American Cinematographer - January 1, 1921 - 1

LOYALTY _.- PROGRESS -.- ART

-'-~~~~~~~~i!v

THE MEN WHO MAKE MOTION PICTURES
VOL. 2. NO. I

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,

Wishing Our Friends
GRAND BALL OF THE CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Will be Featured in the Beautiful Assembly Hall of the Magnificent,
New Aanbassador

Hotel, Saturday Evening, January 29th.

All

the Screen Celebrities Will be Present.
I t now looks as though all the
people of note connected wi th the
motion picture industry of Southern California will attend the annual grand ball of the American
Society of Cinematographers
on
the evening of Saturday, January
29th, at the new $5,000,000 Ambassador Hotel, the great assembly and ball room to be in readiness for the cameramen as a special favor of the management.
:\II em bers of the A. C. S. are
leavinz
nothing
undone
that
might Cadet to the pleasure of their
zuests on this auspicious occa~ion, and the ball promise~ to
eclipse the brilliant
affair gIven
last year by the Society at Hotel
Alexandria.
Quite a number of daring specialties will be introduced during
the evening and several surprises
are mentioned by the committee
in charge, and it is rumored that
mysteries will add to the spice of
the evening as celebrities are annou need.
Many notable stars, directors,
players, heads of productiol:
organizations and others pr'om me nt
in film and social circles will be
guests of the American Society of
Cinematographers
on this occasion, participating in the pleasures
of the evening.
The great Ambassador
assembly and ball room will be beautifully decorated,
and the grand
march will be led by two of the
most famous stars in the screen
'world, followed by the most celebrated people connected with the
industry, and many of the social
leaders in banking and financial
circles, public officials of the city
of Los Angeles, and noted winter
visitors.
Cinematographers
of worldwide fame, men who have taken
motion pictures under the most
thrilling
circumstances
in
all
countries,
artists
whose names
are semi-historically
interwoven
with pictures,
players
and directors of note, will have charge
of the grand ball of cameramen,
and this means the affair will be
a brilliant success.
H undrcds of reservations
have
been requested
during the past
ten days and the list of guests
who have signified intention
of
beiue present grows in volume
daily.
Following
arc the cinematographers
in charac
of arrangements:
Mr.
Arthur
Edeson.
Chairman:
Cb arles Roshc r, Regs ie Lyons, William
C. Foster,
Freder-ick W. Jackman.
L. Guy
Wilky, H. Lyman Broening, TTomer A. Scott. Robert Newhard.
T. G. Gaudio. J. D. Ienninzs,
Frank B. Good and R. B. Kurrle.
President of the Society, Philip

E. Rosen, will be master of ceremonies,
ably
assisted
{by the
Board of Governors
ancl entire
membership
of the organization.
Invitations
and tickets may be
had from any cameraman, who is
a member
of the Society,
or
through request to the Executive
Secretary at the Club Rooms, 325329 Markham Building. 6372 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood.
Let's all join with the members
of the A. S. C. and help make this
ball one of the more enjoyable
and notable events of the film
world of Southern California.

GOLD MEDAL FOR THE
CAMERAMAN
For the first time so far as the
writer knows, the man behind the
motion pictu re camera has been
classed as an artist by artists.
In
recognition of the motion picture as
a distinctly
American
art, the
Maryland Institute of Fine Arts, in
order to stimulate interest in it and
further
advance work for the
screen, offers to the bona fide motion picture cameraman and still
photographer regularly employed in
the industry, a gold medal for the
best set of five stills made in connection with any production.
The judges in the contest will be
the following:
James Montgomery Flagg, noted
artist and illustrator.
Baron DeMeyer,
New York's
most famous photographer.
Vl. Z. 'Curtis, art editor of the
Hearst IVT agazines.
Otto Kurth, art editor of the
New York Times lVlid-\iVeek Pictorial; and Arthur James, editor
of 1\!Ioving Picture World.
Here is an opportunity for recognition such as never comes to the
cinematographer.
1\IIay he send in
his best selections, and here is success to the worthiest!

"THE GUILE OF WOMEN"
A chance to see Will Rogers
marks
another
milestone.
'N e
would rather
see Will Rogers
squirm. look bashful and then grin,
than see the handsomest man rescue the heroine-he
is so kindo
comfortable and natural.
Vie have
a kindred feeling with such a character for it is so easy to do the
awkward thing in life and we so
seldom see it on the screen. vVe
grin our way thru the picture and
go away feeling kindo grimlY and
natural, too.
Somehow the story
does not seem to make a great deal
of difference, we know that director Clarence Badger will give us
del i g- h t f u 1 entertainment,
and
know too, that the picture will be
~ delight to the eye, 1\1arcel LePicard, the cameraman.
cannot
help that either.

