Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1953)

66 THEY LAUGHED m 47 HAMLET! J"k With #40, four players and a fixed focus 8mm. camera, a quartet of college cutups have done in the Great Dane Photographs by Phil Sanders DONNA LINDBECK USING a minimum of photographic equipment and a maximum of ingenuity, a group of Eugene, Oregon, amateur filmers have gone a long way toward proving that "Home Movies Are Better Than Ever," with their $40 version of Hamlet. No epic, their movie nevertheless is an effective parody of the Shakespearian drama. And it has rolled nearly 2000 spectators in the aisles since it was finished. The 40 minute 8mm. movie is the product of three months of weekend work by three University of Oregon students, Jim Blue, Al Barzman and Bob Chambers and several of their friends. They decided upon Hamlet because they were well acquainted with the play. Blue, who directed the movie, had seen Olivier's version five times. They decided upon a parody, rather than a more serious play, because they wanted to relax after school hours. And besides, didos are easier than drama, any day. Blue owned an 8mm. Bell & Howell Sportster movie amera, which had a custom built rewind. The lens he ised was an //2.5 fixed focus. And the 13 rolls of Super X black and white film accounted for almost all of the $40 which he spent. He estimated that 50 feet of film would run about four minutes of screen time. This meant consuming only 10 rolls of film for the 40 minute show; the rest of the footage was cut to improve the tempo of the movie. After he began work on the production, Blue purchased three 350 watt medium-beam reflector-flood lamps, the only major addition to his equipment. Because there were no properties or scenery to get in the way, three "grips" carried the flood lights and followed the actors about. Blue did not own a titler, especially of the scroll variety. So in order to save money he constructed one out of a round oatmeal box and turned it by hand. "The jerky motion of the title just helps set the mood for the movie to follow," says Blue good humoredly. To announce the name of the picture, Blue made a JIM BLUE, right, outlines his ideas for the next scene, as Bob Chambers, Al Barzman and Martha Stapleton listen. paper gong patterned after the J. Arthur Rank type of movie opening. Horace Robinson, director of the University of Oregon Theatre, consented to play the slave who strikes the gong. For the first few blows he was to pretend to strike the gong; then, on the last stroke, he actually was to hit this paper gadget — which was supposed to tear down the middle. However, because the paper had been stiffened with sizing, it completely shattered as he struck it. Surprised and a bit shocked, Robinson turned toward the camera and put his finger in his mouth — like a small boy who is afraid he is going to be scolded. This unexpected turn of events was one of the most humorous scenes in the movie. Robinson also helped the students solve one of their most important problems, the need for costumes and a stage. For he let them use costumes from the theatre's wardrobe and the bare stage of the theatre. From these stock materials, the actors selected costumes that were as representative as possible of the type usually worn in Hamlet. But an occasional anachronism, such as the saddle shoes that Bob Chambers wore, just added to the comic effect which was desired. An open grave was required in one of the scenes of the play, as you well remember. Digging a hole in the ground six feet long, six feet deep and three feet wide is a big job, and when the time came for this work to be done, all of the actors claimed they had to put on costumes and apply makeup. So director-producer-cameraman and technical-adviser Jim Blue also became a grave digger. Properties for the movie were relatively inexpensive. Small items such as 20 cents for popcorn, 10 cents for dry ice, one smoked mackerel and a tube of toothpaste were all that were required. The dry ice was used very cleverly to simulate poison. A paper cone, containing the ice and sealed at the bottom, was placed in the ear of one of the actors. Into it another [Continued on page 78] CHAMBERS, in one of his many roles, lays to rest the body of Ophelia, nee Lois Williams. THE QUEEN, as played by Martha Stapleton, mimes her role with force if not subtleness.