Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1945)

170 -.— ^la^iiMeM EPES W. SARGENT Editor's Note Epes W . Sargent, who died in 1938, ivas the pioneer authority on motion picture continuity and a frequent author in Movie Makers. Like everybody who has thought in and around his subject, Mr. Sargent saw many sides of it. When Movie Makers bought the article that appears on this page, it was felt that a plea for the casual filmer from a distinguished proponent of careful movie^ making had an especial flavor. Publication was, however, delayed, because of the great increase in serious filming and the obligation upon us to urge movie amateurs to more exact effort in their work. The present shortage in film available to personal movie makers makes the casual shot an important factor in their plans, and Mr. Sargent's discussion is offered because it is particularly suited to present conditions. Mr. Sargent would be the first to admit that the methods outlined here will not result in the best kind of movies, but he would, as he so often did, see clearly that circumstances alter all rules. He was a practical man who wrote practically about the movies he loved and so ably served. ill BOUGHT my movie camera to play with, not to work ' for," said a friend one day. His remark represents perhaps the feeling of many persons who are unwilling to spend hours with filters, reflectors and other equipment required to approximate the work of professional cameramen. This particular declaration of independence was occasioned by an effort to make a pictorial record of a city park. The filmer is a man of dignity who dislikes making what he considers a spectacle of himself. When he attracted the escort of nearly a hundred youngsters, each determined to be in the next pictorial shot, he piled back into his automobile and went home again to read his Chaucer and Dickens. The camera is an excellent servant but an exacting taskmaster. Often a sometime enthusiast will give up, not realizing why. And yet the "why" is merely a matter of overdoing. The camera can still be a useful and pleasant servant if the shackles are thrown off and it is relegated to its proper place in the owner's individual scheme of things. There is always a tendency to overdo any new activity. This invariably brings surfeit. Many a camera is put on the shelf, because of some contretemps, that would be reached down again if the owner could only gain the right perspective and learn to film for his own intents and purposes. * Shots like this one are easily found in any public park; they need a watchful eye, patience and the wit to film without drawing a crowd. A banker in a medium sized community bought a camera when his first grandchild arrived. After he had enough footage of the youngster, he turned to more general filming. A local celebration occurred, and he went after the parade with the thoroughness of a newsreel man. As a result, scores of acquaintances mentioned having seen him, and some of them, like Trampas, smiled when they said it. It made the banker selfconscious. Now he films only occasionally in his own backyard. He may come to cinematic equilibrium in time and learn to adjust his camera to his needs instead of trying to adjust himself to his camera. The man who declared vigorously last fall that he was through forever is planning a new campaign in which he is going to be the boss. He is going back to the city park that licked him, but he is going just with the idea of picking up what he can get unostentatiously. He is not going to make any setup that will attract a crowd. He is going out with the idea of taking a stroll in the park. If he sees something he wants for a picture, he'll shoot. But he is not going to fare forth with a hundred foot spool in his upper magazine and the determination not to go home until it is all in the exposed compartment. He is going to lean over bridge railings and look at the lake. If it works into a pretty picture composition, he'll shoot it, but he will not chase up and down the length of the bridge seeking the best viewpoint. He has mapped out a number of spots on his mental chart. If he can get them this spring without calling out the police reserves, he will do so. If the circumstances are not favorable, he will come back again sometime. But he knows that there is plenty in the park in spring to give him several hundred feet [Continued on page 182]