Movie Weekly (1922)

MOVIE WEEKLY Page Eleven How to Get Into the Movies cMabel cVormandj VIII. As T said in the previous chat, your first stop in Hollywood should be at the Studio Club, , where you may . get some tips as to to employment, and learn in particular, the studios which are using ''extras." You must know that certain pictures require only a small cast, while others have scenes that call for a large number of people. Such scenes may take only a day to shoot; then again they tnav run along for a week or more. Occasionally a studio inserts a notice in the papers calling for extras. Usually, however, they can get all they want by telephoning those whom they have listed and whom they have employed before. Unless you are exceptionally fortunate, you will have to take your place in line with those who patiently wait at the casting offices of the studios. It is impossible for me or for anyone to tell you how to attract the attention of the casting director or his assistant who stands behind the little window marked "casting department." In a previous article I did advise you about your appearance. Dress neatly in your best suit. See that your shoes are trim and polished, your nails manicured and your hair done in its most becoming fashion. Do not attempt to attract attention by gaudy clothes or afTected manner. The scenes which call for "extras" are usually ballroom scenes, cafes or social functions of some sort, and for these girls are required who appear to be ladies. If possible make the acquaintance of someone who can introduce you to the casting director or his assistant. Even though there is no work at the moment he will be able to give you some advice and probably will tell you to register at an exchange from which 'extras" are employed. This exchange is a regular employment agency for players who do "atmosphere" or "bits." It will be necessary for you to have photographs of yourself to leave at this exchange and at the offices of the casting directors. .Before you have .finished you will find that you need several dozen, for once you part with them you will see them no more. They will be placed on a file with a card giving information as to your appearance, your previous experience if any, your address and telephone number. Decide at the outset that you have perseverance and that you will keep going the rounds until you get in. Don't feel that you are being turned down when the casting director tells you coldly that there is nothing doing. He probably speaks the truth. There are no companies needing extras at that special time. Ask him in your best manner to take your name and telephone number in the event that something turns up later. Casting directors usually are willing to register applicants. I would try first to find someone who could introduce me or give me a note to a casting director, or to someone in a studio who would perform the introduciion Then I would mak» my call at once. It will be impossible, ol cour>c, to get letters to all the studios. Those where yiiu have no introduction must be approached, as I have said, through the casting office. Get a list of all the studios in Hollywood, Culver City and Los Angeles. Visit each ni turn until you have made yourself known to the casting office — then keep on going until you are given a chance to earn an extra's pay. It's hard work, this making the rounds. You will have to spend a good many hours on the trolley going from Hollywood to Los Angeles. CMccbel oVorwccTLcL -the duthor from Los Angeles lo Culver Lity or Edendale, or out to the Selig studio near East Lake Park. It's tiresome and discouraging as are all pursuits that are worth while. But if you start out with determination and optimism you will be able to enjoy the game of it. By making friends you^ will find the road more congenial and much, much' easier. A great deal is said about the necessity for "pull" in getting into pictures. ' 'Pull" means simply friendships. You have a better chajice of getting into any business and securing promotions if you have friends in that business. Personality counts off screen as well as on. An engaging, genial person soon has a lot of acquaintances, some of whom are travelling the same road «is she is and others who may be somewhat ahead in the game. It isn't necessary to make a chum ot everyone you meet, but it does no harm to make a friend of everyone. You will find that there are a great many people in the film game who are not your sort, people with whom .>oi.' haven't a great deal in common, but there is no harm in being friendly toward them. Ever\ girl must cultivate tact, il she doe.>^n't already possess it, for it will he needed in making friends :r. d also in keeping from being drawn too intimately into associations that she does not desire. It is fine to be a good fellow — the right sort of good fellow. Directors like to have players who are cheerful, who can mix fun with work and who can endure hard sh.ips without grumbling. A girl who can live up to Kipling's poem "If" should have a great future in films. But a lot of beginners imagine that being a "good fellow" means doing exactly what others do. That isn't so. People respect you for having the character to do what you want to do, provided that in so doing you do not interfere with the rights of others. You do not have to go on parties to be a good fellow. You only have to be amiable, sincere, a.n'l always on the job at the studio. A girl who stays up late at night is not going to appear at her best at nine o'clock in the morning when the studios start work. Of course, you need recreation, but b** conservative. If you want to go to a dance, make it a week-end night when there is no work the next day. I hav -lade it a habit to go to bed early every nigh, previous to a working day Sometimes I retire a? early as eight o'clock, ha\e my dinner served in bed and just read and relax until s'eep comes. Sleep is the greatest beautifier and health-giver in the world. And you cannor have too much either of beauty or of health. I cannot tell you in advance just which studios will be needing girls for extra work, but I di-> advise you to pay special attention to those which make comedies — such studios as the Mack Sennett Christie Hal Roach, Buster Keaton, Vitagraph and Universal. A producer of two-reel comedies is willing to take an inexperienced girl if she is pretty, because not much acting ability is required for minor parts in comedies. I recently heard a we'l-known comedian complain that he found it imnossible to secure enough really pretty girls for his comedies. There are plenty who are attractive to the eye, perhaps, but not many who stand the camera test. I consider the two-reel comedies the best prim aFv schools of motion picture work. They make you over-act, and that is a good thing, for the trouble with most young actresses is that they cannot let go of their emotions. They seem cold. Comedy calls for quick and breezy action, which eventually relieves a girl of self-consciousness and gives her spontaneity of expression. Consult the list of popular stars today and you will find that the majority starteil in two-reel comediesGloria Swanson. Bebe Daniels. Betty Compson Priscill-< Dean. Marie Prevost and even Pula Negri, I'm told. SECRETS of the MOVIES At the Bottom of the Ocean XI THERE was a young cartoonist in Norfolk, Va., who had a hobby of photography. His father was an old sea captain who had invented a contrivance for removing treasure from sunken ships and, if possible, raising them. It consisted of a big steel coil covered on the outside with canvas and rubber and down the inside of which they could go. At the bottom it flanged out into a bell shape, and with glass sides to look out the divers could see what was going on. Between the hours on the paper, the young cartoonist-photographer would slip out to Hampton Roads and enjoy life. He found that by running a light to the bottom the fish would come flocking around it — that is, if fish flock. He made some pictures under water by pressing his camera against the sides of the di\ing-bell and photographing some "croakers." An idea hit him. Why not put people there instead of croakers? He did, with a .more com plex and elaborate equipment — and tluis made the first under-water m<nion picture. The man was J. Ernest Williamson, and today he and his brother make pr.nctically all the under-sea pictures. Most of the submarine movies are made around the Bahamas, as the water is clear. There is much sunlight to help out and the white coral on the bottom also reflects the light. Big electric light-, are used, and thus equipped, a camera will reach more than a luir)dreii feet under the w'ater.