AIC, 1988 - AIC Associazione Italiana Autori della Fotografia ...

AIC
cinematografica medesima.
La materia che patrocina oggi la
legge sul diritto d'autore
appartiene ad una realtà molto
più complessa e distante da
quella del 1941, quando andò in
vigore.
Per questo, mancando dei
necessari adattamenti alle
mutate tecnologie delle opere
audiovisuali e al mutato
substrato socio-politico, la
legislazione va ammodernata.
I diritti che emergeranno da tale
opportuno riconoscimento,
eccetto quelli di natura
patrimoniale di trascurabile
entità, per più stimolanti ragioni
sono i "diritti morali sul film",
quali il diritto alla paternità e il
diritto all'integrità dell'opera.
Benefici riconosciuti soltanto agli
autori dell'opera e considerati
inalienabili dalla legge.
Queste tutele consentirebbero,
tra l'altro, d'instaurare il
principio in base al quale:
qualsiasi difformità dalla copia
eletta a campione, per
qualsivoglia motivo o causa
dovesse manifestarsi, potendo
disattendere suggestioni visive ed
estetiche fuorvianti le intenzione
che si sono volute esprimere
unanimamente con il regista,
durante le riprese e al
licenziamento delle copie per la
stampa, può essere censurata.
La "fotografia cinematografica",
non esibendo unicamente gli
oggetti, con propri segni, un suo
linguaggio ed una propria
struttura narrativa, si costituisce
essa stessa in "OGGETTO".
"If you know how to look you will be
able to see entire landscapes,
mountains, battles, human figures,
animal and an infinity of other strange
things, in the clouds, the rocks and
even the stains on a wall".
(Leonardo da Vinci)
The Director of Photography is the
only man in whom the pioneer spirit of
the cinematograph and the
individuality expressed in today's
cinema is combined.
The sum total of the various technical
discoveries made in 19th Century
regarding the applications and
development of photography, resulted
in the invention of the cinematograph,
and the first person to actually operate
it was, without a doubt, the
cameraman/photographer/author.
This "realizer", pioneer and scientist,
performed almost all the functions
which went into creating his
product": moving picture for the
public.
At the same time, he invented, built
and operated his equipment and also
processed, projected and sold his films.
From filming reality, one progressed to
telling stories with images: one moved
on from the cinematograph, understood
as technical apparatus, to cinema,
understood as a means of expression.
After having passed through the initial
phase of exploring reality, the
cinematograph made its first attempt
at creating a primitive kind of
entertainment for the public, which
obviously had parallels with the
theatre. And having gone through the
"circus attraction" stage, during which
the films were often shown alongside
the "freaks" that were on exhibition in
the tents, the cinematograph decided
to attract its audiences by offering
them apriore sophisticated form of
entertainment.
Drawing its inspiration from literature,
and picking ub all the theatre's
dramaturgical techniques with ease,
the cinematograph soon required that
its "realizer" devoted himself more, and
gave greater consideration, to the
actual mise en scène.
As well as the establishment of new
production processes, and the
improvements in actual working
methods, specific and complex
techniques were invented which made
it necessary for the "realizer's" tasks to
be allotted and his being "split" into
two people: the director ("metteur en
scène") borrowed from the theatre,
and the cameraman.
This "fission" took the actual filming
out of Director's hands and put in into
the cameraman's thus putting the
exclusive and specific qualities of the
cinematograph, which were then being
Il d e c r e t o del P r e s i d e n t e della
R e p u b b l i c a n° 19 dell'8.01.79
c h e stabilisce c h e "la f o t o g r a -
fia q u a n d o sia frutto di u n a
p e r s o n a l e a p p l i c a z i o n e creati-
va, è s e m p r e o p e r a intellettua-
le", l ' A I C c h i e d e g i à dal 1 9 8 0
agli o r g a n i c o m p e t e n t i gli a d e -
g u a t i r i c o n o s c i m e n t i p e r l e g g e
e le t u t e l e c h e c o m p e t o n o a n -
c h e a l l ' o p e r a dei direttori di
fotografia.
— L e istanze inoltrate d a l l ' A i e ,
t e n d e n t i al r i c o n o s c i m e n t o e x
l e g e del d i r e t t o r e della f o t o -
grafia q u a l e " c o a u t o r e " del
film, r i g u a r d a n o la m o d i f i c a
della l e g g e sul diritto d ' a u t o r e
(n.° 6 6 3 del 22.04.41) a f f i n c h é
p r e n d a s o t t o la s u a tutela
l ' o p e r a del d i r e t t o r e della f o t o -
grafia e n e integri l'autore tra i
c o a u t o r i d e l l ' o p e r a c i n e m a t o -
grafica, e l ' u n i f o r m a r s i della
v i g e n t e l e g g e sul c i n e m a (n.°
1 2 1 3 del 4.11.65), negli articoli
e nei p u n t i c h e lo c o n t e m p l i n o ,
alla l e g i t t i m a r i c h i e s t a di citare
i direttori della f o t o g r a f i a tra i
c o a u t o r i del film.
defined and developed to the full, at his
disposal.
