Evening star., 1943-10-17
ADJUSTMENTS.
Movie>Making in Free China
Bv Clvde Farnscorfh.

Corp. is affiliated with the National
Military Council and employees are
paid on a military scale.
Miss Lees pay, figured between
that of lieutenant colonel and colo
mel, does not exceed, with subsis-
tence allowances, 1000 Chinese dol
lars monthly-10O American dollars
at the official rate. This is the city
where a pair of silk stockings would
cost almost that much!
U. S. Amenities Lacking.
Popular American concepts as to
the way of life among movie ac-
tresses do not apply here. Miss Lee
and the other players use the same
makeup room. They live together
in dormitories within the compound
occupied by the corporation. OFF the
set, she goes about in sport shirt,
slacks and sport shoes. She works
by night and sleeps by day with no
sleeping mask. There are no press
agents, no autograph hounds, few
flowers, no champagne, no roadsters,
no swimming pools. Miss Lee. who
doesn't wear muc hmake-up off the
set, counts herself fortunate to have
an OCCASIONAL American lipstick i'm
ported from India. Even there a lip
stick costs the equivalent of three
American dollars.
The studios precious cosmetics
are kept in handy wooden cases so
that coolies can readily carry them,
together with the camera and ir-
replaceable mobile equipment into
the dugouts in case of air-raid tlerts.
Bombings have often interfered
with picture making.
The municipal power supply is so
inadequate that studio shooting
commences only around midnight
when most of Chungking has turned
out its lights and gone to bed.
Visiting Americans who know the
Hollywood industry marvel that
feature movies are made at all in
Chungking. The industry here is a
masterpiece of improvisation. Most
films have the war for background,
however, and the Chinese Army is
ready to dish up any number of
extras.
The Obliging Japs.
The costuming of Chinese as
japanese soldiers is also simple.
There are plenty Of captured Japa-
nese uniforms. japanese rifles differ
in caliber from the Chinese, so they,
too, are readily had as props. If
the Chinese Army had the right
ammunition for them they would be
harder to come by.
The China Motion Picture Corps
one old model camera is a refugee
from the aJpanese occupation of
Changhai, Marking and Hankow.
The same apparatus came up from
Hong Kong. Camera noise is muffled
from the microphone with a home
made square of cotton quilting. The
mike, when not in use, is swaddled in
soft cloth and guarded like the
crown jewels of Manchu emperor.
A director will rarely shoot more
than three takes of any scene. With
only one camera there is no cross
cutting of scene. There is no
printing Of 'rushes." In the editing
the best takes are selected directly
from the negative. A director may
have to work without knowing
where his next reel of unexposed film
IS coming from.
production was started on THE
Border Front with only 10000 feet
of fresh film on hand. At a three
to-one ratio in takes, at least 10000
more feet of film will be needed to
complete this 10,000-foot feature.
The director and author, Ho Fei-
kwan, hopes to get film from India
before his stock runs out. The film
lrg is expected to take three months.
the cost of the film 1.-TWO
Chinese dollars per foot at the old
rate), THE Border Front" is eX-
pected to cost 100000 Chinese dol
lars, A great chunk of this has al
ready been sunk in the construction
Of the elaborate interior-the living
room of the wealthy Chinese in
Burma. This set. trimmed overhead
by incandescent lights. was built in
the single barnlike studio about 100
feet long. The walls and roof of
the place are insulated against the
noise of the city around it by thick
layers of straw.
Research Her Ambition.
TechnlclanS and actors work both
in front and behind the camera.
The japanese soldier who bayoneted
Lily's mother and brother is a
cameraman picked for his face and
figure. The author director, who
laboriously penned the script, cam
era directions and sound specifica-
tions for The Border Front" is
himself an eminent actor.
Miss Lee herself has ambitions to
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