The Cameraman: Buster Keaton – Silent Cinema’s Most Sophisticated Filmmaker

                Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and screenwriter James Agee calls the silent period of the Twenties “Comedy’s Golden Era.” Indeed it is difficult to argue with Agee, as he cites some of film history’s greatest comedic figures, such as Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. Buster Keaton, however, is a filmmaker that absorbs himself within the actual medium of film to an infinitely greater degree than his contemporaries. As seen in The Cameraman (1928), a film Keaton starred in and unofficially co-directed he places a greater importance on cinematographic properties such as the mise-en-scene and camera movement than his fellow filmmakers. Keaton also weaves his slapstick and sight gags into the narrative of the film to create complex and thematic works. Keaton is, in fact, the most sophisticated overall filmmaker working in the genre of silent comedy.

                

Keaton’s 1928 film The Cameraman is the first film he makes at MGM studios. It also marks the last film in which Keaton carried significant creative control and so it may be the last, best example of Keaton’s sophistication as a filmmaker. Keaton plays a street portrait photographer who falls for Sally, an employee of MGM studios’ newsreel department. The film follows Buster as he attempts to get a job at the newsreel department, woo Sally and contend with his cameraman rival, Stagg.

                One of the keys to silent comedy is to craft a character with which the audience can identify. For example, Chaplin is known primarily for playing “The Tramp” in numerous feature films. While Keaton doesn’t necessarily play the same character by name in each film, each character represents the same basic archetype. Keaton plays a bumbler of sorts, who constantly stumbles into and out of danger. Keaton is best known for his deadpan facial expression. This is seen very early on in the film, as Buster is overwhelmed by a crowd. He finds himself pushed and shoved and even carried out of the way. As the crowd disperses, Buster finds himself next to the woman of his dreams, Sally. Dishevelled and covered with confetti, Buster holds out his camera and sign and asks to take her portrait. The look on his face is completely obliviousness to the trouble he has just gone through. It is this deadpan that is repeated again and again throughout the film as the gags and stunts become larger and more dangerous.  Indeed, it is this sort of non-reaction to the films set pieces that make the Keaton so funny. So as grand as the film’s sequences are, it is the acting and character of Keaton that creates the keystone to the humour.

                Another property of cinema that Keaton takes full advantage of is mise-en-scene. In other words, he utilizes that which is placed before the camera. The setting and physical environment is so important to slapstick and silent comedy because of its physical and visual nature. Keaton is incredibly inventive in using sets and settings. Take for example a scene in which Sally phones for Buster. Buster barrels down several flights of stairs and then barrels back up them. At one point he over shoots the phone and ends up one floor below. Later he runs to far up the stairs and ends up stumbling on the top of the building. In another scene, Buster and Sally attempt to board a double-decker bus. Sally boards the first level without a problem. Buster, of course, is not as lucky. He is caught in a crowd of people and lifted to the second level. He climbs down the side of the bus while it’s moving and even falls off when the bus hits a bump. The point is that the humour in The Cameraman does not just stem from Keaton’s performance. It stems from, among other things, the way Keaton integrates and interacts with the environment he is placed in as well as the specific way Keaton chooses to capture that environment on film.

                Another aspect of the mise-en-scene that Keaton utilizes to great effect is costuming. The best example of his careful consideration of costume is in a scene that takes place at a public pool. Buster has taken Sally there on a date. The two have gone into separate dressing rooms to change into bathing attire. Through a serious of unfortunate incidents, Buster ends up wearing a bathing suit that is several sizes too big. He emerges from the change room with the suit draped over him like a dress. The audience would find this to be funny on its own, but Keaton is not done with it. Later in the scene, the bathing suit falls off and he is forced to swim naked though a group of unwitting women with that deadpan expression. Still though, Keaton extracts another gag by having Buster steal a pair of pants from another bather. Keaton as a comedian relies not just on his performing skills but also on the physical tools he is given with which to work.

                As skilful a comedian as Keaton is, one must also consider his skills as a director. Other comedian/ directors of the silent film era could be called conservative. Chaplin for example, preferred to keep the camera more or less static and generally chose to film in long shot. This was so that his whole performance could be captured. Keaton, on the other hand, makes much more dynamic camera choices. Take for example, the previously mentioned staircase gag. The camera tracks up and down the staircase set to follow Buster as he barrels up and down flights of stairs. The single shot, x-ray view of the of the stairs gives the gag a grandiose feeling and the ability of the audience to really see how far Buster runs up and down the building sells the gag. Keaton uses cinematographic properties to portray the sight gags as accurately as possible and to streamline them so that the audience completely understands the essence of what makes them funny.