This allowed the cameraman to
develop his "shooting technique"
independently, also by using the light
as a means of artistic expression.
The first cinematographic works
already contained all the elements and
provided all the stimuli responsible for
further development in "shooting
technique", and it was from them that
Director of Photography evolved his
working methods.
Because of his very origins, the
Director of Photography is the most
valuable source of technical
cinematographic knowledge, which he
has inherited virtually in its entirety,
thanks to the traditions of the cinema
through which he expresses himself,
creating differences in each film which
are certainly not merely formal.
Although the Director of
Photography's creativity is part of a
joint work, realized in its totality by
the Director, he neverthless expresses
himself in a unique way, by
establishing a balance between the
way he sees the film, which must also
coincide with the way the others see it,
and the way in which he "expresses"
himself which is his and his alone.
All kinds of different techniques and
talents combine to create the
cinematographic image; neverthless, it
is the Director of Photography who
intuits and makes the final choice as to
how it is to be filmed, which results in
the creation of an original image.
The entire film's bearing the stamp of
his individual personality, is the
undeniable proof of the creative, as
well as technical, contribution he
makes to a film.
The profound knowledge he has of the
Law N.°19, in fact, established by
the president of the Italian Republic,
and which came into force
on January 8th, 79, declares that:
"Photography is to be considered
an intellectual work when it is the
result of a individual creative process",
The A. I.C. has requested
repeatedly, since 1980, that the
relevant government authorities
duly recognize them by law and
protect their work in a just manner.
The specific and legitimate requests
made by the A.I.C. concerning
the Director of Photography's
recognition by law as
"co.author" of a film, relate to the
copirightlaw, N.°633 which came
into force on aprile 2nd, 1941,
and its being modified to protect
also the Director of Photography's
work and recognize him as
one of the film's co-authors; and
to the current cinema law N.°
1213 which came into force on
November 4th, 1965 being modified
also to cite the Director of
Photography as one of the film's
"co-authors", in those clauses
and articles which specifically refer
to him.
economic and industrial factors which
influence film-making, makes him a
unique figure, even when compared to
people in other professions.
Neither must one underestimate those
particular qualities he has to possess in
order to be one of the protagonists in a
joint creative project, the realization of
which is also based on economic,
cultural and psychological strategies,
and delicate and shifting balances.
Apart from anything else, he is also the
only one of the "authors" who follows
the visual realization of the film
through every one of its phases:
conception, preparation, shooting,
editing, printing and distribution, and
defends it, thus preserving identity of
the film as a whole, as it was conceived
by the Director and "authors".
The creation of the image, understood
as the result of a creative thought
process, is one of the highest and most
qualifying of the Director of
Photography's intellectual functions.
Having established how the Director of
Photography's intellectual contribution
manifests itself in the concrete and
tangible form of the image; being
aware of how much a contribution we
make to the finished film, and how
essential a part we play in recounting
the story, we photographic authors of
the A.I.C. feel an essential need to be
recognized as "co-authors" of the films
we work on.
The Copyright Law which came into
force in 1941 is inadequate to protect
the author's rights today, as the
situation has become infinitely more
complex It should, therefore, be
modified, taking into consideration the
technological developments and
underlying social and political changes
which have occurred since its creation.
Should the Director of Photography be
recognize by law, which hopefulty he
will be, he would not only have a share
in the patrimonial rights — which, in
fact, would be negligible — but also be
granted "moral" rights, which would
be far more interesting. The "moral"
rights include the right to the paternity
of the work, and also a right to protect
it as a complete and integral whole.
These latter rights are assigned solely
to the "authors" of the work and are
considered inalienable by law.
These rights would permit, amongst
other things, the drawing up and
eventual insertion of a clause on the
following lines: any difference from the
selected work print that might
manifest itself, for any reason or cause
in prints that are subsequently struck,
and which could give rise to visual or
aesthetic effects inconsonant with
those which the Director of
Photography and Director together
desired to achieve, either during filming
or when the laboratory was instructed
to strike the prints, may be consored
by the interested parties.
If the photography of a film does not
communicate "things" with a
particular visual feeling, language and
narrative structure, then it, itself, is
relegated to the level of a thing.