P ra c ti cal C in e mato grap hy

an d its App li cations

P rac t ica l C i n e m a to grap h y
an d i ts Ap p lic a t i o n s

Fre d e rick A T a l bo t .

Au th o r of

“
M o vin g Pic ture s e tc .

P h il a del p h ia

B. LIP P IN C O TT C O M P AN Y

Lo n d on : W illi a m H e in ema n n

MCMXII I
 P REFAC E

T H I S volum e h as b e e n writt e n wi th th e e x pr e s s
purp os e of assi sting th e am at e ur—th e t e rm i s
us e d in i ts broad e st s e ns e as a d isti nction from
th e s alari e d attach e d profe ssional work e r—wh o
,

i s attracted toward s cin e m atography It i s not a

.

techni cal tr e ati s e but i s writt e n i n such a m ann e r

,

as t o enabl e th e tyro to grasp th e fundam e ntal

principles o f th e art an d th e apparatus
,

e mploy e d i n its m any vari e d appli cati ons .

Whi l e it i s assum e d th at th e read e r h as

practise d ordinary snap sh ot and still li fe work
- -
,

and thus i s fami liar wi th th e elem ents o f ph oto

graphy ye t th e subj e ct i s s e t forth in such a
,

m ann e r as t o enabl e one wh o n e ver h as attem pt e d

ph otography to tak e m oving pi ctur e s
- .

At th e sam e tim e i t i s h op e d th at th e volum e

may p rov e of u s e to th e e xp ert hand by i ntro ,

d u cin g h im to wh at may b e d e scri b e d as th e

high er branch es o f th e craft Th e sugg e sti ons
.

and d e scripti ons conc e rning th e s e application s

m ay prov e o f valu e to any wh o may b e t e mpt e d
t o labour in o n e or oth e r o f th e vari ous fie ld s
m e nti on e d.

726 8 6 5
 P REFAC E

I n th e pr e paration o f this volum e I hav e

r e c e iv e d valuabl e assi stanc e from s e v e ral friend s
wh o hav e be e n associate d intimately with th e
cinematographi c art from it s e arli e st days
J Bam berger Esq of th e M otograph Company
.
,
.
, ,

Limit e d J am e s William son Esq of th e William

, ,
.
,

son Kin e matograph Company Limited Kodak , ,

Limit e d M essrs J ury Limit e d and M onsieur

, .
, ,

Lucien B ull th e assi stant director of th e M arey

,
-

I nstitut e to wh om I am e sp e cially ind e bted for

,

faciliti e s to visi t that uniqu e institution and the ,

i nv e stigation at first hand o f its vari e d work th e ,

l oan o f the ph otograph s o f th e many experiments

which have be e n and still a re being conducted
, ,

“
at th e French Cradl e o f Ci n e matography and ,
”

considerabl e as si stanc e i n th e p r e paration o f

th e t e x t
.

F RE DE R ICK A TAL BOT . .

 C O NTENTS
CH AP .

1. ATT RAC TI O NS AN D OP P O RT U I TI E S O F T H E AR T
N
II . TH E P RI N CIP LE S O F CI N E MATOG RAP H Y
III . TH E M OVI N G -P I C TU RE C AM E RA AN D I TS

M E C H A N IS M

IV . TH E C AM E RA AN D H OW TO U S E IT

V . HA D N C AM E R A C I N E MATOG RAP H Y
VI . DE VE LO P I N G TH E FI LM

P RI N TI NG TH E P O SI TIV E

AB E RRATIO NS OF A N IMATE D P H OTOG R AP HY

IX . S LOWI N G D OW N RAP ID
- MOVE ME N TS

X . SP E E DI NG -
L
U P S OW M O VE ME N TS
XI . CO N TI N U O US CI N E M ATOG RAP H IC R E C O RD S
R AD I O -C I N E MATOG RAP H Y : H OW TH E X RAYS -

AR E U S E D I N C O N J UN C TION WITH TH E
M O VI N G P IC TU R E C AM E RA
-

XIII . C O MBI NING THE MI C R O S C OP E AN D TH E U LT RA

MIC ROS C O P E WI TH TH E M OVI N G -
P ICTU RE

CAM E RA
MIC R O -M O TIO N S TU D Y H OW I N C RE AS E D
W O R KS H O P E FF ICI E N C Y IS 0 B TAI N AB LE

WITH M OVI N G -
P IC TU RE S
 CO N TEN TS
CR AP .

TH E M O TI O N P IC TU RE AS AN AID TO S C IE N

TIFI C I N V E S TIGATIO N
TH E MILI TARY V AL U E OF TH E CIN E M ATO

G RAP H
XVII . TH E P R E P AR ATI O N OF E D U C ATI O N A L FILMS

P H OTO - P LAYS AN D H OW TO WRITE TH E M

XIX . R E C E NT DE VE L O P ME N TS IN S TAGE P R OD U C
TI O NS
W HY N OT N ATI O N AL CI N E MATOG RAP H
LAB O RA TO R IE S

IN D E X
 LIST O F ILLUSTRATIO NS

H O W to t a ke Mo vin g p i c tu res
-
of Wi ld Ani mal s in
safety Fron ti s pi ece
A Mo vi n g p icture E xp ed i ti on i n to th e In di an J u n g l e
-

P o lar Bear D i vin g

A Li on a n d Li o n es s a t Lu n ch
Ca u g h t l
O p erator a n d C amera b urie d in a H o le
Ma kin g Mo vi n g p i c tu res o f Wi ld R a bbits
-

Nes t o f Kin g R e gu l u s s h o wi n g c uri o u s S u s pen si o n

,

Mo ther Kin g R e gu l u s feed in g h er Y o u n g

Th e J ury Mo vi n g p i c tu re Camera
-

Th e Wil li am s on T o p i c al C a mera a n d T ri p o d
Th e Wi lli ams on C amera t h rea d e d fo r U s e
Len s o f th e Wi l li ams o n Ca mera
Ad j u s ta bl e S h u tter o f th e J ury C amera
Th e Aero s c o p e Mo vi n g p i c tu re H an d C amera
-

Co mp res s ed Air R es erv oirs o f th e

.
Aero s co pe
C amera
Le n s S h u tter Mech ani s m an d Gyros c o pe
, ,

Lo ad in g th e Aero s c o pe C amera ”

Mr Cherry K earton s tead yi n g hi ms elf u po n a P rec i p i ce

.

Mr Cherry K e a rto n s l u n g o ver a Cliff

.

Vu l tu re p re pari n g to Fl y
A We ll eq u i ppe d D ark R o om s h o wi n g Arran gemen t o f
-

th e T rays
Win din g th e Devel o p in g Frame
Fi lm tran s ferred fro m D e vel o p in g Frame to Dryi n g
D ru m
 L I S T O F I LL U S T RATI ON S
FACING
P AGE

Fi lm Wo u n d Frame an d pl aced in D evel o p in g Tray

on 73
Th e J u ry C o m bin e d C amera a n d P rin ter 73
Th e Wi lli amso n P ri n ter 84
Water Bee tle attackin g a Wo rm 85
Marey s App aratu s for ta ki n g R a p i d Mo vemen ts
’
1 12

Cin emato gra p h i n g th e Be at o f a P i geo n s Win g

’
1 13

Firs t Marey App aratu s for Cin ematogr ap h in g th e

O pe n in g o f a Fl o w er
Firs t Moti o n P i ctures o f a n O penin g Fl ower
D e vel o p men t o f a C o l o n y o f Mari n e O rg an i s ms
Co n ti n u o u s Mo vin g p ictu re R ec o rd s o f H eart beats
- -

Co n ti n u o u s Mo vin g p ictu res o f H eart bea ts o f an

- -

E xci te d P ers o n
Co n ti n uo u s Ci n ematogr aph y—P alp itati ons of a
R a bb it s H eart
’
1 42

S tem mo ti on O rbi t o f a Machi ni s t s H an d

’
-
1 43

Li nes o f Li g h t i n d i ca ti n g to a n d i ro h an d Mo vemen ts
- -
1 43

A w on d erfu l X ray Fi l m ma d e b y M J Carv al l o

-
. . 1 48

Mo vi n g X ray P i ctu res of th e D i ges ti on of a F o wl

-
1 49

S tomach an d In tes ti n e o f a Tro u t 1 52

Di ges ti v e O rgan s o f th e Fro g

Li z ar d D i ges tin g its Foo d 1 52

X ra y Mo vin g p ictures o f th e Be n di n g o f th e Kn ee
- -
1 53

X ray Fi lm o f th e O peni n g o f th e H an d
-
1 53

Mi c ro Cin emato graph u s e d a t Marey Ins titute for

-

i n v es ti gati n g min u te Aq u ati c Life

Micro ci n emato graph y : Th e P ro bos cis o f th e Bl ow
-

Fl y
Mi cro ~
cin emato graph us ed at th e Marey Ins ti tute
On e of D r C o man d on
.
'
s G a lvani c E xp erimen ts wi th
a e a
P ar mo ci
Mi cro cin emato gr aph y Bl o w Fl y eatin g H on ey
-

Th e In gen i o u s Gi lbreth Cl o ck
R ac k s h o wi n g D is pos i ti o n o f Co m pon en t P arts
, , for
Te s t
 L I S T O F I L L U S T RATI O N S

Fil m of R ac k Ben c h Fl oor marked o fi in to

an d ,

Sq u ares an d Cl oc k
,

Ci n e ma to gra p h i n g a Man s Wo rk agai n s t Time

’

Movi n g pi c tures o f a Stea m Ha mm er R a m

-

Dr F uch s App aratus fo r takin g Mo vi n g pi ctures o f

’
-
.

th e O p e ra ti ons o f a Stea m H amm er

Won d erful Ap pa ratus d evis ed b y Mr Lu ci en B ull for .

taki n g P i c tu r es p er s eco n d
Mo vin g pi ctu res o f th e E j ecti on o f a Cartri d ge fro m
-

an Au to m atic P i s to l

Moti on P h o to gra p hs o f th e S pli n terin g o f a Bon e b y

a Bull et

eni n g
Op
Screen Mec h ani sm o f th e Life T arget

Moor h en Si tti n g on h er N est

Th e Y o un g Chi ck p ierces th e S hel l
Chi ck E mergi n g fro m th e S hell
Newl y H atc h ed Chi ck stru ggh n g t o i ts F eet
Chi ck E x h au st ed b y i ts Str u gg l es R es ts in th e
, ,

Th e Chi ck ta k es to th e Water
Fi g h t betw een a Lo bs ter an d an O c to p u s
S to ry o f th e Water S na il
Th e H ea d o f th e To rto i s e
Th e H a wk Mo th
Snak e S h eddi n g i ts S kin or S l o u gh
Th e Snak e an d i ts S h ed S l o u g h
E xteri o r Vie w o f Dumm y Co w

Trun k
Lizard with S pi d er in i ts Mo u th
 L I S T O F I LLU STRATI O NS

Di ges ti v e O rgan s an d E g gs of a Water Flea

Mo vi n g p i c ture
-
a
N tu ra li s t an dLi z ar d a t H ome
th e
A N o ve l H id e ,
”
wi th Cam era Fi fteen Feet ab o ve
Gro u n d
H id e Un c o v e ed s h o win g Wo rki n g P latform
r

IN TE XT
FIG .

I . Mech an i s m of C amera s h o wi n g Thread in g of Fi lm

2 . Th e P in Fra me
3 . Th e Fi rs t P i c tu re o f th e F o ur s p o ke W h eel
-

4 . App aren t S ti ll n es s o f S p o kes whi le W h ee l i s

Mo vi n g
5 . App a re n t Ba ckw a r d Mo ti o n o f S p o kes whi le
W h eel i s R u n nin g F o rw ard s
When Wheel i s s een to b e Mo vin g N atur all y
C u ri o u s Ill u s io n o f s eein g Twi ce th e N umber o f
S p o k e s i n th e Wh eel
Mech a ni s m o f th e N o g n es C amera
Th e In gen i o u s R a d io ci n emato gr a phi c App aratu s
-

d e vi s e d b y Mo n s ie ur M J C arva ll o
. .

Co m a n d on s R a d i o c in ema to g ra phi c
’
IO . Dr .

App aratu s
 P RAC TIC AL
C I N E MAT O G R A P H Y

C H A PT ER I

ATT RACT I O NS AN D O P P O R TU NI T I E S O F T H E AR T

P RO FI T and pleasure com bine to win recru i ts for

th e art O f animated ph otography As an enter
.

ta in me n t o ffered to th e publi c th e movi ng

,

pictures h ave h ad n o ri val .Th eir p opul ari ty

h as b een remarkabl e an d univers al I t increases
.

d ai ly and since we are only now begi nn ing to

, ,

s ee th e magnitude o f wh at th e ci nem atograph

can e ffe ct i t i s not li kely to d iminish Thi s
, .

d evel opm en t h a s s tirr e d th e ambiti on o f th e

~

amateur or independent ph otograph er b ecause

th e field i s so vast fertile and prom ising
, , .

Remunerative reward i s obtainabl e practically

i n every ph ase o f e n d e avo u r so l ong as th e
'

e lements of n ovelty or ori gi nality are m ani fest .

Th e resul t i s th at i t i s attracting one and al l .

A nimated ph otography can convey so fascinating

P C
. . B
2 PRACT I CA L C I N E MATO GRA PH Y

and convincing a record of sc e nes and events

th at many persons —sportsmen explorers and , ,

travellers —m ake use of it .

From th e commercial point of view th e i ssue is

one of magnetic importanc e I n al l quarters th ere .

i s an increasing demand for film s o f prominent

topical interest eith er of gen e ral or local s ig n i
,

fica n ce . Th e proprietors of pi cture palaces h ave

d iscovered th at no film s d raw better audiences
than th es e I f th ey d e al with a prominent inci dent
.

li ke a vi sit of royalty to th e neigh bourh ood an ,

important sporting event a public cerem ony or

, ,

even such i s h uman n ature with some disaster

, ,

to life or p roperty th ey will make a stronger

,

app eal for a few d ays th an th e general film fare

o ffered at th e th eatre because the episode which
,

i s upperm ost i n th e mind o f th e public i s wh at

d raws and compels public attention Even it .
,

woul d seem when th e reality itsel f h as j ust

,

been witnessed by th e audience its ph otograph ic ,

reproducti on proves more attractive th an all els e .

Th e picture palace i nd eed i s assuming th e

, ,

functi ons of th e illustrated newspaper and i s ,

governed by like laws Th e m ore personal and

.

immedi ate th e news th e more pleased are th e

,

beh olders S o there is an i ncreasing eff ort to

.

supply upon th e screen in li fe and motion what

th e papers are recording in print and i llustrati on .

One can almost h ear th e ph ras e that will soon

ATT RA CT I O N S A N D O P PO RTU N I T I E S 3

b e come general Animated n e ws o f th e m oment

,
.

Already th e Fre nch ar e sh owing us th e way .

I n Pari s o n e i s abl e t o vi sit a picture palac e for

2 5 centimes at any tim e b etween noon and m id

nigh t and s e e up on th e screen th e e vents o f th e

, ,

h our i n ph otographi c action As fresh i tem s .

of news or rath er fr e sh s ections of film are

, , , ,

received th ey are th rown upon th e s creen i n th e

,

pi ctorial e quivalent of the paragraph s i n th e stop

pre ss col umn o f th e n ewspap e rs earli e r item s o f ,

l es s interest being condensed or expunged i n th e

true j ournalisti c manner to allow th e l atest
photograph i c intelligence to be given i n a length
consistent with i ts importance .

I t i s obvious that thi s branch o f th e business

must fal l largely into th e h and s o f th e unattached
or independen t worker wh o bears th e sam e
,

relation to th e picture palace as th e outsi de

correspondent to th e newspaper A firm engaged .

i n s upplying topi cal films cannot h op e to succeed

with out amateur assistance N o m atter h ow
.

care fully and widely i t distri butes its salaried

photograph ers num berle ss even ts o f interest are
,

constantly h appen ing—shipwrecks acci dents , ,

fires sensational di s coveri es m ovem ents o f

, ,

promi nent persons and th e like at places beyond

, ,

th e reach o f th e retained cinematograph er For .

film i ntelligen ce of th ese inci den ts th e firm must

rely u p o n th e i ndepend ent worker
'

.
4 P RAC T I CAL C I N E MATO G RA PH Y
Curiously enough i n many cas e s th e amateur
, ,

not only executes his work better than hi s

salaried rival b u t often outclasse s him i n th e
,

v e ry important respect that h e i s mor e e n te r p ris

ing Acting on h is own responsibility h e knows
.
,

th at by smartness alone can h e make way agai nst

professionals Only by being th e first to sei ze
.

a chance can h e find a market for h is wares .

Thus wh en Bl eriot crossed th e Engli sh Ch annel

i n hi s aeroplane it was th e camera of an amateu r
that caugh t the record of h is fligh t for th e picture
palaces although a corps o f professionals was on
,

th e spot for the purpos e True th e successful film

.
,

sh owed many defects But defects matter little

.

compared with t h e importance o f getting th e

picture first or exclusively Similar cases exist
Th e a m
.

in plenty . ateur has an excellent chance

against th e p rofessional H i s remuneration too
.
, ,

i s on a generous scal e Th e market i s so wide

.

and th e competition i s so keen e specially i n

‘

Lond on which i s th e world s centre o f th e

,
’

cinematograph ind ustry th at the possessor of a

,

unique film can di ctate h is own terms and secure

returns often twenty times as great as the prim e
cost of th e film h e has used .

Th e market i s open also to travellers explorers , ,

and sportsmen Th ese with a ci n e m atograph

.
,

camera and a few th ousand fee t of film can ,

recompense them s e lves so we l l th at th e entire

ATT RACTI O N S A N D O P PO RTU N I T I E S 5

cost of an expedi tion m ay b e d e frayed An .

Austrian s port sman wh o roamed and hunted i n

th e N orth Polar ice fie l d s received over
for th e film s h e brough t back with hi m .

M r Ch erry Ke a rto n wh o took picture s o f wil d

.
,

l i fe in vari ous part s o f th e worl d s ol d h is

,

n egative s for or
Scientifi c i nvestigators are i n th e same h appy
case Wh en th eir research es lead th em t o any
.

th ing th at h as an el e ment o f pop ul ar app eal ,

th ere is profit awaiting th em at th e pi cture palace .

Th e life o f th e ant for in stanc e or el ectrical

, ,

expe riments or i nteresting phases o f ch em i st ry

, ,

and many oth er feature s o f organic and in organic

sci ence yiel d good returns to th e s cienti st with
,

a cam er a Such film s wil l comman d 203 .

or more per foot o f negativ e .

Th er e i s another bran ch of th e work already

well esta blish ed Th e producer o f p icture plays
.
,

if h is pl ot b e tolerably good and th e sc e nes wel l

acted and wel l ph otograph ed an d i f th e play
,

i tsel f promi ses s om e popular s ucce ss can com,

m an d a good price At th e m oment th ere a re

.

seve ral i ndep endent prod ucers at work th rough

out th e worl d Th ey h av e a large O pen m arket for
.

th e di sposal o f their ware s and find n o di ffi cul ty

whatever in selling al l th e y can produc e Even .

th e largest producers wh o h ave h uge th eatres and

,

comman d th e servi ces of expe rt scenari o wri ters

6 PRACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRA PH Y

and players d o not h esitat e to purchase from

,

outside source s .

A cinematograph cam era and a little luck will , ,

make anyone s h oliday p rofitable Th e travelling

’
.

amateur penetrates into pl aces overlooked by th e

pro fessional and usually takes greater pai ns
,

with h i s work Afterward s h e finds h i s market

.

in th e fact th at th e demand for travel pictures

i s so great th at a good film o f 300 feet will fetch
£4 0 and upwards At h om e h e may exploit
.

his ingenuity in m aking trick film s a most popular ,

feature at th e pi cture palaces s o l ong as h e keeps ,

novelty to the fore front Trick films u n fo r .

,

tu n a te l y tak e so long t o prepare a n d demand

,

such care skill and patience th at th e largest

,

firm s o f producers as a rule are n ot eager to

attem pt th em because th ei r producti on d i s
,

organises th e more regular and profitabl e work

o f th e studio A good trick film of 8 00 feet may
.

occupy six months in preparation But t h e .

amateur may approach what th e large firm fears .

To h im tim e i s no object and h e i s able to mai n

,

tain his interest care and ingenuity to th e end of

, ,

th e quest On th e other h and th e professi onal

.

worker often ti res o f h is trick sub j ect before th e

task i s h alf completed wi th th e result th at novelty
,

and care are n ot sustained One i ndustrious .

Frenchman devoted nearly a year to th e prepara

tion o f a film in which resort h ad to be made t o
ATTRACTI ON S A N D O PPO RT U N I T I ES 7

e very conc e ivabl e form o f trickery and sol d ,

h i s product for or H e also r e fus e d

an o ff er of fo r anoth e r film of
picture s calculat e d to pleas e ch ildren .

To sum up th e amat e ur or independ ent cine

,

ma to g ra p h e r h as a vast fi e l d availabl e for th e

profitabl e e x e rcis e o f his skill Exc e p t in regard
.

to th e t opical work wh ich is o f th e rush and

,
-

h ustl e ord e r h e must sh ow imagi nation in hi s

,

choic e of subj e ct and craftsmansh ip in t he e x e cu

tion o f hi s work H e must th at i s t o say b e
.
, ,

trained so far as t o b e no long e r an amateur in

th e p opular m e aning o f th e word H e must learn
.

ap titu d e in th e sch ool of exp e ri e nce Th e r e ward .

i s well worth th e troubl e .

H ith erto th e amat e ur work e r has b e en h e ld back

by th e great expense of th e n e cessary apparatus .

Th e camera cost £ 50 and th e d e vel oping

and printing operations were gen e rally suppose d
t o b e too di fficult and costly for private under
taking Th e r e was s ome e xcus e for th e s e noti ons
. .

The trad e at first follow e d narrow lin e s n o ,

welcom e b e ing held out to th e am ateur competitor .

But circumstances hav e been too strong for thi s

trade as for others and i t burst i ts bonds in d u e
, ,

time Th e co operation of the independ e nt worke r

.
-

becam e e ssential as th e demands of th e m arket

increased I n th e production of p lays for instanc e
.
, ,

England at first l e d th e way But th e Am e rican

.
8 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRA PH Y
and French produc e rs cam e quickly to th e fore .

T h e E n g l i s h pioneers n ot being skilled i n th e

,

mysteries of stage craft wisely reti red from th e

,

p roducing field upon the entranc e o f th e expert

from the legitimate th eatr e wh o reali sed th at the
,

m oving p icture field o ff ered him increased o p p o r

-

tu n itie s for hi s knowledge and activi ty as well as

bringing him m ore profitable financial return s for
his labours Th e Briti sh fath ers of the i nd ustry
.

d evoted their energies to th e manufacture of

cinematographic apparatus as th e y foresaw that
,

soon e r or later the am ateur and i ndependent

work e r must enter th e i ndustry Th e activity of
.

amateurs was needed by th e English trade as a

wh ole and th e manufacturer with great enter
, ,

prise brough t down the cost of apparatus

,

to a very reasonable level This has been

.

e ffected by meth ods not less advantageous to th e

purchas e r than is th e reduction o f th e price —b y
standardisation of parts and simplification o f
mechanism .

To day a reliable camera for living pi ctures

-
,

sui tabl e for topical and other ligh t work can be ,

b ough t for £ 5 or $ 25 A more expensiv e camera

.
,

th e Williamson costs £ 1 0 1 03
,
and is actually
.

as good as oth er machin e s pric e d at four o r five

times that sum On th e other ha n d so much as
.
,

£ 1 50 can be paid But the camera sold fo r

.

th is larg e sum demands a purchas e r with som e

ATTRA CT I O N S A N D O PPO RT U N I TI ES 9

th ing m ore than a long purs e I t d emand s

.

special knowledge Desi gne d for studio work

.
,

it h as peculi a ri ties th at are di ffi cul t t o m aste r

and i s not to be recomm ended to a beg inner .

With th e cost o f th e cam era th e cost of oth e r

apparatus has fal len in p rop orti on I t was .

reali sed that th e amateur s dark room and othe r

’

facilities are likely to be l ess excellent than th ose

of th e professional and th at h e m ust b e p rovide d
with com pensating conveniences This p roblem .
Q

has been solve d A complet e d evelopi ng outfit

can now be packed in a h and bag an d a came ra-
,

and p ri nting outfit can be carri ed in a knapsack

no l arger th an i s requi re d for th e whole plate -

camera o f th e old still li fe

-
ph otograph er .

Simple and e ffi cient app l iances for th e dark room

can be purchased very ch eaply Th ere i s a
.

po rtable outfit for use i n field work wh ere i t i s ,

imperati ve that film s should b e develop ed as

soon as possible after exposure an d thi s outfit i s
,

now used by th e majori ty o f travellers an d fie ld

worke rs such as C he rry Ke a rto n Paul Rainey
, , ,

and oth ers Di s tinct advan tage i t may be obse rved

.
, ,

come s from prompt devel op ing Th ere may be .

vexatious delay occasionally but th e photo

, ,

g rapher i s at least able to tel l q u i c kly wh eth er

h is film i s a success or a failure I t i s be tter to .

gai n thi s knowledge on th e spo t even com ,

p u l s o rily wh ere anoth er record can b e taken

, ,
Io PRACT I CAL C I N E M ATO G RA P H Y

than to gain it later a fe w h undreds of miles from

th e ch ance o f t rying again .

Th e capital expenditur e of the cinematographer

need certainly not be great A complete outfit .
,

“
the J ury may now be obtained for 20 or $ 1 00
,
”
.

I t comprises a com bined camera and printe r ,

d evel opi ng trough s fil m winding frames for de

.
,
-

ve l o p in g and dryi ng and a ll necessary ch emical s

, .

Yet i t i s n o toy as migh t be t hough t but a

'

, ,

th orough ly reliable outfit capable o f doi ng firs t

class work Anyon e wh o i s m ore ambitious or
.
,

willing to s p e n d mo re m oney sh ould purchase

‘

the Williamson outfit Thi s costs about J£40 or .

,

$ 200 .

N ow for oth er di ffi culti e s that have nothing to d o

with money I t has b e en assumed that the art of
.

an i mated ph otography is a mystery demanding a

long and weary apprenticeship But th e impres .

sion i s really quite wrong Anyone wh o h as .

practised still li fe and snap sh ot ph otography

- -

m ay become proficient i n the new art within a

wee k or two Many of the problem s encountered
.

in th e old ph otography are actually easier to solve

in th e new ; some are eliminated entirely ; oth ers ,

that are i nt e nsified are really not very hard to

,

master .

Animated ph otography i s n othing more th an

a Kodak worked by mach inery I nstead of .

th e shutter being actuated by hand to make an

ATT R ACT I O N S AN D O P PO RT U N I T I E S 11

exposure and th e film aft e rwards m oved by

,

turning a ro ll e r so as t o bring a fresh area b e for e

th e lens th e two m ovements i n th e cin e ma to
, ,

grap h a re combined Th e rotati on of th e handl e

,
.

al ternately op ens and cl oses th e l e ns and m ov e s ,

th e film forward a d efin e d di stanc e after each

exposur e Th er e for e speaking g e nerally i f th e
.
, ,

b egi nner knows h ow to use an ordinary cam e ra

and i s familiar with subsequent operation s o f
dev e loping and printing h e sh ould be abl e t o
,

accus tom himsel f quit e readily with little wast e ,

of material to th e di ff er e nt condi tions o f motion

,

p h otography .

Th ere i s p ractically but one process that h e

sh ould not at first attempt This is th e perfora .

tion o f th e film T h e film i s a cellul oid rib bon

.

and i s punctured near eit her edge at int e rvals , ,

s o as to enabl e i t t o b e gripped by th e claws of

th e m echanism and m oved forward intermittently
a d e finit e distance —thre e quarters of an i nch
through th e cam era This puncturing or per
.

fo ra tio n o f the film i s th e m ost d elicat e o f th e

wh ol e cycle of operations I t can only be done .

by a m achine of unerring p recisi on manipulated

wit h extrem e care T h e m ach ines th ough many
.
,

are on th e m arket a re som e what expensive

, ,

and i t i s upon th em that th e steadiness of th e

pictur e on th e s cre e n dep e nds T h e inaccuracy .

i n th e p e rforati on may be slight a minut e fraction ,

12 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRA PH Y
of an inch but i t must b e r e membered th at each
,

pictur e on th e film i s magnifi e d m ore than fifteen

th ousand times up on th e screen and th e errors ,

are magni fied i n proportion But thes e con .

siderati ons need not troubl e th e amateur H e .

“
can purch ase his stock as th e unexp ose d
,

film i s called perforated ready for u s e

,
.

I n spite o f th e great reduction in th e cost of

both cam era and outfit th e expense of c in e ma to
grap hy i s still its d rawback T h e film i s th e
.

culprit I t costs from 2d to 4 d — say from 4 to

. . .
,

1 0 cents — a foot .Yet i n th is case as i n others, ,

reduction se e ms to be within sight Th e increased .

demand is sur e to ch eapen th e process of p ro

duction . I f th e pri c e i s not th en lowered as
much as coul d be h oped th e cause will b e in th e
cost o f th e basic materials Th ese al so perh ap s
.
, ,

will become less cl ear in time Cinematography

.

i s an industry in revolution I ts p ossibilities are

.

only beginning to be seen ; it s followers are only

beginning to b e counted ; but it can h ardly be
doubted th at th e ranks of th e am ateur and
indep endent workers a re certain to increase
considerably and rapidly Th e attractions and
.

inducements to practis e th e craft are too alluring

to b e ignored .
 C HA PT E R I I

TH E PR NI C I P L ES OF C I NE MATOG RAP H Y

FO R complete success i n m ovi ng picture work -

i t i s essential to h ave an elem enta ry kn owledge

of th e pri nciples upon which th e art is base d
Alth ough pi ctures are sai d to be sh own i n m
.

otion
upon th e screen no action i s reproduce d as a
,

matter of fact The eye i magi nes that i t sees m ove

.

m ent Each picture i s an isolated snap sh ot taken

.
-

in the fraction of a second I n projecti on up on .

th e screen h owever th e images follow so rapi dly

, ,

one after th e other and each remains in sight for

so brief a peri od that th e successive views dissolve
into one another Th e mi ssing parts of th e m otion
.

—th e parts lost while th e len s i s closed b e tween

the tak ing o f each two pictures—are not detected
by th e eye Th e latter ima gines that i t see s th e
.

wh ole of the p rocess o f displacem ent in th e

movi ng objects I n fact i t sees only one h al f
.
-

th e hal f that occurred in those fracti ons o f s econds

duri ng which th e lens was open Wh at occurred .

while the lens was s hut i s not recorded Ani mated .

photography th erefore i s an optical illusion

, ,

purely and simply .

I4 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOG RAP H Y

Th efact that an appearanc e of natural m ove

m ent is seen under the se condition s i s due to a
physiological phenomenon whi ch for th e want o f ,

“
a better explanati on is term e d p ersistence of
,

vision . Th is peculiarity of the eye and b rain

”

remains a sci entific puzzle and although in one ,

o r two quarters th e th eory of visual persistence

i s ridiculed the iconoclasts h av e not yet brough t
,

conclusiv e testimony to upset i t Th e whole .

subject of persistence o f vi sion in its relation to

m oving pictures i s discussed at length by th e
-

presen t writer in a form e r book to wh ich h e would

refer such readers as m ay wish for information on
th is subject 1
.

Th e eye i s about one million times faster

than th e m ost rapid sensitized emulsion whi ch
chemists have yet produce d S o th ere is .

nothing wrong ab out the p opular opinion that

th e organ o f sigh t i s the quickest of th e
senses Yet it i s not so quick th at i t cannot be
.

deceived I f the pictures of a cinematograph

.

are projected upon the screen at th e rate of so

many p er second the e ffect upon the eye is that o f
,

perfe ctly natural movement The laws that govern .

this illusi on have been discovered in a very

interesting way A positive film was prepared
.
,

but between each successive image a wide white

See
1 Mo vin g P icture s : H ow th e y a re ma d e and w o rked ,

Ch a p ter I .
OPE R AT O R AN D C AM E R A B U R IE D 1 x A H O L E
H IS To TA KE
MO V I N G P IC T U R E S O F S M AL L AN I M AL S
- .

Mo togr ap h Co
By p er m i s s io n of th e .

MAK I N G MO V IN G - U R E S O F W L D R AB B IT S
P IC T
’
I .

M r . Fra n k N e w ma n wi th h is c a me ra c o n c e a l e d in th e b us h e s .
16 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

until the next picture appear e d Th us th e

. ,

requi sit e dissolving e ffect was obtai n e d Th e .

black flash did indeed produce a defect like th at

wh ich was common i n th e early days o f cin e mato
graphy and was ch aract e ris e d general ly as
“ flicker ”
But i t did not su ffice t o ru i n th e
.

illusion of movement A white flash destroys

.

apparent motion owing to th e brain being ex

,

tr e me l y sensitive to white a black flash of equal

duration exercises no ill e ffects.

I n th e latest development of the art one ,

inventor has taken advantage of thi s peculiarity .

H e has perfected a practical system wh erewith

th e shutter of th e camera m ay be abandoned
be cause each picture is cut o ff from its n e igh
bour by a very thin black lin e An improved
.

mechanism jerks each picture o ff and brings th e

next one on th e screen very sharply so that an ,

e ff ect i s produced like that obtainable with the

shutter and with out any impre ssi on of flicker .

I t may be pointed out that with th is i nvention

th ere are none of the aberrations descri bed i n a
later chapter such as th e spokes of a wh eel
,

appearing to m ove i n th e revers e direction t o

which wh ich the rim is travelling .

The next questi on is that of th e speed at wh ich

i t is necessary to take and to proj ect th e pictures
i n order to get an apparently true impressi on of
natural movement Thi s factor to d ay is governed
.
-
 P R I N C I PLE S O F C I N E MATOG RA P H Y I7

alm ost entirely by comm ercial considerations .

I t has b een foun d as a result of elabora te

,

investigati on th at a speed o f twelve to sixteen

,

pictures per second i s th e m inim um wh erewith

in m onoch rom e picture s an imati on is obtai n able .

But th is applies only t o general work such as ,

records of ordi n a ry scen es topical events and ,

s tage plays wh ere th e acti on of th e m oving

,

objects i s comparatively slow I n th ese ins ta nce s .

an average o f sixteen pi ctures per second in

photographing and proj ecting give s completely
sati sfactory e ffects .

But in reality th e speed i s a variable quan ti ty

i t must be adapted to the subject and th e character
of th e work i n hand I n oth er word s strictly
.
,

speaking th e speed m ust b e accomm odated to th e

,

veloci ty of th e subject so far as ph otographing i s

concerned an d a l s o in a lesser degree to th e di s
, , ,

tance of th e moving object from th e l ens For .

instance wh en a man wal king four mi les an h our

, , ,

i s ph otograph ed at sixteen picture s per second the ,

m ovements recorded are far from being natural

or rhythmi c On the screen h e appe a rs to walk
wi th a disj oi nted action To obtai n a li felike .

result hi s pace sh oul d b e sl owed down 75 per

,

cen t or th e ph otographi ng spee d sh ould be

,

accelerated to seventy pictures per s econd at th e

l east Thi s fact i s i llus trated ve ry con clus ively
.

i n pictures of soldiers march ing : they appear t o

P C.
. c
18 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATOG RA P H Y
advance like automatons Again in ph otograph
.
,

ing animals a complet e m ovement i s often lost

,

between success ive pictures A cat in one pic .

ture w il l be seen to th e righ t i n th e next picture

i t i s on th e left having sprung from o n e side t o
,

th e oth er during th e brief interval th e lens

was closed When extremely rapi d m ovements
.

have to be record ed the photographing speed h as

,

to be accelerated to an e xtrem e degree up t o ten ,

thousand pictures or more per s e cond in the case of

a bullet leaving the muzzle o f a rifl e and up to two ,

th ousand pictures per second to catch the m ove

ments of a dragon fly s wings On th e other
-
’
.

hand i n photographing very s l ow m ovem ents

,

like the growth o f a plant one picture per h ou r,

may be adequate .

