Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1947)

57 CRAFTSMANSHIP PERSONAL movie making is an avocation with many satisfactions. With our cameras we can record the present for the benefit of the future. We can preserve the events and situations that bring us happiness, to the end that this happiness may be recalled at will. We can bring pleasure to friends by showing them the results of our filming, when those results are worthy of projection. We can sink ourselves in an absorbing hobby and shut out the worries and cares of everyday life. As every movie amateur knows, who has carried his cinematography beyond the casual stage, the most abiding satisfaction comes from a development of fine craftsmanship. This fact is one to be found in all superior human effort, but it is particularly vital in effort which is creative, rather than repetitive and routine. Technique is often elevated to an absurdly pompous position, and it is spoken of in special jargons that seem to exist only to confuse the unacquainted. Actually, technique is nothing but craftsmanship — an intelligently worked out and effective way of doing something. The real joy that comes from it is that of the good worker, not that of the solemn pundit, mouthing strange words. Craftsmanship is based upon the experience of others and upon a thoughtful consideration of one's own trial and error. It is not won casually, and getting it calls for a deal of thinking and doing. But, happily enough, the very process of developing it is itself a satisfaction. Deciding what one will do, and then training the mind and the muscles to almost automatic performance, brings the same kind of coordinated power that we get from athletic activity. We enjoy the increase in our own effectiveness r~ well as the results which that effectiveness produces. Both method and end product have value. No sounder advice can be given to new filmers than to develop craftsmanship as early as possible. The hobby has been taken up to increase their enjoyment. So long as the process is haphazard and unguided, movie making does not have the chance to put down roots in the living habits of its practitioners. Once craftsmanship is given a fair trial, there comes that fine self respect that all good workers have. Then movie making has come into its own as a valid and abiding satisfaction, and one more man or woman has enriched existence by bringing to it a fresh capacity. When craftsmanship is won, the hobby with which it deals is less often abandoned. It is the sure basis for greater success. MumdeR ACL Founded in 1926, the Amateur Cinema League, Inc., publisher of Movie Makers, is an international organization of filmers. The League offers its members help in planning and making movies. It aids movie clubs and maintains for them a film exchange. It has various special services and publications for members. The League completely owns and operates Movie Makers. Your membership is invited. Five dollars a year. Address ail inquiries to AMATEUR CINEMA LEAGUE, INC. 420LEXINGTONAVE..NEWYORK17.N.Y..U.S.A. Amateur Cinema League offices are open from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Mondays through Fridays THE AMATEUR CINEMA LEAGUE, INC. Hiram Percy Maxim, Founder DIRECTORS STEPHEN F. VOORHEES, President JOHN V. HANSEN, Vice President ETHELBERT WARFIELD, Treasurer C. R. DOOLEY . MRS. L. S. GALVIN . H. EARL HOOVER HAROLD E. B. SPEIGHT PHILIP N. THEVENET FLOYD L. VANDERPOEL ROY W. WINTON, Managing Director New York City Washington, D. C New York City . Summit, N. J. Lima, Ohio Chicago, III. . Elmira, N. Y. . Dallas, Texas Litchfield, Conn. New York City