:sra I ART REEVES Scanned from the collection of Dino Everett Coordinated by the Media History Digital Library www.mediahistoryproject.org Funded by a donation from David Pierce HOTOGRAPHER TH YEAR HOLLYWOOD JANUARY 1934 VOL. 5 NO. 12 c A COPY An excellent example of production on wheels. Note how the "mike" is kept in line with the camera perambulator. Photographed by Gaston Longet MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vafc< 365 Glvet\ie <* to QneMitop«pkr\ £&' theVAndof \Ny i 933 YW fc Q> Pagel INTRODUC7 ive Cinematograph the kind Filmhewants V Our Policy continues to be Give the Cinematographer the kind of Film he wants REG.U.S.PAT.OFF. PANCHROMATIC SMITH & ALLER, Ltd. 6656 Santa Monica Blvd. HOLLywood 5147 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA Pacific Coast Distributors for DU PONT FILM MFG. CORP. 35 West 45th Street New York City THECffllPTRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 5 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY, 1934 No. 12 E. T. Ejtabrook, Publisher's Agent and General Manager Silas Edcar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Ira Hoke and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberc, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. EDITORIAL ------------ 2 THE NEWSREEL WORLD - - 3 By Ray Fernstrom TEACHING MICKEY MOUSE TO WALK ... 4 By Earl Thcisen MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ------ 6 By Augustus Wolfman THE WONDERS OF HESSERCOLOR ------- 8 The Editor TELEVISION— DON LEE SECOND ANNIVERSARY - 9 MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING ------ 10 By Charles Felstead NOTES ON MARINE PHOTOGRAPHY 14 By Karl A. Barleben, F.R.P.S. THE CAMERAGRAM - - 16 and 17 CINEMATOGRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES 19 By Fred W esterberg THE SALISBURY RIOTS - - 20 By John Beecroft ORIGIN OF THE POINT SOURCE THEORY OF LIGHT INTENSITY - - 22 By F. Morris Steadman GREATEST INVENTION SINCE RADIO ------ 23 From The People (London) SOMETHING NEW IN A DEVELOPING STRIP - 25 By Paul Harmer FILM MAKING IN INDIA - 26 By S. Ramanathan CLASSIFIED SECTION --------- 30 OUT OF FOCUS 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1933 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California 80^3gg5^- SERVICE ENGRAVING CO PART OF THE PROGRAM FOR FEBRUARY Jack Smith promises a log of his past two years in the Orient, featuring his adventures in China. • Earl Theisen will offer one of his most interesting articles — History of Hollywood's Early Studios. • Associate Editor, Charles Felstead, con- tinues his instructive series on Sound Record- ing with Chapter VI. • Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S., will add to his growing fame with another fine article: Understanding the Miniature Camera. Art in Motion Pictures by May Cearheart, Supervisor of Art in the Los Angeles City Schools — a most interesting study of its kind. • Fred Westerberg will be in with the elev- enth installment of his now famous Cinema- tographer's Tables. Don't miss these. Keep your files complete. • Paul Harmer will have something good for the gentry who go after pictures in the hot countries — How to Build a Temperature Con- trolled Portable Laboratory. e Our Miniature Department Editor, Augustus Wolfman, will present his second illuminating article with interesting illustrations. And re- member Mr. Wolfman answers questions. • Technical Editor, Lewis W. Physioc, pre- sents The Story of Photography in Brief Out- line, the best piece of literature of its kind and first presented in the Souvenir of the In- ternational Photographer. It is recommended to everybody interested in photography — ama- teur or professional. • OUR COVER FOR JANUARY This still was shot by Gaston Longet dur- ing a pause in a scene of "Half Shot at Sun- rise," an R-K-0 feature starring Wheeler and Woolsey. The subject is nothing new to the studio habitues, but will be interesting to all who like to know how the picture makers do things. Left to Right — At camera Harry Wild; in front of him, Willard Barth; seated on per- ambulator, Nick Musuraca; at camera on right Harold Wellman; standing beside Well- man, Clifton Kling. The remainder of the assembled multitude were late in reporting. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 Editorial Once upon a time maybe as long as fifteen years or more ago — there dwelt in Hollywood, the Picture Towne, a group of youngsters who called themselves Cameramen. They were employed by the men who produce motion pictures and they were a fine, straight- shooting, upstanding, intelligent, clean cut outfit. Their middle name was loyalty and they were the most energetic lot anybody ever saw. They were the prop's (not the properties) of the growing young industry and no matter who else might, for some reason or other, shirk the job, usually through lack of knowledge, the Cameraman, like the Roman soldier, was always at his post ready for any emergency, even to direct, dress a set or play a part — if his assistant was equal to the job of cranking. The Producers found by experience that the group called Cameramen could be trusted in any event and that their skill, courage and artistry saved many a picture from the morgue. Time rolled on. The Producer was getting to be rich and powerful and somewhat forgetful of the "early days" when he and the Cameramen were the best of friends. The Picture Towne was growing up- and becoming famous and the Cameramen, more or less left to themselves, began to talk about getting together in some sort of club or association where they could exchange ideas and, by talking shop, could solve their mutual problems. And so it befell that they passed the word around and formed an organization which they called a so- ciety and thus they began to enter upon the second phase of their brilliant and useful career. By this time the Producers were waxing richer and, one may say, a bit arrogant. To him and his kind the Cameraman began to be just one of the hired hands about the studio. He was on the pay roll and, therefore, entitled to some sort of recognition, but that was all, and so the Cameraman herded by himself and spent his valuable time putting beauty into the pictures and developing processes by which miracles were wrought. And here let it be said that the magic of the skilled cameraman is the most wonderful magic in the world, for the picture is what the cameraman gets and the man be- hind the camera is the real magician. And so the Producer became very proud of the work of his Cameramen and enthusiastically boasted about it, but when the Cameraman, conscious of his increasing use-value, humbly suggested that it would seem only commensurate with his services to be paid a reasonable advance over the old "take what you can get" scale, so that his family might live better and be a bit happier, he was told to run along and be a good boy. But the Cameramen were not like that. With a lively sense of their own importance of their use- value in that great structure called the Motion Picture Industry the Cameramen began to compare notes and what they found out was sufficient. Men were sadly overworked and the majority were sadly underpaid. Committees were appointed to see what could be done and contact was actually made with the powers that be among the people who make the pictures. What was deemed, by the best minds among the Cameramen, to be a fair and equitable basis of agree- ment between Producer and Cameramen, for the ad- justment of differences, was drawn up, submitted to the cinematographic body and considered a first class representation of the Cameramen's case. This was placed in the hands of a committee with instructions to put it up to the Producers and the battle was on. The tactics of the Cameramen was to go after the Producers and get them to sign this document, which was called a "Code of Ethics," while the tactics of the defense, or the Producers, was to stall the Cameramen, but to do it in a nice, quiet, soothing kind of way. During the exchanges (conversations they call 'em in diplomatic circles) the Cameramen were in dead earnest and they went at the job with their usual energy and intelligence. They felt sure they were on the way to success and that the bad old days of never ending work and inadequate pay were on the skids for good and, so flattering was the outlook, that scores of Cameramen who had held aloof from membership in the Society now hastened to enroll under that stand- ard for the protection promised by the proposed Code of Ethics and so it was. Time passed. Many conversations were held, the Code was sent back time and again for amendment and the Cameramen, in their spirit of loyalty and trust, made concessions and did their all to get their Ten Commandments signed, but to no avail ink was dear. Now in those days there was a young man who happened to be at the head of the Cameramen s co- horts, by unanimous choice, and he was a fine, intelli- gent, aggressive and upstanding executive. At last he grew weary of the status quo and an- nounced that he would take the matter into his own capable hands and it looked like business. There were daily conferences between the straight- forward, sincere ambassador of the Cameramen and the affable and unctuous prime minister of the oppo- sition, but to no avail. And, in the meantime, certain Cameramen had stood on the sidelines and watched the game. They hoped that the Code, by this time more resembling a football than anything else, might be signed, but as time flew on they lost hope and looked about for a true solution of the problem. They found it in the form of a Labor Union, did these determined Cameramen who had watched from the sidelines and, sure enough, that was the true solution. They found that because of the unlimited oppor- tunities offered them through an affiliation with labor it was possible to more effectively handle their eco- nomic affairs. They learned that through the I.A.T. S.E. & M.P.M.O. they would build a friendship among 2,500,000 affiliated individuals, who have since grown to 5,000,000. They learned that through such an association there was not a village, town or city to which their employers could send them wherein labor was not represented wherein friends did not reside. They learned that not only was the manual laborer their friend, but the skilled laborer and the organized artists as well. The educators, too, were organized under the great banner of the American Federation of Labor and they found as well that their labor card was an open sesame to places previous inaccessible. It healed the sore places, barred nobody possess- ing the necessary qualifications for membership, pro- vided for protection to Cameramen and Producers alike, at home and abroad, satisfactorily settled the wage problem, brought about over night far better working and living conditions than the Cameramen had hoped to attain through their Code of Ethics and, within an incredibly short time, established an orderly set up that has endured, grown and flourished for five and one-half years, and internationally respected. But the prosperity of the Cameramen began to irk the Producer and there were differences as to hours (TURN TO PAGES 16 AND 17) January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER THE NEWSREEL WORLD By Ray Fernstrom As I sit here at the end of another year, I cannot keep from contemplating the newsreel of the future, especially the shooting of news through this medium during 1934. Is the old element of surprise going to return? Is newsreel material going to be more colorfully re- produced on the screen ? That seems to me to be the next logical step in newsreel progress. Sound came and slowed up the coverage of news from both the portability angle and novelty of coverage, with but one or two exceptions. The popularity of Fox Magic Carpets proves that more kinds of news could be shown with pleasant re- sults. As to color in newsreels, look at the success of Walt Disney's Symphonic Shorts. Now that a practical three- color process is here why not shoot "feature news" in this perfected manner? Think of the added beauty of such old stereotype stories as "Niagara in Winter Garb," "Bavarian Girls in Festivities of Spring," etc. Do not try to tell me it is impractical and pass it off ivith that. It is practical, even if more expensive. More money will have to be spent to pull newsreels out of the doldrums of stereotype. When such nationally read writers as Robert Benchley start to criticise the "down in the rut" run of newsreel coverage it is about time something came to pass. I have just talked to Mr. Ball, of Technicolor, and Ed Estabrook, two excellent authorities on color movies, and have found the following to be facts: 1. Color can be shot on a single system newsreel recording outfit just as at present. 2. Any newsreel cameraman can shoot three color pictures. / hree The "Three Musketeers" of the newsreels at the Pan- American Railways. Left to right: )oe Gibson (Universal), Mrs. Gibson; James Pergola (Fox) and James "Buck" Buchan- an of Paramount. Pergola and Buchanan are ready to take off for the firing lines of Cuba, while Gibson remains behind convalescing from his recent Havana experience. 3. No trouble of any kind will be experienced in splitting the beams of light. 4. Prints can be knocked out as fast as black and white. If that isn't food for thought? What is News? Look at your daily paper. It is a NEWS-paper, yet what do you find ? Articles on cooking, articles on care of children, advice to the lovelorn, travel articles, music news, etc. Doesn't that indicate that newsreels could spread out much more in coverage of interesting happenings throughout the world ? The fact that newspapers feature the personalities that "write up" the news indicates that people would be interested in the men that shoot the newsreels. Why not feature a trip made by Geiskop or Alexander or Oliver, on tour to various and out-of-the-way corners of the globe, letting each cameraman throw his per- sonality into each story. Each will give his personal angle on coverage, manner of build-up and supply his own voice in many instances. Almost anywhere in the world laboratories are to be found. Let the boys shoot a wide range of subjects, finish them alone after their own ideas and let them mail in the finished film. I'll just bet you would see a world of excellent entertainment filled with the sur- prises always found OFF THE BEATEN PATH. Some day we will have a new kind of newsreel in- stead of five newsreels practically all alike. What would happen if news-stands sold newspapers and magazines all ALIKE in coverage, personalities and subjects? What are the differences in various newspapers pub- lished in your town ? Personalities, who write the news, I'll wager. Yes, there are a couple of personalities talking in the newsreels and these boys stand out and make those reels better. But no newspaper personality writes the entire paper ; why should one name talk an entire newsreel? Tt is granted, and an accepted fact that newsreels are a most popular feature of every movie program, but are the newsreels holding their fans as they should? No! The Silly Symphonies, the Magic Carpets are cutting into that popularity more each day. Shorts are getting better, but are the newsreels? Look at several issues of any newsreel made at various times during the last six years or more and I'll foretell that you will get a surprise as you look back. I tell you the newsreels have been standing still while other shorts have been going ahead rapidly adding novelty, sur- prise and applied elementary psychology. With but little effort our newsreels of tomorrow can be here today or at least 1934. A very prosperous New Year to you all. May you make the best of every opportunity and if none come knocking at your door, go out and get them. Then all your New Years will be happy. The Old Swede, RAY FERNSTROM. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 Teaching Mickey Mouse To Walk By EARL THEISEN Honorary Curator Motion Pictures L. A. Museum EFORE me is a wood carving of Mickey Mouse made by the noted carver, John Cerisoli. It is one of my prized possessions. It shows the little human mouse as he is to each of us the world over. There "Mickey" stands, with chesty pose and arms akimbo, with a so-wise eight year old grin. He is exuding the spirit of a pert youth who has just done something or other. There he stands beckoning me to chase him, or re-do with him some of the things I did long ago. Walt Disney has made him the personification of all that is young in us. On the screen he takes us through all his troubles and victories. He is so human that it is difficult to realize that he is only a drawing photographed on motion picture film. To make a cartoon move; to animate Mickey Mouse is not a mysterious thing. It is a process that anyone can understand. A cartoon studio in many respects is like a real-life studio. In both studios there are four general departments or elements. First, a story or scenario, char- acters or stars to enact the story, a director, and a setting to serve as a background for the story. Those very few and fortunate persons who visit Mickey's studio look about for him or a model of him ; but in vain. It is hard to "act your age" as you would say, and refrain from getting down and looking under the tables for at least some vestige of "our mouse." Like a youngster, I am all eyes, staring everywhere, anxious not to miss a single item. Just as I am certain that T have discovered the darkened corner where Mickey is hiding and I am intent upon it, out walks a blinking cat. A near giggle is stopped. There are cats everywhere. They are in all sizes and colors. My hunt for Mickey is stopped when I am told that he never appears before the camera in person, but does so as a cartoon painted on a sheet of celluloid. And instead of sets made by a carpenter, of wood, as they have in the real-life studios, the cartoon set is a painting by an artist on water color paper. First, Walt calls together a "gag-meeting" which is actually in the form of a lunch that lasts all afternoon. Herein they organize a story idea. Now with a concep- tion of the story they start out to build the plot and vari- ous sequences. A cartoon scenario differs from the conven- tional studio scenario in that it is in two parts, one part telling the story step by step during every inch of the film and the other part describes and notes all sound and music. These two parts are matched by musical beats ; each beat requires a certain length of film and for each beat Mickey Mouse is required to do a certain bit of action. The rea- son for the two scenarios is that the picture part of the story cannot be photographed with sound. The cartoon sounds are recorded independently on a separate strip of film and then later it is "synchronized" to the picture. The cartoon director is known as the "lavout" man. As the term implies, it is his duty to lay out the story for the artists to draw. He makes rough sketches of the characters, illustrating how they are to do the things called for in the story. He also makes background sketches which are painted on water color paper by an artist. A group of artists, who are known as the "animators," takes the rough sketches of the story and begin to draw. They make cartoon drawings by the thousands in order to show the motion. In fact, it is necessary to draw from 10,000 to 12,000 separate pictures for a cartoon movie of the average length. This average length of six or seven hun- dred feet, by the way, is seen in the theatre in seven min- utes. It takes about 100 artists two weeks to make a suffi- cient number of drawings to make a cartoon movie. These drawings which are known as "original" draw- ings then go to another department where they are traced to sheets of celluloid. They are traced to celluloid for a reason that I'll explain presently. In the meantime Walt is teaching Mickey to be a good mouse ; he is showing him new stunts and reading to him from Emily Post. Now we have two things completed ; the backgrounds and the cartoon stars on celluloid. These go to the camera department to be photographed. The cartoon camera is like the regular studio camera, — all movie cameras have two cranks, one that will take a foot of film or sixteen "frames" as they are known, and another that will take just one frame for each turn of the crank. The cartoon cameraman uses the crank that takes only one frame. The camera is anchored on a framework and is focused upon a table. The reason for this is because the backgrounds are laid on this table and the celluloid characters are laid on top for photographing. This table is equipped with an air pressure device that holds the drawings steady during the photographing. Too, it presses the celluloids with the pic- tures of the characters into firm contact with the back- ground painting. Now to explain how a cartoon is made to move. It is not a feat of magic, nor is it a mysterious accomplishment of Walt's. If you look at a piece of film you will see six- teen tiny photographs for each foot. Upon close examina- tion it is found that where there is action the camera has recorded it in progressive poses. As the camera eye "saw" the action it recorded it stage by stage in different posi- tions. Let us suppose that Mickey Mouse is to be photo- graphed doing a bow on the stage. To show this the cam- eraman would have a painting of the desired stage and a series of pictures of Mickey on celluloid. The cameraman would lay the picture of the stage on the camera table. Upon it he would lay a picture of Mickey standing in a straight pose. When the transparent celluloid with the cartoon of Mickey is laid over the stage painting, he ap- pears to be standing on the stage. Now a single photo is taken with the movie camera. The celluloid picture of Mickey is now removed and rep]aced by a second celluloid of him. This second celluloid picture shows him in a posi- tion where in he is leaning slightly forward. This is pho- tographed. This process of photographing the pictures of Mickey Mouse over the stage painting continues until the bow is completed. In this manner the bow is photo- graphed in pose after pose as he leans forward. To de- pict a bow requires about twenty-four different poses or about one and a half feet of film. When the different poses are projected at high speed in the theatre, they blend together and give an illusion of motion. The process of Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH KR /■;.-, photographing the cartoon step by step continues until the set in a frame for door slams, a barrel swishing against end of the picture. taut canvass furnishes wind noises, an electric fan sounds In the meantime, another department is making the like an airplane, an egg beater like machinery. They have sound effects and music. This is done in a large sound cow moos, dog barks in all pitches, or chick conversation, stage. Here the musicians hover about a microphone. On Everything. TT Original background painting from Mickey's latest "Shanghaied." The cartoons of Mickey Mouse drawn on celluloid are laid over this for photographing. their heads are ear phones bringing to them the ticking sounds of the metronome. Contrary to popular belief, they do not watch the picture on the screen and make sounds accordingly. Instead they follow the cartoon man- uscript which designates the sounds for each inch of film. For example, the eighth note of the 326th foot in the pic- ture requires Mickey to say a certain word. The manu- script carries that information. And when the head phones tick off that portion of the film, the person who does Mickey's conversation starts his lines. He must be punc- tual, too, because if he did not start exactly on time, Mickey would open his mouth to say something and the words would not be heard. Walt, by the way, does the Mickey Mouse conversation. All the sounds that are heard in the cartoon are made in this manner. Usually the incidental sounds are made by devices constructed for the purpose. They have a door When the sounds are recorded, the film is "dubbed" on to the picture part of the cartoon. Now it is ready for a preview. These first showings are famous and are a part of the social life of Hollywood, but they are something more than fun. Here the picture receives close criticism and any part not up to Mickey Mouse's style is marked for the limbo of bad film. As I write this, December 18, information comes to me that Walt Disney is being presented with the medal of "The Parents Magazine" for the greatest contribution to youngsters during the year. The ceremony was a'ttended at the studio by so many that the walls seemed to bulge and one looked to see arms and legs pushed through the windows. Walt received the additional good news that Mrs. Disney had presented him with a baby daughter, "Diane Marie." Now she animates Walt; while he ani- mates Mickey. Three progressive poses of Mickey that would be used to show him lowering his arm. On the right is a sketch which designates the action of the story as made by the cartoon director. EYEMOS GREAT Martin Johnson, noted African explorer, recently pur- chased a 48-speed Bell & Howell Eyemo camera for mak- ing animal movies from airplanes. This brings his Eyemo battery up to seven machines. From Nairobi, British East Africa. Mr. Johnson writes: "The new Eyemo has now arrived and I have already tried it out on the airplane trip from Mombasa to Nairobi with wonderful results. It happened that we passed over many herds of elephants, and I got some fine shots with the new camera." Among his other Eyemos, Mr. Johnson has one with motor and 400-foot magazine, which is also used in air- WORK IN AFRICA plane work ; two with special triggers for photographing wild animals automatically ; and three more as accessories to his battery of Bell & Howell standard cameras. The special trigger Eyemos were first used for Mr. Johnson's gorilla shots in the film "Congorilla." The arrangement is such that an animal passing be- fore the camera strikes a string which releases the trigger and starts the film in motion. At the same time a flare is ignited electrically. This permits pictures to be taken automatically at night or in the deepest jungles. Some- times the camera is set up and left for a week or so before getting the desired pictures, but eventually something worth while is sure to be "shot." Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 Miniature Camera Photography [In introducing Augustus Wolfman to our readers we feel certain that very few of them have not heard of him before. Mr. Wolfman started out in life as a pharmacist having received the degree of Ph.C from the Long Island University, Brooklyn College of Pharmacy. His interest soon turned to photography and, in 1928, he entered the New York Institute of Photography where he took courses in both motion picture and still photography. There he became acquainted with Mr. Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S., and has been associated with Mr. Barleben ever since. Mr. Wolfman soon began contributing articles on photography to various magazines, his writings having appeared in "Photo Era", "American Photography", "Camera", "Amateur Movie Craft", "American Cinematographer", "Nature Magazine", etc. In October 1932 he became technical editor of "Personal Movies". Being associated with Mr. Barleben it was natural that Mr. Wolfman became engaged in, and experimented with miniature photography when it was first introduced. His interest is still unwavering, and he is of the opinion that miniature photography has a considerable future being "tomorrow's photograhy practiced today." — Editor's Note.] HTS^Ijpljl XHIBITING his usual foresight, and tendency P^^sld t0 ^eeP UP vv'tn t^le trend of modern times, Mr. j/i-gHsjj.j Snyder, our editor has decided to include a min- " ■■' ^ iature photography department in the INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. Perhaps it may appear to many that Mr. Snyder has been lagging behind times for not running a miniature department at an earlier date, but the reader must remember that up to a com- paratively recent time miniature photography, as an estab- lished branch of photography, has been boiling and round- ing to form in the pot of experimenters. It has now emerged from the experimental laboratories of photogra- phers, and claims a position not only side by side with other branches of the science of photography, but well nigh at the head of it. Miniature photography is here to stay. It has ceased being a novelty in the hands of amateurs, and has gained admission in many commercial and scientific fields where the highest of precision is required. The reason is quite evident. Miniature cameras today represent the highest precision instruments in the photographic field. They are little jewels of precision, accuracy, and results — results that relatively far surpass those produced by larger cameras. Consider a small instrument which can be easily slipped into a pocket, and which is capable of producing negatives which will yield flawless prints 11 by 14 inches and even larger. Perhaps the greatest credit for the remarkable progress of miniature photography can be attributed to the firm of E. Leitz Inc., and the Leica Camera which they sponsor. This camera is undoubtedly the most versatile photogra- phic instrument in the world. It can accommodate over 300 accessories which will adapt it to every photographic endeavor. A description of this camera would be super- fluous since its popularity is of such an extent that it is known to every miniature camera enthusiast. The Leica represents the cine type of miniature cam- era— it accommodates the usual 35mm. motion picture film. We also have such fine precision instruments as the Contax and Peggy, which use the 35mm. motion picture film. The instruments mentioned take a picture the size of a double frame of m.p. film — 1 by \]/2 inches. The Contax is gradually increasing its range of versatility. It now accommodates 10 lenses of various focal lengths and apertures, and reproduction devices are also available. There are also such cameras as the Memo, and Korel'e-K which accommodate cine film but produce single frame pictures 44 by 1 inch. The Korelle-K magazine holds sufficient film for 100 exposures. By Augustus Wolfman The miniature camera enthusiast also has at his dis- posal a host of fine roll-film cameras. Many, such as the Rolleiflex, National Graflex, Brilliant, Superb, Exakata, etc., are of the reflex type. The Rolleiflex is an outstand- ing member of this class. It reflects the pride its manu- facturers take in the instrument which they produce. Carl Zeiss lenses, and the new type of Compur shutter are standard equipment. The Rolleiflex originally em- bodied the principle of having a large aperture finder lens. It also has a unique window, as is illustrated, in which the lens and shutter settings can easily be seen. Accessories are constantly being added to the Rolleiflex to increase its versatility. Besides the reflex types the miniature camera worker can avail himself of the usual type of roll-film camera in a miniature form. Amongst these we have such reliable instruments as the Makinette, Foth Derby, Baby Ikomat, Perkeo, Vistus, Prominent, Dolly, Pypille, Cameo Ultrix, Weeney Ultrix, etc. At first this type of camera made only the half vest pocket size negative. Now we have ad- vanced miniature cameras which produce full vest pocket negatives, a square format, such as the Rolleiflex whose negative measures 2^4 by 2^4 °r 1-M? by 1^, etc. I have made this discussion of cameras rather brief because constant advertising has brought these instruments to the attention of the photographer. Allow me to digress for a moment and mention that this department is intended solely for the benefit of the readers of INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, that is, they are free to write in requesting information on certain topics, or make suggestions for the type of mate- rial to be included. Most of the workers in the miniature The Rolleiflex showing the window through which lens and shutter setting can easily be seen. camera field are actively engaged in experimentation and research, to make miniature photography and even better means of photographic expression than it is. We are de- sirous of making this department a medium of exchange of ideas, theories, and findings of these workers. Acknowl- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. .military. 1934 The INTKRNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHE Seven edgment will be made to the individual submitting such material. Do not hesitate to submit any material which you may think will be of interest to other miniature cam- era workers. It is only through such an exchange of ideas that definite progress can be realized. We are also inter- ested in obtaining photographs made with miniature cam- eras, which will illustate the type of work that can be produced with small cameras. Some individuals may hesi- tate to send in material thinking that what they have to offer will not be of any interest to other photographers. I will ask that readers of this department banish such thoughts and submit all material they have to offer. Al- low us to judge whether your material will be of interest to other readers or not, and bear in mind that you will be given full credit for your offering. Let us now consider some concrete branch of minia- ture photography. The choice of film seems to puzzle many small camera workers. It is surprising that most workers are not acquainted with all the films available for their camera. They have knowledge of only the more popular brands, and are entirely '.gnorant of other makes. I am listing below practically all the roll films and cine films suitable for miniature camera work, which are avail- able to the photographer. Motion Picture Films Agfa Fine-Grain Plenachrome (Orthochromatic) , Agfa Superpan (Panchromatic), DuPont Orthochro- matic, DuPont Panchromatic, DuPont Special Panchro- matic, DuPont Superior (Panchromatic), DuPont Micro- pan (Panchromatic), DuPont Infra-D (Ortho-Pan), Eastman Kodak Orthochromatic, Eastman Panatomic (Panchromatic), Eastman Kodak Panchromatic, Eastman Kodak Type 2 (Panchromatic), Eastman Kodak Super sensitive Panchromatic, Gevaert Superchrome Express (Orthochromatic), Gevaert Orthochromatic , Mimosa Extrema (Orthochromatic), Perutz Orthochromatic, Perutz Persenso (Orthochromatic), Selo Orthochromatic, Selo Panchromatic. Roll-Films Agfa Fine-Grain Plenachrome (Orthochromatic), Agfa Superpan (Panchromatic), Eastman Verichrome (Orthochromatic), Eastman Panatomic (Panchromatic), Eastman Supersensitive Panchromatic, Gevaert Ortho- chromatic, Gevaert Superchrome Express (Orthochro- Portrait shot by the Rolleiflex Camera. matic), Perutz Persenso (Orthochromatic), Voigtlander (Orthochromatic ) . Although more cine films are available, the possessor of the roll-film camera will notice that with one excep- tion (Infra-D) he has at his disposal every type of film available to the cine film camera owner. Roll-films can also be secured in orthochromatic, panchromatic, and su- persensitive panchromatic types. Infra-D film is sensitized to infra red rays. Although very sensitive to the red end of the spectrum, this film is practically blind to green, hence its classification as an ortho-pan film. It is used to simulate moonlight effects, and to penetrate haze when photographing from the air, or where it is essential to record detail at great distances. Haze in the atmosphere is caused by the droplets of moisture which reflect and scatter the shorter wave-lengths of light (ultra-violet, violet and blue). The longer wave lengths of light (red, and infra-red) pass through the atmospheric particles of moisture without being deviated from their course. Since films are generally greatly sen- sitive to the shorter wave-lengths of light, haze is readily reproduced. If Infra-D film is used in conjunction with a deep red filter, all blue, violet and ultra-violet light will be kept from being reproduced, whereas the red and infra-red light will act upon the film. All haze is elim- inated and great distances are reproduced in detail. The filter factors for this film in bright sunlight are as follows : Filter Factor K2 16 A 64 F 64 70 64 88 90 When used without a filter Infra-D film behaves like an orthochromatic emulsion. The night effect produced with Infra-D film in con- junction with a deep red filter, is due to the fact that the sky is normally blue, is kept from being recorded on the negative, and in the subsequent print it therefore appears black. Trees usually reproduce with their green leaves white, appearing as if they were bathed with soft moon- light. This is due to the fact that the green leaves reflect a great amount of infra-red light, and therefore greatly affect the film. Infra-D film, as well as other cine films, may be pur- chased either in daylight loading spools, or in bulk. Fol- lowing the line of least resistance, as is customary with us humans, it is a fact that the majority of photographers resort to daylight loading spools rather than purchasing their film in bulk. You may as well be informed that buying your film in rolls of 100 feet will bring down the cost of negative material to a negligible amount. E. Leitz supplies a useful little gadget with which the film can be easily loaded onto the spool. It is merely necessary to sup- ply yourself with two or more magazines and keep them loaded with film, and you will always have negative ma- terial at hand. You can also obtain from them a trimming guide with which the film can be cut in the correct fashion to be loaded into the camera. Although it may seem trivial let me remind you that it would be advisable to wash, and thoroughly dry your hands before loading bulk film into magazines. A small dirt smudge left on the film will ruin a negative. Also hande the film only at its edges at all times. Even though you may have diligently washed your hands, the action of loading the film may cause them to prespire. Moisture coming in contact with the delicate emulsion is apt to cause spots in the subsequently devel- oped negative. Some photographers may raise the objection that they wish to try the various films available, and to purchase them all in quantities of 100 feet, the films would be long outdated before they would have the opportunity of ex- posing such a large quantity of sensitive material. I do not object to an individual experimenting with various films. After having tried them all, he should select one or two films that are best suited to his purpose, and by (Turn to Page 18) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advettisers. Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 The Wonders of Hessercolor New Process of Making Still Pictures in Natural Colors Bids Fair to Become a Box Office Stimulus. One of the greatest advancements affecting the mo- tion picture industry as a whole will be possible through the use of a new process of making still pictures in natural color, thus greatly improving the theatre lobby displays throughout the entire exhibitors' market. The weakness of motion picture advertising — in comparison to other major industries — is widely acknowledged. Much of this is due to the lack of quality in still pic- tures from productions ; this being specially noticeable when they are "hand colored" and lithographed or printed in various other methods for lobby display sets. It is not unusual to see a set of pictures in a lobby where obviously the girl's same dress is pink in one poster and blue in an- other. These prints are naturally turned out cheaply — the ex- pense in this direction has been pared down to an absolute minimum. Yet, particularly in theatres other than first run, the lobby stills are an all important factor in patron determination as to whether or not they care to see the picture that is being advertised. This same fact holds true of the billboard lithographs; many of these are cheaply developed from motion picture stills, with crudities of coloring and printing that cer- tainly do not do their fullest duty in bringing patrons into the theatre. National advertisers in many lines are using color photography, while the magazine pages are being more and more filled with advertising copy produced from natural color photography. Any effect that an artist, painting with a brush, can produce, is possible with mod- ern natural color photography, and certainly the magazine covers already produced, of movie stars, are much superior to the paintings that adorn similar covers. Perfected Color Process Edwin Bower Hesser, one of the early members of Local No. 659, International Photographers, has returned to Hollywood after an absence of two years with his now perfected invention and method of producing natural color still pictures, the Hessercolor Process. To a group of offi- cers and members of the International Photographers he displayed recently a selection of about fifty pictures pro- duced by his method. These examples included everything from natural color portraits of Joan Crawford, Billie Dove, Barbara Stanwyck, Thelma Todd, Jeanette Mac- Donald, Janet Gaynor and other prominent stars, to in- teriors of surprising beauty taken aboard steamship and elaborate exteriors of architecture and classic gardens. Still life groupings for advertisings, such as Heinz pro- ducts, fruits, baskets of orchids and cigarettes were re- markable for their fidelity to nature, while decorative head studies, for advertising purposes, showed a range of artistic effects using colored lightings that rival the variations of a painter's palette — it being possible to "paint with colored lights" just as in stage lighting. Cameramen To Be Trained Hessercolor Process is the result of a number of years of great effort, starting while the inventor was captain, Photographic Section, Signal Corps, U. S. Army. The first application was to aerial photography in color, pri- marily for military use. His efforts in recent years have been devoted to simplification in the all important matters of speed, accuracy and financial economy of operation, to make it practical for the motion picture industry. On his recent visit to Local No. 659, Captain Hesser outlined his idea of operation to include the training of a number of members of No. 659 in the skillful handling of the Hessercolor Camera, by which the pictures are taken on motion picture sets or in the portrait galleries of a studio; then turned over, undeveloped, for finishing in full color. Hessercolor Camera The Hessercolor Camera is a mechanical affair, by which three pictures are made in rapid succession, with proper filters, to produce blue printing, yellow printing and red printing negatives. These three negatives are taken in a total of less than three seconds ; slight movement of the subjects, for instance, in a scene with many players, can easily be corrected in the printing. The three negatives are printed separately on a new substance discovered and manufactured by Captain Hesser ; impalpably thin, yet tough and flexible, it makes registra- tion easy and certain. The printing of a picture, in the three colors, its superimposition and final blending — sim- ilar chemically to "firing" of pottery — is a matter of half an hour's laboratory work. The final picture looks almost as if it were glazed ; it has a very bright finish like decoration on china, making it particularly adaptable to reproduction in process plate engraving or any other commercial form of printing. Hessercolor pictures have been reproduced in many lead- ing national ads in the past year, while Captain Hesser was in charge of the natural color photographic depart- ment of The New York Times. Easy To Master It is claimed that any skillful cameraman can learn to use the Hessercolor camera properly in two or three experiments ; the resulting pictures, strange to say, have very little possibility of failure, if made on a properly lighted motion picture set. Naturally, the more highly developed arts of portraiture or poster-making in Hesser- color need special lightings in color ; magazine covers, too, require the skill of an artist who knows the art of color- appeal in display work. Scenic shots are particularly wonderful by this new method and while there are still certain limitations, as to exposure of two or three seconds, it is possible to get a "one-shot camera" which is instantaneous, though not as good in quality as three shot. Several Types of Cameras There are several types of Hessercolor cameras, in various sizes and types of mechanism, some of them taking upright portrait pictures and others in landscape propor- tion for stills on motion picture sets. The average time exposure for color stills on sets is about two seconds and even a movement of a person, if not too great, can be undetectably corrected in the finished print. Practically every photographer is familiar to some ex- tent with the workings of color photography ; the photo- graphing of a subject through minus-yellow, minus-red and minus-blue filters. This is carried out with great speed in the Hessercolor Cameras, which have a feature, for mo- tion picture work, which permits photographing players wearing regular panchromatic make-up with brown lips so that the lips in the final print are red — without alter- ing the relative value of the colorings of clothes or of the set. It is also possible at all times to "step up" the red printing filament, so that a more natural flesh tint is ob- tained than is actually before the camera, when panchro- Please mention The international Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Xiu, matic standard make up is worn. Naturally, when a stage or "technicolor type" make up with red lips and rouged cheeks is worn, no artificial "stepping up" of the red is necessary or desirable. Saves Time, Cost and Waste Until the present time, with the introduction of the Hessercolor method, the majority of color prints have been made with superimposed carbon tissues which have to be manipulated under the most exact conditions of tem- perature, including an air conditioned room at almost freezing point. Great skill is required in all carbon tissue printing; the filaments are decidedly fragile and there is no opportunity to correct faulty registration. The very high cost of finished pictures in carbon methods is due to great time consumption, high cost of materials and large percentage of wasteage — all three of these items being conquered by the Hesser plan. Mosaic War Maps Captain Hesser was the inventor of several aerial pho- tographic devices used in wartime and his newest discov- ery is a color camera for aerial use, which will readily disclose camouflage or any tricks of the enemy used to con- ceal fortifications or troop movements. This is also a three-plate camera, but made in "one-shot"; examination of negatives and positives, through special viewing glasses, will tell an army commander secrets that would be un- guessed by judging from an ordinary black and white aerial photograph. Maps can thus be made in full color — a mosaic, as they are called, in color, being much more valuable than in monotone. Great speed in making up the color prints for aerial work is possible by the use of the Hesser devices. Another great field for this photography is in medical work, where an exact record of skin diseases, for instance, can be made for the illustration of text books. Commercial Field Great So far as the general public is concerned, the plans under way call for the equipping of several hundred studios throughout the United States with Hessercolor cameras ; the regional centre nearest them being used for their color printing. All the photographer has to do is make the negatives and develop them in the specially for- mulated solutions for color. This will also apply to mo- tion picture companies on distant location, but locally it will be more convenient to have the negatives developed in the Hessercolor plant. Three sizes of negatives are stand- ard; 5x7, 63^x8^2 and 8x10, while splendid enlarged prints can be made up to 14x17 inches from even a 5x7 original negative. Remarkable Speed of Process The remarkable item of speed in The Hessercolor Process was recently demonstrated by a finished color pic- ture in process of making complete on paper, within four hours after the photographing of a scene, using film ; the same process was reduced to one hour and four minutes with the use of glass plates. But because of the danger of breakability the regular method is to use panchromatic film ; this is treated quite differently in developer from the ordinary stills. A central "printing plant" for Hessercolor is already being established in Hollywood and in this plant the color stills made by cameramen with each motion pic- ture company will be developed and finished in color, the colorprints being ready on a twenty-four hour basis. While the cost of color prints is necessary a great ad- vance over black and white stills, they will serve a very definite purpose and, when contracts with lithographic concerns are revised, for the usage of color-stills instead of hand coloring, the cost will be readily absorbed by the savings made. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers DON LEE STATIONS CELEBRATE SECOND ANNIVERSARY Five Million Feet of Motion Picture Film Televised In Two Years On December twenty-third, with a special i\vc and one-half hour program, the Don Lee television stations W6XS and W6XAO celebrated their second anniversan of television broadcasting. Two years ago, under the direction of Harry S. Lubcke, Director of Television for the Don Lee Broad- casting System, W6XAO became the first ultra-high fre- quency television station in the country broadcasting on regular schedule. Five months later, May 21, 1932, the first television image ever received in an airplane any- where in the world was broadcast from W6XAO to a speeding Western Air Express tri-motored Fokker and viewed by over a dozen press representatives. With the inaugural broadcast of W6XS on the first anniversary of W6XAO, this new 1000 watt transmitter was soon heard and received across the continent at Houl- ton, Maine. Immediately after the Los Angeles-Long Beach earthquake of March 10th, 1933, W6XS and W6XAO transmitted scenes of the disaster before the public was admitted to the stricken area, with the result that those who had television receivers saw the damage over television before they were allowed to see it in person. Soon regular editions of Pathe Newsreels were shown, then Paramount trailers, shorts, and full length features, until at present nearly five million (4,824,000) feet of mo- tion picture film have been televised on regular schedule. This is believed to be the largest television footage ever exhibited. Recently a record was set in bringing an event to the television screen, when the Stanford-USC Trojan contest of Armistice Day was shown three hours and forty-five minutes after the conclusion of the game. The anniversary program started at 5:00 p. m. with a historical review of the subjects broadcast during the two year period, and included the first image broadcast, the one sent to the airplane, and others connected with outstand- ing events. It was followed at 6 p. m. by a current Pathe Newsreel, Paramount's "Hollywood on Parade," with Ginger Rogers, John Boles, Robert Woolsey, Johnny Mack Brown, Mary Pickford, Boots Mallory, and Doro- thy Wilson, and a special edition of Paramount News. At 7:00 p. m. the full-length Paramount feature "Madame Butterfly" was broadcast starring Sylvia Sidney and Gary Cooper. The broadcast ended at 10:25 p. m. with the usual closing signal. THE ASSISTANTS TALK IT OVER "What do you think of personal liberty?" "I'm in favor of it, but my girl won't see it." Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording Chapter V HE preceding chapter described the sound stage jfe||| and the equipment used on it, and mentioned briefly the types of portable recording equip- ment employed for location work. This chapter begins the discussion of the permanent monitoring equip- ment that is associated with each sound stage. The monitor man, who is also called the "mixer," or first soundman, has perhaps the most responsible position in connection with the recording of sound ; for it is he who governs the volume and, to some extent, the quality of the sound that is recorded. The volume of sound, or rather its electrical equivalent, he regulates by means of his monitoring controls; and by locating the microphones so that they take advantage of the favorable acoustic con- ditions existing within a set, he is able to influence in a considerable degree the quality of the recorded sound. Monitoring at its best is an art ; at its worst the result is a confused jumble of sound that is decidedly unpleasant to hear. Monitoring requires a high sort of skill on the part of the monitor man, a skill that is developed most readily by intimate acquaintance with the monitoring equipment and with the acoustic conditions normally en- countered in motion picture sets. In addition to that special skill, a monitor man must be resourceful and alert, and have a sincere desire to do good work regardless of the labor involved. A theoretical knowledge of the fundamentals of acous- tics and sound (the elementary discussion contained in Chapter III should prove sufficient) and broad practical experience in the monitoring of sound motion pictures are necessary requisites in the schooling of a successful monitor man. One other essential that the monitor man must have is tact ; for only if he is possessed of that virtue can he secure the whole-hearted cooperation of the director and the technical staff of the picture on which he is working. o* Switch /vvicrophone Outtput By Charles Felstead Associate Editor person of normal hearing. A knowledge of music and of musical instruments is not indispensable, although it is highly desirable ; but an ear for music is a necessity for the monitor man who does orchestrations. As in any skilled labor, natural abilities make it easier for some men to be- come more expert monitor men than others. The Permanent Monitoring Installation The permanent monitor room that is associated with each sound stage is usually located adjoining the middle of one of the side walls of the stage. This monitor room is about twelve feet square ; and its floor is about fifteen feet above the floor of the stage. The monitor man looks out onto the sound stage through three glass windows set in a sort of bay, like the bay window of a house. The windows are each constructed of two sheets of thick plate glass solidly mounted about four inches apart. The air space between the sheets of glass provides additional in- sulation against the passage of sounds originating on the stage. The control desk for the monitor man is placed in the bay formed by the three windows in such a position that he has a clear view of the action taking place in both directions along the stage as well as directly in front of him. One side of the monitor room is open to a large room about thirty by fifty feet in size, the floor of which is on a level with the floor of the sound stage. This large room is known as the monitor theatre, or auditorium ; and S*Vfe "'^fP Controls ih ih ?L -^ lh i^hrf1 ihQ yVyONITOR ROOM Three- position y^*m Volume Control To npli room ., , >Amplifier VolumeindKAtof \ r£,nvy, Oextensic meter sion — *■ To boo&terAmplifier k^ Loud Spe&Ker public address amplifier Carbon microphone Fig. 2. Block schematic diagram of stage and monitor room. Normal hearing is, of course, a possession of the most vital importance to the monitor man. If he is not gifted with normal hearing, he is likely to place his microphones so that lie records more high-frequency, or perhaps more low-frequency, sounds than are pleasant to the ears of the the two monitor horns are suspended in the far corner of it facing toward the monitor man's desk. The walls and ceiling of the monitor room and monitor theatre are treated with acoustic materials, that absorb sound, and the floor is covered by a rug laid over a thick padding of hair- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 T li e INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH KK Eleven felt; so there is very little reverberation within either room. This monitor theatre is provided for the sole purpose of simulating normal theatre sound conditions as closely as possible ; and its construction and acoustic treatment are such that time of reverberation within it is practically the same as that of a small motion picture theatre filled with an audience of average size. This arrangement per- instead of the two panels that are standard for the perma- nent equipment ; but otherwise there is little difference be- tween the two installations. The monitor man must of course wear headphones when using the portable monitor desk, because it is usually placed in position on the set beside the camera where the monitor man has a good view of the action. This type of monitoring equipment would supersede all other types because of its convenience, were Center — The monitor desk in operation on a set. Courtesy Universal Pictures Corp. Right — The portable monitor desk, showing the amplifier and junction box for microphone cables beneath the opened door. Courtesy Universal Pictures Corp. Left — A portable monitor booth. The junction box for microphone cables is clearly shown. The small horn of the monitor man's public address system may be seen on top of the booth. Courtesy Paramount Productions, Inc. mits the monitor man to hear the sound he is monitoring under conditions similar to those which will exist when an audience listens to the recorded sound being reproduced in a theatre. In this way, the monitor man works under acoustic conditions that are as nearly normal as it is pos- sible to make them. The Portable Monitor Booth Where there are so many sets left standing on the stage that their intervening walls obscures the monitor man's view of the set in which shooting is being done, a portable type of stage monitor room, or monitor booth, is often used. This monitor booth is a small, thoroughly sound-proofed room about five feet square and seven feet high mounted on regular automobile wheels ; and resembles closely the old-style camera booth. It is just large enough to hold the monitor man, his monitoring contro's, and a small horn. A large, double-thickness window with an air space between the sheets of glass is provided in the front of the monitor booth to allow the monitor man a clear view of the action on the set ; and access to the booth is through a closely-fitting door of double-wall construction in the rear. Insulated and shielded cables equipped with suitab'e plugs are used to connect the monitor booth with the main re- cording system. The monitoring equipment in the booth is essentially the same as that in the permanent monitor room. Batteries to supply current for the monitoring am- plifier are carried in the booth. The monitor booth is preferred by some monitor men because it can be moved right up beside the cameras on the set to the position most advantageous for observing the action ; and when so used it permits much more intimate monitoring work. The Portable Monitor Dask A new type of portable monitor desk is now becoming popular with monitor men. This is a desk with a slanting front something like the permanent control desk ; but it is mounted, together with a chair and. a box for batteries, on a platform equipped with large casters. Only a single three-position mixing panel is used in the portable desk, Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. it not for the unsatisfactory reproduction that the head- phones provide on anything other than straight voice re- cording. The arrangement of the microphone and system cables will be apparent from the accompanying photo- graph. Monitor Horns and Units The two monitor horns installed in the permanent monitor room are of the exponential, air-column type, and have lengths of twelve and fourteen feet, which assures good reproduction of the bass notes in recording music. The greater the length of the air column, which is meas- ured from the diaphragm of the horn unit to the opening of the bell, the lower the frequency response of the horn. That is, the fourteen-foot horn will reproduce lower mu- sical notes than will the twelve-foot horn. The horn units are of the electro-dynamic type, which has a high factor of efficiency in converting energy from electrical to sound form. These units operate on the same principle that accounts for the functioning of the dynamic speakers used in radio receiving sets. The theory involved will be explained in another chapter. Field current is sup- plied to the units through series resistors from a twelve- volt source. These horns and units are of the same type as those employed in motion picture theatres. The monitor horn installed in the portable monitor booth is of the same type as those used in the permanent monitor room, but it is smaller, which results in a loss of response to the low-frequency end of the sound spectrum. This small horn is equipped with the same type of horn unit that is employed on the large monitor horns. The horn is mounted on the back of the monitor booth in a box-like affair built onto the outside of the booth beside the door. This arrangement is provided so that the open- ing of the horn wall be at the greatest possible distance from the monitor man's ears. Because of the poor low- frequency characteristic of the small horn, the monitor booth is never used when music is monitored. For the recording of dialogue and sound effects, however, the lack in low-frequency response of the small horn is not objec- tionable. Cwelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 The Mixer Controls The control portion of the monitoring equipment is quite simple, being made up entirely of potentiometers, with key switches for disconnecting unused controls. Three potentiometers and the associated three key switches are mounted as a unit on a metal panel ; and two mixer con- trol panels of this type are employed in the normal instal- lation. The two panels are built into a cabinet with a slanting front, which stands on the desk in such a position that it is convenient for the monitor man to reach the con- trols. An idea of the functioning of a potentiometer and its key switch may be obtained from Figure 1. Actually, a more complicated impedance-matching potentiometer is employed, in order that the output impedance of the mi- crophone will be exactly matched to the input impedance of the monitoring amplifier at all adjustments of the po- tentiometer ; but the simple potentiometer shown illustrates the theory much more clearly. X is a circular winding of resistance wire, which has a resistance, in this case, of 200 ohms ; while Y is a metal blade attached to the control knob. By turning the control knob, the blade can be made to connect with different points on the circular resistance element. When the blade is at the point A , the full output of the microphone is fed to the monitoring amplifier, and the resistance element is simply shunted across the line. But when the blade is at the point B, none of the output of the microphone is supplied to the monitoring amplifier. At intermediate points on the resistance element, different proportions of the microphone output energy are supplied to the monitoring amplifier ; the nearer the blade is to the point A the greater the amount of energy transmitted by the potentiometer. The switch is provided to permit the potentiometer and the microphone with which it is asso- ciated to be disconnected from the monitoring amplifier. One potentiometer and its key switch are required for each microphone ; so a six-position mixing panel provides controls for a maximum of six microphones. The switches turn off the microphones that are not in use ; and the potentiometers regulate the volume of sound (in the form of electrical energy) that is supplied to the recording sys- tem by each microphone. The potentiometers are care- fully constructed and will not cause noise in the system if they are kept clean. The key switches are designed not to produce clicks when operated, so that microphones can be turned on or off during the shooting of scenes without interfering with the recording. The Monitoring Amplifier The electrical output level of a condenser or dynamic microphone is so low that it is necessary to amplify it by a monitoring amplifier after the energy has passed through the mixer potentiometer. The normal circuit arrange- ment is shown in Figure 2. Squares represent the micro- phones and the amplifier, and pairs of wires are repre- sented by solid lines. The conventional symbol is used for the potentiometers. The monitoring amplifier is also called a pre-amplifier, or "booster," amplifier. There are two types of audio- frequency amplifiers in general use for this purpose. One type of amplifier employs small "peanut" tubes in a re- sistance-coupled circuit of three stages ; while the other type uses larger tubes in a two-stage impedance-coupled circuit. The three-stage amplifier is equipped with only a single switch for regulating the amount of gain in the amplifier. But gain control on the two-stage amplifier is provided by two tap switches, one of which regulates the gain in steps of five decibels each and the other provides fine adjustment in one decibel steps. Meanings of Technical Terms Terms which are not clear will be explained in a later chapter ; but it will be mentioned here that the term gain is merely another name for amplification. The word itself is almost self-explanatory. Just as a current that has passed through a resistance is said to have suffered a loss, or diminution in value, current that has been increased by an amplifier is said to have received a gain in value. Electrical level is a measure of the current at any point in a circuit with reference to some other point in the circuit, and is not necessarily defined in any unit of meas- urement. The level of an electric current at the output of an amplifier is higher than the level at the input be- cause there has been a gain in the amplifier. Likewise, the electrical level at the output of a resistive device, such as a potentiometer or attenuation network, is lower than at the input because there has been a loss in the resistance. All of the terms just defined are concerned with speech current, which is the current generated by the sounds picked up by the microphone. It is called speech current because of the convenience of that term ; although the sounds that produce the current might be noises or musical notes as well as speech sounds. It is this speech current that is dealt with in sound recording; for it is this cur- rent that, after suitable amplification, causes the variation in the recording device that produces the sound record on film. Comparison of Amplifiers The three-stage booster amplifier is equipped with meters for reading the plate and filament current of all tubes ; but the two-stage amplifier is without meters. Both amplifiers have rheostats for adjusting the filament cur- rent. These rheostats must be kept particularly free of dust and corrosion, because any noise produced in this low-level part of the circuit will be enormously amplified. Just as for the microphone amplifiers, a separate set of plate-supply batteries, as well as filament batteries, are often used with these booster amplifiers to prevent electri- cal coupling through the batteries with the main ampli- fiers. These are known as "local" batteries. Sometimes, however, it is possible to operate this amplifier directly from the main system batteries without feed-back troubles. The two-stage amplifier is to be preferred for this work, despite the lower gain it provides, because the "pea- nut" tubes of the three-stage amplifier are inclined to be more microphonic than the larger tubes. This means that if the tubes are set into mechanical vibration by a jar or blow, the electrical "singing" produced in the amplifier by the vibration of the tube elements will be much more troublesome and objectionable for the "peanut" tubes than for the larger tubes. Necessity For Pre-A mplification It is necessary that the electrical level of the speech current be raised at this point in the recording circuit instead of waiting until it has reached the main recording amplifiers in the amplifier room. If it were not boosted in the monitoring equipment, the speech current would be at such a low electrical level when it reached the main ampli- fiers that it might be below the noise level of the system. By noise level is meant the level of the annoying electrical currents generated in the recording system by tube hiss, by minute amounts of electrical leakage, and by a multi- tude of other tiny sources of disturbances in the system. If the speech current is permitted to fall to the noise level, it becomes necessary to amplify the noise as much as the speech current when the speech current is raised to recording level. The monitoring amplifier serves to in- crease the speech current to a level that is high enough to over-ride any extraneous electrical disturbances that are picked up in the monitoring circuit and by the transmission line carrying the speech current down to the main ampli- fiers. The next chapter will conclude the description of the permanent monitoring equipment and will explain the usual procedure in coordinating the activities of the sound department with those of the picture companv on the sound stage. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 T he INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E R Thirteen A Serious Problem Beautifully Solved COMPOSITE photography presented film manufacturers with a new and serious problem. Eastman has solved it. The Ultra-fine grain of Eastman Background Negative yields background shots that can be projected and rephotographed with genuinely beautiful and completely con- vincing results. And this new film has other properties . . . especially surprising speed . . . that will stimulate the camera- man to new achievements in general cinematography. Brulatour and Eastman technical staffs stand ready to help you. J. E. BRULATOUR, Inc. New York Chicago Hollywood E A S T M AN Background Negative i'Hiii teen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 Notes on Marine Photography By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. HOTOGRAPHY is becoming increasingly popular in all types of activities. Unfortunate- ly the amateur yachtsman has not as yet taken full advantage of photography in his hobby ex- cept in rare cases, and this is somewhat difficult to under- stand, for surely the water and boats make most attractive subjects for picture-material. It is possible that the aver- age "pleasure sailor" feels that a camera is too awkward and cumbersome a device to fit into the scheme of things on board small boats. This is a serious mistake, for the modern camera is so tiny in size that it occupies little or no space. Cameras of this type are known as miniature cameras, and are represented by well-known makes such as the Leica, Rolleiflex, National Graflex, Contax, Foth Derby, and Makinette. These cameras make tiny nega- tives, it is true, in keeping with their diminutive size, yet pictures on paper from these small negatives can be made in excess of 3 x 4 feet — think of it! Nor is the technique involved in producing such revolutionary results difficult or expensive. It can be readily understood, then, that the yachtsman has available a number of precision cameras at his disposal which are not only highly satisfactory from a photographic standpoint, but small and compact as well. Complete descriptions and prices of these small models may be secured from the manufacturers or from photo- graphic dealers. The point to be stressed here is that these cameras are ideally suited to boat photography at the least cost, least fuss and bother, and least stowage space. Every boat lover should investigate the merits of these small cameras — he owes it to himself, for just think back at the marvelous chances for pictures that you have already ex- perienced. Wouldn't you like to have an album in which a pictorial record could be preserved of the various picnics, cruises, and races you visited or participated in? Of course you would. Going still stronger in photography, the amateur mo- tion picture might be mentioned. Cameras such as the Bell and Howell, Victor, Simplex, and Cine Kodak accom- modate the popular 16 mm. film, and like the miniature still cameras, are extremely easy on the pocket-book, yet deliver pleasures and delights that cannot be duplicated. Photography in small boats or large, is now brought to the point of perfection. The time is not far off when the yachtsman will no more think of leaving the shore without his small camera than without his pet binoculars. Life has, in these days, been made easier and more comfortable. The boat enthusiast can have a small radio aboard, complete culinary equipment, and other means of comfort and ease, despite the small size of his boat. The same holds true for photography. Just as radios have been made smaller, more compact, and incidentally more efficient, so have cameras undergone a similar change. There are a few points which might often be met with in the ordinary course of marine photography. It might be well to just briefly mention a few for the benefit of those who are not familiar with modern photography, especially when applied to pictures of boats and things of the sea. The first disappointment that may be experienced by the marine photographer is the fact that he cannot secure a photograph of the interior of his boat which shows all he wants to see. This is particularly noticeable in the case of small boats of forty feet and less. Naturally the cabins are small, often cramped, leaving little or no room to set the camera upon a tripod or similar firm support. The larger cameras are particularly inconvenient in this res- pect. Even if there is sufficient space for the photographer and his camera, he cannot always include everything in the scene he would like to show in the finished picture. This is due to the fact that the average lens has an angle of view too narrow. What is needed is a so-called wide- angle lens, one which covers a greater area on the film without moving the camera back too far. Unfortunately the majority of cameras are equipped with but one lens which is permanently fixed in the camera. A few, how- ever, are equipped with interchange-of-lens features, by means of which various lenses may be attached to the camera at will. The Leica camera is an example of such a miniature camera. This camera may be equipped with speed, telephoto, and wide-angle lenses besides the normal lens at will, by merely removing one lens and inserting the other. In the case of cabin interiors, the difficulty is easily solved by simply attaching the wide-angle lens to the cam- era. An angle of view of 65 degrees is thereby produced with the Elmar 35 mm. f:3.5 lens attached to the Leica camera. The normal lens of 50 mm. focus covers only an angle of view of 48 degrees. It will be noted that a con- siderably greater area can be covered by the wide-angle lens in limited space — an important factor when making photographs of ship interiors. With the small cameras, tripods can be dispensed with, thus saving a great deal of space which can be used to better advantage. Because the miniature camera is so small, it can be placed in out-of-the-way corners and set at various angles in order to secure just the right effect. This is impossible with the larger conventional type of camera. The next matter of importance is one of exposures. The interiors of cabins are often illuminated poorly, that is, for photographic purposes, especially in corners where little or no sunlight penetrates. In making pleasing pic- tures, the cabin should be amply and evenly illuminated. In order to do this, artificial light will usually be required, and this often stumps the beginner in photography, yet the solution is quite easy. Special flash-bulbs are available which can be ignited either by electric current from regu- lar current, a battery, or small flash-light cell batteries. The marine photographer is advised to obtain the tvpe in which the handle consists of a holder for two or three flash-Hght cells and terminates in a metal reflector and 'i*tmr interior shots of cabins demand a wide-angle lens. Photo courtesy Matthews Company. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 T 1 1 INTERNATIONAL HOTOGRAPHE \< Fifteen lamp socket into which the lamp fits. Such an arrangement may be purchased for a dollar or less, and makes an ideal illuminating unit. There is no smoke, flame, or danger as is the case with regular Hash-powder which was com- monly used in the days before the invention of the flash- bulb. Obviously the bulb is good for but one Hash, after which it is discarded. They are so cheap, however, that they do not comprise an expense. Because of their inde- glass, colored, which is attached in front of the camera lens. Its purpose is to hold back certain light rays, de- pending up the color of the filter. By means of a filter, the sky and the water can be made to reproduce on the photograph in their natural intensities and values as seen by the eye. A yellow filter of medium densitj is the most practical of all filters, for it can be used for practically every condition, although there are over several hundn-d A yellow filter produces rich tones and permits separating the sometimes delicate shadings between water and sky. Photo courtesy Matthews Company. pendence of the usual house current, they ought to appeal strongly to the boat photographer. We have taken care of two of the most vexing prob- lems in photographing ship interiors. Now let us investi- gate a few other forms of photography which appeal to the yachtsman. Take races, for example. Ordinarily the spectators must keep their boats a considerable distance from the race course, and if photographs are wanted of the participants, the photographer has to be satisfied with tiny specks on the picture — specks which are hardly recog- nizable as a general thing, due to the distance between the camera and the objects of the picture being photographed. In cases such as this, we resort to another type of lens which is just the reverse of the wide-angle lens — the tele- photo lens. The telephoto lens has a longer focal length, and is therefore to be compared with binoculars in that it magnifies the object and produces it larger on the film in the camera. The Elmar 135 mm. f :4.5 lens as offered for use on the Leica camera is ideal for distant photography. It has an angle of view of only 19 degrees and from this it can be seen that it will "pull" in distant objects and present them on the film of a size which is quite large enough for all ordinary purposes. It is with the aid of such lenses that such startling pictures are often produced, pic- tures in which it seems that the photographer was very close to the object. In reality he was a considerable dis- tance away. A lens of this nature is as important to the marine photographer as the wide-angle lens. Just think of binoculars and their characteristics, and you will get the idea of the telephoto lens on a camera. It might be said that at least seventy percent of the amateur marine photographs of a scenic nature are flat, dull, and uninteresting. This is due mainly to the fact that the amateur photographer does not use a filter. The water and the sky, while of different colors as a rule, are recorded on the film as practically the same shade, result- ing in the flatness so often noticeable. A filter is a disc of different kinds of filters available. The amateur should by all means secure a yellow filter and use it whenever clouds in the sky are to be recorded. The filter will hold back the excessive blue of the sky and permit the clouds to register on the film. A sun-shade is another important accessory that should be used, for, especially on the water, an abundance of light is reflected by the water into the lens. This tends to create a veil or fog on the picture. The sun-shade protects the camera lens from these unwanted light rays and per- mits only the picture-forming rays to enter the lens. Commercial finishing laboratories which develop and print amateur films agree that ninety percent of all pho- tographic failures are due to under-exposure. On the water a similar percent produce over-exposure because they do not take into consideration the additional light which exists on the water, due to reflection. The problems of exposure at best are confusing to the amateur. Even the most experienced photographer experiences difficulty in this matter, for it must be remembered that the light which is used to form the photographic image, in other words, photographic light, is not entirely the same as the light by means of which we see, or visual light. How can anyone, therefore, claim to be able to judge photographic light without the aid of some instrument ? Before the amateur becomes alarmed at this news, let me hasten to explain that there are on the market a number of excellent devices which measure accurately the actinic value of the light, artificial or sun. Of the most accurate and least bothersome might be mentioned the famous Weston Pho- tronic cell meter, which employs a special type of photo- electric cell developed by the Weston Electrical Instru- ment Company. In use, the meter is held or aimed in the direction of the object to be photographed. A needle sw rings across a scale upon which is calibrated the lens and shutter settings of the camera. Instantly the photographer knows (Turn to Page 31) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. The Camera Is the Fulcrum Upon Which Turns the En- tire Structure of the Motion Picture Industry. -. THE CAM! Vol. I. WHO THEY ARE MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTIO 4 BENNETT TOURS WORLD Paul Perry, but recently home from shooting pictures in Ce. Ion. Java and the Straits Settle- ments, and Robert Miller at home after several cruises to the Orient, as chief photographer of the Dollar Lines, departed Wednesday, December 2$. with Chester Bennett for a world tour to last, ac- cording to the breaks of the game, a year or two. The expedition is an enterprise of Mr. Bennett and Mr. Pat Powers, together again after several years, and our cameramen were chosen not only because of their knowledge of photography but of their invaluable experience in actual production at far flung points in the Orient. Mr. Perry goes as chief cinematographer and Mr. Miller as his trusty lieutenant — together they will handle the entire photographic department and as they are personal friends of long standing they are happy about the arrangement. Unless their plans be altered the production pro- gram will contemplate the filming of twelve short subjects in color with locales in Japan, China, Indo-China, the Philippines, Java, Burma, Ceylon, Borneo. Siam and Mediterranean countries, all of which will be released through one of the major studios in Hollywood. Bennett Process color will be used. Backgrounds for several studios will be shot in many countries and three features will be pro- duced in black and white using Bennett Process Film. The color will be shot with Dupont Super- Pan. The direction will be in the capable hands of Ward Wing whose latest picture, "S-amarang," was released by United Artists, and Miss Lori Bara, author of "Samarang," will accompany the expedition as writer of the scripts. She is a sister of Theda Bara. One feature will be written by Miss Nell Emerald, whose play "This Week of Grace," starring Gracie Fields, is just now enjoying a successful run in London. Japan will be the first stop of the expedition, thence to Saigon and thence to Singapore where headquarters will be established and the laboratory built under personal supervision of Mr. Bennett. A full and complete outfit of photographic, color and sound equipment was taken along, among the items being a Bell & Howell standard camera; Leicas and other miniature cameras; the new Fear- less Camera and motor and the latest obtainable in sound. Mesdames Perry and Miller plan to join their globe-trotting husbands at Singapore in about six months. Rolla Flora has established his research laboratory and machine shop at 1128 North La Brea, Holly- wood. He has just completed the special process shots and main title in "Cane Fire," photographed by Alvin Wyckoff. George Mcehan is happy with his billet at Alex- ander Brothers' Studio where he is shooting on his fourth picture for Al Alt and Sam Catsman, Screen Craft Production. The current feature is "The Moth," Fred Seymour directing. Sally O'Neil and Paul Page arc featured. Commodore Roy Klaffki is tuning up his air boat lor a flight to some mysterious destination. Is it possible that he has located a Glory Hole some- where up in the gold fields? J. O. Taylor, wizard of the famous Grandeur wide film, tells the editor that some day the now somewhat eclipsed 70 mm. will be back again with the imperfections all ironed out. That's something to look forward to. Len Powers, ex-knight of the padded gloves, is back on his old shooting grounds at U. William Steiner has just finished an untitled feature in the cast for Educational. Edward Du Par and Roy Fister have complete 1 for Educational, in the east, "Corn on the Cop" and "Let's Play Post Office." M. A. Anderson, for Chesterfield, photographed "The Campanille Murder Case." Harry Forbes photographed "Love After Thirty' for Freuler Film Associates. METRO-COLDWYN- MAYER Ray June got his usual laudatory reviews on "Rip Tide." Lester White has another fine opus to his credit in "Laughing Boy." Oliver Marsh, M-G-M pioneer, is busy as usual. His last feature was "Mystery of tic Dead Police." Phil Rossen will' be able to tell us all about it now. He has increased his repertoire with "It Hap- pened One Day." Old Reliable Len Smith has just put over a real one in "Old Hannibal." This picture was just up Leonard's alley, so to speak. Jimmy Howe, director of photography on "Viva Villa" made a real picture of his big subject. The Mexicans liked the clever young man from the Orient and extended him many courtesies. Clyde De Vinna and Charles Clarke, the latter famous for his courage in saving himself and a comrade when they were lost up under the Arctic Circle, are doing some notable cinernatographing in "Tarzan and His Mate." COLUMBIA Bennie Kline had the assignment in "The Ninth Guest" at Columbia. Joe August, brother of August, photographed "No Columbia. the famous Edwin Greater Glory" for WARNER-FIRST NATIONAL Byron Haskins, with "As the Earth Turns"; Sid Hickox, with "Wonder Bar"; George Liarnes, "Gambling Lady"; Ernie Haller, "Journal of Crime"; Ira Morgan, "The Heir Chaser"; W. Rees, "A Modern Hero"; Arthur Todd, "Har- old Teen," kept the home fires burning at Warner- First National until early in December. Now they are all on other and equally rotable assign- ments. Tony Gaudio's fine Italian hand is seen in the camera work on "Upperworld." Roydel Ruth di- rected and Warren William, Mary Astor, Ginger Rogers and others furnished the drama. Ira Morgan's current opus, is "A Very Honor- able Guy" with Joe Brown as the laugh-smith. Lloyd Bacon directed. It is one of Ira's many good ones. Alaskan atmosphere will serve as the locale for the next Ben Blue comedy to be directed by Ralph Staub at the Warner's Vitaphone Studios in Brook- lyn. Having spent time in Alaska where he en- dured some very heavy winters, Staub will be right at home making the exteriors, which will be made outside during the present snowstorm in New York. Joe Walker was in charge of the photography on "Night Bus" and, as usual, turned out a fine job. Johnny Stumar has finished shooting "Murder at Rexford Arms." A card from Lloyd Kneehtcl. London, tells the Santa Clans editor that he is feeling very much at home there and extends his sincere compliments of the season to all his friends in Hollywood. John Mescal, champion golfer of the cameraman classification of the world, directed the photography on U"niversal's picture, "The Poor Rich." Some of these days this Mescal boy is going to step out and grab the National Amateur Championship. Edward Sedgewick directed the action. Gill Warrenton was chief cinematographer on Monogram's "Beggars in Ermine." BOYLE AND FERNSTROM John W. Boyle is making great strides with his feature "Sweden, Land of the Vikings" back East. The press of New England gave this production in color unusually fine notices. This I is an outstanding seven reel world travel produc tion done in novel style in photography, story and narrative. The Boston Transcript evet went so far as to say : "Through nearly an houi and a half. Sweden, Land Of The Vikings proves a suggestive hint to the TVew Deal' ii I addition to pleasurable entertainment." N'u sed. Good luck and much of it John. This i the film that John and Mrs. Boyle producec with the assistance of Ray Fernstrom, dat oh dabil Swede. EDI') (CONTIN !■■■ of work and wages and then, sudd and many of the loyal, long sufferi to pursue, found themselves once m As a result of this astonishin a division in the ranks of the Cam well on to six years has been the si But in such times as these it i;: the builders has become the head of honest opinion, have a way of 1 Let not, therefore, the ill wish' work has for the time being been 1.^ the elements of discord shall be re' Union are enthroned together is the1 Yea, the Producer is rapidly n, are best conserved by friendly coi his property, his business and his far away—and which has never at to the mutual well being of both to the glory of the motion picture i :ragmam The Camera Operative Body Is the Power Behind Production in All Motion Picture Activity. FOM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE WHAT THEY DO No. 1 IN A. D. 2034 Walt Disney's "Three Little Pigs *V DEAL TELLS EM HAL PAGE 1) lined into a tremendous controversy m», bewildered as to the right course iy to join the old affiliation. ir;nious contention — there has arisen rinization, an organization which for u ler of the Cameramen. :e in mind that "the stone rejected of n.' and differences, especially those I d." I leramen rejoice because their great tl day cometh and now is here when ith and the place where Labor and n; real place in the sun. th, in the last analysis, his interests v h the Union Local which protects tj studio and on location — near and hd any purpose except that looking It Cameramen, on EQUAL terms, and sf 'Oth. A PRODUCTION MIRACLE Three hundred men working in three eight-hour shifts a day for ten days were required to build the set for "By a Waterfall" sequence which was the big feature of Warner Brothers' "Footlight Pa- rade." Thirty tons of steel, brass and tin were necessary to fabricate the big revolving fountain. Seventy-two hundred pounds of paw-paw fed blondes were required to decorate the amazing mechanism designed and created by Busby Berkeley and by Frank Murphy, the electrical genius of the Warner picture factory. George Barnes photographed dramatic sequences of the big picture and to Sol Polito fell the difficult task of filming the water sequences — and it was one of the finest pieces of camera work in the history of the cinema. Assisting Mr. Polito were: Mike Joyce, operative cameraman ; Louis De Angelis, assistant ; George Whittemore, electrician; George Amy, film editor: Billy Cannon, assistant film editor; Ollie Garrett, sound engineer; Harold Noys, grips; Gene Delaney, props; Irva Ross, script. As seen on the screen this big water set is a spec- PARAMOUNT Bert Glennon was the lucky cinematographer to photograph "Catherine the Great." He likes the big ones and is sure fire where majesty is con- cerned. The picture promises to be worthy of its subject. Leo Tover was assigned to "Bolero" by Chief Cinematographer Virgil Miller; Henry Sharp shot "Three of a Kind"; Theodor Sparkhul photo- graphed "No More Women," while "Good Dame" fell to the camera of Leon Shamroy. Bert Glennon and Henry Sharp are sharing the honors for the extraordinarily fine photographic job thev did in "Alice in Wonderland." Farciot Edouart and his able associates, Dev and Gordon Jennings, did a wonderful job of work with the special effects. Archie Stout has just put the finishing touches upon Paramount's big Western, "The Last Round Up," which the Hollywood Reporter estimates as a "rattling good Western." The author is Zane Grey and the director Henry Holloway. Mr. Stout is an ace at all cinematographic drama, but at the delineation of big Western stuff he is almost in a class by himself. FOX Hal Mohr directed the photography on the great Fox production, "Carolina." Ernest Palmer will pull down the screen ciedit r "Ever Since Eve," the new Fox feature. John Seitz has been exercising his rare cinema- tographic genius on "Coming Out Party," a Fox offering. Barney McGill and George Schneidermin have completed their camera assignment on "Disillu- sion" and "Woman and the Law," respectively. Hal Mohr had a wonderful time shooting "David Harum," the big all star feature with Will Rogers as the beloved old hoss trader, James Cruze di- rected. Lee Garmes and George Schneiderman shared the honors of the photographic work on "George White's Scandals." Rudy Vallee is the star. Pro- ducer George White. Ernest Palmer with Winfield Slieehan as pro- ducer, did the cinematographic stuff on "Fox Fol- lies," the story idea of Will' Rogers and Philip Klein. The rail-birds say it's good. Lee Garmes did the cinematographic work on "I Am Suzanne," Jesse L. Lasky's most recent pro- duction. E. E. Ward handled the sound. The featured players are Lilian Harvey and Gene Ray- mond. The Mussolini sponsored Piccoli Marionettes, Italy's greatest theatrical troupe, nearly two hun- dred years old, are shown in the early sequences of this picture and they make a great hit. Mr. Garmes, as usual, lives up to his fine reputation as a vir- tuoso of the motion camera. tacular disappearing fountain on which sixty glorious blonde girls disport themselves on four alternately rotating platforms, all bathed in a colored mist from three hundred tiny water sprays. But to those who watched the building of this amazing mechanism, who know the problems which confronted artists and engineers when Busby Berk- eley first sketched his ideas roughly on a conference room tablecloth, and who remember the short time allowed for its completion, it will always be re- membered as a confirmation of the belief that : "Studio technicians can do anything." To begin with, the fountain which is only one feature of an enormous set for the celebrated "water number" created by Berkeley for the Warner Brothers picture, "Footlight Parade," is twenty feet in diameter at its base, twenty-two feet high in the center and under its frothy super-structure more than thirty tons of steel are hidden. Three tons of girls ride these revolving spraying turrets, but their weight is negligible compared to the complex machinery which rides camouflaged within the super-structure. Each whirling platform carries its own propelling motor, its own pump and a huge water storage tank to supply its own share of the sprays on the fountain. Each of the four platforms fits exactly within the inner limits of its larger neighbor. They can turn separately, all on one level, all in any one direction, or alternately and on levels four feet apart. A tremendous steel' platen, such as supports hy- draulic elevators in office buildings, and another power motor near the foot of the shaft, can lift the entire assembly on structural steel, spraying water and propelling motors, not to mention the three- tons of girls, twenty-two feet high in the air, at any given speed and can also lower them com- pletely out of sight. It can lift all' this as a unit or in four alternate whirling layers. There were no patterns to follow when Berkeley talked first about his idea of a "disappearing foun- tain." His ideas were sketchy, his mechanical knowledge limited. "Can we do it," he demanded. Louis Geib, technical director for Warner Brothers, and Frank X. Murphy, head of the studio's electrical and mechanical department, thought they could. They had ten days to plan it. fabricate and install it. They submitted first drawings to an outside contractor. The studio was busy with other sets for other pictures and was willing to have the set built off the lot. The contractor, however, wanted three months to do the job. Murphy and Geib had promised it within ten days. Wearily they moved cots into their offices, telephoned their families not to expect to see them for ten days and set about keeping their promise. The mills, the plaster shop, the steel workers and the tinsmiths were all trebled in numbers and put on three eight-hour shifts. The studio foundry blazed day and night. Even the flanged brass wheels on which the giant platforms rotate, were made in the studio under Murphy's orders. The largest steel circle, when it was completed, weighed more than six tons. At exactly one angle it would go through one of the gigantic stage doors. A motor mounted crane brought it to the stage and maneuvered it through the opening and into place near the great hole cut in the stage floor, under which workmen had dug a pit nearly thirty feet deep. Quicksand there impeded the work. Finally the whole excavation was concreted off, pumps were installed to drain seeping water and the huge mechanism was lowered into place. Structural steel workers joined studio forces and worked twenty-four hours a day for three days, riveting and welding the basic structure into per- manence. Berkeley, not a little amazed at the vast amount of work his original idea was causing, went to the edge of the hole occasionally and peeked over. Accustomed as he was to having his most outlandish conceptions translated by studio technicians into steel and plaster, lie nevertheless seemed perpetually astonished that his idea was actually feasible. Convinced finally that it was, that thirty tons of steel, eleven powerful motors and pumps, pulsing dynamos and huge water mains would give him the effects he had sketched so roughly on the table- cloth, he washed his hands of all' technical problems and busied himself with the three tons of girls who were to ride the contraption. Llovd Bacon directed the picture from the screen- nlay by Manual Seff and James S'eymour while Berkeley created and staged the choruses and dance ensembles. Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January , 1934 MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 7) using them constantly he will arrive at a point where he is full}- acquainted with their various characteristics, such as latitude of exposure, time of development in a definite formula to obtain the finest grain, etc. There will now be at his disposal a tool with which he is well acquainted, and which he can mould to produce the results desired. Many photographers disregarding this fact continue to jump from one film to another with the conclusion that they have no definite idea of the results they are going to get. Try all the films — then decide on one or two which would serve you best, and stick to them. When a new film is placed on the market experiment with one or two rolls. If it will serve you more adequately than the emulsions you are employing, discard one of them in its favor. If it is just another film as far as you are concerned, then for- get it. There are also many photographers who flock to the supersensitive emulsions, as the sole sensitive material which they employ. Let a faster emulsion be introduced, and they will immediately discard the film they are em- ploying in its favor. Designations such as merely ortho- chromatic, or panchromatic, do not seem to have color to them. When a film is given a definite trade name and is designated as belonging to the supersensitive class, they immediately use it solely and expect it to produce their long desired masterpieces. Supersensitive emulsions stand as criterions to the progress in photography, but they have their specific uses. In general, the slower the film, the finer is its grain. Why is it necessary to employ a supersensitive emulsion in broad daylight, when an orthochromatic film will have all the speed that is necessary, and in addition will produce a finer grain? When photographing with artificial light it would be wisest to employ one of the supersensitive type The Leica Film Winder for quick and efficient load- ing of standard 35 mm. mo- tion picture film on Leica spools when film is pur- chased in bulk. films. In this case resorting to a slower orthochromatic film, will not be taking advantage of the marvelous prog- ress in the sensitizing of emulsions. Then again very soft daylight scenes may be required. In this instance a super- sensitive emulsion may be prescribed, due to the soft re- sults it produces. Bear in mind however that for the gen- eral run of outdoor "shots", slower orthochromatic and panchromatic films will produce the picture with a finer grain. * * * The Vertex Miniature Enlarger. As new products appear on the market they will be described in this de- partment. At times, apparatus which may have been in- troduced some time ago, but of whose existence the minia- ture camera worker may not be aware, will be considered. I am including an illustration of the Vertex Miniature En- larger, which is sponsored by Willoughbys. This enlarger The Vertex Miniature Enlarger. is made entirely of metal, and is supplied with a base- board for 8x10 or larger. It contains a fully corrected f :6.3 lens, rough and critical focusing, swinging red glass screen to allow the paper to be adjusted while the nega- tive image is being projected on it, film support wings, and other features. It will accommodate negatives 2.4x3.5 cm., 3 x 4 cm. and 4 x 4 cm. In short it will serve ideally for the photographer possessing a few cameras with differ- ent negative sizes. (To Be Continued in February) SCHEIBES LATEST FILTERS Graduated diffusing screens in vary- ing degrees of diffusion are proving successful in their operation on dolly shots and, too, for stationary shots. One of the screens is made to slide through the matt-box, starting with- out diffusion or a very mild degree and increasing to the desired effect for a close-up. Screens 2x4 are made to fit the new Mitchell adaptor, two screens being necessary for this device, as they slide across each other from one end of the carrier to the other — diffusion coming in from each side and crossing over the center of the aperture. Graduated Color Filters and Graded Fog Filters are used in same manner, whether for dolly or stationary shots. Another new filter known as Scheibe's Hot Spot Iris has also proved successful in its use. This Iris is 6x6 inches square with color in the center and gradually blend- ing outward to the edge of the glass minus color. The colored portion is about three inches in diameter and is used in front of the process projector at varying distances to cover the hotspot on the process screen, thereby produc- ing an even density of image in the final shot. No more burned-up centers on the background. The new Monotone Filter, for Superpan, is becoming very popular with cameramen who use it mainly for light- ing purposes. It can be used in any kind of light and shows true black and white values, thereby saving time and material for tests. This filter is now made to fit into the focusing tube on a Mitchell camera and the boys say it works fine. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONA PHOTOGRAPHER Nineteen This is the tenth installment of the Cinematographer's Book of Tables compiled and computed by Mr. Fred Wester- berg, one of the technical editors of THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. Cinematographer's BOOK of TABLES By FREC WESTERBERG There are several more installments to come probably con- cluding with the April issue, 1934, and when completed the tables will constitute a handy reference guide welcome to all cinematographers, professional and amateur. Take note that the tables are so placed in the magazine as to be easily cut out and bound into a small pocket ring book. Cut down the middle of page 19; then trim top and bottom to fit your cover; punch holes to fit rings on inner and outer edges of magazine pages 19 and 20. When all tables have been bound into your ring book the pages will number from 1 to 52 inclusive with complete index unless others are added, which seems very likely at this mailing. 12-E TIME CONVERTED TO FEET OF FILM 16 mm. FILM TIME REQUIRED TO EXPOSE VARIOUS LENGTHS OF FILM AT DIFFERENT CAMERA SPEEDS 26- B Feet of Film Exposed CAMERA SPEED IN PICTURES PER SECOND 8 12 16 24 32 48 64 RUNNING TIME IN MINUTES AND SECONDS 1 0— 5 0 — 3.3 0— 2.5 0— 1.7 0— 1.2 0— .8 n - .6 2 10 6.7 5.0 3.3 2.5 1.7 1.2 3 15 10.0 7.5 5.0 3.8 2.5 1.9 4 20 13.3 10.0 6.7 5.0 3.3 2.5 5 25 16.7 12.5 8.3 6.3 4.2 3.1 6 30 20.0 15.0 10.0 7.5 5.0 3.8 7 35 23.3 17.5 11.7 8.8 5.8 4.4 8 40 26.7 20.0 13.3 10.0 6.7 5.0 9 4 5 30.0 22.5 15.0 11.2 7.5 5.6 10 50 33.3 25 16.7 12.5 8.3 6.3 12 1—00 40.0 30 20 15.0 10.0 7.5 14 10 46.7 35 23 17.5 11.7 8.8 16 20 53.3 40 27 20.0 13.3 10.0 18 30 1—00 45 30 22.5 15.0 11.3 20 40 07 50 33 25.0 16.7 12.5 22 50 13 55 37 27.5 18.3 13.8 24 2—00 20 1 — 00 40 30.0 20.0 15.0 26 10 27 05 43 32.5 21.7 16.3 28 20 33 10 47 35.0 23.3 17.5 30 30 40 15 50 37.5 25 18.8 32 40 47 20 53 40 27 20.0 36 3—00 2—00 30 1—00 45 30 22.5 40 20 13 40 07 50 33 25.0 44 40 27 50 13 55 37 27.5 48 4—00 40 2—00 20 1—00 40 30.0 52 20 53 10 27 05 43 32.5 56 40 3—07 20 33 10 47 35.0 60 5—00 20 30 40 15 50 37.5 64 20 33 40 47 20 53 40.0 68 40 47 50 53 25 57 42.5 72 6—00 4—00 3—00 2—00 30 1—00 45.0 76 20 13 10 07 35 03 47.5 80 40 27 20 13 40 07 50.0 84 7—00 40 30 20 45 10 52.5 88 20 53 40 27 50 13 55.0 92 40 5—07 50 33 55 17 57.5 96 8—00 20 4—00 40 2—00 20 1—00.0 100 20 33 10 47 ii? 23 02.5 PROJECTION 35 mm. FILM EFFECT OF PROJECTION ANCLE ON SCREEN PROPORTION AND ON THE RECTANGULAR SHAPE OF THE PICTURE A ,M 1 RS_ AM PT~CM Area of Picture Masked To Obtain Rectanculaa. Picture On The Screen 1 B y 1 P R s i— — — ~~~ ^-^ A ^^ ^"^d^ s^ Projection ^ Anole. AM=AO \^^ ^^ O &^— — " ~~ B C S^ AC _ Sine Z. CCA AB~ Sine/. ACD AM _ Sine X. ACM CM "Sine/. MAC EFFECT OF PROJECTION ANCLE ON SCREEN PROPORTION Focal Length of Proj. Lens in Inches RELATIVE HEICHT OF PICTURE AC FOR VARIOUS PROJECTION ANCLES. "„ (see diagram). AB 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° 30' 3 1.0126 1.033 1 nil.; 1.104 1.097 1.157 1.149 1.225 1.214 3 'A 1.0113 1.031 1.059 4 1.0104 1.029 1.056 1.093 1.143 1.207 4y2 1.0096 1.027 1.054 1.088 1.138 1.201 5 1.0091 ■ 1.026 1.H51 1.048 1.086 1.135 1.1 ''6 6 1.0082 1.024 1.084 1.130 1.189 EFFECT OF PROJECTION ANCLE ON RECTANGULAR SHAPE Focal Length of Proj. Lens in Inches RATIO OF TOP TO BOTTOM PICTURE WIDTH DC FOR VARIOUS PROJECTION ANCLES. " (see diagram). 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° 30° 3 .9827 .966 .948 .931 .911 .891 3'A .9851 .970 .956 .939 .923 .906 4 .9869 .974 .961 .947 .932 .917 4J4 .9884 .976 .966 .953 .939 .926 5 .9894 .979 .968 .957 .945 .933 6 .9913 .982 .975 .964 .954 .944 Based on Standard Projection Aperture .600 by .825 of an inch. Twenty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 THE SALISBURY RIOTS By John Beecroft ARRY TUGANDER can come through revo- lutions dodging successfully machine gun bul- lets. He can even get away with President's "Pal," as he did President Grau San Martin when he was down with Hugo Johnson covering the last Cuban revolt. He can shoot communist mobs in Union Square and at miners' strikes and not get clubbed — but let him cross the Mason and Dixon Line into the sunny South and he gets into trouble. On one Southern trip, a few years ago, he had been covering football practice at the Naval Academy, when, on his way back, the car he was riding in overturned and Tugander was thrown into a ditch. He was badly injured and spent several weeks in a hospital at Wash- ington. President Hoover was distressed when he was informed of Tugander's accident and sent him flowers with the sincere hope of seeing him and his camera back on the firing line soon. Harry remembers that accident for Hoover's solicitude and for the many kindnesses shown him by other Washington officials. His most recent escapade in the South almost ended in his being strung up on a lamp post. Tugander was pleasantly and happily covering the President, Congress- men and Senators and events at Washington when the New York office got word there was trouble down in Salisbury, Maryland. The authorities in Salisbury had arrested four men who were accused of leading a lynch- ing there. Mobs of men had poured into the town from the surrounding country and were trying to take the Hoisting Harry Tugander's sound truck from the river where a mob had thrown it. 26-A PROJECTION 35 mm. FILM EFFECT OF VARIOUS MAGNIFICATIONS ON THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE PROJECTED PICTURE Size of Picture On Screen In Feet Screen Magnification In Diamefers Relative Brightness of Screen Image at Various Magnifications Relative Light Required at Various Magnifications for Constant Screen Brightness Horizontal Projection Light Constant 2.91 by 4 58.2 1180 8.5 3.64 by 5 72.7 7i,ii 1 i J 4.36 by 6 S7.2 530 19 5.09 by 7 101.8 385 26 5.82 by 8 116.4 295 34 6.55 by 9 130.9 233 43 7.27 by 10 145.4 189 53 8.00 by 11 159.9 156 64 8.73 by 12 174.5 132 76 9.45 by 13 189.1 112 89 10.18 by 14 203.6 96 104 10.90 by 15 218.1 84 119 11.64 by 16 232.7 74 136 12.36 by 17 247.3 65 155 13.09 by 18 261.8 58 172 13.82 by 19 276.4 52 192 14.55 by 20 290.9 47 213 16.00 by 22 320.0 39 257 17.46 by 24 349.1 33 304 18.91 by 26 378.2 28 358 20.36 by 28 407.3 24 417 21.82 by 30 436.4 21 478 23.27 by 32 465.4 18.4 545 24.73 by 34 I'M S 16.3 613 26.18 by 36 523.6 14.6 688 27.64 by 38 552.7 13.1 765 29.09 by 40 ssl.s 11.8 850 12-F TIME CONVERTED TO FEET OF FILM 35 mm. FILM RUNNING TIME IN MINUTES AND SECONDS CONVERTED INTO FEET OF FILM EXPOSED C o u G) 10 FEET OF FILM EXPOSED 0 Min. 1 Min. 2 Min. 3 Min. 4 Min. 5 Min. 6 Min. 7 Min. 8 Min. 9 Min. 10 Min. 0 | 0 | 90 | 180 270 360 450 540 630 720 810 | 900 2 | 3 | 93 | 183 273 363 453 543 633 723 813 | 903 4 | 6 | 96 | 186 276 366 456 546 636 726 816 906 6 | 9 | 99 | 189 27 9 369 459 549 639 729 819 909 8 j 12 | 102 | 192 282 372 462 552 642 732 822 912 10 | 15 | 105 | 195 285 375 465 555 645 735 825 915 12 | 18 | 108 | 198 288 3 7X 468 558 648 738 828 918 14 | 21 | 111 | 201 291 381 471 561 651 741 831 921 16 | 24 | 114 | 204 294 384 474 564 654 744 834 924 18 | 27 | 117 | 207 297 387 477 567 657 747 837 927 >i) | 30 | 120 | 210 300 390 480 570 660 750 840 930 12 | ii | 123 | 213 303 393 483 573 663 753 843 93J 24 | 36 | 126 | 216 306 396 486 576 ,,1,1! 756 846 ',;,, 26 | 39 | 129 | 219 309 399 489 579 669 759 849 939 28 | 42 | 132 | 222 312 402 492 582 672 762 852 942 iO | 45 | 135 | 225 315 405 495 585 675 765 855 945 32 | 48 | 138 | 228 | 318 | 408 498 588 678 768 8 5,x 948 J4 | 51 | 141 | 231 | 321 | 411 501 591 681 771 861 951 ■ 6 | 54 | 144 | 234 324 414 504 594 684 774 864 954 .8 | 57 | 147 | 237 | 327 | 417 507 597 687 777 867 957 tO | 60 | 150 | 240 330 420 510 600 690 780 870 960 12 | 63 | 153 | 243 | Hi | 423 513 603 693 783 873 963 +4 | 66 | 156 | 246 | 336 | 426 516 606 696 786 876 966 46 | 69 | 159 | 249 339 429 519 609 699 789 879 •>,,'! 48 | 72 | 162 | 252 | 342 | 432 522 612 702 792 882 972 50 | 75 | 165 | 255 | 345 | 435 | 525 615 705 795 885 975 52 | 78 | 168 | 258 | 348 | 438 528 618 708 798 888 978 54 | 81 | 171 | 261 | 351 | 441 | 531 | 621 711 801 | 891 | 981 56 | 84 | 174 | 264 | 354 | 444 | 534 | 624 714 804 | 894 | 984 58 | 87 | 177 | 267 | 357 | 447 | 537 | 627 | 717 | 807 | 897 | 987 8ased on Standard Projection Aperture .600 by .825 of an inch. Based on standard talking picture speed of 90 feet per minute. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-one prisoners away from the police. The governor had ordered out the militia and it looked as if things would be pretty interesting in that county. Tugander's boss wanted to cover Salisbury and ordered Tugander from Washington to Salisbury — "Get the mob scenes. Get plenty of action in the story. Riots and everything you can get." Tugander got more than he bargained for on that job. He got the riots, all right — and plenty of action, too. Here is what Tugander said about that assign- ment : "We followed Route 404 and United States Route 13 from the Mattaspeake ferry to Salisbury. As we were nearing Salisbury we saw eight busses of troops rushing out of the town towards Baltimore. Behind the troops we saw a photographer we knew. As he passed in his car he waved his hand, but we didn't know whether he was trying to stop us or was just saying hello. Be- hind him was a sedan filled with four tough looking men that seemed to be escorting him out of town. "We didn't quite know what to make of it, but continued on towards Salisbury. We had no sooner arrived in the town than we saw a mob chasing someone down a street. We started to follow the mob when a Western Union messenger jumped on the running board on one side of the truck. 'Get that truck out of sight — your lives aren't worth a nickle!" he yelled. The messenger was still shouting at us when a reporter for a local paper jumped on the other running board and said : 'The mob is after reporters and photographers. Get out while you can get out.' "We turned the truck into a side street and about half way up the block we found a garage. We put the truck away in the back where it couldn't be seen easily. "Then I walked back to the corner. 1 could see the mob smashing up a car down the street. It belonged to one of the reporters. I asked a man standing beside me why the mob was after the reporters. He didn't answer; just looked at me. Another man gave me a once over and said that I looked like one of those damned picture men and hanging was too good for me. The police were standing around watching the mob and never making any attempt to stop them. "While I was standing on the corner a red-haired boy came tearing down the street leading a mob. They were headed for the garage in which the truck was parked. There was no stopping them. It would have meant fighting the whole town. In a minute they had the truck and were pushing it down the street. They came to a cross street where there was a red traffic light. The policeman turned on a green light so they could keep on going. They kept shouting that they wanted the men who belonged to the truck. As the mob Avent down the street they passed the chief of police and an- other local police offices. Neither made any effort to stop the mob. I followed them. When they got to the west side of the Wicomico River, they pushed the truck over an embankment head on. It went into the river out of sight. $25,000 worth of equipment — gone! "Some shouted they wTere going after the newsreel men now. So I beat it to the sheriff's office. From there I phoned the office to tell them what had happened. The sheriff said he couldn't or wouldn't guarantee protection as the mob was uncontrollable and advised since the militia had left to get out. I got a car from one of the town officials and went to Easton, while the mob was storming the hotel for the reporters and photographer who had been driven in there." Tugander came back to Salisbury the next da\ to (Turn to Page 28) The B & H Cooke VARO LENS The 1934 releases announced by leading producers prom- ise a year rich in dramatic and musical entertainment. And in no small part will these accomplishments depend on the B & H Cooke Varo lens for photographic effects. This "zoom" lens is alone in its speed, quality of definition, and ease of use. At F 3.5 the range is from 40 mm. to 50 mm.; at F 4.5 from 40 mm. to 85 mm., and at F 5.6 and F 8 the full "zoom," from 40 mm. to 120 mm., is obtainable. Adjustable stops provide for limiting the "zoom" as desired. One crank controls all moving parts. The iris is varied automatically with the focal length to keep the f/ value constant. Close focusing is done with auxiliary lenses. Write for full details. Sometimes avail- able on rental to responsible studios in this country. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollvwood ; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.). Established 1907. B & H Cooke Varo Lens in photographing position on the Bell & Howell Camera. B & H Cooke F-2 Speed Pancro Lenses B & H Cooke F 2 Speed Panchro Lenses, de- signed to focus the blue and red rather than the blue and yellow rays, are very nearly apochromatic. Their efficiency and success has caused their almost universal adoption in lead- ing studios. Made in eleven focal lengths, from 24 to 108 mm. B & H Cooke F 2.5 Panchro Lenses offer the same remarkable correction. At considerably lower prices they meet many needs where their speed is adequate. Seven focal lengths from 35 to 162 mm. Write for details and prices. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. fwenty-two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHE R January, 1934 Origin of the Point Source Theory of Light Intensity By F. Morris Steadman EPLER, more than 300 years ago, when he glpl arranged his study plan for the schools, knew full well that things were made visible by the play of light from whole primary and secondary light sources and expanses, as from the sun, the sky, and from the surfaces of lighted objects about us. He knew that whole window openings illuminated rooms and that, at night, things were made visible by the functioning of whole flames. There was no need that he should have ignored these natural light conditions, as will be shown, and the fact that he did so in his teaching plan, is a mystery that needs explaining. The present practically total popular ignorance of light is seen in the almost universal practice of "snap shooting" amongst amateur photographers and the cus- tom of "guessing" the exposure amongst professionals. Dr. Woodhull, of Columbia University, and many other educators, have revealed to me their dissatisfaction with the Point Source theory of light instruction because of its failure as explained above. We are to be privileged soon, I believe, to see this study of the technical point source dropped from the school books and the study of natural light sources sub- stituted. This series of articles is to hasten somewhat this reform. Two different patterns of light play will now be described : The light from the whole hemisphere of sky converges upon each accessible grain of dust on the earth, but on a dark night a light source placed on the earth would spread its light outward through this same hemisphere of directions. One pattern is just as true to nature as the other. This is a matter of illumination patterns, not of intensity. For some unnecessary reason the scientists have visual- ized only the pattern of illumination which spreads from small sources. This is the unfortunate and even disastrous limita- tion from which Flammarion and Count Rumford freed themselves, as will be explained further on. We will now see how Kepler was trapped into ignoring the whole flame and using a technical point source instead. Imagine him at work with a small flame in a room. Half way to some opposite wall he suspends an opaque card, say a foot square. He sees a shadow on the wall that is approximately two feet square and which has about four square feet in it, or four times the area of the card. But he notes that this shadow measurement is not precise, because of a blend, which we call the penumbra, all around its edges. This blend on the sides of the shadow is equal in width to the width of the flame and at the top and bottom of the shadow it is equal to the height of the flame. Exactness must be secured. He lets the light shine through a small hole, say a fourth of an inch in diameter, the card with this hole being held against the flame. The penumbra is now reduced to the quarter inch blend. It is clear that to make this shadow perfectly sharp at the edges and make the shadow iust four times the area of the card, the source must be reduced to a technical point. We find then, that in order to reduce to an accurate geometrical design the truth that light at double distance spreads over four times the area that it does at distance one and do it in the single pattern of spreading light to which he was restricted, he had to visualize the light as spreading from a technical point, thus making it neces- sary to ignore the very cause of the brightness — the whole flame. Will the reader please try to visualize the situation in which the wise Kepler, in explaining an effect, annihilated the cause thereof? The present popular ignorance of light, after using the above erroneous scheme for 300 years, will continue just as long as the plan is retained in the books. Now let us see how a different visualization of light play might have avoided that error and led Kepler naturally into the formation of a plan that would have permitted the study of whole light sources, instead of a technical point source: Suppose that while out of doors he had appreciated the fact of the light converging upon him from the whole sky. The sky is a hemisphere above and around him and he a very small object resting in its light. With this pattern in mind he could have arranged a grain of white chalk on some dark surface and seen the light from his small frame converge upon it to illuminate it. On holding the grain very close to the flame he would have noticed the increased converg- ence of the light to it and its correspondingly greater intensity, while touching the grain to the flame he would have realized that the light was coming to it from a whole hemisphere of directions, just as the light came to him from the whole sky when out of doors. Had Kepler visualized this convergent pattern of light play instead of that of spreading light, we might never have heard the term "Point source of light" as associated with intensity. He would have discovered that the point seat of intensity, in the molecule, would have solved the whole sphere of natural luminosity, in his teaching plan, so that students could have studied nature's plan of light play as it actually functions about us. It is encouraging to note that Camille Flammarion, in explaining the sun's influence for light and heat on the different planets, ignored the Point Source theory and the pattern of spreading light entirely. In the book, "Astronomy for Amateurs," the English translation of one of his popular French books, on page 157, we find: "At that distance" (that of Jupiter from the sun) "the sun displays a diameter five (5.2) times smaller than that which we see and its surface is twenty-seven times less extensive; accordingly this planetary abode receives on an average twenty-seven times less light and heat than we receive." In other words : As the planets get closer to the sun, the sun gets larger in the sky, and their brightness in- creases in the same ratio. It must be understood that this is precisely the same law that functions on turning up a flame or raising a window shade, when the distance is fixed. As stated in the preface of my book, "Unit Photog- raphy," this truth of the importance of the convergent light pattern in creating intensity came to me inde- pendently, about the year 1895, as the result of my work with ordinary windows while making portraits in private homes. It is of course true that Flammarion and Count Rum- ford used the same truth much earlier. Both these [Turn to Page 29] Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-three Greatest Invention Since Radio Men Will See in Dark and Fog; Color Films So "Real" They Startle. Chemist's Discovery in Tiny Laboratory. Kinema Revolution Gives Britain Lead Over Hollywood. Makes Clothes Transparent. [The headlines above and the following article are from "The People, October 1, 1933" — a London paper 52 years old and with 3,000,000 circulation. Efforts are making to authenticate the yarn. — Editor's Note.] Men will don spectacles that will enable them to see as clearly in the dark as they do by day. Captains of ships and pilots of air liners will look through the densest fog and travel at full speed ahead as safely as they do in the brightest sunshine. The films will be revolutionized, pictures will no longer be flat black and white, but will be seen in all the glorious colors of nature with the same "depth" perceptible to the human eye — more real than the finest sterescope. All this will follow the perfection of a brilliant British invention, the greatest since the invention of wireless, which is now in its final stages. At a secret show in a Liverpool kinema a special repre- sentative of "The People" was shown the most amazing film ever seen by man, made possible by this wonderful new process. I had been with the inventor and a cameraman to Liverpool's new zoo (he writes), where we took "shots" of parrots and monkeys. We also filmed a dog jumping through a burning hoop. I saw the film developed. I saw it placed in the projector. The Miracle Happened Then the miracle happened. I saw the parrots again in their vivid coloring, not looking like pictures at all. The screen seemed suddenly to have become of three di- mensions, with depth, as well as length and breadth. We appeared to be looking out through a window on to the very scenes we had witnessed in the zoo. The monkeys' cages seemed to have been placed before us, and there the animals were swinging to and fro. It was hard to realize that the jumping dog was not actually coming toward us. The invention has one astonishing result. It makes many of the thinner garments worn by women transparent. It will no longer be possible to pho- tograph actresses in thin nightdresses of the kind they now wear, for the flesh tints would show clearly through their clothes. Bedroom scenes, at present passed by the censor, will become taboo for this reason. In Dockside Laboratory The invention, which has been perfected in a little dockside laboratory in Liverpool, is of a chemical nature. A chemical compound extracted from a wild flower and mixed with other chemicals is added to the emulsion on the film. This has the effect of trapping not only light and shade, but also the actual colors, and makes the emul- sified surface as susceptible to light and color as the human eye. It will, at one blow, remove the handicap under which the British film industry has labored by reason of the fact that the light in Hollywood is so much more suitable for photography than it is here. With this new invention good films can be taken in a fog. Natural color television is an obvious development of the future. Natural color films which I have seen produced here during my weeks of investigation into the invention and its claims, cost little to produce, show every changing, shimmering light in a shot-silk dress, the colors in a girl's eyes, the play of light on her hair, the changing colors of a sunset's reflections in water and the lights of a bonfire. They are as cheap, as quick to produce and as lasting as black-and-white films. The additional equipment for taking and projecting them costs but a few pounds. While the City Slept Night after night when the crowds filed out of the Regent Cinema, Crosby, which has been loaned for the experiments ; I have stood with the little group of pioneers financing the invention, in the deserted theatre, and I have seen it lighted up with color thrown on to the screen from the same projectors used for the black-and-white films. Arrangements are being made for the program there to be interrupted shortly with a surprise for the audience, who will suddenly see one of the new films spring upon the screen. The invention may sound the death knell of some of Hollywood's stars — just as the talkies were the doom of others. It will set a new standard of beauty on the screen, in which the natural color of the eyes and skin will be of paramount importance. Once the public have tested these color films ordinary black-and-white pictures will seem to them dead and life- less. A company is in contemplation to keep this invention a British possession. A vast foreign film corporation which knew of the struggles of the inventor offered him a staggering sum for his half finished work. He refused it. Today, Herr Goebbels, the Nazi director of propa- ganda, is negotiating for German rights to operate the new invention. "»•>;::'* Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 LEICA Camera Features'. 11 Interchangeable Lenses Orer 300 Accessories Focal Plane Shutter with speed of 1 second to 1 /500th second Built-in Range Finder with magnified image for easy focus- ing. Gives up to 36 Pictures on a single roll of cinema film. Nega- tive size lxlJ/2 inches. Perfect Enlargements up to 12x18 inches and more. Three Leica Models ranging in price from $85.80 to $143.00. Write for free illustrated booklet giving full details of the LEICA Camera, Lenses, and Acces- WHAT'S INSIDE A FINE CAMERA? Designer's Specifications Reveal Amazing Value Built in the LEICA Look at the drawing below. This is an ex- act copy of one of the drawings that LEICA craftsmen work from. No technical mind is needed to see at a glance that the LEICA Camera is really an extraordinary piece of engineering in miniature. Here is no mere assembly of intricate mechanical parts, hut an instrument designed and constructed with the beautiful precision of a fine watch. The focal plane shutter, the built-in range finder, the film loading and winding apparatus and all outside controls are planned for the greatest speed and simplicity of operation. Every detail is finished and fitted by hand. And the famous LEICA lenses, the precision of which no drawing can show, complete the perfection of this remarka- ble camera. Because so much scientific planning and hu- man care go into its construction the LEICA offers you greater accuracy, better results, and longer trouble-proof life than any camera made. E. LEITZ, Inc. Dept. 443, 60 East 10th St. New York, N. Y. Western Coast Agents: Spin, II, r & Sauppe, 811 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, Calif., and 86 Third St., San Franciseo, Calif. Diagram showing interior cross-section of the LEICA Camera $2.oo a Year So gratifying has been the response to our drive for subscriptions at $2.00 per year that it has been determined to continue this rate indefinitely. The International Photographer was the first publica- tion in its field to re- duce its subscription rate. MINIATURE CAMERA CLUB OF PITTSBURG The regular monthly meeting of the new organized Miniature Camera Club of Pittsburg was held in one of the lecture rooms of the University of Pittburg's Cathedral of Learning, on Tuesday evening, December 12. Despite the extremely inclement weather which pre- vailed, thirty-five members attended, and were well re- warded for their enthusiasm. was supplemented, and greatly enhanced, by the exhibi- tion of 20X enlargements, and by projection of the test negatives through a micro-projector varying in magni- fications from 100X to 1000X, which brought out with startling clarity the grain clumping tendencies of the various film and developer combinations. The program committee has drafted a program for the next six months, with a view to laying a sound foun- The business session of the meeting disposed of, Presi- dation in the fundamentals of miniature camera tech- dent Harry Bastow presented an exceedingly interesting nique. From the reception accorded Mr. Bastow's lec- and educational lecture on the fundamentals of fine grain ture the succeeding programs are being looked forward emulsions and their development. Mr. Bastow, in pre- to with much enthusiasm. paring the lecture, conducted a series of experiments in- All miniature camera enthusiasts in the Pittsburg volving five of the most widely used miniature films, area are again urged to communicate with the Secre- processing these in the fine grain manner, using a variety tary, Frank McGary, at 3150 Landis Street, Pittsburg, of the more popular fine grain developers. The lecture Pa. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL P H O T O G R A P H E R 7 wenty-five SOMETHING NEW IN A DEVELOPING STRIP By Paul R. Harmer j^gj OR the benefit of the experimenter, Leica enthu- siast and roll film photographers, the following described developing strip is an easy article to make and it lasts a long time without showing wear. This little idea was developed by me sometime ago when I started my home laboratory, using it for short lengths of film when making tests. I have had excellent results. At one time I had hopes of utilizing it for 1,000 foot rolls in a portable laboratory I had designed for use on an expedition, but as the expedition turned out to be another mirage, of which picture people have seen many during the past five years, I had neither the time nor the inclin- ation to patiently sit in a chair and thread 2,000 feet of rubber through 144,000 sprocket holes just to get one length of developing strip in order to show a prospective financial angel that we could do things in a big way with- out asking the R. F. C. for $90,000,000, like a certain politician did, while others coudn't raise enough cash to pay interest on the mortgage. Anyhow, I took a spoiled piece of negative, then I cut narrow strips of rubber, about 4 feet long from a red inner tube, and went to work threading this through the sprocket holes. The ends of the rubber do not need to be tied together, as it fits rather tightly in the sprocket holes, and just cut them off short enough so they won't ride on the edge of the picture or sound track. For lengths of film up to 8 feet a frame or rack is not necessary. Be careful to tap the edges of the roll on the table for alignment before immersing it in the developer. As soon as the film becomes wet the rubber sticks to the edges of the film and holds rather firmly while you raise and lower the roll in the liquid for about a minute to force the bubbles from the face of the film. The rack is made of wood, painted with black lacquer and immersed in hot paraffin, the lower section is fastened securely to the handle, while the upper section slides loose- ly up and down the handle. For constructing this rack use lVi> inch round dowling for the spools, \/\ inch round dowling for the spokes and 1 2 inch round dowling for the handle, using waterproof glue to hold the spokes tight in the spools. The long handle keeps your hands out of the solution. (Those who have had metal poisoning will appreciate this.) A celluloid covered thumb tack will hold the develop- ing strip to the spool for a start and a rubber thong slipped over a spoke will hold the loose end of the developing strip, yet be elastic enough for film shrinkage. This idea can be used on film larger than motion pic- ture film by punching holes in strip celluloid, which is procurable in large pieces at auto supply stores. JAPAN WINS AGAIN In the Third International Contest for the best ama- teur film, held bv the French Federation of Amateur Cine Clubs under the patronage of CINE AMATEUR, the first prize went to Japan, the second to France and third to the United States. Details as to the names of the win- ners and titles of their film will follow later. In all probability the next contest will be held in Japan, although the winning country has the right to name any other country in case they do not care to undertake the next contest themselves. Six Months of Actual Studio Use Has Proven u ArtReeveS Twin Fidelity Optical Unit One of the most important contributions to successful sound recording during the past year. ]-[oll\Yvood Motion PicTure/EquipmemT(o. |Td. 64 5 NORTH MARTEL AVE CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA. L/SA Phone: WYoming 4501 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 Film Making in India (Written for International Photographer) By S. RAMAN ATHAN, Editor of Sound and Shadow, Madras, India ILM production in India might be said to have begun in 1913, with the release of the first Indian silent picture. The first talkie was released about 1928 or 1929, but here the parallel between the American and Indian films stops. A comparison of foreign pictures and ours is a question of "look on this picture — and then on this." Our tech- nique is so inferior to that of imported pictures. At present there are nearly 20 studios in India, cen- tered around the cities of Bombay, Calcutta, and and Kolhapur, with the probability of Madras having one of its own, and an equal number of independent produc- tion units making use of other studios. Excepting a few, which have been sound-proofed and fitted up with facili- ties for artificial lighting, all the others work by day- light. On an average each company produces about four pictures per year, each picture, generally in two versions, one in Hindi, the Lingua Franca of India, and another in the local language, whatever it may be. I think "talkies" in more languages have been pro- duced in India than in any other part of the world. Till now, talking pictures have been made in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengalee, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Arabic, Per- sian and Burmese. Pictures in Punjabi and Canarese are under production and I wonder in how many more lan- guages pictures should be made to satisfy the demands of the 350 millions of India with its score and a half of languages. There it is, the main problem that faces the Indian film producer. The circuit for any of these pictures is, of course, limited to the one province where that language is actually spoken. This naturally affects the capital outlay on each picture, which is governed by the returns, and this, in turn, restricts production. When Hollywood, with its world-market, is itself finding the language barrier a pretty difficult obstacle to overcome, you can imagine the plight of the Indian producer with his much smaller field and still smaller returns. But the demand for pictures in local languages is insistent, and cheap and quick pictures have become, more or less, the producer's watchword. A feature picture is usually anywhere near 13,000 feet in length — don't gasp — there are excellent reasons behind it. Primarily Indians, I mean the vast mass of illiterate humanity that forms the major percentage of India's teeming millions, and not the sophisticated and English-educated Indians, who, rarely go to see a pic- ture produced by purely native means — demand long pictures. They seem to be willing to sit through any amount of footage so long as something is shown on the screen. Secondly, the feature picture has to supply the whole evening's program, there being no "shorts" or ''topicals" to supplement the show. Indian theatres, that is, those which exclusively show Indian pictures — never go in for "newsreels" and "cartoons," and no production unit in India has as yet taken to regular production of "shorts." The story will generally be taken from one of the two great Indian classics — "Bharatham" and "Ramaya- nam" which forms the tradition of the land, or it will be a Muhammadan love-story, with plenty of songs. East Indians love songs — plenty of them. There might be anything from a dozen to three score, the latter in one company's production — in a picture. Social pictures are almost taboo. Coming to production proper, standards are much lower than that of imported pictures, due to the pecun- iary and other difficulties necessitated by the restricted market. Trained technicians are few and far between. The majority of cameramen have but a smattering knowledge of English, which prevents them from keep- ing up with the latest developments in emulsions and filters. Panchromatic film is only slowly coming into general use. The use of filters is very limited and over-correc- tion and special effect use of filters is almost unknown. Except in one studio, where they have fitted up an Auto- matic Debrie Processing Plant, developing is entirely by the rack and tank method, both for sound and picture, positives and negatives. "Cutting" is done entirely in the negative itself, no "rushes" of the day's work being printed. Film is rarely wasted and the extra footage that is invariably wasted in cutting American pictures is never shot in Indian studios. Retakes are few, compared to foreign studios. The Indian producer's aim seems to be to use all the footage taken, very little being scissored off. Feature pictures, on an average, are completed in about a month's time and cost from 10,000 to 30,000 Rs. Coming to technique proper; photography and direc- tion are more stagey, perhaps, than in any other coun- try. Daylight being the source of illumination and, it being difficult to effectively light sets, the picture con- sists of a majority of medium and close shots, taken at eye-level. This is further necessitated after the advent of sound pictures by the microphone having to be placed as close to the actor as possible to effectively catch the sound, there being no properly sound-proofed studios. The script-girl is an unknown entity in the Indian studios and a pre-conceived scenario itself being some- times absent, some directors carry it all in their heads. The camera is rarely moved from the normal eye- level angle and it is still more rare to find the camera traveling to and from the subject. This fixed camera naturally restricts the movements of actors. Without taking into consideration the emotional requirements and necessities of the scene, only two studios in India make proper use of their trolleys and only in their pictures do we see mechanically smooth traveling shots in one plane. The crane is a novelty that is yet to come into the picture business in India. Movement of camera is further limited by the small sets, which generally consist of a few flats, with doors and windows and other necessary decoration painted on them in a dull brown color — showing that our camera- men haven't yet got out of their "ortho" days — placed on one or two sides. This, of course, limits the camera to that one angle. Reverse shots, naturally, are im- possible, there being nothing but the studio compound on the other side. The camera has to be very carefully placed, to bt within bounds, and this careful placement does not give the cameraman an opportunity even to "pam" on an action. The only variety he can afford is to change from 25 mm. to 50, and back again, which generally hap- pens when the dialogue breaks down, when the director asks the lens to be changed and proceeds with the action. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January. 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGR A I'll E R Twenty-seven Foreground, which in almost all long shots, occupies more than half the frame, due to the improper place- ment of the camera, is more often than not left com- pletely blank, placing of foreground objects being an exceptional rarity. Even if such objects are placed, they do not help to give that depth and perspective we see in American pictures, due to the mechanical limitation of the light having to come from behind the camera. This naturally lights up the foreground more promi- nently than anything beyond, where it will be casting shadows, and you can imagine the sight of a brilliantly lighted foreground figure all fuzzy and out-of-focus. Thus foreground objects, even if utilized, instead of helping to create that illusion of relief and depth, only serve to destroy it. Lighting, as I have said before, is almost always from the front, coming from a row of silvered reflectors placed in a row, outside, tilting the sun's rays full into the studio, giving a flat over-all illumination, at an absurd angle, from a few degrees below the horizontal, the re- flectors, as I mentioned, being placed on the ground. Even in studios with electric lamps power is insufficient for long shots, when they too are forced to use daylight. Under the prevailing conditions you can understand how difficult it will be to light a scene according to the requirements of the emotional mood. This flat photography is further aggravated in the printing. Printers are generally operated by raw youths, who take their cue from the shadows and never expose sufficiently for the high-lights, with the result that the picture looks pale and ghostly. The eye-level perspective painted on the canvas-flats is one more reason for tying down the cameraman to the eye-level angle. Of course, these are not unsurmountable obstacles and even without much undue expenditure, things could be bettered. But here, the ignorance of the cameraman, who works by rule of thumb and has not yet got into the habit of thinking in "angles," comes in the way. Partly, the audience also is to be blamed, not caring for better pictures. In fact, they sometimes even resent Quixotic angles. I remember the instance when a friend of mine, a regular observer of foreign films, found fault with all the angles of Pabst ! Then what about the poor illiterate Indian? Give him plenty of songs, a few hand-to-hand fights in the good old Western style with a chase and a last-minute rescue — those silent Eddie Polo and Elmo Lincoln serials are still going strong here, though America might have forgotten them — and he is content that he has got his money's worth. The coming of the sound pictures destroyed that class of pictures, and excepting the few jungle pictures like Tarzan and Big Cage, none of your sophisticated stuff goes well with the Indian audience. Little speech and plenty of action and songs, and devil take the technique, so says the mass, and that partly is why Indian producers, in spite of their numerous faults and in spite of the heavy odds they have to overcome, pull on splendidly. Of course, for every rule there is an exception, and so also there are a few directors in India with brains and ideals who are trying their best to improve the stand- ard of Indian pictures, and some of the recent pictures do show that their attempts have not been wholly un- successful. The hope is, that in a short time, India will produce though not pictures of such a standard as yours yet something of which she need not hang her head in shame as at the moment. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Artreeves products manufactured in Hollywood, are the most widely used in India. AMAZING GROWTH In the four months since July 1, 1933, the American Federation of Labor has granted charters to 825 new unions. The number of new charters issued for all of 1929 was 75. In other words, 11 times as many new unions have been organized in four months of a depression year than were formed during the entire 12 months of the 1929 boom period. The charters issued by the A. F. of L. are to local unions affiliated directly with it and composed of workers in occupations over which no inter- national union has jurisdiction. The international unions themselves have organized thousands of new local units and have added millions of members to those which were already in existence. — Labor. Hollywood's Bargain Spot RENTAL EQUIPMENT? ? We have the largest stock in Hollywood of Mitchell • Bell & Howell • Akeley Cameras .... Motors • Free Heads • Lenses • Etc. ••• Prompt Service on Rentals Night or Day CAMERA SUPPLY CO., LTD. Phone GL 2404 Nite Phones: No. Hollywood 1271— GLadstone 6583 Cable Address "CAMERAS" All Codes 1515 CAHUENGA BOULEVARD HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 THE LINE LENGTHENS Another beloved brother of the craft, John Shepek, Jr., took his way into the sunset the other day at Santa Monica Hospital surrounded by his father, his sister Alberta and his foster-brother Roy. John passed away on December 23, and was buried from Saint Monica's church the day after Christmas, interment following immediately at beautiful Calvary Cemetery. The illness which culminated in his sad passing siezed him while accompanying Eddie Lindon on the famous Under Three Flags expedition conducted last fall by the Socony Vacuum Company of New York. He was sent to Chicago for treatment and was there operated upon for appendicitis, but with only temporary relief. He returned home as soon as he was able to travel and from that time steadily failed until his death. Deceased was born in Kansas City, Missouri, October 2, 1905, and thus at the age of only 28 he lays down his earth life for the Great Adventure. He was popular among his associates of the studios, was a loyal and enthusiastic member of the International Photographers and a craftsman of excellent reputation. For many years he was associated with the late Robert Kurrle and with Al Greene, the three of them constituting a modern "Three Musketeers." It is with profound grief that the men of Local 659 stand in the presence of this untimely death and their heartfelt sympathy is hereby extended to the sor- rowing family. THE SALISBURY RIOTS (Continued from Page 21) get his truck out of the river. Mob spirit was still high, and he was advised to leave the truck at the bot- tom of the river until it would be safe to raise it, and was again told that Salisbury was not too healthy for him. Paramount covered the Salisbury riots in spite of a truck being thrown in the river. When Tugander phoned the office that the truck was gone and the rest of the $25,000 equipment, the riot squad pulled out of New York to get the Salisbury coverage. Santone flew down from New York and was getting some shots of the mobs milling around the streets of the town, when the plane developed engine trouble and was obliged to make a forced landing. Fortunately, they made the airport. When the motor was fixed, Santone went up again, but it was too dark to get any more pictures. The pilot again reported engine trouble and they landed in a farmer's field. Urban knew he would be in for trouble if the farmer knew he was a cameraman, so he hid his equipment. When the farmer came out to see who was landing a plane in his field, Santone was ready to meet him. "What are you doing here ? Who are you ? Another of those damned photographers ?" "Me?" Urban replied, "no, I am not a photographer. I'm a surveyor. I have been flying over this section here getting a map, and I had to land in your field be- cause it got too dark and I couldn't get back to the airport." The farmer thought this was a funny story, IT but let Urban go up to his house to telephone. While Urban was telephoning, the farmer's young son, a bright and inquiring lad of twelve, went to investigate the cockpit of the plane with his searchlight. The boy dug around until he uncovered Santone's camera and read on it "Paramount News." When Urban got back from telephoning the farmer accused him of being a camera- man and told him to get off the farm. "They'll string me up with you if they know I let you stay here," the farmer said. But ordering Santone off the farm and getting him off were two different things. The nearest railway station was fifteen miles away. Santone doesn't enjoy walking fifteen miles, especially if he has to carry his equipment. After some argument, the farmer proved to be more humane than afraid of the riot, and found that a Ford could be had to take Santone to the station. A negro was to drive the car, but he balked. "Ah won't drive no cameraman to dat dere town. If he ain't scared, Ah is!" So Urban covered his cameracase with his overcoat and drove the car himself. The film came on from Baltimore by plane and was in the laboratory the next morning and was put in the reel that was being made up that day. THANK YOU The photograph printed in "The Story of Slides and Titles" which appeared in the December issue of Inter- national Photographer was loaned through the courtesy of Leo T. Young and the Los Angeles Museum. HI ROY DAVIDGE FILM LABORATORIES ••• An Exclusive "Daily" Laboratory ••• Quality and Service 6701-6715 SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD G Ran it e 3108 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOCRAPHE Twenty-nine ORIGIN OF THE POINT, ETC. (Continued from Page 22) men failed, however, lo visualize the whole scheme. Neither recognized, so far as I am able to learn from their writings, the fundamental importance of complete spherical and hemispherical illumination, nor the fact that the molecule was the true seat of intensity. If they had grasped the full scheme I am confident that the point source theory would already have been dropped from the books. Milliken and Gale illustrate this basic truth as re- gards whole light sources, by including in their book, "A First Course in Physics," on page 393 of the 1906 edition, the photometer of Count Rumford which illus- trates the functioning of whole flames. The authors also teach the same truth in their remarks on the standard candle. They say correctly (p. 394) : "In general, then, the candle power of any two sources which produce equal illumination on a given screen are directly proportional to the squares of the distances of the sources from the screen." (Their own italics.) Note that whole light sources are involved, while the area of the receiving screen is not referred to. This is as it should be. It is lamentable, however, that these distinguished authors offset the good effect of this correct teaching by illustrating also the erroneous point source figure on page 392. Here it is stated (after saying the usual thing, that light weakens by spreading over four times the area at distance two as at distance one) : . . . the intensity of the illumination due to a given point source must vary inversely as the square of the distance from the source." Note here that the technical point source, and not a whole source, is involved, while the area of the re- ceiving screen is used as a factor in the problem. This statement I hold to be erroneous. It is the exact oppo- site of their statement first noted, which is the true one. Dull, in his "Modern Physics," also illustrates both theories. This contradiction results in the student's com- plete confusion as to the truth of light intensity. The fact, however, that these authors do include the truth, is hopeful, since there is left to be done only a more comprehensive elaboration of the truth and the omis- sion of the error. In my next article I will give my own classification of the patterns of illumination which function in nature. I will show that there is one pattern in which intensity remains constant through a considerable distance from the source, and another pattern in which the intensity varies inversely to the distances instead of to the squares of the distances. I will also give my basic law of intensity which ap- plies to these various seemingly contradictory patterns and also to full hemispheric illumination, as from the whole sky extension. Any reader who desires to keep this series of articles for reference should secure the number of August, 1932, the last, this present one and the two or three which will follow. ICTER^ In (Atarld'OOid* Us* ue^ C^Ouanli^br and (NJi^hr £ff*cts in Daytime ~F^ Scenes- Diffused. Fccus.arcd many v\\i*r «Ff«crs Georcje H. Scheibo ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS 1927 WEST 78TH ST. LOS ANGELES. CAL. 1 1 | Alvin Wyckoff h 30% to 60% CASH SAVINGS on 16 mm. and 35 mm. Cameras, Projectors and Accessories Write for Bass Bargaingram. Specify size of apparatus interested in. For over 22 years Value Leaders of the nation. Your copy is ready. Write for it. BASS CAMERA CO. 179 W. Madison St. Chicago, III. Phone CLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue Howard Anderson Special Effects — Animations Culver City 3021 GRanite3111 CINEX TESTING MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone GRanite 9707 Hollywood, California DR. G. FLOYD JACKMAN, Dentist Member Local No. 659 706 Hollywood First Nat'l Bldg., Hollywood Blvd. at Highland Hours : 9 to 5 CLadstone 7507 And by Appointment DOUBLE MATTING (3 PATENTS. 1932) mjyriLLiAMC? ▼▼SHOTS I* Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALE OR RENT — Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free head, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — 40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. lenses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. SINCE 1911. Cameras bought, sold, rented, repaired. PETERSON'S CAMERA EXCHANGE 356 South Broadway, Los Angeles Upstairs FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT MITCHELL HI-SPEED CAMERA— 3 lenses, F.2.3, 5 magazines, Friction Head, beautiful condition — $1650. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. BELL & HOWELL CAMERAS — silenced by Cunningham — exclusive specialty of Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., II' illy wood. BELL & HOWELL with beautiful Fear movement, complete — perfect shape, quick snap $800. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. 1000 FOOT MAGAZINES for Bell & Howell, brand new — $85. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — fine grain finishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all' popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. BLIMPS FOR SALE TWO CELLULOID BLIMPS — same as used by Warner Brothers Studios. Focus change is built into blimp and accommodates Mitchell cameras. Blimps weigh only 55 pounds and can be used on regular Mitchell tilt head or friction head for shooting interiors or exteriors. Charles M. Glouner, 11160 La Maida St., North Hollywood. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS VICTOR PORTABLE STEREOPTICON, 12" lens— for quick sale— $40. Camera Supply Company, Ltd., 1605 North Cahuenga Blvd., Holly- wood. HOLMES 35 mm. PROJECTOR, beautiful condition, perfect running order, better than one advertised last month — and with a special long throw lens — $85. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. 25 MM. FINDER ADAPTERS for standard finders, showing correct field of 25 mm. lens, in use by all major studios. $30.00. Camera Sup- ply Co.. Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. LIKE NEW— BELL & HOWELL 5-WAY SOUND PRINTER, Cinex light tester, Moviola Model C or D. Hughes 4-wheel inflated tire dolly, two Holmes sound projectors. Cheap for cash. Box XYZ, I. A. T. S. E., 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. 25 MM. FINDER ADAPTERS for standard finders, showing correct field of 25 mm. lens, in use by all major studios. $30.00. Camera Sup- ply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. THEATRICAL EQUIPMENT— Machines, chairs, scenery, costumes, 35mm. films, etc. Also a complete line of 16mm. films. Free catalog of 16mm. new prints. PECKER FILMS, 31 Church St., Boston, Mass. MITCHELL MOTOR— 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-VV. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange Street, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. RIGHT HERE IN HOLLYWOOD Right here in Hollywood is a Hair Service that is unique. Here everything from a simple hairline front to the most elaborate 18th Century wig is designed and manufactured to fit the personality of the individual. Perc & Ern Westmore at the Max Factor Studios have a library that is probably the largest one anywhere ex- clusively devoted to the subject of Hair. And — when the hair piece is completed it FITS the individual's fea- tures— and photographs in a truly realistic manner. "Hair," observes Messrs. Westmore, "must look as per- fectly natural on the player as the dramatic action, or the artistic results will be affected." If you recall Bar- bara Stanwyck in "Baby Face," or Heather Angel and Leslie Howard in "Berkeley Square" — or the players in "Little Women" — you will see what the Westmores mean by artistic results. And if you are historically minded you will undoubtedly be impressed with the authentic character of their hair pieces. :M«!8ry'-''1''r1i»ll»IIIIIl|i|l:Bllir«IIBI1l:l:l!llll!«l«|l|l||lll!it|i|i|-.|M||;(||«M|f-!; In Sound Recording THE MINOR QUARTZ OPTICAL UNIT becomes an integral part of your sound recorder this unit is cemented into a steel block— it focuses a beam of I i- lit of preat intensity and actinic value a distance awav from the film, which PROVIDES CLEARANCE and PREVENTS SCRATCHING of the sound track. The width of the beam of light measures from .0004" to .0O06 ". Send for specimen of sound track. C. C. MINOR Phone GR. 7331 1806 Whitley Ave., Hollywood In 1934 International Photographer will present a feature unequaled in this field. Better get ready for it by becoming a sub- seriber now. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device. Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. Tame* T. Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St., New York. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction ; or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. AN AUDITOR AND ACCOUNTANT of thirty years' experience with large companies wants small accounts with individuals or business houses. Wide experience in opening, closing and keeping books, in auditing, and in income tax procedure. Wishes to assist individuals in opening their own books. Advice and assistance on filing income tax returns and income tax regulations. Very reasonable rates. CHARLES D. FELSTEAD, 2010 Sixth Avenue. Telephone: PA-6768. MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING— Tf interested in aviation, see Roy Klaffki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Farl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY. Exclusive agency for three leading Holly- wood makers of trick lenses. Apply for prices and demonstration, sale or rentals. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. January, 1934 Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirty-one NOTES ON MARINE PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 15) just how to adjust his camera in order to secure the best possible results, as far as exposure is concerned anyway. These meters are small, compact, require no re-fills, last a life-time, and are absolutely accurate. The marine photog- rapher who aims to secure the best photographs is urged to invest in a reliable exposure meter, for by means of it, film wastage is entirely eliminated. The meter, therefore, may be said to pay for itself in a short time. The problem of what film to use is admittedly a diffi- cult one, for with so many types and brands on the mar- ket, even the professional photographer is apt to become confused. For average yacht photography, a fine-grain, fast orthocromatic film seems to be the most satisfactory. Of this type of emulsion, films like Kodak Regular, Kodak Verichrome, Agfa Regular, Agfa Plenachrome, Gevaert Express Superchrome, Perutz Persenso, Voigtlander, Mi- mosa Extrema, Selochrome, and Kodak Panatomic are recommended highly. Where full color correction, or special filter effects are desired, a panchromatic film must of course be used. This film has the property of recording practically all the col- ors in the spectrum, hence becomes a valuable tool in the hands of the skilled photographer. Practically all film manufacturers offer one or more brands and types of pan- chromatic emulsions. The developing and printing of films is looked upon as sheer drudgery by a great many amateurs, and the yachtsmen hold that this work cannot be done on board because of the space and equipment required, however, the plain truth of the matter is that the developing and print- ing of pictures from miniature cameras is not only delight- fully easy and economical, but inexpensive as well. As for doing this work on board the small boat — why the modern developing tanks are so small and compact that films could be developed in a rowboat ! Actually. A few ounces of solution only are required, and once the film is loaded into the tank in darkness (a changing bag, for ex- ample, in the daytime), the subsequent operations can be conducted in the light. This automatically frees the worker of a darkroom such as is commonly supposed to be necessary when processing photographic materials. Owners of cabin boats have everything right in their cabins to carry out the developing of the film with the utmost ease and convenience. Every amateur photographer should really do his own developing at least, because the commercial finishers are not over-particular as to the results. Especially is this true in the case of miniature camera films. Commercial finish- ers have not as yet learned to handle the tiny films with as much respect and delicacy as they might, hence it is to the amateur's advantage to do this work himself and be sure of the results. This imposes no hardship, on the con- trary, it is delightfully interesting. Try it sometime. We have covered but a few of the most important points to be observed in photography as applied to boating, but the main idea is to indicate how easily and success- fully the yachtsman can make photographs while afloat. It is the new companion to boating, and those who have struck this combination of a boat and a camera are intense- ly enthusiastic. You, too, will become enthusiastic if once you taste of the pleasures which photography affords. THE MOVING PICTURE MONTHLY All about the Indian Cinema World The Smartly Different Screen Magazine Published in Bombay, India Yearly Subscription Inland — Rs 3-8-0 Yearly Subscription outside of India — 7 shillings or $2.50 • Send Your Subscription to: MOVING PICTURE MONTHLY Khatav Building, Cirgaum, Bombay 4, India NOT A CLUB! Just a Bargain Day Offer of CINEMA CRAFTS and a year's subscription of The International Photographer Combined The Two Most Practical and Useful Journals in the Field of Motion Picture Arts and Crafts and Newsreel Cinematography for $3.00— and Each One Worth the Price. If You Can Buy Only One of These Magazines By All Means Buy This Wonderful Little Book CINEMA CRAFTS Order from THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOCRAPHER, 1605 Cahuenga Boulevard, Hollywood, or CINEMA CRAFTS, Suite 306, 1029 So. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, III. Calling Sk%¥3 OWNERS M -} • -tit Try Our New 35M.M. J in I Service We will Supply 100FootDaylightLoaderof Eastman or Dupont Film; Develop and Make One Print. Complete For ^O Bargains in Standard Motion Picture Equipment FRESH NEGATIVE .02!2 CENTS PER FOOT Kinema Krafts Kompany 6510 SELMA AVE. GLADSTONE 0276 HOLLYWOOD. CALIFORNIA The next meeting of the L. A. Amateur Cine Club will be held Tuesday — not Monday — January 9, 8 :00 P. M. at the Eastman Kodak Company, 6706 Santa Monica Boulevard. Another contest for you of uncut and unedited film. Prizes: One roll each of 100 and 50 feet, donated by Eastman Kodak Stores, Inc. Showing of "Rice," the Japanese picture which won the 1933 gold medal award in the American Cinematographer Inter- national Contest . . . "Panama" by member I. O. Levy and more of "China" by Tracy Q. Hall. Please mention The International Photographer WE WANT 35 mm. travel, fight, thrill and curiosity films from all parts of the earth. We Sell All Kinds of Raw Film at Reduced Prices. CONTINENTAL FILMCRAFT, INC. 1611 Cosmo Street Hollywood, Calif. ROLANC. KENNELL&CO. Successors to Crescent Brokerage Corporation INSURANCE IN ALL ITS BRANCHES SPECIAL SERVICE FOR CAMERAMEN Guaranty Btdg., 6331 Hollywood Blvd. HEmpstead 6978 when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty-two T I, INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER January, 1934 o-enjEttS' =@«tlffJr§CU FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4- FlGURE 5 FIGURE 6 a . ,/:. /■-/:' " ' .... 77.77.. .." '""...,. '..//.. '. ; ~~ FIGURE a III t>o^oHont /f'l> -fpfmrfrtr. F I SURE J WATCH LINE. FIGURE i TANK. BOTTOM TA/VK. FIGURE IO P I P€ THRfAOi OOTitT PIPS FIGURE 13 FIGURE II HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 21ST. lOJi Portable, Temperature Controled Laboratory /ckx^i^e^rT'tjA*n4V FIGURE 12 customed to them they can he relied upon to hold the out as desired. film perfectly. There are other systems and methods Now if we really want to use an old trick of the which might he adaptable to this tank system. a _trade, after the running water has done all of this work Regardless of the make, it is necessary to r^ng tne" /'an3~ it *etjs under 70 degrees, we can build a pre-cooler film and the rack to the same temperature as tne MP ' wjiich bringsCrthe tap water within about two degrees veloper, otherwise streaks are sure to give you grieffSTjhe of the refuse ^vateoBoillowing the waste water to cir- film and the rack always take on the temperattire^of /the culate around 'tHe^n^Uce pipe, which requires 98 feet of room, then when they are immersed in the developer, ]/? , inch p-?pV(pef gallrmTityy'circulation. It takes a lot development is accelerated or retarded where the rack touches the film; hence, place the rack and the film in the cooling chamber as the first step and so on through the process. Figures 7 and 8 show an accessory, kept at a con- stant temperature by the waste water from the rinse, which is still righl 'around 66 degrees. Someoperators would rather carry a- 'little, concentrated solution for a booster. This can be kept Th-aQ)ot'tle--in Kt-comer_of one of the square tanks. A. Figures 12 and 13 show another accessory. Some operators like the carbonate bath and some the chrome alum bath. This illustrates how it mav be added or left of pipe, but/ some feop"te want it. Personally, I don't recommend it, T)ec4jjlse^ c-f clogging and the trouble it causes when it has been used a while. Another trick that can be used is, for instance: The tap water has only to be raised or lowered ten degrees or less, so why not increase the water flow to 90 gallons an hour and get the benefit of faster washing for positive? However, with a simple wire rack, two Stineman reels can wash, one on top of the other in the same tank. In closing, I wish to thank W. L. Holladay, Refrigeration Engineer for the General Electric Company, and Percy Millard, Laboratory Expert, for their criticism and sug- gestions. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, 1934 TELEVISION HAT Don Lee television images may be re- ceived in any part of California was demon- strated in a series of experiments in Alameda, January 5th and 6th, when television images from the Don Lee television station W6XS at Los An- geles were shown to a group of San Francisco Bay dis- trict university professors and radio authorities by the engineers of the Don Lee Broadcasting System. Not only were close-ups received, but outdoor scenes and boxing bouts from Paramount features and shorts were shown and identified. Commenting upon the reception, Dr. Lester E. Reu- kema, professor of electrical engineering, at the University of California, Berkeley, said, regarding a close-up of a motion picture star : "One could readily see the movement of her head, causing a slight waving of the pendant ear- rings she wore, and could see her lips move as she spoke. In the picture Madison Square Garden,' the bodies of the boxers in trunks could be clearly seen at times, also the footwork, striking of blows, the boxing gloves, dodging of blows, etc. Consid- ering the distance covered, approximately 350 miles air-line, I was surprised that the fading was not more severe." Corroborating his colleague, Instructor Leonard J. Black of the University of California, said: "The features, at times, were very distinct. Detail was good. It was easy to notice such things as her ear-rings swinging and that she was talk- ing." The images were also witnessed by Frank C. Jones, prominent radio consultant, who designed the ultra-short- wave radio telephones now being used for communication in the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and who spent several months in television testing and design work in Chicago. Mr. Jones said: "Among the scenes were those of yell leaders in a stadium leading cheers for a rooting section. The action and pictures of the yell leaders were quite good. In a Paramount short of "Over the Jumps," I saw some scenes of small outboard motorboat races where the boats and the waves in the wake of the boats were quite good. The pic- tures were much better than I expected to view over such a distance." In commenting upon the experimental work success- fully concluded in Alameda last week, Harry R. Lubcke, director of television for the Don Lee Broadcasting Sys- tem, said : "This reception, as well as reports from many short-wave listeners who chance upon the signal and listen to the voice of announcers, establishes the fact that our television service is state-wide. It is available to anyone who will erect a good aerial and purchase or construct the necessary equipment." Several receiving locations were tested. One, in the San Francisco business district, was characterized by low signal strength and interference from radio stations within the block. Another, on Twin Peaks, gave excellent images when first tested, but soon became worthless because of a "power leak." The first reception was made in rainy weather. As the location dried out, however, the power leak developed, making any type of radio reception impos- sible. A power leak is caused by defective insulators, pole line bonding, or other power equipment partially breaking down with a spark discharge, and is well known for its damaging effects on radio reception by amateurs and short wave listeners. The Alameda location was in a typical residential sec- tion, and with a 125 foot antenna 45 feet high at its far end and sloping down to the chimney of a modern stucco bungalow gave excellent signals over the total time tested. Based on that location, any antenna 75 feet or more long and 35 feet or more high will give sufficiently strong sig- nals for good television reception at a distance of 350 miles from the transmitter. A test with the same equipment on the same images, at a distance of 3y2 miles from the Los Angeles transmit- ter showed that the images at 350 miles are of as good quality as those received locally, which was surprising. Of course, fading caused the distant image to grow dim periodically, but the comparative infrequency of this phen- omena brought forth comment from Dr. Reukema, as given above, who spoke for the whole group in this respect. The Don Lee Stations, W6XS, 2800 kilocycles (107 meters), and W6XAO, 44,500 kilocycles (6^4 meters), broadcast full length Paramount feature pictures, Para- mount shorts and Pathe Newsreels each evening except Sunday, from 7 to 9 o'clock, and on Mondays, Wednes- days, and Fridays from 9 to 1 1 a. m. Instructions for the construction of a television re- ceiver can be secured by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Television Department of the Don Lee Broadcasting System, Los Angeles. A WEE BITO' FILM Lama Oakley Moure A wee bit of film, so sensitive and shy, Was exposed one day to the camera's eye. The camera smirked in a style not new And said: "My dear, I can see through you." So he winks his shutter And he grinds his wheels, And he purrs and purrs 'Till the poor film reels. She, never having been exposed before, Turned dark with horror and began to deplore The fate of a maid so sensitive and shy Who could be exposed to anyone's eye. When, plop! into a bath she fell. And squirmed and wriggled and then — oh, well, Out she came all sparkling and bright In colors so gay she was quite a delight. She glanced around seeking some protector, Then leaped to the arms of the film projector. There she turned in the light so clear. Never once thinking of the camera's leer Or the things he said as he winked his eye At the timorous maid so sensitive and shy. For now she shines, of the films a queen, Fully developed for the silver screen. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. February, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Eleven The Basis of a Satisfactory Working Agreement . . . A Good Cameraman- Eastman Supersensitive Panchromatic Negative J. E. BRULATOUR, Inc. New York Chicago Hollywood Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, 1934 Hollywood Studios of the Early Days By W. Wallace Clendenin (Pinch Hitting This Month for Earl Theisen) ^ IOGRAPH produced pictures in Los Angeles in 1906, it being the first company to do so, but LO^Lffil it did not at that time build a studio. This honor goes to William N. Selig, who, in 1909, built the first moving picture studio on the Pacific coast. This was at the northeast corner of Clifford and Allesandro streets (this portion of Allesandro has since become a part of Glendale boulevard) in Edendale. Selig had faith in the The Biograph Studios were built at Cirard and Georgia Streets, 1911. future of the film industry and proved it by building a complete studio from the ground up — stucco buildings, a stucco wall around the property and most remarkable of all, a glass enclosed stage. Closely following Selig came the Bison Company. Their studio, three blocks south of the Selig lot, was of the type that became the standard locally for many years — flimsy frame buildings and an open air stage with mus- lin diffusers overhead to soften the rays of the sun. After Thomas H. Ince began producing at Santa Monica, the Edendale plant was left to Mack Sennett and his Key- stone Company. Sennett remained there as long as the studio was in use; when he moved out the buildings were torn down, the only one still standing being the original concrete light stage. The third company to come to Edendale was Pathe ; producing westerns exclusively, their lot was a block south of Selig. Production there was discontinued in 1914; no trace of the studio now exists. The Norbig studio was erected by Norton and Biggy in 1913 on the west side of Allesandro near Aaron street. It is still in use. Maintained as a rental proposition it was at one time used by Hal Roach making the Harold Lloyd "Lonesome Luke" series. The Essanay Company never attempted to establish a permanent studio in the Los Angeles area. The western Essanay unit headed by G. M.Anderson (Broncho Billy), left Chicago in the summer of 1910, and headed toward the coast. They made a few pictures in Colorado, near Denver, then came on to Los Angeles. They made one picture at Santa Monica and one or two in Hollywood, working in a temporary setup on the site afterward used by Kalem. The town of Niles, near San Francisco, was finally chosen by Anderson as the location for a permanent studio. In the latter part of 1912, Thanhouser made a few pictures in Los Angeles, a studio being built by them on Fairview street in Boyle Heights. The most notable of their ensuing productions was a highly condensed version of "Carmen." When Thanhouser moved out about six months later, Majestic moved in and began turning out pictures in considerable quantity. They later moved to the Fine Arts studio, but the Boyle Heights property was always afterward known as the "Old Majestic Studio." Tn 1914, the newly formed Metro Company, headed by B. A. Rolfe (now of dance orchestra fame), followed Majestic. Louis Joseph Vance also used the studio for one picture, this being from his novel, "The Spanish Jade." Still later came Chaplin, making pictures for Essanay and again the studio was used for the filming another version of "Carmen", this being Chaplin's famous burlesque version. After Chaplin, various smaller companies used the studio from time to time ; it was finally destroyed by fire, there being nothing of it remaining now but the brick film vault and concrete stage foundations. Kinemacolor started their Los Angeles activities in 1912 at the rear of a house at 4500 Sunset boulevard. Kinemacolor needed all the light they could get and for that reason shot all their interior sets by direct sunlight. Theirs was about as rudimentary a studio as ever existed — a house, a scene shed and a board stage floor. However, it was around this primitive beginning that the famous old Fine Arts lot was built up, from which came "The Birth of a Nation", "Intolerance", and many another fine pro- duction. Fine Arts had a dark stage for using arti- ficial lighting, probably the first one in California. Kalem opened a studio in Glendale in 1910, another one soon afterward in Santa Monica and one in Holly- wood. George Melford and Alice Joyce were the leads for the Glendale unit; Ruth Roland and John Brennan made comedies in Santa Monica, while the Hollywood studio, after making an assortment of comedies under the "The Code of Honor," 1909. Note queer painted canvas sets. No artificial light was used in those days. Left to right: Anna Dodge, Hobart Bosworth, Robert Leonard, Betty Harte. direction of Marshall Neilan, finally settled down to the famous "Ham and Bud" series, featuring Lloyd Hamilton and Bud Duncan, with Ethel Teare as leading lady. In 1914 the Santa Monica lot was abandoned; two years later the Hollywood studio at 1425 Fleming St. was Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. February, 1934 T 1 1 INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirteen closed and all work was done at the Glendale studio at the entrance to Sycamore Canyon. The Fleming St. lot was afterward used hy Charles Ray. Vitagraph came to the coast in 1911, and began studio work at the rear of a house on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. At first, instead of an open air stage, the com- pany worked in a tent, a stage with diffusers being used later. After a few years production was begun at their Hollywood studio at the time they discontinued at Santa Monica. In the latter part of 1914, a studio was built by the Climax Co. at the intersection of Romaine and Lillian Way, in Hollywood. One picture, "The Lone Star Rush" was produced, featuring Robert Frazer, Mae Gaston, and Charles Arling. Jack Holt was a member of the sup- porting cast. After Climax, the studio was used succes- sively by Kolb and Dill, Chaplin, Metro, and Buster Keaton. In 1913, the Zodiac Film Co. was formed, and were scheduled to begin the production of pictures on the prop- erty on the southwest corner of Hill and Council streets, over the Hill street tunnel. The Zodiac Co. had a rather brief existence, and Hobart Bosworth moved in, making his first production after leaving Selig to become an inde- pendent star. Beginning with "The Sea Wolf", he filmed several Jack London stories. In the years that followed, the studio was used by various companies — Rolin, headed by Hal Roach, with Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels; Chaplin, finishing out his Essanay contract, Mary Pick- ford, making her first version of "Tess of the Storm Coun- try", and a number of smaller independent organizations. At the present time the lot is used as an auto park. Lubin had a studio in 1913 at 4550 Pasadena Ave., which was later used by J. P. MacGowan's Signal Film Co. for the production of a series of railroad dramas feat- uring Helen Holmes. In the period around 1914-15, studios were started and abandoned so rapidly that it was difficult to keep track of them. The Crown City Film Co. had a fairly large one in Pasadena, there was one in Alhambra, the Navajo Co. had one in Edendale where the Mixville market now stands, Jess Robbins had another out on Central Ave., Dave Horsley built a big one at Washington and Main on the old Chutes-Luna Park site, Milton H. Fahrney and George Ovey made MinA ("Made in America") comedies at Culver City, the Oz studio got under way at First set built by Los Angeles Selig Co. Picture, "Ramona." Director, Francis Boggs. the northwest corner of Santa Monica and Gower — and there were still others. When Dave Horsley brought his Nestor Co. to the coast in October 1911, he built Hollywood's first studio. This was at the northwest corner of Sunset and Gower. Ford Sterling occupied it later, after leaving Keystone to become a Universal star. It was afterward used for years Please mention The International Photogra David Horsley's first studio; northwest corner Cower and Sunset, now occupied by the Christies. by the Christie Comedy Co. Carl Laemmle started production by the newly formed Universal Co. in Hollywood, July 12, 1912, taking over the Nestor property and also half a block across the street on Sunset boulevard. With the opening of Universal City on March 15, 1915, the Hollywood Universal studio was left to the Stern brothers, producing L-Ko comedies. All buildings on the lot were destroyed several years ago by fire. Wm. H. Clune built a studio in 1915, on Melrose avenue across from the present Paramount lot. Clune produced "Ramona," with Monroe Salisbury and Adda Gleason playing leads. Donald Crisp directed. The prop- erty has since been used by various directors and stars, one of whom was Douglas Fairbanks. The first Ince Culver City studio was built in 1915. After Ince moved out it passed into the hands of the Tri- angle Co., who passed it on to Sam Goldwyn. It is now occupied by M-G-M. Ince built his second Culver City plant in 1917. After his death, it was taken over by C. B. DeMille. It was afterward bought by Pathe, who in turn sold it to RKO, who now own it. The original Lasky studio at the intersection of Selma and Vine, in Hollywood, was built in 1913. Most of the early studios started by buying a frame house and build- ing a stage back of it, using the house as office and dress- ings rooms. The beginnings of the Lasky lot were even more humble ; they started with a barn ! A glass stage was added in 1914, this being the second one on the coast. Thomas Dixon — author of "The Clansmen" — built a studio on Western Avenue in 1915 for the production of a war picture, "The Fall of a Nation." The property was later bought by the Fox Company who still hold it. The studio at the corner of Council and Occidental streets was built in 1914 for Hobart Bosworth. Oliver Morosco had it for a while, after which it was used by Paramount for their Realart productions. It is now occu- pied by the Cinecolor laboratories. The Balboa studio on Sixth street in Long Beach was started in 1913 by the Horkheimer brothers. During 1915 this was one of the busiest lots in the industry. In 1917 Balboa went out of business, and Fatty Arbuckle took over the plant, making most of his two reel Paramount comedies there. Biograph built their first Los Angeles studio in 1910, at the corner of Washington and Grand. This was only a temporary structure, used for one season. In 1911 the studio at the corner of Georgia and Girard was built ; during the next five years it was used as Biograph's winter headquarters. In the early part of 1917 it was occupied by 'Fhomas H. Ince, pending construction of his second Culver City plant. The studio was last used in 1923 by Katherine MacDonald. Other studios not thus far mentioned were those of the Quality Co. on Gordon street, E and R Jungle Film on (Continued on Page 31) pher when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHHK February, 1934 E.Leitz, Wetzlar Cross Section of the Leica Camera O you really know your miniature camera? Do you know how it looks inside, and what "makes it go?" And do you make the most of the advantages your camera offers you? Few peo- ple do. Let us for a few moments dwell on the camera itself. To most folks, a camera is merely a light-tight box, at one end of which is the lens, and at the other a receptacle for holding the sensitive material (plate or film). This is, of course, correct basically, but the miniature camera consists of far more than this. It must be remembered that the miniature camera is to many more than merely a camera ; it is an instrument of precision, and such it should be known as, for it is more than a picture-recorder in the usual sense of the word. Everyone should regard the baby camera as something more than just a camera, for when this attitude is accept- ed, a greater range of activities can be foreseen with the midget camera. Many complain that the baby camera is priced far too high. This is true when we consider the average camera, but when we begin to understand what the tiny camera is made of, we can no longer regard it as being expensive. An examination of the accompanying illustrations will reveal the complex mechanism of the Leica camera, which can be used as a representative. It will be seen that the tiny camera body is crowded with a maze of gears, springs, rollers, and whatnots. Some of the parts are extremely tiny, as can be understood, and in order that they oper- ate year after year with the greatest of accuracy, they must be made with ever-so-much care and from the finest possible materials. Some of the cost goes here. Each part, large or small, must fit exactly. Tolerances are not per- mitted. After the numerous parts have been made, they must be assembled and crowded into the limited space pro- vided in the camera body. To give you some idea as to how carefully everything in the camera is checked, let's take the shutter as an ex- ample. All shutters are notoriously faulty when it comes to clicking the exposure-intervals. For example, if the shutter is set to produce an exposure of 1/1 00th second, does it actually give that exposure? Nine shutters out of ten will not hit the 1/ 100th interval exactly — they may run to from l/80th to l/125th, but for all you and I know, or care, the exposure is 1/ 100th. Thanks to the tremendous latitude offered by our modern emulsions, slight discrepancies such as these are unimportant. In fact even if the shutter is considerably off, we would still be unable to notice any difference in the resultant nega- tive. So we promptly forget our errors. And this does not mean any one particular type or make of shutter either ; all of them will very often be found wanting when it comes to exactne^. As has been mentioned, slight errors in shutter speeds can safely be ignored, yet the focal plane shutter of the Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. UNDERSTANDING THE MINIATURE CAMERA By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. Leica must be checked carefully before it leaves the fac- tory. A tester sits before a stroboscope all day long, snap- ping shutter speeds and seeing to it that when he sets the shutter for l/500th second, the characteristic curve is seen through the aperture as the shutter snaps past. Should the curve not be just right, the camera is sent back for a new adjustment. In this way, the shutter speeds may be regarded as being accurate when the camera is purchased. In time, with wear and use, the speeds may shift slightly, in which event another checking with the aid of a stroboscope will easily remedy the defect. That is some- thing else you pay for when you buy a precision camera. When it comes to lenses, we cannot help but admit that most of our money goes into the optics. Only lenses of the finest type are considered for use on miniature cameras. Not only that, but the lenses are mounted in interchangeable mounts with the aid of a microscope. No slip-shod methods here. In bigger cameras where focusing is done by means of a ground-glass, the lens can be at- tached to the camera practically anywhere out front. It can be always focused visually with the ground-glass. But such is not the case with the miniature camera. The lenses are in themselves jewels of the finest glass, and it would indeed be a pity were they carelessly attached to the camera. It will be seen, then, that the miniature camera is not really expensive when you consider the care that is taken in its manufacture. But aside from this, there are other factors which must be reckoned with. Consider the small size and convenience afforded. Think of the economy of operation. Appreciate the countless advantages afforded. Isn't it worth while to spend a bit more on the initial purchase and save in operation? Or would you prefer to buy a less expensive camera and be burdened with large operating bills forever after? Not that the miniature camera will ever entirely re- place the larger and more conventional types of cameras, but that it should be accorded its due share of credit in the fields of photography. Already its influence has been felt in practically every phase of photography. During the "depression years" it has been a decided boon to all photographers, particularly the amateurs who would have had to give up photography as a hobby were it not for the great saving effected by the use of the baby camera. In many cases some of these amateurs lost their positions in the business world. What to do? Those who were wise enough to thoroughly master their equipment saw possi- bilities in it, and lo and behold, many of these now are Cross Section of the 50 mm. Lens February, 1934 T 1 1 INTERNATIONAL P II 0 TOGR A Fifteen now in business for themselves — and making more mone) with their miniature camera than they did formerly in the office. Many interesting stories will in time come to light regarding this, and when they do, you will find the miniature camera in the background. The midget camera, while not a newcomer as many people believe, became popular only a few years ago. It descended upon us with a swiftness that was nothing short of miraculous. That it took the country by storm need not be mentioned — everyone knows that. But from the time of its "introduction" to the present, we haven't had much of a chance to completely understand the little stranger. There are loads of things to be tried and tested. Miniature camera clubs and individuals are working furiously with developers, fine-grain ,and other problems. Naturally this all takes time. Right now there is not a great deal that we can look upon in miniature photogra- phy as settled or final. Next week someone is bound to come forth with a new theory or a new method, and our present routine becomes obsolete. The serious worker gets a big kick out of it all, how- ever, for this very uncertainty of it all provides something new to work with and try almost constantly. Miniature photography cannot at this time be labeled a cut and dried proposition like the more orthodox forms of pho- tography. More can be done with the higher-priced miniature camera than with any other type of camera. The results are just as good, if not better, and the operating costs are ridiculously low. Imagine doing aero, stereo, micro, can- did, portrait, pictorial, panorama, clinical, copy, sport, and night photography with but one camera ! The miniature camera does them all by merely using a lens or device designed for the particular work at hand. The several cameras which make use of standard 35 mm. motion pic- ture film have in this respect a tremendous advantage of the roll film cameras. Many enthusiasts feel that because a battery of lenses is available for the miniature camera, they have to have them all. This is nonsense. Some of the most successful workers use but one lens, usually the so-called "standard" lens of two inch focal length. The other lenses have their purpose of course, and sometimes, in certain types of work, one or more will be demanded, but he who knows his one lens can do wonders with it. It is amazing how few ama- teurs really know how to handle their lens equipment. So many things can be done with the focus, depth of field, ~*r Diagram showing how the Automatic Focusing Range-Finder operates. and diaphragm stops that it is a shame that better use is not made of them. The worker limited to his one lens by no means feels handicapped if he knows and under- stands it. On the other hand, other workers possessing several different lenses cannot turn out a single good pho- tograph, no matter how they try. They simply haven't thought it necessary to study their equipment a bit. The man who understands his camera is the one who produces consistently good results. This should be a strong hint for many of you who have so far failed to turn out satis- factory results. There is considerable literature now available from which the ambitious worker can secure additional informa- E.Leirz.Wetzlar Looking down into the mechanism of the Leica Camera. tion about his equipment and miniature photography in general. Books include The Leica Handbook, The Leica H. D. McCarty using his Cine Kodak Special on the races. Shooting pictures from a speed-boat is no cinch. When it comes to action shots the miniature camera is right there with the goods. The Elmar 135 mm. focus lens, stopped to f:4.5 with a shutter speed of only l/200th second produced this result on Eastman Panatomic film. Photos by A. A. Chapman. Data Book, The Book of the Miniature Camera, The Miniature Negative, Its Development and Care, and Modern Photography With Modern Miniature Cameras. More titles are constantly appearing, so the old excuse of not being able to find information no longer holds good. The fact that enlarging must usually be resorted to when using the miniature camera is a decided advantage. Projection printing is today considered the standard method of making prints, regardless of the size of the negative. Enlarging permits dodging, trimming, block- ing and shading, to say nothing of altering the shape and size of the picture — all without damaging the negative. Detail and atmosphere can be secured by means of the enlarger which would be utterly out of the question in a contact print. Thus the process of enlarging is an advan- tage, and should not be regarded as a drudge proposition belonging only to miniature photography. Come to understand the baby camera. Study it. Ex- periment with it. Read up on the subject in books and magazines (including THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER). You will very likely be amazed at the progress you make as time goes on. If you now are "luke-warm" on the subject of the miniature camera, you will soon realize that you can never again do with- out it. The International Photographer was the first publication in its field to reduce its subscription rate. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eventually the Creative Ef- forts of All Concerned in Motion Picture Production Must Be Interpreted by the Cameraman. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTIC STILL CAMERAMEN Just how important is the "still" cameraman to the motion picture industry? Jack Freulich, head of the still department of Universal Pictures, is qualified to answer that question, he having been connected with the mo- tion picture business for more than fifteen years. "A still man is of more importance to the motion picture industry than most people figure," he says. "Stills are the direct selling- factor of the picture. They are used as advertising 'come- on' in the lobby of the theatre; good stills will pack a house, that is if they are arranged to at- tract attention. In most of our larger cities a great per cent of the people go 'lobby shopping and an unattractive still display in the lobby tends to keep them away from the box office." The man who shoots stills must know his busi- ness; he must know what sort of pictures to make to attract attention. "A good photographer will read the script of the picture, get to know the director, cameraman and all the principal actors in the cast, gain their confidence ; in this way he will obtain the best possible action and expression," he claims. "The director is the man a good still man will con- tact ; he is the boss of the set and will aid in the changing of lights so as to obtain best re- sults." The use of stills taken of sets and stars is un- limited, they are used in trade journals, movie magazines, newspapers, department store advertis- ing and in the selling of the picture itself. "Every actor or actress knows that stills are of the utmost importance to their careers, and will usually aid in every way, a still man they know and trust," he says. "It a man goes about taking stills in a haphazard manner he will soon lose the confidence of the people with whom he works." Universal has a still "morgue" dating back a good many years, each new set erected on the lot is photographed several times and filed away for future reference. This is very important in case retakes have to be taken. The still will show the correct position of furniture, pictures, drapes or other articles of decoration. "Hollywood is the creation center for fashions in the United States," he says. "We receive re- quests from every state in the Union asking for pictures of new styles used in the making ot pic- tures, interior layouts of sets showing the arrange- ment of furniture, drapes and even the entire inside of a home. These come mostly from de- partment stores, furniture factories, interior deco- rators and many other sources of manufactories." Portraits of the stars and feature players are another type of still. They are used in many ways, fan magazines, newspaper cuts, jewelry ad- vertising, cosmetic, shoes, hats, stocking and many fabric manufacturers use them for window dis- play. The portraits of the stars are sent also in answer to fan requests for photographs. "Interior decorators follow the motion pictures very closely for new ideas," he says. "The fact that motion picture companies employ men who specialize in the making of new creations in fur- niture, drapes and other household goods, causes a constant demand for stills from these decora- tors." "The publicity department, a very important cog in the motion picture industry, uses thousands of these stills for mailing lists to theatrical mana- gers and newspapers; it is their medium of build- ing up a new picture," he stated. "This is one man the movies can not do without — the still cameraman." FOX METRO-COLDWYN MAYER With a cast like Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Jean Hersholt, Henry B. Walthall and several other of the good ones — and with George Folsey at the camera, "Men in White" should be anything but disappointing. S. Halprin is in New York shooting process shots for John Blystone's next. Hal Mohr finished Will Rogers' picture, "David Harum," and is preparing for the next Blystone picture. Johnnie Seitz is photographing "All Men Are Enemies," under the direction of George Fitz- maurice. G. Schneiderman has just finished George White's "Scandals," and is getting set for John Ford's next picture. Barney McGill is photographing Lou King's picture, "Murder in Trinidad," at the Western Avenue plant. Ernie Palmer has just finished the "Follies." E. W. O'Connell has finished the "Follies" and is preparing for Jimmie Flood's picture, "Old Thursday." Joe Valentine is photographing James Tinling's picture, "Three on a Honeymoon." Eddie Hammeras and J. O. Taylor are process- ing. Art Miller is in charge of the cameras on the musical, "Bottoms Up." Harry Jackson's radio orchestra will be used in the recording. PARAMOUNT Gordon and Dev Jennings, the magicians of Paramount, are up to their eyes in trick stuff for current production. The work of these clever artists is one of the strong box-office influences of Paramount. Alfred Gilks' camera work on "Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen" is pronounced excellent by east- ern critics. It features Alice Brady, Dorothea Wieck, Baby EeRoy, etc., and is directed by- Alexander Hall. It is a Paramount. Hal McAlpin has started "Man Who Broke His Heart," with William Cameron Menzies and George Somnes directing. Cinematographer Henry Sharp has been assigned to "Melody in Spring," featuring our old radio friend, Lanny Ross. Harry Fishbeck should not be overtaxed in "The Trumpet Blows," as the cast includes only three persons — George Raft, Adolph Menjou and Frances Drake. When Milt Krasner produces his usual artistic lighting effects on "Baby in the Icebox," she probably will thaw a lot. A Charles R. Rogers production. RKO Merian Cooper is said to have announced that RKO will film Bulwer-Lytton's "Last Days of Pompeii," one of the greatest of all dramatic stories. Mr. Cooper is to be congratulated upon his courage and good judgment. The picture should be a tremendous success and the cameraman who shoots it will have one of the really big oppor- tunities of cinema history. Edward Cronjager is working on Jane Murfin's latest screen play, "Transient Love." Harold Wenstrom directed the photography on Radio's "Lost Patrol." COLUMBIA Joe August has another crackerjack assignment in "Sisters Under the Skin," featuring Elissa Landi and Joseph Schildkraut. Johnny Stumar seems to be getting the thrillers. After finishing "Murder at Rexford Arms," he proceeded to "Storm at Midnight" for Columbia. The Cameragram is not in any sens to be confused with Brulatour Bulletir which, for the period of a year was pub lished monthly by J. E. Brulatour, Inc Distributors, Eastman Films, in co-opera tion with the International Photograph? Brulatour Bulletin was originated and de signed by E. 0. Blackburn, well know Hollywood sales representative for Bni latour, Inc. ,-/W., <,:•/*..////■!