I n projecti on th e speed can b e adjusted Th e .

ten th ousand pictures per se cond may be de

c e l e ra te d to sixteen per second to allow th e
movement to be followed and alth ough the rifle
,

bullet may appear t o crawl through th e air th e ,

movement i s perfectly correct Similarly th e .

very slow motions mu st b e accelerated to sixteen

pictures per second to obtain evident anim a
tion Th es e two extrem e phases o f c in e ma to
.

graphi c investigati on are descri bed at length i n

another part of this volume but ar e m entioned ,

h ere merely to sh ow th at th e ph otograph ing

speed is a somewhat elastic fact o r t o b e adapted ,
 P RI N C I P L ES O F C I N E MATOG RA P H Y 19

t o ci rcum stanc e s i n ord e r t o produc e passably

natural e ff ects .

For e veryday work how e ver a spee d o f sixteen

, ,

pictures per sec o nd i s su ffi cien t and r e presents

th e gen e rally practi sed velocity P ossi bly i n th e
.

n e ar futur e th e spe e d will b e acc e le rated to twenty ,

tw e nty two or twenty four pi ctur e s p e r s e cond

-
,
-
,

as th e pres e nt spe e d is g e nerally admi tt e d to b e

too sl ow Th e e y e s o f th e regular pictur e p alac e
.

patrons h av e becom e trained as i t wer e with, ,

th e r e sult th at ther e i s an appr e ciabl e strain o f

th e ey e s wh il e th e disjointed ch aracter o f th e
,

m ovem ents on th e screen m ay b e detect e d B ut .

when th e taking and proj e cting sp ee d i s a cce l e

rated by 50 pe r cent th e pi ctur e stand s steadi e r
.

upon th e screen th e movem ents are m or e natural

, ,

and th e r e i s an e nti r e absence of th at automaton

e ff ect wh ich i s so ch aract e ri sti c o f m ost pictur e s
taken un der p revaili ng condi tions Th es e con .

si deration s d o not a ffe ct ph oto plays produced i n

-

th e studi o so m at e rially b e caus e th e r e th e acti on s

,

o f th e players can b e slow e d down t o suit th e

c onditi ons .

One of th e l eading manufacturers i s e arnestly

considering th e advi sability o f accelerating th e
taking and proj ecting speed s up t o about twenty
p icture s per second and privat e investigati ons
,

and exp e riments hav e ce rt ainly d e m onstrated th e

value o f such an im provem e nt Un fortunately .

C 2
20 PRACT I CAL C I N E MATOGRA P H Y

two di fficulties prevent i ts imm ediate r e alisati on .

An i ncrease of only four picture s p er s e cond

represents an increas e of 25 p er cent i n the con
.

sum ption of th e film and th ere fore i n i ts cost

,
.

Th e other di ffi culty i s more s eri ous Exi sting

.

apparatus both cameras and proj ectors are geared

, ,

to eigh t pi ctures per turn of th e h andle Th i s .

inv olves two complete revolutions per second .

Consequently th e gearing of the m ech ani sm would

h ave to be altered and thi s i s a m ore trouble
,

some question th an appears a t first sigh t Som e .

tim e may elapse before a forward step i s taken

in thi s direction I n m atters of th i s ch aracter
.

the cinematograph industry i s notoriously con

s e rva tive alth ough th e mom ent one firm courage
,

o u s l y adopts an accelerated speed ,

th e high er
quality of th e resulting pictures will force th e
oth ers to follow th e example .

As a matter of fact th e deci sion to ad opt sixteen

picture s per s e cond was taken somewhat hap
h azar d l y with out any sci e nti fic inv e stigation .

Wh en it becam e standardi se d film was expensive

,
.

Accordingly e fforts were made to secure th e

,

requisite e ffect with th e minimum expenditure

of film Machi nes were built to coincid e with
.

these requirements and th e o r ig in al designs h ave

,

been followed slavi shly i n th eir broad outline s

ever since .
 C H APTE R I I I

TH E MO V I NG-P I CTU R E CAME RA AND IT S ME C H AN I S M

THE ci nematograph cam era di ff ers entir e ly

from the instrum e nts used i n oth er b ranch e s of
ph otography While th e advanced worker and th e
.

prosp erous pi cture play prod uc e r em pl oy co stly

-

and elab orate mach ines th e amateur or th e , ,

indep e ndent worke r in th e parti cular fi e l d wh i ch

,

h e h as selecte d for h i s op e rati ons can ge t e qually ,

goo d results with an apparatus only a fi fteenth

or even a twenti eth part as e xpensiv e T h e rang e .

of operation with th e ch eaper i nstrum ent m ay b e

limited and i t m ay b e d eficient i n th ose many
,

littl e refinements which a r e ch aracteri stic o f th e

p rofe ssional appli an ce an d may lack silver plated
,
-

fini sh and h igh ly p oli sh ed woodwork or m orocco

-

leath e r covering B ut th e camera its e l f i s m ore

.

important than th ese .

Th e cameras both exp ensive and low priced

,
-
,

work up on th e sam e fundam ental p rinciples I n .

th e latte r everything i s red uced to th e sim plest

form so as to b e readily and e asily understood
by th e b eginner They h ave th e additi onal
.

recomm endation th at th e ri sk o f bre akd own i s

22 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATO G RA P H Y

eliminated because th e few e ssential comp onent

,

parts are substantially made well proportioned ,

-
,

and nicely balanced Serviceability and reliabi lity

- .

are th e outstanding features of th e l ow priced -

camera and i t i s applicable t o almost every branch

,

of th e craft .

“
Contrary to general belief taking th e movies ,

i s quite as simple as snap sh ot ph otography with -

a Kodak I n th e latter case you press th e button

.

in th e fo rmer you turn th e h andle ; th e cam era

d oes the rest Th e rotation o f th e h andle a
.
,

simple operati on perform s every duty th rough,

th e internal mechanism I t swi ngs th e sh utter .

across th e lens m oves th e film intermittently

,

th rough th e instrument and coils up th e exp ose d ,

film in its dark box .

As has been explained th e begi nner i s n ow able ,

to mak e h is selection from a wide variety of makes ,

ranging in pri ce from £ 5 upwards I f o n e .

desires to gain expe ri ence in th e cinematograph ic

art with th e minimum capital outlay th e J ury , ,
“ “ "
New Era or Alph a cameras will suit th e
,
"

purpo se excellently B oth are firs t class well .

-
,

made mach ines h aving perfect registration and

,

alignment extremely simple and easy to h an dle

, .

The firs t named m odel wh ich i s th e ch eapest i s

-
, ,

contained in a mah ogany case m easuring 95inch es

square by 42 inch es d eep and in th e unloaded ,

conditio weigh s 5} pounds The Alph a which

n “
1 .
,
”
24 PRACTI CAL C I N EMATO GRA P H Y
upon th e camera and th e len s need no t exceed
£ 6 or say
, $ 3 1 ,
.

I f prices are not to b e so strictly considered ,

and i f th e beginner wishes to h ave a machine

of th e finest type at a comparatively low figure ,

he cannot do better th an fit himsel f out with a

Williamson camera the price of which complete
, ,

with lens is £ 1 0 I os say $ 52 Except for an expert

,
.
,
.
,

it i s di ffi cult to detect th e di ff erence between this

machine and one which costs five times as m uch ,

for both are designed upon th e same lines are ,

equally well made and equally capable of doing

,

th e finest work I t must not be forgotten that

.

Mr J ames William son th e de signer of th e

.
,

latter instrument was one o f the pioneers

,

in cinematography and in h i s m achine the , , ,

results of som e tw e nty five years varied and -

accumulated experience a r e incorporated He .

has been able to realise just those essential s

which are required for a high class apparatus -

free from complexi ty and this end h as been ,

ach ieved to excellent e ff ect The camera finished .

,

in a brass bound m ah ogany or teak case th e

- -

latter is preferable for working in tropi cal

countries — measures 9 } i nches square by 4% 1

inches deep i s fitted with a "ei ss Tessar 2 inch

,
- -

lens with focussing and iri s diaphragm , It .

weighs 75 pounds complete in loaded cond ition .

I t is eminently suited for all round d uties from ,

 THE W I LL IAM S O N T O P IC AL C AM E R A T R IP O D
AN D .

A C a me ra
. B H a n dl e
. . .C L ns . e D Vie w fi n d e r
. .

E T ip o d h a d
. r e F H o riz o n t l p a n o a mi c mo ve me n t h a n dl e
. . a r .

G Ve rtic a l p a n o ra m ic mo ve m n t h a n dl e
. e .
 T H E M OV I N G P I CT U RE CAM E RA
-
25

th e rush and tum bl e of topi cal work to th e

uneventful quiet but exacting requir e ments of
,

th e laboratory .

Thes e machin e s by no m e ans exh aust th e

sel ection O ther m anufactur e rs h av e produced
.

very good instrum ents at com petitiv e pri ces but ,

thos e wh ich I hav e m ention e d repres e nt probably

th e best i n th e ir r e spectiv e class e s For th e.

purpose of introduction to th e art o f ci n e m a

to g ra p h y th e beginn er can do no better than
obtain o n e of th em I f after a littl e experi enc e
.
, ,

h e com es to th e conclusi on that h e h as ventured

into th e wrong provi nc e th e n hi s m onetary
,

e xpenditur e is not s e rious .

I t will be s e e n that th e aspi rant h as no lack of

induc e m ent to embark upon th e m oving p ictur e -

industry Provided h e has acquired a certain

.

kn ow ledg e of th e el ements of ph otography and ,

i s p ossesse d of averag e i ntelligenc e th ere is no

,

reason why h e sh ould not b e able to produce

pictures with hi s inexpensiv e mach in e th at are
i n all ways comparable with th e product of t he
pro fessional worker an d th e co stly i nstrum ent .

N atural ly as th e intricaci es o f th e craft ar e

,

mastered the tyro will wis h for a m ore elaborat e

,

apparatus H e can gratify h i s ambi tions i n

.

accordanc e with h is progre ss or with th e ,

improvem ent in h is financial positi on .

Th e m echanism o f th e m odern cinem atograph

26 P RA CTI CA L C I N E MATOG RA P H Y
camera i s very simpl e i n i ts ch aracter and very
e asy to understand .T h e n e c e ssary p arts are
very few i n number I n all cam eras th e ch ief
.

object i s to e ff ect th e forward intermittent m ove

m ent of the film at regular i ntervals and for a
d efin e d distanc e For thi s p urpose th e early
.

types o f camera were fitted with wh at is known

as th e Geneva stop mov e ment Opinion i s .

d ivided upon its m e rits som e auth oritie s con

,

d em ming it un e quivocably whi l e oth ers uphold

,

it strenuously contending th at i t gives a steadi e r

,

an d fr e e r motion Ther e i s much to b e sa id i n

.

favour of th e latter V iew M echanically th e .

Geneva stop m ovement i s p e rfect So far as .

cinematography i s conc e rned its advantage s were

proved m ost emph atically by M r Rob e rt Paul .
,

th e first man to bring m otion pi ctur e s into com

me rcia l application i n Great Britain H e ad opted .

this m ov e ment in hi s cam e ra and i t cannot be ,

denied that his pictures were in eve ry way equal

to those produced to day wh ile hi s camera h as
-
,

n e ver be e n e xcelled Curiously e nough although

.
,

thi s m ovem e nt h as been sup e rs e ded th ere is a ,

tendency among expe rt workers to revive i t ,

and many cameras specially built h ave been fitted

with i t.

Th e movement m or e comm only use d i s th at

“
known as th e claw I t i s simple and h as th e
.
”
,

advantag e o f bringing th e film into place for an

 T H E M OV I N G -P I CT U R E CAM E RA 27

exposur e with a sh arp qui ck j e rk B ut i t i s a m ov e

,
.

m e nt whi ch r e qui r e s t o b e d e sign ed v e ry finely

i n ord e r to perform its work sm ooth ly and ev e nly ,

and wi thout inflicting any i njury upon th e film .

Th e claw consi st s o f a small l ev e r i n duplicat e ,

wh ich i s s o m ounted as t o h ave an e cc e ntric

m ovem e nt an d i s d riven di r e ct by th e mai n g e ar
whe el rotat e d by th e h andl e Th e fre e upp er
.

end o f e ach arm of th e l e v e r h as a proj e cting

point e d tooth of su fficient siz e to e ngag e with th e
p e rforations on e ith e r sid e o f th e film With
.

th e revol uti on o f th e wh e e l upon whi ch i t i s

m ount e d ecc e ntrically th e claw engage s with th e
perforati ons and thus gripping th e film aft e r
, ,

th e mann e r of a rat ch e t and pawl jerks ,

it
downward s a d e fi nit e d istanc e Wh en thi s
d ownward m ovem e n t i s completed th e claw
disengage s from th e p erforations an d falls b ack
cl e ar o f th e film . Th e n th e wh e e l continuing
,

its rotary m ov e m e nt proc e e d s to li ft th e claw

, .

Wh e n i t h as raise d i t t o its h igh e s t point

it b rings it forward s m artly to r e e ngag e -

with th e p e rforati on s and caus e s a fr e sh d own

,

ward m ov e ment o f th e film Th e action i s

.

intermittent and occurs at regular i nt erval s whil e ,

th e m ov e m e n t o f th e film i s always th e same .

Q uick e ngagement an d disengagem ent o f th e

perforations i s imp erativ e for preventing th e
vibrati on and t earing of th e film .
28 PRACTI CAL C I N E M ATO GRAP HY

Th e m echanism of th e cam era m ay b e under

s tood from the diagram (Fig I ) wh ich refe rs to .
,

th e Williamson instrum e nt Th e sprocket A i s .

driven directly by th e operating h andle which ,

engages with th e sprocket spindle Th i s .

FIG . I .
~ -
Me ch a n is rn
'

of c a me ra s h o win g th rea din g o f fil m

.

sprocket A i s fitted with two rows of teeth ,

m ounted upon its periph e ry and s o S paced apart , ,

both circumferentially and transversely as to ,

coincide with th e distances between th e p erfora

tion s of th e film A pair of twin rollers D and
.
,

E bear against th is sprocket under the tensi on

,
30 P RACTI CA L C I N E M A T OGRA P H Y

e xposur e h as b e en mad e th e claw h aving ris e n

, ,

to th e h igh e st point o f i ts trav e l r e e ngage s with

,
-

th e film and j erks it down g i nch so as to bring

,

a fresh unexposed s urface before th e lens As .

th e film emerg e s from th e gat e it i s picked up

once m ore by th e spro cket A th e engagement
,

o f th e perforations i n the film with th e sprocket

teeth being assured by th e two roll e rs J and K
Th e film th en passes under th e guid e roller L ,

and i s wound up on the bobbi n M in th e e xposed

film box C th e bob bin being work e d through th e
,

h andl e th at d rive s th e m echanism .

Th e rotation o f th e h an dl e also e nsur e s th rough ,

gearing th e r e volution of th e sh utt e r P whereby

, ,

th e lens i s e clipsed intermittently Th e s h utter

.

i s a ring fitted with an opaqu e sector whi ch

com es befor e th e len s and sh uts out th e ligh t
during th e m ov e ment of th e film through th e
gate H by th e claw N . I n th e Willi amson
camera th is S h utter i s reces sed i nto th e case .

Alth ough th e lens m ay b e of th e fixed focus

—
cl ass th e focussing distance varying with th e
stop used focussing can be carried out i nde
-

pendently i f very critical work i s required I n .

th e case of the Williamson camera and others of

thi s typ e focussing i s accompli shed by opening
,

th e sh utter and th e sid e of th e camera and looking

through th e gate I n s om e cameras a focussing
.

tube i s provided This passes from th e gat e to

.
 T H E M OV I N G P I CT U RE CAM E RA
-
31

th e r e ar of th e i nstrum e nt th rough a spac e p ro

,

vid e d b e tw e e n th e sup e rimposed film dark boxes -

.

I t i s t e lescopic at th e forward end Th us wh en

.
,

focussing i s b e ing carri e d out it can b e e xt e nde d

,

s o as to com e flush with th e gat e and push e d ,

back out of th e way wh e n all i s ready for working ,

so th at th e fr e e m ov e m e nt of th e film i s not
obstructed I n any way Th e r e ar e n d o f th e
.

tube whi ch e xt e nds th rough th e rear fac e of

,

th e camera box i s fitt e d with a cap to sav e th e

,

film from b e ing fogg e d by ligh t e ntering from

behind .

O n e conspicuous advantag e o f th e Wi lliam son

machin e is th at th e wh ol e of th e m echanism i s
m ount e d upon a sk e l e ton casting fix e d to th e
int e rior o f th e mahogany cas e by m ean s of fo ur
s cr e ws By with drawing th e s e th e wh ol e of th e
.

internal m e chani sm may b e r e mov e d i ntact and ,

much troubl e i s sav e d wh e n insp e ction or r e pairs

ar e nec e ss ary .

I n som e cam e ras th e i nt e rm ittent m ov e m e nt o f

the film is e ff e ct e d by a singl e claw wh ich e ngages
with th e perforations upon o n e sid e of th e film
only But th i s m ovem ent is not p e rfe ct All th e
. .

pulling strain i s th rown upon o n e s ide of th e

film Th i s giv e s i t a tendency to m ove unevenl y
.

into th e gat e an d also i ncr e ases th e ri sk of

tearing .

Th e d riving g e ar o f th e cam e ra is so adjust e d

32 PRACT I CAL C I N E MATOGRA P H Y

th at one complete revolution o f th e handl e com

pletes eight exposures Consequently two r e vo l u
.

ti ons have to be made per second to maintain th e

necessary speed o f sixteen p ictures per second .

I n th e William son camera thi s is emphasised as

a fixed speed i n ordinary working and any com ,

p e n s a ti o n s demanded by th e varying intensity

of th e ligh t are made by altering th e aperture
of th e len s Th i s i s a logical m eth od for i f th e
.
,

operator i s required to make such compensations

by varying th e sp e ed of h is h andle h e i s apt to
obtain an ind i ff erent result I t requi res a very
.

skilled operator indeed to vary th e speed o f th e

h andle with j udgment between the narrow limits
possi bl e
. In some cameras thi s compensation
for light is e ff ected by varying th e area of th e
opaque section of th e sh utter but th i s is not so
,

simple or e ffective a m eth od as th e vari ation of

th e stop Th e latter can be accomplish ed whil e
.

th e camera is being driven but in th e former it

,

is necessary that th e work S h ould be stopped

wh ile th e front panel camera is opened and th e
sh utter adjusted .

As for th e tripod one cannot be too care ful in

,

ch oosing it Thi s apparently i nsignificant detail

.

h as a far reach ing e ff ect upon th e picture results

- .

Any ordinary tripod used in ph otograph ic work

may su ffic e but its absolute rigidity i s essential
,
.

A tigh t h ead too i s most necessary with out

, , ,
 T H E M OVI N G P I CT U RE CAM E RA-
33

wh ich th e operator will get a sid e to side sway - -

upon th e picture I t m ust be bo rne i n mind that

.

i n turning th e h andl e th ere is a tendency ,

especial ly at first t o exert an unequal pressure

,

upon th e handle si d e o f th e cam era and unles s , ,

th e suppo rt an d i ts h ead are kept ab solutely

rigid th e pict u res will betray evi dence s o f th e
,

defect Th e te l e s c0p ic lad der tripod is very

.

h andy for t opi cal work Th i s when i t i s extended

.
,

an d wh en th e cam era i s fixe d brings th e lens ,

som e 7 feet above th e ground A cross rai l .

-

p laced from 1 2 to 25 i nch es above th e ground ,

an d attach ed to th e rear legs o ff ers a plat ,

form upon which th e O perator can stan d t o

work h is in st rument I n th i s way both camera
.

an d operator are b rough t a bove th e h ead s of

th e crowd and an un interrupted vi ew can b e
,

obtai ne d .

For m oving picture work a special type of tri pod

-

head has be en evolved wh ich al l ows th e camera ,

to be m oved b odily th rough bo th th e h orizontal

an d the ve rtical pl an es while expo sures are being
made Th us it can follow a subj ect travell in g in
.

eith er o f th ese directi ons Th e m ovements are .

upo n th e rack and p in ion p rin cipl e a smal l handl e ,

be ing fitted to each motion so th at eith er can b e

operated independently o f th e oth er By m e a ns .

of th is panorami c attachm ent th e m a in object i n

th e p icture such as a carriage or an aeroplane
, ,

P c
. . D
34 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRA P H Y
m ay be foll owed i n eith er direction But i f both
.

m ovem ents are to be completed simul taneously ,

the operator will require h el p One person m ust

.

sigh t th e o bject and keep i t i n th e picture by

th e manipulation of th e two h andles governing
th e respectiv e movements o f th e tripod head ,

whil e th e other confines hi s energies to turning

th e camera h andl e.

Alth ough the m oving pictur e camera i s buil t

-

sub stantial ly and strongly its mechani sm is com

,

ara tive l y delicat e While it wi ll withstand th e

p .

h ardest descriptions o f legitimate work i t suc ,

c u mb s readily to brutal treatment Alth ough

.

operated by means o f a handle i t i s neither a

,

co ffee m ill n or a b arrel organ but a sensitive

,

scientific instrum ent and it m ust be treated as

,

such i f the finest results are to be obtained .

Rough usage will throw out th e registration and

alignm ent I f handled care fully a cam e ra sh ould
.

perform i ts task for years with out needing repai r .

The e ffect s o f wear and tear can be m itigated

very appreciably by keeping th e m oving part s
well lubricated with good oil such as i s used for
,

clocks which neith er gum s nor clogs the b e arings

, ,

nor injures th e m e chanism in any way .

 C H A PT ER IV
TH E CAME RA AN D H o w T o US E IT

H AV I NG e xamined th e m e chani sm o f th e m oving

p icture camera and th e broad pri ncipl e s up on
,

which it wo rks w e must now study th e way to

,

us e i t .

Th e first step i s to load th e film box an ,

operati on whi ch m ust b e carri ed ou t in th e dark

room T h e film i s sold as a rul e i n standardis e d
.

length s such as 1 00 200 3 50 feet et c With

, , , , .

th e ordinary typ e o f cam e ra th e 1 00 o r 260 fe et

length s are used For topical work eith e r ar e

.

quit e ad equat e as a rul e .

As has been said th e film is supplied p e rforat e d

,

and ready for u s e M any fi rm s th at sell th e

.

“
stock as th e unexposed film i s called attach
,
”
,

“
a blank or unsen sitized lead to o n e e nd of
“ "
th e roll for th e purpos e of
, threading u p th e -

cam era I f thi s i s not supplied and i f th e operator ,

wi shes to avoi d th e waste o f 2 or 3 fe et of

sensitize d ribbon th e deficiency can e asily b e
,

“
r e m edi e d For th e blank
. lead all that i s
required i s about 3 feet of us e l e ss or spoil e d
film which however should not b e to rn or
, ,

D 2
36 PRACTI CA L C I N EMATOGRA PH Y

cracked Th e em ulsion at o n e e n d o f this sh ould

.

be scraped o ff for a distance o f ab out i inch A .

pocket knife will d o this very e ffi ci e ntly Th e .

blank sh ould th en be laid flat up on the table ,

emulsion side uppermost pre ferably upon a

,

sh eet of glass which secure s a sm ooth clean , ,

level surfac e and a little film cement applie d

,

to th e scrape d end o f the blank Film cement .

can b e obtain e d readily and cheaply in smal l

b ottles comp lete with cap and b rush A b ottle .

shoul d always be kept to hand as it i s often

requir e d especially i n j oining up succ e ssive
,

lengths of film ; but i f i t sh oul d s o h appen th at

n one is available at th e m oment glacial acetic ,

acid may be used with equal success alth ough ,

it d e mands mor e careful h a ndling I n an e mer .

g e n cy alcoh ol constitut e s a fir s-
t class cement but ,

i t requires extrem e car e and skill because it i s a

solvent o f th e celluloid bas e .

After th e cement h as been applied to th e

cleaned e n d of th e blank lead the end of the
,

unexpos e d coil of film is l aid upon it emulsion ,

side upperm ost the overlap being about inch

, .

Care must b e exercised to see that th e joint i s

mad e perfectly square and th at th e perforation
holes of each piec e of film com e d e ad true ,

oth erwise th ere will be trouble in passing th e

j oint through th e camera mechanism When it .

h as been superimpos e d satisfactorily pressure ,

38 PRACT I CA L C I N E MATO G RA P H Y

With th e Williamson camera focussing is u n

nec e ssary within certain distances owing to the
fixed foci of the stops Th ese will b e explained
.

later Many oth e r m anufacturers of cameras

.

follow the same principle and i t is m ost con

ve n ie n t for every—
,

d ay work Yet it may happen

.

that th e operator d esi res to focus critically I n .

this e vent h e opens th e side of the cam era lifts ,

the pressure plat e of th e gate and inserts into

,

th e gate window a small length about 2 i nches , ,

of matt film with th e matt side towards th e lens

, .

Th e matt film serves e xactly th e s ame purpose

as the ground glass in the ordinary plate camera
-
.

The handle i s revolved until th e lens i s opened ,

and th e image thrown upon th e matt film becomes

apparent This can th en be focussed by moving
.

the milled focussing s crew on the len s until the

pictur e s tands out as sharply as i s desired At .

first th e operati on m ay appear to b e somewh at

awkward becaus e the O perator has to look upon
,

th e matt film at an angl e I t i s easier in th e case

.

o f a cam era fitted with a focussing tube for the ,

operator has then merely to open the side of th e

machine to insert the matt film and push the
telescopic tube out to its fullest extent to bear
against the gate By removing the cap from th e
.

tube upon th e rear face of th e camera and ,

looking through it as if th rough a tel escope h e ,

i s able to look squarely upon his screen .

TH E CA M E RA AND H o w T O US E IT 39

Wh en focus sing is compl et e th e matt film i s

with drawn and placed in a safe positi on I t i s a .

good plan to clinch i t to th e b ottom inn e r surfac e

of the cam era with d rawing pins for it can then
,

be found when it is want e d S houl d the piece

.

be lost th e defe ct can be repaired as follows .

Take a small bit of wast e film ; scrap e o ff th e

gelatin e emul si on and rough th e celluloi d surfac e
with a pi e c e of sandpaper ; or ev e n with a ro ugh
stone surfac e I t i s well to carry a few inch es o f
.

spoiled film i n th e pocket for such an emergency .

T h e film may now b e thr e aded up T h e loop .

of blank proj ecting from th e d ark box is picke d

up and the coil within i s st e adily unwound as th e
threading proceeds Th e blank i s first passed
.

under the pressur e roll e r (marked D in

Fig I ) and then under th e spring roller E
.
, ,

which can be li fted for thi s purpos e I t must b e

.

seen that th e te e th o f the sprocket engag e with

the p e rforations in th e film A loop G i s then
.

m ad e and th e film i s thr e aded through th e

.

gate H B e for e this can b e d one th e claw N

.
‘

“
must be thrown in th e out position to obtain
access to th e gate wh ich i s d on e by turning
,

round th e eccentric Th e spring part of th e gate

.

is th en opened on i ts hi nge and the film i s sli pped

,

in from th e sid e Care m ust b e observed that

.

an ampl e loop is left ab ove th e gate Wh en the .

gate is closed once more another loop I similar

40 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATOGRA PH Y ‘

to th at ab ove the gate i s formed Th e film now

, .

i s passed round th e under side of the sprocket A ,

the spring roller J being pressed back to admit

of easy entrance and the end of the blank is
,

passed under th e second or pressure roller K .

H er e again one m ust be careful to see that th e

insertion is square and that the sprocket teeth
mesh with th e film perforati ons The film i s .

t h en carried under guide roller L and through

the velvet faced slit i nto th e empty film box C
-
.

This must b e O pened to permi t th e fre e end of

th e lead to be secured to th e centre bobbin M on ,

which the film i s wound in after exposure T h e .

handle should b e given a fe w turns to see that

th reading h as b e en carried out properly and al so,

that i t is properly attached to the b obbin M I f a .

su ffi cient length o f blank is attached to the end of

the unexpos ed film and a pi e ce of gummed paper
,

i s fixed on th e lead about 6 inches in advance of

th e j oint it is possible to continue winding in on
,

th e lower bobbi n until thi s mark appears at th e

mouth of the loaded dark box .

I f the threading has been accomplished properly

th e interior of th e camera sh ould be as sh own in
th e illustration facing p 4 2 H ere both film boxes
. .

are shown open though of cours e th e upper one is

,

kep t closed during the th reading process The .

m ost important part o f this operati on i s the

formation of am ple loops both above and below
TH E CA M E RA A N D H OW TO U S E I T 41

th e gate Once form ed they rem ain constant

.
,

because of th e action of th e teeth on th e sp rocket ;

for th e m ovement of th e ri bbon over th e sprocket
i s equal to that p roduced by th e claws t h rough
the gate At first sigh t th e necessity of thes e
.

loops m ay not be apparent but wh en it is ,

rem embered that th e film is m ove d through th e

gate i ntermittently sixtee n tim es p er second
, ,

wi th a vicious jerk it will be s een that i f there

,

were n o Ioop and th e film were drawn dir e ctly

,

from th e dark box a great s trai n woul d be

,

imp osed upon it and p robably i t would break

,
.

But by provi ding th e loop an elastic feed i s

secured and th e film i s j erked into positi on
,

before th e lens with th e m inimum o f vi bration

and wi th out any ri sk of tearing or displace
ment .

Th reading completed th e l ower dark b ox i s

cl osed and s e cured togeth er with th e side o f th e
,

cam era so that the wh ol e o f th e i nteri or is light

,

pro of Th e cam era sh ould n ot b e r e open e d afte r

.

p hotographing has commence d unti l the wh ol e

of th e film in the loaded box i s exhausted or if , ,

th e supply i s not used until th e dark room i s

,
-

regained unless th e waste o f a foo t or two of

,

film is a secondary consi derati on Sh ould i t .

becom e necessary t o open the cam era in th e field ,

th e handl e should be given two or th ree t u rns to

m ake sure that th e last picture taken i s wound
42 PRACTI CA L C I N E MA T OGRAPH Y

i nto th e exposed film box and is thus secure from

th e light Opening th e sid e of th e cam era
.

obviously ruins the wh ole of th e unexposed film

threaded through the mechanism so that wh en ,

picture taking i s resumed th e handle must be

given a few more turns to make sure that th e
wh ol e of the light ruined film has passed th rough
-

th e gate S eeing that o n e turn of th e handle re

.

presents eight exposures equivalent to 6 inch es

,

of film it is a simple matter to estimate how

,

many turns of th e handl e are necessary to clear

the gate of spoiled film .

M ost cameras are provided with a fil m indi cator

enabling th e operator to tell at a glance h ow
m any fee t o f film have been exposed I n thi s .

case care must be taken to s e e that the indicator

,

i s returned to zero wh en th e m ech ani sm i s

threaded u p -
.

Another convenience i s the punch wh ereby

i t i s possi ble to mark th e film aft e r an incident
h as been ph otographed so th at th e worker
,

can afterward s tell in the dark room by a mere

touch wh ere th e exposure ended in each case ,

Th e film should be marked after every episode

i s finished because i t i s then possibl e i f desired , ,

to devel op th e film i n length s Indeed it i s a d vis

.

able t o follow th is practice and especially when

,

th e exposure s h ave been made under varying

conditi ons of light By developing i n sections
.
 T H E \VIL L IA M S 0 N C AM E R A T H R E AD E D R E AD Y F O R U S E .

Th fil m i t k n f o m t h e u pp r u e xp o s e d fil m b o x
-
e s a e r e n ,

p a s d o ve r th p o c ket th ro u gh th e g a te u n d e th
se e s r , ,
r e

sp o c ke t a n d w o u n d in to th e l o w r e xp o s e d fil m b o x
r e -
.
 THE LE N S OF THE W I LL I AM S O N C AM E R A .

( Fo r e xpl a n a tio n s e e p .

THE AD J U S T A B L E SH U TTE R OF T HE J U R Y C AM E R A
.
44 PRACTI CAL C I N E MAT O G R AP H Y

diameter of th e ap e rtur e may be varied from

approximately g to g of an inch
.
N ow it i s
.

obvious that more ligh t can be passed th rough

th e lens with th e larger th an with th e smaller
, ,

aperture While th e larger apertur e would d o

.

excellently for filming a football match on a dull

day i n mid winter it would b e useles s for a
-
,

seascap e on a cloudless day in J uly For th e .

latter th e smallest aperture would su ffice B ut .

the requirements betwe e n these two extreme s

must b e met : in oth er words th e aperture must
be adapted to interm e diat e dem ands By turning .

th e milled ring in which th e iri s diaph ragm i s

m ount e d th e size o f th e apertur e can be varied
even to a minute degree and th us adjusted
to any sort of ligh t conditions For the guidance
.

of th e operator th e total rotary travel o f th e

ring i s graduated to si x di fferent definite poi nts
or as many di ff erent siz e d a pertures These are.

as follows
f / 3 5 gives an aperture g i nch i n diam eter ( nearly)
°
-

4 "inch
§ inch
~

8 i inch
-

II
g inch
-

16 fii nch
-

Alth ough th e di fferences between the se successive

apertures are v e ry sligh t th ey exercise a very
,
TH E CA ME RA AND H OW TO U S E I T 45

appr e ci abl e e ff e ct upon th e volum e of ligh t

p assing th rough th e l ens and accordingly th e ,

p e ri od of th e exposure Th us alth ough stop f/ 5 6

.

only decrease s th e siz e o f th e apertur e by o f

an inch over f/4 ye t th e e ffe ct of th is reduction
,

i s to n e c e ssitat e twice as long an exposur e as is

suit e d for th e latter stop Similarly f/ 8 d emands
.

twi ce th e exposur e o f th at required for f/ 56 and ,

so on th e exposur e being doubl ed with every

,

d iminution of th e stop up t o th e limit s of th e

diaph ragm Yet in practic e this increas e of
.

exposur e b e tw e e n two stop s is impossible b e caus e

,

th e h andl e m ust b e turn e d at a d efinit e speed .

I t i s obvious th erefore that comp e nsation must

, ,

com e from anoth e r quart e r I nstead of increasing

.

th e duration o f th e exposur e w e m ust h av e a

gr e ater intensity of light for f/ 56 than for f/4 .

At firs t sigh t th e beginner m igh t b e disposed

to think th at th e s election of th e m ost favourabl e
apertur e is a matter d emanding e xtremely fin e
judgment and skill especially wh en th er e a re
,

oth er factors wh ich m ay upset calculations .

M any oth e r advantage s aris e from using as small

an aperture as possible such as increased sh arp
,

ness of th e pictur e especi ally at th e edg e s M r

,
. .

Williams on th e d e sign e r o f th e came ra has realis ed

this and as a result of his uni que e xperience h e
, ,

has set d own som e v e ry us e ful rules to gui d e th e

beginn e r as to which stop should b e used for
,
46 P RA CT I CA L C I N E M ATOGRA P H Y
varying conditions o f ligh t and subj e ct In .

elaborating thi s advic e M r William son righ tly

.

commences from th e zero poi nt as it w e r e taking ,

moving p ictures of a football m atch on a dull

-

winter afternoon when owing t o the feebl e

, ,

light th e capacity o f th e l e n s and th e s e nsitiv e

,

ness o f th e film are strained to th e utm ost .

From this point he has graduat e d th e d iaphragm

and its u s e as follows 1

S ubj e ct a n d C o n di ti on s .

On a dull winter s d ay ; well ligh te d

’
-

Interior : or on a s ubj ect at any tim e

of th e year wh er e th e r e are h e avy

sh ad ows such as und e r trees .

On a brigh t d ay i n winte r : on dull

days i n S pring and autumn .

Outdoor exposure s durin Se tember ,

October March and

,
pri
, Dull .

summer weath er .

F/ 8 Street scenes in brigh t summ er

weat h er .

F/ I I Open fi e ld s in brigh t sunshin e .

F/ 1 6 Brigh t sea and sky subjects .

I t must be understood that th e foregoing ar e not

set down as hard and fast guiding rul es but th ey ,
T H E CA M E RA A N D H O W TO U S E I T 47

may b e safely taken as som e i nd ication o f wh at

shoul d be done und er s uch va rying condi tions .

Th ey may b e sai d to apply gen e rally to th e

temperate zones wh ere th e conditions a r e alm ost
identi cal i rrespective o f geograph ical situation
,
.

If th e b e g i nner follows th e m at firs t h e wi ll not

m ak e very s e ri ous mi st ak es B ut as h as been
.
,

said exp erience al one can fin ally d e te rmi ne th e

,

factor of len s apert ure .

Th e size o f th e aperture h as anoth er far

reach ing e ffect Thi s i s i n regard to focus sing
. .

