Movie Makers (Jun-Dec 1928)

Photograph by Metro-Goldwyn MaA GROUP OF THE NEW FILAMENT LIGHTS Contrast These With the Old Types Below. hands; that when she walked out of a door and left only one hand clinging inside, Camille's tragedy was complete. These little things are important in dramatic art just as the proper book on the altar was important in set arrangement. Especially is this true in motion pictures, where a flash often must convey a meaning powerful enough to carry the burden of the entire story. Amateurs should observe how little incidents, an expression on the face, for instance, often reveal more than the presentation of a full scene, and they should strive to discover how these effects are achieved. F. W. Murnau, the director of The Last Laugh and Sunrise, gave a fine illustration of the extreme limits to which directors, at times, are forced to go to get exactly what they want. He was completing Four Devils, a Fox picture, not yet released. Its final scene is laid in a Paris circus. A girl and boy, Janet Gaynor and Barry Norton, the sweethearts, plunge from a trapeze to their death before the eyes of the audience. Murnau had a theatre filled with extras. And he wanted to show by the expressions on the faces of the spectators what had happened. To do this there had to be a sudden shock, a rapid change of countenance — horror, fear, excitement! Time after time he tried to get exactly the right expression and each time he was dissatisfied. Finally an idea came to him. The scene was ordered again. The cameras began clicking. The director shouted. His assistants waved their arms and gave instructions. Suddenly there was a deafening crash. The expressions of the audience changed instantly. There was confusion, alarm, fright! And still the cameras clicked away, — get ting an ideal result. The truth was that Murnau had had fifty revolvers fired simultaneously back of the audience. This may be going a little too far for amateurs, but it is not unimportant, because it signifies that with patience and with thought, any result can be achieved. As you go through Hollywood, experiences pile up. One day I walked onto the Noah's Ark set. This is a big special which Warner Brothers are making with Dolores Costello and George O'Brien in the leading roles. Miss Costello was wearing a slave girl's outfit — a straight, coarse dress slit up the side and held together in the middle by a narrow yellow sash. Her feet were protected by sandals, and her hair fell down in golden profusion. At her side was another girl, similarly dressed — Miss Costello's double. I was rather surprised, for I could see no possible reason for a double, as all the scenes being taken that day were close-ups. To my query, the reply was made that the double was known as a "stand-in. "Never having heard of a stand-in before, I asked what her duties were. "You see, much of the rehearsing is done through the camera," I was informed, "because that is what is actually going to be seen. It is important, therefore, that the lighting be perfect, the camera distances accurate, and the scene dressed properly before any film is exposed. Sometimes it takes long periods to make sure that everything is in its place. If the star had to go through the tiring task of standing in it all day, while the camera's eye is being properly focused she would be too exhausted for photographing. , "For that reason, there is always a stand-in, someone who looks like the star, who is dressed like her, of the same size and general appearance." The significance here for the amateur is not the "stand-in," but the implication of care in rehearsing for the camera. On another day, I remember, there was considerable excitement outside one of the office buildings. I leaned out of the window to see what was happening, with the result I almost had my head knocked off by a small elevator which was being shot down the side of the building at a terrific speed. The apparatus was exactly like the small rope elevator used to deliver bricks and mortar to workmen on a building. (Continued on page 607) Photograph by Paramount-FamouS'Las\y . LIGHTING A MOB SCENE— OLD STYLE. Note the Elaborate Batteries of Mercury Vapor Lights. 589