+ IF THIS STREAMLINE SOMETHING LI : MISCELLANEOUS Herbert Aller has purchased the screen of "Don't Be That Way" and is organi; company to produce it. Looks like one sure fire kind. Hiroslei Horie writes the editor from Japan, that he has just published the first of the Leica Monthly Magazine. Mr. H" also president of Nippon Leica Club and pq of the All-Japan Leica Society. Victor Milner is dean of the cameramen Paramount-Publix lot. Phil Tannura has met with great succ a cinematographer in England and he has v his success by a fine exhibition of courag ciency and technical knowledge. Hollyw proud of him and so is England. "Mysterious Mose" has nothing on Jai Shackleford. Our perpetual globe trotter ing like he did just before he went to th Desert and to Oceania. It won't be Ion we hear of Shack ordering 100,000 or mi of film and pointing the prow of his ship I unknown destination. Shouldn't be surprjj Shack would discover a bit of the lost cqj of Atlantis some day. George Robinson shot "Cross Country for Universal production and release. Ed<_ zell directed. Lew Ayers, June Knigh' ' White, Alan Dinehart and others furnisl action. The host of friends of Ira Hoke will . joiced to hear that he is happily situated" rancho at Grant's Pass and is not worryini cameras and such like. Ira is a credit to " :ragram The Cameraman with his Camera Constitutes the Sine Qua Non of Motion Pictures. H THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 2 "ou can bet something will be • some day to turn the motion cire industry inside out. This ilcome through the medium of ecamera, mark my words." KARL FREUND. UNIVERSAL LEE GARMES I1NUES WE MAY SEE V VERY SOON. MISCELLANEOUS (d his friends here miss him greatly. He Mentioned in his letter that there is a j'ld mining around his bailiwick and has at more than eighty years — whiskers, red irts and all. Whalen has gone up into the Sierras for gold. It's a hard rock prospect and nisincr. sing. Vyckoff has returned home after several • wild animal shooting in the menageries tallace-Hagenback Shows in winter quar- ■ru, Indiana. mored that Dan Clark is soon to be If this be true the directorial forces :ma are to be honored. They won't my better than Clark. esterberg is busy putting the finishing 1 his book, "The Cinematographer's Tables," which will be off the press in April. It will be a most attractive, id useful little volume and, if letters arts of the country are to be credited, an unqualified success. ggToland steps into the limelight as the ciimatographer of "Nana," Samuel Gold- *it picture, featuring Anna Sten. Gregg l©iU long time first lieutenant to George » r.d he certainly learned well the wis- wt rted to him by his clever preceptor. wh a fine piece of cinematographic work. ' qisual activity around the Charlie Chap- Bd? is evidence that our old friend, Rollie rof will soon be tuning up his Mitchell for ;r |ng grind. What's it to be, Rollie, a OS. noisy? A man must be good to stick ' artist like C. C. for twenty years. Two first cameramen, Richard Fryer and Wil- liam Sickner, are being used in the production of Universal's latest serial, one of twelve chap- ters entitled "Vanishing Shadow." The three as- sistants are George Dye, Joseph Krilanivich ami Kenneth Hunter. Louis Friedlander is the direc- tor of this original screenplay written by Ella O'Neill. Charles Stumar is the cinematographer and our old friend and schoolmate, Karl Freund, is the director on "Countess of Monte Cristo." Ted McCord and Joseph Novak, Universal cine- matographers, are handling the camera for Direc- tor Alan James, during the filming of "Honor of the West," Ken Maynard's latest picture for Universal. Cinematographer Norbert Brodine is behind the camera assisting Lowell Sherman who is both directing and playing the leading male role in Universal's picture, "Elizabeth and Mary," origi- nal story by Adrian Johnson. "Little Man, What Now?" a German best seller, written by Hans Fallada, now in produc- tion at Universal, starring Margaret Sullavan and directed by Frank Borzage, is being photographed by Charles Stumar, cinematographer for Universal pictures. WARNER-FIRST NATIONAL Ralph Staub, Warner Brothers Vitaphone direc- tor, has completed his comedy featuring George Givot, Greek Ambassador of Good Will, and Charles Judells and will immediately start pro- duction on another picture that will feature Harry Gribbon and Shemp Howard. Story is by Jack Henley and Dolph Singer. Sid Hickox will take the bows on "Hot Air." Ernest Haller is in charge of photography on "Merry Wives of Windsor." Arthur Todd is starting a nice assignment, "Hit Me Again," from the original story by F. Hugh Herbert. Bud Hoskins is in production on "Fur Coats." S'ol Polito was the cinematographic director of "Hi, Nellie," Mervyn LeRoy's most recent pro duction for Warner Brothers. George Barnes added another success to his string in the photography of "Massacre," starring Richard Barthelmess. INDIES Al (Red) Greene reports that he has just fin- ished shooting the operative work on ."Are We Civilized," a Raspin production directed by Ed- win Carewe. Leon Shamroy acted as first cine- matographer and Milton Bridenbecker held down the assistant's job, while Shirley Vance Martin shot the stills. The picture was staged at Gen- eral Service Studios and features William Far- miiii, Anita Louise, Le Roy Mason, Oscar Apfel, Frank McGlynn and Stuart Holmes. Ruby Skelly handled the script, Henry Grunstrum, props, and Neal Neal, grips. Andy Anderson is very much on the list as cinematographer on "The Understanding Heart." It is a Chesterfield production. Leon Shamroy had a swell bunch of gaffers on "Are We Civilized," and here they are — count 'em: Dudley Campbell, Tex Cox, Jennings Mc- Clellan, Ray Jones and Harry Hodges. UNITED ARTISTS If an actual cast of sixty-five persons means anything, then Pev Marley ought to have his work cut out for him on "The House of Rothschild," but Pev is used to crowds and the bets are that his usua] artistic results will be accomplished. To Lee Garmes has come that "break" which so many long for and so few attain. An ace Hollywood cameraman, whose photog- raphy in many instances has earned him more applause than stars, he was assigned the direction recently of "Fledglings," an epic of the air to be made by Fox Films. For many years Lee Garmes' name has been associated with the art of the cinema. Winner of one coveted Academy award for outstanding work, and runner-up on three other occasions, he is famous in the picture industry for his shadow- painting effects and the delicate nuances of his photographic moods. Made a director a year ago by Fox Film, he was unable to leave his cameras because of the demand for his services. Among the most artistic of his recent pictures are "Zoo in Budapest," which experts believe is the finest photographed picture of the year, and "I Am Suzanne !" both Jesse L. Lasky productions. He was chosen to make "Fledglings," his first directorial assignment, by Producer Al Rockett. In this picture, which centers around the ex- periences of a rookie airman at Kelly Field, the "West Point of the Air," Garmes will start his career with one of the pretentious vehicles on the Fox Film program. His star will be Lew Ayres and his background the actual flying and ground training air school at San Antonio. Negotiations for army co-operation have been going on for the past six months and are well on their way toward completion. The flying school, its equipment and personnel will be utilized by the company in a truthful picturization of a flying cadet's trials and triumphs. LOOKING AHEAD Karl Freund, Universal director and formerly chief cinematographer at Universal, speaks up re- garding the future of the cinema: "The day will come," says Mr. Freund, "when pictures will learn to create their own art and style, but that day is a long way off. The mo- tion picture industry started out on its own feet when it stared manufacuring silent pictures. It might have gone on, building, evolving and per- fecting the original trend if talkies had not made their appearance. When talkies came into their own. the whole structure of 'moving pictures' col- lapsed and fell. Our pictures of today, that is the greater number of them, are but elaborated versions of the one time stage plays. One need not have technique to take a stage play and word for word place it upon the screen." Freund was recently acclaimed for his work in the making of "Symphony of a Town," the story of life in Berlin from sunrise until sunset, and he has to his credit "The Golem," "Variety," "The Last Laugh," etc. To him there is no more creative force in films. The industry has lost its ability to think for itself. Although conceding that good stage plays make good films, just how many stage plays are there in a year's production? The records will show that eight worth while stage plays in a Broad- way season is huge. And take into consideration the motion picture industry turns out more than five hundred pictures in a single year. "Do you suppose the third dimensional film, not yet developed, will supply the answer," he asks. "There is a lot to be known regarding the taking of pictures, and when that time comes it will belong exclusively to motion pictures." One can see that although a director at present, Freund is still very much interested in the camera end of the game. "There is no doubt in my mind that the Ameri- can method of filming motion pictures is by far ahead of the foreign method," he said. TWENTIETH CENTURY Pev Marley hit the bull's eye in "Gallant Lady," a Twentieth Century production starring Ann Harding. Gregory La Cava directed. (Concluded on Page 24) Eighteen T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, 1934 .Editorial "Even more greatly my happiness springs from the deep conviction that this year marl(s a greater international understanding of the significance in our modern lives of the teachings of Him whose birth We celebrate. To more and more of us the words, 'Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself,' have lal(en on a meaning that is showing itself and proving itself in our purposes and daily lives. "May the practice of thai high ideal grow in us all in the year to come." 'HE above is an excerpt from the address of President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the lighting of the National Community Christmas Tree, in Washington, D. C, on Christmas Eve, 19 33. The President's declaration: "May the practice of that high ideal grow in us all in the year to come," is in consonance with the spirit of the camera- men of the motion picture industry. Certainly co-operation is a sign of the times for, everywhere we turn, we find this principle at work in the multifarious activities of men in the recon- struction of our New World as inspired by the New Deal. It is traditional that since the beginning of the cinema the cameraman has been the strong hand and willing heart of the industry- — ever dependable, ever ready to "take it" and asking only a fair share of the fruits of his energy and ability. The slogan of the Three Musketeers — "One for All and All for One" — should be the slogan of the cameramen, for only in such spirit can he achieve the highest use-value and the greatest permanent results. The problems of the cameramen are not unsolvable. In truth they are not even great. All that is required is adherence to the principle that the con- cern of one is the concern of all; that co-operation is the one essential to suc- cess; that the New Deal means protection to the cameramen, producers and the picture going public — all alike; that amity is better than animosity; that old wounds must be healed before the full measure of understanding and suc- cess can be achieved and that — believe it or not — better pictures will not be forthcoming until an enduring peace has been established between the pro- ducer and the cameraman based upon mutual understanding and mutual trust. The cameramen are rapidly putting their house in order. They are cast- ing aside worn out theories and junking archaic methods, ways and means. A new vision and a new energy, under a virile directing force, gives promise of quick, enlightened and tolerant readjustment, already on its way, and bidding fair to make the year of our Lord, 1934, the greatest in the cameramen's history. Salus populi suprema lex esto. (The welfare of the people is the supreme law). The spirit of the New Deal means just that and the cameramen are doing their part. February, 1934 T h e I N T E R N A T 1 0 X A I. P H 0 T 0 GRAPH E R Nineteen FIUER FACTORS MLlfcR FACTORS FO* NORMAl DAYUGHT EXPOSURES ON STANDA*0 »fi*NDS OF PAN CMROMAIC MOTION t'h;lLJRt ! V) itopi Jo-.. This is the eleventh installment of the Cinematographer's Book of Tables compiled and computed by Mr. Fred Wester- berg, one of the technical editors of THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. Cieeeiatograplier^s BOOK of TABLES By FRED WESTERBERG The last installment of Cinematographer's Book of Tables will appear in the April issue, 1934, and when completed the tables will constitute a handy reference guide welcome to all cinematographers, professional and amateur. Take note that the tables are so placed in the magazine as to be easily cut out and bound into a small pocket ring book. Cut down the middle of page 19; then trim top and bottom to fit your cover; punch holes to fit rings on inner and outer edges of magazine pages 19 and 20. In response to many demands the publishers have decided to issue the Tables in bound form about April 1st. The book will be printed on tough paper with semi-flexible cloth cover for hard pocket usage and will sell for $1.00 in the United States. 26 D >- X < Oe. 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Cameras, Projectors and Accessories Write for Bass Bargaingram. Specify size of apparatus interested in. For over 22 years Value Leaders of the nation. Your copy is ready. Write for it. BASS CAMERA CO. 179 W. Madison St. Chicago, W EVERYTHING ^ W PHOTOGRAPHIC^ Ww( I^'J W for Professional and Amateur * " New and used. Bought, sold, feEiSy " rented and repaired. 9^-\-fgMfAm\ Camera Silencing. Send WW "^1 k for Bargain Catalogue , llll B Hollywood Camera A Wa i^m m—\ Exchange Am mss. 'y^^l^rm\m viiki ^k\_ 1600 Cahuenea Blvd. AW ji * — *"v ■ -__i!H mm\. Hollywood Mm ^m Mm 1 wM\ ml ^k\ H0llvwd3651 kW f IIAI ^L fable Address: AM rJliM ^^ HOcamex ^Wj \\\\\\\ Am\\ MICKEY MOUSE COMES IN "LONG PANTS" NOW Mickey Mouse, that gay young Romeo of animated pictures, whose impossible antics have delighted young and old all over the world, now appears in full length reels of 16 mm. film. The Hollywood Film Enterprises have been supplying the shorter length subjects for quite some time ; in fact, during the past year and a half this supply has amounted to several million feet. That sounds like a lot of feet — even of Mickey, but did it satisfy? NO! They demanded more of Mickey, so now to the great joy of the amateur, and those who are not amateurs, they may sit back in their chairs, heave a long contented sigh, and watch Mickey and his pals do their stuff in a full length reel. The Hollywood Film Enterprises, 6060 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, can now furnish for your film library the following silly Symphonies, each subject approximately 200 feet, 16 mm.: "The Plow Boy", "The Haunted House", "The Fire Fighters", "Traffic Troubles", "Pioneer Days", "The Barnyard Dance", "Springtime", "The Skeleton Dance", "Midnight in a Toy Shop", "The Merry Dwarfs", "Cannibal Capers", and "Night". Announcement to Dealers Fred Westerberg's CINEMATOCRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES Will Be Off the Press in April. Order Now! 26-C PROJECTION 35 mm. FILM PROJECTION BACKGROUND PROCESS WIDTH OF PICTURE OBTAINED IN PROJECTION WITH DIFFERENT LENSES AT VARIOUS DISTANCES FROM THE SCREEN Width of Picture on Screen In Feet DISTANCE IN FEET FROM PROJECTOR TO SCREEN Screen Magni- fication In Diam- eters 4-inch Proj. Lens 41/2-in. Proj. Lens 5-inch Proj. Lens 51/2-in. Proj. Lens 6-inch Proj. Lens 7-inch Proj. Lens 8 35.3 39.7 44.6 49.6 44.2 48.5 53.0 61.8 106 9 39.7 49.7 54.6 59.6 69.7 119 10 44.2 55.2 60.6 66.3 77.3 133 11 48.5 54.5 60.7 66.7 72.9 85.0 146 12 53 n 59.5 66.2 72.8 79.5 92.7 159 13 57.3 64.5 71.7 78.8 86.2 100 172 14 61.8 69.4 77.3 84.8 92.8 108 186 15 66.1 74.4 82.8 91.0 99.4 116 199 16 70.6 79.4 88.3 97.0 106 124 212 17 75.0 84.3 93.8 103 113 131 225 18 79.4 89.3 99.4 109 119 139 238 19 83.7 94.3 105 115 126 147 252 20 88.4 99.2 110 121 133 154 265 21 92.7 104 116 127 139 278 22 97.0 109 121 133 146 292 23 101 114 127 140 152 305 24 106 119 132 146 .six 25 110 124 129 138 152 331 26 115 144 345 27 119 134 149 358 28 124 139 155 ;. i Based on Projection Aperture .680 by .906 of an inch. The use of this aperture, which was standard in the days of silent pictures, is now limited for the most part to projection back- ground work. Having no sound track to consider, full use can be made of the larger area of the old aperture to secure the benefits of reduced screen magnification in projecting the background image. ILLUMINATION CARBON ARC LIGHT RELATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF RADIANT ENERGY EMITTED BY VARIOUS TYPES OF CARBONS |uITRA-VIOl|viOIET | BLUE |B-G |oRE E N [ V- O | TCU |oRAN0C|R-O | RE.P Energy distribution of Plain Carbon Arc 3so too feso 100 ULTnA-VIOu|viOLET | BLU E. |B-G |CRE.E N | Y-G | YE.L |qRAN6E|R-0 | RtCp~ Energy distribution of White Flame Carbon Arc ultra-viol|violet | blue |a-G [green |y-g I ye.i |oa*N<.E|R-o| RE.P Energy distribution of 40 ampere Studio Carbon Arc Dotted line indicates the relative color sensitivity of typical Supersensitive Panchromatic Film. Data by National Carbon Company. February, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH KK Tweni v-one MINIATURE CAMERAS AND PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued front Page 5) merit, but the photographer must bear in mind that the selection of a single formula for continued use is recom- mended. In this manner we become acquainted with a definite developer, in relation to its behavior under various temperatures, and the manner in which it develops dif- ferent films. To date, paraphenylene-diamine looms as the most ef- ficient grain eliminator. It is a known fact that the lower the reduction potential of a reducing agent (developer) the greater is its ability to produce fine-grained images. By reduction potential is meant its ability to attack the silver halide and reduce it to metallic silver. Some devel- opers perform this action quicker than others. Dr. V. B. Sease of the DuPont Film Co. has outlined the reduction potential of the more common developers as follows: Paraphenylene-diamine 0.3 Hydroquinone 1.0 Glvcin 1.6 Metol, Rhodol, etc ' 20.0 Amidol 30.0 You will notice that of all those listed paraphenyl- diamine has the lowest reduction potential and is there- fore capable of producing the finest grain. Results sub- stantiate this fact. Negatives developed in paraphenylene- diamine are capable of yielding prints as large as 11 by 14 inches without grain being visible in the print. Formulas for this developer have been included in an article on miniature photography in the October of INTERNA- TIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. Its importance how- ever demands that they should be stated again for the benefit of those who may have overlooked them at that time. Two popular formulas are recommended, the first to be used for normally exposed negatives, and the second which produces a finer grain, requires that the negative receive twice normal exposure. Paraphenylene-diamine Developer, Formula No. I Paraphenylene-diamine 90 grains Sodium Sulphite 450 grains Borax 255 grains Tri-basic Sodium Phosphate 210 grains Water 16 ounces Paraphenylene-diamine Developer, Formula No. 2 Paraphenylene-diamine 72 grains Sodium Sulphite 420 grains Water 16 ounces Developing time : 30 minutes at 68 F. Dissolve the paraphenylene-diamine in hot water about 180 F. and when dissolved add the sulphite. The borax and tri-basic sodium phosphate is added after the sulphite has dissolved. Paraphenylene-diamine is usually found to be deficient in contrast with some of the modern super-speed emul- sions. It is recommended by many that glycin be added to "pep" up the devoper. The following is a satisfactory paraphenylene-diamine glycin formula : Paraphenylene-diamine 10 grams Sodium Sulphite 90 grams Glycin 1 gram Water to make 1 liter Developing time : 20 minutes at 68 F. Paraphenylene-diamine formulas should be freshly pre- pared because this developer does not keep well upon standing. JnLere's what an EYEMO can do! The Bell & Howell Eyemo 35 mm. hand camera doesn't know the word "impossible." Here are some of its "tricks" — with many more in the bag. 1. Spring motor, electric motor, or handcrank drive pro- vides correct film speed for adding sound. Finder object- ives can be etched to show sound picture area. 2. Stand for animation, film slides, titles, etc., mounting Eyemo with single frame exposure device, is available. 3. Precision alignment gauge and prismatic magnifier are available for title and scientific work. 4. Trigger Tripping Unit is available for automatic filming of wild animals. (As used by Martin Johnson.) 5. Special motor and auxiliary shutter are available to make single frame exposures at fixed intervals. Used in photo- graphing recording instruments, and also in aerial map- ping. (Sir Hubert Wilkins is using a special Mapping Eyemo over the South Polar ice cap, saving many preci- ous pounds in film and equipment.) Let us tell you how the Eyemo Camera can be adapted to your special problems. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.). Estab. 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER The Life of a Stillman By Don Mackenzie February, 1934 HE still cameraman is the only studio employee I know who is hired and instructed by his employer to procure a certain quota of work. He goes out on a job and finds that he is a lone wolf. This is not through any personal dislike for him, but largely from a lack of appreciation of the real value of his work. I have even had cameramen ask me why we had to have more than twenty or thirty pictures to a production, inasmuch as theatre lobbies rarely display more than six or eight stills. Not all people, even in the profession, realize the part that still pictures play in a production. Beside their display in theatre lobbies stills are used for posters and billboard advertising, for advertising and publicity in newspapers and periodicals. But most im- portant of all for the financial success of a picture the salesman who sells the film carries a complete set of stills, which not only tell the story to the exhibitor, but also show him the cast, sets and costumes. In fact, the exhibitor is rarely interested in the film unless he is first impressed by the stills. Right here I believe it would not be out of place to correct an impression which seems to be general — that a stillman's job is a cinch. True, there is plenty of sitting- around time on a set, but that, after all, is one of the drawbacks of the job. Let us follow a stillman through a production and see what his job consists of. First he is told by his production department to get a large number of produc- tion stills and also plenty of publicity and off-stage shots and, as a parting shot, is generally told : "Don't let them bulldoze you out of them." These instructions are given despite the fact that the stillman has been given no real authority to procure the pictures. He must rely on tact and the hope that his director is a "good scout," and oh, yes, sometimes that the supervisor is a "good scout," also that the assistant director, the cameraman, the gaffer and the property man are all "good scouts." If all these fellows are "good scouts" he begins to feel that he is sitting pretty — provided the star also is a "good scout." But if they are just "one of the mind scouts" his job sometimes shapes up differently. He goes along smoothly grabbing off a scene here and there until the production comes to some high light, maybe one of the real kicks of the story. It may be a highly emo- tional or dramatic scene. He, the stillman, thinks to himself: "Ah, this is what I have been waiting for!" and then waits in anticipation for an O. K. on the scene that he may shoot his still. The director and the actors have had a hard time shooting the scene. However, after eight or ten min- utes the director is satisfied. It is now twelve-thirty and everyone is hungry. The stillman hollers : "Hold it for a still!" The director goes to lunch, the actors give the stillman disgusted looks. The gaffer, and in fact all the electricians, give him a dirty look and the assistant director glances uncertainly from stillman to actors and finally "compromises" by promising the still- man that he can have the desired shot right after lunch. After lunch the stillman discovers that the lighting line-up has been changed from an individual close-up and that it is impossible to shoot the original scene. He grumbles to the assistant director, who shrugs — and thus another opportunity is lost. The stillman then notices that a couple of "leads" are at liberty and he has an idea for an off-stage publicity shot. He contacts them and if they happen to feel kindly about the idea he next contacts the gaffer — only to learn that he and his assistants are busily engaged in lighting the next scene, but as soon as they finish "he will fix you up." Then when the gaffer is at liberty to "fix you up" the stillman finds that his leads have been called on to the set to rehearse the next scene — and an- other opportunity is lost. And so it goes throughout the production, except on those rare occasions when all the crew are "good scouts." The impression also prevails that all a stillman must know is how to focus his camera and time the negative. This is only a minor detail. A good stillman must know how to group his subjects so as to avoid blank spaces and feature the leading players without making it too obvious. This grouping sometimes necessitates changing a light or two, all of which takes time. He must also direct the actors in what he wishes them to do. Inasmuch as it cannot talk a good still should show some exaggeration in action. But try to get the average actor to exaggerate. He is deathly afraid of mugging or over-acting. Remember, the still man is supposed to do all these things in practically the time he takes to place the camera in position, focus and snap the exposure. If he takes a longer time the director is apt to become impatient. But after the picture is completed the publicity department looks at the stills and wonders why there isn't more "punch" to this scene or that scene, forgetting the obstacles that are placed in the way of obtaining the desired result. They forget or ignore the lack of co-operation that the stillman receives in his work. Now in spite of all these obstacles he encounters, he does manage to get good production stills with a "kick" and also many off-stage shots. The wonder is, however, that he accomplishes what he does in the limited time at his disposal. The quality of a set of stills, be they good or bad, are remembered long after the conditions under which they are taken are forgotten. Who envies the life of a stillman? THE ASSISTANTS TALK IT OVER ^UNNp/cffSHNE "Did joe get a job?" "No. He can't even get a rumor. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. February, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-three "Wally's" First Job By Earl Theisen A description of "Wally" Clendenin, author of the article on page 12 of this magazine, would fit a mobile or animated encyclopedia. He is a character! His knowledge and experiences in Hollywood during the years the picture folk were migrating here is a thing apart. His anecdotes concerning the antics of the personages of those days are a barrel of fun ; but he won't tell them for print since he feels the past is where it is and besides they have learned better. However, he will tell one on himself which I have followed in spirit as closely as my ability permits. In 1('()8, he was one of the kid operators that were so common throughout the country at that time. His first job was cranking one of the old Edison exhibition machines, the model with the wooden front board. It had no safety shutter, but there was a small mica dowser hinged to the front end of the metal light cone. If the film broke, or for any other reason stopped in the gate, he was supposed to flip down the dowser in time to cheat the local firemen out of a ride. The mica was transparent enough to let a little light through, just enough to permit the audience to admire the scratches and dirt on the stationary film while he did a hasty repair job. He reminisces: "The cubbyhole in which I worked was only three feet wide, and was directly over the ticket office. The projector was mounted on a shelf along the left side of the booth, and it was possible to crank with the left hand while standing outside the door. This I sometimes did in an attempt to cool off. How- ever, the rheostat — a large contraption consisting of iron wire coils wound on a metal frame — was directly in front of the door and, as the wire coils used to get red hot, I was, as it were, betw-een two fires. The booth got hot, the rheostat got hotter and I got hottest." The show bore the not unusual title of "THE NICKELODEON." The manager was a thrifty soul, being of Scotch extraction and saturation ; the program was, therefore, limited to one reel and an illustrated song. Wally was instructed to crank as slowly as pos- sible in order to make the picture last longer, conse- quently, when Paul Panzer pursued the beauteous Flor- ence Lawrence across the screen, the audience got a last- ing impression that both principals were afflicted with stringhalt. The illustrated song consisted of a tattered "Profes- sional Copy" and a bundle of colored slides. Most of the slides were cracked and so was the voice of our piano tickler. It was his job to space the slides out properly through the song, but up in the cubbyhole he could not hear the words and frequently the slides did not last long enough. The audience never cared ; the only thing that irked them was to have a slide put in right side up, as NEW H. C. E. COMBINATION LENS SHADE, FILTER HOLDER AND DISK HOLDER The technicians of the Hollywood Camera Exchange, specialists in the manufacture of lens shades and filter holders, have designed and manufactured a combination lens shade, three inch filter holder and standard disk holder for still cameras ranging from 5x7, 8x10 and up. This holder is so designed that one side holds the filter while the disk is held in the opposite side, enabling the operator to shoot through disk and filter at one time to secure special effects. The Combination Lens Shade, Filter Holder and Disk Holder is very light, being hand machined from high grade duraluminum, which will not bend or break and is considered by local studio still cameramen to be novel and practical for both professional and amateur. It is made to fit lenses of any diameter. this gave them upside down results. "The switches for the house wiring were on the wall directly over the front seats," said Wally, "and every time a fuse blew, the customers got a swell view of the fireworks. With the Iroquois theatre fire in Chicago still fresh in their memories, they were apt to be a bit coltish at such a time, often leaving me sud- denly alone in the dark with the piano girl — which wasn't as much of a treat as it sounds. "Our only ballyhoo was a cylinder phonograph in the lobby, with a repeat mechanism on it for playing the same record as long as anybody could stand it. The manager bored a hole above the door, stuck the small end of the phonograph horn through it from the outside, and treated the passing pedestrian to the strains of 'I Got Mine,' filtered through six feet of rubber hose. It didn't seem to be much of a draw. "The films we ran were genuine antiques, the cheap- est the manager could rent from the exchanges. They were nearly all minus a main title and were so scratched, torn, and full of bad splices that my left arm got muscle- bound from keeping them in frame. But what did I care? It was true that I got no money for my nightly roasting, but that bothered me not at all — I got to see all the 'movin' pitchers' for nothing." Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, 1934 A REVOLUTIONARY ADVANCEMENT NUCHROMATIC i-UP The Perfect Make-Up for the Screen A few reasons why DeLong Nuchromatic Make-Up is so superior to old style grease paints. 1. Does not contain grease, tallow, lard or other penetrating animal fats, analine dyes, or other injurious substances. 2. It is not absorbed or does not penetrate into the skin and there- fore will not cause any irritations or unpleasant skin conditions. 3. Has a very smooth and fine consistency which covers three times the area and is easier and more quickly applied and removed. 4. Does not stimulate sebaceous or sweat glands and has no chem- ical reaction with skin secretions. 5. Does not crack or fade under incandescent or sunlight and there- fore does not necessitate frequent touching up. 6. More neutral colors permit the use of a lighter and more natural make-up. COMPOUNDED OF THE FINEST AND PUREST INGREDIENTS For information Call CL. 8140 Make-Up (/ Studio 5533 Sunset Boulevard (near Western) Complete Professional Make-up Service ASSIGNMENTS (Continued from Page 17 of the Cameragram) Clyde De Vinna and Dewey Wagner, "Tarzan and His Mate," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Ray June, "Rip Tide," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Oliver Marsh, "Sadie McKee," Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer. Gregg Toland, "In Old Louisiana," Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer. Gus Peterson, untitled, Metropolitan. Archie Stout, "Numbers of Monte Carlo," Mono- gram-Carr. Gill Warrenton, "The Loud Speaker," Mono- gram-Carr. Archie Stout, "The Curse of Kali," Monogram- Carr. Ben Reynolds, "Come on Marines," Paramount. Charles Lang, "We're Not Dressing," Para- mount. Henry Fishbeck, "The Trumpet Blows," Para- mount. Henry Sharp, "Melody in Spring," Paramount. Hal McAlpin, "Man Who Broke His Heart," Paramount. Al Gilks, "You're Telling Me," Paramount. Hap DePew, untitled, RKO Pathe. Harry Newmann, "Take the Stand," RKO Pathe. J. Roy Hunt, "Finishing School," RKO Pathe. Lucien Andriot, "Crime Doctor," RKO Radio. Art Lloyd, untitled, Hal Roach. M. A. Anderson, "Birds of a Feather," Mack Sennett. Jack Stevens, untitled, Universal. Charles Stumar, "Countess of Monte Cristo," Universal. George Barnes, "Hit Me Again," Warner-First National. Sid Hickox, "Hot Air," Warner-First Na- tional. Byron Haskins, "Fur Coats," Warner-First Na- tional. Ernest Haller, "The Key," Warner-First Na- tional. Tony Gaudio, "The Gentleman From S'an Fran- cisco," Warner-First National. Dwight Warren, "Frolics of Youth," Educa- tional. Joe August, "Sisters Under the Skin," Colum- bia. John Stumar, "Storm at Midnight," Columbia. Palmer & O'Connell, "Fox Follies," Fox. Art Miller, "Bottoms Up," Fox. John Seitz, "All Men Are Enemies," Fox. Bob Planck, "Masquerade," Fox. Joe Valentine, "Three on a Honeymoon," Fox. Barney McGill, "Murder in Trinidad," Fox. THE TIME IS SHORT Better Order Your Cinematographer's Book of Tables Right Away! DE LONG NUCHROMATIC MAKE-UP The De Long Laboratories, Ltd., 5533 Sunset Boule- touching up the make-up. The reason is that there are vard, have announced their NUCHROMATIC MAKE- no ingredients which will penetrate sufficiently into the UP for motion pictures. This development has been pores of the skin to produce any stimulation of the sweat achieved after many years research with the assistance or sebaceous gland which results in perspiration. This of some of our local cameramen, who have reported re- perspiration or constant sweating brings to the surface markable photographic success. of the skin a secretion which acts as a solvent of the The make-up is a departure from the ordinary grease- grease paint and in the places where it is added there paint in that there are no penetrating greases used is the possibility of overlapping, which cannot be seen which means that the make-up does not penetrate into by the naked eye but which is apparent to the film. Not the outer layers of the skin or into the pores, but re- only has De Long eliminated this condition, but they mains on the surface without absorption. There are no have succeeded in producing a make-up of very fine con- mineral pigments or analine dyes used in the coloring, sistency, requiring very little rubbing in to impart a so that with the certified colors used the color shade is smooth, velvety texture to the skin. always constant and cannot fade under the exposure to Due to the high red sensitiveness of Panchromatic extreme incandescent lights or under the natural sun film any make-up containing too much red must be used rays. in relatively dark shades to obtain a satisfactory photo- This feature is very essential to constancy in photo- graphic result. With the De Long Nuchromatic Make- graphic results. up comparatively little red coloring is used and the result In addition to the elimination of the trouble of color is a more neutral blend enabling a lighter and more variation they have solved the problem of constantly natural looking make-up to be used. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. February, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-five UNDER THREE FLAGS (Continued from Page 3) The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce told us the weather would be tine, just like California — and just like California it was — very unusual. Whenever we set up the camera the sun would disappear and usually it started to rain. Here flares were used as a last resort, and the results were surprising, so good. When we finally started for Laredo, there to cross the Rio Grande, everyone was in high spirits in antici- pation of the good times awaiting us in Mexico. Of the huge delegation that met us on the other side the most popular man was the agent of the Bartega Rum, who freely distributed large samples of his wares. He was well photographed and not with blanks, either. The bars did a huge business but after Kansas "corn" a real drink tasted like a chaser, but the same effect was there. Yet we managed to stay in focus sufficiently to shoot the official welcoming delegation. It was a great event for them and secured their good will which followed us on our entire trip. 1 must say that a more friendly people I have never met. Here we were joined by a Mexican censor and an escort of the Federal Highway patrol, both of which became per- manent fixtures to the expedition for the balance of the trip. Our run to Monterey (King of the mountains) was over the first link of the new Pan-American highway — a paved road and very fine, considering the barrenness of the country and the fact that there was no visible means of support for such a highway except for an oc- casional tourist. But it has been built for the future. Old Monterrey has all the charm that the song suggests, and here we spent a pleasant day. It is both beautiful and historic, and should before long be the mecca of tourists who want the unusual. It was our last sight of good roads, good food, good beds and toilets until we reached Mexico City, for here we started on a six hundred mile stretch of road that was seldom traveled. We went over mountains and rivers, through gorges and jungles, an ever-changing vista so beautiful that the drivers found it hard to keep their eyes on the road which is an absolute necessity along parts of this road. There were Indian villages where Spanish was not spoken or even understood and old Spanish towns that still bore the marks of the conquistadors and revolu- tions. Ill luck was again with us for it was cloudy most of the way and for two days it rained. Part of this road is in the process of construction and only the pre- liminary work of grading was being done. It was in no place impassable, yet sometimes the road for miles was nothing more than a ten-foot shelf chisled out of the side of the mountains where a false move would have meant a drop of thousands of feet. Tourists were not yet numerous enough to have changed the services or accommodations at the old hotels, the food was purely native, and we ate three times a day of goat meat, beans, rice, tortillas and chicory with hot milk. Some of the boys lost weight and some preferred to sleep in the cars. The route of the caravan can be traced on the map of Mexico by a southerly course from Monterrey, through the towns of Ciudad Victoria, Valles, Tomazunchale, Ixmiquilpan, Pachuca and Mexico City. I have heard of the "Old Spanish Custom" but never really knew what it means until we saw the senoritas promenade around the plazas, the caballeros (gentlemen to you) doing likewise, only in the opposite direction, to the accompaniment of the town band. 'Thus are introductions consummated ; that's the old Spanish cus- tom. The gas tank of the camera car was punctured cross- ing a rocky river bed and there was no means of fixing it until we reached Mexico City. "This was three hun- dred miles away, and we proceeding using a five-gallon gas can on the running board and a piece of hose. But a five-gallon can of gas doesn't last long on those roads, so about every hour we had to hook up a new one. Tomazunchale proved to be one of the most pic- turesque towns on the entire trip, and here we were wel- comed by the town band. The surrounding country was desert and the roads were lined with cactus fences so thick as to make them impassable for humans. One has to be extremely careful in photographing in Mexico, and it was only due to the fact that we had a censor that our negative did not have to be developed there. Mexico City gave us a grand welcome in true Latin style. It is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city but has not the charm of the rural districts — yet it was very inter- esting, and from here we visited some of the wonders of the trip. There was a day spent at the pyramids, older than those of Egypt, and at the citadel and temple with its many different kinds of architecture which gave evidence that more than one civilization had used it as a place of refuge and worship. We visited Mt. Toluca, a now extinct volcano crater, and on this trip reached an altitude of 14,700 feet. Very little work was done as everyone suffered at this great height. At the floating gardens at Xochimilco we were ban- (Tum to Page 31) ARTREEVES PRESENTS NEW SOUND RECORDING and LABORATORY EQUIPMENTS WRITE FOR 1934 CATALOGS Motion PicTure/^mjipmemT (q |Td 64 5 NORTH MARTEL AVE- CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES Cables: ArtReeves HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, US A Phone: WYoming 4501 French-Spanish Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording HIS chapter continues the discussion that was begun last month of the permanent monitoring equipment and its functioning. The first installment on monitoring described the potentiometer that is connected in the output circuit of each microphone ; and explained the manner in which it is operated to control the flow of speech current from the microphone. The path of the speech current was traced through the potentiometer and the monitoring, or "boost- er", amplifier ; and it is at the output of the amplifier that this chapter picks up the dicussion. The Main Volume Control Between the output of the booster amplifier and the transmission line linking it with the main recording amplifier is a potentiometer of the same type that is con- nected in the output of each microphone. This potentio- meter is known as the main volume control, and has for its purpose the regulation of the overall amount of speech energy that is recorded ; whereas the individual mixer potentiometers are provided only for controlling the amount of speech current coming from each microphone. If several microphones are employed for recording, as is done for orchestrations, the potentiometers connected to the individual microphones can each be adjusted to pro- vide the correct proportion of speech current and left at that adjustment; the main volume control alone being used to control the amount of energy fed to the recording amplifier. The Volume Indicator Meter The main volume control is mounted in a small cab- inet with a slanting front, which is placed on top of the monitor desk. Mounted on the panel with the main volume control is a meter known as the volume indicator extension meter. This meter is connected in series with another similar meter in the amplifier room, the two meters being shunted across a resistance in the plate circuit of the vacuum tube in the volume indicator circuit. The input circuit of this vacuum tube is connected through a special tapped transformer to the output of the main recording amplifier in the amplifier room. The two met- ers read exactly alike and indicate at all times the elec- trical level of the speech current that is being recorded. The meters act like alternating current voltmeters, meas- uring the voltage that is applied to the recording device. The indications of a volume indicator meter are purely relative; and the monitor man judges the amount of sound that is being recorded by watching the continual deflect- ing, or "kicking", of the pointer. The pointer moves un- der the influence of each sound that is picked up by the microphones and transmitted to the main amplifier, the amplitude of the pointer movement being governed by the volume of the sound causing it. Only the peak values of the sounds, and not their average values, are indicated by the meter. To prevent overloads of the recording sys- tem, the meter pointer is not permitted to deflect beyond a certain predetermined point on the meter scale, the point usually being at about fifty. The volume indicator meter, being an electrical de- vice, is not prone to the errors that afflict the human ear. It is almost impossible for even an experienced monitor man to record sound at the same average level day after day without the aid of an electrical device to supplement his hearing. The monitor horns assist the monitor man in Chapter VI By Charles Felstead Associate Editor securing the most pleasing balance of the various musical instruments in making orchestrations, in checking the recording quality of actors' voices, and in detecting the presence of any interfering noises that may be picked up by the microphones, such as the noise produced by camera gears. But the volume of sound that is recorded is deter- mined by observing the deflecting of the volume indicator meter pointer. It is extremely difficult to monitor success- fully without the aid of both monitor horns and meter. Signal and Communication Equipment Standing beside the cabinet that holds the main volume control is a duplicate cabinet, on the panel of which are mounted the six colored lenses of the signal system and four key switches. Two of the key switches operate lights of the signal system ; the other two switches provide the monitor man with controls for the relays that transfer the monitor horns from the direct recording circuit to either of the photo-electric cell circuits. This arrange- ment permits the monitor man to check the light valves on the two film recording machines during the making of each take to assure himself that they are operating prop- erly and the sound is being recorded on the film. This sub- ject will be discussed in a later chapter. Besides the four switches, there is a push button on the signal panel. The pressing of this button turns on a small public address system, the horn of which is mounted on the wall of the sound stage. This allows the monitor man to give directions to the microphone man and other persons on the stage without recourse to the more incon- venient intercommunicating telephone. The public ad- A motoring setup that is somewhat unusual, because it provides for the control of as many as twelve microphones. It is advantageous to have two men at the controls when scoring music. Courtesy Paramount Pictures. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. February, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHKK Tivcnty-seven dress system comprises a two-stage transformer-coupled amplifier, which is provided with power from the alter- nating-current light line by a rectifier, a double-button carbon microphone, and the small horn on the stage wall. A tap switch in the metal box that houses the amplifier provides limited control of the amount of amplification. The quality of reproduction of this system is rather poor. The general arrangement of the apparatus may be seen in the accompanying diagram, which is republished from last month. All circuits in the monitor room, and all circuits con- necting the monitor room with other portions of the re- cording system, are wired to connection blocks at the back of the metal frame that supports the jack bay. By this arrangement of connection blocks, it is not difficult to cut in on any portion of the monitoring circuit without disturbing the wiring of the equipment itself. New ap- paratus may be substituted for apparatus that is giving trouble, and circuit alterations can be made with ease. By means of "patch cords" and the jacks of the jack bay, less permanent changes can be made in the recording cir- cuit and auxiliary apparatus, such as wave filters and attenuators, can be quickly added without disturbing the wiring at the connection blocks. Duties of the Monitor Man The monitor man usually calls for a sound rehearsal before the shooting of each scene, or perhaps for more than one rehearsal ; but if the scene is a short one and the action not involved, he may be able to secure his recording level while the director is making the dialogue rehearsals. The less time consumed by the monitor man in arranging the placing of the microphone and in sound rehearsals, the more thoroughly he will meet the approval of the director. The monitor man is in direct charge of the sound crew, so far as production activities are concerned ; and the whole responsibility for the quality of the recorded sound rests on him. Skill and experience and the co- operation of the other workers on the picture are his allies. Even though the photography of a scene is satisfactory, the sound record may not be ; and several takes may be necessary to produce a pleasing sound record. The actual control of the operation of the sound de- partment during the shooting of a picture devolves on the microphone man ; for he is on the stage, and so in the most How the striped sticks are clapped together to provide starting marks on the sound picture films. Courtesy RKO Radio Pictures. Photo by Fred Hendrickson. convenient situation for the operation of the signal sys- tem that directs the starting and stopping of the recording machines. Actually, the monitor man gives the orders, but it is the microphone man who is responsible for the operation of the signal lights. Sound Stage Technique An intercommunicating telephone and a system of col- ored signal lights assist the microphone man in co- ordinating the activities of the other divisions of the sound department with the action taking place on the sound stage. He receives his instructions from the monitor man through the telephone system and through a small loud speaker mounted on the wall of the stage. These instructions are for the placing of the micro- phones, and for their movement during the take to fol- low the action. By means of the signal lights, the microphone man warns the recording room when to make ready for a take, and again when to start the motor system. He then calls for silence; and, at the flashing on of a red light turned on by the recording men, he calls, "Speed !" (Continued on Page 29) FAXON DEAN Francais Deutsch. Espanol. There's A Lot Of Activity At Hollywood's Bargain Spot Quick turnovers keep buyers and sellers busy. If you want anything photographic, or have something to sell, join our regular patrons. SERVICE - ATTENTION - COURTESY • •• Prompt Service on Rentals Night or Day CAMERA SUPPLY CO., LTD Phone GL 2404 Nite Phones: No. Hollywood 1271— GLadstone 6583 Cable Address "CAMERAS" All Codes 1515 CAHUENGA BOULEVARD HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER February, J934 ^^ "Cheerio Hollywood it* n By Alfred C. MOORE, Journalist I AM not in the movie game, but I have been on the outside looking in hard for twenty years now, so I can tell you boys sincerely and with- out inside knowledge to distort my view, just how I and hundreds of thousands of other Englishmen feel about paying good hard cash for motion picture enter- tainment. Despite all that English self-styled him critics say to the contrary, American-made pictures rate first with the majority of British audiences and are likely to go on doing so. This is due to a complexity of reasons which may not be immediately evident to a person not born and reared in England. The chief reason that enables the American product to get over where the home-made cannot is, of course, difference in tempo. Maybe they do not realize it with fully-awakened consciousness, but John Bull and his wife want fast- moving entertainment just as much as folks want it in New York and Tuscaloosa. British him producers do not know how to make entertainment move fast enough, so, despite a wave of perhaps unprecedented economic nationalism, Mr. and Mrs. Bull and the boys and girls are glad to pay their shillings and half-crowns for a laugh, a thrill, or a heartache made in U. S. A. Although we in this country are repeatedly told that Elstree or Welwyn or Twickenham is about to inherit the earth, we just hide a laugh (if we were not a "naice, refained" race of people we would say "Nerts!"). Apart from the fact the British film companies ap- parently believe that a talking picture is merely an em- bellished duplicate of a stage play, and that scissors were made only to cut cloth, speaking generally they strive to mirror the dully conventional aspects and to repro- duce the dully conventional dialogue of Mayfair, or Whitechapel, or Suburbia or of Lancashire. The pro- jected result is sleep-inducing. A little while ago Clara Bow visited this country, and, unlike many foreigners, took a good look at it. Back home Clara is reported to have declared "England's nice but it's a slow-motion film." Thereby Miss Bow said a . . . (excuse me) . . .indicated where English pro- ducers fall down. They make films of what Miss Bow saw and recognized and of what nearly everybody here sees but does not recognize. That is the explanation of British slow-motion films. Yet a good story can be superimposed on a British background. Fox did it with "Cavalcade." There is lots of material here and not only of the epic kind. The British mercantile marine, for example, is just crying out to be picturized with sound. Personally I can't see any British studio doing it as a box office proposition — they would surely ruin it with a mixture of Mayfair "refaine- ment" and Cockney "jokes." Another reason why American films find appreciative audiences here is the "wisecrack." The word "wisecrack" defies adequate translation into "King's" English, for it is neither a "joke" nor an epigrammatic witticism but a combination of both. It is something of essentially American origin and with a well-stocked bag of smart wisecracks, the American director can make even a thin story look good. If an Englishman tries to wisecrack the result is usually pretty punk because he hasn't got that kind of a mind. So the English director is handicapped in his dialogue from the word "go." Another handicap is that English slang is merely puerile. For instance, "posh" or "pukka" means "smart" or "swell." "I'll give you a tinkle" is the English way of saying "I'll call you," and "Cheerio!" (some even say "Cheeri-Ao !"), "Bung-ho!" and similar infantile phrases is the English equivalent of "Here's how!" or "Here's mud in your eye!" Imagine! Nevertheless, peo- ple who talk like this will fall out of their seats laugh- ing at a smart American crack, yet will come out of a theatre and forget it completely, lapsing into their "awfully jolly" or "blimey, not 'arf" manner of speech, k k Ik k k k k 4 ROY DAVIDGE J± FILM LABORATORIES A A A Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. An Exclusive "Daily" Laboratory Quality and Service 6701-6715 SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD GRanite 3108 February, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E R Twenty-nine according to their particular temperament. Thus it comes about that comedy produced in a British studio under British direction is either crude pan- tomime or dry epigram, registering on two extreme types which form generally not more than ten per cent of the average audience in Great Britain. And this type of stuff is completely useless from a hox office viewpoint in the less conventionally-minded colonies. I suppose I don't have to tell you that English film drammer is invariably a long-drawn-out affair with actors and actresses "emoting" before the camera and speaking lines carefully (oh, so carefully) into the mike. And English film critics. Oh, boy! Read this (from yesterday's " 'Sunday Pictorial' — 'Sales Vastly in Excess of Any Other Picture Newspaper' ") : 'At the Empire we have Warner Baxter and Loretta Young in a crook drama with some unusual aspects. (Film referred to is M.G.M.'s "Crooks in Clover" front the story "Penthouse.") I was in two minds about this film until Loretta Young appeared and then my doubts vanished. Loretta Young is just about the most improved actress in pictures. With almost every film she shows a greater command of her art. She has completely escaped from the vamp stuff which threatened at one time to limit her to incredible characters in unbelievable drama. She is now showing that she is an accomplished actress with great versatility and an unerring sense of dramatic situa- tion." Joke is that Loretta Young isn't in this picture at all! Phone GLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue Rolleiflex The Camera that Thinks for You Rolleiflex holds a faultless mir- ror to nature and to all the things that can be photographed . . . a mirror which reflects the objects to be taken graphical- ly and in exact sharpness. A high - speed fo- cusing finder lens — uniquely a feature of this camera — reflects a brilliant, lum- inous image on a ground glass screen in actual film size and right side up. The syn- chronization of this lens assures an ulti- mate negative possessing a degree of sharpness and pictorial grouping identical with your "preview" on the focusing screen. Truly, "Rolleiflex is the camera that thinks for you." BURLEIGH BROOKS 127 W. 42nd St. New York MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING (Continued from Page 27 ) to warn the director and actors that a take has com- menced. At the conclusion of the take, he switches off his lights, thereby notifying the recording room that the shot has heen completed. The microphone man keeps a log of all takes made during his shift, and whether the shots were satisfactory or not. For this task, co- operation with the script girl is necessary so that the correct numbers will be recorded for each take. To provide exact synchronizing marks on the sound and picture films, the assistant cameraman steps in front of the camera as soon as the motors get up to speed and claps his hands, or claps two sticks together. He holds up a small blackboard at the same time with the scene number, picture title, director's name and other information written on it, and repeats the words on the blackboard aloud. The clapping of the two sticks may be exactly located on the picture film by the picture frame in which the sticks are seen to come in contact ; and the correspond- ing point on the sound film is marked by a wide dark band, which was made by the sound of the sticks striking together. The words on the blackboard and the identical words spoken by the assistant cameraman permit identi- fication of the corresponding picture and sound strips of film. Without this system of marking, considerable confusion would exist in matching sections of sound track to picture scenes. A hand punch was used on the picture and sound track in the early days of recording, but it was too inconvenient to be satisfactory. The next chapter will discuss the monitoring equip- ment and its operation ; while the chapter following that will deal with the actual handling of the microphones for straight dialogue recording and for "scoring," which is the recording of the music to accompany a production. CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone CRanite 9707 Hollywood, California DR. G. FLOYD JACKMAN. Dentist Member Local No. 659 706 Hour* Hollywood : 9 to 5 First Nat'l Bldg., GLadstone Hollywood Blvd. 7507 And by at Highland Appointment DOUBLE MATTING (3 PATENTS. 1932) mxriLLiAMC! ▼▼SHOTS » Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. ILTTER^ ii) W^rlJ'WiJe Use prvA.u.:■—■ The demands of the studios today are more exact, more rigid than ever, but Mitchell again meets the test with the NEW SILENT CAMERA Operated Without A Blimp Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 I HOTOGRAEHER HOLLYWOOD MARCH, 1934 VOL. 6 NO. 2 CENTS A COPY "CAMERA FACES" A lot of our good stillmen may find samples of their best work in this jig-saw masterpiece, the work of the scissors of our Art Editor, John Corydon Hill. MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45th STREET, NEW YORK CITY PLAN r 6656 -SANTA MONICA BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CAL PARLIN, NEW JERSEY THE(fflPK)TRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTO GRAPHE R MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol.6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, MARCH, 1934 No. 2 E. T. Estabrook, Publisher's Agent and General Manager Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Ira Hoke and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. FROM PIGS TO PICTURES - - 3 LIFE STORY OF DAVID HORSLEY By William Horsley — Part 1 THE AMATEUR CAN LEARN FROM THE PROFESSIONAL - 4 By Walter Bluemel INTERNATIONAL CONTESTS FOR BEST AMATEUR FILMS - 6 By Samuel T. Shaiv, Jr., Director, "Cine Amateur," Paris BELL & HOWELL ANNOUNCE NEW FILMO MODEL 121 - - 7 THE MATHEMATICS OF MOTION PICTURE MINIATURES - 8 By Paul R. /farmer STILL HOPE FOR STEREO. ---------- io By W. Wallace Clendenin THE NEWSREEL WORLD ----------- u (MURDER WITH LIGHTS) By Ray Fernstrom MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ------- 12 (NOTES ON ENLARGING) By Augustus Wolf man EDITORIAL (HANGING TOGETHER) ------- 15 By Lewis W. Physioc THE CAMERAGRAM - - - - 16 & 17 LEON GAUMONT - - ----------- ig By Earl Theisen CINEMATOGRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES 21 By Fred W esterherg MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING ------ 24 CHAPTER VII By Charles Felstead, Associate Editor TELEVISION -------------- 28 By the Editor CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING - - - - 30 OUT OF FOCUS - 1- 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1933 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California 80 SERVICE ENGRAVING CO ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR APRIL Karl A. Barleben, )r., famous Leica ex- pert, will take his miniature camera and note book to sea again. • Earl Theisen will be back with an un- usually interesting article on the evolution and development of lamps and lighting of the motion pictures. • Augustus Wolfman, miracle man of the Miniature Camera, who writes on "The En- larger" this month, will take up another phase of this fascinating subject. • "Art in Motion Pictures," by Miss May Gearheart, supervisor of Art in Los Angeles schools, which was promised for March, will surely appear in April. • "Patterns of Illumination," by F. Morris Steadman, promised for March, will not be ready until April. This will be Mr. Stead- man's most fascinating article on his jour- neys into the Realm of Light. • Charles Felstead, Associate Editor, will present Chapter VIII of his fine series on Motion Picture Sound Recording. Mr. Fel- stead's articles are attracting wide attention, even far away India being interested. • Harry Mimura, our brilliant young Japa- nese contributor, will be present with an- other story on Japanese production. Mr. Mimura is a well known assistant cinema tographer and a clever writer. e Paul R. Harmer will furnish a lot of use- ful information and entertainment for any- one who wants to know "How Earthquakes Are Made to Order in the Movies." He will also tell about home-made volcanic eruptions. • Fred Westerberg's Cinematograper's Tables will be completed in April unless something else presents itself to his fine technical mind. And this suggests that the Tables wil soon be bound and on the market. Get yours while the getting is good. • Walter Bluemel will have another delight- ful and constructive article on 16 mm. sub- jects. And, to those who are interested in junior cinematography, it will be worth while to note that henceforth Mr. Bluemel's de- partment will be known as "Small-film-iana," a word of our own coining. • In our Television Department a feature article is offered that no Television fan should overlook. This marvel called Tele- vision is coming fast, girls and boys, and it will be to your interest to keep informed of its progress by reading INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1934 From Pics To Pictures ( The Story of David Horsley) By William Horsley Part N order to get the true perspective for the story I of David Horsley it is necessary to go some- Igga what into the background and begin with his very early surroundings. He was born on March 11, 1873, in a small coal mine village called West Stanley, County of Durham, England. This village was owned and operated by the West Stanley Coal Compam and consisted of three coal mines, called the Kettle Drum, the Busty, and the Lizzie. The output of coal from the three mines averaged 1500 tons per day. The miners' houses, which comprised the village, were all owned by the coal company. His grandfather, Wil- liam Horsley, was until his death general manager of the company. His father, Robert Horsley, was master mechanic and boss blacksmith over the three mines. His grandfather on his mother's side was John Chaytor, who was the saddler and harness maker for the same com- pany and took care of the harness for some three hun- dred horses and ponies used for hauling the coal both below and above ground. Now in order to get the proper idea of an English coal mine village as it was sixty-five years ago you must look back before the days of motion pictures, automo- biles, and trolley cars, electric lights and inside plumb- ing. There were none of these things then. The average coal mining community consisted of three things. First was the coal mine where the miners were employed during the day ; second, the long rows of so- called houses where the miners lived and which were owned by the coal companies. The typical coal miner's home consisted of one room on the first floor, which had an open fireplace where the meals were cooked, and this room was used as a kitchen, a living room, dining room, and at night the Centaur Film Co. 900 e In this building tit «-U„„ „£ tk„ 0'„ LJ D -J L ^1 ' Best Amateur Film. Held in Paris, France, December 1933. Under and lather Ot the Cinema, Was Honorary President of this tlle auspices 0f "The French Federation of Amateur Movie Clubs" and Contest. "Cine Amateur." . , , „ ill 16mm. Category A — Photoplays AS a rule, each European COUIitry, holds every year, a 1st Prize: Lettre D'Une Inconnue (Letter of an unknown), by Paul national contest and the winning films are entered in the Clev!ndC'PHze?' Cip eVTuc' Au Pays Des Merveilles, by L. Erizzo. International contest. In most of the European countries, Italy- ,c „ „ „, , „., , , , , i r i • • • 16mm. Category B — Travel Films there has been TOrmed a tederatlOn Or an Organization 1st Prize: Mountain Trip in Early Summer, by K. Tsukamoto. Which acts as a representative as a whole for all the ama- Japa2„d Prize: Sous Les Fonts De Paris, by G. Gronostayski (C. A. teur movie clubs in that country, such as the French Fed- c- F-} Fra»«- eration of Amateur Movie Clubs, (F.F.C.C.A.) which 1st Prize: I'd Be Delighted To, by S. W. Childs, Jr. (A. C. L.) Was Started in 1933 and the Holland League of Small ' S2nd%rize: Camera Adventure, by P. Reynders. Holland. Film Clubs, which was started several years ago. 8mm. Category A— Photoplays In countries where there is no central organization, lst Prize: Sang Chaudgm^ cate^T' Fra"Ce' clubs which have already sent films to the previous Inter- 1st Prize: Early Spring, by t. okamoto. Tapan. national Contests, are selected as the Official Delegates of 2nd Prize: T"ffi£ Cate^A-ptotopiIys U' S' A' Such countries, by the club where the Coming International lst Prize: Le Vagabond, by Miss Suzanne Guimard. France. C. • l i_ i j tm- -i ii nt 2nd Prize: Les Affaires Du Consul Dorgen, by O. de Miletic. ontest is to be held. 1 his is done so that only one film Yougoslavia. of each class shall be entered and, furthermore, to have all , t -p ■ T1 9-{™m- Categ°rX b— Travel Films ' ""-'"i«ii.| l^ ncivv. 3< _ H 1. 5 7S 1+4-XIZ . - i\ 3 *ZI ___ — — W u -j — T -f* — 1 ~l — hi 1 1 1 1 1 - % -C \. 4 ^F it V- pi3 : === r < 2 U - h — ' t r l"~H F ^ M— 1 r4- ■*-H H H — ! ' — * — ^-S H— * — 1 — V. m=H H" H Tl~H E= \V\ -H-- *4ffe u/ 1 ; 1 M I ! _ x r= "n \f I1T 4- in - ? i 'Ttt X JL 1! L JX L-IE L- -»-. n FORE &«our>(o H = 626.8" 12 Fig. 1 H r 52 -4.8' will take in the required spread of the building. Most of these shots are made in the stage and 150 feet is about the average size allowed because of the crowded conditions prevailing in most studios, so to begin with we have a set with a front of 77 feet 9 inches. Now what lens can we use in 150 feet? Some room must be allowed around the camera and light platforms must be set behind the full size, so we have only 144 feet left. W1 w Formula No. 1 shows us — = — . This is true be- F D is built to a point four feet above the center line of the camera lens. As we are working with the 1/12 foot scale, we will take 1/12 of 4 feet, which is 4 inches. The minia- ture is then set 4 inches above the center line. In this case the center line parallels the floor and we have in all 12 feet and 4 inches from the floor. The final test in setting of all miniatures is done by looking through the camera and aligning the adjoining parts, then running a short test through the camera. The print from this film is carefully watched in the pro- jection room for errors in alignment, painting and light- ing. The five formulas given here, with their various transitions, can be applied to many other cases. The next problem dealing with full size structure and miniature is when the miniature lies beyond the full Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nine size, as in the case of looking through a doorway, win- dow or a porch. The proper perspective is then figured hy measuring from the full size to the miniature. SIDE ELEVATION 5 = " . «■ HiNIKTURg //V F4ACTiOA/f of AFOOT 0 =■ DlSTAUCt FROrl L CHS. To FULL S'Z f tfJ F££ T ft - oiSTAvcr rnon lcns to mini^turc m re ft NO 3 -* /V04 -* no. 5 -*■ N o D N D NO S D — 25x100 t-iS s 250 S = 10 ft. N =50 I 3. N - 12' Fig. 2 For instance, we are photographing an interior. Through the open doorway we should see a certain group of buildings which, according to the locale of the pic- ture, would be 600 feet distant. Owing to small stage room and lack of space we have only about 30 feet in which to set the miniature, using Formula No. 5, N = SD. N = distance in feet from open doorways to miniature. S= scale of miniature in fractions of a foot. D = distance from doorway to full size of original buildings. We will now try the J^ inch scale and see how it 1 600 works out. N = — x . N = 25 feet. 24 1 We now know we can build the miniatures to the y2 inch scale and set them 25 feet distant, from the doorway to the nearest miniature and have the proper perspective. This same system can be applied to other groups of miniatures in a combined shot ; they can all be built and set according to the above system. When photographing miniatures not in the same shot with full size, this makes the layout a matter of building to any desired scale, and that alone, and setting the camera wherever desired for the perspective and com- position. It is well to mention here, that the speed of moving miniatures, should be measured in the same ratio as the scale to which they are built. The next problem to be considered is that of a pro- jected background. In this case we have a tree 100 feet high which we wish to project on a screen 25 feet from the camera lens. The proper size of the projected image should be considered. To find out accurately we can pro- ceed as follows: Let S = height of projected image. 25 feet = distance from the camera lens to the screen. 100 feet = height of the object. 250 feet = distance from the camera lens to the object. O perspective to this same tree and man beside it, the same formula works, except we transpose it. S O N D = D NO Let s N O D D = S = 4 ft. = 25 = 100 = perspective, or distance. 