"The Art of Photo Engraving, 1600 ft., 16mm., filmed by Edward J. Schon, tells the story of photo engraving from the first step to the last. It makes the complete process clear to the nontechnical audience while its interest to the engraver is such that Mr. Schon was invited to attend the recent American Photo Engravers' Convention in Philadelphia to screen the film and speak on his experiences in making it. It is probable that this excellent amateur made industrial has initiated a series of similar films on the same topic. Because of the unusually careful focusing and consistently even exposure, in spite of the wide variety of lighting conditions met with in interior scenes, this film is photographically outstanding. The continuity, presenting the plant's operations in natural sequence, is commendable for its clarity, particularly in view of the numerous complicated processes featured." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759.
"Carl Weagant's sea epic, The Cruise Of The Carlsark, 3000 ft., 16mm., is a complete film record of the voyage of the ketch, Carlsark, across the Atlantic. Three Cornell men began the adventurous trip at Ithaca, N. Y., sailing through the Erie Canal system into the St. Lawrence and thence out into the Atlantic. Crossing the ocean in the little yawl, they cruised through the Mediterranean and returned home, stopping at the Canaries. The film record of the trip, made by Mr. Weagant, who was skipper as well as cameraman, is almost as important an advent in the annals of amateur movie making as the trip itself is in yachting circles. Excellent in exposure throughout, the picture contains few of the errors that would have been excusable. The continuity follows the chart of the voyage but the reels of sea scenes in the midst of the film can be considered as a separate subject. These scenes, telling the every day life aboard the ketch and the exciting incidents on the trip, are as interesting and as well photographed as any amateur made sea pictures that have come to the attention of League headquarters." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759.
"Operation On The Brain, 300 ft., 16mm., made by Ernest Page and William Palmer, is a splendid record of a surgical operation. The film's most prominent quality is its fine definition. Correct exposure and careful lighting produced a clean cut and understandable scientific record. Closeups, made with a telephoto lens, were correctly interspersed with the longer shots to emphasize the important details. Variation in camera position is as important in films of operations as in other types of subject matter. Continuous closeups, often used in films of this nature, may be as unsatisfactory as would be continuous medium shots. Although not planned from the viewpoint of instruction, this picture is probably as satisfactory a surgical record as is possible to make under amateur conditions." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759.
"The production of the Flower City Amateur Movie Club of Rochester, N. Y., Terror, 400 ft., 16mm., was written and directed by Frank J. Buehlman. It was recently screened as a special, added feature on a week's run at the Little Theater in Rochester. Terror is a psychological study of the effect of fear. Its story is based on a practical joke engineered by friends of the victim who, to the end of the film, remain ignorant of the disastrous results. As the story develops, we see the commonplace incidents of every day life through the eyes of the fear obsessed principal character. The handling of the theme required great care but the producers succeeded in making the highly fantastic reactions of the character seem plausible. With its exquisite lighting effects and the dramatic power achieved in the climactic sequences through cinematography, this film is certainly outstanding." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759.
"The feature length photoplay produced in Siam by Nai Bernard Juangbhanich is one of the best of the serious dramatic efforts produced by amateurs. The story deals with the profligacy of a young Siamese who has been educated in Europe. Feeling superior to an ordinary business career, the young man determines to write, with the consequent search for "experience and atmosphere." In the succession of romantic episodes that follow, the theme of the tale is developed with extraordinary skill and, in spite of the manifest satire in several of the sequences, the picture includes many sincere glimpses into the social life and customs of the upper classes of Siam. Completely blinded and embittered as the result of his folly, the protagonist finally comes to terms with himself and actually does succeed as an author. Although this plot follows a familiar outline, Mr. Juangbhanich again proves that it is not the essential plot but the treatment that counts. The picture includes flaws both in photography and continuity but they appear unimportant in view of the general photographic quality and the epic nature of the treatment. It was recently screened for the staff of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 759, 787.
"Electra, 400 ft., 16mm., produced by Clyde Hammond, is a picturization of that Greek drama. Its most novel quality is the evidence of an intelligent search for the best motion picture treatment to present an accurate film version of the story. A series of tableau like sequences were finally used with much better results than if the plot had been adapted and scenarized in the customary manner. Certainly this film version is much truer to the original than would otherwise have been possible. Not being able to erect the complicated sets that would seem necessary, Mr. Hammond used flat gray walls, producing the suggestion of ancient Greek palaces and dwellings with "props," costumes and occasional wall ornamentation. The photographic quality is uniformly good throughout and, one sequence has very good double exposures." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 787-788.
"Tying A Dry Salmon Fly, 300 ft., 16mm., was awarded special mention because of its unusual subject matter and because of the uniformly fine technique with which it is portrayed. Mr. Brock, both a fisherman and a firmer, has brought one hobby to the aid of another as he shows, with a straightforward continuity, the nice art of fly tying. Working almost entirely in extreme closeups, he overcame the serious problem of limited depth of focus by a canny concentration of his light sources on the tiny subject. In this manner, he was able so to stop down the lens as to achieve maximum definition and depth of field." Movie Makers, Dec. 1931, 685.
"America, among the three films given special mention, is an ambitious scenic epic being compiled by William H. Barlow. The plan is to cover all of the prominent beauty spots of this country, building the sequences of them into a monumental film document. Yet each reel is so planned and titled that it can be separately screened. The reels that have already been completed present a combination of beautiful photography, intelligent planning and editing and skillful titling that has not been surpassed in similar professional work." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 788.
"Galleon Gold, 1600 ft., 16 mm., produced by the San Jose Players under the leadership of John C. Waterhouse, strikes a more sober note. This entertaining drama of the youth of a venerable Spanish family, who discover the treasure trove of the Conquistadores in time to save the family hacienda from the encroachment of the lime quarries, contains much good photography, a smooth continuity, experienced acting and first rate direction." Movie Makers, Sept. 1930, 569.
"Galleon Gold, 1600 ft., 16mm., produced by the San Jose Players, deserves special mention for its smooth flowing continuity alone. Although the difficulty of securing a lucid continuity is greatly increased in a longer dramatic picture, the producers of this film have achieved perfect clarity. This film was made during a summer vacation at a mountain ranch and it seemed at first that the lack of electric current for lighting would be an insuperable obstacle since the script called for many interior scenes. The problem was finally solved by a portable motor generator driven by a gas engine which, with proper lighting equipment, made ample illumination possible." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 788.
"The Forgotten Frontier, filmed by Miss Marvin Breckinridge, is the most ambitious amateur made welfare film yet recorded. To show the operation of the Kentucky Nursing Service, Miss Breckinridge spent several months filming in the mountain districts reached by that organization. With the cooperation of the mountain folk, she staged several short dramas, each demonstrating the usefulness of one of the centers or some phase of their work. The completed picture runs 6000 ft., 35mm., and, in spite of the numerous technical difficulties, it is excellently photographed." Movie Makers, Dec. 1930, 788.
Total Pages: 299
Amateur Cinema