With th e 2 in ch "ei ss T e ssar lens o f th e William

- -

son cam era wh en th e l arges t apertur e i s used ,

nothing im p o rt ant in th e pictur e sh o u l d be wi thin

a distan ce o f 20 feet I f i t i s i t will n o t b e i n
.
,

focus As th e diaphragm i s closed thi s di stance

.

decreases prop orti onately unti l th e infini ty I N F , ,

mark i s reach e d At thi s p oi nt practical ly

.

everything i s in fo cus Th e distan ce wh en othe r

.

objects are in fo cus at th e r e spectiv e s top s i s as

follows .

fo cus di stan ce 20 feet

20

1 5
12

10

5
everything .
48 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATOGRA P H Y

At first sigh t th e fact th at th e camera i s

o perated by th e turning of a handle make s i t
s eem to be absurdly simpl e One or two e x p e r i
.

m ents h owever will p rov e th at i t is far from being

,

as easy as i t looks Th e sali ent p oint i s to turn

.

th e h andle s teadily and evenly s o a s to compl e te

two revolutions per second Th e first pictures
.

will be found to b e very unsati s factory having ,

an eccentri c j erky e ff ect instead o f a sm ooth easy

anim ation An even pressure must be m aintained
.

through out th e complete rotation and befor e , ,

th e beginner attempt s to tak e any picture s and

t here by waste expensive film h e would d o well

,

t o practise handle turning until h e h as becom e

-

proficient I f th e turning m ovement i s timed with

.

“
a watch an d one corr e sponding to a secon d i s
,
"

counted for each d oubl e turn a perfectly st e ady

,

turning movem ent will soon be attained Som e .

cameras are fitted wi th an indicator which records

the number of feet o f film consumed But no .

anxiety need be felt i f th i s convenience i s absen t

The operator need only count one two three and , , ,

so on while turning th e h andle each num ber

, ,

representing a d ouble turn I n th i s way as 1 6

.
,

pictures eq uivalent to o n e foot o f film are made

, ,

with every d ouble turn and every one count ,

the number reached at th e end o f th e task will

sh ow how many feet of ri bbon have been used ,

and i f this i s deduct e d from the am ount originally

 TH E CA M E R A A N D H O W TO U S E I T 49

h eld by the loaded b ox i t i s easy to tel l th e l ength

o f fil m unused When th e upper box h as been
.

exh austed and th e l owe r bo x filled th e latte r i s ,

wi th drawn an d packed away t o b e opened i n

th e dark ro om only Th e empty upper box i s
.

taken out and slippe d into th e l owe r p osi tion t o

act as a re ceiver from th e n ext loaded fil m
box .

I n ph otographing th e O p erat or m us t keep hi s

,

eye s riveted upon th e vi ew find e r t o make sure ,

that th e s ubj ect h e desi re s i s i n th e fiel d o f th e

lens Th e m ovem ents can be fol lowed easily an d
.
,

the re sh ould be n o d i ffi culty i n keeping th e m ost

important part o f th e subject in th e centre o f th e
picture .

To follow th e subje ct either i n a h oriz ontal o r

vertical plane i t is n e ce s s a ry to turn th e h andl e
'

controlling th e p an oram ic m ovem ents o f th e trip od

h ead Th i s m echanism s h ould b e turn ed slowly
.

and steadi ly with one h and whil e th e oth er i s ,

turning th e camera handle I t i s by n o m ean s .

an easy simpl e matter to follow a subject i n thi s

,

way with out an y disconce rting jerky m ovem ent ,

since it involves d oi ng two th ings at once For .

a b egi nner i t i s p arti cul arly exacti ng as an eye ,

m ust b e kep t fix ed up on th e vi ew finder to follow

th e m oving o bje ct B ut after a li ttl e experi ence
.

the wh ol e of th ese m ovem ents are carried out i n

a semi mech anical manner In cinematography
- .
,

P c
. . E
50 PRACTI CA L C I N EMATOGRA PH Y
i t i s the diligent careful and persevering worker
, ,

wh o score s successes I n the beginning failures

.

may be galling and frequent but practice and

,

experience are the bes t teachers One can soon

.

become adept in a fascinating art .

52 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRAP H Y

so secure his pictures under extremely tryi ng

conditions Alth ough films i nnumerable are
.

taken by persons seated i n aeroplanes only a ,

very small proportion ever come before th e

publi c eye for the maj ority are failures N owa
, .

days als o th e filming o f aeroplane fligh ts from

, ,

a fixed point on th e ground i s by no mean s

easy I n order to follow the evolutions of flying
.

mach ines m ore par ticularly at comparatively

,

close ranges and wh en travelling at high speeds ,

two operators are required one to turn th e ,

cam era h andle and the other to sigh t and follow

,

the object both th rough i ts h orizontal and vertical

planes in such a way as to keep i t i n th e centre
of the picture To do thi s h e has simul taneously
.

to turn the two handles operating th e panorami c

and elevating gear of th e tripod h ead and often ,

i n opposi te directions The task m ust be done

.

with out th e sligh tes t j erk or th e success of the

,

film is marred One of th e m ost d i sconcerting

.

e ffects upon th e s creen i s a jumpy panorami c

movement eith er h orizontally o r up and d own .

I t wo rri es th e eye and m ore often th an n ot

,

reduces th e pi cture to an almost unint elligi ble

blur .

But perh aps th e m ost unnerving and di ffi cul t

conditions under wh ich m oving picture s can be -

taken are th os e pertaining to the filming o f wild

animal l ife at close range under natural con .
 H A N D CA M E RA C I N E MA T O G RA P H Y 53

d itio n s .I n th i s cas e a good n e rv e a steady ,

hand and acut e p resenc e of mind are i nd i s

, ,

pensabl e A wi ld eleph ant tru mp e ttin g m adly

.

and dashing toward s th e cam e ra at full s p e ed ,

or a lion springing towards th e op e rator m ay

form th e subj e ct for a thrilli ng i ncid e nt in a
film but d o e s not I n sp i r e confid enc e i n th e
,

cinematograph e r U nd e r s uch conditions a

.

tri pod outfit i s wors e than useles s I t not only .

endangers th e op erator s li fe but th e p ictur e s ’

taken under such conditi ons a re i nvari ably o f

p oor quality ev e n i f th e y surviv e th e results
,

of th e anim al s m ad frenzy ’
To stan d one s .
’

groun d and to keep turning th e cam e ra handl e

steadily at two revolution s p er second up to th e
las t mom ent wi th th e s a ng frozd o f someon e filming
'

a street proc e ssion woul d put too great a strain

on human natur e Even th e coole st man would .

not ob tai n firs t clas s res ults at uncom fortably

-

close quarters I nstead o f turni ng th e h andle

.

i n a steady rhy th m ic m ann e r the m oti on would

be i n a seri es of erratic j erks som e fast and s ome ,

slow p ro d u cin g a result wh i ch th e public woul d

,
'

ridi cule M r Ch erry Ke arto n wh os e pi ctur e s o f

. .
,

j ungl e li fe consti tut e som e of th e m arv e ls of th e

cinematograph i c art consi ders that th i s branch ,

of C inematography cannot b e e xc e ll e d for th rilling

e xcitement Th e operator must stand h i s ground
.

undismayed becaus e th e close quarter picture s

,
-
54 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATO G RAP H Y
are always th e m ost fascinating Yet at th e same
.

tim e he must keep a corner o f one eye fixed upon

.

an avenu e of retreat so that h e can get clear in

,

th e nick of tim e when th e cri si s arises The .

attenti on given to th e p h otographi c work must

be reduce d to th e absolute minimum so as to ,

b e practically autom atic ; th e camera must b e as

small and as compact as p ossible for the only ,

way of escap e lie s often up a tre e .

Several inventors h av e devoted th eir energies

to th e evolution o f a reliable hand camera capabl e
-
,

o f fulfilling th e same duty in cinematography as

the snap sh ot instrum ent i n still li fe wor k Th e
- -

tripod was sacrificed but then th ere arose another

,

di fficulty Thi s was in th e necessity of moving

.

the film mechani sm by means o f the h andle I n .

fact under many conditions of working such as

, ,

i n t he j ungl e i t would be quite imp racticable

, .

Wh at was required was an e fficient moving picture -

mach ine small light and compact working upon

, , , ,

th e principle of you press th e button an d I ll d o

- - - - -
’
-

th e rest
-
.
"

I t i s a perplexing problem to solve an d th e ,

first commercial ly practicable idea in thi s direction

was conceived by th e Polish sci entist Kasimi r de
P ro s zyn s ki H e h as produced a camera com
.

p l e te l y sel f contained
-
and wh olly autom atic i n its
operation .Dimensions and weigh t h ave been
kept down I n loaded condition with 300 feet
.
,
 H AN D CAM E RA C I N E MATOG RA P H Y 55

of film it i s 1 2 inch es long 8 A in ch es Wid e

, , ,

6} inch es deep and weighs only 1 4 pound s

1 , It .

works up on th e pr e ss th e button system th e

- -
,

fil m moving mech anism an d sh utter running th e

-

whole tim e th e button i s d ep ressed T h e p ower .

comes from cylind e rs of compressed air by wh i ch

a tiny engi n e i s d riven All th at the operator
.

h as to do i s to sigh t h i s subj ect and to keep h i s

finge r on th e button while h e follows th e obj e ct
,

on th e vi ew finder .

“
Wh en th i s camera known as th e aeroscop e
, ,

appeared upon th e market i t arouse d consi d e r ,

able inte rest but it s reliability was doubted I t

, .

was not unti l M r Ch erry Ke arto n d eci d e d t o

.

give i t a trial th at i t cam e to be regard e d m ore

seri ously as a feasibl e m oving picture m achine -
.

Thi s n aturali st cinematograph e r took i t wi th h im

-

on one o f h i s expediti ons and was abl e to record

,

som e startling incidents wh ich would not h ave

been possible oth erwis e Familiarity with th e
.

cam era and experience i n th e fiel d convi nced

him o f its servi ceability provi ded th at certai n ,

modificati ons were e ffected Th e s e were carrie d .

out and th e camera i s now regarded as an excel

,

le nt in strument for work that coul d not b e

ach i e ved by any oth er machine .

I t i s fitted as has be e n said with a small engin e

, ,

driven by compressed air Th e air i s stored in .

six smal l cylinders o f an aggregate capacity of

56 PRACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRA PH Y

600 feet Thi s is su fficient to expose 600 feet

.

o f film T h e cylinders are charged with ai r i n

.

th e manner of a m otor tyre and with a similar

ki nd of pump An i ndicator on the sid e sh ows
.

constantly th e air pressur e remaining i n the

reservoirs whil e a regulator enables t he sp e ed
,

to b e varied The driving m echanism i s very

.

light small and compact and contains but a

, , ,

small num ber of p arts so that th e ri sk of failure ,

is not great Th ough i t constitutes th e m ost

.

delicate part o f th e wh ole m echani sm and requires ,

careful handling i t works remarkably well so ,

long as it is kept clean and wel l lubri cated .

Anoth er prominent featur e o f th e m ech anism

is wh at is term e d an e quilibrator Practical ly .

S peaking this i s a small gyroscope and i s ,

introduced to subdue any small vibrations or

trem blings whi ch arise wh ile th e i nstru ment i s
working Thi s part of th e mechanism has been
.

criti cized on th e ground th at a gyroscope to be ,

e ff ective must be o f appreciabl e weight M any

, .

operators dispute the necessity for i ts in tro d u c

tion Th ey point out th at th e benefici al e ffects
.

are n ot proportionate to th e extra weight

involved Furthermore being an additional
.
,

piece of mechanism it enhance s th e risk of ,

derangement Against these contentions how

.
,

ever the operators wh o h ave worked th e

,

instrum ent maintai n that it n u l l ifie s all th e

 H A N D CA M E RA C I N E MATO G RA P H Y 57

vi brati ons se t up by th e driving m ech anism ,

whi ch th ough app arently sligh t would oth erwi se

, ,

su ffi ce to spoi l th e pi ctures S eeing th at th e sol e

.

obje ct o f employi ng th i s cam era i s th e elimination

of a ri gi d support such as a tripod i t cert a , m
seem s worth whil e even at th e cos t o f adde d
,

weigh t to gain s ome compen sating steadiness

,
.

And th e vi bration o f th e ai r e ngi n e i ncreases th e

n eed .

I n ope rating thi s instrument th e usual m eth od

i s to h old th e camera agai nst the ch est and on e
ch eek th ereby bringi ng th e eye on a level with
,

th e sigh tin g piece By letting th e elb ows re s t

.

against th e body the weight i s easily an d steadily

suppo rted H eld i n thi s p osi tion th e m i ni m um
.

o f fati g ue i s felt by th e cinem atograph er while ,

h e i s given comp l ete control over th e m echanis m .

I t can als o be used wh en the O p erator i s on

h orseb ack the meth od of supp ort being vi rt ually
,

th e sam e But i n this case only one h and i s

.

use d ; th e other i s le ft free to control th e h ors e .

Anoth er advant age o f th e system i s th e ease

with wh ich th e camera can be swu ng round i n
order to follow a m ovi ng object steadily .

Ph oto graphers wh o use a h and camera are -

familiar with th e di sturb an ce s set up by th e

m oti on o f th e body in breath ing Th i s i s often
.

s u fii c ie n t to spoil a picture i f care is not di splayed

at th e instant o f exposure Wi th th e aeros cope

.
58 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATO G RA P H Y

owing t o the exposure being from 912 to 316 of a

second relatively long in compariso nwith snap
,

sh otting wh ere th e exposure i s often only th e

aim " or even less o f a second
,
— these disturbance s
are s om ewhat m ore acute Considerable practice
.

i s requi red before th is di ffi culty can be overcome .

Som e operators wh o h ave used th e aeroscope

prefer to utili se a convenient support i f available , ,

such as a wall or th e stump of a tree th ereby

, ,

making sure of a s olid rigi d foundation But .

i n cinem atography th e il l e ff ects arising from

-

respiration are not s o se rious as in still li fe work -

.

A pictur e here and th e re may show its e ffects ,

but th ey pass unnoticed Th ey are subdued .

,

as i t wer e by the unbl e mi shed pictures which

,

preced e and follow .

Anoth er camera of thi s type i s the J ury “

Au to ca m which as its nam e implies works

”
, ,

“
upon th e autom atic press th e button system - -
”
.

Thi s camera i s fitted with a small electri c motor ,

d riv e n by a small dry battery and brough t i nt o ,

action by th e pressur e of a button A sm all side .

l e v e r controls th e picture taking speed which can

-
,

be varied while th e mech ani sm i s running Th e .

“
camera itself i s exactly similar to th e J ury
Duplex m odel th e only add ition being a small
,

separate case about 2 inch e s in d epth fitted t o

, ,

th e bas e of the i nstrument an d a covered ch ain

,

gearing on one sid e for transmittin g th e power

F r o m th e
“
C i n ema C o ll g
e e, by p er mi s s io n f
o th e M o l ograp h Co .

VU L T U R E P R E P AR I N G TO FLY .
H A N D CA M E RA C I N E M ATO G R A P H Y 59

from th e motor t o th e cam e ra m e chani sm Th i s

.

cam e ra li ke wi s e i s fitted with a small balancing

apparatus t o count e ract sligh t V i bration s .

I n such ins trument s as th e s e th e e ven runni ng

of th e m ot or i s a vi tal factor I t m us t n ot run
.

any faster wh en th e r e servoi r or batt e ry i s fully

ch arge d th an when i t i s nearly exh aust e d no r ,

m us t t h e r e b e any vari ation s o f sp e e d for ,

eccentri ci ties o f thi s s ort are apt to spoi l th e film .

The governing th erefore re quire s to b e mos t

d elicat e and thorough Anoth e r di fficulty i s th e
.

i ncorp oration of a r e servoi r capable of carrying

a su fficient quan ti ty of air at th e neces sary
pre ssur e t o drive th e length o f film for which i t
is rat e d
. I n th e J ury Au to cam a l e ngth o f
“ ”

1 00 fee t can b e d riven o n a singl e battery ch arg e .

Thi s i s adequat e for m an yp urp ose s bu t a length

,

of at l e ast 200 fe e t i s gen e rally to b e pre fe rred .

Th e cam e ra i s b e ing adapt e d to m e et thes e

conditi ons and i t i s anticipated th at n o m ore
,

di ffi culty wil l be me t i n consumm ating th is en d ,

than was i nvolv e d i n m aking th e cam era driv e a

1 00 fe et l e ngth
.

Wh ile i t i s a m oot point wh e th e r th e aut om atic

cinematograph camera will eve r di splace th e
orth o dox m achin e entirely i t i s a use ful an d
,

e ven indisp ensabl e m ach in e for working under

di ffi culti e s I t h as b e e n us e d i n th e a e roplan e
.

and h as b e en found s ucce ssful I t i s al so o f th e

.
60 PRACTI CA L C I N EM ATOGRAP H Y

utmost use in cl ose range dangerous work or in

-
,

situations wh ere th e turning of th e handle by

hand i s liable to be carried out imperfectly an d
unsteadily The aeroscope cam e ra h as b e e n used
.

on m any notable expeditions such as th os e o f

Paul Rainey and oth ers i n Africa and is used
, ,

exclusively by Mr Cherry Ke a rto n in hi s daring

.

work in tigh t corners Many of th e th rilling and

.

exciting pictures taken in th e haunts of wild

animal s h ave been secured th erewith and th e se ,

film s show convi ncingly wh at can be d one

with the instrument when it is h andled by an
’

exper t
But th e true province of th e h and cin e mato
graph camera und oub t e dly i s ih connection wi th
rush work For th e filming of topical incidents
.

i t i s invaluable Th e operator is not tramelled

.

w ith a bulky outfit H e carries hi s camera in

.

h i s hand or slings it acros s h i s back in the

m anner of a knap sack When he wi she s to film
-
.

an incident he i s not harassed ev e n by the crowd .

H e i s not com pelled to set up a tripod or to climb

to an elevated point to get clear of th e sea of
h ead s H e can h old th e camera above hi s h ead
.
,

and by m eans of a second and special view finder

pl aced on th e under side of th e instrument h e
can sigh t and follow th e subject wh ile pressing
th e button . Thus h e records th e episod e as
easily as i f h e were placed in th e m ost a d va n
 C H APTE R V I

DE V E L O P I NG THE FIL M

TH E beginner wh en h e h andl es for th e first

,

tim e a coil o f sensitized film m easuring 1 % inch es

i n width and perh aps 200 feet in length m igh t
, ,

h esitate to attempt i ts development H e migh t .

prefer to d espatch i t to a firm prepared to carry

out th i s work for a ligh t ch arge confident th at ,

with th e facilities at th eir command and with ,

th eir accumulated experi ence th ey woul d be ,

able to bring out h i s work to th e best a d va n

tage.

B ut th e man wh o aspires t o succeed i n topi cal

work for th e local pictur e p alace or general
market esp ecially i f h e i s not wi thin easy reach
,

o f a post o ffi ce must be prepared to undertake

,

th e task himself As a m atter of fact it i s by no

.

means s o di fficult as it appears at first sight and ,

th e rudi ments of the process may be grasped

readily by a person of average i ntelligence .

Success as in oth er h andicrafts only can be

, ,

ach ieved with practice .

Cinematography being a peculiar and special

,

branch of th e ph otograph i c art demand ing th e ,

 D EVE LO P I N G T H E F I LM 63

use of new and unfamiliar to ols has been r e S p o n ,

si ble for th e p erfection of p art icular device s and

meth ods to as sist and facilitate devel opmen t I n .

th e early days th e work e r h ad to worry through

th e task and was compell e d to undertake a h ost
,

of d oubtful experimen ts Th e beginner o f to da y

.
-

i s able t o profit from the m istake s o f th e pioneers ,

and the appliances and p rocesses at hi s di sposal

are th os e of approved appli cation After one or .

two trial s th e worker will realis e th at th e develop

m ent o f a zoo feet length of celluloi d ri bb on i s
-

no m ore d i ffi cult th an th e d evelopm ent o f an

ordinary Kodak spool .

One thing th e beginner will d o well to bear i n

mind H e S h oul d ad opt s ome parti cul ar b rand
.

of film and cli ng to it after he h as becom e

,

acquainted with its emulsion speed comp ositi on

, , ,

an d peculiar ch aracteristics There are th ree or

.

four di fferent make s of film up on th e m arket but ,

it i s pre ferable to select a film whi ch i s easily

obtainable at any time and i n any part of th e
world I woul d strongly urge th e beginner to
.

sel ect th e Eastman stock for thi s i f for no oth er

reason Th e Eastman organi sation has i ts ten
.

ta cl e s spread th roughout th e worl d I t h as .

th ousands o f agencies in immediate touch with

th e di ff erent national companies Th e result i s .

th at th is film can be purch ased with out di fficulty

i n nearly all part s of th e globe I f a l ocal dealer
.
 64 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO GRA PH Y

does not stock it h e can procure it to order wi thin

,

a day or two M oreover the film will be new and

.

i n perfect condition .

Th ere are many oth er reas on s why i t i s advisable

to sele ct and to adh ere to thi s s tock wh ich , ,

alth ough of a tech nical ch aracter are of much ,

importance to th e user I t must be borne in

.

m ind th at th e tech nics and ch emistry of ci nem a

to g ra p h y are still i n th eir infancy and th e technical
,

sta ff retained for th e preparati on of th e vari ous

ingredient s emp loyed i n the s ensitizing of th e film
are striving constantly to improve and to increase
th e speed or sensitivenes s of th e e mulsion Th e .

result i s that th e worker wh o use s Eastman film

keeps pace with d evelopments Th e makers of .

th is ri bbon were th e firs t to di scover a base and

emulsion suited t o moving picture work Th i s - .

was ach ieve d only after th e expenditur e o f enor

m ous sums o f m oney after h undreds of fruitless
,

experim ents and with th e co operation of th e

,
-

h igh est techn ical and ch emical skill U nd er these .

circum stances th e limitati ons of th e bas e and of

th e em ulsion become th orough ly understood so ,

th at the film i s certai n to maintain th e h igh est

quality On th e oth er h and th ose firm s wh o h ave
.
,

em barked upon th e manufacture of the commodity

only with in recent years h av e still to face and to
,

overcome many pitfalls whi ch the older concern

di scovered and surm ounted years ago So th e .
 By p er m i s s i Oi i o f y y
ur
’
s . l
Ki n e S upp ies , L td .

WIN D I N G TH E D E V E L O P IN G F R AM E
T h e fi l m i t r
s a n s fe r re d fro m th e e xp o s e d fil m b o x to
- a r e vo l v

f m m l i i d e o u te rmo s t
in g ra e e
,
u s o n s .
 D EVE LO PI N G TH E FI LM 65

fil m market e d by youn ge r o rgan i sati o ns i s ap t to

var y in its q uali ty .

Be fore th e begi nn er att emp ts d evelopm ent h e

m ust m a ke sure that his dark roo m and a cces so ries
are adeq uate To seek succes s wi th makeshi ft s
.

in t h e first in stance i s t o cour t h eart ren din g -

fail ur e M any o f th e utensil s empl oye d in th e

dar k room can be fash ioned by any h an dy man .

Th ey may lack finish but s o l ong as they ,

pe rform th ei r work properly nothi ng m ore i s

n eces sa ry .

Th e d ark room m ust be spaci ous fo r cram pe d ,

cond iti ons are fatal to sati s facto ry work An .

expert w il l perform hi s tas k succe ss fu ll y i f th e ,

e xigenci es a ri s e i n a small cup bo ard but th e

, ,

b egin n er wi ll find th at th e m ore space h e h as at

h i s command the e asi er h e w i l l be able to comp lete
hi s tas k Th e room sh o u ld m eas ur e 1 0 fee t in
.

lengt h by 6 feet wi de at l eas t I n a corner or at ,

som e o th er conveni ent point al ong the w all th ere ,

shoul d be an ordi nar y sink provid ed wi th free

was te and w ith am pl e supp l i es o f water l ai d on to
a tap above On one o r oth er sid e o f th i s sink
.
,

there sh oul d be a be nch 3 feet i n w id th for th e

, ,

p urpo se o f th e d evel opi ng fixi ng ri n sing an d

, , ,

o th er bath s .

for solutions and on e for rin s ing Ea ch tray .

sh oul d be at l e as t 33 in ch es sq u are in si de by
,
,

R C . F
66 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y
ab out 6 inch es in depth Th es e trays m ay be .

made o f wood through out with dove tailed sid es ,

-
,

and tongued and grooved bottom or th e bottom ,

may b e m ade o f g l a s s If th e work o f d o ve tailing

.
-

seem s too diffi cult th e sid es and bottom need only

,

b e nailed or sc rewed togeth er b ut i n th i s case a ,

lining of waterproof fabri c sh ould be fixed to th e

wood Trays of th i s typ e are inexpensive and
.
,

are quite as good as th ose o f a m ore elaborate

ch aracter I n som e d eveloping works lead lined
.
-

trays are used but th ey are weighty and cumber

,

som e to h andle I n order to draw o ff th e solution

.

wh en necessary it i s well t o fit a drain and plug

i n th e bottom o f th e tray by wh ich th e contents
can e scape i nto th e storag e vessel placed beneath
th e bench .

S om etimes a verti cal tank i s used Th is system .

i s m aintained to b e th e most sati s factory as i t

enables th e s oluti on to b e kep t m ore easily in
m ovem ent Th e tank i n th i s cas e sh ould b e
.
, ,

3 3 inch es high by 3 3 i nch e s wi d e an d 6 inch es ,

from front t o back Th ese are in side measure

.

ments I t must be lined with waterproof material

.

or wi th th in sh eet lead in th e sam e manne r as th e

tray For th e purposes of th e small worker th e
.
,

tank proce ss i s more expensive owing to th e ,

greater quanti ty of soluti on th at i t require s ; 5 0 ,

for ord inary and limited working th e tray i s ,

recommended I t sh ould b e fitt e d w ith a rock e r

.
68 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y

unwound and passed round the pin on one "

diagonal then to the relative pins on the th re e

,

ot her members I t i s th en taken round the

.

second pin on th e first diagonal foll owed round ,

th e relative pins on th e othe r three m em bers and ,

so on until the wh ole film has been uncoiled th e ,

pins on th e othe r four cross members being called

into requisition as additi onal supports when th e
frame is about h al f covered When the film i s
.

m ounted upon this fram e it i s i n th e form of an

endless squar e spiral Wh en th e fram e i s laid
.

in the bath of solution the film stand s edgewise .

Th e wooden fram e however i s now alm ost

, ,

exclusively used as it i s easier and simpler to

,

work Th e film can b e transferred to i t i n a

.

shorte r space o f time and the frame with the

,

film upon i t can be handled m ore safely .

The ruby light may be ei ther electri city gas , ,

or oil but extreme care m ust be taken to make

,

absolutely certain that th e light i s non actinic ,

and 15 not too powerful oth erwise th e film which

, ,

i s extremely sensitive wi ll be fogge d during

,

developmen t The safe ty o f th e ligh t may be

.

tested in a very simple and easy manner Cut .

off about 6 inch es of film from th e unexposed

reel lay i t flat upon th e developing bench em ul
, ,

sion side uppermost i n full vi ew o f the ruby

,

light Place two or th ree coins upon the em ulsion

.

and leave them there for a few minutes Then .

 D EV E LO PI N G TH E FI LM 69

develop th e s tri p in a covered di sh I f th e space

.

sur ro u n ding th e p lace s wh ere th e coin s were

l ai d com es up grey th en i t sh ows that th e li gh t
,

i s un safe because th e exp ose d emul si on sur

,

rounding th e coi ns has become fogged On th e .

oth er h and i f no sign s o f th e positi on of the coi ns

,

are reveal ed upon th e d evelope d st ri p th e ligh t ,

i s p erfectly safe .

Th e trays sh o u ld be placed sid e by sid e a l ong

th e bench Th e one whi ch i s used for devel op ing
.

sh oul d stan d furt he st from th e ruby ligh t I f

space wi ll all ow th e ri nsing bath sh o u ld be
,

placed next to i t but i f th is i s im p ossible th e

,

fixi ng bath may be placed th ere A di vi sion

.

b oard sh o ul d b e set up b etween th e two tray s ,

rising som e 1 0 or 1 2 inche s a bove thei r upp er

edge s . Thi s wi ll pre vent th e fi xin g soluti on
splashi ng int o th e develop ing b ath and sp oil ing
it Vari ous form ul ae have be en prep ared for
d evel op ment e ach of whi ch h as cert ai n a d van
,

tage s. As may be suppo se d each firm has ,

evolve d a fo rm ula whi ch i t has foun d from

exp e rience to give t h e be st resul ts O bvi ously .

these form ul ae are secre t B ut t h e m ost satis

fac tory for t h e be gi nn er is that advocated by th e
Eastman Compan y I t possesses th e advan tage
.

o f havin g been prep a re d by t h e ch emi sts wh o

are re s po nsibl e for th e emul sion wh o u nderstan d
,

it s p arti cul ar ch aracte ri sti c and al s o it s li mi ta

s
70 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO GRA PH Y

tions Th e majority o f oth er formul ae are based

.

m ore or less upon thi s one whi ch i s appli cable ,

and adaptabl e to al l kinds of work I t has th e .

quali ty o f bringing th e picture out to the utm ost

d egree and by i ts means m any of th e errors in
,

exposure m ay be corrected during d e velopment .

The developi ng s olution i s m ade up as

follows

Avo ir d up o is .

S o d iu m lph i te gramme s
(
su des ) 53 o z .

S o d iu m c a rbo n a te 25 n 750
Me to l 1 80 gr a i n s 12
H ydro ch in o n (hyd ro q u in o n ) e 8 oz . 23 7
P o ta s s iu m b ro mid e 1 o z 63 g ra in s
.
34
Ci tric a c id 400 gr a in s 27 5
P o ta s s i u m me ta b is ulph it e 2 oz .

Wa t re I mp e ri al me a s u re g a ll o n s
(
;
8§
e
( Un i t d Sta t s e IO N 40 itrl es

Th e ingredients must be m ixed in th e order

i ndicated All th e ch emi cals are readily and
.

cheaply obtainable at any p hotogra phic ch emists

and drug stores After preparati on the developer
.

will keep for a l ong period so long as th e

bottle i s well stoppered and kept in a cool place .

Only the highest grade ch emicals of a reputable

‘

brand sh ould be used A sligh t saving i n th e .

purchase of these essentials i s false economy ,

because a film costing one hundred or m ore

72 PRACTI CA L C I N EMATOGRAP H Y

can be recognized even in th e subdued ligh t of

th e dark room becaus e i t has a m att surface while ,

th e other side i s glossy Th e di fference between

.

th e two si des can al so be detected by the touch .

When th e end of the film h as b e en attach ed to

one end bar th e frame i s turned the film mean
-
,

while being permitted to slide out of the dark

box until the opposite end of the frame comes
,

up . Th e film is passed over th is bar also ,

between th e fi rs t pai r of guide pins and once ,

more with a half turn to th e fram e th e film

,
-
,

pas ses along th e s econd si de of th e fram e back

to th e first bar be tween th e succeeding pair of
,

gui de pins ove r th e top and back again to th e

,

opposite bar thi s process being continued unti l

,

th e coil of film i s unrolled wh en th e second ,

extremity i s likewi s e fixed to th e bar by means

of a drawing pin Th e film while being wound
.

m us t not be drawn too tigh tly ; at th e sam e time

i t mus t not be too sl ack Wh en winding has .

been completed th e frame and film will have the

,

appearance sh own i n th e illus tration facing p 65 . .

The guid e pins in the end bars preven t th e edges

from overlapping or touching The result i s th e .

presentation of two emulsion faces on eith er side

o f the frame and each face resem bles th e sensitized
sid e of a dry plate .

I n winding the film upon th e frame and indeed ,

during all th e operations th e operator sh ould be

,
By p e r mis s i o n of Wi ll ia ms o n K in e C o . .
,
L td .

THE F IL M WO U N D ON F R AM AN D E P L AC ED IN

THE DE V E L O P IN G T R AY .

By p er mi s s i o n bf j
’
u ry s . l
K i n e S upp i es L td , .

TH E J U R Y C O MB I N E D C AM E R A AN D P R IN TE R .
74 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO G RA P H Y

Devel opment proceed s exactly as i n th e case

of a glass plate and th e sam e judgment i s
,

required to determ ine when th e process h as been

carri ed far enough Wh en thi s point h as been
.

r e ach ed th e fram e i s lifted out o f th e d e v e lop e r

and placed i n th e rinsing tray to receive a
th orough wash ing Water i s a kind friend i n
.

ci nematography and sh oul d b e used u n g ru dg

in g ly . Thr e e or four th orough flush es wi ll
su ffi ce to rinse th e film satis factorily and th en th e ,

fram e i s placed in th e fixing bath Th i s i s made .

up as follows

Metri c .

W a ter 64 oz .
(fl u id
) c c . .

H yp o s u l ph ite of so da 16 4 8 0 gra mme s

S u lph ite 22

Wh en fully diss olved ad d th e following

h ardener .

P o w d e re d a l u m 15 g ra mmes
C i tric a c i d 15

D uring fixing th e frame sh ould be kept rocked

s o that every trace o f undeveloped silv e r salt s
m ay be removed from th e film Then it i s .

transferred to th e wash ing tray and submitted

 D EV E LO P I N G T H E F I LM 75

to a th orough washing i n frequent changes of

water for som e twenty m inut es Th e film i s now
.

ready for i ts final treatment Th i s i s imm ersi on

.

i n th e s oaking solution

Thi s final bath i s n ot always used but it i s

,

d esirable i f th e negative film i s to b e kept for

any len gt h o f tim e Imm ersion in th i s soaki ng
.

s olution prevent s th e gelatine coati ng o f th e

film from b e com ing h ard an d h orny . Afte r
rem aining i n th i s bath for five m inute s th e fram e
i s li fted out and returned to its st an d wh ere
, ,

t h e exce ss o f glycerine and water i s rem oved by

wiping with a soft cl oth .

I t will b e seen th at o n ce th e film i s wound

upon th e fram e i t i s n ot rem oved during th e
wh ol e p roces s o f d evelopm e nt and m ay be l e ft
,

in th e sam e positi on during th e d ryi ng peri od .

B ut i f th e d rying i s to b e qui ckl y perform e d

th e fram e must b e o f what i s known as th e
spring type so th at i t doe s not keep th e sam e
,

are a of film constantly pre ssing upon th e curve d

end bars Oth erwi se th e film woul d retai n th i s
-
.
76 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATOGRA P H Y
shape wh en it h as been dried and th e ki nk would
be i rrem ovable To avoi d thi s de fect i t i s just
.

as well to transfer th e film from the fram e to a

d rum (s e e illus tration facing p This i s an .

easy matter Th e drum i s m ount e d upon a stand

.

s o as to b e free t o revolve easi ly Detach one .

end o f th e film from th e d ev e loping frame and ,

attach i t to th e drum by m eans o f a d rawing pin .

The emul sion sid e of course m ust face outwards

, , .

Th en by unwinding th e frame and rotating th e

d rum simultaneously th e film become s wound
spirally upon the d rum Anoth er pin wi ll secure
.

th e second end of th e film Th e drum i s an .

i nexpensive an d very h andy accessory to th e

moving pi cture ph otograph er especially i n th e
-
,

drying operation wh en force ful meth ods h ave

,

to b e adopted .

U nfortunately th e d rying o f th e film cannot be

accelerate d to any great extent Th e hardening .

of the gelati ne emulsi on cannot b e hastened as ,

in glas s plate work by immersi on in a bath of

,

methylated S pirits or some oth er evaporative

agent since th e alcoh ol contained therei n would
,

di ssolve th e celluloi d base Th e only available.

means i s a current of warm dry clean air , , .

While th e well equippe d factory i s fitted with

-

a special d ryin g r o o m such a facility is beyond

‘

th e resources of th e average independent worker ,

Wh o m ust th ere fore be content to revolve hi s

78 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y

th e film as soon as possi bl e after exposure .

Although th e exposed film i s kept i n a dark

box th e chemical action set up by exposur e
,

be fore the lens continues as i n dry plate and

, ,
-

snap sh ot ph otography and i n a m ore rapi d

-
,

m anner Consequently th e fil m sh ould not be

.

left undeveloped for m ore th an a few days at

the utm ost Whil e prompt development i s usual
.

i n topi cal work there are oth er s orts of work

,

in wh ich th e operator may fe e l tempted to put

the film on one side for developmen t at a l ater
and m ore conveni ent tim e Perhaps several .

weeks may elapse and th en complete amazement

,

i s expres sed at th e result I n th e unexposed .

condition h owever Eastman stock will last

, ,

many month s s o long as it is not removed from

the case in which it is packed at th e works .

