Epilogue

Rule 7: Substance first—then form.

Norman Cousins, in one of his perceptive editorials, wrote, “We are turning out young men and women who are superbly trained but poorly educated. They are a how-to generation, less concerned with the nature of things than with the working of things. They are beautifully skilled but intellectually underdeveloped. They know everything that is to be known about the functional requirements of their trade but very little about the human situation that serves as the context for their work.”^* (italics added).

Six years of teaching have made me acutely aware of the truth of Mr. Cousins’ words. They have also convinced me that the condition he describes derives not only from the students’ desires, but also from the teachers’ aims. Which leads me, at the risk of being charged with redundancy, to offer a few final words of advice: This book has persistently stressed technique and has urged the pursuit of perfection in its use. But the “human situation,” in all its guises, is what good films are all about, and technical skill counts for nothing if it is used only to manufacture films which have little to do with humanity.