25x100 4 Ten feet is the height of the projected image. See Fig. 2. We will now take the problem of giving a desired D = 625 feet. This is the effect it will show in the background. As a rule most process cameramen are satisfied to trust their eyes to give them the proper size and let the per- spective take care of itself. Excellent eyesight and years of experience help them to do this without any trouble. But when in doubt, it's nice to have the rules of mathe- matics to settle an argument. To the readers who want to try a new system, on depth of field for a selected lens, we will take the problem of the hanging miniature and work out the lens stop and distance to be focused on for sharp- ness of field, the accompanying diagram will illustrate the fundamentals. (See Page 10.) X=144X12"=1728 inches = = far distance y= 12XL2"^ 144 inches = near distance f== 1.575 inches = focal length of lens d^ .002 inches = circle of confusion s= = stop number Dt= = distance focused on First we will solve for the proper stop which will bring in these separated points sharply, using a circle of confusion of .002 of an inch ; and using the following formula which is stated in terms we alreadv know: f2 (x-y) S = 2yxd— fd (x+y) Substituting in the values we have: 2.48 (1728—144) S = 2.X144.M728\002— 1.575\002 (1728+144) S = 3.97 which for practical purposes we can use stop f :4. Now we must find out which point to focus our lens on, to get best results. Using the following formula: f2 (x-y) D= + f dS (x+y) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, .1934 Substituting values we have: 2.48 (1728—144) D = + 1.575 .002*4. (1828+144) D = 263.8 inches, reducing this to feet, we have D = 21 feet 11.8 inches By using a larger circle of confusion .003 of an inch, the miniature and full size building will be soft focus, while the middle distance will be critically sharp, this slight change in the circle of confusion figures the stop at f2.6 and D = 22 ft. 6.5 inches. and to make it possible to double check one's figures, as well as compute for other unknowns I will introduce two more formulas which are as follows: f2D x = f2— ds (D— f) f2D f2+ds (D— f) Glancing at the diagram you will notice that you can now definitely vary distances and values to suit the requirements. Good luck, friends. In order to complete this particular series of equations I wish to take this opportunity to thank my next door neighbor, Paul E. Wylie, former instructor of mathe- matics for the United States Army. Still Hope For Stero By W. Wallace Clendenin From the earliest days of the motion picture experi- menters have worked steadily to give it sound, color, and three dimensions. Sound and color we have had for some time, but the problem of stereoscopic projection is, com- mercially at least, still unsolved. Photographing a stereoscopic motion picture presents no difficulties, and there are several known methods of projecting the finished print. It is unfortunate that each of these systems for viewing the picture has some draw- back that makes it unsuitable for general use. A true stereoscopic photograph consists of two pic- tures, one for each eye, taken from slightly different view- points, just as each of our eyes view objects from slightly different angles. The basic principle of such photography is simple ; each eye must see only the image intended for it ; if we print the images on top of each other, or by any other means permit both eyes to see the same picture, there is no stereoscopic effect. Some years ago, two youthful experimenters came to one of the major studios with the glad tidings that they had the stereoscopic problem in the bag. They were given the run of the lot and the use of anything they wanted in the way of equipment, for two weeks, at the end of which time both they and the studio were both sadder and wiser. Their "solution" to the problem was the crudest and most mistaken one possible. By the use of prisms in front of the camera lens, they photographed a right and left image superimposed on the same negative. There was no way of separating the two images, and the only visible result was a double outline effect. Some years ago, the Educational Film Co. released two or three stereo pictures made by the anaglyphic meth- od. In this, the image for one eye is printed in red, the other in green; when viewed through a pair of spectacles having one lens red, the other green, each eye sees only the image intended for it. An advantage of the anaglyph is that it is possible to make the picture apparently project out from the screen, and the Educational Co. made the fullest possible use of this feature. One shot in particular nearly wrecked the theatre. This was a study of a boy with a hose ; when he turned the hose on the camera, the audience leaned backward so rapidly they almost ripped the seats off the floor. There are three disadvantages of the anaglyphic meth- od of projection. First, the necessity of using the red and green viewing screens by the spectator. Second, the great loss of light from the heavy colors. Third, the fact that an anaglyph does not give true roundness, but instead a series of spaced plane images, making figures appear flat as if cut from cardboard. Other methods of stereoscopic projection give better results, but are out of the question for large audiences. Two examples are the use of synchronized shutters for the projector and spectator, and projecting and viewing with polarised light. A man who has lost the sight of one eye cannot see stereoscopically at any time, but he can get a fair approxi- mation of it by moving his head from side to side. This also applies to the motion picture camera, and has been the subject of experiment for the last thirty years or more. In 1910, the old Urban-Eclipse Co. made a picture "A Trip Down the Rhine." All of it was shot from a moving steamer, and was billed as "The Urban-Eclipse method of stereoscopic photography." More recently, in- ventors have been using moving prisms or mirrors in front of the lens, instead of moving or oscillating the camera. At best the stereo effect obtained by moving the camera or lens is limited. Also, the movement of the image is always noticeable to a more or less degree. However, since there are no spectacles to be worn, no shutters to be syn- chronized, and no special screens required, this method certainly invites further experiment. If stereoscopic photography is ever brought successfully to the theatre screen the cameraman will find a whole new bag of tricks at his disposal — and will find that some of his old ones are no longer of much value. Projection back- grounds, for example, may have to go overboard, depend- ing on what method of stereo projection is used. The attempt to light sets so that they present round- ness will not be so necessary ; in all probability satisfactory results may be obtained by using considerably fewer lights than at present. A set crowded with furniture is not very desirable under present conditions, but as a stereoscopic shot may be quite effective. "Wings", "Hell's Angels", and other similar air pictures would have gained tremend- ously by the use of stereoscopic photography. Too little attention has been given by the larger studios to the possibilities of the stereo picture. No one can say positively that stereoscopic projection can never be at- tained commercially, and as long as this is true, experiment along this line should be continued. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Eleven The Newsreel World By Ray Fernstrom Murder With Lights URING the last three years out here in Holly- wood I've been studying composition, lighting and Filtering. Now I'm going to pass on to you newsreelers a few pointers. The most needed advice I can give right now is in regard to lighting. If ever "murder with lights" applied, it does to newsreel lighting with incandescents. Before I go further, let me point out that I fully appreciate the fact that you newsreelers are handicapped. Yes, I real- ize that, with the composition, often five or six cameras are set up and forced to shoot with' only four or six "lights." It has been a practice for years to hand newsreel men what were seriously called "lights." A globe in a dish- pan set on a fiddler's music stand comes close to a per- fect description of these. The idea of "flooding" or "spotting" a newsreel light never occurred to anyone buying news lights. Now for the handling of these in everyday coverage. We set up our cameras, set up our lights and each one of us tries to get a "lot of light" on the subject. What's the result on the screen? A flat picture, flat subject, flat background, hard light and black shadows that make babies look like character actors. Why murder folks with lights in the newsreels? There is no excuse for it, even with the present "lights." It's about time newsreel men used their heads in placing lights and it's about time better lighting equipment be supplied. With but few exceptions news men have never used hard, soft and spotted lighting in coverage of sub- jects requiring artificial light. Here's the solution: Use hard lights on one side of the face or faces of your subjects. By hard light I do not mean hot or close lights, the way you have been doing. Now, for the second light or lights — set them on the opposite side of your subject, but make this or these soft, either a weaker light, a spread light, or place farther from your subject. Use all lights high, higher than the height of your subject. Simple enough ? O. K. Now for the separation of your subject from your background. Add a soft light to your lighting equipment. Get one that you can spread or spot so as to cover one or more people. Use this very high in back of and above your subject from the side. Shoot it straight down on the heads and shoulders of your subject. That's all. Of course if you wish to con- tinue and one of the competition has an extra light, use this on your background, flooded. That's a simple enough explanation of studio lighting in its elementary form, isn't it? Now if you care to further revive your subject, put on a nice light diffusion glass. You'll be surprised at the improved results. To gage your amount of light, let me strongly recommend a Weston meter. They all use these out here and results talk. I know full well that many of you are going to read this, throw the International Photographer on a shelf and forget it. For the few who follow me, results will re- ward them and it is for the boys who try to improve that this is written. If I can help, just drop me a line. We have a lot of little tricks out here and we strive to please. Just today, thinking about the lights, I looked over the stock of lights at the Camera Supply Company. Why, for ten dollars you can add a peach of a "spot" to your array of news lights. As to the Weston meter, let me recommend the Uni- versal model for news men. This gadget uses a photo cell that has a needle pointing direct to the F. stop to be used. Ask the man who sells you one to set the needle for the kind of film you use, and today that should be Super. This Universal model meter can be used with the same accuracy of incandescent lighting by merely opening up on one more stop than shown, or adding enough lights to make the meter reach another stop — stronger light — efficient. In closing, let me repeat, drop us a line and let's hear whether or not we have been or can be of service. Skol. THE FLYING SWEDE. SCENARIZED FILM PLANS FOR 16 MM. The Amateur Cinema League, Inc., through James W. Moore, ACL., has issued Book I, of "Scenarized Film Plans," a clever and most useful brochure of 32 pages, which is just what its title sets forth. In the booklet four selected film plans, completely scenarized, are presented all ready for production. Says Mr. Moore in the introduction of the book: "The presentation of essentially stock scenarios is a new departure in the League's service to members. It was long felt at headquarters that the needs and facilities of no two League members could be exactly the same, and that, in view of this fact, even the most general of prepared scenarios would be out of line with these needs at some point or another of its course. The strength of this feeling has been increasingly weakened, however, by repeated member requests not only for plot ideas but for plot ideas in scenario form. This booklet is the first part of the League's answer. A second series of scenar- ized film plans is already in preparation and if the two books seem successful they will be followed by others." Introducing the New Ries Professional Still Tripod Shortest length 40 inches Height 60 inches Price $25.00 If your dealer cannot supply you, you can purchase direct from PAUL RIES 2039 South Bedford St. Los Angeles California Phone: Culver City 5985 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1934 Miniature Camera Photography Notes on Enlarging NLARGING is of course resorted to by the miniature camera worker, for contact prints from the tiny negatives are not practical for average use. Many miniature camera pho- tographers have prints from their negatives made by photo-finishers, thereby depriving themselves of one of the most enjoyable phases of this hobby. Enlarging his own negatives allows the photographer to exercise control over the final results, in the com- position, selection of the printing paper, etc. Many negatives include much subject matter, which if all in- cluded in the print does not produce interesting results. Firemen at work: Made with a Leica camera, Hekto f:2.5 lens; 1/60 sec. at full diaphragm opening. A portion of the same negative properly composed and enlarged, may yield a print of salon quality. A photo- finisher cannot be expected to select portions of a nega- tive for printing. His selections may not coincide with that of his customer. It is evident that the miniature camera enthusiast who desires individual results in his prints, must produce them himself. The first requisite to the work is a suit- able enlarger, one that is specifically built for enlarging miniature negatives. Such enlargers have optical sys- tems designed to minimize defects in the small negative. They are also equipped with short focal length lenses to enable reasonable sized enlargements to be produced. We could not very well use an enlarger which accommo- dates 5x7 inch negatives, and which possesses a lens of about five inches focal length. Although the small negative can be masked off and inserted into the enlarger, its five inch lens would not allow enlargements of reasonable size. The market at present offers quite a variety of reliable projection apparatus amongst which are included the Valoy, Foth Derby, Valfa, Varyl, Filoy, Brooks Rajah, Vertex, Praxidos, Mirette, Baby Miraphot, etc. All of these enlargers are precision designed, and give perfect satisfaction. Most of these enlargers are provided with glass negative carriers, consisting of two pieces of optically flat glass hinged at one end. These carriers should be cleaned with the same care as lenses, employing either lens tissue or soft chamois skin. It is evident that any scratches imparted to the carrier will show up in sub- sequent prints. The other part of the enlarger will also have to be cleaned to insure that the negatives are kept By Augustus Wolfman free of dirt. This is especially true in the case of en- largers possessing film wings, which seem to have a pro- nounced affinity for dust. A small camel's hair brush will be found to be a handy tool in performing this work. Cleanliness cannot be too strongly stressed in minia- ture camera photography. It is really a necessity for sloppy methods will invariably be productive of poor results. After the enlarger has been thoroughly cleaned it will be necessary to submit the negatives to a similar treat- ment. They should first be wiped with a chamois which has been soaked for a considerable time in carbon tetra- chloride. If the negatives are kept in rolls, the moist chamois is folded and the roll of film passed between the folds. Individual negatives, or strips of two or more negatives are laid upon clean, white paper and one side cleaned at a time. Each small negative is then care- fully examined, with the aid of a magnifying glass if necessary, and any particles of dirt which are still ad- hering removed with a camel's hair brush. If water marks or other smudges are still present another carbon tetrachloride treatment is called for. We are now assured that avoidable print marring influences have been eliminated. A puzzling factor to the miniature camera photog- rapher is the choice of paper to use. Papers are divided into three classes, chloride papers, chloro-bromide papers, and bromide papers. The latter is the fastest of the three, and is generally employed in enlarging. Chloride papers are the slowest being used in contact printing, and there- fore usually designated as contact paper. The speed of chloro-bromide paper falls between that of chloride and bromide papers. An idea of the relative speed of these papers can be had from the following table of com- parative exposures of Agfa papers. Of those mentioned, Brovira belongs to the bromide class. Indiatone is of the chloro-bromide type, and Noko is a chloride paper. Comparative Exposures of Papers Exposure in Seconds Brovira Soft -------- 3 Brovira Medium ------ 4 Brovira Hard ------- 5 Brovira Extra Hard ----- 10 Indiatone --------- 30 Noko Soft -------- 1200 Noko Brilliant Soft ----- 1500 Noko Medium ------- 1800 Noko Hard -------- 2800 The vast difference in speed between bromide and chloride papers can be seen at a glance. One must not construe from the above table that exposures such as 1200 seconds or 600 seconds are recommended for the papers under consideration. These figures merely repre- (Turn to Page 20) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. I March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirteen Announcement! The Brulatour Bulletin, published for more than two years in the leading Cinematographers' publications, was discontinued a few months ago because we felt that the field had been com- pletely covered. Meantime, scores of cameramen have asked us to resume publication of The Brulatour Bulletin. Heads of camera departments at practically every major studio have made the same request. Very recently we have received similar requests from studio production executives who found The Bulletin most help- ful in identifying the cinematographers associated with import- ant productions throughout the industry, during actual produc- tion period. At its inception, The Brulatour Bulletin was frankly a pub- licity feature, designed to extend the service and good-will of Eastman Kodak Company and ). E. Brulatour, Inc., Distributors of Eastman Films. It proved to be more than that. It developed into a barometer of photographic activity — closely observed by cameramen, their immediate department heads and top executives alike. This because it was always de- pendable, reliable, informative and briefly to the point. Therefore, Eastman Kodak Company and ). E. Brulatour, Inc., will extend this vital service and henceforth will publish The Brulatour Bulletin each Monday as a feature of The Holly- wood Reporter. First issue Monday, March fifth — every Monday thereafter —Read it. It will interest the industry. J. E. BRULATOUR, Inc. EDITORIAL I This editorial is written by request. It is made up of excerpts from an article written by Mr. Pysioc and published in the official publication of the Cinema Camera Club of New York, in 1913. This ivas the first organization of cameramen in America, if not in the ivorld. It was brought about through the efforts of Mr. Physioc, and almost all the surviving members of the old Cinema Camera Club hold cards in the International Photographers. The Cinema Camera Club held its first meeting at Henebund Hall, 267 West 34th Street, in New York City, April 6, 1913. Thirteen cameramen were present. — Editor's Note.) HANGING TOGETHER By Lewis W. Physioc 'OME idealists have said: "The depression has brought men closer together." It has. It has brought men together in a vicious grapple for existence. Hungry dogs fighting for a bone; wild carnivora clawing and gnashing at the carcass between them until the stronger tears it away and secures it with its heavy weight, snarling and pawing at all the hunger pack that approach. That is not a pretty picture when we use it to associate man (God's noblest creation) with nature's law, "the survival of the fittest." It is not a very prideful picture, but it is true. The question arises: What has man gained from thousands of years of cultural development and intellectual exaltation if, in one of his greatest emergencies, he can solve the problems of the day only by suddenly invoking the crudest law of nature, — the survival of the fittest? Clearly then, our hope lies in the more magnanimous philosophy of the incident if civilization shall survive the purely animal tendencies of man; and this can be accomplished only by social unity — the strong pledging support of the weak. Shopenhauer says: "No man is so formed that he can be left entirely to himself to go his own ways; and if you desire to get on in the world, friends and acquaintances are by far the surest pass- port to fortune." Of course, we admit the intellectual recluse has his arguments and it is difficult to approach him with an idea so broad and democratic as a society pledged to mutual aid and co-operation. It must also be conceded that the greater the ability and the more profound the intellect of men, the more remote and isolated from their fellows they become and the more justified they may appear in assuming themselves more deserving of the fruits of their endeavors ; claiming this right in a world of equal opportunity. But let us not overlook the fact that it is the abuse of this principle that has brought us to our present pass. No matter how justifiable this may appear, it furnishes an element of selfishness in structure of society and is the great deterrent in the progress of civilization. Many of their fellows may be benefited by their society without loss of prestige to that more favored class. A great mind is like the magnet that has the power of radiating energy without itself being weakened. Furthermore, we can never accurately measure our power to do or think until we have mingled with the masses, and we cannot keep a just record of our own progress save by comparison with the activities of others. If our philsophy is to be proved, it must be tried by an intimate association with men. History has given us a picture of old "Socrates wandering the streets of Athens, in all weathers, at all hours in the crowded market places and in the work shops, wherever men were gathered to- gether; incessantly asking and answering questions," developing an intellect that won him many disciples, among his inferiors, and the respect and friendship of men like Alcibiades, Euripides, Aristophanes and others — his supposed superiors. But old Diogenes, on the other hand, would not forsake his tub for the friendship of Alexander and was ever jealous of the shadow of a great man. What a privilege, too, it must have been to frequent the old coffee house, where gathered together such men as Goldsmith, Burke, Fox, Garrick, Reynolds and Gibbons and where Dr. Johnson con- descended his presence, "and even the pestiferous Boswell was tolerated." How freely those men swapped ideas, aided and encouraged each other. There was no need, in that assembly, of suspicious copyrights and other protective measures — they gave freely and received much. Coming to more modern times, we may consider the effect of The Royal Academy, for example, has had on English painting, or the National Academy and other artistic circles, on American art. The many literary, musical and scientific circles had aided wonderfully in maintaining that line between cultured man and the brute. The history of the American Stage is well nigh inseparable from those of such clubs as The Players, Friars, Lambs, Green Room and others. And here in our fair field of Motion Pictures we have The Producers Association, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Electricians, Sound Men, other various crafts, and Cameramen. But consider this earnestly: If these societies are organized and operated merely to secure to the favored the benefits of their positions, to the exclusion of the less fortunate, then they are failures and encourage a reversion to the more material and ignoble idea of the survival of the fittest; but if they are devoted to the advancement of the art and the mutual welfare of all concerned, then we need have little to fear from such transient things as depressions and local business slumps. March. 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen Recrudescence of the Wonder Box Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor International Photographer, Hollywood, California. In reply your wire report that Wonder Box Cor- poration on rocks altogether erroneous stop Same no doubt propaganda instigated by one George Mitchell stop Wonder Box Corporation better condition finan- cially than ever before stop Your interest in us most gratifying stop Realize your interest not altogether casual considering amount we are in arrears for ad- vertising stop Rest assured this matter will be taken care of immediately depression is over stop Your report relative to eighteenth amendment to Wonder Box cor- rect stop Wonder Box now dispenses both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages stop Beverage dispensary located near processing tanks stop Near fatality oc- curred when assistant employed on Wonder Box leased to N.G.M. Company opened drain faucet on developing tank thinking it one on Old Taylor tank stop Developer developed interior complications due to the presence of sulphuric acid stop Flowers would have been in order had assistant not been a Swede stop Amendments to the Wonder Box now being made at the rate of one a month stop The nineteenth amendment is a Register- Meter which obviates possibility of crew working over- time or the prescribed hours without pay stop Entire equipment locks automatically and photographing can continue only after Company cashier has deposited quarter in meter stop. The twentieth amendment consists of at- tachment for photographing Fourth Dimension stop Per- fecting of this attachment entailed immense amount of research into the metaphysical and cosmic regions as the Fourth Dimension is invisible stop The human ego had to be taken into consideration also stop Necessity for inculcating equipment which would allow of pho- tographing without illumination was due to frequent failure of Juicers to carry paid up cards and misunder- standing between Juicers and Producers stop From tests made during the recent misunderstanding it was impossible to distinguish scenes made with usual illumina- tion from those made in Fourth Dimension stop Nego- tiations now under way whereby A S C A will insist on General and Major companies using Wonder Box equipment exclusively in their FIVE YEAR PLAN stop Crew necessary to operate Wonder Box at present con- sists of thirty-six men stop Twelve cameramen — twelve assistants — six process men — two sound technicians — two still men and two electricians stop No lighting super- vsors necessary as all angles wanted by Director are photographed stop Thus minimizing usual arguments between Director and Light Supervisor as to which con- stitutes best angle to photograph stop Please explain more in detail your reference to codes stop Wonder Box was designed to operate on but one code — the Morse Code stop Sending this collect as I have run out of blank Promissory Notes stop Would have made it a Night Letter, but expect to be out of town tonight. JOHN LEEZER. B & H Cooke Faro Lens in photo- graphing position on the Bell & Hoin-ell Camera. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood ; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.). Established 1907. B & H Cooke Varo Lens The B & H Cooke Varo lens, for photographic "zoom" effects, gives the highest quality of defini- tion and operates with great ease. Long awaited by the cine industry, the Varo lens is daily carrying out every demand made upon it in leading studios. At F 3.5 the range is from 40 mm. to 50 mm. ; at F 4.5 from 40 mm. to 85 mm., and at F 5.6 and F 8 the full "zoom," from 40 mm. to 120 mm., is obtain- able. Adjustable stops provide for limiting the "zoom" as desired. One crank controls all moving parts. The iris is varied automatically with the focal length to keep the f/ value constant. Close focusing is done with auxiliary lenses. Write for full details. Sometimes available on rental to res- ponsible studios in this country. B & H Cooke F-2 Speed Panchro Lenses The efficiency and success of B & H Cooke F 2 Speed Panchro Lenses, which are corrected for the blue and red rather than blue and yellow rays, has caused their almost universal adoption in leading studios. Made in eleven focal lengths, from 24 to 108 mm. B & H Cooke F 2.5 Panchro Lenses, at considerably lower prices, meet many needs where their speed is adequate. Seven focal lengths from 35 to 162 mm. Write for details and prices. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. The Cameraman Is the Spokesman for That Amaz- ing International Language Called the Motion Picture. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTION CARRYING HOLLYWOOD TO LONDON FOX At a recent meeting of the British Kinema So- ciety, in London, our own Lloyd Knechtel, for many years in charge of the special effects de- partment at R-K-O, read a paper on "Trick Pho- tography" which was accompanied by the screen- ing of reels of film in which trick photography and optical printing were explained, says the London Kinematograph. Mr. Knechtel showed the various methods em- ployed to overcome difficulties — optical printing, process photography, miniature work and glass painting. Mr. Knechtel then introduced Ned Mann, who has come over from Hollywood to handle the problems of H. G. Wells' "The Shape of Things to Come," for Alexander Korda. Mr. Mann soon had his audience roaring with laughter over his experiences on some big pic- tures, these being recounted in a dry, laconic manner. His most successful story was that of making mechanical bulls for "The Kid From Spain," to act with the real Mexican bulls in the picture. Eddie Cantor wanted four bulls and kept chang- ing his mind regarding what he would do with them, until Sam Goldwyn, exasperated, said: "See here, Eddie, you make me laff with one bull — that'll do." Work on "Noah's Ark," when levers were pulled too soon and cameras swept away in the resultant flood; building up sets of New York with the Chrysler and Empire Buildings in one shot; com- plaints that skyscrapers were in the wrong place: two dozen liners and 200 barges and the sets put on railway lines to give the idea of the sliding of the city into an abyss were recounted. Following screen demonstrations, Mr. Knechtel resumed his talk, explaining how the effects were achieved and mentioning a big battle scene which was acted by only 15 men. A member, rising to propose a vote of thanks, said he had been astounded by the perfection to which the tricks he had practiced 25 years ago were brought. METRO-GOLDWN- MAYER "TARZAN AND HIS MATE." Producer, Ber- nard Hyman; screenplay by J. K. McGuinness; adaptation by Leon Gordon ; first cameramen, Clyde De Vinna and Sid Wagner. Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton, Doris Lloyd, Frank Reicher, Paul Cavanaugh. "OPERATOR 13." Producer, Lucian Hub- bard ; from the original story by Robert W. Cham- bers ; screenplay by Harvey Thew and Zelda Sears ; first cameraman, George Folsey. Starring Marion Davies and Gary Cooper. "HOLLYWOOD PARTY." Producer, Harry Rapf; director, Alan Dwan ; music, Rodgers and Hart, Brown and Freed ; first cameraman, Hal Rossen. Cast: Jimmie Durante, Lupe Velez, Jack Pearl, Laurel and Hardy, Polly Moran, Charles Butter- worth, George Givot and others. "THE SHOW OFF," starring Spencer Tracy, was directed by C. F. (Chuck) Reisner. James Wong Howe directed the cinematography. It is an M-G-M opus. William Daniels hit the cinematographic bull's- eye twice in succession when he photographed "DINNER AT EIGHT" and "QUEEN CHRIS- TINA," both M-G-M aces. The latter, especially, seems destined to become a classic with Garbo starred and Dupont film. George Folsey shot "GOING HOLLYWOOD," co-starring Marion Davies and Bing Crosby. The cinematography of this picture received much favorable comment from the critics. "THREE ON A HONEYMOON." Producer, John Stone; from the novel, "Promenade Deck" by 1 shbel Ross ; screenplay by Edward T. Lowe and Raymond Van Sickle ; director, James Ting- ling ; assistant, Bert Sebell ; first cameraman, Joe Valentine; operative cameraman, Art Arling ; stills, Emmett Schoenbaum and Frank Powolny ; recording engineer, Albert Protzman ; film editor, Alex Troffey ; art director, Duncan Cramer ; chief electrician, Tommy Ouellett ; chief grip, George Carpenter ; chief prop, Al Steinberg. Cast: Sally Eilers, Zasu Pitts, Henrietta Cros- man, Charles Starrett, John Mack Brown, Rus- sell Simpson, Cornelius Keefe, Irene Hervey. "FREE GOLD" (tentative title). Producer, John Stone; screenplay by Lester Cole and Henry Johnson; director, George Marshall; assistant, Sam Schneider ; first cameraman, Joe Valentine ; operative cameraman, Irving Rosenberg; assist- ants, Warner Cruze and Roger Shearman ; stills, Emmett Schoenbaum ; recording engineer, Al. Protzman; film editor, Fred Allen; art director, Duncan Cramer ; chief electrician, C. Redd ; chief grip, George Carpenter; chief prop, Frank Baker. Cast : Claire Trevor, John Boles, Harry Green, Monroe Owsley, Roger Imhoff and others. "MURDER IN TRINIDAD." Producer, Sol M. Wurtzel ; author, John Vandercook ; screenplay by Seton I. Miller; director, Louis King; assist- ant, Sid Bowen ; first cameraman, Barney McGill ; operative cameraman, Curtis Fetters, asssitants, William Whitley and Milton Gold; stills, John English; recording engineer, Barney Fredericks; film editor, Alexander Troffey ; art director, Dun- can Cramer ; chief electrician, Si Adams ; chief grip, Charlie Hall; chief prop, Earl McKee. Cast : Nigel Bruce, Heather Angel, Victor Jory, Harvey Clark, Murray Kinnell, Pat Somerset. "TOO MANY WOMEN." Producer, Al Rock- ett ; author, Vera Caspary ; screenplay by June Storm, Oscar M. Sheridan, Lenore Coffee; direc- tor, James Flood ; assistant, Percy Ikerd ; first cameraman, L. W. O'Connell; operative camera- man, Harry Jackson ; assistant, Eddie Collins ; re- cording engineer, George Leverett ; assistant, Wil- liam Brent ; film editor, Dorothy Spencer ; art director, Gordon Wiles ; chief electrician, John Blanke; chief grip, Fred Richter ; chief prop, Tommy Plews. Cast: Warner Baxter, Rosemary Ames, Rochelle Hudson, Henrietta Crosman, Herbert Mundin, Lil- lian Stuart. "ALL MEN ARE ENEMIES." Producer, Al Rockett ; author, Richard Aldington ; screenplay by Samuel Hoffenstein and Lenore Coffee ; director. George Fitzmaurice ; assistant, William Tummell ; first cameraman, John -S'eitz ; operative cameramen, Joe McDonald and Richard Towers ; assistants, Jack Epstein and Harry Webb ; stills, Mack El- liott ; recording engineer, E. Clayton Ward ; film editor, Harold Schuster; art director, Max Parker; chief electrician, Jack Frier ; chief grip, George Switzer ; chief prop, Edward Donahue. Cast : Hugh Williams, Helen Twelvetrees, Her- bert Mundin, Mona Barrie, Halliwell Hobbs, Henry Stephenson, Una O'Connor. R-K-0 "LONG LOST FATHER." Author, G. B. Stern ; adaptor, Dwight Taylor ; director, Ernest B. Schoedsack ; first cameraman, Nick Musuraca ; film editor, Paul Weatherwax. Cast: John Barrymore, Helen Chandler, Don- ald Cook, Alan Mowbray, Claude King. "MEANEST GAL IN TOWN." Author, Ar- thur Horman ; adaptors, Richard Schayer, Russell Mack and H. W. Hanemann ; first cameraman, J. Roy Hunt; recording engineer, George D. El- lis ; film editor, James B. Morley. Starring: Zasu Pitts. METROPOLITAN Shooting: "THE CATSPAW." First camera- man, Walter Lundin ; operative cameraman, Wil- liam Stuart Thompson ; assistants, Ellis Carter and Harold Carney ; stills, Eugene Kornman. Starring : Harold Lloyd. Buzz Berkeley directing a number fror F Satterfield, assistant and George Barnes, f irr :a composite made by Bert L MISCELLANEOUS Ralph Staub has begun work of direction' his ninth comedy for Warner Brothers. Hi; a' is Ben Blue. Joe Rucker, famous for his work with the rc expedition in the Antarctic, is on his way t;l Orient where he has a newsreel assignmei j< China and Manchukuo. His return to th<»' homestead at San Francisco is indefinite. George (John of Gaunt) Lancaster depart! ■' Washington's Birthday for the ghost-town o Nevada to complete the cinematography on h(| teresting little film classic, "Ghost Towns C" Mother Lode." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts ancfl ences, in its annual primary awards, nom.J' as candidates for "Best Photography" Cl» Lang of Paramount, as cinematographer o ' Farewell to Arms" ; George Folsey of M '* photographer of "Reunion in Vienna" ; Struss, Paramount, "Sign of the Cross." M. A. Anderson photographed the Chestil picture, "MURDER ON THE CAMPUS.' ' was directed by Richard Thorpe. RAGRAM Every Motion Picture Is a Compromise, but the Cam- eraman's Position Is So Definite That There Is No Argument. CM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 3 Hi of 1934" (Warner Bros.), with George (ipectively, on Berkeley's left). A unique Tieraman on the picture. COLUMBIA jCmil Oester, Head of Camera Dept. acting: "HIGHWAY PATROL." Screen- I Harold Shumate ; director, Ross Leder- ; first cameraman, Ben Kline; operative trfian, F. M. Browne; assistants, Fred Daw- a; Jack Russell ; recording engineer, George Tim McCoy. IRLPOOL." Screenplay by Ethel Hill; Roy William Neill ; assistant, Wilbur ;h ; first cameramen, Ben Kline, Joe August Stumar; operative cameramen, F. M. and Dave Ragin ; assistants, Fred Daw- ircel Grand, Al Keller, Jack Russell, Jack n, A. L. Schaffer ; recording engineer, G. ?r. Jack Holt. -:XTIETH CENTURY." Screenplay by :ht and Charles MacArthur; director, How- \vs ; first cameraman, Joseph August ; h cameraman, Dave Ragin; assistants, Grand and Jack Anderson ; stills, Irving 1. I John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Roscoe >! >orge E. Stone, Walter Connolly, Etienne UNIVERSAL /'DOOMED TO DIE." Producer and author. Ken Maynard ; director, Alan James ; assistant, Mike Eason ; first cameraman, Ted McCord ; operative cameraman, Joe Novak ; assistants, John McHurner and Bert Eason; film editor, Charles Harris; art director, Ralph Berger. Shooting: "I'LL TELL THE WORLD." Producer, Dale Van Every ; author, Lincoln Quar- berg ; director, Edward Sedgwick ; assistant di- rector, E. A. Woehler ; first cameraman, Norbert Brodine ; operative cameraman, Wallace Chewning ; assistant, Arthur Gestle ; stills, Roman Freulich ; art director, Stanley Fleisher. Cast : Lee Tracy, Roger Pryor, Gloria Stuart. "GLAMOUR." Producer, B. F. Teidman ; author,. Edna Ferber ; screenplay by Don Ander- son; director, William Wyler; assistant, Roy Tay- lor ; first cameraman, George Robinson ; operative cameraman, Jeff Gibbons ; assistant, Edward Ze- ranski ; stills, Shirley Martin; art director, Danny Hall. Cast : Constance Cummings, Paul Lukas, Phillip Reed, Joseph Cawthorn and Doris Lloyd. "UNCERTAIN LADY." Associate producer, Dale Van Every ; director, Karl Freund ; first cameraman, Charles Stumar ; operative cameraman, Maurice Gertsman ; assistant, James Drought. Cast : Genevieve Tobin, Edward Everett Hor- ton, Dorothy Peterson, Frank Lyman, Herbert Corthell, Renee Gadd. THE TRADE PRESS SEES THE CAMERAMAN THE REPORTER "GOOD DAME" — "Leon Shamroy's photog- raphy is a lesson in that art." Paramount. "Lauron Draper, first cameraman, gets a break this week. Last night (February 5) he took off by plane for Dartmouth College, in the hills of New Hampshire. There he will make an MGM Pete Smith short on the annual winter sports. Break for him is that he will make it alone, with no director to tell him what to do. Carried his script in his pocket and the rest is up to his own judgment." "GAMBLING LADY"— "And George Barnes' photography is worthy of mention." Warner-First National. "MEN IN WHITE"— "The photography by George Folsey is something to rave about." MGM. "COUNTESS OF MONTE CRISTO" — "Charles Stumar's photography outclasses the story. It is really stunning." Universal picture. "SHE MADE HER BED"— "Milton Krasner bent a clever camera upon the picture." Para- mount. VARIETY "DAVID HARUM"— Hal Mohr, Cinematog- rapher. "Photography is excellent, and while re- cording needs to be improved in spots, it can stand for very little trimming." Fox. "REGISTERED NURSE"— "Cameraman Sid Hickox has done some good work with the numerous drab interiors." Warner-First National. MONOCRAM-CARR "MANHATTAN LOVE SONG." Author, Cor- nell Woolrich ; screenplay by David S'ilverstein ; director, Leonard Fields ; assistant, Vernon Keays ; first cameraman, Bob Planck ; operative camera- man, Reggie Lanning ; assistant, Russ Harlan; stills, Joe Walters ; recording engineer, J. Stransky, Jr. ; film editor, Carl Pierson ; art director, E. R. Hickson; chief electrician, Edward L. Cox; chief grip, Robert Murphy ; chief prop, Arden Cripe. Cast : Bob Armstrong, Dixie Lee, Franklyn Pangborn. "THE LOUD SPEAKER." Producer, W. T. Lackey ; author, Ralph Spence ; director, Joseph Santley ; assistant, Mack Wright ; first cameraman, Gilbert Warrenton ; operative cameraman, Ernie Laszlo ; assistant, James King; stills, Merritt J. Sibbald ; recording engineer, Wally Enyeart ; film editor, JacK Ogilvie ; art director, E. R. Hickson; WARNER-FIRST NATIONAL "WONDER B A R." Cinematographer Sol Polito has finished work on "Wonder Bar," which, judging from reviews in the trade papers, has gone over with a bang and is going to be a real money maker. Mike Joyce was the operative cameraman, Louis De Angelis, assistant, and Bert Longworth shot the stills. Busby Berkeley, who will be remembered for his splendid work in "Footlight Parade," is responsible for the mystical effects in "Wonder Bar." The authors of the story are Karl Farkas and Geza Berczeg ; adaptor, Earl Baldwin ; film editor, George Amy ; chief electrician, Frank Flanagan. Cast: Al Jolson, Kay Francis, Dick Powell, Dolores Del Rio. Polito's next assignment is "DOCTOR MON- ICA," starring Kay Francis and directed by Wil- liam Keighly. The operative cameraman will be Al Green and the assistant, Fred Terzo. Bert Longworth will handle the stills. Frank Flanagan is chief electrician. Shooting: "SAWDUST" (temporary title). Supervisor, James Seymore; original story by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby ; screenplay by Torn Buckingham ; director, Ray Enright ; assistant, Russ Saunders; first cameraman, Sid Hickox; operative cameraman, Wesley Anderson ; assistant, Vernon Larson; stills, "Mickie" Marigold; record- ing engineer, E. A. Brown ; film editor, Clarence Kolster ; art director, Esdras Hartley; chief elec- trician, Paul Burnett ; chief grip, L. P. Mash- mire ; chief prop, Howard Ogle. Cast : Joe E. Brown, Patricia Ellis, Gordon Westcott, Dorothy Burgess, Donald Dilloway, "Poodle" Hanneford. "THE KEY." Producer, Robert Presnell ; screenplay by Laird Doyle; director, Michael Cur- tiz; assistant, Eric Stacey ; first cameraman, Er- nest Haller ; operative cameraman, Al. Roberts ; assistant, Martin Glouner ; stills, John Ellis ; re- cording engineer, Stanley Jones ; film editor, Tom Richards ; art director, Robert Haas ; chief elec- trician, Roy Thompson ; chief grip, Dudley S'laus- son ; chief prop, Tom More. Cast : William Powell, Edna Best, Colin Clive. UNITED ARTISTS "BULLDOG DRUMMOND STRIKES BACK." Original story by H. C. McNeille ; screenplay by Nunnally Johnson ; director, Roy Del Ruth ; first cameraman, Peverell Marley ; operative cameraman, Harry David ; assistants, Lee Crawford and Irving Klein ; stills, Kenneth Alexander. Cast : Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, War- ner Oland, Charles Butterworth, Arthur Hold, Billie Burke. "THE FIREBRAND." Based on stage play by Edwin Justus Mayer; adaptation by Bess Meredyth ; director, Gregory La Cava ; first cameraman, Charles Rosher ; operative cameramen, Roy Tripp and Roy Clark; assistant, William Reinhold ; stills, Clarence Hewitt. Cast : Constance Bennett, Fredric March, Frank Morgan, Fay Wray, Vince Barnett, Louis Calhern, Jessie Ralph. PARAMOUNT "BOLERO." Authors, Carey Wilson and Ku- bec Glasmon ; adaptor, Horace Jackson ; director, Wesley Ruggles ; first cameraman, Leo Tover ; operative cameramen, Fred Mayer and William Mellor ; assistants, Jack Wendall and Guy Roe ; still, Hal McAlpin; recording engineer, Earl Hay- man; film editor, Hugh Bennett. Cast: Carole Lombard, Sally Rand, Frances Drake. "WHARF ANGEL." Author, Frederick Sclilick; adaptors, Samuel Hoffenstein and Frank Partos ; directors, William Cameron and George Sommes ; first cameraman, Victor Milner; opera- tive cameraman, William Mellor ; assistant, Guy Roe; stills, Talmage Morrison; art directors, Hans Dreier and John Goodman. Cast : Victor McLaglen, Dorothy Dell, Preston Foster, Alison Skipworth, David Landau and others. chief electrician, Austin Herrick ; chief grip, Ber- tram Hayes; chief prop, Bob Landers. Cast : Ray Walker, Jacqueline Wells, Noel Francis. Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER LEON GAUMONT By EARL THEISEN Honorary Curator Motion Pictures L A. Museum (Much of the material in this article was obtained from trans- lations by M'lle. Andree Barlatier and Roger Loutz, of French docu- ments written by Leon Caumont. For this service and cooperation the author wishes to express his gratitude. — Editor's Note.) March, 19?* Leon Caumont HEN considering motion picture inventors one naturally thinks of Leon Gaumont. That is a trite but justifiable way of summing up the con- tributions of this pioneer of the motion picture. Among his achievements may be listed everything from a new screw to anchor another gadget to a projector to color or sound pictures. To enumerate them all would require a volume. Gaumont had his start in photography before there were motion pictures. In 1885 he had a photographic establishment at No. 57 de la rue Saint-Roch, near the l'Avenue de 1'Opera in Paris. Here he gained a reputa- tion of making a better grade of photographic apparatus and when the flare-up of the "living picture" came ten years later, Gaumont was one of the number who con- cerned themselves with the problem of making a projector. He tried to do something with an apparatus called the "Bioscope-Demeny." It was on the principle of the device that Demeny had been working on for a number of years, with which Demeny had tried in 1892 to make a form of pictures that talked by taking a series of photographs with a "photographic gun" and then they were to be synchron- ized to a phonograph record. The sequence of pictures were placed around the outer edge of a glass disc. In 1896, Demeny in collaboration with Decaux al- tered the Bioscope-Demeny and introduced another device which they called the "Chronophotograph." The Chrono- photograph or, as it was later known, "the Chrono," util- ized the Demeny cam intermittent and in it was a close alliance to the Lumiere Cinematograph. The Chrono was shown at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 where it attracted attention and, incidental to this display of what may be said to be the first Gaumont de- vice, its popularity spread to the towns near Paris. The demand for the Chrono pictures was such that Gaumont organized a department to make cinematic subjects to sell. One of the more valuable of the early Gaumont subjects was the portrayal of the "Life of Christ." A catalogue of this picture which has the honor of a place in the Motion Picture Collection at the Los Angeles Museum, side by side with a handsome leather bound book on de Mille's "King of Kings," shows it to be a pretentious picture of de Millean settings. Both the Gaumont "Life of Christ" and the de Mille "King of Kings" followed a similar pattern, though one was only 2,000 feet in length while the other ran on for a length of 14,200 feet. Both were innovations and were the best the motion picture produced during their time. Because picture exhibitors did not believe in long pictures at that time, any part of the Gaumont picture could be bought by footage. Very few showed the entire picture at one time, but instead exhibited the sequence which they thought would be most interesting to their audiences. Gaumont had by this time invented his noted "Beater- Movement" camera which he patented in 1902. This camera was much smaller and lighter than the contempo- rary camera. In 1900 he started to develop a system of talking pic- tures and a year later he applied for patents. His first public demonstration was given of a synchronized talking picture on November 7, 1902, at the Societe Franchise de Photographie, when he presented his own talking portrait and a Gypsy dance. From the Bulletin of the Societe Franchise de Photo- graphie, of this date, we have the following statement made by Monsieur L. Gaumont: "In course of a statement made to the French Photo- graphic Society at the beginning of this year, we promised to give particulars of one of the methods of synchronizing gramophone and kinematograph. We are now going to redeem that promise ; but before we start we should like to ask you not to be too critical, especially as regards the gramophone. What you are about to hear from the sound part of the combination will, I am afraid, be somewhat poor in quality. We considered it advisable, however, to give the results hitherto achieved without delay, and leave it to some future occasion to demonstrate the improve- ments we hope to effect in sound registration and repro- duction, remote as this particular thesis is from the special interests of the Society. "An examination of the various systems put forward would go beyond the scope of this talk. We hope to be able to deal with them at some future meeting. "The machine we have before us is the one we finally settled on after numerous experiments — how many Heaven alone knows! — in collaboration with our friend Decaux. "The gramaphone is the most delicate part of the mechanism and one that does not admit of the least flaw in its construction ; and what we had to do was to make it act like an orchestral conductor and operate the kine- matograph ; in short, its movement had to control those of all the rest of the mechanical combination. On the other hand, seeing that gramophone and kinematograph could not be set up side by side, they had to be coupled by means of a flexible shaft. Flexible cable was quite suitable for the purpose, but it unfortunately seriously hampered work- ing at any distance exceeding a few yards and was quite out of the question at the beginning of coupled movement. "You will by this time have guessed that electric transmission was the very thing for the purpose. The problem was solved for us. We coupled up a mains-fed motor to the grarnophone, regulating the speed of the former by that of the latter. Then we connected the electric motor coupled to the kinematograph with the cur- rent distributor fixed on one of the phonograph shafts, so Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nineteen that the two machines starting simultaneously and running all the time at the same speed exactly gave us perfect synchronization at all time points. "We are glad to have this opportunity of giving the French Photographic Society, which has always appre- ciated our efforts, the first indications of the way in which we have solved the prohlem of synchronization." From the L' Industrie du Film Parlant, published in 1929, we have Gaumont's description of his early system: "The wax cylinder, cumbersome and fragile, gave way to the disc which you all know. The rotating disc system, which created the rotative distributor and its multiple cable, were replaced by the following arrangement : "Two small electric motors similar to (A and B) of the same power are branched on the sector, their in- ductors allowing the same number of sections, each re- united, as usual to the successive blades of the collector placed at the end of the shaft, that holds two brushes bringing the current on the collector. "But to assure the synchronized pace of the two mo- tors, 3 derivations of equal distance were taken to the inductor, that is to say, separated by 120 degrees, and joined to rings mounted on the other extremity of the shaft extended for this purpose. Each one of the three rings on each motor is joined to the corresponding ring of the other motor. "When in action, if one of the motors tends to run faster, it sends in the inductor of the other one a current which increases the pace of the latter and the synchroniza- tion is thus automatically maintained. "We learned afterwards that Elihu Thomson used a similar arrangement for synchronized control of the spindles of the weaving machines. "In 1906, the registration of sounds, obtained up to that time by the imprint left in the wax by the point of a stylet mounted in the center of a mica disc, was replaced by an electrical registration due to the use of a micro- phone and a graving style in steel placed in a powerful magnetic space and displacing itself under the action of the induction bobbins run over by the wave current of this microphone ; above, laterial inscriptions ; below inscrip- tions; in depth "Hill and dale" recording.) "The necessity of reproducing scenes of some duration lead us to use two-tray disc carriers, which were alter- nately and automatically started by means of electric con- tacts, in such a way that from the time that the disc placed on one of the trays was finished, the other began. The initial start of the apparatus, instead of being made on a sound signal, was unhooked by the passing of a needle on a metallic contact in the groove of the disc. "In order to obtain, for the auditions in big rooms, a sufficient intensity we have studied and realized sound amplifiers that used compressed air. "To guard against unwedging, a differential, con- trolled by a special motor, was intercalated between the synchronized motor and the apparatus." This was a notable presentation and served as one of the initial stimuli to achieve the sound films. It gave the European audiences a taste of what was to come. What Gaumont did in this connection in Europe, Edison did in this country. It had been Edison's dream from the first to make pictures talk. In fact by this time he had been listing in his catalogue "Talking Pictures Synchronized to Records" for a number of years. One catalogue on dis- play at the Los Angeles Museum of March, 1900, lists several different subjects, "accurately synchronized to special records." That "accurately synchronized" to records, however, is only generally correct, because there were no correctly synchronized "talkies" then. In a recent booklet put out by the Etablissments Gau- mont, Gaumont describes his method of synchronization. A photographic record was first made and then while it was playing a camera photographed the actor, who was Please mention The International Photogra The Gaumont Motion Picture "Beater Movement" Camera of 1902 doing his best to follow the song or words of the record. Gaumont says of this, according to a translation from the French by Roger Loutz : "The synchronization was fairly successful, but the solution of the problem was not com- plete and could not be entirely satisfactory." It was, how- ever, the germ idea of the talkies and as the "Chrono- phone," it continued to be shown for a number of years. In 1903 it was shown at the Musee Grevan and a little later at the Theater du Gymnase as "Phonoscenes." And again it received impetus on December 27, 1910, when the talking picture of Professor d'Arsonval was presented at the Academie des Sciences. The Chronophone was brought to this country in 1913 and it was shown at the 39th Street Theater on June 5, 6 and 7. The "Film-Parlant" had been showing to about 4,000 spectators nightly at the Gaumont Palace in Paris. The sound films continued at the Gaumont Palace until the war. The Gaumont Palace, by the way, was orig- inally the famous Hippodrome and was now made over to a magnificent cinema show-place. It pioneered in Europe the idea of presenting the films from a projector placed behind the screen such as was introduced a few years ago by the "Trans-Lux" theaters in this country. The Societe des Etablissments Gaumont was formed in 1906 at Belleville, near Paris, with a capitalization of 2,500,000 francs. That was the parent organization from which sprang agencies all over the world. By 1912, the capital had increased to 4,000,000 francs and there were 46 agencies in France and Europe. In 1896, Gaumont employed a dozen assistants and by 1912 the number in- creased to 1,500. That growth would be phenomenal even in the United States. The English Gaumont Company, known as Gaumont Limited, in London, was organized in 1908, under the direction of A. C. Bromhead. This branch, particularly during the war period, advanced and put out many fine pictures that certainly did not lessen the acclaim of the motion picture audiences to Leon Gaumont. This con- tinued as the foremost of the Gaumont branches until 1921 when A. C. Bromhead and R. C. Bromhead bought up the stock and properties to acquire ownership. It has since been independent though a close commercial alliance still remains. Too, Gaumont is one of the ranking pioneers in color motion pictures. His first color pictures were of the hand stenciled color variety that both he and the Pathe Company brought to popularity about 1907-08. The color in these pictures, it will be recalled, was usually applied frame by frame in the sequences where it appeared, pher when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1934 and later, a method of cutting out stencils from a cellu- loid strip to correspond with the portions to be colored was invented. Usually three of these stencils were cut and then one after the other was passed in close contact with a black and white positive print, the color being ap- plied by means of a brush at the point where the films were held in contact. Of course, this was an endless task ; but the history of the motion picture is a story of patience itself. Gaumont approached the problem of natural colors about 1909 and in 1912, he showed some him taken by his "trichrome" process at the Gaumont-Palace. This show- ing, because it was something of an innovation at that time since Kinemacolor, then, was new and was a pro- cess that could render two colors, while the Gaumont Pro- cess was a "Three-Color Additive" system, that is, the colors were not in the films, but the films were black and white and the color added by means of a color wheel giv- ing a natural color on the screen. This color-wheel is attached to the front of the pro- jector and consists of sectors of colored gelatine or glass which add a color to the black and white picture passing through it during projection. An equal combination of the three primary colors used in this process gives a white, while a lesser tensity of any of the colors, the other dom- inating colors are seen on the screen. As I've said, it was new and good for that time and the press gave it flattering write-ups; though it was not the answer to the color problem. It is easy to imagine the excited audience viewing color pictures for the first time. Even though the color "fringed" they did not care. Gau- mont did, however, and he continued with the problem through the years. Color pictures did not exclude everything else. Gau- mont had perfected a lead glass to be used to eliminate the harmful ultra-violet of the Kleig lights. He had per- fected many still photographic devices, X-Ray materials, high speed motion pictures, motion picture developing ma- chines and gadgets for everything both in still pictures and motion pictures. During the war, motion picture activities in Europe were naturally suspended. Gaumont made his plant and nicely equipped factory available for purposes of war. He made radio apparatus for planes and for the army ; he made projectors, long range cameras and other army in- struments. Too, as a result of the war, a loud speaker known as the Gueritot and Aschel speaker, various tele- phony and public address systems were perfected. Dating from the war his plant has continued to manu- facture radios, lenses, auto starters and ignition systems. Today Gaumont is noted for many things ! For his great number of decorations and prizes earned in reward for accomplishments ; for his "Actualities" or newsreels and his "Enclypodie" or educational and scientific films ; for his honesty and sincere purpose to better the institu- tion of the motion picture. And he is noted for the fact that he was one of those persons who brought back the Delhi Durbar. By fast ship and train he had the film shipped from India to his studio in Paris. It arrived at six o'clock in the evening and by nine o'clock, 7,500 feet of film were sent to London. The next morning the films were on the London screens. That was a fete in 1911. It was all a part of the Gaumont. MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 12) sent the relative amount of light required to give a simi- lar exposure to each of these papers. Chloride papers are obtainable in a greater variety of contrasts (soft, medium, hard, extra hard, etc.) and also yield snappier results. It is evident though that it will be necessary to employ a strong light in the en- larger. Quite recently there has been introduced a new Photoflood lamp which is made of Osram (opal) glass. It produces a soft white diffused light suitable for use with enlarging machines. As the regular Photoflood lamp, its light is equivalent to 750 watts, but it has an approximate life of five hours. When using chloride The Foth Derby Enlarger papers the regular lamp the enlarger can be replaced with the opal glass Photoflood. Precaution must be taken to prevent overheating with the subsequent buckling of the film. Papers are supplied in various degrees of contrast to compensate for the variations in the tone range of the negative. A thin negative is improved by printing it upon a hard or vigorous paper. Conversely, harsh, con- trast}' negatives require soft papers, whereas normal nega- tives are printed upon medium papers. Papers are also supplied in a large variety of surfaces, the selection of which is dependent upon the effect which the finished print is to convey, or the purpose it is to serve. For the usual commercial photography, a glossy surface paper is re- quired. The general run of amateur photographs are best printed upon either a glossy, or semi-glossy paper. Printing mediums for artistic photographs and portraits can be chosen from a host of surfaces which manufac- turers offer. There are standard surfaces such as smooth matte, rough matte, the mentioned papers being supplied either in white or buff color. Then we have specialized surfaces made by the various manufacturers such as Fabric Rough, Cyltex, Crystal Stipple, Porcelain Stipple, Gevaluxe Papier Velours, etc. Such papers have dis- tinctive surfaces which lend themselves admirably to various subjects. Thus crystal stipple produces a spark- ling photograph having the appearance of a crayon draw- ing upon a rough paper. Grevaluxe is a comparatively new paper, possessing a velvet like surface and exceedingly beautiful deep tones, which are ideal for landscapes and portraits. It is difficult to describe each of these spe- cialized surfaces, the photographer should experiment with each from time to time, finally standardizing upon a few. The same principle can be applied to the general type of photographic papers. Various makes and types are tried, a final decision being made upon a few which serve best for the general run of work. As a developer the common MQ formula is suited for both chloride and bromide papers. This can be pur- chased in small tubes which contain the necessary amount of chemicals. By dissolving the contents of the tube according to the directions a suitable developer for either chloride or bromide paper can be had. For those who wish to prepare their own solutions the following MQ formulas are listed: (Turn to Page 23) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-one The Cinematogr cipher's BOOK OF TABLES For PROFESSIONAL and AMATEUR By FRED WESTERBERG Will Be Off the Press in April Semi-Flexible Cloth $1 00 Bound For Pocket Use PRICE I Order from your nearest dealer or ivrite to The International Photographer HOLLYWOOD 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue CALIFORNIA 12-Bl 12-B4 SHUTTER VALUES < X o_ < Z Q r- LU 1° I- Q co < H O uj z I— < UJ 7 z Z> = O _l u < 2 S u. o u.Q2 UJ uj uj < cy . J!S£ C >.W> 'yi™ c u O s j <-. OVER-ALL MAGNIFICATION z o of UJ 1- LU < a z z o H < u z (J < z UJ Ul Of u o o o o -r o m o o "1 o o o IT, o LT> O O LA o LA 1/1 UJ h- UJ < a z z o 1- < u u. z o < _l < UJ > o 3 CM o CO VO o o — - o CM r 1 3 - - 00 C NO o - o C I - r- < O O O - O o o - r 1 - c 1 z - CM CM O0 vo 00 CM •4- CM vo CM X -t EJECTED IMAGE SCREEN MACNIF •n. 00 00 CM CM >o rt - 'O CM fO CO CM CM •3- c o IN. f'- o IN. o 2 - -r CM ON o o vo VO e i CM CO CM ON VO -■■ CM no r--- o CM o = CM c to CM c / — o o CM O CM - O IN. o - l HE PR AND — o r i vo - 1 o - CM CM o CM vo CM 00 VO Tj- ' i OF T MERA IN. On CM IN o CM -J. VO m 00 CM CM « ■* O o IN. CM PO i ■ z < o u r- u. IN. IN 00 o o CM ON IN. 00 o CM CO CM O CM o ON o vo ■* o CO if, MACNIFICA NATIONS C CM IN CM o o o CM NO o CM O CM « CM o ■>. o [■-. CM - i = " i CM O r X to CN) O CM VO CM — CO vo ^> ". 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ON rH . 3 HS k 0 po ^t ts. O po ON PO rn NO 00 NO CM m NO >.° rH 1-H ^H rH CM CM CM PO *■ -r m NO X ON rn za ^ Z--6 .9-"S g u s = 0: .» 0 0 -H Tf U7 X CM m — r. c r^ 1 1— CM fO -r -T LT) NO 00 ~~ rH pi- NO 0 > " March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-three MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY with cardboard. The negative being in the enlarger (Continued from Page 20) an exposure of five seconds is made. Another small por- Metol-Hydroquinon Developer X™ f th(: PaP" is drawn out from beneath the card- For Content Paper feard, and another exposure of five seconds is given. Water Jin m-e- ls oonrinued for about tour or five exposures. I his Metol or Elon - - 15 grains strip is dcveloPed for tw0 minutes and from the variously q„a- „, c l i •.. / i \ i exposed portions on the paper, the correct printing time bodium sulphite (dry) - - 1 ounce ' . y . . . l . l . ' „ . • , , u..j,„„u:„„„ An , • °i the negative is determined, near in mind that the riydrochinon ----- 6(j grains . b ,, , . , c„j: r1 u t a \ t/ last exposure was nve seconds, the one before that ten sodium Larbonate (dry) - - y2 ounce , v . , . ' . . . . v «.„ : ~ » -a i • seconds since that portion of the paper strip received Potassium bromide - - 4 grains r , * ' * ' »' j) i n . two nve second exposures, etc. t or Bromide Papers ™ *: ' . Witer 3? photographer has at his disposal a unique mstru- H/T„* i iri on ment to determine the printing: exposure time. This is Metol or Lion 20 grams , T , , . ' , • , , T_r i i- nn ■ the Largodrem. It is connected into the same electric Hydrochinon ----- 90 grains ■• i i- i i -r-i i j c„j- „ o l u-4. t a \ i/ current which supplies the enlarger. 