Equal care must be used i n storing th e developed

negative films They mus t be kept in a cool
.

dry place protected from severe fluctuations in

,

tem perature and clim atic e ffects .

 C H A PTE R VI I

I
P R NT ING T H E I
P OS T I VE

T H E O R E T I CAL LY there i s n o operation i n the

wh ole art o f ci nematography which i s m ore com
plex than th e preparation of th e p ositive Thi s .

i s used for projecting th e i mage o n th e screen ,

and i s th e resul t upon which popular cri tici sm

i s passed Al so i n th e proces s of printing th e
.
,

positive several short comings i n th e negative

,
-

can be co rrected .

At the sam e time from th e practical poi nt of

,

Vi ew th e preparation of th e positive i s sim ple

, .

The beginner wh o has mastered the somewhat

i ntricate process of development need no t a p p re ,

hend any greater di fficulties than th ose h e h as

already overcome be fore he essays to print hi s
positive I n practice he will soon become pro
.

ficie n t th ough h e may retai n rath er hazy ideas

,

of the th eory of the matter .

Th e essentials for the preparati on of the posi tive

are a pri nting machine and an illuminan t The
appliances and methods of operation di ff er com
p l e te l y from those used in any other b ranch of
ph otography so that a new art virtually has to
,
80 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRAP H Y
be mastered Fortunately the beginner gets
.
,

assistance from those masters of the craft wh o , ,

having left the producing for the manufacturing

side of the industry willingly give advice to the
,

tyro By following the few rules which these

.

early workers lay d own the beginner will not go ,

far wrong and will not run the ri sk of incurring

,

many dispiriting failures While the large pro .

fe s s io n a l firms use elaborate and c ostly printing

machines the amateur is able to get j ust as good
,

results with simpler and cheaper apparatus H e .

could not wish for a better equipme n t than th e

William son printer which costs only £ 4 1 05
,
.

or the J ury Duplex which i s a com bi ned ,

camera and printer .

S o far as th e illuminant i s concerned this

depends upon circumstances I n m ost towns i t .

is possible to obtain electri c light which i s the ,

simplest and taken all round th e m ost reliable

, ,

and satisfactory illuminant I f thi s is not avail .

abl e gas and an incand escent mantle may be

,

used . Failing eith er o f these conveniences ,

acetylene or petrol gas the latter with the incan

,

descent gas mantle can take th eir place Even

, .

daylight may be used .

Success i n printing depends upon a correct

judgment of th e intensity of the light and of the ,

density of the film This enables one to es timate

.

the exposure required O bviously this knowledge

.
82 PRACT I CA L C I N EMATOGRA PH Y

be done with a negativ e which i s deficient i n

d etail The only exception that m ay be made to
.

this drastic policy is th e topical film which m ay

,

hav e been taken under adverse conditions during ,

a fog or in h eavy rain or on a dull day or at a

, , ,

late h our when th e ligh t was bad I n th e topical

.

film it i s more the interest of th e ev e nt than th e

quality of th e film th at is important .

For absolute simplici ty i t would be di ffi cul t to

excel th e system adopted in th e J Ii ry Duplex
camera I n thi s case one ob tains both cam era
—
and printing apparatus with out the lens for —
the modest outlay of £ 8 Ther e i s a sm all
bracket m ount e d upon the outer top face and near
,

the front edge of th e case Th is bracket carries

, .

the spool on which the negative film is coiled .

Thi s is slipped on th e b ob bin and locked in

position by means of a small l ever Th e film i s
.

carried from thi s spool between two small guide

pressure rollers and fed i nto th e camera through
a slot faced Wi th velvet like th at provi ded in the
,

dark boxes Th e film i s pulled down a su fficient

.

di stance t o enter th e gate so as to secure engage

m ent by th e claws of the camera mechanism In .

threading th e film care must be used to bring th e

emul sion side facing th e dark boxes and th e
glossy side facing th e lens .

Th e positive film is ins e rted in th e unexposed

fil m box of the camera and i s th readed up as i f
-
 P RI N TI N G T H E PO S ITIV E 83

for ta king ph otograph s As th e em ul si on sid e

.

i s uppe rm ost when th e u n e xp osed film m eet s

,

th e negati ve in the gate th e tw o film s are brough t

,

toge th er wi th th eir em ul si on si des in contac t A s

one fi lm i s lai d squarely over the oth er and wi th ,

th e perforati ons i n line it w ill b e s een th at th e

,

claws engage wi th bo th so that th e two fil m s

,

are j erked togeth er intermittently th rough th e

gate .

Emerging from th e gat e th e two film s p art

com p an y Th e expos ed p osi tive ri b b on p as ses
.

into th e exposed dark b ox whil e th e n egative,

fil m pas s e s th rough anoth er velvet lined slot -

i n th e bottom of the cam era and th en is woun d

,

up on an oth er sp o ol .

I t wi ll b e seen th at i n th i s ca se p rin ti ng i s
carried out in a m an ner similar to ph otograph ing .

Th e film i s r un th rough th e cam era in th e

ordi nary way by turning th e h an dl e and th e ,

num ber of e xp os u res per second can b e var ied

with in wi d e limit s t o s ui t th e d en si ty of th e fil m .

Th e cam era i s suppli ed with a s e co n d spindl e and

geari ng upon wh ich th e handle m ay h e slipp ed .

Th e rati o of th is geari ng i s one expo sur e pe r

revolution o r as i t i s te rm e d one t u rn per
,

picture .
”

Owing to th e p osi tive fil m be ing contain ed

wi th in th e cam era an d th ere fore in a light tigh t
,
-

space th e el e ct ri c ligh t or oth er ill umin an t m ay

,

G 2
84 P RACTI CA L C I N E M ATOGRAPH Y

be m ounted upon th e bench with in th e dark room ,

s o th at th e operator can work i n a ligh ted

apartm ent I n thi s arrangement h owever th e
.
, ,

camera sh o uld b e clamped firmly to a rigid

foundation s o th at i t may n ot m ov e during
,

exposure Th i s al so e nsures that th e ligh t sh ould

.

rem ain at a constant di stance from th e m ach ine .

Th is camera can be adjusted easily and ch eaply

for th e purpose o f dayligh t p rinting Al l th at i s .

required i s a square funnel about two feet in

,

length made o f wood and s o de signed that th e

,

smaller open end fits into th e front recess o f the

camera after th e sh utter panel i s removed or
opened Th i s funnel sh ould be mad e after th e
.

manner o f a Kod ak e nlarger an d black e ned on

,

the inside with a dull m e di um s o th at no

, ,

reflection s of ligh t a re set up When th i s funnel

.

i s attach ed i t i s only necessary t o stand th e

camera on i ts rear face so that th e opening of th e
funnel points directly to th e clear sky overhead ,

not toward s th e sun and to turn th e handl e upon

,

th e one turn one pi cture gear Th e printing

.

speed will vary with th e intensity of th e light and

th e d ensi ty o f th e film Obviously th e cam era
.

can be run m or e rapidly on a bright summer

than on a dull winter d ay I n th e first cas e it i s
.

safe to turn th e h andle as fast as possibl e but in ,

th e second th e s peed would ne e d to be ab out one

picture or handl e turn p e r s e cond
, ,
.
 P RI N T I N G T H E PO S I T IVE 85

One advantage o f th is system o f printing i s

that th e p icture i s printed wi th th e cam era wi th
wh ich th e n egative was obtai ned and s o firs t ,

class results are i nevi table Th e re gi strat io n i s

.

assured as wel l as th e alignment I n th reading .

up th e cam era it i s only n ecessary to m ake s ure

th at th e im age on th e negative com es s quarely
and truly before th e wi nd ow i n th e gat e O nce .

th i s is so every successive picture must b e i n

,

pe rfect regi stration and ali gnmen t Th ere coul d

be no meth od o f p ri nting m ore suitab le for th os e
wh o are travelling o r engaged o n topical work
, ,

often under trying condi tions for th e convers ion

,

from ph otograph n to printi ng an d vice vers ei,

‘

m ay b e accomplished i n an i nstan t S om e of th e
m ore expensiv e came ras costing from £ 20
upward s are now fitted with a p ri nting attach
ment th e printing access ory being d etach e d wh e n
,

th e i ns trume nt i s being used for ph otograph ing

purposes The se cameras follow where th e J ury
.

Duplex led th e way .

Th e William son printer works upon a di ff erent

pri nciple being a distinct and separat e mach ine
, .

N everth eless i t i s an eminently practical a p

‘

p l ia n ce and i s as well adapted t o th e factory as

,

to the amateur s dark room I t compris es a base

’
.

board on wh ich th e whole of th e mech ani sm i s

mounted togeth er wi th th e stand for th e ligh t
,

( Se e illustration facing page

86 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO G RA P H Y

I n this installation th e re must e ith e r b e a d ark

box to contain th e ligh t agai nst the face of whi ch
,

the base b oard of th e printing m echanism i s

screwed or els e an aperture m ust be provid ed
,

in th e wall of th e dark room and th e ligh t be

placed on a sh el f outside Th e h andy man h o w
.
,

ever will be able to d e vi se a ligh t tigh t box

,
-
,

eith e r for th e electri c ligh t or gas I n th e latter

.
.

case it must be fitted with a ch im ney with baffl e

plate s ab solutely ligh t tigh t to carry o ff th e
-
,

p roducts of com bustion Th e ligh t tigh t box

.
-

sh ould b e li ned ei ther with absolutely safe

ruby fabri c or wi th orange and ruby fabrics
,

superimposed I f wood i s used th e l ight box

.
,
-

i s ap t to spli t under th e i nfluence of th e h eat

with in .

Th e Williamson pri nter is of th e s implest

d e sign conceivabl e Th e re i s an uppe r spindle A
.

( see illustrati on facing p 8 4 ) on wh ich th e spool

.

containing th e negativ e i s carri e d I mmediately

.

below i s anoth er spindl e carrying th e spool B on

wh i ch i s sli pped th e coil of unexposed film The .

n e gativ e film em ulsion si de outerm ost as it winds

, ,

o ff th e spool A i s passed beh ind the guide roller C

and th en picks up th e unexposed film o f spool B .

T h e em ulsion side o f the unexposed film comes

into contact with th e e mulsion side of the negative
film Passing over anoth er guid e roller D th e
.

film s pass together between th e two rollers E to

 88 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y

by th e sam e firm for pro fe ssional use S o l ong .

1

as th e mach ine works reliably a n d h as p erfect ,

regi strati on and alignm ent noth i n g m ore i s ,

requi red Extra refinem e nts and little detai ls

.
, ,

wh ile of service to th e expert only serve to ,

h arass th e am ateur .

As a matter o f fact th e m ost im portan t duti es

o f a printing mach ine are to feed th e two film s
evenly and easi ly th rough th e gate and to hold ,

th em flatly and tigh tly together so as to secure ,

perfect contact while th ey are before th e exp osure

window By thi s instrument both these duties
.

a r e perfectly p erform ed Th e sprocket G con .

tin u o u s l y revolves und er th e steady turning

m ovem ent o f th e h andle an d th e two film s are ,

h el d rigidly tigh tly and steadily togeth er by th e

,

pressure gate F .

O f cours e in printing with th i s m ach ine th e

, ,

operator works i n total darknes s owing to the ,

coi l of positive film being fully exp osed Th i s .

i s no h andicap h owever because th e dark room ,

-

ruby l am p supplies su fficient l igh t to enable

th e n e cessary op erati on s to be performed But .

i t i s not wise to use too p owerful a ruby ligh t ,

or th e unexposed posi tive film will be fogged .

Turn ing th e d riving h andle i s no m ore di fficul t

th an turning that of th e camera m echani sm .

1 “
Mo vin g c P i ture s
: H o w th e y a re Ma d e an d Wo rke d ,

Ch a p ter VI I I p a ge 8 2
.
, .
 P RI N T I N G T H E PO S IT IV E 89

Th e g e aring i s so d esign ed th at six expos u res

are m ad e per revoluti on representi ng twelve
,

pi cture s per second wh en revolved at th e no rmal

,

speed .Wi th a n egative of ave rage densi ty

th i s speed is su ffi ci ent B ut th e p eri od o f
.

exposure can be vari ed accordi ng t o th e S peed

at which the h an dle i s turn ed Th e t u rn s o f
.

th e h andle sh ould be steady and regul ar or th e ,

picture s will b e o f un even den sity owi ng to th e

variati ons i n exposur e .

Th e el ectri c ligh t i s easily m oved by m e an s

o f th e h andl e while th e te n stop s give i t g reat
flexi bi lity I n order to m aintain an e xposur e
.

of twelv e picture s per s econ d with an average

negative a l am p o f 50 candl e p ower sh oul d b e
,

used To ensure th e best results i t sh o ul d b e

.

“
o f th e cl ass kn own as focus l am p Th i s typ e
.
”

o f lam p h as a s peci al filament wi th a sm al ler

,

coil than i s found i n th e ordinary i ncandescen t

electri c lam p A gas burn er wi th i ncan descent
.

mantl e m ay b e used i f electri ci ty i s not avail abl e ,

th ough th e operator will h av e to ascerta in th e

rel ative value o f th e lum inous i ntensity of th e
ligh t as comp ared wi th th e 50 candle powe r
electric ligh t and wil l be wise i f h e makes one
,

or two tri al expos ure s with s h ort len gth s o f

film be fore e ssayi ng th e p ri nting o f a complete
film .

Wh ile i t i s poss ible d uring p rin ting to vary

90 P RACT I CA L C I N EM ATOG RA PH Y

th e distanc e of th e ligh t from th e exposure

window th e ligh t b e ing m ani pulated with the
,

left h and while the h andle i s turned wi th th e

,

righ t th ere i s slight nec e s sity for s uch a pro

,

ce d u re . Th e n e gative fi lm sh ould b e examined to

ascertain h ow th e d e nsity varie s al ong i ts l ength ,

and th en each portion of film th at shows tolerable

r e gularity o f densi ty sh ould be printed o ff at
th e sam e speed I n th i s way variations o f
.

di stanc e need occur only with distinct length s

o f film Th is i s a far safer meth od especially
.
,

for th e beginner th an the m ovement o f th e light

,

to and fro whi le th e film s are running th rough

th e gat e though of course wi th practice i t
,

becomes possible to do the two th ings satis

fa c to rily at once M any amateur cin e ma to
.

g ra p h e r s m ake the mistake of attempting a rtifice s

wh ich th ey have seen practised by some e x p e
r i e n ce d professional worker and th e r e sult i s
,

failure Wh at is easy and s imple to th e e xpert

.

i s o ften beyond the p owers of th e beginner .

Success in printing can only be achieved by

h onest and diligent work but patience i s s ure
,

of its r e ward At first th ere may be a tendency

.

to make th e p ositives somewh at too dens e and ,

then when th e evils of th is defect are appreciated

, ,

to fly to th e opposite extrem e O f th e two

.

blemish es probably the latter i s th e worse as ,

i t produces a washed out e ff ect upon th e screen

- .
92 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y
in the proces s will b e reproduced with a e c o m
tu a te d e ff ect upon th e positive film Even wi th
.

some o f th e topical film s a posi tive i s not

necessary To submi t th e negativ e to t he local
.

th eatre or prospective purch aser i s often a good

way of savi ng time and being first i n th e field .

M any th eatres now are being equipped with

d ark room s and printi ng m achines A glance .

at th e negative will enable th e manager to

deci de wh eth er the film i s serviceable or other
wi se and i f a p urch ase i s m ade th e deleti on of
, ,

th e unintere sting parts can b e m ade before

printing I nci d e ntally one gr e at advantage o f
.
,

th is i s that th e fil m i s submitted for consideration

about th ree or four h ours earlier than woul d be
th e case if th e i ndependent worker struck o ff hi s
own positive and in th ese days of h igh pr e ss ure
,

such a saving i s important I t m ay o ften be th e

.

m ean s o f forestalling a competitor Even i f i t

.

i s i ntended to supply prints t o two or th r e e

d i fferent picture palaces th e negative offers a
m eans of transacting busines s because th e
,

respective establish ments can give th ei r orders ,

make th eir arrangement s co ncerning announce

m ents and be able to judge fairly accurately th e
,

h our at wh ich th e film will be available for

projecti on . I n o n e instance an ind ependent
topical worker wh o h ad a firs t clas s negati ve
-

of a popular subject drove round from th eatre

 P R I N TI N G T H E POS I T I V E 93

t o th eatre w i th h is negative an d secu red an ord er

for about h al f a d ozen copi es H e th en h an d e d
- -
.

ove r th e work o f p rin ti n g to a profe ss i onal firm .

Four h ours later h e d elivered th e po si tive s to

th e respective th ea tres an d ul timately b e sold
,

th e negative outr igh t to th e fir m wh o complet e d

hi s p ri nting contracts for th e supp ly o f oth er
m arkets at th eir d is po sal I n an o th er in st ance
.

ente r p ri sin g am ateur wh o h ad an excel lent

n ega tive h an d ed i t over t o a topi cal fil m fi rm
-

to pri n t an d circul ate th e fi rm to take fi fty per

,

cent o f th e recei p ts an d t o bear th e exp ense o f

.

pri nti ng an d o the r d etail s .

 C H APTE R V I I I

ABE R RA T I O NS O F AN IMA E D T P H O TO GR AP H Y

IT has been point e d out in a previous chapter

that cinematography i s nothing more or less than
an optical ill usion Furth er proof of thi s asser
.

tion e xists in pl e nty W hen foll owing th e p ro

‘

j e c tio n of a pictur e upon the screen one is often ,

perplexed by a curious e ffect or a movement ,

‘

wh ich appears to be in o p p o s itio n to all th e

known laws o f m otion Thi s happens not only
.

in trick work where such odd and startling e ffects

a r e i ntroduced purposely b ut i n straightforward ,

every day topical subjects

- .

For instance it must hav e been noticed that

,

when a ship or railway tra m Is In rapid m ove

m ent and i s ph otographed from a fixed stationary
,

point such as the quay or platform th e moving

, ,

obj ect app e ars to stand out in b ol d r e lief agai nst

th e background One gathers a very co mp re h e n
.

sive idea of i ts length width height and the , , ,

comparative size of all its integral parts such as ,

th e guns on the sh ip s deck or the locomotive s

’ ’

cylinders I t is a curi ous stereoscopic e ffec t but

.
,

at the same time i s not truly s o because it i s ,

only the moving object which app e ars to possess

96 PRACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

Th e re have been many explanation s of thi s

extraordinary e ffect and i n o n e instance the
,

h igh er mathematics were pressed into service

with out any great succ e ss Th e m ost convincing
.

explanation known to th e writer i s that given

him by M onsieur Lucien Bull th e assi stant ,

director of the M arey Institute where p henomena

,

of this class are minutely i nvestigated because ,

th ey accord with the work of that unique and

admirable insti tuti on By M onsieur Bull th e
.

illusi on was explained very easily but curiously , ,

enough i n carrying ou t the experiments to this

,

end h e encountere d another illusion e qually

,

strange .

To reduce th e explanati on to i ts simplest form

we will suppose that a wheel has four spokes
spaced equi distantly that i s 90 d egrees apart
, , ,

and that th e wh eel i s m oving from righ t to left .

As a matter of fact such an e xampl e i s not th e

bes t for th e purpose but i t shall be taken m erely
,

because i t i s th e simpl est to understand An .

exposure i s m ade the wheel being ph otographed

,

i n th e position sh own in Fig 3 Th e lens i s . .

eclipsed by th e sh utter and the film i s jerked

,

d ownwards into position i n th e gate so as t o

bring a fresh unexp osed surface before the lens .

While this operation i s taking place we will ,

suppose that th e wheel continuing its forward

,

m ovement completes on e quarter of a revolution

,
.
 A B E RR ATI O N S O F P H OTOG R AP HY 97

Conseq uen tly wh en th e s ec ond e x po sur e is made

s poke 1 h as m oved 90 d egr ees whi ch i s th e ,

angle be tween ea ch s poke Accordingly i t now .

occ up i e s exa ctly th e sam e posi ti on as that o f

s po ke 2 at th e ti m e o f th e firs t e xpo sure S po ke 2 .

m ov e d to the posi tion formerly oc cupi e d by

FIG 3 . .
—Tb e firs t pic ture of th e tom - s poke whee l .

spo ke 3 Spoke 3 h as travel led s ufi cien tl y to

to tak e th e plac e o f s poke 4 w hil e 4 ha s gone ,

t o that of 1 ( Fig I f four e x po sures are

.

made an d th e spo kes m ove 90 d eg rees ea ch tim e

,

the lens i s cl os e d wh en th e four pi ct ures are

,

thr own s ucc essively upon th e sc r e en they wi ll loo k

e xactl y ali ke Th e spokes wi ll ap p ea r to be qui te
.

RC . 11
98 PRACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

s tationary alth ough th e rim of th e wheel will

,

have m oved a d istance equal to its circum ference

across th e screen C onsequently i f a d ozen a
.
, ,

h undred o r a th ousand exposures are made

,

under th es e condition s th e spokes m oving 90

,

FIG 4. .
—D urin g th e e cl ip s e o f th e l e n s th e s p o k e s h a ve mo ve d
a d is tan c e e q u a l to th e a n gl e b e tw e e n th e m c a u s in g th e
.
,

s p ok e s a pp aren tl y to s ta n d s till wh i l e th e wh e e l i s mo vin g

degrees between e ach expos ur e a quaint skid ,

ding e ffect will be produced All th e spokes .

being al ike th e eye i s unable to detect th at any

d isplacement has taken place between one ex
p o s u re and an oth e r Thi s impression
. of th e
sp okes standing still wh il e th e whe e l i s movin g ,
Ioz P RACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

sp oke s and ri m will b e seen to b e m oving

h armoni ously i n th e fo rward and correct
direction Accordingly natural m ovement of th e
.

FIG 7
. .
—Wh en th e p okes mo ve s li ghtly mo re (AC ) o r s l igh tly
S

l e s s ( AD ) th a n h a lf th e an gle (AB) b e twe en them d urin g ,

th e ecl ip s e o f th e l e n s th e c uri o u s i ll u s io n o f se e in g twic e

,

th e n u mber o f s po kes in th e wh eel is p ro d u ce d .

wh eel only can be sh own wh en th e spoke s of th e

wh eel i rrespective of th eir num ber m ove a
, ,

d istance equal to m ore than th e angle between

t h em .

I n th e course of e lucidati ng thi s problem

 A B E RRATI O NS O F P H O T O G RA P H Y 1 03

M onsi eur B ull d i scovered anoth er curious opti cal

i llusion produce d by th e m oving wh eel S till .

taki ng th e four sp oke wh eel as an i llustrati on w e

-
,

wi ll suppo s e th at between each exposure th e

s poke s are di splaced a l ittl e m ore or a littl e l es s
th an h al f th e angle between th em As th e .

sp oke s are set 90 d e g rees apart th e h al f way

,
-

p oint will b e 4 5 d egrees Wh e n a succession

.

o f such picture s i s th rown up on th e screen i t i s ,

n ot four s pokes wh ich are seen but eigh t ( Fig

,
.

M onsieur Bull i s engaged upon a s eri es of e x p e ri

m ents to ascertai n why thi s peculi ar optical illu
si on sh oul d p revail an d th e explanation wi ll
,

prove interesting .

An oth er i nteresti ng an d mor e con clusiv e

i ll ustrati on o f th e opti cally illus ory propertie s
o f th e cinemat ograph was demonstrated to m e
by M onsi eur Bull I n ord er t o b e ab solutely
.

p ositiv e th at an app aratus wh ich h e use s i n

ce rtai n cinem ato g raph ic i nv e stigations sh oul d
m aintai n th e spee d h e de si re s h e h as contrived
,

a tuning fork control for h is electri c motor Thi s

-
.

t un ing fork resembles a l a rge tremble r blad e

-
,

such as i s used in th e h igh tensi on accumulator

-

and coil igniti on system upon m otor cars Thi s .

particul ar inst rumen t i s tim ed to m ake say 4 0 , ,

vi brati ons per second an d at th i s speed o f

, ,

course i t em its a d istinctive m usical note Th is

,
.

t uning fork control s th e electri c m otor d riving

-
1 02 PRACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

spoke s and rim wi ll b e seen to b e m oving

h armoni ously in th e forward and correct
direction Accordingly natural m ovement of th e
.

F IG 7
. .
—
W h en th e p okes mo ve s l ightly more (AC ) o r s l igh tly
s

l e s s ( AD ) th a n h a lf th e an gl e (AB) b e twe e n them d urin g,

th e e cl ip s e o f th e l e n s th e c urio u s il l us ion o f s e e in g tw ic e
,

th e n u mber o f s p okes in th e wh eel is p ro d u ce d .

wh eel only can b e sh own wh e n th e spokes o f th e

wheel irrespective of their num b e r move a
, ,

d istance equal to more than th e angle between

t h em .

I n th e cours e of e lucidating thi s problem

 1 04 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATOG RAP H Y
th e apparatus For th e purpos e of illustrati on
.

we will suppose i t to be necessary th at th e speed

of th e motor shall not exceed 40 revolutions per
second I n th e earliest experim ents h e depended
.

upon hi s ear to detect wh ether th e m otor and

tuning fork were in synch rony H e vari ed th e
- .

speed of th e motor until its h um was d e ad i n tun e

with that o f th e tuning fork -
.

But as h e th ought th at h i s ear m igh t not be

,

infalli ble b e devi sed an ingenious synch ronising

,

apparatus based upon the cinematographi c

princi ple A small di sk of cardboard provided
.

with two hol e s near i ts edge at opposite p oints ,

o f th e circum fe rence i s m ounted up on the spindle

,

of th e tiny m otor Behi nd thi s di sk i s placed

.

a small adjustabl e m irror A pencil o f electri c

.

light is projecte d h orizontally i n such a manner

that it strikes the cardboard disk at righ t angles ,

and wh en a h ol e on the di sk i s brought into

,

lin e with it it passes through and fa lls upon th e

,

mirror Th e mi rror i s then set so as to reflect

.

and focus th e pencil of light in a small circl e upon

th e fr e e vibrati ng extremity of th e tuning fork -
.

N aturally a strong shad ow is th rown by the

latter upon the white wall behind .

I n the daylight th e V i bration o f thi s fork is

di stinctly V isi bl e , and although it i s sligh t and
rapid it can be followed with out any e ffort But .

wh en th e room is darkened th e ray of light i s

,
 A B E R RA T I O N S O F P H OTO G RAP H Y 1 05

th rown upon th e tun ing fork from th e m i rror - .

Wh en th e m otor beari ng the card b o a rd di sk i s

set in m o tion a ve ry cur ious e ff ect i s prod uced .

Th e penci l of light reflected against th e tun ing

fork be com es inte r rupted t w ice in eve ry revo
l u tio n o f the d isk th at i s 80 ti mes per se cond s o
, ,

that l oo king at th e backgroun d up on wh ich th e

,

tuni ng fork i s sil h ouetted th e e ff ect prod uced i s

-
,

precisely sim il ar to th at obs ervabl e upon th e

c inem atog raph screen wh ere th e p as sage o f th e
,

ligh t from th e l ante rn i s i nterrupted by th e rotary

action of th e shutter I f th e revol vi ng spe ed o f
.

th e m otor th at i s th e num be r of revol utions pe r

,

second i s th e same as th e num be r o f vibrati ons

,

pe r second o f th e tuning fork viz 40 th e end of

-
, .
,

th e fork as one l ooks at th e ill um inated c ircle on

,

th e w al l agai n st which th e sh adow i s th rown ,

appe ars to be at res t One onl y need s t o touch

th e end o f th e fork h owever to b e cert ain th at it
, ,

is vi b ratin g .

N ow i f th e m otor be th rown out o f synchrony

w ith th e t u nin g fork even i f i t m ake s onl y 3 9 or
-
,

4 1 in stead of 4 0 revol u ti ons per second th e ,

d is turban ce i s sh own inst antly b e cau s e l oo king ,

at th e illum in ated tun i ng for k one ob se r ves i t

-

jumping spasm od icall y Thi s movem ent be come s

.

m ore p ronounced as th e h arm ony be tween th e

revoluti on s of th e motor an d th e fork is dis tur bed ,

th e jum ps o f th e bl ade at tim es bein g app arently

1 06 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAP H Y
of a very severe character M oreover curiously
.
,

enough under the i lluminati on of th e ray of ligh t

,

the erratic mov e m ents of the blad e appear to be

three or four times m ore severe than they really
are But as th e motor revoluti ons and th e tuning
.

fork vibrations are brough t into synch rony th e ,

movements grow quieter until at last the tuning

,

fork onc e m ore appears to be quiescent .

T h e explanati on of this quasi cinematograph ic

-

illusion wh ich is as interesting and as puzzling

,

as that of th e wh eel is very simple for i t i s based

, ,

i nd eed upon th e same ph enom en a As th e card

board disk i s p rovid ed with two small h oles space d
1 8 0 d egrees apart th e passage of th e ray of ligh t
,

i s intercepted by th e O paqu e section o f th e di sk

8 0 tim es per second when th e motor revolutions
and th e tuni ng fork vi brations are in absolut e
-

synchrony Th e result i s that at th is speed th e

.

light strikes th e tuning fork each time at th e

-

instant i t i s at th e h al f way point i n its oscillating

-

travel One h ol e in th e d isk com es befor e th e

.

ligh t when th e blade h as com pleted hal f its m ove

m ent in one directi on while th e second hole
,

com es i nto line with th e ligh t when the blade i s

at th e same point on its return j ourn ey Con .

sequently th e ligh t falls upon th e b l a d e at th e

same spot every tim e causing th e eye to imagine
,

th at i t see s the blad e always in th e one position

as i f under a steady ray of continuous light .
 C H A PTE R I X

I
S L O W NG D O W N RAP D I MO V E ME NT S

D U R I NG th e past few years m uch e ffort h as

been spent upon adapting th e cinem atograph
so th at i t wi ll record exceedingly rapid move
ments such as a bullet in fligh t Som e popular
,
.

film s of thi s character h ave been placed on the

m arket and i n order to attract th e public h ave
, , ,

“
been colloquially descri bed as quicker th an -

“
th ough t or quicker than th e eye movements
- - -
.

Strictly speaking b oth th e latter designati ons

ar e e rroneous especially i n regard to th e eye
, ,

inasmuch as i f a bullet fired from a rifle were

brilliant white th e eye would be able to follow
i ts flight with ease notwith standing th e fact
,

th at i t may i ssue from th e muzzl e with a

travelling speed o f feet or m ore per
second .

So far as th e m oving picture camera i s con

-

cerned it i s obvious th at th e ordinary mach ine

coul d not b e operated with su ffici ent speed to
film a bullet in fl igh t or ev e n to catch th e flap
of th e wings of a small insect such as a h ouse—
,

fly
,

or bee . I t would be impossible to jerk th e

S LO WI N G DO WN RA PI D M OVE M E N TS 1 09

film th rough th e gate with s u ffi cient speed to

take p erhap s five th ousand pi ctures p er second
th e mech ani sm and m ore particularly th e film
, ,

would break d own before a fi ftieth of th e number

of pictures were taken in th e space o f one second .

Accordingly great ingenui ty h as been d is

,

p layed by cinematogr aph i nves tigators i n th e

evolution of a m e an s o f snapping such extremely
rapi d m ovement s at su ffi ci ent speed to m ake
th e film s interesting or scientifically useful .

Th i s particular branch o f th e craft was developed

firs t by M onsi eur Luci e n Bull of the M arey ,

I nstitute wh o d esign ed a novel an d ingenious

,

camera capable o f taking up to two th ousand

pi ctures per second 1
With th i s apparatus m any
.

wonderful fil ms have b een ob tained and such ,

a fascinating field o f study has b een revealed

that attempts are being made i n all directions
“
to s ecure qui cker than th ough t film s th at
- -
”

woul d h ave b een th ough t ten years ago to b e

ph otographi cal ly impossi ble M onsi eur Bul l i s .

d eveloping hi s i dea in order to b e in a position

to obtain l onger records o f a subject an d als o ,

t o take th e ph otograph s at a high er rate of speed .

Pro fessor Cranz a Ge rm an experimenter also

, ,

h as carried out som e novel experiments on th e

s ame l ines and has d esi gn e d a system wh ereby
,

1
See Mo vi n g Pi c tur e s : H o w th e y ar e Ma de an d Wo rke d ,
”

Cha p ter XXIV , . pa g e 264 .

I Io PRACT I CAL C I N EMA T O GRA P H Y
he i s able to take a ph otograph i n th e ten millionth -

part of a second .

Thi s particular phase o f cinematographic

investigation i s wonderfully fascinating and ,

from th e private worker s point of V iew it i s’

additi onally attractive because i t o ffers h im an

opportunity to display h is i ngenui ty I t i s only .

by i ndividual e ff ort and th e mutual co mmu n ica

tion of id e as th at perfection can be achieved and ,

i n th i s one field ther e i s great scope Th ere are .

many problems which have to be s olved many o f ,

wh ich are peculiar to thi s parti cular study I t .

involves a combination of th e electrical and

cinematographi c expert since dependence h as
,

to be placed upon the electri c spark for i llumina

ti on and also upon electricity for operating th e
,

mech anism .

I n such work as th is th e time factor i s a m ost

i mportant feature Obviously from th e scientific
.
,

poi nt of V iew i t i s essential to have som e reliable

,

m eans o f d etermining th e fracti on o f a second

i n which each picture i s taken and als o th e
period which elapses between th e successive
pictures .I n th e system devised by M onsieur
Lucien Bull a tuning fork i s used Th e V ibra
‘

-
.

ti ons o f th i s fork per second are known and as ,

th e two ends of th e fork are reproduced i n each

image i t is by no means di ffi cult to calculate th e
,

time factor .
 I 12 P RACTI CA L C I N EMATOG RA PH Y

simultaneously This system o f timing m otions

.

i t may be pointed out has been revived in a

similar form by M r Frank Gilbreth in con
.

“
n e ctio n with micro m otion study descri bed in
-

another chap ter .

Marey also evolved a m eans o f adapting the

camera so as to enable him to take th e pictures
at a speed exceeding sixteen per second He .

did not change th e m echanism of the camera

very radically but was abl e to secure as many
,

as one hundred and ten pictures per second

"

H is arrangement o f the ca me ra w as very simple

'

as sh own on the plate opposite The film .

travelled i ntermittently its arrest for each

,

exposur e being very abrupt I n the camera .

wer e two cylinders C and C between which th e

1

film passed and these cylinders revolved in

,

O pposite directions and towards one another .

As th e two periph eries of the cylinders were

b rough t together the film was gripped and was
m oved forward by friction somewhat in the ,

manner of the clutch action which was adopted

-

in the very first m oving picture cameras But -

.

each cylinder was provided with eigh t flattened

secti ons of equal length disposed equidistantly
, , .

Consequently when two opposing flat surfaces

,

came together the grip on the film was momen

ta r il y released and the film stoppe d though the
, ,

cylinders conti nued thei r rotary m otion By the .

By co u r tesy o f th e M a r cy I ns ti tu te .

MAR E Y ’
S AP P AR AT U S FO R TA K IN G MO V IN G -
P IC T U RE S OF
R AP I D M O V E M E N T S .

( Fo r e xpl a n a tion s e e p
.
 By co u r tesy o f th e M a rey I ns ti tu te .

C IN E M AT O G R AP H I N G R AP I D MO V E M E N T S .

The c o mpl e te b e a t o f a p ige o n s w in g s e c ure d b y D r M

’
. a re y in
e igh te e n p ic tu re s a n d ta k e n a cc o r d in g to th e
, , ch ro n o s c o p e in th e
co rn e r in fi th s o f a s e c o n d
, f .
 1 I4 P RACTI CAL C I N E M ATOGRAPH Y

even wh en taken at a speed of one hundred and

forty per second I n photographing th e beat of
.

a pigeon s wings h e secured a complete cycle of

’

m otion i n eigh teen pictures wh ich by reference , ,

to th e chronoscop e visible in the sam e fiel d sh ows ,

th at th ey were r e corde d in thre e tw e ntieth s o f a -

s e cond .

