Picturegoer (1934)

March 10, 1934 Lionel COLLIER says There is Real Talent Amongst the Amateurs T HE author of this article, who acted as a judge in a recent amateur film competition organised by the British Association of Amateur Cinematographers, suggests that producers would do well to explore this avenue for new material in all branches of kinematography. THE habit of trying to find stellar material by the pernicious method of beauty contests still persists and how our studios strive to find new directorial or technical talent I do not pretend to know. There is, however, a breeding ground — if that does not sound too disrespectful a phrase — where it seems to me a very profitable search might well be made. I had not realised until I was honoured by being asked to act as one of the judges in an amateur film contest sponsored by a Sunday newspaper, just how much keenness and how much ability there was amongst amateurs. It was a revelation and I felt then that studio executives could do much worse than spend a day or two looking through the ambitious efforts submitted by people whose heart is very obviously in their work and whose ingenuity is taxed by the obvious limitations put on their endeavours by such considerations as the size of stock and financial matters. The growth of amateur kinematography has been very rapid in the last few years and to-day, I understand, there are at least 250,000 owners of movie cameras of various makes. The particular contest in which I helped to adjudicate attracted ninety entrants, representing 140 reels of film, and it was divided into three classes. Class A, story films by clubs; Class Bi, holiday films, including travel and scenic; Class B2, interest films, including industrial and advertising. With the exception of one story film, Hair, which was on 35-m.m. standard stock, all the winning entries were on 16-m.m. No story entered for the contest cost more than £40 and the majority were made for considerably less. The first prize in Class A was won by a very cleverly directed story of a woman of easy virtue who is involved in a murder charge, and on coming out of prison starts her old life all over again. It was called Driftwood and was reminiscent in construction of that very famous old silent. The Street, with which Karl Grune caused a sensation. It showed a good sense of dramatic values and was excellently cut and edited. The camera work, too, was imaginative; there were no sub-titles at all. There was, I think, a great deal of promise in the acting of Phyllis Rob,ertson, who played the leading role. While performances which had no trace of amateurishness about them were given by Ben Carlton as the murdered man and Frank Briggs as the woman's evil genius. It was produced by Ace Movies, of Streatham, PICTUHEGOEft Weekly i directed by Cliff West and photographed by Eric G. Notley. It was made in a cellar studio, 30 ft. by 17 ft. Meteor Films, of Glasgow, were responsible for the second prize-winner, Hair, a horror story which is told as a dream; an unsatisfactory dramatic method. Nevertheless, it led well up to its climax and was excellently photographed. The director was Stanley Russell. The third prize was gained by the Brondesbury Cine Society for a clever little comedy drama, All Is Not Gold, which was notable for its good narration and intelligent editing. The cameraman was A. D. Frischmann and I will let him tell in his own words how the picture was made as it gives a very good idea of the way the majority of amateur clubs work and of their difficulties. "Shooting on this, our first full-length production, was commenced on January 5, 1933, in St. Anne's Hall, Salusbury Road, N.W.6, which was then the society's headquarters. "Funds only permitted us to rent the hall one evening a week and consequently members had to spend half their time erecting and dismantling sets. "Nevertheless, a thorough camera script and careful preparation permitted rapid work and assisted by two fine week-ends for exterior shots around Salusbury Road and along the Regent Canal towpath in Maida Vale, shooting was completed within six weeks, a little under 400 ft. of film having been exposed. "Technical particulars of our interiors at St. Anne's Hall may be of interest. For the 'pub' set (the action opens and closes in a public house) we utilised an actual corner of the church hall, complete with door, disguising the walls with beer and cigarette advertisements, etc. Bill's (the leading character's) kitchen was created in another corner of the hall by leaning two flats against the walls each side of the door. "Illumination totalled only about 3,500 watts, our camera being a Pathescope de Luxe fitted with an f/2.5 Hermagis lens. Pathe direct reversal film was used throughout." This picture, by the way, was directed by A. B. C. Denman, who also wrote the scenario, and a clever performance in the leading role — that of the treasurer of a slate club who had a penchant for backing horses and was really forced to suicide because of it — was given by J. H. Young. Turning to Class Bi and Class B2 of the contest, we find a series of extremely good individual efforts. The cameraman comes into his own in these, but there is also construction to be taken into account. I should say there are a number of embryo camera aces here. In Class B2 the award of the first prize caused the judges some concern. There were two really excellent entries, each in a separate vein. In a Valley in the Border Hills, an interest film showing the whole process of the manufacture of tweeds, which would stand very favourable comparison with any commercial interest short, made by Sinclair Hill, the well-knozvn British director, who acted as chairman of the panel of judges. Arthur Greaves of Newcastle, and Symphony of Nature, made by Paul Burnford of London. The difficulty was settled by combining the first and second prizes and dividing them between the two competitors. Symphony of Nature sought to express a mood. It started by showing such objects as still waters, trees, the sea, corn, etc., and then gradually worked up the tempo to storm pitch. Its fault was an excessive footage of seascape and a lack of motif continuity, but set to music it would be a picture ready for comparison with many more ambitious efforts. it was made by Paul Burnford, who is only nineteen years of age and, to my mind, a youth who ought to be using his talents in British pictures. The third award was gained by a film entitled Saturday Afternoon, produced for the Bolton Amateur Cinematographers' Association by George N. Booth and P. C. Smethurst. It was an ingenious film on the lines of Berlin, the famous German impressionistic picture and depicted in a series of pictorial impressions the general spirit of a half-holiday in Bolton. Atmospherically extremely good, it showed a very good sense of pictorial expressionism. A diploma of merit was awarded in this class to another film depicting a mood of nature, Symphonic Pastorale, made by F. P. Barnitt, of Tunbridge Wells. A very intelligent effort this in pictorial tone values with, if anything, rather more rhythmic continuity than had Symphony of Nature, but not quite such fine composition. In Class Bi, Ian S. Ross, of Meteor Films, deservedly won the first award for the vivid depiction of a man and a girl's day out, starting with a motor run and ending with a dance, entitled All On a Summer's Day. It was very well edited and again showed a good sense of the importance of rhythm. Excellent camera work and pictorial composition secured the second award for J. Basset Lowke's Cruising in the Norwegian Fjords, while the third went to W. H. George, of Chesterfield, for a vivid pictorial scenic of the Hebrides, entitled The Outer Isles. Also, a diploma of merit was given to Ian Gray McLeod, of Glasgow, for an impression of a small yachting holiday entitled Maritime Moments. These pictures all show a very high standard of merit and deserve every encouragement, for amongst their producers may be some of the embryo aces of British production — that is if some of our movie moguls would look seriously into their activities. 15