's negatives; someone else makes the prints; still an other handles them after washing and puts them on tins to obtain the glossy lustre desired by the publicity department— three chances, even with all the still man's care in photography, for disaster. Perhaps the man who develops is in a hurry to go home, and jerks out the negatives too soon. Possibly the printer makes the prints from them much too dark — as best he can — and if the tins are dirty, where does the still man get off? He gets off the payroll and another comes along, with the same result, sooner or later, usually sooner. These were a few incidents in the life of a still man — prior to May 20th, in the year of our Lord, 1929. Now the still man is accorded a trifle more of respect, due to altered conditions. The producers are realizing that on his efforts depend largely the advertising and publicity necessary to the exploiting of the moving picture film. Magazines, newspapers, posters, bill boards, and exchanges, all clamor for stills, good stills, with which to exploit the motion picture. Consequently, the still man is beginning to receive recognition. He is accorded more deference, given more time and slowly, but surely, the class and quality of his work is improving, though much is yet to be accomplished before the millennium can even be approximately reached and his path strewn with roses. But there are compensations for the still man. On location he has opportunities to practice on landscape photography, or seascapes, or perhaps a mountain scene, that, for a little extra trouble, will be well worth the care expended in taking. If not a financial asset such pictures will at least give pleasure to a host of friends and they often prove to be of exhibition merit. But for such scenes the eye must be trained to work with the hand and the elements of art seriously considered. It is not sufficient to blindly snap the shutter. The time of day, the evanescent atmosphere and the composition of the whole must be thoughtfully analyzed, if the results are to achieve an artistic triumph. In such work, also, questions of a technical nature obtrude. Outdoor photograhpy is very different from that in the studio where lights are already adjusted and exposure of the negative a foregone conclusion. In nature photography, the still man must know his medium, and its limitations, before he can even approximate the scene he views. Things never dreamed of in the days of the wet plate are, with modern facilities, easily accomplished, but even today it is easy to make mistakes and there is no golden road to fortune for the still man.