S uch an adaptation o f th e camera could be

use d successfully to day for wh at might be
-

descri bed som e what paradoxically as slow rapid

, ,

m ovements But i t would be better to secure

.

a mor e positive and simpl e means of m oving th e

film forward Of cours e th e main advantag e of
.

th e friction disk system i s that the film su ffers

no damage as it m oves I n an ordinary camera .
,

working on the conventional claw principle th er e ,

would b e a tendency to tear th e perforations

wh en th e pictur e s exceeded sixty or so per
second and it would prove di ffi cult in som e
,

instances to ensure the absolute quiescence and

steadiness of th e film during exposur e With .

th e Geneva stop system o f m oving the film a ,

steady sm ooth movement i s m ore easily obtained

th an with th e claw mounted upon a sharp
eccentric .

For such work wh ere there i s no desire to

exceed two hundred pictures or so per second ,

the ideal camera i s that which h as been perfected

by M onsieur M P Nog u es o f th e Marey Institut e
. .
,
.
S LOWI N G D OWN RAP I D M OVE M E NT S 115

I n gene ral appearance thi s cam e ra resembl es th e

ordin a ry machin e I t was d e signed special ly for
.

th e purpo se of fiel d work for wh ich M on sie ur

,

B ul l s came ra is not s u i tabl e I n M onsi eur Bull s

’
.
’

cam era th e i ll um inati on i s effected by m ean s of

FIG 8
.
—Mec hanis m of th e Nogu é s ca mera wher ewi th up to
,

two h un dr ed a n d fo rty p ic ture s p er s eco n d can b e ta ken .

th e elect ri c spark and it i s im po ssibl e by th i s

,

m ea ns t o l ight a large fiel d

I n M onsie ur No g ues camera there are two
’

cl aws each m ounted upon its o wn e ccent r i c and

, ,

th e film pas ses be tw ee n th em Th e claws d o .

not work togeth er That i s to say th ey d o not

.
,

I 2
1 16 PRACT I CAL C I N E MA T O G RA P H Y
engage th e film simultaneously on b oth si de s ,

but work alternately Wh en one i s engaged

.

with th e film th e oth er i s i n th e out position .

With out e ntering into a technical description of

th e m ech anism i t may b e stated th at there i s an
articulated l ever system so designed as t o give
,

th e claws an i rregular D shap ed traject ory whi ch

-
,

i s very rapi d and abrupt th e ascent o f th e claw

,

to re engage with th e film being sharper and

-

qui cker th an i s possi bl e i n th e orth odox design .

Th e general d esign of th e claw m ech anism and

i ts m e t hod o f operation may be gath ered from
a reference to Fig 8 wh erei n th e path s de scribe d
.
,

by th e m oving parts a re i ndicated clearly T h e .

h andle wh ere by th e cam era i s operate d i s turned

at th e normal speed o f two revoluti ons per
second but thi s owing to th e gearing causes
, , ,

ninety or m ore downward jerks to be imparted

to th e film F during each second Thi s makes .

one hundre d and eighty film m ovem ent s by th e

two claws per second and conse quently one
,

hundred and eigh ty e xposures .

N otwithstanding th e h igh speed at which th e

celluloid ri bbon i s m oved through th e camera ,

th ere ar e no S igns whatever of tearing F u rth e r .

more th e film during th e b r ie f p e rio d o f exposure

—from mth to g oth part of a second —remains
, ,

perfectly steady and quiet in th e gate .

Th e fi rst camera built on th i s principle had

1 18 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y
for th e express purpose o f reinvestigating m any
of th e studie s conducted by Ma rc y wh ich owing , ,

to th e imperfect appliances at hi s disposal a re ,

p ossi bly i ncomplete .

B ut it may b e asked wh ere i s th e demand for

,

pictures taken at such a spe e d " I n reply it i s

only necessary to point out th at such ph oto
graph ing speed s are i ndispensable i n studying
th e m otions o f th e smaller members o f th e animal
kingdom For i nstance an amateur recently
.
,

prepared a film S h owing th e l i fe and h abits of

lizard s They were taken at th e normal speed
.

of sixt e en pictures per second wh ich th e operator

,

j udged t o be su ffi cient But wh en th e p 1ctu re s

.

were shown upon th e screen th e very moti ons ,

wh i ch a re th e m ost interesting such as th e ,

movement of th e tongu e jerk o f th e h ead and

, ,

s o forth wer e lo st Similarly anoth er film

, .
,

depicted th e ch ameleon but fai led to catch th e

,

in stantaneous throw o f its tongue On th e oth er .

h and wh en th e pictures were taken at th e

,

accelerated spe ed of fifty to eigh ty per second ,

th e re sults were s trikingly di fferent N ot only .

wer e th ey m ore com pl e te b ut th ey were smooth er

, ,

more continuous and m ore natural ; i n fact th ey

, ,

were practically i dentical wi th th ose which th e

h uman eye ob serves i n th e creatures th em selves .

Phases of natural movem ent capable of being ,

recorded at speeds ranging betwe e n eigh ty and

S LOW I N G DOW N RA P I D M OV E M E N T S 1 19

two h undred pe r second a r e th e m ost promisin g

,

sph eres of moving pi cture activity at th e present

-

m om ent . N ature s tudy n e ver fails to arouse

enthusiasm wh il e from th e op e rator s p oi nt o f
,
’

V i ew i t i s i ndescri bably fascinating Something .

unexpected i s s e cured at e ve ry turn of th e h andle .

Th e portrayal o f N atur e sti rs th e e m otion s o f

wonder i t i s tru e to fact and i t often introduces
, ,

th e spectator to som ething about wh i ch h e h as

read but which h e n e ver has se e n Conse quently .
,

so far as li fe i s conc e rn e d th e p ictures sh ould

,

never b e take n at l ess than forty to fi fty p er

second unless on e i s content e d to h av e a m er e
,

distorted impression o f wh at actually take s place .

Even m oving picture s o f th e snai l or tortois e

-
,

generally considere d to m ov e ve ry slowly shoul d ,

never be p h otographed at a l e ss sp e ed becaus e ,

th es e h ave acti ons which cannot b e caugh t at

sixteen pi cture s per second .

Generally speaking th e smaller th e live subject

,

under investigation th e m or e rapi d sh ould b e th e

,

p h o to g ra p h n speed T h e.m ovem ents o f a bee s ’

wings cannot be caugh t at sixteen or even two

hundred pictures per second Thi s was p roved .

som e tim e ago when M onsi eur Luci en B ull by ,

th e aid of h i s ele ctri c spark system and speci al ,

cam era obtaine d a series of ph otos s howing h ow

,

a be e regai ns its norm al bal anc e wh en i t i s upset .

For th i s purp os e a b e e was launche d from th e

1 20 P RACTI CA L CI N E MATOGRA P H Y

Special apparatus used in connection with th e

camera with i ts e q u il ib ru m very seriously dis
,

tu r b e d So rapid was its recovery th at twenty

.

pictures taken i n succession at th e above S peed

served to i ll ustrate th e wh ol e operation th e ,

final ph otograp h showing th e bee i n norm al

flight This was th e firs t occasion wherein th is
.

peculiar ph enomenon h ad been photograph ically

recorded and the unique ch aracter of th e achieve
,

m ent may b e reali sed from th e fact th at th e bee

regained its balance in th e infinitesimal period
o f appro ximately the h undredth p art o f a
second .

Even i n ph otograph ing a man to show rapid ,

walking motion a S peed o f sixteen pictures per

,

second i s far from adequat e I f h e happens t o .

b e walking at four miles an hour quit e 75 per

cent o f th e m oti on i s lost and th e movement
.
,

p ortraye d under th es e conditi ons i s sp as m odic

and jerky For a natural ci nematographi c record
.

of a man walking at th e present orthodox rate

,

o f sixteen pictures per second his pac e sh ould ,

not exceed a mi le an h our Th ere fore to film .

a man walking at four miles an h our th e photo

graphing speed sh ould not b e less th an sixty
four pictures per second .

Th ough th e ultra rapid movement i nvolves

-

th e use of intricate electrical apparatus i t i s a ,

peculiarly absorbing study Th e appliances

.
1 22 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRAP H Y

something which h as formerly been beyond its

powers .

I f i t i s desired to r e duce th e speed to its

absolut e sl owest poin t so as to facilitate even
,

closer study th e operator can take advantage

, ,

to an extreme degree o f th e phen omenon of th e

,

persistence of vision Thi s has been done by

.

M onsieur Lucien Bull I t i s i mpossible to reduc e

.

th e spe e d o f projection to less th an sixteen

pictures per second for thi s i s the lowest rate
,

at wh ich th e laws of persistenc e wi ll allow o f

an appearance of continuous m otion Yet th e re .

i s an i ngenious way of obtaining th e e quivalent

of a speed o f eight picture s per s e cond and thi s ,

without ei th e r disturbing t h e apparently li felike

m ovement or p roducing any flicker Th e method
.

i s by dupli cating each separate picture of th e

negativ e upon th e positive Th at i s to s ay
.

each negative picture i s pri nted twice i n succes

si on up on th e positive so th at 1 2 i nches of film
, ,

which normally would carry sixteen successive

and di ff erent pictures carries i n thi s case only
eigh t When proj ected upon th e s creen at th e
.
,

rate of sixteen pi ctures per second th e eye fai ls

,

to detect th at i t is seeing every picture twice .

Thi s migh t almost be descri bed as an opti cal

i llusion and i t makes another interesting proof
,

that th e eye can be deluded by cinematography .

M onsieur Bull after having found that th e eye

,
S LOW I N G D OWN RA PI D M OVE M EN T S 1 23

di d not obse rve th at two i dentical pi ctures were

sh own i n succession endeavour e d to carry m ul ti
,

pli cati on sti ll farthe r H e found h owever th at

.
, ,

a pair of pictures was th e limit Wh en th ree

.

i dentical picture s w e re sho w n i n succe ssi on th e

impressi on u po n th e eye was too long Th e .

m ovem ent from triplet to tri ple t gave a disjoi nted

e ffect such as ari ses in ordinary proj ecti on when
the speed i s too sl ow .
 C H A PTE R X

I
S P E E D NG- UP S LO W MO V E ME NT S

TH E preceding chapter described how i t is pos

sible to ph o tograph extraordinarily rapid move
m ents and to slow down in projection so as t o
e nable th e eye to follow them N ow I will go to .

the other extrem e an d s how h ow th e very sl owest

m ovements can b e accelerated and thrown upon
th e scr e e n i n continuous motion Thi s featur e .

has proved one of the m ost popular i n th e wh o l e

range of cinematography for i t has enabled the,

public to foll ow within the cours e of a few

,

minutes such wond e rful a n d apparently imp o s

,

si ble studies as the growth o f a plant from the

germination of the seed and th e appearance of
th e leaves to th e bursting of the bloom and the
formation of th e seed for th e propagation o f th e
specie s .

T h e speeding u p of relativ e ly slow movements

-

h as becom e a favourite branch of research among

cinematograph workers mainly because it i s
simpl e i nexpensive and comparatively easy
, ,
.

T h e worker needs to d e vel op only one special

faculty That is patience for the recording of
.
,
1 26 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATO GRA PH Y

sh owing th e O pening of th e blossom of a co n vo l

vu l u s . Alth ough this film i s some ten years ol d
i t would b e di fficult even now to improve upon
it Th e opening m ov e ment o f th e petals i s s o
.

steady and perfect as t o suggest that th e exposur e

was n ot intermittent bu t co n tmu o u s .

I n th es e particular studies succ e ss in th e mai n

depends upon th e apparatus employed for th e
periodical exposure of the film and th e judgment
sh own i n deciding th e laps e of time b etween th e
successive exposures . N aturally th is varies
according t o th e characteri sti cs o f th e subject
under investigati on A m ushroom for i nstanc e
.
, ,

demands exp osure at briefer intervals than would

b e necessary for filming th e growth of a grain o f
wheat Th e timing is perhaps th e m ost di ffi cul t
.

part o f th e undertaking b ecaus e i f it is not

,

gauged to a nic e ty th e m ovement on the screen

'

i s a p t to b e unnatural th e growth taking place

,

i n a series o f sudden j erks instead of proceeding

slowly steadily and grace fully Many a firs t
,
.

cl ass film of th is ch aracter has be e n ruined

b ecause th e inte rval between the exposures h as
b e en too long to bring ab out the nec e ssary
blending togeth er o f th e m oti ons in the successiv e
pictures N o h ard and fast rul e can be lai d down
.

to guid e th e worker Experience and close study

.

o f the subject bei ng photograph ed can alon e

enable this factor t o b e determined .
 S PEE D I N G UP S LOW M OVE M E N TS
- 1 27

Th e auxi liary apparatus to ensur e th e ex

p o s u re s being mad e at regular i nterval s ne e d not
be o f an intricate character T h e simpl e r th e.

means th e m or e likely i s the resul t to b e

,

succe ss ful Clockwork mechani sm can b e d e

.

vised to open th e S h utter at stated intervals but ,

thi s system su ff e rs from o n e s e ri ous di sadvantag e .

Th e m echani sm must b e wound up regularly ,

and wh en a long study i s i n p rogress extending ,

over a fortnigh t or a m onth the worker i s apt t o

,

overlook th is indispensable d uty Th er e i s o n e .

worker wh o generally uses a water m otor and ,

has found i t very rel iable ; but i t cannot b e safely

l e ft and it ceases t o act i f th e public wat e r supply
,

b e cut o ff .

Th e m ost reliabl e agent for such work i s

electri city W hen th e M arey I nsti tut e first
.

em barke d up on th e s e tedious subj ects a ve ry

elaborate apparatus was empl oyed I t was like .

a gall ows being i n reality a massiv e wooden

,

frame ( s e e illustration facing page 1 28 ) fitted wi th

a pulley A rope p assed over this pull e y and to
.
,

o n e en d was attach e d a weigh t P T h e oth er.

e nd passe d round a small winch T t o which th e ,

camera C was connected Upon th e spindl e

.

connecting these two part s of th e m echanism was

a small wing piece L one of th e extremi ties o f
-
,

which re ste d upon a vertical spindl e E con

n e cte d with an e le ctro magne t F - In th e .
1 28 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATOG RAPH Y

electro magnet circui t was a small water balancer

- -

B having two cells and a see saw motion Thi s - .

was d riven by a stream of wate r flowing from the

tap of th e tank R Th e flow of water from th e
.

tap coul d b e regulated .

Wh en th e elevate d cell of th e balancer was

filled its weigh t caused i t to fall As i t fell th e
, .

electri c circuit o f th e battery V was closed .

Thi s caused th e small vertical rod E to be

drawn downward s by th e el e ctro magnet F -
.

The d escent of th e rod all owed the leaf L to

fall T h e make and break i n th e electro—
. magnet
was instantaneous s o that the vertical rod E
,

immediately returned to its normal position with ,

th e resul t that wh en th e wing came round after

, ,

completing a revoluti on i t was stopped and , ,

remained th ere until th e s econd cell of th e water

balancer filling and falling in i ts turn repeated
, ,

the cycle of op erati ons As th e rod carrying th e

.

wing L was th e comm on axis of the winch and

th e driving me chanism o f th e camera the release
of th e wing brought th e strain o f the weight P
upon the cord and th ereby moved th e camera
,

driving mech anism a complete revolution Thus .

it con form ed to the one turn one picture move

- - -

ment It was a combination o f w e ig h t driven and

.
-

electri cal mechanism and th ough apparently

, ,

complicated and certainly cumbersome i t was ,

sati sfactory because it completed its work with

 THE F IR S T MO T IO N -
P IC T U RE S OF AN O P E N IN G FL O WE R .

T a ke n t th e
a Ma re y I titu te T h c
ns . e o m pl e te ope n in g o f a

c o n v lvu l u i h o w
o s s s n in fif te e n p ic tu e r s .

By cou r tesy o f th e M a rcy I ns ti tu te .

T H E D E V E L O P ME N T OF A C O L O N Y O F MAR IN E O R G AN IS MS .

( Re a d fro m to p to b o tto m an d l ft to igh t )

e r .
 S P E E D ING UP S LO W M OVE M EN TS 1 29

une rri ng steadines s an d regularity As th e

.

weight P d esc e nded a very small di stance for

each expo sure a single W inding u p was su ffi ci e nt
-

to drive th e mechani sm fo r seve ral h ours Th e .

intervals between th e expos ure s could b e vari ed

by turning th e tap on or o ff thereby changi ng
,

th e volum e o f water flowing into the balancer .

Th e th inner th e water stream th e l onge r t he

p eriod re quired t o fi ll th e cell th e l onger the
,

inte rval between each see saw and obvi ously th e

-
,

greate r th e laps e o f time between each exposure .

Similarly the tim e interval s between each ex

o s u re could be sh ortened by turning o n th e tap
p
so that th e cell b ecame fil led m ore quickly .

I n th e Marey I n stitute i nvestigati ons with th e

convolvulus wh ich was pl aced on a ch air a sh ort
,

distance from th e lens of th e cam e ra s i xt een ,

s uccessive snap sh ots were m ade i n th e h our

-
.

Th es e picture s taken at i nte rvals of four m inutes

, ,

sh ow th e complete opening o f th e flower th e ,

phases i n th e succe ssive picture s blending s o

well togeth er as to convey th e impressi on th at
th e pi ctures were taken at th e normal speed .

A stri king contrast t o th e bul ky weigh ty and

, ,

m assive apparatus empl oyed ten years ago to

ph otograph interm ittently th e opening o f a
flower i s th e latest d evice wh ich i s employed
at th is I nstitute for thi s work I t i s a sm all
.
,

light compact contri vance d riven by a kind of

RC . K
1 30 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO GRA PH Y

carriage cl ock Th i s clock actuates two levers

.

whereby electri c contacts are m ad e at p re d e te r

m ined intervals to open and close the lens Th is .

mechanism can be set so as to give exposures

at intervals ranging from a minute to several
h ours and will run for tw e nty four h ours
,
-

W ith out attention Th e apparatus i s as accurate

.

as it i s ingenious .

I t is obvious h owever in such work th at a

, , ,

great deal depends upon th e personality of th e

worker h imself I f h e i s skilful h e will find no
.

di fficulty in d evi sing a reliable timing apparatus

wh ich he can trust for hours together But the .

simpler the ch aracter of th e appliances the m ore

trustworthy will th ey prove because th e redu e
,

tion in th e num ber of th e component parts will

d ecrease their liability to d erangement and
i rregular action .

Seeing th at exposures have to b e continued

a t th e predetermined intervals th rough out th e

wh ole twenty four h ours arrangements must be

-
,

m ade for arti ficial illumination during th e nigh t .

Thi s sh ould not prove a d ifli cu l t problem Th ere .

i s a wid e range of i lluminants — electricity gas , ,

acetylene e tc —from which a ch oice can be

,

m ade according to th e circum stances of th e case .

Thus a worker living in country districts m ay

find a di fficulty i n obtaining electri c current or
coal gas in which case h e m us t rely upon
,
1 32 PRACTI CAL CI N E M ATO GRA P H Y

i n a relatively sh ort time s o i t i s w e ll not to let

,

it burn continuously Th ere should be a means

.

o f producing th e flash only at th e moment the

timing apparatus makes th e exposure I n one .

appli cati on of t hi s system th e flash and th e

m ovement o f t he sh utter are control led by an
electro magnet arranged i n such a manner th at
-
,

the lam p ligh ts up a fraction o f a second be for e

th e shutter i s m oved Th us th e object under study
.

i s in th e full glare of th e ligh t before the film i s

exposed Of course i f a h igh capacity accumulator
.
,

can b e obtained such as th at of th e latest Edi son

,

N ickel type th e ligh t m ay b e le ft burning con

,

tin u o u s l y . But when there i s already an

electrical system of actuating th e sh utter i t i s
a simple matter to incorporate a m eans of limiting
the contact i n th e lamp to th e m om ent o f th e
exposure .

For th e average worker h owever the electrical , ,

system i s too costly H e will usually prefer a .

form of ligh t which can be allowed to burn con

tin u o u s l y th rough th e nigh t Even the longest .

nigh t will not consume a very great quantity of

current or gas Also unles s some very accurate
.
,

m echani s m i s used for controlling th e intermittent

operati on o f th e ligh t th ere i s always a ch ance
,

th at th e exposure and th e illumination may fai l

to synch roni se and th u s an excellent film migh t
,

b e ruined .
 —
S P E E D I NG UP S LO W M OVE M EN TS I33

Th e o n e tu rn —
“ ~o n e pictu re movem ent h as t o
-
”

be ad opted for m any subj e ct s oth er th an flowers .

For ins tan ce it i s n eces sary i n film in g th e move

,

m en ts of th e s ta r fis h i n evoluti on ph enom en a
-
,

such as th e em ergence of a ch i cken from its sh ell ,

an d in th e ca e o f cert ain m inut e

s organi sm s
wh i ch can be cin ematograp h ed only w i th th e ai d
of a mi croscope But th e sam e broad p rin cipl e s
.

apply in ea ch cas e ; there i s eq u al nee d for tim e

an d pati ence whil e complete succ e s s can onl y
,

be achi ev e d by ca re ful ob se rvation an d ingenui ty .

Th ere are cri ti cal moments in su ch work an d

th e un expecte d frequently h appens U nl ess th e .

ope rator i s equal to th e em ergen cy weeks o f

ted ious la bour may be was ted .

Th e study o f exceedingly sl ow movem en ts

o ffers a ve ry promi sing field to th e pa tien t
worker A fil m whi ch oc cupi e s a m on t h to
.

photogr ap h and en tai ls an expo s u re once every

,

t hi rty mi nutes produces a film onl y 90 fe et in

,

l ength In projecti on it pas se s across th e screen

.

in a minu te and a hal £ Thi s means that a

proce ss o f N a ture i s con densed into one thir ty
s even — th ousandth p an o f th e tim e i t actu all y
t oo k an d its presenta ti on on th e screen i s a
,

remarkable triump h B ut at fir s t sight th e

.

m inute an d a hal f s ee m s a ve ry s l ight re turn

for th e tim e and labour exp end ed Thi s i s one .

of t he p rincipal reas o ns why th e pro fe ssion al

1 34 P R ACTI CAL C I N E M ATOGRA PH Y

cinematographer displays a marked aversion to

th e recording o f sl ow m ovements On the other
.

hand i t o ff ers uniqu e attractions to the private

,

i nvestigator for th e tim e occupied i n preparing

,

a film that rev e als the wonde rs of Nature

invariably command s a high pri ce i f i t has the
elements of p opularity or n ovel ty .
 1 36 P RACTICA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y

so rapidly perhap s at a rat e o f

, lineal feet
per minute that wi th sixteen pictures per second
,

only a very small proportion o f the work would

be recorded .

This deficiency h oweve r i s remedied by, ,

another dev e lopment in chronoph otography .

Thi s i s th e continuous cinematographi c record ,

the outstanding feature o f which i s the elimina

ti on of the revolving shutter and the intermi ttent
m ovemen t of the film i n favour of a lens that i s
,

constantly open a sensitized ribbon that m ov e s

,

steadily and continuously all th e time the e x p e ri

ment i s i n progress .

Marey in th e course o f hi s m omentous investi

,

g a ti o n s with animated photography used this ,

system for a num ber of experime nts i n which an

i ntermittent exposur e would not hav e afforded
su ffi ciently p recise results R e cent experiments .

have substantiated Marey s contentions upon ’

thi s point and have shown h ow unreliabl e are

,

th e results obtained wit h sixteen pi ctures per

second where extraordinary precisi on i s required .

An e ffort was made to remove the d rawback of

the in t e rmi ttent m e thod by wri ting in or ,

divining the m ovement whi ch occurred during

,

th e peri ods of eclipse but thi s method in , ,

turn was found to be unreliable There are

’

.
,

s ome m otions which it i s impossible to imagine

or an ticipate even if they do oc cur i n the
,
1 38 P RACTI CAL C I N E MAT O G RAP H Y

m eter m ay be de scri b e d rough ly i n a few words .

Th ere i s a ve ry fine conducting wire or fi bre , ,

of platinum or si lvere d q uartz wh ich i s str e tched

,

across th e magneti c field o f th e galvanometer .

I t i s ext rem ely thin b eing vi rtual ly a h air N ow

, .
,

wh en an electric current e ve r s o sligh t is

, ,

t ransmitted th rough t h is fi bre or string as i t

, ,

i s calle d by th e i nventor i t i s deflected from

,

i ts positi on o f re st t h e e xten t o f t h e deviation

,

varyi ng wi th th e strength o f the electrical

di sturbance . Wh en a sligh t curren t i s sent
t h rough th e string i t m ay b et ray th e fact with
n o m ore th an a sligh t trem or but a stronger,

current wil l cause i t to m ove vi olently .

A pencil o f ligh t from an electric arc lamp is

, ,

t ransmi tted th rough th e gal van om eter in such

a way th at th e string i s b ri lliantly ligh ted An .

enlarg e d image o f th e s tring i s t h e n th rown upon

th e sensitized ri bb on in the came ra by means of
a p owerful m icroscope lens .

S eeing th at th e tim e and di stance measurements

i n such deli cat e experiments as th e s e are of the
first i mp ortance th e sensi tize d surface upon
—
,

—
wh ich th e r e cord i s pri nted pape r or fi l m is
cali brated p h otographi cally whi le th e experiment
i s proceeding I t i s divi ded into sm all squares
. ,

th e l ongi tudinal line s re ferring to th e time factor ,

while th e t ransverse lines indicate th e extent of

th e m ovement o f th e q uartz th read .
 CO N T I N U O U S R EC O RD S 13
9

Th i s conti nuous r e c ord system i s of i nestim abl e

val ue i n connecti on wi th p hysiological research e s
when detail s conce rning the b eati ng of t he h eart
are d esi red . A p erson wh o place s a finge r o f
each h and up on th e e xtrem iti es o f th e st ri ng ,

wi tne sses th e recording of hi s own h e art beats .

For t he b ri e f pe ri od b e twe en each b e at th e

st ri ng remains quiescent i n it s no rm al p osi ti on ,

and th e record o f th e same th e e nlarged s had ow

,

thr own by th e pencil o f ligh t th rough th e m icro

scop e len s i s made up on th e sensitized surfac e
,

wi thi n th e camera i n th e form of a st e ady straigh t

li n e Th e beat of th e h eart sends an i mp ul s e
o f electricity th rough t h e galvanom ete r an d ,

causes th e st ring t o d eviat e rapi dly As the .

pencil of light i s shi ning conti nu ously th rough

the microscope l en s of th e i n st r um ent i t s ta nd s
,

to reason t hat th e sligh t e st trem or o f th e t h read ,

accentuated i n th e sh adow m ust b e rec orde d

, .

N o vibrati on i s too sligh t t o b e caugh t N ot .

only i s th e extent o f th e vi brati on p h ot og rap h ed

an d capable of bei ng cal culate d by m eans o f
th e ca l i brati on but as th e sensi tized ri b bon i s
, ,

travelling conti nuously past the len s th e dura

,

tion of th e vi brati on i s ph otograp h e d a s well .

I n the case o f a no rm a l an d h eal thy person th e

numbe r of vi brations on th e record co rrespon ding
,

to he art beats wil l average a bo ut 80 p er m inute

-
, ,

an d th ei r extent o r amplitu d e will rem ain

1 40 PRACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

comparatively e ven But i f th e person i s in bad

.

h ealth excited or exh austed th e palpitations will

, , ,

b e depicted i n th e most erratic manner both as ,

regards thei r occurrence and th eir force O n e .

very powerful palpitation for instance m ay b e

, ,

followed by a comparatively long int erval of

quiesc e nc e succeeded by several spasmodic sh ort
,

movem ents at bri ef unequal periods .

From th e m e dical point of view the perfection

o f th e system offers i llimi table opp ortunities I n .

th e h ospital wh ere a patient m ay be lying in a

,

critical condition th e surgeon can h ave a con

,

tin u o u s record of th e state of hi s pulse without its

being felt by hand at intervals Th e physician .
,

i n unusual or baffl ing cas e s of disease can h av e ,

a ph otograph i c re cord of th e pulse and heart

m ov e ments from th e m oment th e symptoms
develop until the patient e ith er dies or recovers .

I t al so enables th e physician t o be informed as

to h ow the invalid i s responding to h i s treatm ent .

H i therto th e practice has been t o feel th e pulse

,

at varying specified intervals to commit the ,

readings to a ch art and then to connect th e

,

points by lines s o as to sh ow at a glance wh eth er

heart movem ent h as accelerated or decelerated ,

and to wh at degre e Such charts are satisfactory

.

s o far as they go but th ey may be erroneous

, ,

because the action of th e heart may have

fluctuated between th e readings With th e
.
142 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAPH Y
steth oscop e and conveyed to th e s oap bubble .

The bubble being very sensitive resp ond s to

, ,

th e soun d m ovement in greater or l es s degre e .

As i t vibrates it n aturally moves the quartz

,

th read with i t and the m oving shadow o f th e

,

string i s caugh t by the photographi c film i n the

camera .

I n this manner th e surgeon or observer can

h ave a permanent continuous record of th e sound
of th e h eart beats converted into m ovemen t and ,

from th e regularity of th e o scillation s h e i s able

to tell wh ether the h eart i s beating regularly I f .

desi red th e record o f b oth the heart beat as

,
-

demonstrated by the galvanometer and th e ,

sound of th e palpitation as indicated by th e soap

b ubbl e diaphragm may be obtained upon one
,

ch art an d i n syn ch rony s o as to s et a double

, , ,

ch eck upon th e ob se rvations .

The ch ronoph otography of continuous move

ment h as been brought to a h igh stage of
perfection by the search ing experiments of
Professor Ei nthoven From th e physiologi cal
.

point of vi ew h e has contri buted most valuable

data concerning th e heart for his experiments
,

h ave been with subj ects of all ages and in

varying conditions o f h ealth Th e investigations
.

h ave been extended to animals also sh owing th e ,

di fferences in heart beating phenomena between

th e vari ous m embers of the animal kingdom .
1 44 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATOG RAP H Y

a V iew to their improvem ent and expediti on or ,

th e eliminati on of unnecessary actions so that ,

th e particular task m ay be achieved in l ess tim e

and with reduced exertion .

A stationary plate may b e used and the path

,

of th e m otion is indicated by a ribbon of light

from a small electric incandescent lamp which is
attach ed to th e hand or other l im b of the subject .

I n this in stance the plate presents an apparent

jumbl e of lines but by the aid of a magni fying
,

glass th e complete cycle o f movements can be

followed from end to end . When th e photo
g raph s are taken upon a stationary plate however
, ,

i t i s necessary that they should be taken stereo

s co p ica l l y so that relie f may be given to the
,

picture to enable the movement to be followed

correctly Th e h and or limb may not be visible
.

in th e ph otograph but that is a minor deta il

, ,

becaus e th e path i t has descri bed i s indi cated by

the lines o f light When th e subject i s continually
.

advancing wh ere i t does not double back upon

,

itself a sl owly m oving film will supply a

,

complete and perfec t graph ic record of its

progres s . But in all such experiments the
timing elem ent must be incorporated or the ,

record will h ave little practical value and will ,

provide no conclusive evidence .

A novel application of this meth od was carried

out by D e me ny several years ago Th e scope of
.
 C O N TI N U O U S RECO RDS 145

th e investigation was th e study of th e charac

te ri s tic walks an d gaits incidental to certain

m aladies . Pati ents su ff ering from rh eum at ism

and other compl aints wh ich interfere wi th the
natural walking m otions were taken into a
d arkened room I n candescent electri c lights
.

were attach ed to th ei r should ers h eads and , ,

other part s of th eir bodies and these w e r e

,

photographed as th e subj ects m oved about th e

darkened room Th e resul ts upon the sensitiz ed
.

surface were m erely th e path s descri bed by the

moving ligh t s Th ere h ave be en many appli ca
tions o f th e continuous record especi ally to th e
,

work o f testing physical chem ical or electrical

, ,

ph enom en a Th e obse rver is certain to obtai n a

correct resul t This h as been shown in certain
.

microscopical observations wh er e the mov e ments

are extremely rapid and wh ere a graphic outline
,

is m ore important than th e ph otographic detai l

of th e subj ect .

Th e great advantage of th e continuous cine

ma to g ra p h ic system is that i t record s every
m ovement Even th e sligh test vi brations will be
.

indicated an d upon a large or small scale accord

,

ing to th e rapidity w ith which the travelling

sensitiz ed surface is moved th rough th e camera .

Comparative investigation between this an d th e

other system s h as prov e d th at th e co ntinuous
cinem atograph S hows m any motion s wh ich th e
P C
. . L
1 46 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATOGRAPH Y

form er systems lose I t h as i ntroduced th e in

.

ve s tig a to r t o m any curious ph enomena of which

he was p reviously ignorant .

One thing m ust be emphasi se d I t is the

salient di ff erence between th e ordinary cin e ma to
graph ic m eth od and th e continuously m oving
film process Th e first records upon the film
.

a complete picture of th e subj ec t Th e second

records only the path or trajectory o f a s ing le
oin t or at th e utmost of a num ber of p oints o f
p , ,

th e subject under obse rvation Thi s remark does

.

not refe r to the m eth od of cin e ma to g ra p h in g with

the electric spark whi ch is a totally di ff erent
,

and special applicati on of th e art .

148 P RACT I CAL C I N EM ATO G RAPH Y

wh o m ay b e said to be th e pioneer of th e
popularis ation of cin e matographic s cience It .

was h e who first appealed to th e public with

films o f thi s character und er the auspices of the
well known fi rm of Path e Fr eres H e h as been
- .

responsi ble for th e preparation of many most

int e resting film s B oth of th es e workers hav e
.

shown what can be achi e ved in th is direction ,

while th e fact th at th ey proceed upon totally

di fferent li nes add s valu e to their work It .

enabl es th ei r follow e rs to decid e for th emselves

which principl e i s likely to produce th e m ost
satisfactory r e sult in each case .

Strictly speaking Monsieur Carvallo s meth ods

,
’

would appeal m or e strongly to th e scientifi c

m ind b e nt upon the discov e ry of som e abstruse
,

ph e nomena and indi ffe r e nt to th e complicated

,

proces s involved The m ethods of Dr Comando u

. .
,

on th e oth e r hand from th eir enh anced simplicity

, ,

will attract th e average worker This inv e sti .

gator makes a speci al point of accomplish ing hi s

end in as sim pl e a manner as possibl e .

From thi s i t will be judged that radio cin e mato -

graphy may be expensiv e or in e xp e nsive Thi s .

is a correct assumption but the amateur investi

,

gator need not fear that the deeper researches

a re beyond h is reach I n j ustic e to Monsieur
.

Carvallo i t m ust be menti oned that his e x p e ri

,

ments wer e und e rtak e n at a tim e when radi o

 M a r ey I us i z"
'

u ft .

A X -
R AY F IL M su m:
"
BY M J . . C A RV ALL O .

T he p c
ro o f d ig e
es s Ut
)

io n i n th e in te s ti n e of a f r o g a f t e r it s
re mo val fro m th e
By f
co u r tes y o th e Al a rey I n s ti tu te .

MO V IN G X - R AY P IC T U RE S OF T HE D IG E S T IO N OF F O WL
A .

Th e e p ic ture s t ke n a t fiv p e r s e c o n d b y M
s ,
a e .
J C a rva ll o
.
,

S h o w th e d i ffe re n t ph a s e s in a c o mpl e te c ycl e o f th e gi zz a rd ,

wh i ch l a s ts e x a c tl y five s e c o n d s .
1 50 P RACTI CAL C I N EMATOGRAPH Y

ess e ntial to h is work so h e elaborated a sim ple

,

and ingenious ch ange speed gear m ech anism -

,

wh ich enabled h im to d rive th e camera at fo ur

di ff erent speeds wi th out touch ing th e motor .

The gear mechanism was not d issimilar from

th at adopted upon a larger s cale in autom obil es ,

lath es and other machinery wh ere th e speed h as

,

to be varied accord ing t o th e ch aracter o f th e

work Th e direct drive was transmitted from
.

th e m otor shaft to that of th e camera mech anism

-

through a belt and pulleys s o as to secur e

flexi bi lity and immuni ty from sh ocks The .

th r e e lower speed s were transmitted through

gear wh eels Th es e sets of wh eels were m ounted
.

upon two parallel shafts and worked upon th e

sliding principl e which was found to be th e
,

simplest and m ost effective I n order t o reduce .

th e noise ari sing from th e m esh ing and working

of th e gears th e small er wh eels were made of
fibre .

By th is gearing system i t was possi bl e to vary

th e speed of th e camera from 30 r e volutions per
second to one turn in 1 5 s econds When still .

slower speed s were desired upon th e one turn ,

-

one picture principle th e m otor was cut in and

-
,

cut out i ntermittently so that th e exposure could

be vari ed from once in 20 se cond s to once in an
h our or m ore Of cours e in th ose instances
.
,

where th e exposur e s only needed to be made at

 RAD I O C I N EM ATO GRA P H Y
- 1 51

FIG 9.
—T h e in gen io us r a di o c in ema to gr a ph i c a pp a ra tu s
.
-

devi s e d b y Mo n s ieur M J C arva ll o . . .

