Filmer le travail dans un train postal. À propos de Night Mail

Abstract

Night Mail, a short documentary about mail sorting on night trains, was produced by the UK General Post Office’s cinema department back in 1936. The first thing that can be said about this state-produced film is that it talks about the post office but also its employees, with some doing their pick-up rounds and others working on the train or in an office. It also necessarily highlights the work done by the rail company carrying the mail, focusing on different kinds of rail workers including machine operators, line maintenance crews or staff from the stations that the train passes through during the movie. On top of this, there are also railway office employees responsible for telephone connections, telegraph messages and all kinds of telecommunications at a time (1936) when the field was going through a great deal of change. Because of this, the film can be analysed as a reflection on one institution, on several institutions, on their organisation and on employees, without which work would be impossible. The main goal of the present article is to offer sociologists interested in the sociology of film a number of elements allowing them to grasp the conceptual possibilities associated with film writing.

Keywords

• cinematographic writing
• documentary
• scenario
• technical editing
• film shots
• directing