OF THE PRECIOUS POSTPRODUCTION RIGHTS WE HAVE NEGOTIATED. WITH YOUR PERMISSION, A COPY OF OUR CONTRACT WILL BE OFFERED ΤΟ YOU FOR THE RECORD. OUR DEVOTION, AS A GUILD, TO ARTISTIC STANDARDS IS SHOWN IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT THE ONE WHICH I THINK WILL BE OF GREATEST INTEREST ΤΟ THE COMMITTEE, MR. CHAIRMAN, IS COMPENSATION OF A VERY SPECIAL KIND. IN ITS BASIC MINIMUM AGREEMENT WITH PRODUCING COMPANIES THE DIRECTORS GUILD ASKS ITS DIRECTORS OF SCREENPLAYS AND TELEPLAYS ΤΟ DO CERTAIN WORK FOR NOTHING. WE HAVE AGREED TO CARRY OUT PARTICULAR POSTPRODUCTION TASKS FOR NO PAY FOR A PERIOD WHICH CAN RANGE FROM DAYS ΤΟ MONTHS. WE EVEN DISCIPLINE THOSE OF OUR MEMBERS WHO SHIRK THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS. OUR COMPENSATION, THEREFORE, IS NOT IN COIN ALONE. IT LIES, IN VERY LARGE PART, IN LOVE OF THE ART OF BRINGING A SCREENPLAY TO LIFE IN THE SATISFACTION OF REALIZING VISIONS WHICH WE LOVE VISIONS THAT HAVE BEEN CARRIED IN THE WOMBS OF OUR IMAGINATIONS AS THEY HAVE UNDERGONE ALL KINDS OF NEEDED COMPROMISES AND ASSAULTS WHICH RUN THE GAMUT FROM INADEQUATE TIME OR MONEY, UNSTABLE THE ABOVE. WHEN PHOTOGRAPHY IS FINISHED EVEN THOSE OF US WHO WORK ON THE BASIS OF A SCALE CONTRACT SET ABOUT EDITING THE FILM FOR NO ADDITIONAL PAY, REMAINING WITH IT FOR NO ADDITIONAL PAY. HAVING DEDICATED OURSELVES SINGULARLY AND COLLECTIVELY ΤΟ SEEKING THE OPPORTUNITY ΤΟ ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST QUALITY OF WORK OF WHICH WE ARE INDIVIDUALLY CAPABLE, HAVING PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY SURVIVED THE RIGORS OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS, ONLY ΤΟ BE ROBBED OF THE INTELLECTUAL FRUITS, WE FEEL IS AN UNACCEPTABLE AND UNDESERVED PENALTY FOR OUR ASPIRATIONS TOWARD EXCELLENCE. SO OUR SENSIBILITIES ARE ACUTELY BRUISED WHEN WE SEE "OUR CHILDREN" BUTCHERED ON TELEVISION BY THE VARIOUS PUBLICLY TORTURED AND INSTRUMENTS OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGISTS. THERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES: FIRST, OUR FILMS ARE SPEEDED UP: AS YOU KNOW, FILM TRAVELS THROUGH ANOTHER MACHINE THE CAMERA AND THE PROJECTOR AT 24 FPS. BY TRANSFERRING THE FILM ARE SPENT TO GET A SCENE TO PLAY JUST SO LONG AND GET A PAUSE TO BE JUST SO SHORT. ALL OF THIS WORK IS OBLITERATED BY THE MARKETEER AND THE ENGINEER! SECOND, OUR FILMS ARE "PANNED AND SCANNED." FILMS ARE PHOTOGRAPHED IN DIFFERENT ASPECT RATIOS (OR FRAME SIZES) WHICH VARY FROM A FRAME THE SIZE OF 1 UNIT HIGH TO 1.33 UNITS WIDE TO THE WIDE SCREEN CONSISTING OF PROPORTIONS OF 1 TO 2.35 UNITS. A SHOT MADE OF A CANOE, WOULD IN WIDE SCREEN, FOR INSTANCE, CONTAIN BOTH THE BOWMAN AND THE STERN MAN. WHEN SCREENED ON TELEVISION THE MARKETEER HAS ONE OF FOUR