                Additionally, Keaton has an understanding of editing. He is very aware of narrative space and uses it to create the environments where his gags take place. Once again, look at the swimming pool scene. The drama in the scene comes from the separation of Buster and his date, Sally. They are separated and Buster must find his way back to her. The audience has to be able to keep track of where Buster is and where Sally is, and Keaton accomplishes this by cutting back and forth between the two characters. In addition, there are a number of distinct locations where various gags take place like the diving board, the fountain and the pool steps. Keaton gives the audience a sense of geography. This is vital for the audience to understand the scene as a cohesive narrative.

                Keaton as a filmmaker has a thorough understanding of all the tools of his trade, but it is more than just those individual tools that make him a sophisticate filmmaker. It is his ability to utilize all the tools at his disposal to create gags that integrate and propel the narrative of a film forward. Other filmmakers, most notably Chaplin, would stop the narrative to perform a gag and then restart the narrative. Keaton refused this strategy, instead relying on a narrative structure of his own development. Keaton developed the trajectory gag, which is an extended series of sight gags that are narratively connected and dramatically purposeful. Trajectory gags are created through the use of acting, direction and editing. They are not dramatically isolated. They serve the plot and themselves have drama and resolution. Without the plot of the film, there can be no gag and without the gag the plot does not move forward. It is this narrative structure that makes the silent comedy films of Buster Keaton unique and sophisticated.

                Take for example the extended date sequence. It begins roughly 25 minutes into the film with Buster waiting for a phone call from Sally. The phone rings and Buster barrels down the stairs on one single tracking shot. He discovers the phone call was not for him and ascends the stairs slowly, clearly disappointed that Sally has not called him. He is so distracted by his heartbreak that he climbs to far up the stairs and almost falls off the building. The phone rings again and this time it is Sally. Buster descends the stairs so fast that he winds up in the basement and must run back up. He knocks over his land lady on his way to the phone. He doesn’t even wait for Sally to finish speaking before he runs to her home to pick her up. He dodges in and out of traffic, narrowly avoiding death as he does so, and arrives at her home before she has hung up the phone. These gags are hilarious to the audience and they also show a tremendous amount of Buster’s emotions. The audience knows he is anxious, sad and excited by his actions, for example the way in which he ascends the stairs. Emotions motivate characters and characters move the plot forward. Indeed, Buster’s actions are narratively important and drive the story forward.

                The trajectory gag continues even further, with one of the most integrative moments. Buster arrived so early for their date that he must wait for Sally to get ready. He is left to wait for a short time in a common room with Sally’s neighbours, where he engages in more slapstick humour. The fascinating aspect of this short segment of the trajectory gag is that the previous gag, running to meet Sally, is shown to have consequences in the film’s narrative. Furthermore, the gags displayed while Buster is in the waiting room force him to have to exit the room in a rather hurried fashion. In a beautiful shot, Buster bursts through the door to meet Sally as she descends the stairs. The couple departs on their date. The keys to a successful trajectory gag include timing and editing and this segment displays those perfectly. It is a perfect cut from the waiting room to the staircase with optimum timing on the part of both Sally and Buster, displaying Keaton’s technical knowledge of film.

