42nd
Street, Goldiggers of 1933, Footlight Parade, Fashions of 1934
(Busby
Berkely, 1933)
Former
drill sergeant turned extravagant choreographer Busby Berkely, has
been described as the first director to actually make the camera move
and to truly involve his audience in his films. He made this look
sophisticated and effortless, however it's fact that his background
as a drill sergeant just meant that the cast would rehearse and
rehearse until it was to his high standard!
Many
of Berkely's films were pretty much the same, in terms of narrative,
but in terms of innovative design, each film was as exciting as the
next, each challenging the boundaries of camera work, choreography,
set design, costume and what was socially acceptable. Many even
featured songs with narrative subversion towards current events, one
example of this being the number, My Forgotten Man,
which was about the forgotten men of the first world war, amongst
post-depression U.S.
Some
of the issues tackled, and the way the chorus girls were presented,
were seen, especially in 30's Britain, as impolite and improper,
meaning that many of his films were banned in the U.K. as they evoked
attitudes and ideology thought of as harmful to Britain's better
interests.
One
of Berkeley’s most recognisable examples of making the camera move
then, is his signature shot in which he takes the camera between the
bare legs of his line of chorus girls. The very same chorus girls
whose costumes were more often than not, risqué. Their costumes made
of a huge variety of different materials, including fur, leather,
larvae and even, in one case, corsets made of tin. Noticeably, the
girls were completely natural beauties, healthy and proportioned
women as was desired of that time, unlike today's media-craving for
stick-thin, “beautiful” people. Another signature use that
Berkeley had for his chorus girls, was his kaleidoscopic aerial view
of the women, in which they would use their bodies to create patterns
and shapes in synchronisation, creating a beautiful yet, somewhat
psychedelic effect.
The
costumes were just as elaborate as the sets, which often had moving
parts, various tiers and were on occasion integrated with floating
pieces and even water. The sets formed part of Berkeley's various
camera trickery, in which no post-production editing was ever used,
just pure clever camera placing and optical illusions. Berkeley then,
was a pure designer, whose glamorous and technical style has been
imitated countless times since, but never captured. His surreal and
innovative style paved the way for designers and directors alike.
