FILM MAKING IS NOT ALL GLAMOUR

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5324, 10 February 1947, Page 2

FILM MAKING IS NOT ALL GLAMOUR

HARD, EXACTING WORK STANDARD OF BR1TISH SHiOWS MIJST BE MAINTAINED.

Young men women in evening dress sweep down the long corridor laughing and chattering among themselves. The morning sun, slanting in on them, makes a garish scene of the anklelength frocks and the ibl^ck mateiial of dinner jackets, writSfes T. J. Williams in the Christchurch Press . Somehow dress appropriate to evening and artificial lights seems fantastie at 9 o'clock in the morning. Bu.t the young people do not seem aware of the incongruity. INor do the honneted ladies who jioin them, escorted by staid gentlemen in high collars, pearlygrey coats and the narrow trousers of Victorian. days. . The day's work in each of Denham r several studios is beginning. Aftei- the last stragglers have disappeared into the studdo, a redi light appears in the passage Above the door. "Shooting' has begun, and whoever enters wheu this warning is on does so only ovev the dead body of a very determinec • doorman.

Inside, under a raftered, roof, stanc j the various "sets" osed in making tht current film. From hehind, each set reveals a isorry deceit — rough hean ends and wooden shorings, unpainte;. window frames, and a earelessly ap I plied skin of plaster. But the fioni I view is surprisingly realistic. On thc set where filming is in progress we find a solid-loolring library. Although it laeiks a ceiling, there are shelvei filled with books, picture& on the wall comforta'ble rfiurniture, and a fire ir. the grate. It is a cheerful fire, which casts a flickering glow round the room. The assistant-director, however stoops-down and speaks through thc hollow flue. "All right— hold the fi^c for a moment!" As though cancelled by the flick of a switch, the ruddy 1 light dies down and the "effects-man' I erouehing hehind takes a stanc. 1 easy."

Careful Planning. B-ut such artifice as this is only incidental to the making ,of a film. Harc work and scientific planning appliet to even the smallest sequence. Ofter. several days are given over to a studj of lighting and perspective before thc stars of the film are called on to thc set. During this period "stand-ms, who resemble the actors in figure, faec j and colouring, act as models for thc cameramen. . We are fortunatet'in 'selecting a da> when filming is taking place. In th. middle of the library set stands an olc I man with grey hair and lined face. t

is Michael Redgrave, the well-knowi actor, who is istarring in this curren film, "Fame is the Spur," the historj of a politician from youth to old age There is a strange contrast betweei this lone actor taking part in th scene and the crowd of technicians anc work men on the dark side of the flooo lights. To the uninitiated the scoi\ of men and women moving round th set seem to have no relevance to th« j work in liand ur to each other. Ye I each is epecialised in a particular as pect of film making. There are plas I terers and carpenters standing by u case alteration's to the room are ne j cessary, make-up men and waruio mistresses, script girls and clappe boys, electricians, and effects men. 1 uI director "and his assistant occupy • corner of the set below the camera men, who are mounted on their trol ley-unit, side.by side like pilot an co-pilot in an aeroplane. The camera is not static but toiove freely along wooden rails. It is mani pulated by a man who reminds yo irresistibly of those picture-s of pi boys towing tra'cks of coal m tn mines. He trundles his macbme wit! its two passengers very cautiously treading on a thick pile of felt betwee> the rails to muffle- the sound of hi footsteps.

Silence a Religion. S-ilence is the religion of the studic The director calls for quiet, the re light appears in the passage, techn ciains and workmen stop short in the. tracks and no one dares even tc whisper. The cameras are completel: sound-proof; it is difficult to realis that they are running, the only mdiea tions being the crouched concentratioi of their operators and the stealth. pacing of the "pit-boy." On our particular set the olc trembling man who is 'Michael Reci grave goes into action. He take a hook from the li'brary sbelf and shul fles over to the fireplace. Just that with a little bit of "business" thi-owr in. Nothing coold be easier to hlm. you say? And yet, during the houi and a half we spent on the set we sec •the same movement repeated six . timer in front of the cameras. The directoi demands perfection in every detqil, 11 every gesture made, every line spokei for the film which will carry his name. ■ We are i&ld how fortunate we are to see so much shooting in one briet nicif

'By way of contrast we make a tiii to another of Denham's studios where a modern thriller, "The October Man, is .undergoing production. The whole if this studio is given over to a dancehall scene. Up on the-stage there is a ' full-sized orchestra, the crowd oi young men and women in evening dress whom we came across earliei occupies the floor in couples. FfOm a 'balcony of the hall the director shouts out instructions to the 200 "extras below, and then goes into conference with the. camera-men who are perched nonchalantly on the neck of a gigantic naobile crane.

The stars of the film, John Mills and Joan Greenwood, do a little pas de deux in isolation from the rest of the crowd1 while the camera trains on them its bird's-eye view and the * "sounds man" dangles his microphone over their heads in readiness for their dialogue in the next piece of action. i "We'll take that scene again," enI' nounces the assistant-director. A little wearily the dance partners face each other 'once more, the orchestra begins to play, on its lofty perch the camera wlhirrs silently and a hundred couples

firculate on the parquet floor under the gjare of giant floodlights. ' A glamorous life that of film stav \ and extra? We wonder about that an , bour later when we pass out of the J main entrance of the building. Shiver- j ing in the cold night air those young 'i people in evening dress stand waiting j for a bus. They have to be up at :&-30 to-morrow, make the long journey from London and *Be ready for filming at 9 e'clock. The superior films whioh Britain is making for the world call j not only for skilled technique but also for hard work from stars down to, the humblest of extras.