Editing George Stevens (section)

===1922–1933: Assistant cameraman===
{{Quote box|width=25em|quote="There were no unions, so it was possible to become an assistant cameraman if you happened to find out just when they were starting a picture. There was no organization; if a cameraman didn't have an assistant, he didn't know where to find one. [...] One day, I climbed the fence, knowing they needed an assistant cameraman. I told them I was an assistant camerman. A couple of days later, I was one, but the first day or two it was pretty disastrous."|source=—Stevens, in a 1970 interview with [[Leonard Maltin]]{{sfn|Cronin|2004|p=75}}}}

Stevens worked as an assistant cameraman on ''[[Heroes of the Street]]'' (1922), a silent drama directed by [[William Beaudine]]. He then moved to [[Thomas H. Ince|Ince Studio]] where he worked on ''[[The Destroying Angel]]'' (1923) and several Westerns, including ''[[The Virginian (1923 film)|The Virginian]]'' (1923) released by [[Preferred Pictures]].{{sfn|Moss|2004|pp=12–14}} His first onscreen credit as an assistant cameraman was the 1923 short film ''[[Roughest Africa]]'', starring [[Stan Laurel]].

At the age of 17, Stevens was employed at [[Hal Roach Studios]] as an assistant cameraman to [[Fred Jackman]]. His first project was ''[[The Battling Orioles]]'' (1923) and was followed by ''[[The White Sheep]]'' (1924). Within a year, Stevens worked on ''[[Black Cyclone]]'' (1924), an installment of silent Westerns featuring [[Rex (horse)|Rex the Wonder Horse]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=10:00}} The next installment was ''[[The Devil Horse]]'' (1925).{{sfn|Moss|2004|p=15}} Directed by Fred Jackman, Stevens was one of the two cameramen, collaborating with Floyd Jackman (Fred's brother). While [[Special effect|trick photography]] had been used previously, Stevens experimented with using filters on the [[panchromatic film]], by which he filtered "the sky black for night sequences, instead of just tinting it blue, and using long telephoto lenses to bring the background up, things that a kid would do."{{sfn|Cronin|2004|p=34}} 

The Jackman brothers left Hal Roach Studios, but Stevens stayed to photograph a series of short comedies starring [[Laurel and Hardy]]. [[Oliver Hardy]] had been under contract with the studio, but Roach hired Stan Laurel from [[Universal Pictures]] to write gag stories. Stevens's first project with the duo was ''[[Slipping Wives]]'' (1927), whereby he worked as [[director of photography]] and a gag writer on 35 of their short films, including ''[[Bacon Grabbers]]'' (1929) and ''[[Night Owls (1930 film)|Night Owls]]'' (1930). According to Stevens, he learned from this experience that comedy could be "graceful and human".<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=12:00}}{{sfn|Cronin|2004|p=57}} 

Filming for one short proved difficult when Laurel's blue eyes failed to registered on [[Orthochromasia|orthochromatic film]], but Stevens made a successful test of him using panchromatic film.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=11:00–12:00}} By 1930, Stevens began directing installments of the ''[[The Boy Friends]]''. At one point, Stevens grew tired of directing two-reel gag comedies and refused to direct another film Roach had asked him. He told [[Leonard Maltin]], in 1970: "He told me a story he wanted me to do. I couldn't see it at all, and I'd just started on something else. So I thought it over, and I said, 'Hal, I can't do it. I don't understand it.{{' "}}{{sfn|Cronin|2004|p=78}} A half-hour later, Stevens was informed by a studio manager that he was fired, with the termination effective on New Year's Eve 1931.{{sfn|Moss|2004|p=24}}