                From this point, the film offers the audience a number of hilarious gags as the couple walk to the bus, ride the bus and purchase tickets to the public pool. What is unique about Keaton’s work in this film is that he never once slows down the narrative. If the point of a narrative is to get from one point in the story to another, then the point of this section of the film is to get from the beginning of the date to the resolution of the date. In that way, trajectory gags have a sort of mini-narrative within the narrative. Keaton finds all the humour within the circumstances that the narrative provides as it moves from beginning to middle to end and resolution of the trajectory gag, rather than slowing down the trajectory of the overall narrative to introduce unrelated humour. An excellent example of a set piece that displays this within the trajectory gag is the change room sequence. Buster and Sally have decided to go swimming at the public pool. For the narrative to continue, Buster must change into a swim suit. Keaton takes what is essential to the plot and uses his skill as a filmmaker to extract humour from the circumstance. After accidentally walking into the women’s change room, Buster finds his way into an extremely small dressing room in the men’s change room. Keaton begins with a long shot of Buster walking down the hallway. He then cuts to bird’s eye view of the dressing room as Buster enters it. The shot is framed such that the edges of the frame outline the edges of the room. Within the same shot, Buster is followed in by another, much larger man. The shot emphasizes the small nature of the room. It is barely big enough for one man, let alone two. Keaton knows that for the gag to be funny, the audience must comprehend the size of the room. Keaton then cuts to a medium two shot of the men, displaying them from the waist up. This shot is carefully framed. Watching the two men stumble over each other to change is very funny, but watching them tumble out of frame as they do so adds one more layer to the humour. The camera stays static and therefore emphasizes the movements of the actors. The gag concludes with Buster entering the pool area wearing a bathing suit that is far too large, and a quit cut reveals that the other man is wearing one far too small. Within this gag, Keaton reveals his many skills as a filmmaker. He uses editing to identify geographic space to the viewer and even returns to previously used space so that mixing up the bathing suits has a solid payoff. His careful choice of framing maximizes the humour. Furthermore, Keaton once again uses cinematic devices to create gags that propel the narrative forward. Humour is found in actions that are essential to the plot. The gags themselves continue to have consequences throughout the rest of the trajectory gag, such as the over-sized bathing suit that has been previously discussed.

                The date sequence is rather long one, lasting roughly twenty minutes or about one third of the film’s total running time. However, this trajectory gag has a very clear resolution. Finally, after all of Buster’s hilarious misfortunes, he and Sally come to the end of their date. He drops her off at home and she gives him a kiss on the cheek. The audience cares about Buster and they would like for his romantic desires to be fulfilled. This moment is very important to the structure of the trajectory gag and to the film. Trajectory gags move forward from beginning to middle to end. Individual gags are linked together such that they propel the trajectory gag forward towards a resolution. The resolution is dramatically important the entire narrative of the film. So it can be seen that Keaton’s comfort with and knowledge slapstick gags and the humour serve the plot, rather than distract from it.

                Another aspect of Keaton’s trajectory gags that demands to be discussed is their inherent dangerous nature. This is best exemplified in the Tong war sequence. Buster goes out on his own to film a gang war in Chinatown, and as a result is thrown into a number of dangerous set pieces. He’s trampled, pushed, shoved, shot at and even falls from scaffolding. The dangerous nature of these scenes is thrilling for audiences, but Keaton never loses sight of the narrative. Each dangerous stunt allows Buster to film the Tong war. The footage he gets is so incredible that it eventually impresses the studio heads at MGM and Buster receives a job. Therefore each and every stunt served a narrative purpose, without which one of the central hurdles for Buster to overcome in the film would not have been resolved.

                Finally, Keaton’s work is thematic and often satirical. The Cameraman is no exception. This is the first film Keaton made with MGM studios. Within the film, Buster attempts to get a job with the MGM studios newsreel department. Keaton is obviously creating parallels. The film opens with a quote stating that newsreel cameramen are unsung heroes. At the end of the film, Buster has won Sally’s heart and obtained a job at MGM. He leaves the building and stumbles into a parade. He is amazed because he believes the parade is for him. However, the closing shot of the film is stock newsreel footage of Charles Lindbergh, revealing to the audience that the parade is in fact in his honour. Keaton is clearly saying something about filmmakers here. He proposes, with the thematic content of this film, that filmmakers, like those working for MGM, are self proclaimed heroes. They believe that their accomplishments should be celebrated in a parade-like fashion. However, even if a filmmaker risked his or her life, as Buster did during the Tong war, they did so to create a commercial product and to make money. That is not the noblest purpose. So Buster’s mistake at the end of the film is meant to signify the unjustly inflated egos of Keaton’s contemporaries. The Cameraman stands as a rather biting satire of filmmakers working in Hollywood.

                Buster Keaton remains one of the best filmmakers in the history of film. He understood the medium of film and had a mastery over cinematic devices. He used his knowledge to craft silent comedies were layered, sophisticated and thematic satires. If the tools used to make films puzzle pieces, then Keaton has given each one a purpose and uses each one to create a complete work. Most importantly, Keaton’s films are funny. They have made audiences laugh for 90 years and will continue to do so. That is the greatest reason why The Cameraman exemplifies the “Golden Age of Comedy.”