JANUARY

I, 1921

TEN CENTS A COPY

a Happy New

Year

THE ART DIRECTOR OF MOVING PICTURES
Interesting Review of An Important Subject As.Written by One of the
Best Known Cinematographers of the West, Mr. L. Guy Wilky,

Member A. S. C.
The art director is a very important factor in a moving picture
production,
especially if he is an
artist and has a thoro knowledge
of his work.
It is a very interesting profession and there are
great opportunities
in the future
for the fellow who applies himself
in the proper manner.
His duties
rn a v vary and his requirements
differ with different companies,
but he usually designs the sets
for the production,
does most of
the research work, and attends to
the technical details, and in some
cases designs the costumes of the
leading players.
From a technical and artistic
standpoint
pictures
have
improved very rapidly
during the
past few years,
and for this
change much credit is due to the
efforts of the art director.
In the
early period of pictures our sets
were made with painted scenery
on -Aats, the same as in most stage
productions.
Better productions
soon called for more realism and
sets were built the same as in the
interior of a house.
Our sets are
now papered and the woodwork
finished, and after it is furnished
it looks good enoug-h to live in.
Without intending to be critical
I will say that only a small percentage of the art directors really
come up to the desires of the avcr agc cameraman.
The
fault
comes from the fact that he does
not thoroly understand
the requirements of the camera, for the
arrangement
of the set should be
from a purely photographic
viewpoint. The audience sees the picture only as the camera sees it,
consequently
anything
that the
camera does not see is lost and
does not register to the audience.
The art director must understand
camera angles and camera perspective, and be able to visualize
the set as the camera sees it, in
order to obtain the best results
for the production.
1V10stof the color used in sets
is lost or photographs
in unnatural values.
The set may be designed in many varieties of colors
which to the eye have plenty of
snap and contrast, but when it
appears on the screen the contrast
is lost and the picture is flat and
uninteresting
because of the unwise choice of color.
Colors do
not photograph
with the same
contrast that they have to the eye.
The camera sees stronger in the
ultra-violet, violet and bluc ; while
the eye is affected stronger by the
blue, green, yellow and red, with
the yellow
appearing
as the
brightest of the colors. So we see
that these colors which are visually the brightest, photograph the
darkest to the camera.
For example, pink or sky blue appear fairly
dark to the eye and photograph

nearly -whi te to the camera, while
red and yellow, which are very
bright colors, photograph
nearly
black. From these examples you
can see that unless there is a:
proper choice of colors a very unnatural result may register on the
screen. I have always maintained
that the only correct system for a
color chart for sets is to make
them in black and white as the
extremes, with the proper tone or
grays between them. Any amount
of contrast, from a gradual blending of tone to any extreme in contrasts could be obtained
which
would photograph
exactly as the
eye sees it. Our pictures are in
black and white and the into-mediate tones, and we would thus
get results identical in value with
those which we photograph.
Only
in rare cases would we use the
extremes of black and white for
these colors are a little too harsh
for pictures,
but wonderful
resuits could be obtained by using
the different tones in the grays,
and t.he results
on the' screen
would be correct.
Another common fault is that
sets are over dressed and suggest
a crowded furniture store rather
than a setting for a moving picture.
This fault is never seen in
a high class home. Simplicity is
the ideal condition for good composition-a
few pieces of well
chosen furniture
can make
an
ideal composition for a beautiful
picture and it is much easier to
find the proper location for the
camera.
The furnishings provide
the setting for the action of the
story and should be so simple that
they will not detract fr0111the interest of the picture.
Understand
that I am not taking the attitude
of criticism
neither do I criticise the art di~
rector of the present day.
All
that I have said has been in the
spirit. of advice, for it is only by
the co-operation
of all departments concerned in the preduction of the picture that the best
results may be obtained.
The future for the art director
is particularly
bright, especially
for the artist who understands his
profession.
There is a wonderful
field for the man who will give us
sets with true photographic
values, using the proper contrasts
and the ideal shading to give the
at:l1osphere which is in keeping
WIth the character of the storv being photographed.
~

THE ROOSTER
I love to watch a rooster crow,
He's like so many men I know
Who brag and bluster, ramp and
shout,
And beat their manly chests withant
The first dam' thing to crow
about!

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 1, 1921