CHOICES, SHOW THE BOWMAN, SHOW THE STERN MAN, SHOW THE MIDDLE OF THE CANOE WITHOUT EITHER, OR PAN AND SCAN FORTH ACROSS THE FILM I.E. MOVE Α SCANNER BACK AND FROM THE BOW TO THE STERN AND BACK AGAIN, FOLLOWING THE EXCHANGE OF DIALOGUE. HE THEREBY IMPOSES A RHYTHM, EMPHASIS, MOVEMENT AND IMAGERY FOREIGN ΤΟ THE FILMMAKERS IDEA. AND THEN FINALLY, THE LAST STRAW THE LIGHTNING ROD OFFENSE THAT BRINGS US HERE TODAY -SEEING THOSE FILMS WHICH WERE MADE IN BLACK AND WHITE, DOUSED IN WHAT IS, IN OUR OPINION AND THAT OF ALMOST ALL CRITICS, INFERIOR COMPUTER GENERATED COLOR. APART FROM POSITIONS AND PERCEPTIONS, THERE IS ONE CLEAR AND DISTINCTIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COLOROIDS AND US. THAT DIFFERENCE IS MONEY. THERE ARE THOSE, WHO STAND TO PROFIT FROM THE COMPUTER COLORING OF OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK AND THOSE LED BY THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA WHO STAND ΤΟ GAIN NOT ONE PENNY. MOST MEMBERS OF THE DIRECTORS GUILD HAVE NEVER MADE A BLACK AND WHITE FILM AND MAY NEVER HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. MR. ROGER MAYER, PRESIDENT OF TURNER ENTERTAINMENT, WAS GENTLEMAN ENOUGH RECENTLY, TO PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE MORAL AND ETHICAL NATURE OF OUR CAUSE. I RESPECTFULLY SUGGEST THAT THE COMMITTEE JUDGE THE VARIOUS ARGUMENTS OFFERED TO YOU IN THE LIGHT NOT ONLY OF MERIT BUT OF MOTIVATION. THREATENING THE LAST SUMMER OUR GUILD PRESIDENT GILBERT CATES ASKED ME TO TO CHAIR GROUPS AND CRITICS. THE ACT OF ARTISTIC DESECRATION WHEREBY A SPECIFIC THE DEFENDERS OF COMPUTER COLORING CLAIM THAT IN MANY INSTANCES COLOR FILM WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT THE TIME THESE PICTURES WERE MADE! WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A POINTLESS ARGUMENT. WHETHER IT WAS OR NOT, THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT FILMS, LIKE OTHER ARTISTIC PRODUCTS HAVE PERSONALITIES OF THEIR OWN. IN MANY CASES, BLACK-AND-WHITE WAS CHOSEN AND COLOR SPECIFICALLY REJECTED FOR ARTISTIC REASONS. SOME OF THE ARTISTS REMAIN ALIVE TO TESTIFY TO THE DELIBERATENESS OF THEIR CHOICES. THE GUILD MUST SUPPORT THEM AND LENDS ITS VOICE IN HERE TO DEFEND THEIR WORK THEMSELVES. THE REAL POINT TO BE ADDRESSED IS THAT IF FILMS WERE MADE IN BLACK-AND-WHITE (FOR WHATEVER REASON), THEIR THE FUNDAMENTAL MISTAKE MADE BY THOSE WHO PROMULGATE TO BE "IMPROVED". THEY ARE WHAT THEY ARE, FOR BETTER WHITE FILMS MAKES THEM SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THEY WERE. "GRAPES OF WRATH" IN COLOR WOULD NOT BE "GRAPES APPEARANCE OF ANY WORK OF ART DOES NOT REST WITH THE READER, THE LISTENER, THE VIEWER OR THE AUDIENCE. IT RESTS WITH THE ARTIST. IT IS PERHAPS THE MOST BASIC RIGHT OF THE