Rudimentary modernism: Ken G. Hall, Rear-Projection and 1930s Hollywood

In 1935, Australian filmmaker Ken G. Hall visited Hollywood to examine modern studio techniques. His main purchase on this trip was a rear-projection system, which he quickly put to rudimentary use on his 1936 feature, Thoroughbred. Primitive and modern, Hall's often-maligned contribution to Australian film history needs to be re-examined. This chapter explores the ways this technology was utilized to modernize both production methods and transform the audience's sense of space, time and place. This chapter will compare the use of such devices as rear-projection and other techniques of studio production in Hall's cinema of the 1903s and 1940s with that occurring in Hollywood at the same time to examine the forces impacting the Americanization of Australian popular culture during this period.