1 he meter is placed sodium sulphite (dry) - - .11 ounce , i i i • • i . ,,7. , c„j- „, n u i a \ it/ upon the easel and the negative projected upon it. With sodium Larbonate (dry) - l1! ounces ? r , , . f , ' , J . . ' . the use ot tables, a simple calculation gives the correct When mixed add two drams of 10% solution of printing time. potassium bromide. Another important consideration in enlarging is accu- Many workers prefer the use of Amidol, claiming rate focusing. This should always be accomplished with that it produces a good color and has the ability of the lens diaphragm wide open. The latter can be closed bringing out all details in the negative. From personal down somewhat once focusing has been accomplished. A experience I have found Amidol to be very satisfactory. magnifying glass will be found handy in this work. E. This developer must be freshly prepared for it does not Leitz supply focusing magnifiers which are mounted on keep well upon standing. The formulas for Amidol are a socket joint on a horizontal rod which slides on a as follows: bracket on a vertical support. The latter slips into a sj/nidol Developer hole in the baseboard. This magnifier can be moved For Contact Papers over tne e"tire area of the enlarging paper, and then Water to make 10 ounces swunS aside after use- Sodium Sulphite (dry) - - 250 grains A uniuue instrument is offered by Photo Utilities, Amidol ------- 50 grains ^nc"' wmcn ,s known as the P. U. Focusing Microscope. Potassium Bromide - 2 grains This consists of a metal base holding immovable the For Bromide Papers microscope tube at an angle of 45 degrees. The lower Water to make ----- 20 ounces end °^ t^le tu^e 1S cut away allowing a selected por- Sodium Sulphite (dry) - - 325 grains tion of the Pr0Jected image to strike a circular mirror Amidol 50 grains 'le'd at an a^e Para^e^ with the plane surface of the Potassium - 10 grains easel. A ground glass within the tube carries cross lines for permanent adjustment of focus to the individual eye. All manufacturers usually enclose with the package Once the setting is adjusted it is made permanent with of paper a list of formulas which according to their a set screw. The projected image reflected to the ground experimentation they have found to be ideal for the glass is brought to fine focus with the focusing device paper in question. If all of the papers used are of the on the enlarger and when the proper setting is reached same type it is advisable to employ the developer recom- the grain of the emulsion is visible on the ground glass, mended. When papers of varied makes are employed, Many photographers are in the habit of closing down the formulas above will be found to yield satisfactory the enlarger lens diaphragm considerably after accurate results. focus has been established. This is not necessary. Actual- In general the exposure of the paper should be such ly there is one plane of sharp focus, and since the nega- that the development time will be two minutes. An ideal tive consists of a single plane, once focus has been estab- procedure is to first expose a test strip, and from that lished, closing down the diaphragm considerably to ob- determine the correct printing time required by the nega- tain a large depth of field will only necessitate a longer tive in question. A small strip of the paper used rs exposure time. Enlarging should not be compared with placed on the easel, and all but a small portion covered (Turn to Page 31) "ArtReeVes" Presents NEW TYPE Recording Lamp The EQUA-LITE More Light — Less Current Equalized Glow Bar Motion PioTure/EojjipmenT(o. |Td 64-5 NORTH MARTEL AVE CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, USA Cables: ArtReeves Francais Espanol Deutsch Svenska PHONE: WYOMING 4501 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March; 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording HE physical aspects of the sound stages and the types of portable and permanent monitoring equipment employed on them for sound record- ing were described at length in the preceding chapters on monitoring. This chapter continues that dis- cussion of monitoring by considering how the monitoring equipment is operated to produce pleasing and artistic re- cordings of music and dialogue. The technique of monitoring orchestrations is quite different from that employed for straight dialogue record- ings. The "scoring" of music usually requires several microphones mounted before the orchestra in set positions that have been found to provide the most satisfactory blend of sound from the various musical instruments. (It must be mentioned here, however, that a few — a very few — monitor men still prefer to use one microphone for orchestrations.) The recording of dialogue and sound for routine picture production work usually is done with a single microphone that is moved during shooting to follow the actors ; although occasionally for involved shots two or more microphones are employed. Reverberation and Echo Sound is reflected when it strikes a hard surface, such as a wooden floor or wall. If the reflecting surface is close to the source of sound, as within the confines of a sound stage, and there are several such reflecting surfaces to cast the sound back and forth an acoustic condition exists that is known as reverberation. The sound that is thus re- flected back is termed reverberated sound. If the reflect- ing surface is at such a distance from the source of sound that there is an appreciable delay in the return of the reflected sound, the reflected sound is called an echo, for it is a distinct repetition of the original sound. The chief difference between reverberated sound and echo is in the length of time that elapses between the creation of the original sound and the return of the reflected sound. Echo is not encountered when recording within sound stages, because their size is not great enough to cause suffi- cient delay in the return of the sound ; but sometimes the presence of too many hard surfaces causes reverberation to become so pronounced that it is almost as objectionable as echo. A certain amount of reflected sound is necessary to secure realistic sound recording; but if the reverberated sound persists in the stage for an excessive length of time after the generation of the sound, successive sounds will be confused by an overlapping caused by the persisting reverberations. Reverberation in Sound Stages Reverberation is measured by the length of time re- quired for a tone of 512 double vibrations per second (one octave above middle C) to die to one-millionth of its initial intensity. It has been found that a time of rever- beration in the order of three-quarters of a second or less is satisfactory for the interiors of sound stages. In other words, a tone of 512 dv should not persist in a stage longer than three-quarters of a second without its intensity be- coming reduced to one-millionth of its original value. Sound stages have their interior surfaces covered with thick layers of sound-absorbing material, as previously explained ; so they do not reflect sound to an appreciable extent. If the stage was empty, a sound generated in it would die away almost the instant the production of sound ceased. That is the reason sound stages are said to be acoustically "dead." The amount of reverberation present Chapter VII By Charles Felstead Associate Editor can be tested by clapping the hands sharply and listening to the persistence of the reverberated sound. When motion picture sets are built in such a stage, their hard walls serve to reverberate sounds generated within the sets; and since there is practically no reverberation from the dead walls of the stage, it is, so far as acoustic conditions are con- cerned, as though the sets were built out in the open. Lack of "Depth" in Recorded Sound The microphone is a monaural hearing device ; whereas human beings have binaural hearing. The resulting flat- ness of "depth" in recorded sound is comparable to the lack of perspective in a photographed picture, which is due to the ordinary camera having monocular vision instead of our binocular vision. That is to say, the microphone represents just one ear, and human beings have two ears; the camera is like a single eye, and human beings have two eyes. These handicaps can be overcome to a certain degree by careful attention to the acoustic conditions existing within the set in sound recording, and by skillful lighting of the actors and their backgrounds in photography. The two eyes with which a human being is provided make it possible for him to determine the distance and direction of an object he sees; and his two ears provide the means by which he determines, but in less accurate de- gree, the distance and direction of the source of a sound. In other words, his two eyes and two ears acquaint him with the "depth" of the world about him; they give per- spective to everything he sees and hears; they make the world appear three-dimensional and real. How a Source of Sound is Located The interval of time that elapses between a sound reaching one ear and the other ear permits a human being to judge the direction from which the sound came; and he subconsciously determines his distance from the source of sound by noting its loudness and the ratio of direct to indirect sound he hears. His experience aids him in these determinations of direction and distance. The closer the individual to the source of sound, the more direct and less reflected sound he hears. When he is at a distance from the source of sound, most of the sound that reaches his ears will have been reflected from adja- cent walls and objects, and but little direct sound will be combined with it. This characteristic is employed in mak- ing the sound recorded for motion pictures seem natural. Locating the Microphone Effectively If an actor is in the rear part of a large set and the camera is equipped with a lens for making a long shot, the microphone should be placed facing partly toward the actor and partly toward some large, hard surface, such as a wall, so that it will receive mostly the reflected voice of the speaker. Then when the sound is reproduced in a the- atre, the proper illusion of distance of the speaker back of the screen will be obtained. But if the camera is set for a close-up, the microphone should be hung in front of Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-five the actor and close to him, so that it will receive practic- ally nothing but the direct voice. In any case, the amount of reverberated voice picked up by the microphone will also be influenced by the type of set. Even in a close-up it would be permissible to have a noticeable amount of reverberated voice present if the set represented a dungeon, or other place where the voice would normally sound rather "tubby." If in a long shot the scene was supposed to be the porch of a house, or other place in the open the amount of reverberated voice that should be recorded would be much less than if the scene were in a closed room. In such situations the experience and common sense of the monitor man should dictate the placing of the microphone, regardless of any rules he may have learned. Relationship of Camera and Microphone The cameraman can change the focal length of the lens on his camera at will by switching lenses, thus mak- ing a close-up with the camera at a distance from the actor or a long shot with the camera quite close to the action ; so the monitor man must keep a constant check on the type of lens used on the camera for each take and arrange his microphone position accordingly. As an ex- ample, the cameraman can be using a thirty-five millimeter lens to take a long shot of some action located at a little distance from him, and then switch to a close-up by chang- ing to a six-inch lens without moving his camera. On the screen, it will appear that the camera was brought up closer to the action. There must be a fixed relationship between the image of the actor on the screen and the sound of his voice, just as there is a fixed relationship between the eyes and ears of the human being. When the brain centers connected with the eyes cause them to focus on some object that is producing sound, the brain centers connected with the ears likewise focus their attention on the sound emitted by that object. If a speaker appears to be thirty feet back of the screen, the audience naturally expects that his voice will sound as though it likewise originates at a point thirty feet back of the screen and coincident with the speaker. The Effect of Monaural Hearing When an individual totally loses the hearing of one ear, he is reduced to the same state of monaural hearing that hampers the microphone. He no longer has the sub- conscious ability that he possessed when he had normal hearing of concentrating his mind on sounds coming from a certain direction and distance to the exclusion, more or less, of all other sounds. As a result he hears reverbera- tion and all incidental sounds much louder than he would if he retained the discrimination that binaural hearing allowed him. The microphone faces the same difficulty. For that reason motion picture sets must be constructed so that reverberation in them is below what would sound natural to the individual with normal hearing. Incidental sounds are kept at a minimum by doing the shooting in sound-proof stages. Following the Action When the actor moves about in the set and talks, the sound of his voice naturally should appear to follow him when the scene is reproduced on a screen. To create that effect the microphone must be moved when the speaker One of the palatial new projection theatres specially built at Universal City for the showing of sound and dialogue pic- tures. The picture shows the screen and the general decora- tive effect. There is room for 1,000 spectators. moves, so that the sounds picked up by it bear a proper relationship to the image being photographed. Thus it is evident that to create the necessary illusion of reality, a sound motion picture must be so made that when it is shown on a screen the sounds appear to come from the parts of the set in which our eyes tell us they are originat- ing. Single-Microph one Recording So that the required relationship may always be main- tained between the camera and microphone during the shooting of a scene, it is desirable to use only one micro- phone at a time. A few monitor men claim that they obtain better results by having several microphones hung at predetermined points about the set, and by fading with the mixer controls from one microphone to another as the action progresses. The majority of monitor men, however, now favor the use of a single microphone for dialogue recording. It is sometimes difficult to handle involved action with one microphone; but on the other hand it is not easy to control several microphones at the same time or to fade smoothly from one microphone to another when the action moves swiftly about a set. A microphone man who' is ex- perienced in the operation of a microphone boom can usu- ally follow even the most complicated action with it, mak- ing it possible for the monitor man to do more consistent monitoring if he uses a single microphone. In a case where a close-up sijot is made of an actor speaking his lines with a noisy crowd in the background, best results are usually obtained with two microphones, placing one in the background to pick up the crowd noise and suspending the other close over the actor's head. By adjusting the mixer control connected with the crowd microphone to provide a suitable level for ths crowd noise and regulating the other microphone control to follow changes in the loudness of the actor's voice, it is easy to maintain a pleasing balance between the crowd noise and the dialogue. If the noise made by the crowd is quite loud, a two-stage microphone can be used for the dialogue and a single-stage microphone for the crowd noise, the differ- ence in gain helping to raise the dialogue above the back- ground noise. The next chapter will complete the discussion of mon- itoring and prepare to follow the speech circuit down into the main amplifier room. Ill Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1934 L EICA'S FOR ACTION PICTURES AND "ALL-PURPOSE" SHOTS s 1SIEW PEED LENS LEICA Photo by G. Van IV. Stivers. Perutz Perseno Film. INTERCHANGE- ABLE WITH 10 OTHER LEICA LENSES The LEICA Camera's new Summar 50 mm. f.2 lens gives sharper detail than any other speed lens — perfect clarity even at full opening. It can also be used as an all-purpose lens because it offers marvelous detail at all stops. It is a lens that can be used with the LEICA Enlarger, Projector, Copying Attachment, Stereo Attachment, Panorama Attachment, Photomicrography Apparatus, and other accessories. There are 11 Interchangeable LEICA Lenses, including telephoto and wide angle lenses, for all photographic work. These give the LEICA Camera an unlimited range of performance, yet the camera is small enough to carry in the pocket. LEICA has a built-in range finder (with magnified focusing image) which is coupled with lens mount for automatic focusing. Focal Plane Shutter with speeds of 1 to l/500th seconds. It gives up to 36 pictures on a single roll of cinema film. Excellent enlargements up to 12x18 inches. Write for free illustrated booklet describing LEICA Camera, Lenses, and over 300 Accessories. E. LEITZ, INC. 60 East 10th St. Dept. 469 New York Western Representatives, Spindler and Sauppe, Inc., San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif. L. A. AMATEUR CINE CLUB Over one hundred members of the Los Angeles Amateur Cine Club learned many interesting suggestions from professional Hollywood camera men at their last monthly meeting when Faxon Dean and others gave demonstrations of their art. Faxon M. Dean demonstrated fill- ers in News Reel subjects; explained the ingenuity of photographers in originating material to include "ba- bies, battleships and beauty contests," and suggested methods of making ord- inary subjects appear as interesting news. Alternating programs between pro- fessional talks and examples of the members own pictures, the March 6th meeting at the Bell & Howell studio will consist of two contests, with help- ful criticisms. Mr. Fred Champion is president of the club. BROOKS EFFECT AND FILTER HOOD One of the chief deterrents toward the inclusion of professional effects in amateur movies has been the prohibi- tive cost of devices yielding such re- sults. To meet this situation Burleigh Brooks has designed an effect and fil- ter hood that adequately meets the re- quirements of the amateur who desires "to do things" with his camera. The Brooks filter holder, which is an integral part of the apparatus, will accommodate any two inch square fil- ter, diffusion disc, fog filter or gage. The hood, which is ?>y2 inches long, serves not only as a sun shade, a valu- able feature in itself in securing clean, brilliant pictures, but in addition may be used with cut-out and masks to achieve any number of interesting ef- fects such as wipe-outs, split screen shots, keyhole and binocular effects and the ability to iris in and out. The Brooks Effect and Filter Hood sells complete with all attachments for $8.50. THE AMATEUR CAN LEARN FROM THE PROFESSIONAL (Continued from Page 5) ment?" The answer is simple — find out how the pro- fessional gets his effects and then copy him! It is not difficult. It is easy enough to find a substitute for pro- fessional equipment, and even though it may not be as handy to use it will, nevertheless, satisfactorily serve the purpose. One need only see the work of the professional to realize that with him nothing is impossible — why shouldn't the amateur take the same attitude? WE WANT 35 mm. travel, fight, thrill and curiosity films from all parts of the earth. We Sell All Kinds of Raw Film at Reduced Prices. CONTINENTAL FILMCRAFT, INC. 1611 Cosmo Street Hollywood, Calif. Mr. Karl A. Barleben's newest book, "Travel Photography with the Miniature Camera," will soon be off the press of the Fomo Publishing Co., Canton, Ohio. His first book, "The Leica Data Book," is now going into the third edition within less than six months of the first printing. Price, 50 cents. — Editor's Note. To the Cameraman We supply fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film at .02^4 per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS COMPANY 6510 Selma Ave., Hollywood, Calif. GL. 0276 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-seven Used in 7 out of 8 American Pictures in "1933s TEN BEST" /^\F THE Ten Best Pictures of 1933 ^^^ chosen in the Film Daily s poll, eight were American productions. Of those eight, seven were photographed on Eastman "Gray- Back.'1 This is outstanding evidence of the acceptance enjoyed by Eastman Super-Sen- sitive Panchromatic Negative among camera- men and producers . . . and a signal tribute to the versatility and unfailingly high quality of the film itself Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Dis- tributors, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative (Gray-Backed) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Television How to Receive Don Lee Television Images March, 1934 L2 VT1 L2 VT1 L2 VT1 L2 HE Don Lee television transmitter, W6XS, transmits television images on a carrier fre- quency of 2800 kilocycles (107 meters) nightly, except Sunday, from 7 to 9 P. M., and Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9 to 11 A. M. Pacific Standard Time; and W6XAO on 44,500 kilo- cycles (6-_>4 meters) nightly, except Sunday, from 7 to 9 P. M. and Monday morning from 9 to 11 A. M.; on 66,750 kilocycles (4*/> meters) on Wednesday morning from 9 to 11 A. M.; and on 49,400 kilocycles (6 meters) on Friday morning from 9 to 1 1 A. M. RECEIVER The receiver for tuning in W6XS or W6XAO should tune hroadly. It should pass a band 100 kilo- cycles wide. This can be accomplished by the use of closely coupled radio-frequency transformers ; both pri- mary and secondary wound on the same form and sepa- rated by only 1/32 of an inch. The audio amplifier should be resistance coupled and capable of passing fre- quencies up to 50,000 kilocycles. "Positive" images are transmitted ; high light intensity in the image correspond- ing to a high radio frequency output of the transmitters. They are correctly received by a receiver with "C" bias detector and two stages of resistance coupled audio ampli- fication, with a neon lamp directly in the last tube plate circuit; or with "C" bias detector and one state of ampli- fication for a cathode ray tube. SCANNING DISK The Don Lee television transmitters, W6XS and W6XAO, operate simultaneously, and transmit 80 line single spiral images, repeated 15 times per second, scanned from left to right and top to bottom. An inexpensive scanning disk for reproducing these images can be made as follows: On a disk of cardboard or aluminum two feet in diameter, a circle of exactly 11^4 inches radius is drawn, and divided around its circumference into eighty equal parts. This corresponds to each Al/2 degrees. Radial lines are drawn from each of these divisions to the center of the disk. A small hole, fifteen thousandths of an inch in diameter, is punched or drilled at the intersection of the circle and any one of the radial lines. With card- board, the hole can be made by pushing a common pin through the disk until one-sixteenth of an inch of the point projects on the further side. The next hole is punched on the next radial line in a counter-clockwise A k ^ ROY DAVIDGE |^ A FILM LABORATORIES ^ A k Jt An Exclusive "Daily" Laboratory |L A k. Quality and Service ^k 6 7 0 1-6715 S A N T A M ON I C A B O U L E V A RD k^ ^^ G R a n t 3 1 0 8 "^^ Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Tiventy-ninc direction, and eleven thousandths of an inch away from the circle toward the center of the disk. The next hole is punched on the next radial line in a counter-clockwise direction and twenty-two thousands of an inch from the circle toward the center of disk, and so on around the disk, each hole being eleven thousandths of an inch nearer the center of the disk than the last one. A machinist's micrometer is useful in laying off these distances. The disk is provided with a suitable hub, or means to fasten it securely to the shaft of its driving motor. The motor to drive the disk must revolve at 900 r.p.m. An eight pole synchronous motor operating on 60 cycles revolves at this speed. An induction or direct current motor of a higher normal speed than 900 r.p.m. can be reduced to 900 r.p.m. by inserting a rheostat in series with it and the line used where 50 cycle current or batteries must be the power supply. The motor from a large electric fan is often suitable. A neon plate lamp, as can be secured from the larger radio supply houses, is mounted on a simple support on the motor. It is positioned above the motor and behind the spiral of the disk in such a way that it can be seen through the holes of the disk when the disk is revolving. The neon lamp takes the place of the loudspeaker of a radio set, and is similarly connected, according to the instructions fur- nished by the manufacturer. For a 17 inch diameter disk, which will convert ex- isting 45 line 3 spiral equipment for Don Lee recep- tion, the measurements are as follows : Circle, exactly 8 inch radius ; 80 divisions, each \y2 degrees ; hole size, ten thousandths of an inch in diameter ; each hole six and one-half thousandths closer to center of disk than previous hole. ELECTRICAL SCANNING A cathode ray tube capable of being modulated on its anode or grid is required, and scanning sources of 1200 cycles per second and 15 cycles per second of saw- tooth wave-form are required. A gas triode, as the RCA 885, will produce these sawtooth waves. The out- put of the scanning sources are supplied to the deflec- tion plates of the cathode ray tube to deflect the electron beam over the fluorescent screen to give the square field of view of the receiver. Reports on reception results are appreciated from look- ers and listeners. If a looker, definitely describe the action and scenes transmitted, and their exact time of reception, with comments on detail, and fading, ghost images, and interference, if any. If a listener, give the text of voice announcements which are transmitted on the hour and half-hour, identifying the pictures being broadcast, the exact time thereof, and data on the fading cycle, with the maximum and minimum intensity thereof in the usual "R" designation, intensity of static and interference, if any. Upon request, your report will be compared with the official station log, and, if corresponding, a formal acknowledgement of your reception will be sent to you. The information presented herewith is that which has been previously mentioned in the International Photog- rapher as available to those who will write to the Don Lee Television Department. LIST OF PARTS FOR W6XS TELEVISION RECEIVER Rl — 10,000 ohm volume control. R2 — 75,000 ohm wire wound resistor. R3- — 1 Megohm carbon resistor. R4 — 50,000 ohm wire wound resistor. R5 — '/> Megohm carbon resistor. R6 — Center-tapped filament resistor. R7 — 0-5,000 ohm w.w. variable resistor. R8 — 100,000 ohm carbon resistor. R9 — 50,000 ohm carbon resistor. R10 — 1.000 ohm carbon resistor. Rll — 250,000 ohm carbon resistor. R12 — 1,200 ohm wire wound resistor. R13 — 300,000 ohm carbon resistor. R14 — 25,000 ohm carbon resistor. CI — 8 mfd. 450 volt electrolytic filter condenser. C2 — .00025 or .00035 mfd. 4 gang variable condenser. C3 — . 1 mfd. 400 volt bakelite case paper condenser. C4 — . 1 mfd. 400 volt bakelite case paper condenser. C5 — -1. mfd. 200 volt paper bypass condenser. C6 — 8 mfd. 200 volt electrolytic filter condenser. C7 — 8 mfd. 450 volt electrolytic filter condenser. C8 — 8 mfd. 200 volt electrolytic filter condenser. C9 — 100 mfd. 50 volt electrolytic filter condenser. C10 — 1 mfd. 400 volt paper filter condenser. Cll — 1 mfd. 400 volt paper filter condenser. C12 — 8 mfd. 450 volt electrolytic filter condenser. C13 — 8 mfd. 450 volt electrolytic filter condenser. LI — 25 turn primary, 1/32 inch separation from secondary (same form). L2 — 41 turn secondary, enameled wire. L3 — Short wave radio frequency choke, 2K- millihenries. L4 — 30 henry 100 m.a. or higher rating. L5 — 2,500 ohm dynamic speaker field. Tl — Dynamic speaker transformer, 2A3 tube to voice coil. T2 — llOv. power transformer with secondaries: K 2.5 volt 10 amp. M 800 volt center-tapped, 100 m.a. (delivering 450 volts rectifier filter). N 5.0 volt 2. amp. for 80, or 2.5 volt 3 amp. for 82. VT1— RCA 58 or 24A tube. VT2— RCA 57 or 24A tube. VT3— RCA 2A3 tube. VT4 — Neon plate lamp (for hole disk) or Neon crater lamp (for lens disk). VT5 — RCA 80; or 82, shielded, and with r.f. choke unit. SI— S.P.S.T. snap switch. S2— S.P.S.T. llOv. ditto. D — Dynamic loudspeaker. All tubes except 2A3 and 80 must be shielded. Coils L1-L2 must be shielded, 2^4 inch diameter aluminum cans. Connections shown as - - - must be run in a short and direct manner, and kept away from the chassis. 1J4 inch diameter threaded form, #30 I). C. to CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone GRanite 9707 Hollywood, California DR. G. FLOYD JACKMAN. Dentist Member Local No. 659 706 Hours Hollywood : 9 to 5 First Nat'l Bldg., GLadstone Hollywood Blvd. 7507 And by at Highland Appointment Phone GLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue DOUBLE MATTING (3 PATENTS, 1932) Wi ILLIAM SHOTS S Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. ICTEHS^ r rWili^bir anA (\)^bt ^ffecls in Daytime -F^ Scenes- tiif fused F^cus.and many vmer effects With any Uamera " In any Climate Georcjc H. ScKeibo ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS 1927 WEST 78™ ST. LOS ANGELES. CAL. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALE OR RENT — Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free head, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — 40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. lenses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. SINCE 1911. Cameras bought, sold, rented, repaired. PETERSON'S CAMERA EXCHANGE 356 South Broadway, Los Angeles Upstairs FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT MITCHELL HI-SPEED CAMERA— 3 lenses, F.2.3, 5 magazines, Friction Head, beautiful condition — $1650. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. BELL & HOWELL CAMERAS— silenced by Cunningham — exclusive specialty of Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. BELL & HOWELL with beautiful Fear movement, complete — perfect shape, quick snap $800. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. 1000 FOOT MAGAZINES for Bell & Howell, brand new— $85. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — fine grain finishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all' popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS 25 MM. FINDER ADAPTERS for standard finders, showing correct field of 25 mm. lens, in use by all major studios. $30.00. Camera Sup- ply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. LIKE NEW— BELL & HOWELL S-WAY SOUND PRINTER, Moviola Model C or D. Hughes 4-wheel inflated tire dolly, two Holmes sound projectors. Cheap for cash. Box XYZ, I. A. T. S. E., 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. MITCHELL MOTOR— 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange Street, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device, Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. Tames T. Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St., New York. CAMERA EQUIPMENT WANTED CALLING ALL CAMERAMEN! I want camera equipment and $4000 cash in exchange for new two-story Spanish hillside home in cameraman's paradise. For description of property see classified ad in September, 1933, International Photographer. Erickson. Hurry, Boys I What Every Amateur Has Been Waiting For FULL LENGTH 16mm. MICKEY MOUSE and SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoons Now Available HOLLYWOOD FILM ENTERPRISES, INC. 6060 Sunset Boulevard Distributors of Hollywood California sure this trade-mark is perforated into the main title. MMa«Bff'"(i>^>«!|illl!llll|lllil|.|y|l|(llfi[M!lIlilll|||]||||||||l!iNl||i||(||:||W|isMi In Sound Recording THE NEW PRINCIPLE MINOR QUARTZ OPTICAL UNIT becomes an integral part of your sound recorder— this unit is cemented into a steel block— it focuses a beam of light of great intensity and actinic value a distance away and on the film, which PROVIDES CLEARANCE and PREVENTS SCRATCHING of the sound track. The width of the beam of light measures from .0005" to .0008" as it strikes the moving film. Send for specimen of sound track. C. C. NINOE Phone CR. 7331 1806 Whitley Ave., Hollywood WANTED TO BUY WANTED TO BUY — Used Leica or Contax cameras and any kind of accessories for above cameras. Must be cheap. Box XYZ, International Photographer, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. COMPLETE SILENCED MITCHELL CAMERA. Give number, full particulars and best cash price. Box NX, International Photog- rapher. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction ; or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly wood. AN AUDITOR AND ACCOUNTANT of thirty years' experience with large companies wants small accounts with individuals or business houses. Wide experience in opening, closing and keeping books, in auditing, and in income tax procedure. Wishes to assist individuals in opening their own books. Advice and assistance on filing income tax returns and income tax regulations. Very reasonable rates. CHARLES D. FELSTEAD, 2010 Sixth Avenue. Telephone: PA-6768. MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING — If interested in aviation, see Roy Klaffki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — -To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Earl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY. Exclusive agency for three leading Holly- wood makers of trick lenses. Apply for prices and demonstration, sale or rentals. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. March, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirty-one MINIATURE PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 23) actual photographing wherein there is present a greater number of planes; the lens being focused upon an object in one of the planes, and the diaphragm closed down as far as light conditions will permit, to increase the depth of the held, and render other planes sharp. In enlarging we have the single plane in which the negative emulsion lies to contend with. It is advisable as an insurance to close the diaphragm a small amount. The use of very small apertures, however, in general enlarg- ing is waste effort. I mention general enlarging for there are occasions which call for small diaphragm openings to establish a large depth of focus. At times in photographing tall buildings we are obliged to tilt the camera at an angle to include as much of the structure as possible. In the resulting negative the building will appear in a distorted angle. To correct this the easel is raised at one end until the build ing appears in the normal fashion. It is obvious that if focusing (with the diaphragm wide open) is done on the lower portion of the easel, the raised side will appear out-of-focus. To correct this focusing is done on the center of the easel, and the diaphragm is closed down to a considerable extent, to provide a large depth of focus ; and a relatively longer exposure is given. It is possible by an adjustment of the relation be- tween the exposure time, and development time to con- trol the contrast in the print. If a short exposure time is given and therefore longer development, the result will be a print of greater brilliance and contrast. Long ex- posure and short development tends to minimize con- trast. There are of course limitations. The print can- not be left in developer after a certain time, otherwise fog will develop. Generally it may be allowed to re- main in the developer for double the normal time re- quired, with the developer used. As in developing films, temperature also plays an important part. Higher tem- peratures result in faster development and shortening of the time the paper can stay in the developer before exhibiting fog. Lower temperatures work in a reverse fashion. As the photographer experiments with various grades of paper he will find that some types will stand longer development before fogging, than others. There are also limitations in giving long exposures and shorter development time, to minimize contrast. An exposure which will require the print to be jerked out of the solution in order to save it, cannot produce satis- factory results. Ordinary acid hypo is suitable to fix papers. They should also be washed for a considerable time after fix- ing to insure freedom from hypo, especially if they are to be subjected to toning, in which case the presence of hypo will produce uneven tones. After washing they should be placed on the drying rack and allowed to be- come bone dry. Many amateurs seem to find difficulty in obtaining flat prints. This is easily accomplished. Two boards about two inches thick are obtained as well as a num- ber of large blotters. The prints are dampened on the back with a moist sponge, placed between blotters, and the whole then inserted between the two boards. A weight of 20 or 30 pounds is placed on the boards and allowed to remain there for 48 hours. When removed the prints will be absolutely flat. If the amateur desires to obtain a ready-made drying apparatus he will find the Willo Drying Press a simple and convenient means for drying prints and keeping them flat. The Foth Derby Enlarger This enlarger is rapidly gaining favor with miniature camera workers, being a precision apparatus offered at a remarkably reasonable price. It accommodates negatives up to lJ4xlJ^2, and also smaller portions of larger nega- tives. It is easily manipulated, and is provided with a removable condenser, giving an extremely brilliant and even light. It is also provided with a highly corrected f :3.5 anastigmat lens, and makes enlargements up to nine diameters magnification. All metal parts are nickel plated steel and fireproof crystallized black enamel. As part of the equipment an adjustable red filter for placing the paper is supplied. The entire apparatus is sturdily built and rightly has the appearance of a precision ap- paratus. CAMERAS-LENSES MOTORS Studios Lights - Laboratory Equipment Trick Devices FAXON DEAN Francais Espanol Deutsch Svenska Estimates for Foreign Studios furnished on request. ALL PRICES C. I. F. Prompt Service on Rentals Night or Day CAMERA SUPPLY CO., LTD Phone GL 2404 Nite Phones: No. Hollywood 1271— GLadstone 6583 Cable Address "CAMERAS" All Codes 1515 CAHUENGA BOULEVARD HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1934 Off 1 ecus By Otto Phocus We are very fortunate this month to be able to reproduce the above sepia which comes from the developing tray of James B. "Shack" Shackelford, the young fellovj that has been a fetv places and seen considerable. As you are undoubtedly aware "Shack" was chief cameraman with the Roy Chapman Andrews Expedition when they discovered the eggs on the Gobi Desert. These eggs were thousands of years old and, although very in- teresting from a scientific standpoint, they can not com- paie with some of the "eggs" we have in Hollywood. Nor with some of the "eggs" that have been laid in the pic- ture business. During his recent trip to the South Sea Islands for the R.K.O. Studios, he made another discovery that is very important to the motion picture industry — a native who can grow bananas on a microphone without grafting. The elimination of grafting by the studios has been de- sired for a long time and this may be the answer to it. At least it is as good an answer as any submitted so far. It was Wednesday when "Shack" arrived on Thurs- day Island and discovered his boy (?) Friday or Satur- day. This leaves Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to have some fun with. Well ! They christened the boy Charlie and the best the natives could do with that name was Sharle, although most of the time he was called HeyU and at other times a few names that cannot be mentioned here. The pay consisted of canned goods and old razor blades. It seems as though they were never able to issue Sharle enough razor blades, because he always showed up the next morning. The chain around his neck is "Shack's" idea and, as he explains, it is one way to keep an assistant at the camera while trying to talk to the director and eliminates the necessity of going to the corner drug store for your assistant when a follow focus shot is to be made. Sharle was formerly a member of the Cannibal's Un- ion and when asked why he was an ex-cannibal he re- plied: "Umph gyph." When translated this means: "Who wants to be a cannibal when there is a motion picture com- pany around." The title of this picture when released will be SEA GIRL. If you will refer to the last October issue of International Photographer and peek at some of the stills submitted by "Shack," you will agree with me that you will certainly "See Girl(s)." Practically all of them. HOW COME DEPT. One of the studios in Burbank held a golf tournament recently and immediately after the contest the prizes were awarded. Imagine the surprise of the contestants when they discovered one of the cups had the winner's name al- ready engraved on it and another prize winner was away on location. DO YOU KNOW That the C. C. C. was in existence in California in 1917. The Cinema Camera Club. That Paul Perry radio'd from Peping, China, and is on his way to Saigon, Anam., and can be reached thru Thos. Cook and Son. That Bob Miller is with him and doing nicely. That they saw Chas. Clark in Shanghai. That a certain asst. tried to borrow money from a cer- tain organization to join another certain organization. That Ira Hoke has gained 15 pounds. HI ! HUSKY. That Lloyd Knechtel recently addressed the British Kinematograph Society in London and showed the boys a few reels of his "Tricks." That the Motion Picture Relief Fund actually gives relief. That Maurie Kains operated the three color camera that photographed the Three Little Pigs. That a cameraman can not be "forward" and operate his camera. That if you don't think Lincoln was a big man you should see his statue in the Lincoln Memorial, in Wash- ington. That Buddy Harris is back, (but not at Universal) after being away for some time. My error. That Eddie Gehler arrived in Hollywood in 1916 and expected to be here for some time. He has been here ever since. That Alvin Wyckoff made a trip to New York for the preview of his picture, Joan the Woman, some few years ago. That Harry Parsons had 14 years experience as a pro- jectionist. That Ray Fernstrom attached himself to the picture industry at the age of 14. Candy butcher in a "Swenska" theatre. That in 1903 they double-exposed their backgrounds. See the "Great Train Robbery." That "Lux" was the name of a camera long before it was something for the neck. That there was a Twentieth Century Film Co. in That Lou Physioc wrote an article, "Twenty-Five Years of Motion Pictures," over 16 years ago. That I hope he will be able to write another article "Fifty Years of Motion Pictures," and that T will be able to read it. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. WHY GENERAL ELECTRIC DEVELOPED THIS NEW STYLE HIGH WATTAGE LAMP WHEN the electricians shift lighting equipment from place to place on the set, the lamp in each reflector is inevitably shaken and jarred. This snaps the filament about as if it had been struck with a mallet ... or were the end man in crack-the-whip. What takes the shock of these blows? Suppose we follow on the diagram, the complex path they travel through the supports of one of the old type 5 KW lamps. Down multi-metal supports into a brittle glass stem, up through basing cement and then down to the prongs . . . with leverage and weakness increasing all the way. At any one of eight points, a break may occur, bringing premature lamp failure. The movies brought a tough life to this lamp — tougher than any previously known. But G-E scientists, alert to motion picture require- ments, began work on a lamp that could live it. They tried stems of different kinds of glass. They tried other experiments. The lamps were improved, but not enough. Gradually these experimenters reached one conclusion : great improvement would result only from the elimination of the glass stem ... a part of lamp making since the days of Edison. To accomplish this they turned to the method of fusing copper and glass developed in making a 50 KW lamp for Light's Golden Jubilee. But a year and a half of intensive experiment and test, without a single let-up, went by before G-E made this new 5 KW lamp available to you. In this new type construction, as the diagram shows, the channeled nickel filament support takes almost a straight line from filament to prongs. Stronger, more rugged, more accurate and better adapted to studio needs, this new lamp has been rapidly adopted by studio after studio. Improving existing types of lamps constitutes only part of G-E re- search. Other groups of scientists and engineers are steadily developing new lamps for new requirements. Still other groups constantly test and check a definite proportion of factory production on all types of lamps. Such work breeds confidence. Little wonder that studios from coast to coast use G-E Mazda lamps for all their lighting needs. General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio. OLD TYPE 5 KW LAMP NEW TYPE 5 KW LAMP GENERAL fP ELECTRIC MAZDA LAMPS Included in our new silent camera are the many exclusive features that have made the Mitchell the leading professional camera Shift Over Focus Tube — Counters — Hand Dissolve — and Direct Mounting of Motor — Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 INTERNATIONAL HOTOGRAPHER >PH YEAR HOLLYWOOD APRIL, 1934 VOL. 6 NO. 3 > ! CENTS • 9 A COPY One of the many beautiful settings for the great Warner Brothers-First National Production "Madame Du Barry," starring Dolores Del Rio — Reginald Owen playing male lead. Left to right: drip, Harold Noyes; Chief Cameraman. Sol Polito; Director, William Dieterle; Assistant Cameraman, Fred Turzo; Chief Electrician, Frank Flannigan; Assistant Director, William Cannon; Stills by Bert Longworth. This photograph shot exclv sively for the Internationc Photographer by Bert Lont, worth. OTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45™ STREET, SMITH 6- ALLER LTD. NEW YORK CITY 6656 •• SANTA MONICA BLVD. PLANT--- PARLIN.N.J. HOLLYWOOD CAL. THE(@UPp)TRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, APRIL, 1934 No. 3 E. T. Estabrook, Publisher's Agent and General Manager Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Ira Hoke and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. FROM PIGS TO PICTURES .......... 2 THE LIFE OF DAVID HORSLEY— (Concluded ) By William Horsley FURTHER NOTES ON MARINE PHOTOGRAPHY - - - - 4 By Karl Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. ART IN MOTION PICTURES ---------- 6 By May Gearhart NEWS FLASHES FROM JAPANESE MOVIEDOM - - - - 7 By Harry A. Mimura SYNTHETIC EARTHQUAKES, ETC. -------- 8 By Paul R. Harmer PART OF THE STORY OF LIGHTING ------- io By Earl Theisen MOLECULAR ENERGY, ETC. ---------- 14 By F. Morris Stcadman TELEVISION -------------- 15 THE CAMERAGRAM ----------- 16 &17 WHY AMERICAN PICTURES LEAD IN BRITAIN - - - - 18 By Alfred C. Moore THE NEWSREEL ------------- 19 By Ray Fcrnstrom MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING ------ 20 By Charles Felstead, Associate Editor MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ------- 22 By Augustus Wolfman SMALL— FILM— IANA - ...... z\ By Walter Bluemel CINEMATOGRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES— (Concluded ) - - 27 By Fred Westerberg CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ---------- 30 OUT OF FOCUS ------------- 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1933 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California ^liu-''"' 5' SERVICE ENGRAVING CO INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER for the month of MAY Wl II be a SURPRISE NUMBER to all our readers and announcements will, therefore, be ivitheld. Don't forget that FRED WESTERBERQ'S wonderful little brochure "THE CINEMATOGRAPHER'S BOOK of TABLES" is ready for the market. Price $1.00 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER .lpril.1934 From Pics To Pictures The Story of David Horsley By William Horsley David Horsley and one of his favorite elephant pals. Each company had to get a camera by some means. It did not matter how, where or what. By this time Williamson in London had made cameras ; Prestwich, also in England ; Pathe in France, and Prevost, Gaumont in France, and also DeBrie and two or three others. But when you had secured your camera your troubles had just begun. First, second, third and assistant cameramen were then unknown. The main guy next to the owner was a big, strong, husky fellow with a large pick handle. His duty was to stay at all times within six feet of the camera and as soon as any stranger appeared he spat on his hands, grabbed the pick handle and did his duty. His duty was to prevent anyone except the cameraman from getting a look inside to see if they were using the loop in the film. Working under these conditions became so intoler- able that in 1910 every company in the independent field got together and formed what was known as the Sales Company with headquarters on 14th Street, New York. Here every film sold was delivered by the maker and the Sales Company shipped it out C. O. D. to the buyer at $100 per reel. When the money came in the Sales Company remitted $95 per reel to the maker and kept back $5 per reel. By this time the business had grown to such proportions that this $5 per reel amounted to between $5000 and $7500 per week. The Centaur Company by this time was making: One Western picture per week selling 35 prints One dramatic picture per week 35 prints One Mutt and Jeff Comedy per week 50 prints Part II (Continued from March Edition) William Horsley Thus at $5 per reel it was costing Dave Horsley $600 per week. However, on account of never having had this money in his possession it really did not cost him or any of the producers a cent because it was just the same as if they were selling their pictures at $95 each instead of $100. The purpose of this $5 per reel was this. The Sales Company engaged the best firm of patent attorneys in New York and started suit to break the hold the Pat- ents Company had on the motion picture business and, in case this was not possible, the scheme was to keep the case in court for four or five years at least, during which time the independents would at least be making a living and perhaps a lot of money. After three or more years, to the astonishment of all concerned, the Patents Company was licked on every count. Their $2 per week royalty on each projection machine ceased and one by one those high and mighty monarchs of the motion picture business folded up and went out of business. The Edison Company, the Biograph Company, the Essanay Company, the Lubin Company, the Selig Polyscope Com- pany and all the rest fell by the wayside and finally the last one of all, the Vitagraph Company, was absorbed by Warner Brothers and faded out of the picture. To repeat a little verse about David and Goliath, two old Bible characters: "David had a little stone No bigger than a button ; He threw it at Goliath And it killed him dead as mutton." In this case it was the much despised "washtub and sink" that rose up after many days and saved the picture business. Now, there have been many claims as to who beat the Patents Company, each laying claim to that honor. However, the plain, simple fact remains that every mem- ber of the old Sales Company paid $5 for every reel of positive film he sold and this money did the trick, and not any individual — neither Laemmle, Bill Swanson, Bauman, or Kessell, Mark Dintenfass, nor Dave Horsley, but each did his share towards the end sought. Weather conditions became so bad during the sum- mer and early fall of 1911 that it was impossible to make motion pictures in the vicinity of New York City. The camera depended entirely on sunshine and there just wasn't any sunshine to speak of. In despair Dave took his three companies and loaded them on the train and started for California. On October 27, 1911, he started what was then the very first motion picture studio in Hollywood at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street, using the old Blondeau Tavern for an office and putting up a platform in the yard, with muslin diff users to kill the shadows. Here he operated a company under the direc- Total prints sold per week 120 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers April, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER / hree tion of Milton H. Fahrney, who made one single reel Western picture every week ; a company under the direc- tion of Thomas Ricketts who made one single reel dra- matic picture every week ; and a company under tin- direction of Al E. Christie, who made one single reel Mutt and Jeff comedy picture every week. The nega- tive was developed after dark on the old screen porch of the Blondeau Tavern, and sent to Bayonne, New Jersey, to the laboratory for printing. This plant was operated by David Horsley until May 20, 1912, on which date the Universal Film Company was formed and this company took over every one of the independent companies then operating and each one took stock for his studio, laboratories and other picture interests. Dave got for his plant $175,000 in preferred stock and $204,000 in common stock in the Universal Company. He also was elected to the office of treasurer of Universal at $200 per week salary, a lot of money in those days. Within a short time the battle for control of Uni- versal started and in July of 1912, less than two months after its formation, Bauman and Kessell withdrew their New York motion picture interest, after a battle in which no lives were lost although a lot of bad language and hard names were used. This battle, however, was only the start of the internal strife which now centered be- tween Carl Laemmle and his faction, and Pat Powers. Each one wanted to be captain of the ship and you can't have two captains in command of one ship at one time. This kept on for about one year, or until the sum- mer of 1913, when Dave, whose stock carried the bal- ance of power, sold out his interests of Carl Laemmle. Dave would not take any checks so they brought the money for the first payment over from New York in the back of an old auto touring car in one-, two-, five,- ten-, and twenty-dollar bills tied up in bundles. I believe there was $197,000 in this first payment and it took every employee of the biggest bank in Bayonne from three in the afternoon until after eight that night to count it. The balance of the purchase was paid at the rate of $5000 per month by notes of Carl Laemmle. If a note came due at the bank on Sunday the money was paid before noon on Saturday. They were not taking any chances. With all this money Dave did what he had wanted to do for years. He took his wife and boy and went abroad. He visited the old home village where he was born and lost his arm. He traveled all over England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and all the rest of the European countries. He had so much money that it was too much trouble to go to New York eight miles away to get his $200 check each week as treasurer of the Universal, so he resigned that. By the fall of 1914 war had broken out in Europe and Dave had rested so much he didn't know how to spend his time. The Bostock Animal and Jungle Show was exhibiting in London. The British government needed the exhibition rooms to train English soldiers in, so they chucked the Bostock animals out into the cold gray London fog into a park. The manager of the outfit, a Mr. Tudor, a big fel- low about six feet six inches, took a boat for New York and someone sicked him on to Dave. Poor Dave, he still had more than four hundred thousand dollars left. Dave fell for Tudor's scheme and bought the entire show. I don't know how many animals there were altogether, but there were 58 lions and two elephants among the rest. He brought them on a ship to Brook- lyn and then by railroad to Los Angeles. The boat and railroad cost more than $15,000 freight; the show, $40,000. He leased the ground at Washington and Main for $600 per month and spent $47,500 on grandstands, Reading left to right — fourth person, Vice-President Marshall, who made famous: "What this country needs is a good five cent cigar"; Mrs. Marshall; David Horsley; Mr. Tudor; Charles Fais; Captain Jack Bonavita. arenas, cages, walks, and concrete fence before he opened the show in 1915. His average daily overhead was $225 per day for feed, trainers, ticket sellers, music, and so forth. The best day's intake was $165. Some days they took in as little as $1.25. Attempting to recoup some of his losses from the animal show he built studios on the ground and a laboratory and made about two hundred comedies with George Ovey. He made a great number of five-reel dramas, with Crane Wilbur, and "Stanley in Africa" pictures. By the fall of 1918 he was compelled to close and whereas he had started in 1915 with more than $400,000 he left in 1919, just three years and one month later, exactly $38,000 in debt. What assets he had left he placed in trust with the Union Bank and Trust Company and from the sale of these assets they paid off 70 per cent of the $38,000. The loss of his resources was a sad blow to him, but the worst thing that happened was not the loss of his money but it took from him all his energy, his very life, and left him just a mere shell of the old Dave Horsley and he never was able to take hold again and come back. None except those who were intimately asso- ciated with him during those trying days of his beginning in the motion picture business know how great his spirit had been. Then, with nothing but his good right arm and without money he fought with his back to the wall for his very existence. Even his source of film supply was cut off. The Eastman Kodak Company, under their contract with the Patents Company and General Film Company were not allowed to sell him one foot of film, and he was compelled to import from England the nega- tive and positive film made by the Austin Edwards Com- pany. It was this same fighting spirit that caused him when weather conditions became so bad around New York to burn all his bridges behind him and gamble every dollar he could raise and take all his people to California, a strange land that he had never seen. Hollywood owes to the memory of Dave Horsley more than it can ever repay. From the moment he started to make pictures on the old Blondeau lot Hollywood began to grow and by leaps and bounds, and soon became more famous than any other city of its size in the world. Cameramen, directors, and every art and craft connected with motion pictures owe more to Dave Horsle\ than to any other man connected with the motion picture business. His everlasting grit and fighting spirit over- came odds that would have defeated an army of ordi- nary mortals. On February 23, 1933, he passed away just 49 years from the time the pig had been the cause of his coming to America and finally getting into the picture business through his washtub and sink. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Further Notes On Marine Photography By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. April, 1934 BOUT seventy-five per cent of the world con- sists of water. Is it any wonder that it holds certain fascinations for everyone who is for- tunate enough to come in contact with it ? The sea is most glamorous — to those wrho can see beauty in the various moods of the sea. The cameraist is par- ticularly fortunate who has grasped the idea of pictur- izing the sea — and you may rest assured that most of them who live near or by the sea make the most of their opportunities. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the sea is its moodiness — one day it is calm and serene, the next it may be a raging tempest. The changeability affords the photographer a new set of negatives every time the wind changes. He can live near the sea for years and never hope to exhaust its possibilities, even in that one locality. Secondly, the sea offers everyone some par- ticular interest. Those who lean towards pictorialism will find it in all its glory by the sea. Those who want news, speed and action pictures will also find these qualities on the water — swimming, speed boat races, sail- ing, fishing. And lastly, just think of that salty, tangy sea air that you can breathe into your lungs as you sally forth in quest of sea pictures. But to come to the point. Marine photography doesn't differ greatly from the regular run of straight photography. As far as equipment is concerned, any camera can be used to good advantage from the lowly Box Brownie to the expensive Graflex. Amateur movie workers, too, have in the water a most active subject. Rollers gliding upon the smooth, sandy beach or dash- ing themselves cruelly against rocky cliffs make most attractive subjects. In the still field, however, I per- sonally feel that the miniature camera has the edge on most other equipment — and I'll tell you why. When working on old man sea you must be prepared for anything and everything. Pictorialists are gluttons when it comes to punishment. I've known them to bal- ance themselves on tiny rocky ledges with the breakers coming in full tilt, threatening to dislodge the photog- rapher at any moment. I've seen them tumbled into the seething, foaming, icy-cold water, cutting their legs and hands unmercifully because of their dangerous positions. Do they care? I should say not — that is, if they can show results in the darkroom that evening as they de- velop their films. Whenever I see enthusiasts taking chances like these I'm reminded of the newsreel cor- respondent of the International Photographer, Ray Fern- strom, whom I knew in the days when . . . Back in Boston, that was. Ray has this same daredevil quality. Now you can well imagine how easy (?) a large camera would be to tote around on rocky cliffs and in caves. At least one hand is needed for support or balance. With the baby camera it is different — it can be tucked away in an empty pocket, although most photographers' pock- ets are usually bulging with filters, telephoto lenses, spare film rolls or magazines, and what not. But anyway you can see where the small camera is just the thing for marine photography. On the wharves and on ships things are pretty much the same. Here one is required to climb about, over and under, in order to get just the right view-point. Won't you admit that the diminutive camera is the most practical? Then again, there is a real desire to shoot picture after picture. You can't help it, the urge is too strong. With the larger camera you have to go easy with the shots, for they are costly. When shooting baby roll film or cinema film, the expense involved is not worth mentioning, hence the enthusiast may shoot away to his heart's content. This in turn means that there will be just so many more negatives to select from. A filter is an excellent thing to use on the water. There will usually be clouds to be recorded, and the sky will want to be filtered so that a proper differentia- tion can be recorded between sky and water. For all practical purposes, a medium density yellow filter will do the trick or, if you want a real dark sky, use that most excellent of excellent filters, the "23-A." Of course this presupposes the use of panchromatic film. A good, fine grain ortho film such as perutz Fine Grain Special or Agfa Plenachrome will be found excellent, providing other than yellow filters are not found. If speed in the film is a consideration, forget it. On the water there is always an abundance of light except on real dark and stormy days. A speed film is superfluous. A good sunshade should not be forgotten. In fact you will be sorry if you leave it at home. Take a good shade such as made by the Hollywood Camera Exchange, Solite, Woesching, Willo, and others. Most of these, besides acting as efficient sunshades are also filter holders. It must be remembered that the water as a rule reflects an abundance of light — so does the white, sandy beach if you happen to be working on such territory. This extra light should be prevented from reaching the camera lens, and the only way to accomplish this successfully — and without bother — is by using a sunshade for each and every exposure. The light may be somewhat deceptive on the water due to just the reflection that was mentioned previously. A good exposure meter will do wonders to keep the worker straight on this point. In general, it might be said that the complaint is usually over- instead of under- exposure on the water. A small lens stop, even when using a comparatively heavy filter will ordinarilv be required, yes, even with a slow film. Shutter speeds may give a little trouble to the begin- The real camera enthusiast laughs at hardships and diffi- culties— he finds a way to get the picture he wants. By George V. Moran. ner on the water, because they should be used in accord- ance with the subject being photographed. To illustrate, take speed boats. Here a quick, snappy shutter speed of between 300 and 500th of a second will be found necessary. This is because of the movement of the boat itself. When on the seashore, photographing spray as Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. April, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fme it is caused bv waves crashing against rocks, one would get a photograph that will delight your heart. A pan ordinarily judge that a fast shutter speed is necessary film and a "23-A" or "A" filter will do a wonderfu|l because the spindrift does move with considerable speed job, or, if you have ortho film in the camera, use your in the air. Yet if it is shot at a fast shutter speed the yellow filter, which will do a fair job considering the result is a lifeless record of a white mass hanging in mid- material you are working with. If you are out in the Left — Ocean liners offer their majestic appearance to the cameraman, by George V. Moran; The sailboat is still the queen of the seas, by C. J. Lewis; "The Lighthouse", photo by Karl Barleben; below — even the canals in Europe offer material for the camera, by Karl Barleben; "Clouds Behind the Masts", Leicaphoto by C. J. Lewis (Miami). air. Unnatural as can be. In order to inject life and animation into the spray, slow the exposure down a bit. Experience seems to indicate that from l/25th to l/75th second exposure produces the best results. Try it your- self if you are doubtful. The spray may then reveal a "drag," but look at the print! You will catch the true-to-life action as the eye saw it. The picture will radiate action, life. Then we come to when to snap the shutter. Only experience can teach this, for there is a decided knack in knowing how to judge the spray at its height — and as a rule the shutter must be released a fraction of a second before the big moment to compensate for the delay of the shutter mechanism in getting into action. This may be splitting hairs, I'll admit, but what a differ- ence it really makes. A low view point — when possible — is suggested for waves and spray on the coast. A high position for the camera will have a tendency to dwarf the waves and spray. Get low down and shoot slightly upwards and see how massive and impressive they will then be. In order to get the camera low, enthusiasts get right into the water, as was indicated before, holding the camera barely above the surface of the water. A tripod is absolutely out of the question when working in swirling water, hence we again must mention the miniature camera as being the ideal instrument for marine photography. We mustn't overlook the possibilities of sunsets on the water. Pick out a smooth, sandy beach. Wait until the tide is low, having gone out during the afternoon, thus leaving the sand wet. Then catch the red, setting sun as it glints and gleams on the wet sand. You will water in a boat, catch the narrow ribbon of gold as the sun sets, throwing the golden pencil of dancing light across the water. Not only will such scenes inspire you personally, but your camera will also be delighted with having been made to record such scenes that thrill artists. Ships are always good subjects for your camera. Each one has hundreds of angles to photograph, and the worker is cautioned not to shoot hasty exposures — rather wait until both the angle and the light are favorable. The giant liners never fail to offer material for count- less exposures. Their hugeness alone can be worked up into pictorial material. Then there are sailboats. By all means catch those white sails, place them against a cloud- flecked sky, and see if you don't get a picture. A filter will of course be found necessary to differentiate between the white sails and clouds, and the blue sky. At sun- down, wait until the sails entirely hide the sun — a true backlighted shot. With the proper filter and correct exposure you will have something. All in all, the cameraist who lives near the water and doesn't shoot plenty of film on or near it is missing half the fun of picture-making. Some folks travel hun- dreds of miles just to get a crack at it with their cameras. They know and appreciate it. Do you make the most of your opportunities? Westberg's Cinematographer's Book of Tables is ready. $1.00. The International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood. PHOTOFLASH SYNCHRONIZER Taking Photoflash Snapshot Pictures is very simple with this Synchronizer. You simply insert cable release in groove on lamp holder and press the trigger and the Synchronizer does the rest. Designed especially for the amateur, makes it easy to take action pictures of children, pets and a host of other subjects, or against the light. The amateur photographer has always been seeking new oppor- with this small Synchronizer ; it will work the shutter up to 1/50 of a second. The size of the complete outfit fits in a box 5x3x1^4". We suggest Mazda Photoflash Lamp and Verichrome or any highly sensitized film. Only two small dry cell batteries required to set off lamp. Satis- faction guaranteed — free trial gladly granted. Distributed by Burleigh Brooks, New York, N. Y. Price complete, $3.50. tunities for picture taking in the home. Now you have it Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers Six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E K Art In Motion Pictures By May Gearhart Supervisor of Art in the Los Angeles City Schools April, 1934 HEN Mrs. Leo B. Hedges, as state chairman of the P. T. A. film committee, asks for a ' talk on the relation of the screen to art educa- tion, I am again impressed with the sympa- thetic attitude of this organization toward all phases of education. The P. T. A. is an agency concerned not only with the physical needs of the boys and girls but also with their moral, cultural and aesthetic welfare. To use Mrs. Hedges' own words: "We are interested in the art consciousness which is projected into the mind of the child through being exposed to the screen." We agree, do we not, that the moving picture pre- sents art qualities in a most illuminating manner. The question that arises is this — to what extent are our young people conscious of these art values? Are they profiting by their screen experiences? I have presented this problem to junior and senior high school pupils to ascertain if they went to the movies solely to enjoy the drama or if the art, the beauty of the setting contributed to their pleasure. The consensus of opinion seemed to be as follows: "You don't notice beauty in the setting if it's there, but if it isn't, you notice the lack of it right away." The students re- minded me that when a film dating back to the early history of the industry is revived people shout with laugh- ter because of the crudities, the absence of aesthetic values. There is a conscious recognition of the lack of art. The history of the movies repeats the history of many products in the industrial world in this respect. The automobile is the obvious illustration. At first the manufacturer was concerned only with making the ma- chine go. The world was interested in the miracle of invention — art was ignored. Now we choose our model with careful consideration of line, color and structural design. As with the auto, so with the movie. What once excited us was the scientific aspect, the wonder of seeing things move on the screen. Today we are accus- tomed to this miracle of motion. The novelty has worn off and we demand newer and more varied stimulus. In answer to this demand the screen is recognizing the place of art and inviting our interest by offering pictures of compelling artistic significance. The contribution of sound helps to intensify the aesthetic effect. Do you remember how day broke in the opening scene in Over the Hilll The faint rustle of leaves, the little chirp of birds, the far-away call of a rooster, the growing volume of sound as the world awoke combined with the charming pictures of the vil- lage achieved a fusion of arts which lingers in the memory. Another satisfactory film which meets the unqualified approval of young audiences is Be Aline Tonight. The plot is slight but it is harmoniously combined with melody and beautiful scenery. Young people enjoy the charm and quaintness of the foreign setting. They say, "It's like traveling abroad." Here we have a movie with no sensational appeal and no sordid use of sex but of definite entertainment value to young people of every class. The Three Little Pigs is another example of popu- larity absolutely unaided by any so-called box office ap- peal of cheap sensationalism. It is a wonderful combi- nation of art, music and sparkling humor presented through the medium of an old, old folk story. Films such as Chang and Grass present art features and edu- cational influences of rare value. Boys and girls respond to the charm of travel films or pictures screened in for- eign countries and in these films where the love interest or gangster element is not present, young people con- sciously enjoy the beauty of the compositions. In Night Flight the trip over the Andes leaves a distinct sense of thrilling personal participation. Such films as these I have mentioned show that visual art has advanced at a tremendous rate but beauty of composition is not an adequate rival and can not com- pete with the interest of young people in the human element, that is, the plot of the play. Do you recall this bit from Miss Young's recent novel, Jennie Wren? The sun can not be faced. The moon floats by indifferent and aloof But the stars have messages for mortals. Jennie Wren's stars were in the sky but the stars on the screen have even more compelling messages and the average young person is not conscious of art settings when his favorite film star is in the ascendency unless the action of the star is consistently harmonized with the beauty of the stage set. Of tremendous importance in the development of boys and girls are these messages from stars. We are assured that "the young mind is as absorbent as blotting paper." To what extent are fine standards in living and love of beauty being pre- sented and emphasized on the screen. Professor Neu- mann says : "The test of a book is this — the kind of thinking it calls for after you have read the book." Is this not also the test of a movie — the kind of thinking it stimulates, the response it arouses? We read the recent report of Henry James Forman entitled Our Movie Mad Children and we wonder who is responsible for this serious situation that gives oppor- tunity for boys and girls and even very young children to see and hear objectionable aspects of life through the cinema. Is it the parents' fault for allowing their chil- dren to go to shows? Is the producer alone the offender in arranging these programs where often a cheaply sen- sational picture is tucked in next to a highly desirable and deservedly popular film? The evaluation of films presented weekly by the P. T. A. Committee is a most important contribution in this connection. Does the public demand sensational pictures that extol crime, excuse drunkenness and empha- size sordid sex expression? Or do they flock to Three Little Pigs, Over the Hill, Voltaire, Night Flight, Chang because they like them? Here we have the moving picture as the greatest instru- ment for presenting art and educational values as enter- tainment that the world has ever known. Is it not a challenge to this industry to rise to its best possibilities and shoulder this obligation to educate in the finest inter- pretation of the term? Obviously, however, the whole burden does not rest on the screen. We all know that the extent to which we benefit from an experience depends on what we take to it. That is we are prompt to recognize in any situa- tion qualities which reflect our own particular interest. John's father is in the rug business. John reports to his art appreciation teacher that he notices immediately the use of rugs in a setting. Is the rug appropriate? Does it add to the appearance of the room? Another boy whose father is in some work connected with lighting Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Ipril, 1934 T he INTERNATIONA P HOTOIIRA I'H !