DEAR LISTS,
I just watched CAROL, an excellent film, subtly and honestly portraying what
must have been a truly oppressive environment for gay women in the 50s. But
what drove me crazy occurred in the first few minutes of the film. Most people
over 50 dabbled in photography as late adolescents and teens. My first camera
was a plastic brownie style camera that I got for selling greeting cards. My
second camera was my father's Argus C3, a very boxy 35mm range finder camera
with a mediocre lens on it. But it was a great step upward from the brownie. I
still sits in my glass camera case about 15 feet from where I am sitting.
There are two interesting features of the C3:
1) You focus by rotating a small gnarled wheel on the top left (viewed from the
front) of the camera that drives and rotates the lens focus mechanism as well
as the split image range finder. You do NOT rotate the lens barrel as you might
on either a Leica or a Nikon. This might well strip the gears.
2) Each time you want to make an exposure, you must cock the shutter with a
small black lever to the left (when viewed from the front) of the lens. The
shutter is NOT automatically cocked when you advance the film as it is with
most other cameras.
***Why would producers and a director who have budgeted many millions to get
Kate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in their film and fill it with dozens of classic
cars, cheap out and NOT hire an expert (perhaps $500 to $1000 for the
instructional session) to show Rooney Mara and the director how to properly use
the C3?
When the Rooney Mara character first photographed Kate's character, she focused
by rotating the lens barrel, not rotating the focus wheel. She also made three
or four exposures without cocking the shutter. Sure, at least she seemed to
advance the film each time but the C3 does NOT automatically cock the shutter
when you advance the film. You must do it each time manually. You might claim
that I am a very small fraction of the audience who would notice this but,
considering that the C3 was one of the most popular chimeras ever made and MANY
were sold, very many people 50 or older would know about this. Also, this
camera has featured prominently in films from as long ago as THE PHILADELPHIA
STORY to as recently as SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (used by Gwyneth
Paltrow's character) in 2004. The movie going public is not unfamiliar with it.
My problem was, for the next 15 minutes of the film, my disbelief had returned.
It catapulted me out of the world of the film into a critical reality...NOT
what any feature film maker wants!!! It destroyed the illusion that cinema
creates so well. I re-suspended my disbelief when Kate's wealthy character gave
Rooney's character what appeared to be a Leica M3 and lots of 35mm film.
I just don't understand why anyone would ignore such a simple and easily
corrected situation.
CHEERS!
BOB
