Reading Assignment : [Welles and Toland]

The storm of Halloween recently came upon us. It rushed first into our Wal-Marts, our pumpkin patches, and then to our front porches, filling our lives with jack-o-lanterns, pillowcases of candy, and a rare opportunity to dress up as someone, or something, that we are not. And then, as quickly as it came, it was gone, soon to be replaced by cornucopias, turkeys, and cranberry sauce.

A friend and I were brainstorming famous duo's we could dress up as, and came up with some fairly good ideas. Among them were: Free Willy and Jesse, President Martin and the Golisano Library, or Peter Pan and Tiger Lily. We ended up dressing as one of the best couples in the history of the world (my parents), but really, I think we missed the boat on this one. The perfect duo out there, especially for a couple of film students: Orson Welles and Gregg Toland.

Now that's a duo worth imitating.

The most recent reading, which discussed the making of Citizen Kane, presented Welles and Toland as having the almost perfect working relationship for the film. The two complimented each other entirely, and to be honest, I'm a little jealous of their symmetry. If, for Halloween, my other costumed half and I had known about Welles and Toland earlier, here a few of the qualities we would have had to imitate:

1. Unconventional: A large part of the reason Welles and Toland found each other in the first place was because both were gaining a reputation for unconventionality. As the reading says, this reputation is what attracted Welles to Toland, who also was experienced and award-winning. "His dislike for conventional studio photography was legendary," Carringer writes. (So, rebellious we'd have to be. We probably could have ripped our pants or pierced our faces or something.) 

2. Eager to Learn: Before the first shoot was shot, and before the first set was constructed, Toland spent a great deal of time teaching Welles all about cameras, their angles, their lenses, lighting, and more. In return, Welles was able to take this knowledge and realize the potential of using these techniques to dramatically portray his story. Each learned from the other the entire time they worked, and because they were so willing and able to learn new techniques or to use them to portray new ideas, their collaboration worked. (Perhaps our costumes should have incorporated some books and an apple.)


3. Daring: These two men documented film in a way no one had before. It was entirely different than what the 1930's audiences were used to, the traditional soft studio style was disregarded. Carringer writes, "The one thing as much feared in Hollywood as a runaway budget was radical innovation. If the truth were known, Citizen Kane now had both strikes against it." But even with very little support, the men took their new, innovative ideas, and made a film that is remembered to this day as one of the greatest of all time. (Perhaps our costumes should have included a bungee jumping cord or skydiving backpack.)


Overall, I think dressing up as two unconventional, eager to learn, and daring young men would have been a hit for trick-or-treating. I mean, it might have possibly been hard to determine who we were, but think of the lasting legacy we could have left.


Oh well, I guess there's always next Halloween.