A A Film s poo l s
. . B C ro o ke s tube
. . C Fro g bein g ra di o . .

gr a phed D C o il F Fil m F Cl o ck G E xp o s ur e
. . . . . . . .

in terru p ter H Ch a n ge s pe e d gear s

. .
- .
1 52 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRAP H Y
r e latively prolonged i ntervals th e driving motor,

was started up i ntermittently so as to m ove th e

.

sh utter at th e required m oment A pendulum .

clock was i n troduced into th e electri cal circuit ,

togeth er with a nov e l relay Th e clock face was

.
-

provid e d with a ring around the dial with th e ,

h our i ntervals represented by contacts instead

of figures Th e clock was fitted with one h and
.

only One electri cal lead was connected to th e

.

contact ring and the oth er t o th e pivoted end o f

th e clock h and When the latter cam e agains t
-
.

o n e of th e contacts th e electrical ci rcui t was com

p l e te d th e m otor was set in moti on and the ,

cam era mechani sm was given one turn —s u ffi

,

cient t o mak e an exposure and to jerk th e film

forward th e desired distanc e through th e gate
for th e next exposure O bviously this clock
.

system i s capabl e o f vari ation as desi red Th e .

contact s m ay b e di sposed t o coincide wi th

i nte rval s o f a se cond a minute an h our or m ore
, , ,

between successive exposures I t was necessary .

to ensure th at th e contact was o f su ffi cient d uration

to com plete th e cycle o f camera movements and , ,

on th e other h and to prevent th e m otor m ove

,

m ent being s o p rolonged th at more than the

re qui site e xposure and m ovemen t of th e film
would be m ade Th i s was e ff ected by m eans
.

o f a b rake which arrested th e m ovement of the

,

m otor after th e exposure h ad been completed .

 I 2 .

By p er mi s s i o n o f P a th é F rer es
,

T wo OF J DR . . R L IE S T IN VE S T IG A
C O MAN D O N
’
S EA u

T I O N S I N R AD IO C INE M AT O G R AP H Y
~

-
.

1 X r y m vi g p ic tu r e s o f th b e d i g o f th e
.
- a o n -
e n n

k n e e s h o w i g m u c ul a r mo ve me n t 2 X ra y fil m
,
n s . .
-

o f th e o p n in g o f th
e ha n d e .
 RA D I O C I N E MATOG RA P H Y
- 1 53

Wi th thi s seemingly compli cated app aratus i t

was po ssi ble to take any d esi red num ber o f
s u cc e ssive pic tures and at an y intervals o f t im e
w i th un e rrin g pr e ci sion .

For th ese par ti cul ar exp eri m e nt s a speci al fi lm

was p repar e d for th e pictur es p roduc e d by th e
,

s tandard cam e ra were not l arge enough .

M onsieur Ca rvall o t oo k pict ures o f a depth o f

2§ i n ch es instead o f th e usual 2 inch S p e ci al
.

ar rangements were mad e al so t o s ecure extrem e

sensi ti veness o f th e em ul sion so that i t migh t
be more suscepti bl e t o t h e ac ti on o f th e X rays -
.

Th e dis p os i tion o f th e fil m foll owed s p ec i al li nes ,

as may b e seen by re ference to th e di a gram

( Fig . Th e C rookes tube contai n in g th e ,

X rays was placed beneath a tabl e p rovi ded

-
,

wi th an aperture upo n wh ich was l aid a tran s

p arent m ed i u m such as gl ass to support th e
, ,

subj e ct un d er inves tigati on A bove thi s was

.

placed th e gate th rough whi ch th e fil m was

m ove d i ntermi tten tly th e sensitiz ed ri b bon
,

travelli ng i n a h orizontal di recti on from on e

spoo l to th e other I n th e e arly expe riments
.

a M al te s e cross m ovement w as inco rporated t o

provi d e th e req ui si te in te rmi tten t m oti on t o th e
fi lm b u t subsequently a n ovel claw motion
,

d evi sed by M onsie ur No gu es th e m e ch ani ci an

,

to th e M arey I ns ti tut e was in trod uce d wi th far

,

b etter res u l ts .
1 54 P RACTI CAL C I N EMATOGRAP H Y

ln carrying out th e e xp e riments wi th di ff erent

live subjects extrem e ingenuity was used i n
placing and h olding th e creature so that the
m ost perfect image s migh t be obtained M on .

s ieur Carvallo devote d his energi e s l argely to

radio cine ma to g ra p h in g th e functions of dig estion
-
,

and selecte d such su bj ects as fresh water fish -

,

t oads frogs lizards birds and mic e Thus h e

, , , , .

obtained comparative results from five species

o f th e animal kingdom The subjects were fed
.

first with a special d iet compri si ng a mixture

,

of flour sugar peptone sub nitrate of bismuth

, , ,
-
,

and wate r or mil k The ch emical sub nitrate

.
,
-

o f bi smuth was used i n order to give th e ali

,

m e ntary canal th e nec e ssary opacity to secure

th e bes t results under th e R ontgen rays I n the .

case of th e trout the chemical was inj ected Into

the blood .

I n order to obtain s harp clear and distinct , ,

pictures upon th e film th e subject under study

,

had t o be fixed i n an imm ovable position I n .

th e case of a trout a small celluloid envelope was

made fitt e d at each end with a small glass tube
,

th rough wh ich water necessary to th e fish s ’

existence was passed i n a continuous stream .

Thi s vessel was only just large enough to contain

th e fish s o that movement was qui te impossible
,
.

The top of th e vessel was closed wi th a sh eet

of para ffi n paper which was placed in front of
,
1 56 P RACTI CAL C I N EMATOGRAP H Y
Th e ph otograph ic spee d was varie d according
to th e character of th e investigation and th e
subject Thus i n recordi ng the digestion i n th e
.
,

stomach and i nte stine o f the trout an exposure ,

was made every twenty seconds I n th e case of the .

toad th e speed was o n e in every ten seconds ,

while the chicken required one i n eve ry five .

One of th e most novel experiments wh i ch

M onsieur Carvallo carried out i n thi s particular
fiel d was to ascertain the exten t to which diges
tion will continue i n th e intestin e afte r i t i s
removed from th e animal The digestive tube
.

of th e frog was selected for thi s novel i nvestiga

ti on and th e photographs taken at th e r ate of
one pe r second i llustrate the fact that th e digestive
organ will continue i ts functi ons l ong after its
rem oval from th e body .

Since th e y e ar 1 900 when M onsieur Carvall o

carried out h i s s cientific res earch es wi th th e
R ontgen rays radiographic science h as made
,

great strides Research e s of thi s character no

.

longer requir e elaborate and expensive apparatus .

Thi s has been sh own by Dr J C o ma n d o n th e. .

,

well known French scienti st wh o at the labora

-
, ,

tories of M essrs Path e Fr eres h as prepared

.
,

some magnificent X ray films in such a m anner

-

as to make them interesting to th e average

patron of th e pi cture palace Dr Comand ou
. .

possesses th e unique ability o f s o treating hi s

 RAD I O CI N E M ATO GRA P H Y
- 1 57

subject as t o make i t appeal t o th e unscientific

m ind .

I n h is system Dr C o ma n d o n d oes not radi o

.

cin emato g raph directly in th e m anner of

M onsi eur Ca rvallo but h as recourse to th e
,

fluore scent s creen th ereby obta ining h is result s

,

much more simply and easily By t hi s mean s .

,

al so h e is able to use th e standard cinem atograph

,

FIG . Io .
- Dr Co ma n do n
.
’
s ra dio c inema to gra phi c a pp ar a tus
- .

camera and film with out any m odi fications th e ,

im ages upon th e sen sitized cellul oid ri bbon being

of th e n ormal S ize The general arrangement
.

of th e app aratus used by th is investigator i s

sh own i n th e diagram ( Fig A room i s .

d ivi ded by a p artition A On one side is place d a .

cam era F of th e conventional typ e O n th e oth er .

i s th e necessary el e ctri cal apparatus An .

ape rtu re B i s provided i n th e partiti on an d thi s ,

S pac e is fi l l e d wi th a fluorescen t screen On one .

1 58 P RACTI CA L C I N EMATOGRAP H Y

side of th e partition A centrally i n regard to the

fluorescent screen and a littl e distance therefrom
, ,

i s placed th e Crookes tube C th e subj ect under

,

i nvestigation being placed between th e tube and

th e screen . Consequently th e radiograph i s
,

proj ected upon th e fluorescent screen an d thi s

image i s th en ph otograph ed by th e cam era At .

th e normal ph otograph ing speed th e exposure i s

ab out 312 second .

Th e fluorescent screen employed by Dr .

“
C o man d o n i s of th e type known as reinforced .

I t i s covered with tungstate of calcium instead ,

of barium platin o cyanide -

With th is screen
.

th e R ontgen rays are intensifi e d or rather are

,

transformed th e luminous radi ation being

,

rendered m ore actinic and therefore abl e to

act more quickly upon th e e mulsi on of bromide
o f silver with wh ich the film i s coated By using .

th i s fluorescent screen th e exposure is reduced

to about one tenth of wh at would be required
-

were th e subject radio graph ed direct .

Th e h igh tensi on current i s supplied from an

apparatus o f a special type E with wh ich a current
as h igh as volts can be obtained Anoth er .

prominent feature is th e high tension interrupter

D wh i ch cuts th e electric circuit o f th e tube i n
,

and out in synchrony with th e camera mechanism

,
.

Thus th e Crookes tube is active while th e

shutter i s open but inactive wh ile i t i s closed .
1 60 PRACT I CAL C I N EM ATOGRAPH Y

tub e can b e k e pt continuously at work for as

many as fifty five second s if desired
-
.

Th e camera i s fitted with a lens mad e from

quartz wh ich p ermits th e maximum quantity of
,

th e actinic rays to pass th rough to th e s e nsitized

film Th e film i s covered with an e xceptionally

.

sensitiv e emulsion in order to ensure th e best

results possible with very sh ort exposures I n .

order to protect th e spools of film in the camera

from th e actinic properti e s of th e rays di ffused
from th e fluorescen t screen the boxes are covered
,

with sh eet lead while th e O perator i s protected

,

with a lead apron such as i s us e d generally i n

,

R ontgen ray i nvestigati ons .

Th e many interesting film s wh ich Dr .

Com ando u has produced o ffer adequate testi ~

m ony to th e practicabili ty and success o f th e

system wh ich h e has evolved Undoubtedly it
.

i s th e simplest and most inexpensiv e method of

radi o cinematography wh ich has been brought
-

into practical operatio n up to th e present and ,

i t is on e which may be foll owed by the private

investigator with such modificati ons as may
suggest th emselves in particular cases .
 C H APTE R X I I I

CO MBI N I NG T H E MI C R O SC O P E AN D TH E U L T RA
MI C R O S CO P E W I TH THE MO V I NG P I CT U R E

CAME R A

O NE of the m ost fascinating fields i n th e wh ole

r e al m of animated ph otography is th e film ing of
th e infini tely smal l by th e ai d of th e mi cros cope .

I n th is manner it i s possi bl e to catch glim pse s of

bacterial and mi crobic li fe in natural m ovement ,

and to throw th em upon the screen where th e ,

extrem e magnification enabl es one t o follow with

ease th e m otions of a living worl d invi sible to
th e n aked eye Furth e rmore th e representati on
.
,

upon the sc reen i s cl earer bri ghter m ore detailed

, , ,

and easier to follow th an any im age seen

,

di rectly through th e mi croscop e There i s an .

ab sence of th at dis tortion an d unnatural m oti on

whi ch ofte n o ccur wh en th e mi croscop e al one i s
used .

Micro cinematography m ay be either costly o r

-

ch eap As th e operator in a wel l equipped labora

.
-

tory i s abl e to us e a camera costing £ 1 00

it is only natural to suppose that h e will al so b e
abl e to comm and th e servi ces of th e m ost
P C
. . M
1 62 PRACTI CA L C I N EM ATOGRAP H Y
expensive type of microscope On the oth er.

hand th e independent worker forced by cir

, ,

cu ms ta n ce s to be content with an inexpensiv e

camera will h ave to d o th e b est h e can with an

,

inexpensive microscope al so Yet th e in .

ve s tig a to r of each class can accomplish excellent

work in h is own sph ere I h ave seen som e very.

fine films of microscopic subjects which wer e

taken with an i nstrum e nt costi ng less th an a
sovereign From th e general point of view th ey
.

compared very favourably with th ose obtained

wi th an instrument twenty tim es as costly So .

long as the am ateur does not att empt to em bark

upon work wh ich is beyond th e capacity of h is
microscope and i s content to work with subjects
,
.

of relatively large size th ere i s no reason why he

,

sh ould not be able to take most interesting

pictures .

I n th e preparation of mi cro cinem atograph ic -

subjects i t i s essential that th e instruments

sh ould be mounted upon a soli d bas e a h eavy ,

be nch or table so th at vi brations may be as

,

sligh t as possi bl e The camera m ay be turned

.

by h and or driven by an electric motor through

belts and pulleys .

Th e meth od of mounting th e microscope in its

relation to the camera may be vari ed according to
circumstances I n the simplest form th e micro
.

scope i s mounted h orizontally with th e stage on

1 64 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAPH Y

a series of disconnected jump s O n th e oth er . .

h and i f th e object m ove s slowly a p h o to g rap h in g

, ,

speed of sixteen pictures p er second may be too

rapid I n th i s ev e nt th e ph ase of movement
.

between two successiv e pictures will be so sligh t

th at th e projection on th e screen will appear tame
unless th e express object i s to indicate th e slow
ness with wh ich th e organi sm moves And indeed .

th i s object can b e achieved with almost equally

good results by taking th e pictures at a slower
speed say eigh t four or even two images pe r
, , ,

second and thus saving a good deal of film

,
.

In most cases th e micro cin e matograph er works

-

i n a state of ignorance H e does not know .

wh eth er h e is obtaining a good o r a bad film . .

H i s subject may be moving or it m ay be ,

quiescent or it may h over round th e extreme edge

,

of the lum inous field in wh ich cas e the pictures

,

will be useless Wh en M r J am es Williamson

. .

and Dr Spitta were engaged on micro cine

.
-

ma to g ra p h studies some years ag o they i ntro ,

d u ce d a m eans of following the subject th roug h

a s e c ond tube and in thi s way were able to
,

make certain th at th e camera wa s working only

during th ose periods wh en th e subject was in full
activity near the centre of th e picture I n this
, .

way a con siderabl e saving in film was e ffected .

Anoth er di fficulty i s th e selection and control

of th e light Attempts h ave been mad e to
.
By co u r tesy o f th e Ma r cy I n s ti tu te .

M IC R O -
CI N E M AT O G R AP H '

Ls E D AT T H E I N S T IT U T E FO R I N V E ST I
G AT I NG MI N U T E AQ U AT IC L IF E .

A O n e tu rn
. p ic ture c o n tro l me ch a i m B C a m ra C Mic r
one n s . . e . . o

s c o pe P S m ll t k i n wh ich o g i m is pl c d thr u gh wh ich a

. . a an r an s a e . o

s tr a m o f w a te r fro m ta n k F u n s c o n ti n ua ll y
e E I c a de s c e n t g s
r . . n n a

j e t fo r ill u min ti g bj e c t
a n o .
MIC R O -
CI N E MAT O G R AP H Y THE P R O B O S C IS OF THE BL O W -
FLY .
1 66 PRAC T I CAL C I N E MA T OG R APH Y

by th e ligh t from an i ncandescent gas burner .

As i t was unnec e ssary to keep th e burner aligh t

during th e period s wh en th e shutter was closed ,

M essrs Bull and Pizon i ntroduced a means of

.

turning th e light up and d own . Thi s was

e ffected by a smal l el e ctric magnet working i n
,

synch rony with th e clock and controlling th e ligh t

so that the subj ect was illuminated only during
exposure .

As th e studie s were prolonged i t was essential

that the water i n wh ich th e organism s were
placed sh ould b e kept fresh and sweet A glass .

j ar F was introduced to serve as a reservoi r ,

and from thi s a tub e extended to th e vessel D .

A constant fl ow of water was thus provided I ts .

circulation was ensured by anoth er glass tube

extending from the ves sel P to the waste Th e .

flow o f water was controlled t o a nicety by

mean s of a tap with out th e production of bubbles
or any other disturbance in the vessel D In .

thi s manner th e colony was preserved to the best

advantage and in full activity Som esuch system
.

o f circulation i s necessary in all cases where th e

i nv e stigations are t o last a long time .

I n rec e nt years th e Marey I nstitute has much

i mproved it s m icro cinematographic apparatus
- .

Th e mi croscope i s now carrie d in a vertical

p osition i n front of th e support which h ol ds
th e ca mera . Th e camera is fi tted with an
 M I C RO C I N E MATO G RA P H Y
-
1 67

exte rnal bellows wh ich carries a prism at its

outer extremi ty Th e prism i s brought over th e
.

eye piece of th e m icroscope Th e rays o f ligh t

-
.

striking th e tu rning mirror on th e base o f th e

microscope are projected upward s through th e
object sid e or vess el and th e n th rough the eye
p iece to th e prism H ere th e rays are bent at
.

righ t angles and are thus directed upon th e

,

travelling film in th e cam era The camera i s

.

driven electri cally the motor being mounted

,

withi n th e box form ing th e base M echanism .

i s introduced whereby th e numbe r o f photograph s

pe r second may be varied within wi de limits .

T h e m ost interesting feature o f thi s apparatus

i s th e means adopted to enable th e worker t o
follow the m ovem ents o f th e object s o th at th e
camera can be stopped wh e n they are of n o
m oment or are not su fficiently ne ar th e centre
of th e p icture A small proporti on of th e ligh t
.

rays wh ich have pas sed th rough th e microscope

are d efle cte d from th e pri sm m ounted upon the
eye piece and th rown into a smal l view finder
-

beside the camera Looking into thi s view finder

.

one can se e exactly what i s happening upon th e

stage of th e microscope Thi s novel attachment
.

enables th e waste of film t o be reduced to alm ost

nothing .

Th e character of th e illuminant also can be

varied Sunligh t m ay be caught by the mirror
.
1 68 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRA P H Y
of th e microscope and projected th rough th e
i nstrum ent as well as th e beam from an electri c
light incandescent gas burner or wh at not With
, ,
.

this e ffective and compact apparatus many marv e l

lous m icroscopic experiments h ave been carried
out at the I nstitute such as the filming o f th e
,

h eart beats of minute insects and s o forth One

-
,
.

very fascinating inve stigati on was that carried

out by Dr J Ries o f Swi tzerland wh ereby b e
. .
, ,

secured a cinematographic record o f th e di ff erent

phases of th e union of the sperm and th e egg as ,

well as the separation of the mem brane and

segmentation of th e sea urchin Th e di ffi culties .

of such a delicate study were extreme but the ,

films obtain e d wer e of th e utmost i nterest They .

enabled th e i nvestigator to reconstruct upon th e

screen the complete ph enomenon o f fecundation .

For thi s study th e subj ect h ad to b e ph otographed

whil e immers e d i n a small vessel containing
arti ficially prepared sea water which was r e
-
,

newed as required The clock control enabled

.

the cam era mechani sm to be so turned as to

s ecure a regular series of exposures at the rat e
of seven per m inute .

When Dr J ean Comando u s et h imsel f to cine

.

ma to g ra p h the m ost minute microbes which are ,

s o small th at two milli on may be found in a cub e

measuring only one twenty fifth of an inch he
- -
,

appreciated th e limitations of the ordinary micro

1 70 P RAC T I CAL C I N E MATOG R A P H Y

vi bration s are fatal to good results Sligh t .

m odifications are sometimes needed but in m ost ,

case s th e same applianc e s are used and in th e ,

same way Th e ligh t i s furnish ed from a 30 amp ere

.
-

electri c arc lamp I n front of th i s i s arranged

.

a series of lenses for concentrating and varying

th e rays while all excess of luminosity i s cut o ff
,

from th e microscope by means of a diaphragm .

Th e m icroscope itsel f i s set h orizontally with its

'

longitudinal optical axis in line with th at of th e

camera and it s eye piece brough t against the
,
-

camera lens Th e camera i s one o f th e Path e

.

m odel s with detachable dark boxes -

.

Th e ray of light thrown from the electric lamp

i s concentrated and th en falls upon the m icro
scope condenser which deflects it s o th at th e
,

objects under study become illuminated no ligh t ,

entering th e tube of th e micros cop e The camera .

may be turned by hand or by a small electric

,

m otor th e latt e r giving an improved rotary

,

m otion with th e least p ossi ble vibration .

One of th e di fficulties which harassed all the

early e ff orts in micro cinematography was the
-

control of th e ligh t so that th e subjects might

not b e killed by th e heat generated by th e con
c e n tra te d rays At first an investigati on could
.

not be continued for m ore th an a second or two ,

because th e m icrobe s were killed by th e heat .

Seeing that th e pictures were taken at th e rate

By p er mis s i o n f
o P a th é F r er es .

O NE O F DR .
’
C O M AN D O N S G A A LV N IC

E XP E R IM NE T S W IT H P AR AW E C I A .

U n d e r th e c ti n
a o of l c t ic c u n t
e e r rre

th e or g is ms p e rf
an or m st g ev la
ra n e o

tio n s .
1 72 P RA CTI CAL C I N EMATOGRA P H Y

placed n e ar th e lamp Th i s i s a small circular

.

vessel li ke a big lens I t i s filled with cold

.

water and provided with th e means to rem ove

th e ill e ffe cts of bubbling wh e n th e temperatur e
rises to boiling point Th e system i s very much
.

th e sam e as that adopted by the Lumi er e Brothers

when th e y first used th e el e ctric are fo r th e
p urpose of projection and with th e sam e object
to protect th e inflammable c e lluloid film from th e
h eat radiat e d by th e ligh t .

With thi s ingeni ous an d S impli fied apparatus

Dr C o man d o n has prepar e d som e very remarkable
.

film s which h av e s e rved to introduce th e pictur e

pal ace patrons as well as th e scientist s to ph ases
of l ife about wh ich littl e was formerly known .

When thrown upon th e screen th e subject i n

s ome cases i s magnified as m any as fi fty th ousand
times so th at th e infinit e sim al organisms stand
,

up as large as dinner plates and th eir m ovem ents

and structure and h abits can e asily b e fol lowed
by th e e ye .

When th e earlies t films pr e pared by Dr .

Comando u wer e sh own by Dr D a s tre of th e

.
,

Sorbonn e to th e French Aca demy o f Sci e nces

, ,

it was imm e diately reali sed that this was a new

and re li able m e ans Of studying bacteria and th at
,

many questions wh ich h er e to fore h ad proved

utterly unanswerabl e coul d now be solved with
ease and preci sion A little lat e r th e films were
.
 M I C RO C I N E MATO G RA P H Y
-
1 73

introduced to th e public and although i t was

,

feared that th ey woul d p rov e o f only fleeting

interest to th e m an in th e street th ey h av e real ly
i nterested him alm ost as deeply as th e sci e nti sts .

Good film s o f bacteri a n e v e r fail t o pl e ase a

pictur e p al ac e audienc e
.

At present th e p reparation of th ese film s i s

confined to a very small band o f investigators .

So far as b acteriology i s conc e rned it i s exp ert

work but there are many applications within
,

th e reach o f th e averag e microscopist Cinem a

.

to g ra p h y has been o f u s e in spreading th e

knowl e dg e o f th e facts of h ealth an d hygi en e ,

and now th at th ere are propagandist m ovem ents

on th e s e s ubjects th e ai d of th e l iving pi ctures
will b e more th an ev e r app reciated .
 C H A PTE R X I V

MI C R O MOT IO N
-
ST U DY : H O W INC R EAS E D W O R KS H O P
I I
E FF C E NC Y IS T I
O B A NABL E W IT H MO V ING
P IC TU R E S

IN th ese d ays of competition it i s obvi ous th at

the establishment i n which th e mach inery i s
m ost e fficient the workmen m ost s kil ful and
, ,

th e labour most economically expend e d has th e

best ch ance o f success in its parti cular line of
busines s . These a re th e days of sci entifi c
organisation and management the value of wh ich , ,

developed upon rational lines cannot be d enied ,

.

But it h as remai ned for th e cinematograph to

indicate th e true lines al ong which such develop
m ents should b e continued For instance there .
,

m ay be two workmen of equal skill and industry ,

each of wh om i s given an identical job One .

completes hi s task i n less time than th e other ,

alth ough th e two m en are admitte dly of equal

ability They may be checked from stage to
.

stage by th e stop watch but th i s will reveal

-
,

nothing conclusive as the advantage from stage

,

t o stage will fluctuate between th e two I t i s .

only i n th e aggregate that th e superi ority of th e

1 76 P RACTI CAL C I N EMATO GRA PH Y
“
I h ave des cribed th e ch rono scope which was
used by Marey M r Gilbreth for th e purpose s
. .
,
‘

of h is work h as evolved a cl ock working upon

,

a sim ilar principl e Thi s cl ock fitted with one .

,

h and i s desi gne d to make one com plete r e vo l u

,

tion i n S ix s econd s Th e i ndications on i ts dial are

.

as follows : Th e l arger divisions represent tenth s

of a revolution Each o f these i s divi ded int o
.

two th ereby sh owing twentieth s o f a revolution

, ,

and th ese latter are furth er sub divided into -

fifth s s o that th e dial i s divided into one hundred

,

parts Each o f th ese divisions represents th e

.

th ousandth part of a minute wh ile th e clock ,

can be read easily to hal f thousandth s of a -

mi nute .

Thi s clock together with one of the ordinary

,

typ e i s used in each i nvestigation Both are

,
.

prominently displayed i n th e image s o that

th e tim e interval from pi cture to picture may
be determined exactly The ordinary cl ock i s .

necess ary as i t sh ows th e total time occupied in

,

an operation Th e special clock on th e other

.
,

h and serves for timing the di fferen t stages or

,

m otion s involved in completing th e tas k

Th e principle may b e utilised i n a variety o f
ways as has been proved at th e works of th e
,

N ew England Butt Company of Providence ,

Rh ode I sland Th e manager o f th i s concern

.
,

M r J G Aldrich was one of th e first to recognise

. . .
,
1 7s PRACT I CA L C I N E MATOGRAP H Y
I n one corner o f th e assem bling room th e wal l
and floor wer e marked o ff i nto four i nch square s
- .

I n th is space was placed th e bench tog e th er ,

with th e sets of com ponent parts H ere there

.

was a S light divergence from th e existing

practice in th e factory . I nst e ad of taking the
pieces from various box e s packets of parts were
,

placed i n convenient positions upon a rack .

Thes e wer e placed i n th e proper s e quence so ,

that the workman was saved the task o f th inking

when selecting th e successive pieces H e was .

able to take them up quickly and corre ctly in a

mech anical kind of way .

Th e timing cl ocks were placed in a prominent

position facing th e camera an d wh en all was
,

ready th e workman was given th e word to start

, .

T h e wh ole operation of fitting th e pieces of a

mach ine togeth er wer e film e d i n thi s m anner s o
as t o give a complet e cinematographi c record of
th e a ssembling of a mach ine .

N ow in micro m otion study the film s a re

-

not intended for proj ection I nstead o f being

.

screened th e pictur e s are studie d with th e aid o f

,

a magni fying glass th e m otion in each p icture

,

being closely examined to detect wh eth er it i s

essential to th e task wh eth er i t might b e
,

eliminated or sh ortened AS th e wall and floor

, .

are marked o ff i nto four inch squares th e investi

-
,

gator is enabled to ascertain th e preci se length

 M I C RO M OT I O N S T U D Y
-
1 79

o f each m ovem ent i n pi cking up an d fitting

th e parts At th e sam e tim e such m arki ng o ff
.
,
-

enables th e expert t o s e e wheth er th e b ench

an d rack of packets contai n ing th e comp onent
part s of th e m ach in e ar e d ispose d m ost a d van
ta g e o u s l y i n relati o n to th e m e ch ani c an d also ,

wh e ther th e latter stand s in th e m os t convenient

p ositi on befor e h i s work to ful fil h i s task i n th e
,

sh ort es t p ossi ble tim e and with th e minimum of

physical e ffort .

As m igh t b e supposed th e i ndivi dual study o f

,

each picture in a film togeth er with th e following

and timing o f e ach e lem e ntary m otion i s a t e di ous
task for th e exp ert; Th i s may b e reali s e d wh e n
it i s p ointed o ut that th e tim e i nterv al fo r e ach
pict ur e i s only 312 p art o f a second B ut th e
.

labour i s not wasted Th e search ing analysis

.

i s sur e to rev e al wh er e a m ovem en t m ay b e

accelerated h er e or e as e d th ere why i t woul d
, ,

b e preferable t o set th e rack i n th i s p ositi on ,

or why i t woul d b e better i f th e m e ch ani c faced

h i s w ork in such and such a way Th i s i s th e .

sole object o f m icro m otion study- N oth ing

.

rival s t h e cinematograph for pi cking a m ov e m ent

relentl essly to pieces .

Th e m ost e xp e rt workm an i s taken for th e

purpose o f th e i nv e stigation b ecaus e his s ki ll
m ust be dependent upon h i s abili ty to reduc e
m ovements t o th e m inim um . M ore over h e ,

N 2
1 80 P RA CTI CA L C I N E M ATO GRA PH Y

se rve s as an excell e nt model for sp e eding u p -

i f such i s requir e d By th e tim e h i s workm an

.

sh ip h as been analysed and perfected by th e

eliminati on o f all waste or unneces sary moti ons ,

and by h i s m ast e ry of th e be st m eth ods th e ,

ph otograph ing i n anim ation o f his exp e rience

serves as a pattern for th e benefit of all in th e
factory .

S om e r e markabl e results h ave be e n a e com

p l is h e d by th i s new ph ase i n s cientific m anage
ment I n th e abov e m entioned brai ding factory
.
-

th e analysi s o f th e m ovem ents i nci de ntal to a

parti cular operation enabled th e tim e occupi ed
upon one task to b e reduced from 3 7} to 8} 1

minut e s I n oth er word s th e workman was

.
,

abl e t o perform m or e th an four time s h i s

previ ous volum e of work in an eigh t hour d ay-

afte r h i s m oti ons h ad b een analys ed by th e

cinematograph . N or i s h e d riven h arder t o
achi eve th i s end : h e i s abl e to d o i t b e cause all
waste m otions h ave been elim inated .

The great value of mi cro m oti on study i s that it

-

facilitates th e tran smissi on o f skill from man t o

record I t provides a reliable way of transferring
.

experienc e from a m an wh o has gained i t to one

wh o has never h ad i t I t acts as a check upon
.

th e wor k The e s ta b l is h me n t is p rovi ded with an

unas sailabl e record of th e time occupied th rough
out eve ry departm e nt and c onsequently h old s
,
182 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRA PH Y
youth wh o i s trained on th e corr e ct lines from
th e very commencement of hi s duties h as th e
best ch ance o f becoming an expert workman and ,

for him th e use of micro motion study is in

-

valuable .H e can be taken th rough every

separate m otion step by step th e film used for
,

thi s purpose being that of th e most perfectly

skilled m an Experience h as sh own m oreover
.
, ,

that a youth can learn hi s craft m ore quickly and

intelligently by following it upon th e screen th an
by being brough t face to face with th e actual
work at th e bench H e appears to concentrate
.

h i s attenti on better upon th e moving picture -

l esson than upon th e practical demonstration ,

although in both cas e s th e appeal is made to th e

eye .

Th ere i s ye t another valuable asp e ct o f th i s

work . Enterpri sing and ingeni ous men are
constantly devi sing improved processes i n factory
equipmen t At times thei r revoluti onary ideas
.

are put int o practice be fore th ey are thoroughly

under s t ood and th e result i s far from satis factory
, .

Th e improvement proves to be more imaginary

th an re a l But i f recourse i s first h ad to th e
.

cinematograph th e proces s can b e submitted to a

,

searching practical trial before i t i s installed A .

film can b e taken and each separate image can be

examined minutely with th e aid of the magni fying
glass until a pretty complete i dea i s gained as to
,
 MIC R O -
M O T IO N ST U D Y : F IL M S
S H O W I N G H o w A MAN
’
S WO R K Is

AN ALY S E D B Y MO V I N G P IC T U R E S
.

an d G ilb re th cl o ck .
1 84 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRA P H Y

to th e subject . H e h as become an uni que

auth ority upon it N ow th at i ts advantages are
.

appreciated one m ay expect i t to fill an even

,

wider space i n industrial li fe and to be applied i n

,

many directions th at are as ye t un d reamed of .

 C H APT E R XV
THE MO T I O N PI CTU RE AS AN AID TO S C IE NT IFI C
I NVES T I GAT I O N

RAP ID s tri de s are being made in th e utili sati on

o f anim ated ph otography as an ai d to scientifi c
investigation I t i s a d evelopment useful in all
.

fi eld s o f research wh ere ph enomena can be

recorded in pi ctorial form Dr E J M arey the . . . .
,

emin ent French s cienti st was th e pioneer i n thi s ,

work One has only to peruse hi s classic work

.

Movem ent 1
t o reali se th e compreh ens ive
nature of h i s studie s S o th orough ly di d h e
.

cover th e gro u nd o f ch ronoph otog raphy as i t was ,

th en called that i t i s di ffi cult to conceive wh ere

,

any n ew appli cati on o f th e m otion picture can

n ow b e mad e .

Th e Auro ra B oreali s always has been a su bject

fascinating to scientists N umerous p apers and .

broch ure s h ave been wri tten about it and many ,

elab orat e d rawings h ave been prep ared to convey

som e i dea of it s ch aracteri stics and its kal e id o
scopi c ch anges Th e d rawi ngs h o wever fai l to
.
, ,

1 Mo vemen t , by E .
J Mar cy
. . H ine ema nn , 7s 6d. .
1 86 P RACTI CAL C I N EMATOGRAP H Y
convince and even th e few still li fe ph otograph s
,
-

which h ave been taken a re unevent ful .

Realising thi s defici e nc y a Danish pro fessor i s

striving to record the Aurora Boreal is i n m otion
upon th e celluloi d film A special camera has
.

been designed for h i s work and with thi s it i s

,

intended to snap th e ph enomena from a con

ve n ie n t north ern point such as Spitzbergen or

Greenland not only for th e benefit of th e

,

scientific world but also for the general public

wh ich entertains only a hazy conception o f th e
“
N orthern Lights I t need h ardly b e said th at
.
”

i f th is investigator sh ould succeed i n hi s di ffi cult

quest h e will reveal upon the screen one o f th e
most extraordinary wonders of th e world While .

th e marvellous and weird col ouring e ffects will

be missing th e curtains of ligh t that drape the
,

sky and th e strange luminous sh afts and glares

,

which ligh t th e heavens shoul d provi de a film

,

of intense interest and fascination .

Th e m oving picture camera i s al so being

-

applied to th e recording o f s olar eclipses with

a view to obtaining a more impressionistic and
intimate idea of the activity and extent of the
flame s which sh oot from th e surface o f th e sun .

Wonderful still li fe pictures of thes e e ffects have

-

been taken and i t is only fai r to as sume th at they

,

should be capab le of being caugh t by th e motion

picture camera E fforts are also being made t o
.
1 88 P RACTI CAL CI N E MATO GRA P H Y

Anoth er series of t e chni cal experimen ts was

carried out by Dr Otto F itch s professor o f engi
.
,

neering at the German Technical H igh Sch ool

o f Br Un n The purpos e was to eluci date some
.

hith erto obscure points in con necti on wi th th e

working of steam h amm ers . I nvestigations in
th is fiel d h ave hi therto proceeded on th e graph ic
principle th e results being recorded by a stylo
,

continually travelling over cali brated paper I t .

i s admitted th at this system leaves much to be

desired because th e stylo i s not sufficiently
sensitiv e and fails to record many o f th e smaller
,

and m ore i mportant m ovements Accordingly

.
,

Dr F ach s conceived the idea o f using th e m oving

.

picture camera in the anti cipation th at m uch

mi ssing d ata migh t th us b e discovered .

