American Cinematographer - February 1995 - 86

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crumbling and torn. Fortunately, once she
a transfer house to put the film on
tape, editor Susan Peehl was able to
work around the problem areas. "Sue
gave it a certain vitality that makes it
seem like more than it is," says Bach.
"And luckily, we had something to work
with. If that original film hadn't been any
good, I'd have jumped out the window."
Petropoulos shot the inter¬
view segments with his own Ikegami 79
and a Sony BVP-7. The project began
on three-quarter-inch tape and ended
up on Beta. "In the beginning," says
the videographer, "no one knew what
the final format would be. Jean was busy
getting the musicians she knew - and
she knew almost everyone who was still
alive
to agree to do interviews. But
we didn't really know if we were doing
found

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one-hour show

or a series."
When Bach began the project,
she had no idea how much it would cost,
"so I never thought of looking for finan¬
cial backing. I was doing it out of pocket.
I had no idea it would become such an
a

ALAN GORDON ENTERPRISES

The film was finally found, but
alarmed to hear that it was

was

job." Not until after she hired
co-producer and director of
photography did she realize the magni¬
tude of her undertaking. She began to
seek grants and other means of funding
in the late 1980s, "just exactly when you
began to hear pocketbooks snapping
shut all across America. Every proposal
I sent in was turned down." Finally, Bach
enormous

her editor,

reunited with an old friend who ran
foundation and was able to help get the

was
a

project off the ground. (The majority of
the interviews were taped in Bach's
Greenwich Village home, the former stu¬

dio of Gertrude Vanderbilt

Whitney.)
Having already won a prize at
the Chicago Film Festival, A Great Day in
Harlem will be released on February 17
in New York, and will later be shown in
California and other key areas in the U.S.
and abroad. "Jazz films can be bleak,"

Hollywood,
Athens, Tokyo, Lagos, Rio, Tel-Aviv, Reykjavik, Sydney, Toronto,
Geneva,
Hong Kong, London

are

to

-

just

some

of the centres worldwide where

our

graduates

making films.

Students from over thirty different countries come to the heart of London's West End
take our two year Diploma Course. Experienced professionals teach all aspects of film

making

-

covering studio feature and location documentary productions in 16mm and

35mm.

Teaching of scriptwriting, direction, camerawork, sound recording, editing etc. en¬
sures a high degree of professionalism. And it must do - Governments, T.V. Networks and
Educational Foundations have been sending personnel to us for training for over thirty
years.

This intensive Course, demanding hard work and commitment, produces over
films each term many students working on more than one production.
There are fresh intakes in January, April and September.

forty

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Contact: The Administrator, London International Film School, Department AC2
24 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9HP, England. Telephone (London) 01-836 0826
84

says Bach. "My take on jazz is that it's a
joyous experience, a collaborative effort,
with so many different people getting
along during such a special time."
Petropoulos, who has shot

documentaries around the world for
30 years,

over

offer a wry summation. "It was
a very nice, simple shoot," he says, "that
went on for three and a half years."
American Cinematographer - February 1995

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 1995
