Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1938)

288 Lionel Green JOE SMITH isn't his real name, but Joe is typical of a lot of home loving movie makers. He doesn't believe in — nor possibly can he afford — seeking his footage around the globe. Joe's interest is in his family, and he gets a bigger wallop filming the young heir's first molar than shooting the antics of a whole street full of Guatemalan or Mexican kids. One thing about Joe — he recognizes good movies when he sees them, but, while he and his audience like occasional camera tricks, he hasn't much time to spend planning complicated shots. He doesn't want to go to the trouble of outlining a detailed scenario, but he realizes that his scenes must be tied to a main thread. His film must have continuity. What can he do? If I were in Joe's work boots, I would jot down, just as they occurred to me, all picture possibilities lying within my property lines. I would write down: garden, fish pool, family car, family dog, flowers, insects, lawn supper, milkman, mail man, bell ringers, visitors. I would put down other things that popped into mind. Then I would go over this list critically, striking out topics undeserving of film footage. Each subject might be treated separately, or they could be combined into a smooth 400 foot piece. Four hundred feet with titles should have a screening time of about a quarter hour, thus suggesting this title, Around Our World in Fifteen Minutes. This film could depict a day (or a week, month or year) in the life of the Smiths, and the locale could be out of doors but entirely within Joe's own fence lines. This necessitates regrouping the above topics in this order of shooting, for example: milkman, family dog. family car, bell ringers, family dog, mail man. garden, flowers, fish pool, visitors, family car, lawn supper, family dog. All of these subjects, when combined, form an unbroken array of pictures. Milkman. First rumbler over the pavements, the milkman offers good photographic possibilities. Catch an early morning, side lighted shot of the rig coming up the street, or open the sequence on the back steps by showing a closeup of the milkman's hand reaching into the scene, replacing an empty bottle with a full one. Family dog. Now pull back for a medium shot, showing the upright bottle and the lower door frame. The door opens jerkily, and out pops the family pup to yawn, stretch, look bleary eyed at the camera and then double time around the yard. The pup returns to the door and sniffs the bottle. Swing to a closeup showing a woman's hand reaching out through the door, brushing aside the dog and lifting the bottle out of camera view. Fade out with an angle shot looking down at the puzzled pup. head cocked on one side. Where the camera is not equipped for fade outs, similar effects can be obtained, while the motor is running, by decreasing the lens diaphragm -lowly until //16 i reached and then covering the lens com You can catch the youngsters coming home from school Inside your fence ORMAL I. SPRUNGMAN, ACL pletely with the hand. If the family is dogless, a cat or other pet might be worked in. Family car. Fade in on a more brightly lighted scene (denoting passage of an hour or two) showing Joe, work bound, kissing his wife goodbye and walking toward the garage. If a title is used here, letter it on an eleven by fourteen inch card and tack it on the garage door. Line up the camera on the title and open the garage doors slowly for a novel substitute for a fade out. Or, if the body of the car is dusty, letter the title with the finger on the car door. After Joe enters the car, he slams the door, thus exposing the title, and then backs down the driveway. The final shot of the young Smiths waving goodbye from the window may be taken at any leisure moment to introduce the rest of the family. Joe may now replace his car in the garage and go about his duties of shooting the backyard scenes. Such an introduction requires no previous rehearsal. There is no definite continuity that must be followed. Even these suggestions may be revamped wherever desired. If this outline is followed, however, and exposure is good throughout, there will be little need for rearranging sequences and splicing films. Bell ringers. Perhaps not as colorful as foreign street pedlers, yet just as intriguing, are the house to house canvassers who rap on Joe's door. Here's a college lad soliciting subscriptions, a one armed war veteran selling automatic needle threaders, a grizzly transient demanding a handout, a cute little miss reminding you of a paper sale at school. Bell ringers offer good material, provided shots are candid and unposed. Sometimes the purchase of a small trinket will turn the trick. Family dog. Here, once again, the pup pricks up his ears at the sound of the bell, barking a defiance which sounds none too welcome. This type of shot may be secured at any time and spliced into its proper place. Mail man. It's a different tune when the mail man rings, for Joe's tail wagging pup knows he'll get a pat on the head and a friendly scratch behind the ears. Garden. Sonny takes the mail, runs around the side of the house and hands the letters to Mother, who is now working in the garden. She stops her work to read, while Sonny and Sis start looking things over. This offers an excellent excuse for unfolding garden scenes, regardless of whether it's only a two by four lot or a terrace on Manyacres. The youngsters walk in and out of the scenes, stopping occasionally to admire a pretty petal, pointing to birds or A real home movie limited to narrow familiar boundary odd looking insects. Follow medium shots with flower closeups, and the garden story is quickly told, even more beautifully perhaps when the [Continued on page 309]