•: R Seven is absorbed in studying tbat interest when he goes to a show. The student whose uncle deals in antique furniture said: "1 always notice if they make a good combination of the antique and modern." The students in the French class announce "Red Head" is the grandest play ever! Don't miss it." Re- gardless of the foreign language interest the rhythmic charm of the little wedding procession across the field will remain a lovely memory. The sixteen year old boy comments on / oltaire as follows: "Gosh, there wasn't enough sword play, but I did like the costumes." Voltaire is a play of wits, not swords and this boy was slightly- bored, but his comment shows that when interest lags in the play for personal or emotional reason, art picks up the lay. When mother inquired of little Jane how she enjoyed the film called Paddy the Next Best Thing, Jane said : "I surely did like it. \ou see in all the parts I couldn't understand there were always things so good to look at." If students have studied history, of course they appre- ciate a historical setting. I predict that the big hats, great muffs and charming costumes in Berkeley Square will thrill the hearts of girls who have been studying Vogue recently. Surely no older student will forget Mrs. Siddons after enjoying the episode of Reynolds and the portrait. The art inter- ests already aroused in young observers will receive fresh stimulus when the screen offers a similar or related con- tribution of aesthetic significance. However, you need not expect the cinema to do the whole job in this quest for beauty. Do parents and teachers find opportunity for discussion with boys and girls of the fine art values in a screen production or is the whole comment limited to the plot? Do we evaluate the play in terms of sin- cerity and honesty or only in regard to sensationalism? Are we taking advantage of and using the art of con- tribution of the cinema? Are we teachers definitely calling the attention of students to distinguished art qualities in composition, in dramatic use of dark and light and in rhythmic pattern? Do we prepare students to discover and enjoy these art qualities for themselves when they attend the movies? Is it not true that in the movies the growth of the drama has quite failed to keep pace with the advance in art values? The point is not that all plays need to be emasculated or reduced to adolescent level. Our plea is for the beauty of sincerity in the representation of life on the screen. The cinema has its errors and its insufficiencies but we accept it as the most popular diversion of the whole world and we recognize its possibilities as an increasingly powerful and valuable agency in art and education. NEWS FLASHES FROM JAPANESE MOVIEDOM By Harry A. Mimura Member of International Photographers n [VEN if there is a day the sun does not come up, there is not a day that the camera does not grind. THAT IS ' HOLLYWOOD. And that same fashion crossed the Pacific Ocean and it applies to the Japanese film industry, too. The major studios in Japan are working in full capacity with five to ten units at the same time and only a small number of people complain of their "between picture" dullness. Although sound equipment is but slowly being installed, the percentage of the talkies against the silents is in- creasing rapidly. * * * * The day has come for the Japanese studio officials to face the problem to choose the best equipment on the market to produce better pictures in every respect. The first problem is how to replace their old cameras when it comes to making the talkies. There are two com- petitors in the Japanese market at present and quite a difference in price between the two cameras, but now is the time that they should send their best salesmen to the Orient. * * * * up-to-date mechanical devices for the camera department. From "high hat" to "boom" are built in some studios and the cameramen are lying on the floors to shoot up in one moment and swinging high from one corner to the other the next moment. The time when some camera- men jumped from a tree while grinding the camera to get certain effects, has gone and the Japanese cinema- tographers are heading for the last round-up of the mod- ern "gadgets." This will save more cameramen's necks than any spring mattress. * * * * The money exchange between the dollar and the yen is so bad that they have to pay 20 sen a foot, of negative film imported from this country. It is like paying 20 cents a foot here. The chemical research work has been under way for the last few years and they are now already on the market since the latter part of last year. The Eastman or the DuPont positive films are six cents per foot. The State Department put new regulations in effect to help and censor any newsreel pictures taken to be shipped to the foreign countries. It had been my cry for the last few years that it come to this. Many a newsreel cameraman shot unpleasant events and back- grounds which caused hostilities and misunderstandings toward the Japanese nation. If I send a film shot around the Plaza district to Japan and explain that it is a Los Angeles street they would not know the better part of the city. % ^ % % A. E. F. Maclnerny, sound engineer of the Western Electric Sound System at Tokyo, is working at the Nak- katsu Studio, one of the largest studios, as the only for- eigner on the set. Two years ago when the writer worked together for the first W. E. talkie there, his knowledge of the Japanese language was so poor that 1 had to work as an interpreter as well as being the caremaman. Mitsuo (Turn to Page 31) Recent development in studio equipment brought many Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eight T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER April, 1934 SYNTHETIC EARTHQUAKES MADE TO ORDER IN THE MOTION PICTURE STUDIOS By Paul R. Harmer JjpSST^TjATURAL publicity such as an earthquake is K fej^ls quickly taken advantage of by showmen and we |$4%jL h have the best in the business here in Hollywood, 's"^ ^* but making a natural cataclysm perform on schedule, so the world may see for itself just how a major earthquake looks in action, is a problem attempted only by the world's greatest optimists. They do it and it is genuine, except that the casualties get well immediately, when the directors shouts "cut." It is true that some companies have taken advantage of the wreckage caused by erathquakes, but in this article we are concerned only with the ones where moving pic- ture stars and actors are woven into a series of incidents and adventures, during the filming of a major motion pic- ture production. The fact that THE INTERNATIONAL PHO- TOGRAPHER is a professional and technical magazine and its circulation is almost entirely confined to the work- ers in the motion picture industry is the only reason such an article as this can be attempted. Credit should be given where it is due and according to my idea the following named men are foremost in this particular work: Fred Mann, William Davidson, William Teel, Roy Jones, Vernon Walker, Don Jarvis and Eddie Haas. They have all taken direct supervision of the actual erecting and demolishing of sets used in the series of earth- quake pictures now being exhibited. The photographs shown here are by courtesy of the Twentieth Century Productions and made by Fred Archer. The first type of set to be considered is the interior, tion and the set literally quakes before your eyes ; a twelve horizontal motion gives a tremendous effect on the screen, walls crack in conspicuous places as illustrated in Figure 2 and men stationed above the set release debris of all kinds. If this action is continued too long the set would fall down because of structural failure. Sometimes precau- tions are taken by tying a cable to the top of the wall and then to a truss in the roof of the stage. This gives a swaying effect to the wall, which is partly suspended. The floors are made in sections and operated separ- ately by different groups of technicians. This literally tears linoleum apart and causes large cracks in the floor. Furni- ture is pulled over with wires and in a few seconds a beautiful interior set is in shambles. Exteriors are more complicated and dangerous, great walls of solid brick and masonry crash with a roar, people and traffic rush from cover to cover and caution must be taken that the paper bricks and ground cork hit the people. It might be serious to have them struck by the solid debris. Only the most experienced technicians can be trusted with scenes of this nature. Walls falling outward, such as shown in the picture, are weakened on the line of breakage and are either pushed out from the inside of the building or are pulled out with a cable attached to a truck ; surprising as it may seem to some people, a cable one-quarter to one-half inch in thick- ness is unnoticed on the screen when the camera is set for a long shot. Figure 3 illustrates how a solid masonry wall is sup- ported by hinged posts, called weak knees, and when the cable is pulled the ends of the wall drop, causing the cen- Left to right: (1) Realistic rescue from the ruins; (2) House tumbling to ruins; (3) Earthquake victim caught in a crevice in the concrete walk. because most people are inside a building when an earth- quake starts. As illustrated in Figure 1, the set is built on rollers and tied to the floor with heavy steel springs. The ends of the floor joists are extended to a series of handles outside the picture angle, where a group of electricians operate these by giving a quick pushing and pulling mo- tion. After the first big push the springs take up the mo- ter to pull apart, forming a breach. Figure 4 illustrates how a crack in a street is caused to open and close again on somebody's legs or body, while debris is toppled on them from some crumbling building. Here they are helplessly held and crushed to death right before your eyes, as the girl in the picture lying on the sidewalk. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. April, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH \ in, Another way of bringing an entire building down is to make a complete wrap once around it with a heavy cable and securely fastening one end to a post or dead man. The other end is fastened to a heavy truck, which drives away and the cable literally cuts the building in two. The effect is tremendous, various parts giving way and the -WALLS Grips and electricians operating reflectors and lights, explosions, every little detail caught by the moving film with master photography in every frame. The sound engineers, with microphones mounted on booms and even carrying them in their hands, moving in close and back again to get the best results. ^P^^rLQOR Jo* sr, ■.,,,.'.....:. . ' ,'.A ■ 1"'-. l\\\ rytV/////////i> Wii/rLOOR JO.. \$?"''' /'V "X " ' '' ,ii" / \ \ "•■■ 7tTK FIGURE 1 sr/ter n-o*^ FIOUPE 2, /WM;www»/»r ^ V ymnmmi)mmiiminimimrm—ri- jnnnamank fiCNtri FIGURE 5 sounds accompanying it are very real. The cameramen are plenty busy while all this is going on ; extra cameras are placed at every point where a cam- era can be stationed, some on high parallels on the very edge of a high breakaway wall, some behind walls to get the action of what the people inside the building see, as the w7alls crumble and leave them perched on the ends of the floors with the furniture sliding out the breach and into the street. Cameras buried in pits under the sidewalk, shooting straight up at caving and buckling masonary. Cameramen with Eyemos, seated in cars which are being driven up and down the devastated area, adding their part to the confusion of people and traffic, water shooting up from broken water mains, fire breaking out and deafening FIGURE 4 moving them quickly to help the cameramen "put it on the film" (studio vernacular.) Still photographers with an 8 by 10 still camera in one hand and a Graphlex in the other, getting the choice action stills, the kind that sells the picture to the exhibitors and the public. The director pushing signal buttons, waving his arms and making pantomime to the actors who, poor fellows, are scared to death for fear some falling object may not be timed just right. Oh, Boy, anybody who has gone through several of these earthquake pictures is entitled to be jumpy and jittery when he feels the earth tremble just a little. ACADEMY RESEARCH COUNCIL Samuel J. Briskin, Chairman of the Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, re- cently announced the full membership of the various sub- committees which are to carry on the cooperative technical program of the Research Council. Members of the sub- committees, selected for their technical qualifications and knowledge of studio practice in relation to the projects under way are : Subcommittee on Establishment of a Uniform Reel Length (1700 Foot Reel) J. M. Nickolaus, Chairman ; A. J. Geurin, J. J. Mill- stein, and S. J. Twining. Subcommittee on Improvement in Release Print Quality L. E. Clark, Chairman ; Gerald Best, Harris Ensign, J. G. Frayne, Fred Gage, Harvey Giffen, A. J. Guerin, E. H. Hansen, Franklin Hansen, Emery Huse, Michael Leshing, John P. Livadary, Hollis Moyse, J. M. Nicko- laus, George Seid, Douglas Shearer, Theodore Soderburg, and R. C. Willman. Subcommittee on Revision of the Standard Release Print S. J. Twining, Chairman ; John Aalberg, Sidney Bur- ton, Harry Decker, Lester B. Isaac, and Harry Rubin. Subcommittee on Establishment of a Uniform Screen Illumination in Studio Viewing Rooms John Aalberg, Chairman ; Emery Huse, Hollis Moyse, and William Mueller. Silent Camera Subcommittee Virgil Miller, Chairman; John Arnold, John Boyle, John L. Cass, William Eglinton, Bert Glennon, Lorin Grignon, Ray June, Kenneth Lambert, Grover Laube, Lewis L. Mellor, K. F. Morgan, Emil Oster, William ( (iontinued on Page 26) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER April, 1934 PART of the STORY of LIGHTING By EARL THEISEN Honorary Curator Motion Pictures Los Angeles Museum | HE most important of the dramatic devices of the motion picture is light. Light and shade are the most vital of the cinematic tools. Emotions are literally painted with light. George Raft, for example, is depicted in love by a special soft light- ing in one scene and in the next, through the use of a harsh light, he is a menace. Pastoral and spring-like effects are the result of soft, shimmery "catch light" and after changing the lights on the same set, it becomes a suitable setting for any villainy. The flashing and uncertain lighting of the mystery pic- ture gives rise to fear. Menace is portrayed by "hard" lighting" the features. Any desired reaction can be gained by the light artist. At first the motion picture depended on sunlight for illumination. All the pictures were taken out of doors. Edison constructed a studio in 1893 on rollers that would pivot to follow the sun's course and three years later Bio- graph in what was equivalent to their first studio built a revolving device on a steel structure that kept their setting always facing the sun. The use of sunlight did not permit much artistry. The picture makers then were concerned with the difficulty of getting enough light to record their photographic image and not with a beautiful or dramatized photography. The first successful use of lights in the motion picture was the Jim Jeffries-Tom Sharkey prize fight, November 3, 1899. William A. Brady, who promoted the bout, approached the Biograph Company with the proposal that pictures be taken. Hitherto experiments to use light had been unsuccessful. Biograph, ever ready to improve their pictures, decided to try. They tried. Billy Bitzer, the cameraman, along with assistants hung about 400 modified street arcs over the arena. Under this blinding light and heat, the fight went its way for 25 rounds. While the fighters broiled, the Bio- graph "got" the pictures. Back among the fight fans, unknown to Biograph officials, Albert E. Smith, too, was getting pictures with his Vitagraph camera. He figured it a good business stroke to avail himself of the elaborate Biograph preparations. He was right, though Biograph did not think so when they found out. After running up and down some alleys Smith finally got his pictures to his laboratory. He finished them and hung them up to dry and it is said that another aspiring movie magnate in turn stole them from Smith. The Vitagraph was finally given a print from which they made money. The Biograph's did not, since the Vita- graph had beaten them to the screen. That is part of the motion picture story. Albert E. Smith with twinkling eyes remembers these dark intrigues which were the movie industn then and which weren't really sins. The difficulties and heat in the use of artificial light in picture making seemed unnecessary. People were pri- marily concerned with photographs in motion and any refinements, particularly expensive ones, were not to be considered. Soon the genus movie fan tired of this stuff and demanded a narrative content. The films had to say something. To achieve the story film, there were two independent forces at work: Science and Art. While Art was using sun and makeshifts at hand in order to keep pictures in demand, the scientists were improving. In many of these improvements Biograph led. Light- ing was one of the cinematic devices in which they pio- neered. In the Scientific American of July 1, 1905, is an account of a film made in the New York Subway in which Cooper Hewitt lights were used. The lighting equipment comprising a generator and 72 Cooper Hewitt tubes, were set on a flat car and ori another car was the Biograph equipment. According to the Scientific American, the 54,000 candle power lighting unit being pulled through the station and subway presented a magnificent spectacle. According to George E. Van Guvsling, then the manager of Biograph, the glaring light flashing by presented an unholy spectacle and the persons seeing it acted accord- ingly. F. A. Dobson was the cameraman. He had a special high speed camera which photographed at the rate of 900 pictures a minute. It was mounted on an iron framework. Very little was done in the way of artificial lighting for the nickolodeon picture. In these theaters the audi- ence paid as a rule only five cents to see several pictures. They were victimized. The lighting of the picture at times was so poor the audience could not tell what it was supposed to represent. It was necessary to have "spielers", or in other words, "explainers" who stood by the side of the screen and made apropos explanatory comments. We hear so much about the lurid themes today; perhaps they were as bad then, but the public couldn't be sure. Again Biograph came to the fore ! They were the first studio to install lighting equipment. When they moved from their first studio on the roof of the Roosevelt Building, at 13th and Broadway, to the famous "Brown- stone" at 11 East 14th Street early in 1902, they equipped it with 36 Bogue arcs. These arcs ran on direct current and were originally designed for stereopticon projection. About six months later the arc lights were replaced with two banks — eight tubes to the bank — of Cooper Hewitt lights. Within two years this number of banks was in- Showing six units at work under the large glass stage at the old Thanhauser Studio. Note the "Kleiglight" in the foreground. Photo courtesy Lofland Book Store. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. April, W34 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTO G R A P H E R Eleven creased to eleven. F. A. Dobson, seen about Hollywood today, was a cameraman for the Biograph on this set. In 1908, according to Percy Higginson, a engineer for the Biograph, and with the Consolidated Laboratories now; "42 tubes were used to light a set, 10 on each side on the floor and 12 were hung overhead." Arc lights were used for highlighting. Their first lights, made for the motion picture in 1908, were 25 ampere arcs. With the passing years, they per- fected an entire line of electrical equipment for the indus- try and in 1915 they introduced single and double arc floor units which could be rolled about. For the first time it was possible to take pictures with a portable arc light. The picture makers, whether large company or small. The Jesse Lasky Studio, about 1914, using the overhead diffusing screens. Photo courtesy Paramount. "The New York Hat," directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore, was made during this time as was "The Leatherstocking Series," which starred James Kirkwood, Arthur Johnson and Florence Lawrence. When they moved into their new studio in 1914, they had well over 1200 Cooper Hewitt lights. These were distributed over four sets; the sets being housed in one large glass enclosed stage. The vogue of using lights for the motion picture dates from about 1910. The demand for a large number of pictures became so great that the picture makers found it unprofitable to depend on sunlight around New York where most of the pictures were being made. For reasons of sufficient light and not quality, they started to migrate to Florida and the West looking for a perpetual sun. Eventually they heard about the one in California. During the period of 1910-15, there was a general adoption of the artificial light, it being used only when sunlight was uncertain. Besides the Cooper Hewitts which were used only in the larger studios because they were fragile and could not be readily moved, the Aristo and Kleigl arcs were the earliest motion picture lights to be used, though there were many other lights that had some use. Most of them were of the 90-volt, 25 ampere capa- city and were either of the closed or open variety. They hung over the sets and resembled streets lights. The most prominent of the lights was the "Kleig- light." They had first been made as a stage light in 1896 by Anton T. Kleigl and A. H. Guendel, who on February 1, formed the Universal Stage Lighting Company. A year later this partnership broke up and Anton Kleigl joined his brother, John H. Kleigl in a partnership which endured until the decease of Anton Kleigl in May, 1927. Before the Kleiglight was made, practically all stage lighting equipment was made in Europe. Very shortly the theatrical world recognized the Kleigls as leaders in the art of theatrical and spectacular lighting. In 1903 they rewired and electrically equipped the Metropolitan Opera House. One innovation installed here was a "dimmer." Previous to this it had been the custom to pull the main switch and plunge the auditorium in darkness at the beginning of the performance ; now Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard in "We're Not Dressing," showing the present illumination methods. were no longer dependent upon sunlight. It was now pos- sible to take pictures by artificial light outside the studio. By 1915 they had arcs up to 200 amperes. The first spotlights, small arcs for special purposes such as local lighting to create the burglar's flashlight effect, floor or table lights, etc., were introduced by them. A list of the studios which they served in 1915 would be like a "Who's Who" of the motion picture. The word "Kleiglight" was first used the latter part of 1902 as a telegraphic code word. The Selig Polyscope Company came to California in 1908 and a year later built the first California studio at Edendale. Even though his stage was glass enclosed to take advantage of the sunlight, he used the Macbeth Arc- light for many of his pictures. The Macbeth Company had been making street arclights and mantles for the gas street lights. The lights were anchored to large steel frames on a track and were moved and lowered by cables. One of the more noted Selig pictures of this time was the "Cowboy Millionaire," starring Tom Mix. Eddie Kull, Selig's chief cameraman, first used the Kleigl twin side arcs in 1913. Too, at this time many of the Cooper Hewitt "Quartz Lights" were used. This was a short mercury arc tube mounted in a porcelain re- flector, having a distinct advantage over the longer and more fragile tubes. "Back lighting" was an innovation in 1913. In was tremorously tried by progressive cameramen amid execu- tive grumblings as an unnecessary waste of time. Time was important ; it was necessary to make two single feel- ers a week and the loss of time in "silly" lighting was not to be tolerated. That does not refer to Selig. It seems for some reason he was not as other movie magnates. As proof Eddie Kull again recalls an incident that seems hard to believe. One Saturday at something less than fifteen minutes past one o'clock, Selig wandered out on his stage and saw our Eddie busv at work with the "company" trying to finish the picture. Contrary to all movie rules and regulations. "Selig got sore as — plenty sore, because the company was work ing overtime." In no uncertain terms he informed Eddie that people wanted their Saturday afternoons off and he wanted it understood that the afternoon started at exactly the center chandelier gradually dimmed. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER . Ipril, 1934 Claude Harding and F. S. Mills with Kleiglights at the old Lasky Studio. Photo courtesy C. L. Gregory. one o'clock. Eddie Kull was squelched each time he tried to explain that the fifteen minutes saved Selig $500, be- cause the picture would be finished and the "company'' would not need to be called back Monday morning. Another company, in contrast, worked so long the car- penters would open the windows around midnight and start banging on whatever would make the most noise. The neighbors complained to the police. The "Winfield-Kerner" was extensively used for a number of years. Roger Nauman, while superintendent of construction of the Louis B. Mayer Company in 1920, used the "bungalow" (spotlight) and "broads" (double side arcs) extensively. They were the vogue then. One of their heavy spotlights has been known to have fallen off a parallel and not break. The Winfield-Kerner Company was organized in 1911 and started to make engravers lights. A year later they sold some arcs to a small independent company and shortly thereafter the Kalem Film Company bought a few. Otto K. Olesen, who is distinguished by being the one to light the famous Hollywood previews, started as a Winfield- Kerner man in 1912. Tn 1919 Olesen formed a company which made elec- trical equipment for the motion pictures. In 1924, he bought up the Winfield-Kerner Company. Many will recall the "Wohl", an arc made in Ger- many which enjoyed a certain popularity because it was light in weight and very efficient. It was brought to this country in 1916. The "Creco" arc was first made in 1919 by the Cham- berlain Reyno'ds Electric Company. Peter Mole and Elmer Richardson were with Creco. A year later this company sold out to Bert Sylvester. The first "Sun-Arc'' was made by Frank Fair as a large 36 inch light in 1918. In a few years this form of arc was to be needed to light the large sets which were picture by picture increasing in size. One of the earliest of the "Rotary" arcs was made by Clarence Ashcraft for use in filming the Goldwyn picture "Earthbound," which was released August 15, 1920. For this picture he made a dozen arcs. Later he formed a partnership with Brown to form the Brown-Ashcraft Automatic Arc Company, which dissolved about five years ago. The "Rotary" arc was an achievement. By rotating the positive carbon, it was possible to maintain an even crater and to directly face the condenser with the hot point with a higher illumination and a saving of about 20 percent in electrical voltage. The "Rotary" largely re- placed all other forms. Because of the patents controlled by General Electric, all the "Rotaries" were licensed by them. The first attempt on record to use Mazda lamps was a series of tests conducted by E. G. Ullman for Universal films. That was in September, 1913. The lamps of the Mole-Richardson "Inkies" (incandescent) used at present in all studios. Photo courtesy Paramount. 1000 watt daylight blue variety were anchored without reflectors to strips of wood. Five rows of these were suspended about ten feet overhead. Mack Sennett in 1915-16 installed Mazda daylight blue lights and after making a series of tests photographed some pictures with them. The Mazda was not successful, however, because they were breakable and their actinic quality was not suitable to the photographic emulsion of the Ortho negatives then used. After the advent of the panchromatic emulsion, it became desirable in the interests of better photography to use the Mazda. The arcs had been strong in their blue light content, and the early pan emulsion was more sensi- tive in the red end of the spectrum, which would result in a condition that would be difficult to balance. The adoption of the Mazda largely solved the problem. With the introduction of the Eastman panchromatic- emulsion, after a series of experiments conducted by Emery Huse and Ned Van Buren at the Eastman Kodak Works in the spring of 1927, the attention of the industry was directed to the necessity of bettering the light so that full advantage could be taken of the new photographic emulsion. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sci- ences, in collaboration with Warner Brothers' Studio, who furnished the cameras and studio space, the film manufac- turers who furnished the panchromatic raw stock and Gen- eral Electric who furnished lamps, conducted a series of tests with Mazda lamps. The cameramen, after complet- ing the experiments, which were conducted in May and June of 1927, compared results. Peter Mole and Elmer Richardson had formed a com- pany in March of 1927 and had by the time these tests were completed some 5 kilowatt equipment which was used. Their first lamp was a "broadside" with two T20 projection lamps, which proved unsatisfactory. They changed to the "pear-shaped" lamp. Early in the same year they made an 18-inch "sun spot." This was followed by a "rifle lamp." With this Mole-Richardson equipment which was proven practical and a necessity with the panchromatic stock at that time, it was just a period of a few months until the entire industry changed over to the use of Mazda lighting. The advent of sound made it an absolute necessity that Mazda lights be used, since then, there was an operating hum to the arc. Mole-Richardson, being engineers and aware of the necessities of the studios with the change of conditions, which change seemed problematical at first, were in a de- sirable situation with a line of equipment. Their lights could be seen in about every studio in 1928. They were adopted as the standard form of lights and came to be used almost exclusively by the entire in- dustry. (Turn to Page 26) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. . Ipril, 1934 T h e INTERNATI O N A L P H 0 T 0 G R A I' H E R Thirteen EVERY MONDAY- as a special feature of poiium all the news of all OUTSTANDING CAMERAMEN 15 presented in WHAT'S WHAT BRULATOUR BULLETIN published in the spirit of WHO'S WHO SERVICE Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER April. 1934 The different "art" in the making of the two illustrations which accompany this article lies in the fact that they were taken by means of the ordinary home window light, by space and "contrast" laws which Steadman has reduced to a studiable sci- ence, teachable to all art students in the schools. There is no thought of "super" art involved. The idea is that of correct or normal lightings which can be rendered in full agreeable tone gradations, ordinarily in the full scale from white to black, but within tone limits, without chalky whites or dead blacks. With these laws mastered, the students will be free to produce fine "lightings" of different types in the garden or grove as well as in their homes. It is indifferent whether they utilize this art in the production of photographic portraiture or paintings. CIENTISTS tell us that the behavior of the electron is comparable to the movement of a planet around its sun. This electronic storm never ceases. The character of that movement determines the nature of the atom which the electron inhabits, while the assembly of atoms which compose a molecule of matter, determines the sort of matter which is formed by the combination. For example: Two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen form a molecule of water, while two atoms of each form a molecule of hydrogen peroxide. The molecule is the "Structural Unit" of substances, or the smallest part of a substance which can exist separately. The electronic storm, as an inherent property, de- termines the nature of the substance which it takes up. For example: It may contain the life germ, as did the wheat that lay for more than five thousand years in a tomb. Or it may be nutritious, as a food, or it may be the ash which remains undestroyed when a thing is burned. It is the inherent molecular movement which gives all matter its characteristics. Compare tin with steel, glass with stone and lead with a diamond. This move- ment is augmented by heat and by light. When a metal is hot enough the molecules which naturally hold it to- gether become so agitated, or move in space so far, each against its fellows, that the metal is disrupted and ren- dered liquid. Lay a white card on a window sill in the sunlight and cast a shadow upon it with a finger or a pencil. In the sun-lit area the molecules are under a stress of in- creased motion against each other, as caused by the sun. In the shaded area this stress or movement is reduced. These conditions impart themselves to the rods and cones of the retina and we "see" the light and shadow. If the paper were black instead of white and the solid angle of the sun's pencil of rays to each molecule were augmented with a powerful lens, the molecular MOLECULAR ENERGY INHERENT AND INFLOWING By F. Morris Steadman friction which would be *et up would disrupt the cling- ing molecules and set the paper on fire. The Boy Scout is taught how to set up this molecular friction by rubbing a dry stick in order to set it aflame when no matches are at hand. Photographic films and papers are very sensitive to this molecular friction. In strong light they turn dark before the eyes. Films and plates take on this disrupt- ing strain in a graduated degree, according to the in- tensity of the light in the different parts of an image which a lens casts upon them. The greater the dis- ruption of the molecules in the film, the easier it is for the solution to penetrate it so that the chemical action can be carried on faster or slower in the different parts of an "exposed" film, thus forming the negative with its different densities. It is the function of the "exposure" to create this molecular disruption with accuracy. We speak of a "correct exposure." In former articles I have explained the use of these sensitive tinting mediums for measuring the brightness of ordinary surfaces. It will be well to repeat that, like the "independent" molecule of matter, each grain of these sensitive salts is an independent object and be- comes brighter or darker, or warmer or cooler, accord- ing to the influx to it of the energy which surrounds it in space. For example : Suppose that it is desired to take the "tint time" of the light, say at sunset. This is the time required in that light for a "least visible tint" to be formed on the sensitive paper. We could use for the purpose, a piece of the paper a foot square, or an inch square, or a piece just large enough to enable the discoloration to be distinguished. All would give the same result and paper would simply be wasted by using more than the smallest piece men- tioned. This is because each grain of the sensitive salts tints independently, and only enough area is required to accommodate the vision, and not to satisfy any other physical or chemical law. In the problem of illumination we must ask: "How is this molecule or this grain of sensitive salts illumi- nated?" It is as easy to think of an illuminated point as of an illuminating point. The former is nature's own act of illumination, while the latter is unknown in nature. THE MADISON MART Messrs. P. A. Lins, E. F. G. Herr and Wm. A. Kunze, formerly of the Herbert & Huesgen Company, have opened a store at 403 Madison Ave., New York, known as the Madison Mart. Here they will carry a full line of domestic and imported cameras, motion picture cameras and accessories, films, high grade toys, gifts and novelties. They have also a fully equipped laboratory for developing, printing and "art-proof" enlarging. They cordially invite our readers to visit their new store. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. April, 1934 T 1 1 INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHE Fifteen TELEVISION AN ULTRA-HIGH FREQUENCY TELEVISION RECEIVER UNIT HE usefulness of the W6XS television receiver, described in the March 1934 issue of the Inter- national Photographer, is greatly enhanced by the ultra-high frequency adapter unit described herewith. The addition of this unit makes possible the reception of the Don Lee ultra-high frequency television ■RS B t-'VWvVVvV* — • station W6XAO, on 6-}^ meters, or other ultra-high frequency television or amateur station within a forty mile radius of the receptionists location, whether he be located in America, or abroad. With the unit disconnected, recep- tion of the Don Lee television station W6XS, or police, aeronautical, and amateur stations in the band from 1500 to 3000 kilocycles, may be carried on as usual. The accompanying unit converts the W6XS receiver into a superheterodyne receiver. The first detector VTI and the oscillator VT2, act to change the incoming ultra- high frequency signal to a frequency within the band of the W6XS receiver, by which latter receiver it is then amplified and received in the regular manner. Besides the list of parts, A is the ultra-high frequency antenna, which should be a straight No. 14 wire eight feet long. It should be moved about in the receptionists' home until the strongest signal is received. The output of the unit appears at "0", which is to be connected to the an- tenna binding post of the W6XS receiver. The W6XS antenna is disconnected therefrom, and the tuning dial of the W6XS receiver set at a point where a station in the 1500 to 3000 kilocycle (W6XS) band is not received. If desired, "0" may be connected to the top of L2 of the W6XS diagram. B is connected to the junction of L5 & C13, and supplies plate voltage to the adapter from the main receiver supply, while the heaters of VTI & VT2 are connected to the heater winding K of transformer T2 of the W6XS receiver. The converter unit should be thoroughly shielded. Coils LI & L2 should be placed in line, and two inches apart, as this arrangement provides the coupling between tubes VTI & VT2. List of Parts for W6XAO Television Receiver Superheterodyne Unit LI — 4 turns No. 14 enameled wire on J4" dia. form. L2 — 4 turns No. 14 enameled wire on */i" dia. form. L3 — 4 turns No. 14 enameled wire on ]/2" dia. form. L4 — Short wave radio frequency choke coil, 2*/2 millihenries. CO — 10 micromicrofarad condenser. CI — 0-50 micromicrofarad variable condenser. C2 & C5 — .01 microfarad condenser. C3 — 0-50 micromicrofarad split stator condenser (two sections 0-50 mmfd. each). C4 — 250 micromicrofarad fixed mica condenser. C6 — . 1 microfarad 400 volt paper condenser. Rl — 5,000 ohm carbon resistor. R2 — 250,000 ohm carbon resistor. R3 — 15,000 ohm carbon resistor. R4 — 25,000 ohm carbon resistor. VTI— RCA '24A, '57. or '58 vacuum tube. VT2 — RCA '27, or '56 vacuum tube. \^yke new ^(5-s/)eea K^jyemo gives the highest speed available in a portable 35 mm. camera The new 8- to 48-speed Eyemo 35 mm. hand camera, developed to per- mit taking pictures at twice sound speed, is now available on order. This convenient, versatile camera has already proved its value to Martin Johnson, who is using it for filming big game from the air. It will be a boon to any cinematographer who has to produce semi- slow motion scenes under circumstances which make the use of a studio camera difficult or impossible. Its speed range, 8 to 48 frames per second, gives it general utility. Known as Eyemo 71-CD, the new model has a three-lens turret head mounting the Cooke 47 mm. Fi.^ lens, standard equipment, and any two extra lenses selected from the Cooke line, ranging in focal length from 24 mm. to 2.0", and in speeds as fast as F 1. There is a hand crank for optional use, and a 11- or no-volt electric motor may be employed. The governor gives accurate control of any desired speed, whether spring motor, hand crank, or electric motor supplies the power. Model 71-CD, like 71-C, may be adapted to use external 2.00- or 400-foot magazines. Your present Eyemo 71-C can be converted to operate at 48-speed. BELL & HOWELL Bell & Howell Company. 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42-nd St., New- York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood; 310 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.) Established 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. A Camera Without a Cameraman Is Merely a Triumph of Engineering Skill. It Has No Soul. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTI By COLUMBIA BOB TOBEY FOX CARTOC "ONE NIGHT OF LOVE." directed by Victor Schertzinger. The old maestro Joe Walker as usual photographs Production No. 1 on Columbia's new schedule. If George Kelley were not his as- sistant there would- be a millenium of some sort, so the result is that George Kelley is his assistant — we can't go around having millenia at this criti- cal period. Vic Scheurich is the operative cam- eraman, Roy Babbitt his assistant, and Adolph I Whitey to you) Schaeffer is doing his customary artistic bulb-pushing. With Schertzinger direct- ing, this ought really to be a railroad train pic- ture — vou get it, sch-sch, sch-sch, sch-sch. Heigh- ho! Walker lias with him his inseparable (and in isl excellent) gaffer, George Hagar, and the mixer is a new one on the Columbia lot, Paul Neal. The set is full of melody, as it is the first vehicle for Columbia of that songbird, Grace Moore. Vic Schertzinger himself wrote some beautiful numbers for the picture. "TWENTIETH CENTURY," directed by How- ard Hawks. Joe August, the low-key enthusiast, is directing the photography on this one. I walked „i the set the other day and thought nothing was on hut the practicals, and lo and behold they were si tin;; a scene. The results are beautiful, how- ever, and that is what counts. Dave Ragan is operative cameraman, and Marcel Grand and Jack Andersen are the assistants. Irving Lippman totes the snapshot equipment, Eddie Bernds is the mixer, and Jimmy Gaffer punts the lights — par- don my twirping, I mean Jimmy Ganter puffs the lights — oh, well, the guy's name is Jimmy Punter. Jack Barrymore, Carole Lombard, and the train whistle off the Twentieth Century Limited are starred in the picture, which I have on good authority is a humdinger — yes. so's the whistle. The boys are all looking forward for the next six productions to Jack Andersen giving imitations of John Barrymore. "THE PARTY'S OVER." directed by Walter Lang. Benny Kline is Chief Cinematographer, with F. M. Browne doing the panhandling, and Fred Dawson and Jack Russell feverishly operat- ing the focus-changing devices. Bill Fraker pro- vides the 8-10 art work, Howard Robertson is gaffing, George Cooper fiddles with the dials, and Walter Meins does the hard work, or in other words is gripping the picture. In the cast are lovely Arlene Judge, Stuart hi win, (hick Chandler, and Billy Bakewell. With this fun-loving cast the picture has been more play than work for the crew. But there's a sha- dow on the horizon. Brownie has just purchased a new Leica camera, and he complains that every time lie wants to use it he finds Jack Russell off with it somewhere gaily snapping ream after ream of pictures. A love triangle with a new twist, it would seem. Fred Dawson and Russell are both very anxious for Brownie to buy some more lenses for it so they can try it out in bigger and better ways. Brownie contends that the old adage of loving one's neighbor as oneself has its mo- ments of impracticability. "MOST PRECIOUS THING IN LIFE," di- rected by Lambert Hillyer. John Stumar takes the bows on this, with Henry Freulich as his second, and Al Keller and Rod Tolmie assisting. Earl Crowley grabs the stills, Homer Planett is gaffing, and dial-twisting is by Lambert Day. The cast has Dick Cromwell, Jean Arthur, Don Cook and Anita Louise. This picture sort of interrupted Freulich right in the middle of painting that yacht of his. but Henry says it's nice to keep working. He carries his paint brush right with him, however, in case he gets a day off. Tolmie is sporting a new Voightlander camera, and a continual clicking is being heard on the set these days. It's remark- able how these cameramen never tire. Postmen on a holiday — if they're not working at taking pictures they're playing at it. I can't see the idea myself — all I have is a 5x7, a graflex, a Rolliflex, and an Expo Watch Camera. And let me tell you something about that Watch Camera — oh, well, skip it. Andre Barlatier's work has been pretty quiet since his cross-country cruise in February — the same old round of inserts and process shots pre- vails. He did make a trip to Catalina for three days not long ago, to make background shots for tli.it old master of background shots, Roy David son. Of course Andre took with him his insepar- "THE WORLD MOVES ON." Producer. Win- held Sheeban; author of story and screenplay. Reginald Berkeley; director, John Ford; assistant director, Ed. O'Fearna; first cameraman, George Schneiderman; operative cameraman, P. Lock- wood and J. Van Wormer; stills, Anthony Ugrin; sound engineer, Eugene Grossman; film editor. Paul Weatherwax. Cast; Madeleine Carroll, Franchot Tone, Regin- ald Denny, Paul Roulien, Siegfried Rumann, Step- in Fetchit, Ferdinand Schumann-Heink, Brenda Fowler, Marcelle Corday. "NOW I'LL TELL." Producer, Winfield Shee- han. Story by Mrs. Arnold Rothstein; screenplay by Edwin Burke; director, Edwin Burke; assist- ant director, Jack Boland; first cameraman, Ernest Palmer; second cameraman. Bud Mautino and Rob- ert Mack; stills, Emraett Schoenbaum; sound en- gineer, Donald Flick. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Alice Faye, Helen Twelve- trees, Hobart Cavanaugh, G. P. Huntley, Jr., Bar- bara Weeks, Robert Gleckler, Ray Cook, Frank- Marlowe, Theodore Newton, Jr. "CHANGE OF HEART." Producer, Winfield Sheeban; story by Kathleen Norris; screenplay by Sonya Levien and James Gleason; director, John BIystone; assistant director, Jasper Blystone; art direction, Jack Otterson; first cameraman, Hal Mohr; second cameraman, William Skall ; assist- ant cameramen, Robert Surtees and M. B. Rugg; stills. Mack Elliott; sound engineer, Joseph Aiken; film cutter, Margaret Clancy. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, James Dunn, Ginger Rogers, Beryl Mercer, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Irene Franklin, Fiske O'Hara, Jane Darwell, Nella Walker, Drue Leyton, Kenneth Thomson, Mary Carr, Barbara Barondess. "MERRY ANDREW." Producer, Sol M. Wurt- zel. Based on the play by Lewis Beach; adapta- tion, Kubee Glasmon; screenplay by Wm. Consel- man and Henry Johnson; director, David Butler; assistant director, Ad Schaumer; musical director, Samuel Kaylin; first cameraman, Arthur Miller; assistant cameramen, L. B. Abbott and Alfred Lebovitz; stills, Cliff Maupin; sound engineer, E. C. Ward; film editor, Irene Morra. Cast: Will Rogers, Peggy Wood, Mary Carlisle. Paul Harvey, Frank Melton, Roger Imhof, Robert Taylor, Grace Goodall, Jessie Pringle. "SPRINGTIME FOR HENRY." Producer, Jesse L. Lasky. Based on the play by Benn W. Levy; adaptation by Keene Thompson and Frank Tuttle; director, Frank Tuttle; assistant director, George Blair; first cameraman, John Seitz; assist- ant cameramen. Jack Epstein and Harry Webb; stills, Bill Thomas; sound engineer, A. Bruzlin. Cast: Otto Kruger, Nancy Carroll, Heather Angel, Nigel Bruce, Herbert Mundin, Arthur Hoyt. "CALL IT LUCK7" Producer, John Stone; original story by Dudley Nichols and George Mar- shall; adaptation by Joseph Qunningham and Harry McCoy; screenplay by Dudley Nichols and Lamar Trotti; director, James Tinling; assistant director, Percy Ikerd; first cameraman, Joseph Valentine; assistant cameraman, Warner Cruze and Harry Dawe; stills, Frank Powolny; sound en- gineer, A. W. Protzman; film editor, Alex Troffey. Cast: Herbert Mundin, Pat Patterson, Charles Starrett, Georgia Caine, Gordon Westcott, Theo- dore von Eltz, Ernest Wood, Ray Mayer, Susan Fleming. aide companion and assistant, Enzo Martinelli. I've been doing all right myself the last month or so. Been practically commuting between Los Angeles. Palm Springs, and Agua Caliente. And while I'm on the subject, folks, here's a marvel- ous example of the pathetic plight in which a cameraman often finds himself. The last time I was at Caliente, I was there for the purpose of catching shots of a few celebs for that Screen Snapshots newsreel I photograph for Columbia. Of course I placed a bet or two on the side, but that's neither here nor there — or rather, it was there, not here. Anyhow, along came the Handi- cap, the big race of the year. Along it came, and so ilid those ponies — tearing up the track in the most exciting race of the season — for the favorite was running fourth. And just at that moment I spotted Bing Crosby, of whom I had been trying to get a shot all day, so I turned on my camera and ground away while the race thundered to a finish behind me. What a plight! If Bing reads this I hope he can't sleep nights foi contributing to my delinquency. Or something. WELL, TH' "WORLDS'. HERE COMES HOLIV MISEI Fred Jackman, accompanied by his March 19 on the Tatsuta Maru bound Orient. He will obtain backgrounds f tn Warner production, "Oil for the Lamps of ';i which will permit the making of tin pic tin Burbank studios. In addition to ollffl these shots, Jackman will photograph exteri j" backgrounds in other parts of the Orient ai m continue his tour on around the world. I Haskins will be in charge of the Warner g ami special effects department during Ja'flB absence. Max Stengler is back at M-G-M after i I1 ing an assignment in Florida. Lyman Broening has returned to Holl) a visit with Ins father and mother at his olH in Baltimore. He stopped at Washingt ?' New York, arriving in New York just for the biggest and best blizzard they ei ' there. George (John of Gaunt') Lancaster has i from Nevada with a modern version of '" Towns." MAO RAM Because of Cameramen Oncoming Generations Will Possess the World's First Dependable Historical Records. OM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 4 RTESY UNIVERSAL )gi: "The World Do Movie. E»US over, Paramount cameraman, up and did I bride is Mary Kornman, formerly of Mng" comedies and adopted daughter of our gene Kornman. Best wishes, Mr. and nil Calori, former member of 659, and now ief lth Signal Company, stationed at Hono- i|still man of that station and is ambitious ecjie a member of the International Photo- JBJ again. Emilio wants to get in touch with fri.chorr, Louis De Angeles and Ben Rey- 1K A. (Red) Grant, assistant, stopped in the ly to display a new coat of tan, plus a Inkles, acquired at Catalina Island, where •lit has been shooting "We're Not Dress- te: Baker, inventor, special process wizard aJ ound motion picture camera miracle man. 'i lout to spring a new one (not a camera) ie (suspecting public. Watch these columns i- nnuuncement. "LITTLE MAN, WHAT NOW?" Producer and director, Frank Borzage ; play by rlans Kal lada; screen play by Win. Anthony McGuire; first cameraman, Norbert Brodine; stills, Junius Estep. Cast: Margaret Sullavan, Douglass Montgom- ery, Alan Hale, Mae Marsh, Fred Kohler. "ALIAS THE DEACON." Associate produc- er, Edmund Grainger; play by Leroy Clemens and John B. Hymer; screen play by Earl Snell and Clarence Marks; director, Kurt Neumann; first cameraman, George Robinson; stills, Fred Levi. "AFFAIRS OF A GENTLEMAN." First cam eraman, John Mescal; stills. Harry Osborn. "THE HUMBUG." Associate producer, E. M. Asher; play, screen play and direction, Max Mar- cm; first cameraman, Gilbert Warrenton; stills. David Farrell. Cast: Nils Asther, Gloria Stuart, Erin O'Brien- Moore. ASSISTANTS OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED (£. 0. Blackburn in Brulatour Bulletin) One of the most unexpected, but most pleasing features of the Academy Awards Banquet was rec- ognition of six assistant directors. One from each studio of major importance received a scroll of honor. When Will Rogers made his snappy little speech to Charles Lang, he pulled a reply from the win ning photographer which was right in line with the above. In a few well chosen (and very sincere) words. Lang gave credit to his crew and the Paramount lab. We can't even hope (as yet) to have the Acad- emy recognize the assistant cameramen — but un- officially there's no rule or reason to deny us that right. Therefore, we are today presenting to Bob Pit- tack (Lang's operative cameraman on "Farewell to Arms") and to Cliff Shirpser (Lang's assistant) the Brulatour Bulletin Trophies for the winning camera crew. This will be permanent practice in years to come. To Mr. Lang we extend our heart- iest congratulations. UNITED ARTISTS "THE LOST GENTLEMAN." Associate Pro- ducers, William Goetz and Raymond Griffith; author. Katherine Clugston; screenplay by Leonard Praskins; director, Sidney Lanfreed; assistant, Ben Silvey; first cameraman, Barney McGill; sec- ond cameraman, Kenny Green; assistant, Bill Whitley; stills, Clarence Hewitt; film editor, Man rice Might; art director, Richard Day; chief clec- liician. Bobby Comer; chief grip, Charles Rose; chief prop, Martin Hershey. Cast: George Arliss. Janet Beecher, Edna Maj Oliver. Ralph Morgan. R-K-0 "STINGAREE." Associate producer, David Lewis; original story by E. W. Hornung; screen play by Becky Gardiner; director, William Well- man; first cameraman, James Van Trees. Cast: Richard Dix, Irene Dunn. Mary Boland, Conway Tearle, Snub Pollard, etc. "OF HUMAN BONDAGE." Associate pro- ducer, Pandro S. Berman; original story by W. Somerset Maughan ; screenplay by Lester Cohen ; director, John Cromwell; first cameraman, Henry Gerrard. Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis. Reginald Denny, Alan Hale, Reginald Sheffield. THE ACADEMY AWARDS The winner of the annual cinematographic award for 1933, by the Academy of Motion Pic- ture Arts and Sciences, as announced at the an- nual banquet, March 16, 1934, is Charles Lang, photographer of "Farewell to Arms" (Paramount I. George Folsey, Jr., and Karl Struss received, respectively, second and third mention. ANOTHER HONOR FOR H.T. COWLING Secretary of the Interior Ickc-s announces the appointment of our good friend, Herford Tynes Cowling, as advisor to the Roosevelt Administra tion on Motion Picture Production. A produc- ihio program to cover photography of all the new public works of the administration will be oul lined at once with Mr. Cowling in charge, the first activity being the installation of a labora- tory. Mr. Cowling will also have full charge .a the selection and distribution of all films to In- provided for the entertainment and instruction of all the 460 C.C.C. camps. Later he says he will have need of several cameramen. Of Mr. Cowling "Who's Who" says in part: Motion Picture Engineer; explorer, born Nanse mond County, August 20, 1890. Son of John Phillips and Caroline Weaver (Tynes). C: Geo. Wash. U., 1912-13; married Virginia Hardin of Norfolk, Va., Jan. 14. 1927. Chief photographer U. S. Reclamation Service 1910- 1917. Traveled extensively U. S., Canada, Mexi- co 1913-16. Headed cinematographic expdn. 1917 to Formosa, Phil. Is., Indo China, Siam, Dutch East Indies, Australia, Tasmania, China, Japan. New Zealand and South Sea Islands producing semi educational and travel pictures; chief cine- matographer and tech. dir. for Paramount — Bur- ton Holmes Travel Films; tech. dir. Teaching Films Dept., Eastman Kodak Co. since 1927. Made pictures of Europe in the remaking 1919. including France, Belgium, Germany, Austria. Switzerland, Ccecho Slovakia, Italy, also Algeria. Tunisia, Tangier, Morocco, Sicily, Spain, Egypt. Palestine, Constantinople, expd. to British East Africa filming big game hunting 1922 — India. Kashmir, Tibet, 1923-24 (round world tour); Chi- na War Correspondent Sept. -Nov., 1924; made first moving picture in Tibet of its people and customs; made motion picture of coronation of Maharaja of Kashmir for Kashmir Government. 1925. Capt. Spl. R. C. Mem. Federal Photog. Soc. (pres. 1915-16). Amer. Soc. Cinematographers, Soc. Motion Pic- ture Engrs. (mem. Bd. Gov.) S.A.R., fellow Royal Photog. Soc, Great Brit. Awarded gold medal for photography S. Frisco Expn., 1915. Mason (K. T., Shriner). Methodist. Clubs: Explorer, N. Y.. Adventures, Chicago. Address: 33 Culver Rd., Rochester, N. Y. MASCOT Alvin Wyckoff, who was recently mauled, while photographing scenes for "The Lost Jungle," has recovered and is again able to get behind the camera. This picture was shot at Mack Sennett Studios and at Peru, Indiana, the winter home of the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace Shows. The pro- ducer is Mascot Pictures Corportion. under super- vision of Nat Levine, president. The picture is in serial form, twelve two-reel episodes and the story is fabricated from legendary lore drawn from the lost continents of Lemuria and Atlantis. Clyde Beatty, famous animal trainer, directed the work of the quadrupeds in the picture and suffer- ed a few buffetings along with Mr. Wyckoff. The lion wrecked the camera, hut no life was lost. The camera crew, beside Mr. Wyckoff, included Ernest Miller and William Nobles, first camera- men, and William Jolley, Monty Steadman and Timmie Higgins, assistants. Stiils were shot b) Paul Ries. "MYSTERY SQUADRON." Producer, Nat Lc vine. Original and screenplay by Sherman Lowe and Al Martin. First cameraman. Alvin Wyckoff. Ernest Miller and William Nobles; assistants, William Jolley, Monty Steadman and Jimmie Higgins; stills, Paul Ries. MONOGRAM "NUMBERS OF MONTE CARLO." Super- visor, Paul Malvern ; author, E. Phillips Oppen- heim; screenplay by Norman Houston; director. William Night; assistant director, Mack Wright; first cameraman, Archie Stout; second camera- man. Reggie Panning; assistant, Russ Harlan; stills. Joe Walters; recording engineer, John Stransky, Jr.: film editor, Carl Pierson: art dire. tor, E. R. Hickson; chief electrician, Edwin L. Cox: chief grip, Tex Hayes; chief prop, Arden Cripes. i a-t : Mary Brian. John Darrow, Kate Camp- bell, Yola D'Avril, Robert Frazer. Astrid Allyn. Eight -ni T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER April, 1934 WHY AMERICAN PICTURES LEAD IN BRITAIN By Alfred C. Moore, Journalist [In the February "International Photographer" Alfred C. Moore described some of the reasons which account for the popularity of American motion pictures in the United Kingdom. In this second article he explains some social considerations which tend to favor the appeal of American pictures to British movie patrons. — Editor's Note] ^MIT is a proud boast in England among clergymen y| S'V'j of the Establishment, doctors, lawyers, active llilSil aiu' rctn'ed officers of the Services and the rest r*aV..