In Hollywood, if some accident happens to the camera you are using, you can have another one, equally dependable and of identical design, delivered to the set in a matter of minutes. If a scene should require it, you could have 5 or 10 cameras and their crews ready to go on almost as short notice.
In England, we are not so fortunate. In too many cases, a camera mishap or a sudden call for extra cameras can mean exasperating delays to production, simply because the studio is not likely to be equipped with many spares.
In general, the chief differences between Hollywood and English productions is in such little things as that — accessories which we often have to improvise on the spot, but which you in Hollywood not only have already as a result of many years of production activity in your studios, but which you take as a matter of course.
Much of the general similarity between Hollywood and British studios, methods and equipment can be credited to the influence of the several American cinematographers and other technicians who have been active in British production during recent years.
An American art director, Jack Okey, designed and built Denham Studio; other American photographers and technicians have had influence in equipping our studios with the things which Hollywood's years of experience had proved best.
Some of my more impetuous compatriots have expressed resentment at the activities of American cinematographers and technicians in British studios. I have never been able to justify this attitude. I do not believe that the activities of any of the outstanding Americans who have made pictures in our British studios have kept any comparably capable British technicians out of work.
On the other hand, we have much for which to thank our American fellows. At the time when we were most urgently in need of it, they brought to us the most up-to-date knowledge of methods and materials from the world's greatest production center — knowledge which has played an important part in the last few years' progress in British films.
In addition, their work and the salaries paid them have done much to impress our producers with the value of capable photographers. These salaries, in turn, are bearing fruit in a slow but steady improvement in the compensation paid to British cameramen and their crews.
As compared to American standards, there is still much to be done in this direction; but I feel that the influence of the Americans who have made pictures in British studios has done much to start the ball rolling in the right direction.