A special apparatus was designed I n reality it

.

i s an ingeni ous combination of the moving picture -

camera and th e graphic method . Th er e is a

paper tape th at passes continuously over two
rollers and has two stylos constantly bearing on
it These stylos are connected with two indi
.

ca to r s attach ed to th e sides of th e cylinder of

the steam hammer and th ey supply a continuous

,

record of th e steam pressure The paper tape is

.

moved by an electrically driven gear wh ile time

-
,

intervals are indicated by means of clockwork

mechani sm S o much for th e graph ic porti on
. .

What th e cin e mato g ra p h ic p o rtio n supplie s i s

 p mi s s i o n of D r Otto F u ch s
‘

By
“

co ur teou s er . .

MO V I N G U R E S O F A S TE AM H AM M E R
-
P IC T R AM .

An ill u mi n a te d in d x tta ch e d to th e ra m mo v e s o ve
e a r a gra d ua te d c l
s a e ,

wh il e a i ll u min a te d cl c k in d ic a te s th e l a p s e o f time
n o .
1 90 P RACTI CAL C I N E MAT O G RAP H Y
ch aracter and o f interest only to p ersons con
cerned with m ech anics But to th es e th ey are
.

very important ind eed Th e experiments which

.

h av e been completed by Dr F uch s h av e thrown

.

much ligh t up on a di fficul t e ngineering problem .

Th ey h ave served to an sw e r questi ons a ff ecting

th e d e sign of th e h amm er and i ts m ost economical
e ffici e nt operation wh ich would otherwise h av e
be e n insol ubl e From th e publi c point o f vi ew
.

th e film s poss e ss n o i nteres t wh at e ver inasmuch

,

as th e subj e ct i s i llumin ated and ph otograph ed

i n such a way th at o nly th e feature s o f tech nical
interest a re brough t out strongly upon th e
film .

Anoth er i nteresting and profitabl e provi nce o f

th e cin e m atograph i s th at conc e rning balli stics .

Th i s h as been worked out by M onsieur Lucien

Bull at th e M arey I nstitute with h i s camera
capable o f taking two th ousand picture s per
second under th e i llumination of th e electri c
spark Wh ile thi s i nvestigator di d not apply his
.

i nvention directly to balli sti cs h e i ndi cat e d th e

m anner i n wh i ch s uch work could be carried
out Th e success of his experiments h owever
.

, ,

prompted anoth er inv e stigator to enter th e field .

Th is was Dr Cranz of th e Berli n Military

.
,

Academy Th e apparatus this professor evolve d

.

h as been devoted exclusively to th e study of th e

fligh t o f projectiles and to ph otographing th e
 W IT H H IS
F IL M S P R E AR E D
P BY R O FE S O RP S C R AN z
R E M AR K AB L E C AM E RA .

v g p c f th j c ti o n of a c a rtri dg e f ro m
( ) M i t e e e
1 o i n u-r e s o

u t m ti c p i t l
o a s o
a n a
ph g ph s pl in t g f b
.

i o a one
f t h r en
( )
2 Mo tio n ot o ra s o e

b y a b u ll e t .
1 92 PRACTI CAL C I N EMATOGRAP H Y

brings out th e rem arkable formations th e ball

assumes during th e i nfini tesimal part of a second
wh en th e bulle t i s passing th rough it Anoth er .

interesting film sh ows th e e ff ect of a high veloci ty

bullet striking a bone and th e m anner i n
,

wh ich th e bon e i s splintered and smash ed by

th e force o f th e impact conveys a realisti c
impression o f th e destructive force of th e modern
rifle projectile Th e d eadliness of th e automatic
.

pistol i s well known Since seven sh ots may

.

be discharged in four second s th e movements ,

of th e m echani sm are too rapid to be followed

by th e naked eye Yet by m eans o f th e Cranz
.

apparatus every m oti on i s caught an d th e wh ole

,

i s slowed down i n projection to such a degree

that th e complete cycle of th e firing of th e sh ot
and th e expulsion of th e cartridge which ,

norm ally occupies only a fraction of a secon d to

complete occupie s about thirty seconds upon
,

the screen Wh en th ese pi ctures were exhi bited

.

for th e first tim e a number o f black sp e cks were

observed to accom pany the expul sion o f th e
spent cartri dge .Th ese proved to be grains
of powder which h ad not been ignited Th ei r .

existence h ad never before been suspected and ,

th e result was curi ous After m inute examina

.

tion of th e pi ctures a ch ange was e ffected i n

manufactu re of the cartridge so th at th e waste
of powder through non ignition sh ould be reduce d
-
 S CI E N T I FI C I N V EST I GAT I O N 1 93

t o th e minimu m Th e succes s ach ieve d in th i s

.

d irection was sh o w n by th e absenc e o f non

ignite d grains i n sub sequent pictures .

An oth er wond erful s eries o f m oving picture s

was prepare d by an Am eri can ophth almi c
s urgeon . H e embarke d up on elab orate r e
search es t o gai n furth er info rm ati on about th e
eye and i ts peculiarities both in sickness and
in h e al th Th e i ll umination o f th e eye was
.

carri ed out very cleverly so as t o obtai n th e ,

greates t possi bl e b ri lliancy with out causing

fatigu e t o th e subject Accordingly hi s pictures
.

were abs olutely norm al I n these experiments

.

glass plates were u sed for th e reason that they

,

giv e result s much finer and m ore detailed th an

celluloi d I n celluloi d th e grain of th e bas e of
.

th e film i s apt to be di sturbi ng to very fine

studi es . I n t hi s way a great d eal of new
info rm ati on was gain e d One o f th e most
.

rem arkabl e di scoveri es was th at th e sensitive

ness of th e organ of sigh t is far greater th an
was previously s upposed and th at th e eye never
,

is ab s ol utely still even wh en commonly regarde d

,

as being fixe d and steady .

During th e past two or th ree years th e uses o f

th e cinem atograp h in medici ne h ave been much
extended A forme r ch apter h as d escri bed its a p p li
.

cati o n to th e study o f m icrobi c li fe but th e latest

,

i nnovati on i s to e mploy it i n th e operating room .

P C.
. o
1 94 P RACTI CAL C I N EMATOG RAP H Y

Th e pages o f th e m edical papers are filled wit h

reports of curi ous and unusual surgical opera
ti ons but m ere reports are necessarily somewh at
,

imperfect I n V iew of th es e circum stance s it

.

occurred to o n e eminent surg e on th at a c in e mato

graph ic record would form a firs t clas s supple -

ment to th e tech nical description Th e i niti al

.

experiment proved a complete success and ,

accordingly th e practice h as be e n extended I n .

th is direction France Germany an d th e U nited

, ,

States are taking a very active p art Fi lm s of .

this ch aracter can b e m ade t o serve two use ful

purposes . Th ey are valuable for th e trans
mi ssi on o f practical i nformati on b e tween medical
men and are useful i n th e lecture room among
th e students Suppose a h ospi tal i n N ew York
.

has a strange and unusual case for operation .

Only th e students i n th at e stabli shment have

the opportuni ty o f witnessing it B ut by th e.

ai d of th e m oving picture camera and a lecture

-

it can be reproduced i n p h otograph ic anim ation

up on th e screen for th e benefit of medical
graduates in th e vari ous h ospitals th rough out
th e world .

I n research work such as th e study o f new

,

and unusual diseases especially th ose o f a

,

tropical nature i t i s possible to obtai n a con

,

tin u o u s record o f a subject from th e m oment o f

i nfection th rough th e various stages of the
1 96 PRACT I CAL C I N E MATOG RA P H Y

cinem atograph to physi ological knowledg e S hould

n ot be equalled in oth e r branch es o f s ci ence U p
.

t o th e present th e i nve stigation of scientific

phenomena with th e aid of m oti on pictures h as
-

not been carri ed far but th er e are many sign s

,

that its sph e r e will be extended in th e future .

 C H A PTE R XV I

THE MI L I TARY V AL U E O F TH E C I NE MAT O GRA P H

A MO NG th e m any use s o f th e cinematograph ,

fri volous and u se ful amusing an d instru ctive

, ,

perh aps none h as proved s o d i ffi cult or i llusive

as th e attempt t o apply it to s oldie ri ng for th e pur
pose o f improving marksm anshi p Th e moti on .

picture h ad s car e l y impressed its el f upon th e

publi c when th e war departm ents o f th e v ari ous
powers we re fl ooded wi th suggestion s an d
patent s for i ts employment in thi s sph ere .

N eedless to say th e majori ty o f th e se ideas

were foun d to b e impracti cable an d probably ,

this i s th e reas on wh y t h e ani mated targe t

h as not been seriously taken up by mili tary
auth o ri ti es
.

N ot w ith stan ding th e many di sabil i ti e s un der

wh i ch th e cinematograp h labo urs i t i s generally
,

admitte d th at i t h as r e al practical value i n this

fiel d up to a ce rtai n point I t i s able to induce
.

t he recrui t to ai m quickly an d surely and th is i s ,

to day recogni s ed as being th e gove rning con

-

siderati on wh eth er th e range be point blank or -

l ong d i s tanc e
-
.
1 98 P RACTI CAL C I N E MA T O GRAP H Y

O ne of th e firs t practi cal d evelopment s in th i s

direction was th at perfected by M e ssrs Paterson .

and M usgrav e Thei r wid e and d iversi fie d

.

experience o f all th at pertains to sh ooting and

targets enabled th em t o avoi d th e defects of the
system which to m any expe rimenters were not
,

apparent owing to a lack o f kn owl edge .

Th e apparatu s an d m eth od of operation were

very simple Th e target consisted o f an endle s s
.

roll of wh ite paper wh ich served as th e screen ,

and upon whi ch th e pictures were proj ected from

a point near th e firing line A self re cording .
-

system was incorporated whereby th e result o f a

shot was tran smitte d back to th e firing line t o
inform th e marksman ab out th e value of h i s h it .

As th e paper becam e perforated under th e fusilad e

i t was rolled up Th e m ost im portant feature o f
.

this i nvention was th e mechani sm placed beh ind

th e screen whi ch syn ch ronised with th e m ove
,

ments of th e objects at which th e m arksman

aimed .

I n ci nematograph ic projecti on h owever th e, ,

throw o f the pi cture cannot be extended beyond

certain li mits th at is i f a clear view i s t o be
, ,

presented to th ose seated farth est away from th e

screen . In target practice th is i s a serious
disadvantage At a range o f 200 feet marksman
.

ship would b e almost impossi ble owing to the ,

indi stinctness of th e image upon the whi te wall .

200 PRACTI CAL C I N E MATO GRAP H Y
“
migh t b e t e rmed a rang e comp e nsati on Thi s .

end was achi eved by m aking th e figure s of

varying siz e s according to th eir di stance from
,

th e marksman so th at a target of varying S ize

,

was presented Thus in o n e cas e th e m an would

.

app ear in th e for e ground of th e pictur e and b e o f

relatively large siz e corresponding to th e target
,

h e would o ffer at a distance o f 1 00 yards Then .

h e would b e sh own som e what smaller to repr e sent

500 yards and s o on until at th e h igh er distanc e s
, ,

h e o ff ered a very sm all target i ndeed .

From th e military p oint o f view th e i nci dents

were made as exciting as possible and closely ,

analogous to actual war conditions A s a case i n

.

p oint th e man on th e screen would b e sh own

,

beh ind cover and ai ming di rectly at th e man on

,

th e firing line H i s m ovement s could easily be

.

follow e d H e would be se e n to expos e him sel f

.

slightly to sigh t h i s rifl e and then t o fire Th e .

e ffect upon th e marksman firing at th e target was

th rilling in its app arent realism because h e u n
,

consciously developed th e feeling th at h e h ad go t

to sh oot first and straight or h e would b e h it
, , .

Th e sel f recording system enabled him to judge

-

wh eth er h e had got hi s sh ot well h om e wh ile th e ,

judge could decide whether th e marksm an or

th e ph otograph ic enemy h ad fired first .

Th e judicious selection o f subjects for portrayal

upon the screen undoubtedly served to develop
 M I L I TARY VA LU E 20 1

a s ense o f sm artness am ong th e m arksmen A .

d ecid ed improvem e nt i n quick sigh ting or s nap

-

s h ooting was obtain e d together wi th a concentra

tion upon th e work i n h an d .

Projection was carried out up on purely

automatic lines Th e proj ector was s et worki ng
.

by a b utton control placed at th e firi ng p oint and ,

pressed hy th e m arksm an or h i s o fficer Th e

'

i n stru ctor or o ffi cer h ad th us a complete control

over th e wh ole installati on an d was i n a position
,

to make sure th at hi s instructions were being

followed as well as being abl e to tell wh eth er
,

h is men were quick in sighting Despite th e

.

m any ingenious features i ncorp orated i n t hi s

i de a it d oe s n ot app ear to h ave m et with o ffici a l
,

approva l
Th ere h as recently been anoth er i nvention ,

b ased up on a simi lar i dea Th is i s wh at i s calle d

.

“
th e Li fe Target and i t i s i ngenious practical
,
”
, ,

and well th ough t out e specially from th e

,

m ech anical and electrical points o f view Th e .

ori gi nal i dea was suggested by a non com -

m i ssi oned I ris h o ffi cer wh o fough t th rough th e

Boer war H i s suggesti on in its crud e form
. ,

h owever was scarcely feasi ble b ut th ere were

, ,

th ree oth er patents available each o f whi ch had

,

b een design ed for a di ff erent purp ose and i t ,

was reali sed that a combination o f th e four woul d

enable a practi cable cinem atographi c target to be
202 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATO G RA P H Y

produced Even th e n innumerable experiments

.
,

were required b e fore perfection was gained .

I n thi s invention th e sali ent feature i s th at

wh en a sh ot i s fire d at th e screen th e wh ole
of th e mech anism i s stopped for a very brie f
period and th e hi t i s indicated by a b right spot
,

o f light on th e target Consequently th e m arks

.

m an i s able to ascertai n instantly th e e ffect of

his sh ot and h as no need to remove hi s eye from
,

th e obj ect at which h e h as aimed Thi s i s a .

di stinct advantage be cause th e m arksm an can

,

keep his sigh t ready for th e succeeding sh ot ,

wh ich may be fired instantly th e m ech ani sm

resumes working Directly th e film begins t o
.

move once more th e previous sh ot represente d

by th e il luminated spot upon the target i s
extingui sh ed .

Th e apparatus as d es cribed appears to b e

, ,

rath er compli cated but as a matter of fact i ts

,

working i s extremely simpl e Th e projector i s .

m ounted at a convenient place near th e firi ng

point s o that a truly square picture i s presente d
,

to th e marksman I n front of th e firing line

.
,

and ab ove th e p icture i s a very sens itive micro

,

phone o r tel eph one receiver Conne cte d wi th .

this i s a delicate rel ay whi ch really form s th e

,

h eart of th e mech ani sm .

Wh en a sh ot i s fired th e repo rt acts upon

t h e microph one and upon th e relay in turn .
204 PRACTI CAL C I N EMATOGRA P H Y
brilliantly light e d As th e paper remains
.

stationary while the projector i s running i t ,

follows that a sh ot must penetrate the three

th icknesses o f paper and th e punctur e i s sh own
,

by th e ligh t from behind coming through the

shot h ol e Thus th e m arksman can see wh ere
-
.

hi s sh ot h as struck .

When th e projecting mech anism has b e en

stopped and th e result has been read th e shot
, ,

h ol e h as to be obliterated be fore th e film is able

to resum e its forward movement This is .

a ccomplished automatically as follows : Th e

relay whil e declutching th e driv e and applying
,

the brake als o s e ts i n moti on a plunger i n a

,

dash pot Th e time o f the v e rtical travel o f thi s

- .

plunger is varied but the mechanism remains

,

stationary and th e shot h ol e vi sible during i ts

,
-
,

movement When i t h as reached th e limit of

.

its travel it establishes contacts which serve to

set th e screen mechani sm in motion On th e .

l ower h orizontal roller carrying the supply o f

paper i s a ratch et and pawl movement actuated ,

by a solenoid When th e plunger connected

.

with th e relay closes th e screen mechani sm

ci rcuit the ratch et is moved and th e outer sh eet
, ,

o f paper m ove s upward one eigh th o f an inch -

,

while its return formi n g th e s econ d sheet m oves

S im ul taneously and correspondingly downwards .

Th e di splacement of th ese two vertically m oving

206 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAP H Y
resum es its travel Th e ingeni ous means adopted
.

for stopp ing and restarting th e projector will be

appreciate d as a great feature of the i nventi on ,

and th ough th e acti on m ay appear to be abrupt ,

no damage wh atever is i nflicted upon th e film .

One poi nt ab out this apparatus de serves atten

tion I n the ordinary projector i f the cellul oi d
.
,
'

film i s stopped i n the gat e for a fraction of a

second and i s exp osed to th e ligh t i t flare s up
, ,

instantly owing t o th e great h eat emitted by th e

,

i llum inant and th e high in fl amma b il ity o f th e film .

As i t i s necessary to allow th e film to stand stil l

upon th e screen i n th is cas e after the shot h as
,

been fired m eans h ad to b e found to keep it

,

su fficiently cool to prevent combustion Thi s i s .

don e by a radiator arranged around th e condenser ,

which i n i tsel f i s a special kind of cooling tank .

Anoth er n oteworthy poin t i s th e way i n which

a still li fe lantern slide i s thrown upon th e screen
-

wh en desi red The proj ect or carries two lense s

.
,

one for animation and the oth er fo r s till life

,
'
-

lantern slide work The ord inary way of bringing

.

th e latter i nto use i s to p ush the front part o f the

proj ector bodily sideways so as to bring the
second lens before th e condenser and the ligh t .

Th e objecti on t o th i s m ethod i s th at th e rigidity

of th e proje ctor i s likely to be disturbed especially ,

after a little wear wi th th e result that th e p ro

,
’

j e ctio n of th e m ovi ng pictures i s apt to b e com e

 th e
Mo togr ap h Co .

By p er mis s io n f
o

C IN E M AT O G R AP H I N G H E DGE -
Ro w L IF E U N D E R D IFFIC U L T IE S .

F ra n k th e s c ru b
M Ne w ma n an d h is c a me ra c on c l d
ea e in .

r .
208 PRACTI CA L C I N EMATOGRAP H Y

Even i f consid e r e d as a mer e diversion the li fe

target has many advantages Th ere i s a sensa .

tio n a l realism which i s lacking i n the ordinary

sh ooti ng gallery The man at the firing point
.

i s occupyi n g th e same rel ative p osition as th at

of th e cinematographer when h e film ed th e sub
j e ct and when for instanc e a t iger i s springing
, , ,

dir e ctly out o f th e picture th e man wi th th e gun

,

has just th e sam e fe e ling as if caugh t at close

quarters i n th e jungle H e sights and fires
.

quickly h oping to hi t i n a vital part and the

, ,

i nstantly appearing shot h ole tells him h ow h e

-

would hav e fared h ad he been face to fac e with

th e anim al i n i ts nativ e haunts .

S o far as military sh ooting is concerned th e

system has its limitations Fo r th e r e ason s
.

explain e d the screen cannot b e m ore than 1 00

feet from th e firing line I t i s a pure poi nt blank
.
-

range N o allowances can be mad e for wi ndage

.

or trajectory Ther e i s ye t another factor that

.

controls th e distance between th e firing range

line and th e screen and that i s that paper cannot
,

be obtained i n width s e xc e eding 9 feet A single .

wi dth m ust form th e screen since no ligh t must ,

b e vi si ble from i t until i t is perforated by a bullet .

So th ere i s a strict limi t to th e size of th e target .

But i t i s possible to get subjects li fe S ize and ,

noth ing more i s required .

 C H APT E R XV I I
TH E P R E P A RA TI O N OF ED UCAT I O NAL I
F L MS

A LTH O U GH animated ph otography is regarded

popularly as an amusem ent and the pictur e ,

palac e i s maintained to be th e poor man s theatre ’

e ffo rts are being m ade to li ft the invention into

a h igher an d m ore use ful plan e I t i s sough t to .

adapt i t to the sch oolroom the college and the ,

tech nical i nsti tute U p to th e p resent h owever

.
, ,

little h ead way has b e en made in thi s direction ,

th ough th e m arket i s flooded with s o called -

educati onal film s .

U nfortunately th e attitud e o f the responsi ble

auth ori ties i s lukewarm s om ewh at to th e chagri n
,

of th os e wh o are specializing i n the preparation

o f th ese films Th e auth ori ties are s aid to be
.

prej udiced against the i nvention and no doubt ,

th e impre ssion still lingers that th e cinematograph

i s an in strument of frivolity .

U p to a point th e auth oritie s are correct in

th ei r attitude I t i s th e producer who is at fault
. ,

The forme r recognise th e many advantages arising

from th e appeal to th e eye but unfortunately th e
,

prod uc e r looks at th e question from th e sh ow

P
210 P RACT I CA L C I N EM ATO GRAP H Y
man s point o f view H e i s not content to pre
’
.

pare a subject wh ich sh all appeal only to pupil s

as such b ut i s always trying to introd uce an
,

element wh i ch sh all m ake th e film p opular with

ad ults as well H e seeks to arous e th e e n th u
.

s ia s m o f th e s ch oolroom and of th e picture

palace at one and th e s am e time th ough th e two ,

are as wi dely apart as th e two poles and wh at i s ,

suited to one i s by no m eans a d apted to th e other .

Th e patron of th e picture palace m ust be enter

ta in e d only . Education i f any must be u n co n
, ,

s cious On th e oth er hand th e essential con

.
,

siderati on in th e sch ool i s th e training and

teaching o f th e young mind I f amus em ent i s .

i ntroduced th e educati onal value o f th e film i s

liable to b e small .

I n th i s attemp t to supply two di ff erent markets

simul taneously m any prod ucers ove r reach th em -

selves Th ey fai l to realise th at a sch ool room

.

film must be ab solutely n atural th at th ere must ,

be no tri ckery or faking There are several .

:

film s on th e marke t to d ay aiming at th e requi re

-
,

ments o f education wh erein th e most attractiv e

,

inciden ts are noth ing more nor l es s th an examples

of fake ph otography Th e educational a u th o
.

r itie s are only too well aware th at tri ckery i s

one of th e cinem atographer s m ost use ful tool s
’

and accordingly many film s of an apparently

astoni sh ing ch aracter are regarded with sus
21 2 P RAC T I CA L C I N E MATO G R A P H Y

attention of young children and th ey follow th e

,

arithmetical adventure s of th e oranges with

th e utmost fas cin ati on The bears themselves
.

perform th ei r parts m ost decorously with out ,

any horseplay or cl owning Th e youngsters .

following th e incidents upon th e screen are

induced to regard th e proj ection seriously and ,

it h as been found th at afterward s i n th ei r leisure

,

h ours th ey reconstruct th e i ncid ents with th ei r

,

own toys I n th is way th ey sh ow th at th ey h ave

.

grasped th e idea that was t o be conveyed .

I n d ealing with th e sciences si milar meth od s

must be practised Suppose for inst ance that
.
, ,

i t i s intend ed to teach physi cs ch emistry or , ,

electricity with th e aid of m oving pictures Th e - .

film m ust commence at th e very beginning of th e

subject Th e text book sh oul d be taken as a m odel
.
-
.

Th e producer of th e film if h e i s well acquain ted

,

with h i s subj ect can devis e experiments to suit

,

any stage of knowledge H e can vary th e

.

experiment so as to bring th e p upil face to face

with something wh ich has never been illu s trated
by diagram in th e text b ook H e can lead the
-
.

pupil on step by step and th e m ore deeply he

,

plunges into a particular sci ence th e wider i s

h i s scope for th e portrayal of fascinating
experiment s
Th e preparation of films of thi s character o ff er
attractive possibiliti es to th e independent worker ,
 ( ) MO O R
1 -
HE N S IT T I N G ON HE R NE S T .

( )
2 TH E Y O U N G C H IC E P IE RC E S THE S H E LL .
 (3 ) THE C H IC K E ME R G IN G F R O M THE S HE LL .

( 4) THE NE W LY -
H AT C H E D C H IC K ST R U G G L IN G " To IT S FE E T .
2 14 P RACT I CA L C I N EM ATOG R A P H Y

h e can be sh own h ow sulph ur i s o btained .

Views can be introduced o f th e min e s and

processes as practised in Sicily or Loui siana ,

and in th i s case th e di fferenc e between ancient

and modern m eth od s can b e brough t h ome to
h im . Similarly in r e gard to th e s ubj ect o f
common table salt i t is possi bl e to S how th e
various meth od s of extraction from th e solar ,

evaporating system p racti se d i n th e Caucasus

and Cali fornia and the excavation of rock salt
,

as i n Galicia to the pumping of brin e and forc e d

,

evaporation comm on to th e Wi ch e s o f England .

“
Th e film may b e lightened by glimp s e s of"

bathing i n the Great Salt Lak e or the brine bath s

of England in ord er to convey pictori ally the
di ff erenc e in th e d e nsity of salt and fres h water .

I n many cases it i s p ossi bl e to reproduce upon

th e screen th e processes of N ature the characte r ,

of th e experiment varying with th e stage o f th e

pupil s knowledg e
’
.

Attempts are being m ad e to teach geography

by moving pictures but h ere again th e same
-
,

defects app e ar Most o f th e s o called geo

.
-

graphical films are m erely th e Travel Subj ects

of th e picture pal ace —another attempt to m ake a
,

s ubject fit b oth th e th e atre and th e sch oolroom .

Such fil ms are useless except to form a pictorial

interlude i n tex t book explanation Yet th ere i s
- .

a remarkable scop e for g e ographi cal films Let .

( 5) E X H A U S T E D B Y IT S ST R U G G LE S THE C H IC E R E S T S IN

T H E S UN .

( )
6 A H O U R S L A E RTT H E C H IC R T A K E S T o T HE

Bir th f a Mo o h e n A w d f
o n r
”
u l s e ri e s eo f m o in
v g
The o r- .

p ic ture s ta ke n b y a am a te ur l a d y c in e ma to gr ph e r
n
a .

m C ll g by p m i "
i f th M t g
ss on o p h C
e o o ra o
F m th Ci
.

ne a o e e, er
ro e
 F IG H T B E T W E E N A L O B ST E R AN D AN O C T O P US .

B y p er mi s s i o n f
o

TH E ST O R Y OF T HE W AT E R S N AIL
-
.
2 16 PRAC T I CA L C I N E MA T O GRAP H Y

th e pupil may b e given an i dea o f th e immensity

o f th e estuary togeth er with th e li fe and ind ustry
at thi s p oint I n addition s om e impression of th e
.

d elta can be conveyed with m oving pictures of -

th e way i n wh ich th e detritus brought down from

th e upper re ach e s is d eposited at th e m outh
, ,

forming i sland s and sand b anks cloth e d with

-
,

vegetation and i f not dev e lop e d inhabit e d by

, , ,

wild fowl .

Th e preparation o f such a film i s certai n to

occupy a long tim e and i s som ewh at e xpensive
, ,

but th ese items m ust be d isregarded i f th e sch ool

room i s to h ave wh at it requires A film of th i s
.

ch aracter would h ave to be divi ded into certain

length s each of wh ich would correspond wi th a
,

le sson for th e s ubject i s t oo vast to b e assimilated

,

in a few minutes Cramming by th e aid o f

.

moving pictures would be wors e th an under

-

present conditi ons In many cases the camera

.

will S h ow th at existing text book teachings are

-

erroneous or need m odification Some idea o f .

th e uti lity o f t h e cinematograph in th i s one

particular field h as been revealed by th e film s o f
the Sh ackle ton and S cott Antarctic expeditions .

Th ey h ave brough t h om e m ore vividly th an

anything el se th e meaning of the eternal sn ow ,

ice and cold as sociate d with th e Polar region s

, ,

and th ey h ave served t o dispel m any false i deas .

S o far th e greatest s uccess ach ieved by th e

 E D U CA T I O NA L F I LM S 21 7

m otion pictur e s i n th e fi e ld of e ducati on i s i n

-

conne cti on with natu r al h isto ry M any wonder

.

ful film s b e arin g upon animal li fe hav e been

prepared and h av e c re at e d s e nsations Th e text .

books t e ll m uch about th e life and h abits of th e

various m e m b e rs o f th e animal kingdom but ,

i n this cas e th e t e xt b ook often h appens to b e

-

wrong M r Frank A N e wman an in dustrious

. .
,

animal ph otograph e r d e voted m onth s to th e

,

preparati on o f a film feet in length dealing

with c e rtai n ph ase s o f animal life H e confined .

h i s e fforts to th e s tudy o f th os e creatur e s wh ich

ar e famili ar t o all . I nci d e ntally h e proved the
,

value th at a h igh ly instructiv e film p ossesses in

th e m arket for with in sixty d ays of its first
,

appearance upon th e scre e n ov e r , or

was reali se d from th e di sposal of th e
rights to exploi t th e film in di fferent countries .

Pictur e s dealing with animal bird fi sh or , ,

reptil e li fe n e ver fail to command h igh prices .

In describ abl e p ati e nc e i s d emanded in th eir

prep aration M onth s m ay pass and yield only a
.

few h undred fe et of sui tabl e m aterial and th e ,

ph otograph er h as to res ort to the most extra

ordinary devic e s t o take th e subjects in their
natural e nvironm ent . O n e worker wh o set ,

h im sel f th e task o f filming th e kingfi sher ,

di s covere d th e haunt s o f h i s quarry and then ,

qui e tly comm enc e d to establish himsel f in its

218 PR AC T I CAL C I N EMA T O GRAP H Y

vicinity H e had to b e e xceedingly cunning i n

.

h is m ovements masking th e positi on h e had

,

assumed in four feet o f water with a clump of ,

tre e b ough s Concealed i n th i s am buscad e h e

.

approach e d the bi rd moving with extrem e care

, ,

so as to convey th e impr e ssion th at th e bough s

were dri fting with the s tream Beh ind th i s .

ambush h e placed his camera clamping i t to a ,

h eavy floating base which was anch ored I n th is

, .

way h e was a ble t o move undetected When h e .

th ought that the time had come for an exposure ,

h e commenced to turn th e handle but the wh irr ,

of th e mechani sm scared th e bi rd and h e was ,

forced to wai t s om e time until its co u ra g e revived

'

and i t cam e back H e th e n m ounte d a second

.

camera on the floating base and thi s being , ,

empty o f film was set in m otion every time th e

,

bird return e d until i t grew accustomed to th e

,

unusual noise After a few d ays th e bird took n o

.

further notice of th e sound and then the picture s

,

could be taken with comparative eas e Altogeth er .

some seven weeks were occupied in obtaining

about 200 fe et o f film during wh ich tim e th e
,

operator had often to stand for hours at a tim e i n

four feet o f water awai ting h i s o pportunities
,
.

H ow com ple tely h i s stra tegy and pati ence were

rewarded may b e gath ered from t h e fact that in
one incident where th e bird i s sh own d evo u ring
,

a fish i t h as caught i t perche d upon a branch o f

,
 S N AK E NG K IN LO U GH
“
S HE DDI IT S S OR S .

F r o m th e C i n ema Co ll eg e ,
”
by p er mi s s i o n of th e Mo togr ap h Co .

THE S A N KE AN D IT S S H E D S L O U GH .
 E D U CA T I O N AL FI LM S 219

th e am bu scad e barely four feet from th e l en s

, ,

co mpl etely unaware o f t h e fact that its act ions

were be ing record ed .

An oth er i ndefa tigable worker is M r J C Bee . . .

M aso n whos e s peci ali ty i s th e filming of in s e ct

,

l i fe
. H e h as p rod uced four fil m s d epicting th e
h oney be e As s tu die s th ey ar e intensely
.

in terestin g an d th ey b rin g out th e ch aracteristi cs

,

o f th e subject in a most attractive m ann er Th e .

ave rage worke r migh t h esi tate to fil m s uch a

s ubj ect at close quarte rs Th e be e i s very q u ick
.

to r e sent i ntrusi on and d isturbance in a way

p e c u li aril
y i ts o w n M r Mas on h imself a dmits
. .

th at i n th e early days h e rece ived very severe

p u nishm ent but h e stuck to h i s cam era and h is
,

work wi th th e r e s ul t that in th e cour s e o f ti me

h e be cam e accus tomed to th e at tacks o f th e be es
an d to d ay a s t ing has no m ore e ffe ct upon h im
-

th an upon a d e al b oard Th e resul t o f th is.

pa ti en ce i s refl ect e d in the excellence o f hi s

fil m s whi ch b ring be e li fe most i nti mately be fore
th e spectator Th e b e e is always an object of
.

interest an d in th i s p ar ti cul ar cas e hi s films

,

have b rought M r Mason over . or

Al th ough h ere an d th ere one com es upon a
fil m whi ch exactly mee ts w i th th e req ui rements
o f th e sch oolroom th e majori ty can m ake no
,

such cl aim Th ey are merely instruct ive in an

. ,

am usi ng kin d of way an d i n th e pictur e p al ace

,
220 P RACTI CA L C I N E MATO GRAP H Y

th ey com e as a wel com e r e lie f from transpontin e

d rama and bu ffoonery Fortunately at th e .
,

pres e nt m oment th ere i s a growing tendency

,

to m ake film s wh ich th e sch ool s will really

welcom e One concern i s studying th e situa
.

tion very closely Th i s i s th e Motograph

.

Film Company o f Lond on wh i ch h as completed ,

contracts with th e m ost prominent Europe an

scienti fic cin e m atograph e rs for th ei r enti re output
of e ducati onal scienti fic and natural history
,

subjects . I t i s al so endeavouring to pers uad e

th e eminent teach e rs of certain s ubjects to
commit their work to the celluloid film instead
of t o printed books I t i s a di ffi cult quest .

because th e pro fessors ar e apt to regard th e

cinematograph a s a jok e At th e sam e time .
,

once th e development become s started up on

th e corre ct l ines i t cannot fail to m
, eet with
succes s.

Th e i ndependent worker also i s b eing e n co u r

‘

aged by th e M otograph Fi lm Company and ,

th e cin ematograph ic student o f scientific subject s

h as a ve ry profitable m arke t op en t o h im Th e .

prices pai d for th e film s naturally vary according

t o th eir m erit but thi s comp any i s prepared t o
,

pay from 23 6d t o 2 1 s —from 60 cents t o

. . .

—
$ 5 p er foot o f film for subje cts whi ch m eet
with its approval Th e l ength s m ay range
.

from 50 to feet Recently an ind ependent

.
,
222 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATO GRAP H Y

in regard t o th e propagand a for improving heal th

and hygi ene Thi s movement h as reach ed i ts
.

h ighest stage o f development i n th e United

“
State s Th e Swat th e Fly movement wh i ch
.
,

declared a relentless war against th e comm on

h ouse fl y was powerfully assi sted by th e e x h ib i
-
,

tion o f film s depicting th e fly at work i n th e

dissemination o f dis e ase Free exh ibi tions have
.

been given th rough out th e United States for

th e purpose o f bringing h om e to the publi c th e
seri ous m enac e th at thi s insect o ff ers to th e
wel fare o f th e comm unity One or two of th e
.

film s use d for th e purpose were bough t from

England wh e re th ey h ad been used in th e
,

picture palace s But th e organi sation pl edged

.

to th e exterminati on O f th e fly turned th em to
a far mor e serious purpose an d i ts work h as ,

m et with remarkable success .

Anoth er s eri es o f h ealth film s bear upon th e

Great Wh it e Scourge Th ey are b eing
.

exh ibited freely and are bringing h ome to th e

publi c the t erri ble ravages wrough t by tuber
cu l o s is
. Th e dreaded bacil lus i s sh own at i ts
fell work and th e di fferent stages of th e di s e ase
,

ar e pictorially represented Th en follow a series

.

o f ph otograph s sh owing how i t i s transmitted ,

and lastly some pictori al suggestions as to ho w

i t m ay b e combated at l east i n its early stages
, ,

by fresh air and sanatori um treatment .

 ED U CAT I O NAL FI LM S 223

Th e success of th e fly and Wh ite S courge

campaign s h a s resul ted i n th e preparation of
oth er fil m s d eal i ng with th e pub l i c h e al th wh ile
,

m any l o cal au th o ri ties have t aken up t he idea

for th e purpos e o f improvi n g th e condi ti ons of
th eir l oc a li ties M a ny o f the fil m s used for th e
.

purp ose are prep are d by amateur workers ,

es pe cial ly wh en th e subj e ct i s of local im po rtance ,

and thei r ventures are provi ng h ighly profitable .

Experi ence has proved in no uncert ain manner

th at m oving pi ctu res will soon be th e world s
-
’

most powe rful educator .

