Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1947)

24 ENOUGH IS TOO MUCH Spare the shears and spoil the reel! FREDERICK G. BEACH, FACL EVERY motion picture is too long! Yes, that reel of your vacation is too long, that theatrical film you saw last night is too long and the industrial film you are seeing today is too long. The cold bare truth is that none of us who makes movies uses the scissors severely enough. In order of their wickedness, the sinners line up in descending potency. First, the industrial or sponsored film producer (more about the alibis later), second the amateur, third the so called "documentary" producer, fourth the teaching film maker and fifth the theatrical film maker. There the list stands, for better or worse, and it will be mightily challenged by the injured parties. You are entitled to know just how these sinners were judged. First case: the industrial producer. His is a sad case too. He faces two problems. He must pay his overhead and must please his client. There have been instances where the producer has sold a lengthy film, in order to earn a bountiful living. Such action needs no further explanation. To give the sinner his due, let it be said that, all too often, the sponsor dictates the length of the picture, because he knows absolutely nothing about the medium. He wants a film, and keeps on building up the storv until he has said everything he wants to say. Then and only then will he stop. The fact that his picture is too long to be effective, too long for the time usually allotted for showing commercial films, too long and too all encompassing for school use, may not have much bearing on the result. He feels that he is paying for thepicture and wants to have full direction. The wise producer will refuse to make a picture that will not be ideally suited to the sponsor's need. He may have to tell the sponsor what his needs are. If he does not attempt to do so, he is not earning his salt. There are many potentially fine industrial films in use today which must be backed by expensive distribution plans, simply because they are too long and, therefore, not in popular demand. Today a good film will distribute itself. A vast majority of sponsored films, designed to reach the general public and to serve schools, must be kept down to two reels or less. This means that they cannot run more than twenty four minutes of sound projection. Pictures longer than this will simply not find favor with luncheon clubs, schools, church groups and other general public showings. A well planned industrial movie running about twenty minutes, with a clean cut plan, is tremendously effective. All too many run for forty to sixty minutes and cover a variety of ideas without a clear cut message. Such films do little for any one but the producer, and in the long run they actually harm him. The next sinner, and he is often a black one, is the amateur movie maker. He is admonished on every side by advice about keeping his material concise, but his shell is a hard one. One reason why he hates to discard footage is that he pays well for it, and there is no hope that he will be reimbursed for film which goes into the scrap basket. Another reason is that we hate to destroy our own handiwork. In professional production, the cameraman seldom has anything to say about editing. Consequently the editor wields his scissors with an impersonal and ruthless approach. We are loath to cut even one frame of that shot which we tramped miles to make, even though it bogs our film down very badly. The amateur has no audience to please but himself and his family. Small opposition there ! He thinks that he also tries to please his neighbor, but a good deal of boredom is suffered in the cause of being [Continued on page 34] 16mm. scenes by New York Central System, ACL Complete, but short, sequences of New York ore the acceptable fare of New York Calling, produced and sponsored by New York Central System.