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Visited, The

Date produced: 1963

Filmmaker(s):

John Riley

Description:

"It is a late fall day, blustery and bleak, just before the first snow. The visit by the Angel of Death is heralded by the blowing leaves and the lonesome cry of the starlings. Dramatic camera work and original music scoring create the suspense and drama of this story in a setting of an old New England state in the early 1900s. This highly imaginative film by John Riley was awarded the MPD Student film Award" PSA Journal, Oct. 1963, 41.


Voyageur’s Trail

Date produced: 1936

Filmmaker(s):

Duncan MacD. Little

Description:

"Last, but by no means least on the list of honorable mentions, is Duncan MacD. Little's 'Voyageur's Trail,' a news film of a four-day canoe race in Canada. This film, photographed perforce under whatever conditions happened to obtain at the moment the action occurred, represents a remarkable achievement in amateur news filming, for which Little is to be commended in the highest terms." American Cinematographer, Feb. 1938, 78.


Waters of Hakitekura, The

Date produced: 1962

Filmmaker(s):

Lindsay McLeod

Description:

"A blue lake area that invites sun lovers, bathers, fishermen, and skiing in winter. The picture is about the local people in the Queenstown area, the people who go about their daily events and habits, such as weddings, small boys catching frogs in a lily pond, shopping areas, the filling station, boat service, and the mailman, as if the visitors were part of the community. We travel with one of the small planes as it goes on a mission to drop supplies to men in the forestry service. The local activities of these people remind us so much of our own experiences" PSA Journal, Oct. 1962, 36.


Waters of Lodore

Date produced: 1951

Filmmaker(s):

Alton Morton

Description:

"Waters Of Lodore - Unlike most letter carriers who go for a hike on their vaction, letter-carrier Morton and a party of friends set out on a boating adventure down the Colorado river during his 1950 summer vacation. Morton recorded the adventure from start to finish, and edited the footage into an absorbing documentary having many thrilling moments. Although the picture is a little slow getting started -the preparation and get-away sequences being somewhat overly- lenghty -the picture, once the boats get underway, is packed with interest and not a few thrills. It must have been a monumental job making movies on such an arduous journey, for it was often a tough enough job just to keep the boats afloat. Staging the boat action in the rougher waters required infinite patience and camera skill, but Morton has been rewarded with some excellent shots of his fellow-boatmen navigating the dangerous rapids. Morton shot the picture on 16mm Kodachrome at 24 f.p.s., hoping later to combine the narration on a sound print. At present, the narration is recorded on wire and synchronized with the picture." American Cinematographer, May 1952, 224.


Way of Life

Date produced: 1961

Filmmaker(s):

Leonard Bauer

Description:

"The simple ways of life are desired by most of us even in our struggle to get to some other place or environment. The Amish in Pennsylvania have managed to hold onto the good things of the land and simple ways of life. The skills and crafts of these people are brought forth as this film presents its story of their daily activities" PSA Journal, Oct. 1961, 48.


West Coast

Date produced: 1938

Filmmaker(s):

W. W. Champion

Description:

"The praises of California's beautiful scenery, so often sung, rarely have been intoned as convincingly as in West Coast, by W. W. Champion. The high standard in the selection of scenes, to be noted first in the choice of shots around lovely Monterey Bay, in itself would make this picture exceptional. Added to that quality are artistic compositions and sequencing remarkable for its unstilted continuity. As the picture's subject shifts from the harbor to the town of Monterey and then down the coast to Carmel, the historical features of this section of California are brought out clearly, while the pleasures of country club and bathing beach add human interest. Smoothly and swiftly, by means of expertly executed transitional devices and fades, the story of life unfolds against a background that is colorful and charming." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 617.


West Lancashire

Date produced: 1933

Filmmaker(s):

Reginald Rigby

Description:

"Lancashire's Fylde Coast resorts have year-round appeal, as we can see in this reel from the early 1930s. The seaside is not just for swimming and sandcastles; you can feed seagulls at Southport, or slide down sand dunes with your dog, or stroll across Blackpool's wide beaches on a cold day. And, at the time this film was shot, this coastline had many fine piers to enjoy, whatever the weather."(BFI Player)


West Texas

Date produced: 1970

Filmmaker(s):

Alan E. Gadney

Description:

"West Texas by Alan E. Gadney of Sun Valley, Calif. Alan made this film while a student in the Department of Cinema, University of Southern California at Los Angeles, and it is a superb example of student work. The Logistics involved and problems encountered are hard to believe and yet the picture was made in California. This 55-minute 16mm film was awarded a Ten Best Medal, The Charles A. Kinsley Memorial Award, the Scenario Award and the Student Film Award" PSA Journal, Nov. 1970, 38.


Western Holiday

Date produced: 1937

Filmmaker(s):

Hamilton H. Jones

Description:

"Western Holiday offered one of those thrills in the sequence of sunrise on Mount Robson. Here Kodachrome caught, with what seemed magic, the first rosy glow on the cold, blue snow, which the continuity of photographic motion permitted to increase, to blossom and, finally, to blaze into a chromatic crown of jewels. To see this on the screen is to enjoy a rare experience. Hamilton H. Jones, in the highly intelligent cutting of his train sequences, gave the student of continuity another of these thrills. Those who are charmed by double turntable accompaniment will recognize the perfection with which an almost impossibly difficult feat of lip synchronization with record scoring has been handled. These are some of the higher spots in a film of unusually high general average. Mr. Jones is a Kodachrome movie maker of proved ability, who has made editing a special art. The film chosen for the first Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award will be used by Mr. Jones in his work as a lecturer on the vacation advantages of the Dominion of Canada, although it was made as his own enterprise, entirely at his own expense and not for compensation from a client. It is a part of his professional equipment. Briefly reviewed, Western Holiday carries the audience, via Canadian National Railways, from Victoria, Canada's most westerly metropolis, across the Rocky Mountains back to the Eastern Seaboard. Beginning with city views in Victoria and Vancouver, with strikingly colorful parades of the famous Canadian Mounted Police, we visit tourist centers and make trail trips from them. The camera goes into the interior of a glacier, it finds mountain goats and sheep, it clambers over the Continental Divide on horseback. All through the trip, it studies the progress of trains, weaving in and out of tunnels and over bridges. In his personal presentations of this film, Mr. Jones manipulates effects, such as whistles, bells, train noises and other oddments, with something approaching wizardry. In the face of competition of the highest order, Western Holiday is its own justification of preferment." Movie Makers, Dec. 1937, 602.


When the Cat’s Away

Date produced: 1938

Filmmaker(s):

Helen Rees Clifford

Description:

"First Film and When the Cat's Away, a double header entry, which takes honors jointly because of the strong relationship between the two, is the production of the Cinema Club of Lowell Junior High School, at Long Beach. Calif., and of the club's faculty adviser, Helen Rees Clifford. First Film, largely the work of Miss Clifford, summarizes the Junior High School group's experiences in producing When the Cat's Away, which is entirely the achievement of the youngsters. Together, the two films present a clear and concise picture of the initial production of a film by a junior high school movie club, from scenario writing and movie planning to the completed opus, ready for its premiere. So, in these two reels, one sees how the job of teaching movie making technique to youngsters, of ages from eleven to fourteen, can be handled efficiently and happily, and one learns how clear and coherent a little picture can be produced as a starter. Few high school photoplay clubs have begun so well and with so little lost motion. Very few high school first films are as clear and competent as When the Cat's Away." Movie Makers, Dec. 1938, 618.


Total Pages: 35