 C H APTE R XV I I I

P HO TO - P L AY S AN D H O W T O WR I T E TH E M

TH E vogue of the picture palace has created a

new profession Thi s i s th e writing of plays
.

especially for cinematographi c producti on In .

th e early days the handful of p roduce rs engaged

i n the craft had no di fficulti e s in meeting thei r
need s in this directi on Th e prod ucer conceived
.

and worked out hi s own i d e as The market was .

small the output was restri cted and i t did not

, ,

matter wheth er th e plots were good bad or , ,

indi fferent Th e public was quite content with

.

the dramatic fare supplied upon the scr e en being ,

m ore impressed by the novel ty o f the perfor

mance than by its merits .

B ut with the rage for picture palaces th e whole

business underwent a transformati on Th e .

public having outlived th e era of curi osi ty and

, ,

having sh own by i ts patronage th at it regarded

th e picture palace in th e sam e light as a th eatre
or music hall grew more and m ore critical I t
, .

demanded stronger pl ots improved m ounting ,

and acting as well as better ph otographi c q uali ty

, .

As new firm s entered the producing field com ,

226 P RACTI CAL C I N E M ATO GRAP H Y

pi cture plays are pl aced upon th e worl d s marke t

-
’

every week and consequently th e consumption

,

of pl ots is enormous Wh at i s m ore important .

from th e auth or s point of view is th e expanding

’

nature of this market wh er e supply cannot keep ,

pace wi th dem and and th e prop ortionate improve

,

m ent that i s manifest in th e scale o f remuneration .

Ten years ago a plot seldom fetch ed m ore th an

five sh illings or a dollar ; to d ay th e same material -

will command anything between £ 5 and £ 50

825 to $ 250 . I n th is field o f activity reputation
counts for noth ing Th e play and th e play only
.

i s th e thing Th e picture palace is th e p oor

.

m an s theatre and this class of play goer is

’

,
-

relentlessly emphati c in conde mnation an d ,

equally enth usiasti c i n praise I t appreciates .

novelty i n plot and th at i s the one point th e

,

auth or h as to bear in mind So it i s clear that .

th e unknown p laywrigh t has everything i n h is

favour ; in fact hi s work i s generally pre ferred
,

to that of th e skill ed wri ter I t contains the . .

very best e fforts O f its cr e ator ; th e other is

p robably of poor quali ty because the man wi th a ,

name d oes not reali se wh at th e people want and ,

th inks th at for th e cinematograph anyth ing is

good enough .

Th e desire o f th e photo play pr o ducer to -

encourage unknown writers has led to th e in

evitable resul t H e i s inundated wi th plots and
.
 By p e r mis s i o n of th e M o togr ap h Co .

MR . F R AN K N E W M AN AN D C AM R A
H IS E H ID D E N W IT H I N A
H O LL O W T R E E T R U N K .

T h e u tm s t c o n c e a l m n t is n e c e s s a y
o e r to se c ur w il d l ife
e

u n d e r n a tu ra l c o n d i ti o n s
.
228 P RACT I CAL C I N E MATOG RAP H Y

giv e a few h ints to the b eginner A glance at th e

.

manuscri p t i s enough t o i n form th e reader

wh eth e r th e auth or i s a raw h and at th e work or
oth erwi se and alth ough every manuscript i s
,

reviewed m or e i nterested attention i s attract e d

,

by a contri buti on whi ch i s set out upon m ore or

l ess m eth odical lines .

I n the first place i t i s just as well t o rem ember

that th e ph oto play producer o f to day i s a m an
- -

of wi de e xperience . I n m ost cases h e h as

graduated upon th e stag e and h as probably
,

passe d through all th e phase s between a touring

com pany and a well known theatre As a result
-
.

of th is drilling h e will h av e assumed a wide

p ersp ective Sh e er abili ty will h ave brough t
.

h im to th e control o f th e cinema studi o stage -

,

wh ere th e work i s m ost exacting and wh ere ,

th ere i s a very grea t d emand for ingenuity and

resource H aving m astered the intri caci es and
.

possi bilities of th e ph oto p lay stage and wh at can

-
,

be d one by ph otography h e will be a th orough

,

m aster o f craft Th e greater num ber o f th e play

.

producers retained by th e forem ost firm s are

m en wh o clim bed to th e top rung i n th e th eatrical
profession and me rely went over to th e m otion
pi cture stud i o because i t o ff ered them greater
scope for their prowe ss and knowledge I ndeed .
,

one might go S O far as to say th at unless a m an

,

h as served h i s apprenticesh i p behind th e foot

 H o w To W RI TE P H OTO PLAYS -

ligh ts h e i s an indi ff erent play producer because

,
-
,

h e will b e ignorant o f stage craft and th e -

tech nique o f th e profes sion .

A man o f such experience and ability i s able

to sum up th e value of a plot i n an instant .

Cons e quently th e auth or i s well advi sed to con

dense h i s plot into as few words as possible “

th e b ri efer th e outlin e th e better I n some .

instances i t is not even necessary to indicate

th e ch aracters th e period or th e scene
, Th e , .

plot i s th e only th ing th at i s wanted : the

p roducer as h e reads it will conjure up in hi s
, ,

mind th e period environment atmosph ere and

, , ,

ch aracters wh erewith such and such a story may

,

bes t b e worked out .

Th ere i s one well known Continental producer

-

wh o never asks for m ore th an a bald statement

o f th e pl ot I f it can b e conveyed in six lines
.

h e i s m ore th an satisfied On one occasion . ,

whil e seated at lunch one of th e party jestingly

,

sugg e sted an i dea With out a word of comment

.

th e producer scrib ble d th e suggestion upon th e

b ack o f an envelop e Return ing to th e studio .

an h our or s o later h e h anded a note to one of

,

th e s cenes period and situations and th e next

, , ,

m orning th e play was staged .

O n e of the foremost French picture play

-
23 0 PRACT I CA L C I N EMATO GRA P H Y

prod ucers fo l lows a simi lar p ractice H e h as .

a sta ff o f e igh t writers wh ose s ole duty i s th e

preparation o f scenari o s fo r production Plots .

as th ey flit th rough th e m ind s o f th e se men are

j otted d own and pigeon h oled Th e outsid e-
.

contri butio n s which com e in with every post

are scanned an d th ose though t suitable are
,

di ssected th eir ideas are torn out and re com

,
-

mitte d to paper for filing wh ile th e auth or i s

, ,

rewarded with payment according to th e merit

o f h i s work At th is establi shment no lengthy
.

scenari o submitted by an unknown wri ter i s

consi dered Tim e is to o v aluable wh en eigh t or
.

ten stages have to be kept going Th e sta ff .

i s fully occupi ed up on the work in h and and ,

c annot wade th rough p ages of often in d e c ip h e r

able h and wri ting The meth od of th is particular

-
.

producer in th e cas e o f an ordinary play is to

h ave an abstract prepared by th e retained
,

scenario write r indi cating th e scenes th eir

, ,

se quence C h aracters and oth er details with a

, , ,

bri ef synopsis o f th e plot th e wh ole being set ,

out upon a S h eet o f fool scap U pon th i s material .

th e producer works explaining to th e company

,

th e story of th e play and th e situations as they ,

progress step by step .

M any prod uce rs h owever pre fer th e scenario

, ,

to be submitted in a m ore compl ete form though ,

requirements o f brevity and terseness must be

23 2 P RACTI CAL C I N E MAT O G RAP H Y
in num erable sugg e sted a sensational means o f
,

eliminating him altogeth er Th e man was .

speeding across a frozen river to escape th e

vengeance o f th e h ero wh en th e i ce opened up
sud denly let hi m th rough and th en clos e d on
, ,

h im to h ide h i m from sigh t and memory N eed .

l es s to say th is plot m et with scanty considera

,

tion In anoth er case th e plot turned up on a

.

lady s ring T h e lady was standing by a river

’
.
,

and th e ring slipped from h er finger into th e

water to be caugh t an d swallowed by a fis h .

Som e days l ater th e hero was fish ing i n th e

same stream H e had a bite hooked hi s catch
.
, ,

cu t i t open and found the ring

,
I t i s di fficult .

to say wh o experienced th e m ost amazement ,

th e h ero wh en h e opened his fish or th e producer ,

when h e read th e story .

I n th e ph oto play profession it i s novelty o f th e

-

plot which brings success Th e farth er th e .

auth or can get away from conventi onality th e ,

bigger will be th e reward Th i s is wh ere th e .

average am ateur sh ows deficiency H e i s content .

to follow th e footsteps o f oth ers Again m any .

,

ph oto play writers instead of striving to be

-
,

original prefer to steal ideas from a novelis t or

,

sh ort story wri ter Th i s work needless to say

.
, ,

i s sh eer waste o f tim e Th e producer and h i s .

sta ff follow th e peri odicals and th e publi shing

seasons very closely s o that it is easy for them ,
 H OW TO W RI TE P H OTO P LAYS -
23 3

t o detect a stolen plot M oreover it must be

.
,

rem em bered th at t o d ay th e leading producing

-

fi rm s h ave arrangem ents with authors publish ers ,

an d editors for th e exclusive use of their pro

,

d u ctio n s . Th ese sources form a stand b y as it -

,

were t o be brough t into use wh en th e foun t of

,

ori gi nal s cenari os d ries up When novel s and.

m agaz ine stori es ar e to provi de fare for the

s creen th e producer entrust s th e work of adapta
tion to one of hi s s taff wh o h as a m ore intima te
i dea of wh at i s requi red and will pe rform th e
,

ta sk far m ore sat i s factori ly th an th e ordinary

contributor .

Th e ph oto pl ay auth or h as one great advantage

-

over h i s colleague wh o wri tes for th e stage The .

latter h as to supply di al ogue and often th e ,

succes s or fai l ure o f hi s work turns upon thi s

factor I n w riting for th e screen dialogue is a
.

lost q uantity I t i s ac tion wh ich is required

. ,

because th e specta tor h as to follow th e play from

wh at h e s e e s an d not from what he hears
,
.

Accordin g ly th e requirements of acti on mus t be

kept in mi nd In th e ave rage studio th e actor
.

ei ther extempo ri ses dial ogue to fi t the part or

situation or else the producer promp ts h im
,
.

I t i s t rue th at on e or two producers s tipulate

th a t th e ph oto play sh al l be Written out in detail
-

as i f it were to b e played behind t h e l t

foot igh s ,

but such prod ucers may be set down as in co m ~

23 4 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

p etent or beh ind the times A few years ago .

one of th e Continental firm s insi ste d th at every

play sh ould be written out in full but a few ,

mo nth s experience sh owed th e folly of th i s

’

procedure Pl ays m ounted in this m anner lacked

.

th at gri p and m ovem ent which is necessary in

ph otograp hi c pantomim e Th e audience coul d
.

not retain th e th read o f th e story and the interest ,

consequently flagged Th e m em bers of th e

.

compa n y being compelled to learn th eir lines

, ,

and to reh earse continually went th rough th eir

,

parts like puppets Accordingly th is m ethod of

.

m ounting and acting has been abandoned in

favour o f th e other i n which th e company ,

ab solutely ignorant of th e plot an d story i s ,

taken th rough it step by step and m aintained at

concert pitch th rough ou t
Th e write r s hould m ake a point o f selecting a
striking or catchy title for hi s work Often wh en .

th e plot itself i s useless th e producer will b uy th e

m anuscript merely to apply the title to som e
oth er prod uction .

A word o f warning may be given to th e ih

experienced ph oto play auth or Adverti semen ts
-
.

are freely i nserted in the various periodical s

O ffering to teach the art of wri ti n g plays for the

cinematograph and to submi t th e plot s to th e

,

vari ous producers in th e manner of a literary

agency N o matter h ow speciously an d a ttra c
.
23 6 P RAC T I CAL C I N E MATOGRAPH Y

h ouses giv e an imm ediate deci sion treat th e ,

outsid e contributor kind ly extend profitable ,

word s of advice i f th e work i s p ro mIS In g an d pay ,

promptly A plot for which a Bri ti sh firm con

.

siders 1 05 0d $ 2 50) to b e an adequate remun e ra

. . .

tion will realise $ 25 in th e American

marke t Th e B riti sh producer will consi der
£1 t o b e a princely pri ce for a good plot ,

and so long as this i mpressi on i s retained th e

B ri tish ph oto plays will remain in ferior to their
-

competitors On th e oth er hand th e American

.
,

firm s d eal li berally wi th th e ir authors and are quite ,

p rep ared to pay from $ 25 to $ 1 50 to £ 3 0 .

Fortunately signs of awakening a re becoming

evident among the British firm s Good plots.
,

like gol d nuggets are somewh at scarce and

, ,

one or two of th e latest and most progressive

e stablish ments now pay up to £ 1 0
Picture play producers are finding greater and
-

greater di ffi culty i n obtaining firs t class plots -

.

Th e standard of excellence h as been set s o high ,

owing to th e extremely cri tical ch aracter of th e

pictur e palace patron th at th e h igh est work only
,

now stands a ch ance of being accepted Th e .

rivalry am ong the producers has become keen ,

because a strong pictur e play can comm and a

-

world wide sal e O n e I talian firm in th e e ff ort

- .
,

to forge ah ead of its competitors went so far as ,

to O ffer a priz e of for the best

 H OW To WR I TE PH OTO PLAYS -
23 7

s cenari o in open competiti on I t i s admitted

.

among th e manufacturers that within the course

o f th e next few years th e royal ty system must
com e into operation s o th at th e ph oto play auth or
,
-

will b e elevated to th e l evel of hi s con fr ere

w ri ting for th e th eatre .

I n France a society h as been founded for th e

protecti on of ph oto play writers Thi s organisa
-
.

ti on protect s its members by securing high er

rates of p aym ent by introducing th e work of
,

b eginners to th e fil m producers and last but n ot

-
, ,

l east by advertising th e writer

, .

Ten years ago th e picture play author was -

regarded wi th disdain and was considered to be

,

l ittle m ore th an an i ndi ff erent literary hack To .

day h e i s regarded as a powerful force From .

th e lowest and m ost ill pai d level h e i s rising to

-

th e highest rungs wh ere h i s rewards are

,

excellent and h is opportuni ties unbounded .

 C H APTE R X I X
R E C E NT DE V E L O P ME NTS IN S T AGE P RO D U C T I O NS

A LT H O U G H th e m ounting and staging of ph oto

plays h as been greatly i mprove d th e art h as ,

s till many imperfecti ons Th i s i s partly d ue to

.

th e conservative ch aracter of th e industry .

Th ere i s a lack o f initiative and enterpris e ; th e

producers are content to keep in the one groove
whi ch was establish ed years ago N o one can .

deny th at enormou s sums of m oney are expended

upon th e m ounting of th e productions nor assail ,

th em from th e ph otograph ic viewpoint But .

th ere i s a lack o f art whi ch at times is sadly

jarring .

Thi s was to be expected When th e English

.

pioneers embarked upon th e play producing -

busines s th ey knew n othing about s tage craft - .

Th ei r am bi ti on was rath er to perfect th e photo

graph ic quality of th e films So rapi dly did th e
.

m ovement advance h oweve r and so insistent

, ,

was th e p ublic in i ts d emands for better larger , ,

and more lavi sh ly staged plays that th e pioneer ,

found himsel f out distanced At this juncture

- .

came th e man wh o h ad won h i s spurs i n th e

24 0 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRAP H Y

rivalry i n producing nor is expense considered ,

so long as th e public gets wh at i t wants To .

S ink i n a single producti on h as

become quite a common venture .

I n many cases h owever in spite o f th ese

, ,

ch anges ph oto plays still follow th e li nes that

,
-

prevailed ten years ago Th e blemish es defects .

, ,

and anach ronism s are just as p ronounced now

as th ey were th en th ough th ey are su ffered in
,

si lence by th e public M any faults are h idden .

by th e gorgeous and lavish m ounting of th e

scenes whil e th e rapid action of th e players
,

s erves to di stract attention from th e S h ortcomings

o f th e environment B ut th e feeling of actuality
.
,

which ough t to be th e great feature of th e

cinematograph is m issing ,
The sceni c acces .

s o rie s migh t be le ft out for all th e e ff ect th at th ey

produce .

As a matter O f fact th e ph oto play stage -

occupies to day th e position of th e th eatre twenty

-

years ago Th e scenery is for th e m ost part

.

make shi ft crudely painted i n th e neutral black

-
,

and white th e stock room being ransacked to

,

di scover pieces of canvas to fit th e situation .

Th ere i s n o attempt to create an arti stic e ffect .

Also th ere is an entire ab sence of reality or

individ uality A cell scene for instance bears
.
, ,

every S ign of bei ng built of canvas and bat ten s ,

and s o does the exterior of a medi ae val castle ,

 mi s s i o n of P a th é F r er es
By p
.

er

TH E D IG E S T I VE O R G AN S AN D E GGS OF A W AT E R FL E A .

'

P a th é F re res
By p er mi s s i on f
.

THE MO V I N G -
P IC T U R E NAT U R AL IS T AN D T H E L I"AR D AT H O ME .
24 2 P RACT I CA L C I N EMATO GRAP H Y

setting i s expensive but i t represents all the

,

di ff erence be tween succes s and fai lure Of .

course th ere are o ccasi ons wh en a natural

,

setting demands a certain am ount o f artificial

em bellish ment Thi s was th e case i n th e filming
.

of H amlet as pres ented by Sir Forb e s Robertson

,

and hi s co mpany . A sea background and a

battlemented castle were required Th e former .

was quite easy to find but th e com bination of

,

th e two was m ore d i fficult Th e problem was

.

s olved b y th e ch oice o f Lulworth Cove as the

scene and by erecting a soli d set to represent
th e castl e I n th i s case th e preparation o f th e
.

extem pori sed castle was s o th orough and care

ful th at i t l ooks lik e a weath er beaten stone -

b uilding .

Th e ph oto play stage will be forced to em ulate

-

th e current practice of th e th eatre I t must bring

.

th e artist to bear upon th e work At th e mom ent

.

i t i s m erely a com binati on o f th e ph ot ograph er

and th e stage manager or producer Th e latter
-
.

i s not always an artist th ough h e i s clever at

,

m aking exi sting faciliti es suit h is purpose Th e .

th eatre i s h olding i ts own principally because it

respects th e artistic si de o f th e i s sue In d ivi .

duality i s encouraged Th e ph oto play stage

.
-

will h ave to follow th e sam e line o f acti on .

Directly th Is IS done th e pi cture palace will

b ecome a S pirited rival of th e th eatre .
 RE C EN T D EVELO PM EN TS 24 3

For thi s reas on th e e fforts o f Sir H ubert von

H e r ko me r th e emin ent B ri tish artist are being
, ,

followed wi th interest H e was attracted to th e

.

ph oto play producing business owi n g to th e

-

arti sti c atrociti es p erpetrated by th e professional

pro ducer of film plays H e i s not attempting to
.

ach i eve any revolution except in th e m ounting

,

and acting of plays fo r th e camera but in thi s ,

s phere h e h opes to b ri ng about a recogni tion of

th e part th at th e arti st m ust play .

Th ere i s a complete ab sence of sensational ism

about th e arti s t producer s work an d in th is
-
’
,

respect h e goes again st th e conventions H e .

i s del i berately flouting m any o f th e accepted

tenets o f th e ph oto play production an d h is
-
,

atti tud e i s ce rtai n to m eet with som e hostile

cri tici sm B ut from th e realist p oint of view h e
.

i s co rrect H i s matter o f fact productions give

.
- -

veri sim ili tude t o th e scene and story an d b rings ,

th em wi th i n th e range of probabili ty Th ere is .

n o straining after e ffect N o detai l is introduced

.

unles s i t h as a di stinct bearing on th e subject .

Th e co stum es are faith ful to th e last button I f .

a sixteenth century farmh ouse i s wanted i t i s ,

b uil t and built so well that i n th e picture it has

,

every appearance of h aving been built of stone .

A feature wh ich wi ll be appreciated in th e

H e rko me r p roduction s is th e suppression of th e
h arsh an d di stressing blacks greys and whites ,
,

R 2
244 P RACT I CAL C I N EMATOGRA P H Y

wh i ch under brilliant illumination often convey

t h e impressi on of sn ow N or d o th e players
.

seem to be su ffering from an ae mia These appear.

to be trivial m atters in th em selves but th ey ,

greatly a ff ect the ultimate wh ol e Th e robust .

aspect O f the p easant wh o l ives out of doors i s

faith fully conveyed and h e i s thrown up in sh arp
,

c ontrast to th e whi te faced townsman I n th e

-
.

conventi onal picture play on th e oth er han d

-
, ,

th ere i s n o individ uality of facial expression ,

b e cause one and all are m ade up in th e same

way .

Si r H ubert vo n H e r ko me r h as commenced h is
work i n a logical way H e con fesses that u ntil
.

h e began it h e knew noth ing about i t H e was .

not h arassed by a partial knowledge o f h ow th ings

are done H e is essenti ally a pioneer content to
.
,

work out hi s own i deas and possessed of views

,

upon stage craft wh ich are not to be despised

-
.

Th ey had a good e ffect upon th e th eatre twenty

or thirty years ago and h ave lately been revived
,

by another enthusiast S o Si r H ubert von

.

H e r ko m e r is not li kely to be th e slave of

tradition .

H e maintain s that in th e average photo play -

everythi ng is sacrificed to rapid action This i s .

t rue and i t i s done purposely to distract atten

,

tion from th e weakness of the rest The spectator.

m ust fix his attention upon th e characters or h e

24 6 PRACT I CA L C I N E MATO GRA P H Y
to co nceal him sel f behind a tree less t h an six
inch es i n thickness p roved to be m erely comic
,
.

But other th ings equally ridiculous are found i n

many of th e films o f to day and th at i s th e
-
,

r e ason why th e scen es are s o j udiciously rush ed .

By slowing down the speed of acting th ough ,

with out reducing th e sustai ned int e rest Sir ,

H ubert von H e rko me r contends that th e public

wi ll be put in a p osition to grasp th e whole
subject and will be able to follow i t m ore
,

rationally an d comp rehensi bly At th e same

.

tim e th e players will h ave tim e and scope to

perform th eir parts properly Th ere i s not th e
.

least reason why th i s S h ould n ot be achieved

with out allowing t h e acti on to flag or th e interest
to drop .

Th e lighting o f the subject i s a n o th e r imp o rta n t

feature to whi ch Sir H ubert von H e rko me r i s
giving attention . Th e illuminati on m ust b e
arranged to suit th e situation and as cine ,

ma to g ra p h y o ff ers the utm os t latitude i n th is

respect it i s unnecessary to rush to violent
,

extrem es I n m any produ ctions the studio stage

.

i s su ffused wi th such an intense glare that all

facial expressi on and sh adows are sacrificed .

Sir H ubert has reali sed h ow great i s th e scope

for improvement in this directi on and i s altering
,

th e whole principle of stage l ighting Similarly .

,

i n outdoor work he is supplementing sunshi ne

 REC E N T D EVELO PM EN TS 24 7

with a re ligh ts so as to secure the steady

,

i llumin ati on necessary for good e ff ects The .

com bination of b rilliant dayligh t and arti ficial

i llumination i s a novelty in photo play production -
,

but wh en th e action i s taking place under trees ,

wh ere th e shadows are h eavy and in sharp con

trast with s cattered p atch es of brilliant sunlight ,

the players a re apt to present a phantom appear

ance S ometim e s t hey are scarcely distinguish
.

able Th e introduction o f auxiliary light relieves

.

th e shad owy places and softens the general

e ffect .N eedless to say th e manipulation of
powerful arc ligh ts under such conditions
demands skilful handling but in th e H e rko me r
,

films th e improved results certainly sh ow th at

th e labour i s not wasted .

Wheth er th e com bination of artist and pro

d u ce r wil l prove succe ssful time alone can S how .

There will be a certain amount o f commercial

O pposition lacking in arti stic feeling and h osti le
, ,

to innovati on B ut th e appearance of the artist

.

and h i s resol uti on to work out hi s schemes

l ogically sh ould surely be encouraged by th e
publi c Th e same reform s that ch anged and
.

improved th e the atre enabling it to h old its own

,

against th e all conquering picture palace have a

- ,

m i ssi on to th e latter also They can li ft it to th e

.

high er level th at i s its obvious destiny .

 C HAPTE R XX

WHY N O T NAT O NAL I CINE MAT O GRAP H L ABO RAT O R IE S "

C O NS I D E R I NG th e position which th e motion

picture h as attained in our social and industrial
l ife th e establishment o f nati onal cinematograp h
,

laboratories appears not only to be o pportune ,

but necessary At th e pres e nt m oment i f one

.
,

conceives an i dea for th e solving of some abstrus e

problem by m eans o f animated photography one ,

i s h andi capped by th e l ack o f O pportuni ty an d

faci lities for carrying out th e work Eith er th e .

apparatus required must be m ade specially or ,

purch ased in w h ich case h eavy expenditure may

,

b e incurred or one m ust go to Pari s and make

, ,

use o f th e Marey I nsti tute ei th er by becoming a

,

m em ber of i t or by s erving as th e representative

of a contributory s ociety Th ere one is able to
.
,

p ursue th e line of study quietly easily and , ,

economi cally and even i f the ultimate results are

, ,

di sappointing or th e ch eri sh ed theori es prove to

,

be untenable certain benefits are sure to accrue

,

from th e experiments Th e time i s not wasted

. .

Th e M arey Institute is unique and wonderful .

I ts operations are world wide I ts founder

-
.
,
2 50 P RACTI C AL C I N E MATOGRA P H Y
1 8 73 , a se ri es of ph otograph s of th e transit of
Venus were taken in 70 second s Thi s caused .

him to build a ph otographi c gun with wh ich ,

g u l l s in fligh t were secured The work o f

.

Muyb rid g e the English i nv e stigator residing in

,

San Francisco arouse d h i s enth usiasm to th e

,

high est pi tch and enabled h im to perfect hi s

,

system o f taking a serie s of successive ph oto

graph s upon a single glass pl at e Fi nally in 1 8 9 3
.
, ,

h e produced hi s first moving picture camera -

working with celluloid films .

But s ome twenty years be fore th i s last achieve

m ent h e h ad conceived th e i dea for an I nter
national I nstituti on wh ere experiments o f th i s
character in connecti on with m oti on ph otography
, ,

might be carri ed out to th e advantage o f th e

s ciences . H e reali sed th at th e elucidation of
physiol ogi cal ph enomena was quite b eyond th e
capacity of a single individual H e outlined h is.

sch em e at th e Fourth Physiologi cal Congres s ,

h e l d at Cambridge ( England ) in th e early

seventi es whil e M onsieur H Kronecker of
,
.
,

Switzerland a great admi rer of M arey s work

,
’
,

wh o succeeded to th e presidenti al ch air o f

th e I nstitution after th e founder s d eath urged ’
,

a simil ar plea at an exh ibiti on of scientific

apparatus h eld i n London i n 1 8 76 .

M arey s broad mindedness met with its reward

’
- .

With th e assi stance o f private friends and

 B y p ermis s i o n of th e Mo togr a p h C o .

A NO V E L “
H ID E B Y MR J T NE W MAN W IT H
. . .

C AME R A F IFT E E N FE E T ABO V E T H E G R O L N D’

T h e w o ki n g pl a tfo rm is c o v re d wi th bo u gh s s o as n o t to
r e

l a rm t h e fo re t li fe be in g c in e m to g ra ph ed
s a .

a
By p er mis s i o n f
o th e M o tog rap h C 0 .

TH E H IDE N D T o S H O W W O R K IN G P L AT R M T R E S T L E
OPE E FO ,

S U P P O R T O E R AT O R AN D C AM E R A P L AC D F IFT E E N F E E T
, P E

AB O V E T H E G R O U N D .
2 52 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATO G RAP H Y

appreciated th at th e y h ave been forgotten by

,

or are unknown t o th e present gen eration

, .

Many an i nventor enth usiasti c about a develop

,

ment wh ich h e h as perfected in th e art h as ,

received a rud e sh ock wh en h i s work becam e

publi c and h e l earne d th at h e h ad been for e stalled
years before at th e M arey I nstitute .

N early all of th e s o called s cienti fic film s

-
,

wh ich arouse widespread i nter e s t to day were -

,

prepared originally at th e M arey I ns titute Th e .

comb inati on of th e cinematograph with th e

m icroscope th e X rays and oth er apparatus
,
-
, ,

th e recording of th e growth o f p lants and anim als ,

th e ph otograph ing of rapid m ovement s all th es e

were d em onstrated at thi s establishment a
generation ago .

Surely wh at h as been pos sible at a French

establishment i s not b e yond th e resources o f
oth er countries Wh en one recalls th e valuable
assi stance given to science by the French
I nstitute th er e sh ould be no h esitation i n oth er
,

countries to emulat e th e i dea and t o e stablish

,

nati onal i nstitution s for a similar purpose .

Anim ated ph otography is s til l i n its in fancy .

I ts educational and s cientific poss ibilities are

s carcely yet realised There were m any years
.

d uring wh ich no one reali se d th e full advantages

of ordinary photography in th e provi nces o f
investigation and experime nt and animated ,
 NATI O NAL LA B O RATO RI ES 253

ph otography i s passing through a similar ph ase .

Thi s i s l argely because o f th e showman wh o ,

i s enterpri sing and h as captured th e fort for

,

him sel f Probably n o oth er industry has been

.

responsi ble for th e creation of so many m illion

aires in so S h ort a p eriod yet th ere i s no ,

i ndustry whi ch can rend er s o great a s e rvice to

science.

I t sh ould not be di ffi cult to establish national

insti tutions on M arey s lines in every country
,
’

wh ich h as great industrial and commercial

interests at stake So far as Great Britain i s
.

concerned it m igh t be attach ed to th e N ational

Physical Laboratory at Teddington This estab .

l is h me n t h as an extensive array o f scienti fic

apparatus of all descriptions capable o f being
utilised in conj unction with th e moving picture -

cam era s o th at th e additi onal outlay woul d not

,

be excessive N ot only would i t be possible to

.

utilise th e invention in connection with existing

e xp e riments but i ndependent and original investi
,

g a tio n could be undertaken Th ere are

. many
points o f s cience which can be determ ined only
by moving pictures Alth ough M arey covered
- .

th e ground very com pletely during hi s li fetime ,

“
as a perusal o f M ovement will S h ow many ,

new sph eres of appli cati on h ave appeared since

h i s ti me I t i s quite poss ibl e th at i f som e of
.

h i s inve stigations were repeated in th e ligh t of

254 P RACTI CAL C I N E MATOGRA P H Y
later knowledge th e new re sul ts woul d be qui te
,

a s striking as th e old .

I n Germ any th e cinem atograph i c laboratory

m igh t be attached to th e world fame d testing
-

laboratory at Ch arl ottenburg . At present ,

although the recording instrum ents i n use a re

of a m os t m od e rn and perfect de scri ption th ere
,

are i nnum e rable instance s wh ere improvem ent

migh t be effected by ph otographic m eth ods .

Th e G e rman m ilitary auth ori ties were not slow

t o appreciat e th e valu e o f Professo r C ran z s ’

system of ph otograph ing projectiles in fligh t .

Directly th e ini tial experiments were concluded

th e work was taken up by the War Departmen t
Alth ough certain particulars of th e apparatus
employed and i ts meth od of operation h ave
been publi sh e d th e essential de tails h ave been
,

kept secret . I t i s admitte d th at th e m ethod

e volved by Cranz i s imperfect in certain features ,

but th e auth orities h ave th e germ o f a u seful

invention and are now developing i t in d e p e n
,

d e n tly
. I n I taly also th e value o f th e cin e ma to
graph i s being appreciated in a certain di rection .

T h e M i nister o f M arin e h as establish ed a special

department of ph otography and cinem atography
in Rome after pers onal investigation of th e
,

utili ty of th e inventi on d uri ng the naval

manoe uvres .

T h e U nited States o f America h as been no

2 56 P RACT I CAL C I N EMATOGRAPH Y

ph otograph ic apparatus some twenty years ago .

N o attempt h as be en m ad e to ascertai n wh eth er

i t i s p ossi ble to improve upon hi s work or to ,

determine wh eth er th e data h e g a th e re d is in ‘

nee d of m odification Another field o f investiga

.

tion i s in regard to th e testing o f m etals woods , ,

and oth er m ateri als to discover th ei r beh aviour

,

under varying degrees o f strain .

A nati onal cinematographi c l ab oratory need

not b e expensive eith er t o establi sh nor t o
m aintain Th e M arey I nstitute might be taken
.

as a model A fter th e d eath o f M arey in 1 90 5

.
, ,

th e m eans of carrying on th e institution were

completely reorganised T h e work i t was
.

accomplishing was recogni sed as being too

valuable to b e allowed to cease The French .

Government took up th e question and decided

to grant an annual subvention of £ 960
Th e German Swi ss Russian an d oth er Govern
, , ,

ments as well as various scientific institution s O f

,

all n ations also decided to subscribe regularly

,

to its support I n this way with th e addition of

.
,

some private subscriptions about ,

is contri buted annually Oth er contri butions are

.

m ade in kind such as th e film all of which i s

, ,

given by th e firm of Lumi ere .

Considering th e work accomplish ed by th e

Marey I nstitute it i s maintai ned very economically .

Th e annual expense s average about or

 NATI ONA L LAB O RATO RI ES 257

Th e paid staff comp ri ses th e assi stan t sub

director and an as sistant two highly ski lled
,

m ech anics and one or two minor o ffi cials th e

,
,

important posts being fil led h onorarily .

Private investigators are encouraged to use

th e Institute and i ts equipment Th e scientific .

i nstitutions o f th e di ff erent countries are given

cert ain facilities i n return for a small paym ent .

Thus an annual subscri pti on o f £4 0 entitles

th e representative o f an insti tution to th e wi dest
use o f th e laboratory H e i s not only given free
.

and unrestri cted use of all th e apparatus but i s ,

p rovi ded with a bedroom so that his expenses

,

are red uced to di sbursements upon m eal s

a n d oth er p ersonal requi rements Everyth ing
.

requi site for h is study as well as accessori es

, ,

such as ligh t film devel opers etc ar e provided

, , , .
,

free o f charge .

Th e laborato ry is well provided with all sorts

of appliances . Th er e are cameras o f various
design s adapted to special cl ass e s o f work dark ,

rooms for developing room s for exp erimen ts

, ,

a worksh op wi th skilled mech anics a li b ra ry ,

stocked with l iterature bearing upon cinema

to g ra p h y and its relation to th e sciences and a ,

l arg e an d l o fty hal l furnish ed with a projector

an d screen As th e Institute stands in its own
.

ground s of over square yards ther e are ,

ampl e facilities for out d oor inv e sti gations

- .

P C
. . s
258 P RACT I CA L C I N E MATOG RA P H Y

Th e e xp e rim e nt e r
at thi s I nstituti on h as
advantag e s pl aced at h is dispos al whi ch wil l
not be found el s e wh e r e i n any oth e r part of
"

th e world T h e m ajority of th e applianc e s h av e

.

b ee n d esigne d by th e sta ff m e ch anics and in ,

th e i r m anu facture extr e m e ingenuity h as be e n d i s

play e d M uch of th e apparatus migh t possi bly
.

p rovi d e an incom e in th e form o f royalties i f i t

wer e commerci ally expl oited But i t is a rul e
.

o f th e I nstitut e th at no instrum e n t m ay b e
pat e nted I ts work i s fo r the benefit o f all
. .

U ndoubtedly th e near futur e will s e e th e

foundation of nati onal cinemat ograph ic l abora
tori e s in some form or oth er T h e value of
.

animat e d photography is not yet appreciated .

Dir e ctly th e science s reali s e i ts sign ificanc e and ,

s e e th at it co n s ti tu te s an i ndi spensabl e aid to

‘

i nvestigati on and rese arch th e i nvention will b e

,

given th e re cogn ition i t d eserves Th en i t will .

be turned into m or e us e ful ch annel s than at

present . I ndivi dual i nv e stigati on will b e
e ncouraged and di scoveri es mor e wond e rful th an
,

any of wh ich w e know will b e m ade .

xb I N D EX
D ri vi n g g ea r 3 1 ,
—3 2 expo se d fil ms 71 , ; fixin g
D ru m th e 76 , , ba th 74 ; so a ki n g
, l
so u ti o n ,
5
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”

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—9
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.
~
,

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,

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-
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. 24 2
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ga ti on s .

— —
.

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H e rko me r H u be rt
p i c tu e pl a ys 243 —24 7
,
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and r ,

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-
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.
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—
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,

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'

, J ANN S E N S as tron o te
Fo m ul ae : E as tma n d e ve l o pe r vo lve r
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,

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 2 52 —56 2
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