ARTIST, AND ONE THAT THE DIRECTORS GUILD, PERCEPTION OF ITSELF. MUTILATION OF "COLORIZATION" IS A RE-WRITING OF HISTORY, WHICH WE BELIEVE TO BE INHERENTLY DANGEROUS. WE BELIEVE THAT THE DIRECTORS GUILD SHOULD SUPPORT THE NOTION THAT NO CIVILIZATION WORTHY OF THE NAME CAN AFFORD TO PROMULGATE LIES ABOUT ITSELF. IF WE DO NOT PRESERVE WITH FIDELITY IMAGES OF HOW WE THAT WE WILL ARRIVE AT A DISTORTED UNDERSTANDING OF WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT THAT WAY." "BUT, SAY THE "COLOROIDS", IGNORING US, "MANY BLACK AND WHITE FILMS WERE NOT MADE BY CHOICE BUT BY STUDIO FIAT AND MANY DIRECTORS WOULD HAVE WANTED COLOR IF THEY HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO USE IT." PUTTING ASIDE THE QUESTION WHETHER ANY PROFESSIONAL WOULD STILL HAVE A JOB AFTER MISAPPLYING SUCH COLORS, THE REASON THAT THE PALETTE, WAS OR IS, LIMITED TO BLACK AND WHITE, MAY BE HISTORICALLY INTERESTING BUT IT IS ARTISTICALLY IRRELEVANT. WE WORK, LIKE MOST ARTISTS, WITH WHAT WE HAVE. FOR EXAMPLE, BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE COLOR REMOVED. IT INVOLVES A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUE WHICH MY COLLEAGUES WILL ADDRESS. NOW TO THE QUESTION OF WHY ANYONE SHOULD CARE, PARTICULARLY THE SOME REASONS. NO ART (INCLUDING FILM ART) IS CREATED IN A SOCIAL VACUUM. OUR ARTISTS HAVE BEEN FORMED AND INFORMED BY OUR CULTURE, WHICH IN MOST CASES GAVE THEM BIRTH, AND IN ALL CASES GAVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE KIND OF FREE EXPRESSION THAT LED FINALLY TO THE PRODUCTION OF THEIR WORK WORK UNIQUE AND SPECIAL TO THEIR NATION, BORN OF A PARTICULAR TIME AND A PARTICULAR PLACE, SOLVING PARTICULAR AESTHETIC AND TECHNICAL TOOLS AVAILABLE TO THEM AT THAT TIME. PROBLEMS WITH THE PARTICULAR THE CULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES, LIKE THAT OF MOST OTHER COUNTRIES, HAS BEEN SUPPORTED AND PROTECTED BY THE TAXES OF THE PEOPLE AND SOMETIMES BY THEIR LIVES. IN A VERY REAL SENSE THEREFORE, THERE IS A NATIONAL INTEREST AN INVESTMENT IN SEEING TO IT THAT CULTURE (OF WHICH ART IS AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT) IS PRESERVED. IN FACT, IN SUPPORT OF THIS THESIS, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAKES FUNDS AVAILABLE ΤΟ CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS, SUCH AS THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE, THE SMITHSONIAN, AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FOR THE RESTORATION OF BLACK AND WHITE FILMS. ONE MIGHT SAY, ΤΟ BE SPECIFIC, THAT FRANK CAPRA DID NOT CREATE "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" BY HIMSELF BUT WAS NURTURED BY THE CULTURAL HERITAGE WHICH PRECEDED AND ENCOURAGED HIM. THAT WORK, THEREFORE, IN ONE SENSE, BELONGS TO THE WHOLE NATION. |