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Photographs by R. I. Nesmith
REALITY
These pictures of sardine fishing off the coast of Portland, Maine, represent a record of reality of the type that any movie maker can film. No unusual equipment is needed to make cine reports of real life such as this, and usually the logical order of the processes involved suggests its own continuity.
All that is required is sincerity, a desire to report life as it is and a willingness to spend a few weekends at the job. The photographer who made these "stills" tracked down an industry that many said did not exist near Portland, he arranged to go out with the "seiners" for the day and evening, and the rest was between himself and his camera.
Many pictures of this variety are made by amateur movie makers, and large sections of the most interesting products on the home screen are just such cine documents as this. Although one usually thinks of this type of film in connection with his own business and his own special interests, yet a good share of the fun of movie making is venturing into new fields and telling new things on the screen. Further, one can always see the significance and the drama of somebody else's labor better than he can see them in his own endeavor.
So hunt afield for the romance of reality; look for the ways by which men earn their living, and you will find vital movie subjects on every side. How do the people of your town or city produce the goods that the world needs? There is a topic for a composite film with diverse and fascinating material. But, remember, sequences must be specific to be interesting; general views of factories are not dramatic.
That now, in the 35mm. publicity and quasi educational fields, there is a fashion of using the word, "documentary," as a verbal bracket for any propaganda picture is beside the point. Amateur movie makers have recorded life as they have found it for over a decade, and, since they are not paid creators of public opinion, they can picture social facts as they are.
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