«2SJ of the upper middle class that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton College, Windsor — which in this instance is symbolical of the play- ing fields of the "public" schools throughout the kingdom. So that this statement may be properly understood by Americans, it must be explained that in England a "public" school is a more or less exclusive kind of private school. This contradiction in terms has its origin back in a past century and, since it is not material to this article, we will let it pass. The upper middle class forms, numerically, but a small proportion of the population of the British Isles. Stodgy tradition is dear to their hearts. Most of them believe that Brittania still rules the waves and that the United States is a lost colony. These people are untouched by the vulgar virility of the New World. Everything American and anything sav- ouring of Americanism is "not quite nice" — even barbaric and repulsive. They rarely enter a motion picture theatre, and, when they do, they choose one of those pale blue British-made picturized stage plays in which the actors and actresses (yes, actors and actresses) pronounce last year "lahst ye-ah" and do that as if it hurt them. A few of the upper middle class who are not so upper might condescend to view a "Dinner at Eight" or a "Guardsman" and criticize it afterwards. They would probably have Mae West listed in their precinct as Public Enemy Number One, and there's only one way you'd get them into a "cinema" where her pictures are billed ; you'd have to chloroform them! At the top of the social ladder, up above the heads of the upper middle class, is the blue-blooded aristocracy and nobility — cultured, travelled people who live in a rarefied atmosphere of feudal castles, baronial halls and manor houses. Many a scion of these elect probably goes for Miss West in as big a way as the American college boy does, but he wouldn't tell his ma ! Way down far below the social registerites and the middle classites live "the people", numbering more than three-fourths of Britain's population. These millions who work in factories, mines, shops, offices and on the land form the great motion picture going public of these Is- lands. They know life in all its stark reality. They have to. To them, Mayfair and manor houses are just names — places inhabited by beings alien to them in speech, thought and social habits. As yet but incoherently expressed, the ideals of true social democracy are shaping in their minds. Today, many of them hear in the painfully-pronounced broad "a" a challenge to the achievement of these ideals. When they seek brief respite from the dreary monot- ony of their drab existence, where do we find large num- bers of them? Lining up outside motion picture theatres paying their sixpenses or their shillings at the box office to live a couple of hours with real folks who graphically portrav, for their distraction, the primitive emotions of mankind — lose, hate, joy, sorrow, jealousy, friendship, greed, generosity, fear and courage ; who speak with an accent and intonation foreign to the watching hearers in the darkened auditorium, but far less foreign — far more real in human appeal — than the throaty, affected accent of Oxford University and Mayfair. In short, "regular" people — the kind, the watchers feel, that would not high hat them if they could step out of the screen into the auditorium. It matters not that the action takes place somewhere between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, be- cause that is merely incidental to the story. It matters not that the scrap between the boys trying to bum their way East takes place on a freight train rolling across the plains of Nevada, because the boys are in imminent peril of being knocked out of the car on to the track and killed. And the watchers in Nottingham, Newcastle and Glas- gow are very anxious that nothing so dreadful will hap- pen because they have seen the youngsters in their homes in a West Coast town ; have seen how the honest father of one of them was laid off at the cement works due to the depression ; how the kid, not wishing to be a burden on his family, courageously leaves the distressed home to find work some place else. And the audience in Notting- ham and Newcastle and Glasgow knows just how bad you feel when you are up against stark realities like that. The audience is not deeply perturbed by the misfor- tunes of Sir Cyril Hawleigh's son, who is compelled to resign his membership of the Blankshire Hunt on account of the old man having lost the last chunk of his inherited fortune in the terrible Consolidated Tea stock debacle. Nor are the watchers distressed when the youth has to take a humble position on a bank clerk's stool because they are figuring it was time he got down to a job of work anyway. Moreover, they subconsciously resent the suggestion of overwhelming superiority in the youth's accent and man- ner when he patronizingly jokes with the doorman, be- cause lots of them are doormen, or were, or will be, or are connected with somebody who is. And when the broke baronet's son goes off on his annual vacation with the bank manager's daughter and philanders about with her on the snows of St. Moritz, they find it just about as thrilling as a harp recital. But you can't expect British movie makers to know that because they think in terms of the upper middle class, and they are convinced that it would be sheer heresy to think any other way. No sir! British studios apparently don't know it, but the Battle of Motion Pictures, so far, has been lost on the playing fields of Eton. Ready Now ♦ ♦ ♦ $ 1 00 FRED WESTERBERQ'S CINEM ATOGR APHER'S BOOK of TABLES Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. April, 1934 T he INT E RNATIONAI. PHOTOGRAPH E Ninett THE NEWSREEL WORLD a Newsreels and Composition IHESE pages have carried many subjects that pertained to our newsreels and the men who make them. Now we are adding a new sub- ject that should be considered by every news- man who wishes to advance composition. Having studied under some of the world's foremost painters and camera artists I now feel that I have gained enough knowledge to enable me to aid my readers. If in this first article on this subject I can interest you just enough to think composition the effort has been worth it. All too often a news scene merely is a record of an event or subject. Especially is this true in regard to close-ups of people talking. All newsmen center the per- son in the middle of the picture and that is the com- position (if the finder is not off). Why must every soul facing a camera be in the center? If, for example, our perfect President speaks, and he faces left in so doing, better composition is ob- tained by leaving greater space IN THE AREA HE IS FACING. Should the speaker be seated splendid com- position can be gotten by following the flowing lines leading from shoulder to feet by allowing more room for these lines in the direction they take. That is, if the head is in the right hand area of our screen these lines flow left to the floor. Using lights more in the manner outlined in our last article you will approach studio quality in your news efforts. These little tips take no more time and are worth the thought. Study such paintings as Whistler's "Mother" and you will get the idea. Once I covered Niagara Falls in winter garb. By giving great thought and study to composition I not only reecived praise, but extra money for the time and effort involved, so you see, it pays. The next time you are covering a major disaster, think of composition. Visit your local art galleries where you will find many examples of how great artists accen- tuate stark tragedy and the drama of such events. Take for example a scene of devastation caused by a train wreck, flood, earthquake, fire or storm. We see a lot of fast blurry pans that are worse than those amateurs make. How much better a scene with a wide angle lens adding a thought to composition. Put a poor woman on a chair in the lower left hand corner surrounded by her children and the wreck of her home and fill the rest of the screen with the long shot of the widespread damage. If possible give the entire scene a somber touch with a 23A red filter allow- ing no extra exposure for its use. This will give almost a night effect, a scene that should add an artistic touch to what would otherwise be just a news shot. Bear in mind, that the eye naturally starts from the lower left hand corner of your picture and travels up to the upper right hand corner. Place your primary subject somewhere to the right of the center of this line and the secondary to the left of it. This simple rule used in this manner, or reversed, will aid you in using better artistic judgment, and is known as dynamic svmmetrv. Now let us look at the bathing beauties and fashion stories. We see pretty girls posing before our camera violating every rule of grace, line, curve and symmetry. To anyone with half an eye for beauty the picture is always lacking in something. You may have the palm trees, the netting right, but your girls always look angular. The secret of posing women in standing position was taught me by Mr. Lewis M. Physioc, an artist if ever there was one. He ex- plains that the girls always flex the knee nearest the camera instead of hiding the flex behind the front leg, giving flowing lines to your subject instead of angular. The more nearly a girl forms a flowing elongated figure "S" the more beautiful her figure becomes. This sim- ple thought impressed on your minds should help us to bear up under the strain of a long line of such stereo- type stories. In closing, let me thank you all for your kind letters and believe me, I'll answer them all as soon as time permits. RAY FERNSTROM. SWEDEN SHOWS EM A method of recording sound for use of motion pic- ture companies on location, which makes use of regular radio network facilities was put into operation on Janu- ary 22 at Uppsala, Sweden. This method, which was developed by Brill, an engi- neer in the Swedish film industry, does away with the need of sound trucks or other portable recording equip- ment. Considerable savings are expected to be made. Although regular radio equipment is used the sound does not go out over the air but is carried over commer- cial wires direct to the studio at Rosunda, near Stock- holm, where the actual recording is done. Fred Westerberq Has performed a notable service to the Motion Picture and Allied Industries in the publication of THE ClNEMATOGRAPHER'S Book of Tables Price $ J^ INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER 1605 Cahuenga Ave. • Holly wood, Calif. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty r he INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K k 4pril, 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording N the previous chapters on monitoring, the gen- j eral practice of the art was discussed in rather concise form. This final chapter on that subject now brings in some practical aspects of monitor- ing and explains the change in technique necessan for scoring music. Three-ply veneer is now almost universally used for the walls of motion picture sets. If this thin material is not strongly supported and broken into small panels by thick bracing strips, the resonant frequency of the panels may fall within the range of frequencies that are recorded. Then a loud sound having the same frequency as the resonant frequency of the panels would set them into sympathetic vibration, greatly intensifying the sound and causing distorted sound quality to be recorded. If the monitor man is compelled to work in a set where such a condition exists, his only resort is to keep the microphone at a distance from these "drummy" panels and facing away from them. .houstir Jids Folding baffles made of quilts of sound-absorbing ma- terial, such as rock wool, fastened to a suitable framework, are sometimes necessary to reduce the amount of reverber- ation in a set by adding additional damping. They must be tried at different points until the required effect is obtained, being careful, naturally, that they are out of range of the camera lens. In a similar manner, baffles of hard wood are sometimes used to increase the reverberation in a set that is acoustically "dead." Soft padding, such as Ozite, is usually placed on bare floors to muffle the footfalls of the actors, where such padding will not be in the picture. The monitor man must be alert at all times that extraneous noises, such as the sound of camera gears ("camera noise"), the alternating-current hum from ad- jacent electric lines, or the scrape of a cable on the Boor during moving shots, do not exist in the sound records he approves. He must watch, too, that he fades in or out with his mixer dials when the cameraman makes a fade in or fade out with the camera. Likewise, if a sound is originating in another room of the set, and the door be- tween that room and the microphone is closed by an actor during a take, the monitor man must turn down the mixer control so that the sound decreases proportionately in vol- ume. Since the rooms are all open on two sides, the actual decrease in sound would hardly be noticeable. Making Orchestrations The scoring of music requires a different technique in monitoring and in placing the microphones than is re- quired for dialogue recording. Scoring is probab!\ the most delicate task the monitor man has to perform, and the one that calls for the greatest natural ability. Just as one microphone has been found to be most satisfactory for recording dialogue, experience has taught monitor men that better recording will result from the use of three microphones for orchestrations. However, as in the case of dialogue recording, there are a few monitor men who still prefer a single microphone for scoring music. The usual practice in making an orchestration is to arrange the orchestra much as if it were on a theatre stage, with the three microphones located where the audi- ence ordinarily would be seated. To emphasize acoustic- ally the stage effect, a backing of hard walls is usually Chapter VIM By Charles Felstead Associate Editor placed behind the orchestra. A heavy rug laid beneath the microphone and a cloth curtain hung behind it, serve to provide the damping normally afforded by the audience. Arranging the Orchestra One form of orchestral arrangement for the scoring of music is illustrated in Figure 1. The same disposition of the instruments is satisfactory whether one, two or three microphones are used for recording. Every monitor man who does orchestrations has his own individual method of seating the musicians ; so the arrangement shown here is given simply as an example of one method. Hard and soft baffles of the screen type are often set up along the edges of the orchestra as an aid in securing the proper effect. The arrangements of the instruments of jazz or- chestras and brass bands are somewhat different from that shown. The orchestra is roughh divided into three main groups: the wood-winds and brass-winds, the bass instru- ments and stringed instruments of the violin type. These groups are arranged on the scoring stage as shown, with the harp and piano placed among the bass instruments. The drums and traps are located at the back beside the cornets because of the intensity of sound produced by these instruments. The three microphones are placed so that there is one in front of each group of instruments. If a single microphone is used, it is placed back farther from the orchestra and to one side of the center so that it favors the stringed instruments, as shown in the illustration. The arrangement for two microphones is a compromise between the microphone settings shown, and the orchestra is di- vided more nearly into two groups. Individuality Necessary After the initial set-up has been made, it is advisable tor the monitor man to listen to the resulting effect and o , BOPKONE POEITk No. 1 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. . Ipril, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTO G R A P II E R / wenty-ouc then make any minor changes in the arrangement neces- sary to provide the most satisfactory musical halance, he- cause the exact distribution of the instruments depends largely on the playing of the individual musicians and on the musical director. Once the positions of the musicians and the microphones have been adjusted to the proper sound system, the lower the ground noise level; although there is a certain point beyond which it is physically im- possible to advance. Overloading (louses Distortion The overload point is defined as the point at w hich the recording device (the light valve in the Western Ele< Mike set up location shooting Olympic Stadium. Monitor man and directors discussing coming shot. relationship and the hard and soft screens have been set in place there is no need for changes during the recording. The arranging of the orchestra and the locating of the microphone are much more critical when a single micro- phone is employed ; but some monitor men claim that it is worth the extra effort because the recording obtained seems more "unified". That assumption, however, is de- batable. The author personally prefers three microphones for scoring music and one microphone for recording dia- logue. Regulating the Recording Level Control of the recorded music is provided by the three mixer controls associated with the three microphones. If the brass-winds predominate and the stringed instruments can barely be heard in the monitor horns, the output of the microphone before the brass-winds is turned down and the output of the microphone before the stringed instru- ments is raised until a harmonious blend of the various instruments has been obtained. The overall volume sup- plied to the recording system during scoring is regulated by the main volume control, the mixer controls being left set. Volume Range of Recording Systems Whether recording music or dialogue, the monitor man has another important thing to watch besides the placing of the microphone: he must not permit the volume of the recorded sound to vary beyond the electrical limits of the recording system. These limits of the recording system are defined by the ground noise level at the lower end of the recording range and by the overload point at the upper end of the range. Ground noise is inherent in every sound recording or reproducing system. It is produced by such tiny extran- eous noises as the breathing of the persons on the sound stage, the faint rush of the ventilator system, and noises in the microphone. The hiss of tubes in the amplifiers, noisy resistors, electrical leakage, and battery noise all add their minute quota to the ground noise. Allowance must be made for the additional ground noise that is introduced by noises in the reproducing sys- tem when the sound record is reproduced — such as the noise generated in the pick-up unit by dirt on the film sound track or roughness in the wax record ("needle scratch"), and sound in the theatre produced by the shuffle of feet and the coughing of the audience. The better the Courtesy Paramount Photo shows the wall construction that causes much trouble with vibration and emphasis of certain frequencies. trie s\stem) or the recording amplifiers overload and cause harmonics and distortion to be present in the sound record. The recording system will handle an electric cur- rent of just such a maximal value, and when that value is exceeded the system is overloaded, just as a tank will hold just so much water without overflowing and no more. If the monitor man attempts to record a sound that is below the ground noise level, such as a low whisper, the ground noise — both in the recording and reproducing sys- tems— will completely obliterate it and make it impos- sible to distinguish the sound when it is reproduced. If the intensity of a sound is too great to be recorded1 — a gunshot for example — and the monitor man does not turn his mixer controls down far enough to cause a sufficient reduction in its intensity, the sound will be recorded at such a high level that it will cause the light valve to clash or exceed the carrying capacity of the amplifiers. Ideal Sensitivity Range The maximum intensity range of the normal human ear under ideal conditions in the open is approximately 130 decibels (a term which wall be explained in a later chapter) at a frequency of 1024 double vibrations per sec- ond. This value may be checked by the reader by referring to the composite acoustic chart printed with Chapter III in the November issue, remembering that sensation units correspond to decibels. Incidentally, the greatest range of sensitivity of the human ear is at this frequency, decreas- ing with higher or lower frequencies. A high-grade recording system operated under ideal conditions in the laboratory as a sensitivity range of ap- proximately sixty decibels ; although under actual studio operating conditions its range is considerably less, due chiefly to the amount of extraneous noise always present in a sound stage during production. The seriousness of this discrepancy, however, in the sound volume ranges of the present recording systems and the human ear is not as great as might at first seem. Natural Limitations of Range The ground noise that is inherent in both the record- ing and reproducing systems and the continual crowd noise that forms a faint under-current of sound in a the- atre combine to raise the level of minimal audibility re- quired of a sound system to a point about thirty decibels above the absolute minimal value given for the human (Turn to Page 28) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. / iveni v-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER April,1934 Miniature Camera Photography \XPOSURE and Fine Grain: Exposure is a HH prime factor in determining the resulting grain in the negative. It seems peculiar that of all the phases of photography which the amateur can choose to use as a measure of his experience, ex- posure is the one usually selected. Many photographers usually pride themselves upon their ability to guess cor- rect exposures, and despite the fact that reducing and intensifying solutions have to be resorted to frequently, their faith in their exposure-guessing ability remains un- shaken. One of the beauties of the miniature camera is its exact precision, and this typifies the manner in which Candid photo: Max Baer, Walter Huston and Jack Dempsey, at the premiere of "Dinner at Eight". Taken by )oe Meyer with a Leica camera and Hektor f:1.9 lens. it should be handled to produce gratifying results. It may be practical for a man using 5x7 inch plates to rely upon the latitude of the emulsion, and approximate at the correct exposure, subsequently resorting to reducing and intensifying solutions if necessary. Miniature camera photography, however, really is a graduate form of pho- tography in which exactness is the code for success. The owner of the small camera cannot afford to adopt such slipshod methods. The exposure should be full, but over-exposure must be avoided. When an overexposed negative is developed the rate of development proceeds at a rapid pace. The individual particles of silver readily break through their gelatin coating to form clumps of silver. Density will be built up at a fast rate, and in the resulting negative will be quite high. It has been definitely proven, that if a print of constant density is made from negatives of increasing density, the graininess of the print increases as the density of the negatives increases. Under-exposure on the other hand, though favoring fine grain, produces unsatisfactory results. It is obvious that if the happy medium of correct exposure is to be attained the aid of some mechanical device must be solicited. This is a simple matter for there are many reliable exposure meters available. Before considering exposure meters let me mention By Augustus WOLFMAN Jt A> a relatively inexpensive little device which is quite ac- curate— the Burrough Wellcome Exposure Calculator. This contains a list of tables denoting by figures the actinic strength of daylight during the different months of the year, and the time of day. Another table uses figures to indicate the relative speed of the film being used. By turning a celluloid disc so that both figures are together, a series of exposures are seen together with the corresponding diaphragm openings. Provision is also made for special subjects, such as beach scenes, clouds, etc. In general, exposure may be divided into two types, extinction or optical meters, and electric meters. In the extinction type the basis upon which the correct ex- posure is determined is taken upon a figure or other character which is just barely visible in the instrument. Reliable meters of this type include the Drem Meter, the Leicascope, Bewi, Practos, Gracophot, Tele-Bewi, etc. The Gracophot and Tele-Bewi are also distance meters. In the Gracophot a knob is pulled up and the object is seen upon a ground glass. A knurled ring at the end of the meter is then turned until the object is in sharp focus. The correct distance is then read from a scale on the meter. The Tele-Bewi has a distance meter of the military type attached to the exposure meter. Electric meters such as the Weston and Electrophot incorporate photoelectric cells which convert the light energy striking them into electricity, which in turn oper- ates the needle of the dial denoting the strength of the light. The Bell & Howell Photometer, also an electric meter, works on a different principle. This contains a small battery and bulb. A dial is turned until the brilliance of the lighted filament matches that of the sub- ject. The correct exposure is then read from scales on the meter. The exposure to use varies according to the speed of the film employed, so that meters have a provision where- by the speed of the film will play a part in determin- ing the correct exposure. Two systems are used to de- note the speed of an emulsion, H. & D. numbers and Scheiner degrees. Most meters employ Scheiner degrees. It is difficult to compare these two speed figures for both are determined in a different manner. It is pos- sible to have a number of emulsions which have the same H. & D. number, and still exhibit widely different Scheiner degrees, and vice versa. Another factor which is quite disappointing is the fact that there is no standard method of determining film speeds. H. & D. numbers determined by one manufacturer will be different from that obtained by another. The same holds true with Scheiner degrees. The results obtained in determining the speed of an emulsion is dependent upon such factors as the color of the exposing light, the manner in which the exposure Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. April, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHE \< Twenty three is made, development, etc. There is no uniformity in this matter, each laboratory employing its own method. There is, however, an aid which compensates for all these inaccuracies, and that is the latitude of the emul- sion. Every emulsion can stand a definite amount of deviation from the correct exposure, either under, or over, and still produce a correctly exposed negative. Panchromatic films seem to have wider latitudes than orthochromatic emulsions. H. & 1). numbers for a film may be available and the meter employed utilizes Scheiner degrees or vice versa. For convenience I am listing below two tables, the first containing various films and their speeds in Scheiner de- crees, and the second a comparison between Scheiner degrees and H. & I), numbers: Table of Film Speeds Daylight Mazda Agfa Fine-Grain Plenachrome - 21 Agfa Superpan ------ 23 25 DuPont Orthochromatic - - - 17 DuPont Panchromatic - 18 DuPont Superior - - - - - .24 DuPont Special Panchromatic - 23 DuPont Micropan ----- 16 Eastman Kodak Orthochromatic 17 Eastman Panatomic - - - 19 Eastman Kodak Panchromatic - 17 Eastman Kodak Type 2 - - - 18 Eastman Kodak Supersensitive Panchromatic ----- 23 Eastman Kodak Verichrome - - 19 Gavaert Superchrome Express - 21 Savaert Superchrome Express - 21 Mimosa Extrema ----- 21 Perutz Orthochromatic - 17 Perutz Persenso ----- 21 Selo Orthochromatic - 19 Selo Panchromatic ----- 21 23 Voigtlander ------- 23 Scheiner Degrees and H. & D. Numbers Scheiner No. H. & D. No 10 56 11 72 12 91 13 117 14 150 15 190 16 240 1 7 308 18 390 19 500 20 27 25 18 22 21 22 26 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 636 800 1,050 1,300 1,700 2,100 2.700 3,500 4,400 5,600 7,200 'Moo 11,600 Despite the accuracy of exposure meters there is still a factor left to personal judgment — the color of the light. In the above table of emulsion speed provision is made for the speed of panchromatic films to mazda light. Daylight, however, varies in its chromatic char- acteristics. During noon it is what we may term nor- mal. In the early morning or late afternoon it usually exhibits large quantities of red and yellow. Exposure meters measure the actinic strength of light in relation to its quantity, and not as to its color. A panchromatic and an orthochromatic film which have the same speed at noon will differ in speed at the mentioned times, when daylight contains large amounts of yellow and red. In this case the panchromatic emulsion will be of greater speed, due to its greater sensitivity to the longer wave- lengths of light. With the use of a reliable meter the photographer should experience no difficulty in obtaining correct ex- posures. He should, however, guard against over- exposure. Candid Photography: Of the types of photography to which the miniature camera has been a great stimulus, candid photography is perhaps the most outstanding. Since miniature cameras have gained popularity candid photography has also come into vogue. When consid- ering newspapers candid photographs of celebrities en- gaged in certain activities always were prize catches. It was, however, difficult to obtain such photographs with large cameras. Many large newspapers now provide their staff men with miniature cameras and many of the candid "shots" seen in newspapers are made with baby cameras. Cameras like the Leica, Contax and Foth Derby which allow lenses to be interchanged, are best suited to this type of work. Besides the universal f:3.5 lens usually supplied with miniature cameras, a telephoto and speed lens are great helps in candid photography. ( Turn to Page 28) "ArtReeVes" Presents NEW TYPE Recording Lamp The EQUA-LITE More Light — Less Current Equalized Glow Bar J-[oll\wood Motion PicTure/^uipmenT0. |Td. 6A 5 NORTH MARTEL AVE- CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA. USA Cables: ArtReeves Francais Espanol Deutsch Svenska PHONE: WYOMING 4501 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Tiveni i' foui T I, INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER lpril,1934 SMALL-FILM-IANA THE AMATEUR FILM AS AN ART MEDIUM Part I 75 5 MR 20^ «1 MS 5fc 25 ju 70 2 IviOLET BLUE B-G GREEN Y-G YEL OR R-0 REP 400 440 460 SIO 550 £75 600 630 6SO 3N5 700 m «1 MS 5fc .252 /oS 1 VIOLET 1 BLUE BG GREEN Y-G YEL OR R-0 RED 400 -440 4 80 5 10 5, SO 57. 5 61 JO £0 10 6. 50 70< J 5N5 GREEN 400 440 Y-G YEL OR R-0 RED 460 510 550 575 600 630 6SO No. 7. Kl'/i 700 Data by Eastman Kodak Co. Wratten Filters. 1932 Edition. 1- < 8mm . FILM DATA c o zz '£. 2 O "J UJ 01 o\ ,_, ,_, ,4. vo ^ ON r CM „. m on CM Tt- 00 h-e£ */> w> E CO vc <>% V C CM CO CM CM CM - co CO uj i/i rc a O UJ 2 S2! "-H *2 o2 ** S+. LLI u_ z " O (U 1— *- Qf s-« 00 00 IS. 00 o vo cm co * 0$ -t- vo CO o CM Tl- vo y O -1- — 3 a O CM CM cm m t ^t -t VO Q-O > X X >, X X x >» >-. >> X j^ c X — — Jl X X X .0 X X Q X X U- C£ (^ Q- *" o in o< o < c 0\ CD CM co VO 00 On CM ^ i>. co > CM c\) CM CM co LU N IS) < O "J *2 LO LU z< o z < >- - No CM \n CT\ CM m °."^ ai *~; TJ- \o Ov "-• Tf vO 00 rH CO C m VO X VO in c x«> u. *"• ■_< 1-1 '-' CM CM CM co tJ- in GO ^ _J C X X X X >1 X X X X >, X X E +t ^-1 JJ _- »Q — X .C jO — X u o fT\ b fa — 3 o •~J rn LO VjO 00 o CM ■■tf- \o tN CM VO tT CO rn > 3 U O = CM CM CO < ,12 n "■, c rs. fo •-, »>« ,^- l-< 00 rf «-" in CJV v: c o -J ■— ■ ^^ ■» ,>> >» X X >, X X X X X — E 4- JJ JJ ^ J3 ^J Xi ^3 -u Xi — X X X) X ^ o - h CM in o O •-' in o VO 1-H CO ^, r^ co 01 X CM CM CO CO ■. OV in S^ CM >^ . O Q K April, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E R Twenty-nitu This device fits into the clip of the camera so that its eyepiece is at right angles to the lens. In using it the photographer is facing at right angles to the direction of the lens and the subject is therefore unaware of the fact that he is being photographed. To the photographer who is thoroughly familiar with his miniature camera and can bring it into action at a second's notice, indulgence in candid photography should yield some interesting results. A New Camera: The Rolleicord, a small brother of the popular Rolleiflex camera, is now with us. Essen- tially, the Rolleicord is built along the same lines as the Rolleiflex — a twin lens camera in which one of the lenses is employed as a finder lens. Being a product of Franke & Heidecke, the fact it is a precision instrument is precluded. The Rolleicord is equipped with a Zeiss Triotar f:4.5 and includes such Rolleiflex features as compen- sation for parallax, absolutely rigid focusing mechanism, frame finder for sport pictures, etc. It is manufactured to sell at a lower price than the Rolleiflex camera. Al- though the Rolleicord presents exactness and precision throughout, the Rolleiflex is possessed of additional ad- vantages such as a faster lens, Zeiss Tessar taking lens, joint viewing window for shutter and diaphragm read- ings, alternative use of plates and cine film, direct focus- ing on ground glass screen for reproductions, etc. Since it possesses many of the advantageous features of the Rolleiflex, the reasonable price of the Rolleicord should prove popular with miniature camera enthusiasts. Priii tiny Coarse-Grained Negatives: At times through some uncontrollable factors, or some oversight, a valuable negative is not processed properly with the result that its grain is extremely coarse and reasonably sized en- largements cannot be made from it. Two methods may be utilized to minimize the grain in order to obtain a successful print. The first, which is recommended by the Eastman Kodak Co., is to em- ploy a substance which has the same refractive index as the film base. Glycerine answers this purpose. Some glycerine is poured on the negative carrier, the negative being placed on it. A little more glycerine is poured on top the latter. The negative carrier is then closed and a little pressure applied to eliminate air bubbles. Remove all excess glycerine that oozes out from the carrier, place the latter in the enlarger, and proceed to print. The negative is subsequently washed to remove the glycerine and is then hung up to dry. The second method is to make another larger negative. A print of the negative is made upon film such as com- mercial ortho film. The print is processed, after which it is placed in the enlarger and a small enlargement made upon the same type of film as was used to pro- duce the contact print. This enlargement is now pro- cessed with extreme care, using fine-grain developer. Prints on paper are made from this new fine-grain processed negative. This method can also be used in cases where retouch- ing is necessary such as in portraits. The miniature nega- tive is too small to allow retouching. Quick Drying Aids in Fine Grain: It has been definitely proven that the rate at which the film is dried is also a factor in determining the fineness of the grain in the negative. Fast drying is productive of fine grain, whereas if drying is prolonged over a long period coarse grain is apt to result. The first requisite to fast drying is free circulation; an electric fan will serve this purpose nicelv. Another agent which can be employed for this purpose is a volatile substance such as alcohol. After the film has been com- pletely washed it is either dipped into alcohol for a minute or two and hung up to dry or it is passed through the folds of a chamois skin moistened with alcohol. Something New ... In Motion Picture Developing THE DAVIDCE DEVELOPING PROCESS 1.000 feet of film developed in only 50 gallons nt developer. Make your pictures live on the screen by developing to the maximum of gradation. No directional effect; greater color separation. Sound track developed by this method has cleaner, sharper striations, which produces clearer and better sound. Also made in combination units to take either standard or 16mm. film and in small units for amateur use. ■ For full particulars write to ROY DAVIDCE FILM LABORATORIES, LTD. 6701 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, California Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER lpril,1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALE OR RENT— Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free head, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — -40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. lenses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT MITCHELL HI-SPEED CAMERA— 3 lenses, F.2.3, 5 magazines, Friction Head, beautiful condition — $1650. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. BELL & HOWELL CAMERAS— silenced by Cunningham— exclusive specialty of Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. 1000 FOOT MAGAZINES for Bell & Howell, brand new— $85. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — -fine grain finishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all' popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS 25 MM. FINDER ADAPTERS for standard finders, showing correct field of 25 mm. lens, in use by all major studios. $30.00. Camera Sup- ply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. LIKE NEW— BELL & HOWELL 5-WAY SOUND PRINTER. Moviola Model C or D. Hughes 4-wheel inflated tire dolly, two Holmes sound projectors. Cheap for cash. Box XYZ, I. A. T. S. E., 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. MITCHELL MOTOR— 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange Street, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device. Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. lamrs T. Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St., New York. WANTED TO BUY WANTED TO BUY — Used Leica or Contax cameras and any kind of accessories for above cameras. Must be cheap. Box XYZ, International Photographer, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. tn«> CENTS A COPY lli' Independent steps into tlie limelight offering "Our Daily Bread" — a sign o( the times. Production crew, left to right — Russell Harlan, tssistant cameraman; Reggie Lanning, operative cameraman; pointing, King Vidor, producer, director and author, Robert Planck, first cinematographer; Elizabeth Hill, screen adapter; concealed, Madison Lacey, Stills. United Artists will release. Photographed by Madison Lacey OTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS "EG.U.S.PAT.OfF Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45th STREET, SMITH & ALLER LTD. NEW YORK CITY 6656 •• SANTA MONICA BLVD. PLANT •• • PARLIN. N.J. HOLLYWOOD CAL THECgUPSPTRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, MAY, 1934 No. 4 Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-C/nef Ira Hoke and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. EARL THEISEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTE BOOK 2 By Earl Theiscn WITH CAMERA AND COMPASS IN THE CARIBBEAN - - - 4 By Leivis H. and Helen L. Davis (Contributed by Karl A. Barleben, Jr.) SMALL-FILM-IANA 6 Walter Bluemel THE UNIVERSITY IN MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION - - 8 By Richard L. Bare MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY 10 By Augustus Wolfman THE STEADMAN MEASUREMENTS IN MOTION PICTURE EXPOSURES - - - 12 By F. Morris Stcadman MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA - - 14 By Jack Alton THE CAMERAGRAM ------ 16 & 17 NEWSREELING ON THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE - - - - 18 By Warren M. McGrath WHY AND WHAT IS AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - - - - 20 By Carlisle Jones A CINEMATOGRAPHER LOOKS IN ON TELEVISION - - - 21 By Ray Flinsky AN ALL AROUND COMPACT CAMERA ------- 22 By Paul R. Harmer MINIATURE PRICED MINIATURE CAMERA 23 By Keith La Bar CONTROLLED REFLECTION - 31 By Milton Moore OUT OF FOCUS - 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California 80 SERVICE ENGRAVING CO ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR JUNE Our Surprise Number, intended for this issue, has been deferred to an edition later in the summer. Small film iana, the 16mm. department so ably edited by Walter Bluemel, will present another instructive article along lines of practical production. Charles Felstead, associate editor and sound recording engineer, who is taking a vacation this month, will be represented in the )une issue by Chapter IX of Motion Picture Sound Recording. Augustus Wolfman will offer his admiring readers several more sheets from his note book on Miniature Camera Photography. Mr. Wolman's department is a regular feature of the magazine. Mr. Charles P. Boyle, inventor, manager and sole owner of "Out of Focus," our comic feature so popular with his fellow camera- men, will offer something slightly different in the June issue. Earl Theisen will grace the June issue with one of his most interesting articles — valuable to technicians and interesting to the general reader. His subject is "Tricks" and it is in every way a feature article. Paul R. Harmer, who has been attracting attention with his practical articles on studio technique, has promised another useful and interesting story and he may tell us also about shooting volcanos at short range. And there are a lot more interesting yarns coming up. And by the way the subscription price of International Photographer is only $2.00. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 Earl Theisens Hollywood Note Book Honorary Curator Motion Pictures Los Angeles Museum [Member of the Faculty as Lecturer in the Department of Cine- matography, University of Southern California. — Editor's Note] [AN'T is an obsolete word in Hollywood. They ^ don't use the word any more. An illustration £M of this is the artificial waterfall made at RKO L Ubs—^4 Radio. On stages 8 and 9, in a space of 20,000 square feet, is this indoor pool. It is made of plaster to resemble granite and the water coming from a fire hose at full capacity falls fifty feet into this artificially rock-bound pool. Around the edge of the pool are some fifty cocoanut palms made of stuff by the artisans over in the trick department. On the synthetic bench of a lagoon is a 150 foot wrecked yacht. If you don't think this seems like the real thing go and see "Down to Their Last Yacht." Most of the action of the picture will take place on this setting which is the tropical island of Malaka- mokalu. Eddie Cronjager, the camera artist, has about 200 angles in the setting. Some 500 extras are scheduled to be taken from the "forgotten man" list for the picture. * * * Have you seen the Technicolor three-color sequence in the "House of Rothschild?" That is the color process that J. A. Ball of Technicolor has been working on for years and which was shown in this real life picture for the first time. It is practically the same process which is used in the Walt Disney Silly Symphonies that have been praised and welcomed by art critics. When you see this color on the screen, do not let your judgment be influenced by bad memories of past attempts at colored motion pictures. There is a natural dislike for color due to the poor and unnatural color of the past ; but forget the psychological aspects and open your eyes and mind to this new color. In it is a promise of good things in color if the box office won't "thumbs down" after reasoning like this: All colored pictures of the past have been bad ; this is a colored picture, there- fore, it is bad, too. The old color process photographed only two colors and in those two colors tried to make natural colors ; whereas this new process records the three primary colors. As is known, practically any color can be rendered by blending the three primary colors. * * * Speaking of thrills in the movies! The other day Wheeler and Woolsey had a wild boar hunt, on a stage at RKO, for their picture "Cockeyed Cavaliers." The studio imported a 375 pound boar from Santa Cruz Island and turned him loose on the set. In turning loose the boar, one of the carpenters got too close and the boar bit the hickory handle of a hammer hanging on the carpenter's hip. The comedians engaged the beastie, armed with tin foil spears and their sense of humor. Because these weapons might fail, the studio had the well known sharp- shooter, Pardner Jones, with a high powered rifle, set on a parallel overlooking the set. "And to think," sighed the comics after the filming was over, "folks go clear to Africa to be scared by big game." That was one instance in the movies when a thrill was provided by a boar. * * * Clark Gable forgot to put on his dark glasses the other day when he left the studio. Result: He spent a half hour in the autograph business. His holiday in the East last month cost him a couple dozen silk handkerchiefs, twenty-seven coat buttons and one shirt sleeve. He felt the shirt sleeve rip and saw it go disappearing in the crowd in Kansas City. Most of the handkerchiefs were given away in Baltimore and the buttons were pulled off his clothes between Holly- wood and New York. In Baltimore, the police would not let him return to his hotel because of the vast crowd. He had to stay in another hotel. And in Kansas City the Chief, the crack Santa Fe transcontinental flyer, was delayed while police got Gable to the station. * * * "There are 127 major studios in Japan," according to Roanna W. Hill, Assistant in the Department of Cinematography of the University of Southern Califor- nia. "Sixty-one of these produce educational films." Japan's Department of Education spends approximately $125,000 a year in producing patriotic and other films depicting the life of her people. On the other hand we won't say what the United States Government is doing toward furthering the use of films in education. * * * According to a recent survey 77,000,000 people see motion pictures every week, 11,000,000 being children. That is a very conservative estimate, since other sur- veys have placed those figures much higher. * * * Victor Fleming keeps a "dead man's chart." In film- ing Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," at M. G. M., so many pirates are movie-killed that he found it necessary to make up a list so a pirate once killed won't appear in a later scene. Because it is unlawful to photograph real money, M. G. M. has installed their own mint. They make movie money in all denominations, including both coins and paper. They made a special money for Viva Villa with a picture of Wallace Beery ; doubloons and "pieces of eight" for "Treasure Island" ; special money for a picture of Garbo as "Queen Christina" ; and fictitious money was made for the "Merry Widow." This is just one of the many features that enter into studio routine when making a picture. Did you ever stop to realize, for example, just how many complaints would be sent the studio if they used Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Three the wrong kind of buttons on an English postman's cos- tume for 1915, or the wrong helmet in a Luxembourg police uniform as worn two summers ago. *■ * * A revolving set has been used for the first time to advantage in the filming of RKO's "Of Human Bond- age," starring Leslie Howard. In order to expedite the showing Director John Cromwell installed four sets from a sequence in this picture on a revolving platform. He shot the entire sequence without the necessary "setting up" for each scene. The lights and camera remained stationary, while the proper scenes were wheeled around to them. Henry Gerrard was the cameraman. * # * It is a pleasure to announce that Helen Hayes will return June 1. She will star in the Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer production of Hugh Walpole's romantic story, "Vanessa." Let's look forward to Cameraman Bill Daniels doing another job on this like he did on the Helen Hayes "White Sister." * * # Another racket has sprouted in Hollywood. Not satisfied with selling the film folk very rare perfume that has been smuggled from somewhere and turns out to be perfumed water; digging up the "facts" on the star's past life; supposedly "valuable" fur coats which are sold generally to men who try to please someone ; and a host of other come-alongs ; they have now developed the "signature-grabber." This varmint — I don't mean the sincere fan — gets an autograph which is used as an endorsement for hosiery, liquor, beauty preparations and a dozen other commodities exploited under their name. John Miljan was asked for an autograph. When he started to sign he noticed that the paper was folded. It turned out to be a blank check. Of course the signature-grabber is subject to legal action. In order to get around misuse of their names, most of the film folk have one autograph for the fan and another for legal use. * * * To match their Van Dyke expedition to Africa to get "Trader Horn" and to Alaska to get "Eskimo," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are sending out another ex- pedition to the Amazon country for "Jungle Red Man." The director, George B. Seitz ; Harold H. Noice, author- explorer, and Joe Cook, business manager, have gone to an Indian village, Yarawate, in the heart of the jungle, to make ready the way for a larger expedition that will follow in three months. The picture will have an all -native cast of primitive Indians living on the headwaters of the Amazon. M-G-M's policy of bringing the far corners of the world to the screen in this authentic manner is com- mendable and one that is vital to the expansion of the industry. It is just a question of time until more pic- tures will have to be made with something besides what happens between a man and a woman. Their picture, "Eskimo," brought to the screen a comprehensive idea of Eskimo life and it was presented entertainingly. The picture presented the Eskimo, in eighty minutes or so, better than any number of geogra- phies. It was valuable entertainment. That doesn't mean that all pictures should be geo- graphic, or for that matter smell of the classroom, but more attention can be given the social aspects of the pic- ture. It is not necessary to glamorize the crook, glorify unwanted conventions, or depict a preponderance of wealthy settings. A poor man's home never looks poor. Persons are shopping for their pictures now as never before. They are looking for pictures that broaden their experience, that solve certain problems for them, that satisfy inherent interests and many, many other elements that deal with "just living." Did "Cavalcade," "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Seventh Heaven," "Sweepings," "Grand Hotel," or any other picture that you really remember, and about which you told your friends, deal with natural, convincing people and places? * * * Walt Disney is building a large addition to his studio. Eventually he will have a community of his own there on Hyperion Drive. Some day letters may be addressed to "Walt Disney's Land." That is because people — black, white, yellow and in-between shades, whether five years or a hundred years old, like his contributions to the screen. When Walt Disney's Land becomes a state, I will move next door and spend my time looking over the fence. * * * They had colored cartoons as early as January, 1919. At that time Pinto Colvig, who is prominent in cartoon- ing today, drew a series called "Pinto's Prizma Comedy Review." They were colored by the William V. D. Kelley Prizma color. DeVRY LINE ON PARADE Mr. Herman A. DeVry, president of the DeVry Mo- tion Picture Equipment Company, of Chicago, recently- visited with his Southern California agent, Mr. Phil Misenzahl of the Educational Projecto Film Company, 1611 No. Cahuenga, Hollywood, where Mr. DeVry had on display his new complete line of motion picture cam- eras, projectors and accessories. This display consisted of a 35mm. sound on film, single system, portable camera ; a theatre size sound on film projector utilizing either incandescent or arc light ; improved 16mm. camera and a 16mm. sound on film projector. Mr. Phil Lasher, Northern California DeVry agent with offices at 254 Sutter Street, San Francisco, joined Mr. DeVry in Hollywood. This DeVry line is attracting a lot of attention and judging by the number of visitors attendant upon the display, the visit to our Film Center will not be a disap- pointment to either Mr. DeVry or Educational Projects Film Company. From Hollywood Mr. DeVry will go to San Fran- AFTER A WORLD'S MARKET Charles H. Christie, veteran comedy producer and motion picture pioneer, has been made vice-president of the Mitchell Camera Company. Henceforth, he will be associated with Stanley S. Anderson who, as chief execu- tive, has been directing the destinies of the company for the past two years. As Vice-President, Mr. Christie's special task will be to cultivate a world-market for the Mitchell camera. He will go abroad, early in May. His itinerary will include Japan, China, India and thereafter the leading European countries — Italy, France, England, Germany and Russia. Among the foreign capitals Christie will visit are London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Moscow and Leningrad. Few picture people are better known than Charles H. Christie. He was one of the first producers to come to Hollywood and has contributed as much to the upbuilding of Filmdom's capital as any other one person. cisco and other big cities on the West Coast where the DeVry line is represented. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 With Camera and Compass in the Caribbean By Lewis H. and Helen L. Davis {Contributed by Karl A. Barleben, Jr.) EATHERY casuarina trees bowing gently to the warm trade winds, a dazzling white beach edged with emerald green water, endless acres of deep blue sea ending against the paler blue of tropic skies. Magic islands sloping from indigo seas to be adorned with the geometry of yellow-green sugar cane fields and then lost in cloud. Rippling muscles of sweating blacks glistening in the sun as they row huge sugar-laden lighters from shore to ship, the silver streak of a flying fish against the indescribable blue of tropic seas. After six months of sailing through the West Indies, such memories become a part of you. And they become the more a part of you if you have sailed your own boat a couple of thousand miles to get them. Leave New York on a chill November day, ride out a five-day gale off Cape Hatteras, sail two thousand miles without seeing land, and you are ready to drink deeply of the exotic beauty of these islands. At least that is the way we found it to be. Per- haps a thirty-seven foot boat {The Seal) is a small one for such a trip. Perhaps two men and one woman is a small crew. And perhaps twenty-five hundred miles is a long way to go, but now that our cruise is ended we know that every hardship and danger of our trip had a large part in preparing us for our initiation into the mysteries of the islands which Columbus named. There are those who have made trips to interesting foreign lands and have returned nursing the regret that they had no good photographs to augment their memo- ries. Fortunately, we are not of that unhappy group, for we have several hundred good negatives to help carry us back to warm tropic waters and mystic green islands. It might have been otherwise. Almost baffled by the unending expense and time necessary to fit a boat for a deep sea trip, we were tempted to slight our photographic equipment. Fortunately, we decided against this course and in the end, carried a camera and accessory equip- ment which would insure something besides memories. We took with us a Leica camera fitted with an Elmar f :3.5, 50 mm. ns, twenty-five rolls of orthochromatic and a quantity of panchromatic film. In view of the neces- sity of developing films soon after exposure in the tropics, as well as the questionable efficiency of the film service in the islands we hoped to visit, we took a Leica de- veloping tank, thermometer, and chemicals for mixing our own solutions. Before sailing, we had a chemist measure out the proper quantity of each chemical neces- sary to our standard solution, put each in a test tube and scratched the glass at the proper level. We then labeled each tube with a strip of adhesive tape and marked it with India ink. Knowing how full each test tube must be for the correct weight of a given chemical, we did away with the need of scales which should have been ruined by the salt air and dampness. We sacrificed a precious portion of our water-proof lockers for our mate- rials, and fortunately, for on several occasions the con- tents of these lockers were the only reasonably dry articles in The Seal's cabin. A week after leaving New York we had our first and last bad experience in an unique field of photography. When two hundred miles to the east of Cape Hatteras we ran into what we egotistically call "our gale." For five days and five nights, mountains of seas battered our little ship, tearing to bits one of our sails and smashing the small boat we carried on deck. For several days and nights we feared our hatches might also be smashed. Had they broken in, it would have mattered little what else was smashed. On the morning of the fourth day we peered through the port-holes to watch a huge, wallowing tanker come close by to us to see if we wished to desert. Even if we had been willing to take further risks in our ship we could not by any stretch of the imagination see how we could have gotten to the deck of the tanker. We decided against abandoing ship and signalled our message as best we could. Just how we managed to get some twenty pictures of our would-be rescuer as she rose and plunged in those seas we do not know. The great difficulty was not the risks taken in getting the snaps — it was simply in get- ting ourselves to try. We didn't want to. Why? Per- haps we felt that it would be futile to make snaps which might never be developed. Perhaps it was that if we did eventually survive these endless days and nights of raging seas we would not care to have a photographic reminder of the forces that threatened our lives. Or perhaps it was merely because of the utter unappropriate- ness of thinking of pictures when we were being forced to decide a question which might be one of life or death. At any rate, we got out the Leica. The tanker was standing by two hundred yards away. After a sea had thundered across us, we would open the hatch and try to get a shot before the next sea came. Sometimes we miscalculated and the reeling cabin was soaked once more. Sometimes we would emerge for a picture only to find that our subject was completely hidden by a tow- ering sea. We managed, however, to get an entire roll of pictures. The possibility of making rapid exposures with our Leica and the impossibility of getting double exposures was largely responsible for our success. After twenty minutes the tanker left us to our fate. Per- haps the captain felt that, if we were foolish enough to make pictures at such a time, we might be lucky enough to get through alive. From Jacksonville, Florida, we took a twenty-five hundred mile hop to Barbados, British West Indies. Twenty-seven days of glorious sailing. For two weeks we sped to the eastward and for two more we journey southward. There was a week of the "Horst Latitude" when we lazed along through long swells before gentle winds. Sometimes the sea was so smooth we experi- mented with time-exposures in the cabin, or climbed to the masthead for vertical pictures. There was another week of trade winds when we alternately tried to pho- tograph the dolphins as they sped past us and to har- poon them. Our evenings were often devoted to de- veloping the day's "shots." The helmsman was gen- erally the developer — one hand on the tiller, eyes on the lantern-lighted compass card, and the other shaking the developing tank. When both hands are needed for chang- ing solutions, the foot on the tiller will do as well as the hand. Hease mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Five On the twenty-seventh day out we picked up our first foreign island — Barbados, and there began three months of glorious hours spent among these astonishing islands. We had been ashore at Bridgetown, Barbados, for only a few hours before we discovered the advantages of a small camera. Barbardian negroes, we learned, have sufficient genius to smell out the tourist without help of that world-wide symbol, the visible camera. To walk through the streets of Bridgetown with a big camera slung over the shoulder is to offer yourself as a victim Serious camera work develops a sense of the artistic. Our most interesting experiences came in the Island of Dominica — the most mountainous, the heaviest-wooded and, we thought, the most beautiful of the West Indies. Dominica is the home of the remnants of the original in- habitants of the Islands — the Caribs. Five hundred of them live on the windward side of the island on a reser- vation approachable only on foot. We decided to hike across the mountain to see them — a distance of forty miles over an old Carib trail gouged in the side of the mountains. Some Leica shots of locales in and around the Caribbean Sea. Note the pretty Carib mother and baby. The picture at lower right was shot during a five days' gale off Cape Hatteras. Note the stack of the tanker over behind the big waves. to every guide and boatman of the town. Waving red flags before bulls is much safer. Let them spot you as a tourist and the voluble army of guide will all but carry you where you wish to go — or don't wish to go. We soon learned to carry our Leica in the pocket. A sur- rounding mob of shouting guides and hucksters is poor atmosphere for the amateur photographer. If one wishes to obtain character studies without the subject's knowl- edge that he is being photographed, a small, inconspicuous camera is almost indespensable. Our little Leica we found particularly suited to this type of work. When we were in port we often had to devote our nights to film development. After our one experience in which carelessness about the temperature of the de- veloping and fixing baths pitted our negatives, we were very careful to keep all solutions at 65° F. The boat had no refrigeration system and, of course, our tank water was the temperature of the sea water — approximately 85° F. We had to go ashore and get ice for each de- velopment, although at Grenada we hired two little ragged negroes to get ice for us. Almost every day differ- ent couples of equally ragged children would row out to say, "Need any more ice, mister? We're the boys who got ice for you the other day." They knew we couldn't tell them apart! As we tramped the steep wooded hills of Grenada and St. Lucia and the other charming islands of the Windward and Leeward group, we learned that the camera itself is a great aid to one's appreciation of beauty. Intent upon returning with good pictures, we found our- selves growing more alert to beauty of composition, of line and form. Sometimes we found it in the innumer- able old forts dotting the West Indian hills, sometimes in the patterns of cane fields on the slopes of green moun- tains, and sometimes in the barren streaks of lava sloping down the side of Mt. Soufriere on the Island of St. Vin- cent or the rugged shoulders of Mt. Pelee of Martinique. Bergie and I set out for our four-day hike leaving my wife under the competent guardianship of a husky young negress. The trail was narrow and precipitous. Occasionally we would pass groups of natives, heads laden with heavy loads of bananas, yams, or great sheets of corrugated iron for their homes. What a paradise for the picture hunter here. Distant mountains with a fore- ground of banana tree leaves; a coal-black boy with a white-toothed smile, bearing on his head a kerosene tin full of flying fish ; a strong, short-skirted colored girl standing in the rain, her heavy basket protected by two huge green leaves which she had plucked from the verdant roadside ; a little child on his knees, drinking the cool water which trickled down the rocky walls to be shot out into an available stream by a bit of bamboo. Our Leica found little rest these days. After spending the night at an ancient sugar estate we started on the last lap to the Carib quarter. As we tramped along the narrow rocky path we began to notice the difference in the features of those natives who passed us. The purely negroid type seemed to be giving way to the Mongolian type. The men and women now had squint eyes, high cheek-bones, and long, straight black hair. More frequently than not, they could not speak English. Once we stopped before a grass hut to ask the mother of two naked babies crawling about the house if we might photograph them. She spoke no English and we soon discovered that she did not know what the camera was for. That night we slept on the floor of the cabin of Jolly John, Carib chief, recently deposed ("fired" would be a better word) for permitting his tribesmen to smuggle rum. The Caribs were interested in two things about us — my zipper shirt and the camera. One day Jolly John informed us that a woman had come to have her picture made. Outside stood a large Carib woman with (Turn to Page 24) Piease mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 SMALL-FILM-IANA Part II THE AMATEUR FILM AS AN ART MEDIUM By Walter Bluemel Chief of Workshop Dept. of Cinematography, University of Southern California Like the lack of color, and even the lack of sound, the lack of the third dimension is not particularly felt, for the imagination takes care of this deficiency. When a person watching a motion picture sees one object larger than another when he knows they should be the same size, or when he sees the curbs of a straight street con- verging when he knows they should be parallel, his1 mind transforms this distortion into terms of perspective, know- ing subconsciously that the difference in size and the converging lines are due to a two dimensional repre- sentation of a three dimensional scene. The mind, there- fore, corrects the two dimensional picture into the third dimension. Actually, the eye sees perspective in much the same way as the camera (with the addition of the third dimensional effect produced because each eye sees objects from a slightly different angle), that is, distant objects seem smaller than close ones of the same size, but experience has taught the mind to compensate for distance, and the two objects are seen to be the same size. In pictures, the eye attributes the difference of size of objects which it knows should be the same size to the distance between them, even though distance does not actually exist on the screen, and hence the illusion of depth is created. That the lack of third dimension is an advantage rather than a handicap is not at first evident, but without it many valuable illusions in pictures would not be pos- sible. The use of miniatures and glass shots, for in- stance, is possible only because the camera records near objects larger than distant ones. Much of the process and special effect photography used in professional pic- tures likewise is possible only because of the lack of the third dimension, but as this does not particularly con- cern the amateur I will not go into that. What the amateur is concerned with, however, is how to increase the illusion of depth and how to use the limitation to the best advantage. Lighting is the most effective tool in creating the illusion of roundness and depth in motion pictures. Al- most any modern photoplay contains numerous examples of depth lighting, and, as I suggested last month, the amateur would do well to study how the effect is ob- tained. The lighting in Hollywood-made pictures is in many instances unnatural, but it does not impress one as such, for the effect is pleasing and approaches more nearly art than if the lighting were 100% natural. The cinema artist actually paints with light, using it not merely to make his subject visible, but also to effect depth, to make up for lack of color, to build up com- position, and to create the desired mood. Not only does he use light, but also shadow, for shadow is just as important as light, especially in creating the illusion of roundness and depth, and for contrast. Keeping the fore- ground in shadow and highlighting the background is very effective for producing depth, as is also the alternate distribution of light and shade in various planes of the picture, and the use of backlighting. Lighting is really an art in itself, and requires considerable study. As with the other limitations, the limitation in screen size is really an advantage to the cinematic artist. It is not natural to see everything in a confined area as on a 3x4 screen, for the eyes are practically unlimited in their field of vision because of their mobility and that of the head. Although a person can look in only one direction at a time, the movement of the eyes and head is so easy and unconscious that he can perceive everything around him in a second's time. Thus, when he is looking at one thing, he is still conscious of what is all around him, and he sees what he is looking at in its relation to its surroundings. Not so with the camera, however. It is conscious only of what it is pointed at, and everything out of the picture area might just as well not be there. It is left to the imagination of the audience viewing the picture what is beyond the edges of the screen, which is in itself an advantage. The absence of space orientation due to the limited size of the screen permits the photographer to show what he wishes without its being effected by undesirable surroundings (they being inserted by the imagination of the audience), and the creation of an illusion of reality is thus pos- sible. Should it be necessary, on the other hand, to show these surroundings, it can easily be done by panning the camera, or inserting a separate shot, or by means of a trucking shot, thus producing an effect much like in real life. Because of the absence of space orientation it is possible to go even further than this and make two widely separate places seem to be adjacent simply by cutting from one place to the other and continuing in the second action in the first (continuity). Because there was no lapse of time and the audience cannot orient itself between scenes, the illusion of their being adjacent both in time and location is complete. It is easy to see, therefore, where the limitation in the size of the screen and the fact that within this limited area the cinematographer can include or omit (compose) what- ever he wishes, and jump from one place to another with the audience (necessarily) being conscious of it, is of considerable advantage. Another peculiarity of the motion pictures results from the fact that the screen is vertical and the audience has no way of knowing that the picture on the screen was not photographed from a vertical position. Com- mon sense, however, tells everyone that a street lies hori- zontally, even though it may run up and down on the screen, and that a man is vertical when walking even though he may be photographed from above and appear to be horizontal. If a shot is taken of a tall building from below it appears to be leaning over backward, al- most in a horizontal position, but the spectator knows this is not the case. However, if the building could be laid on its side and photographed, it would still appear to be vertical, though it is actually horizontal. This is due to the fact that the camera cannot transfer the sense of gravity to the spectator, and his only guiding sense in connection with the picture on the screen is that of sight. Since the picture is projected on a vertical sur- face he cannot tell what angle the camera assumed in (Turn to Page 28) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH !•: K Seven EVERY MONDAY- as a special feature of uporteii all the news of all OUTSTANDING CAMERAMEN is presented i n WHAT'S WHAT BRULATOUR BULLETIN published in the spirit of WHO'S WHO SERVICE Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 The University in Motion Picture Production By Richard L. Bare, Supervising Director and Ginematographer [Editor's Note: The Department of Cinematography of the University of Southern California has for the last five months been engaged in the production of a motion picture version of Edgar Allen Poe's story, "The Oval Portrait." It is an entirely student-made production, under the faculty-guidance of Dr. Boris V. Morkovin, Instructor of Cinematography.] HIS article is written in the interest of perhaps saving some other professionally-minded ama- teurs, like myself, from many disheartening hours of discouragement when and while mak- ing a serious motion picture drama. There are pages and pages of "do's and dont's for amateurs" continually being written by those who know, yet the majority of amateurs go right on making ferocious cine film. Almost every time we pick up a trade journal, or turn to the amateur section of a picture magazine, we are bluntly confronted with such oft-heard phrases as "don't pan too quickly", or "be sure to use a tripod", or some other equally fundamental rule regarding the proper use of the cine camera. But these cautioning writers of the "do's and dont's" columns, only transport their knowledge insofar as purely technical points are concerned ; that is, usually. Lenses, filters, lighting and maybe an idea or two on trick work are usually the constituents of a general amateur movie article. These are all very necessary to the camera-owner who wants to put an image on his film, but the equally important information regarding the making of an ama- teur motion picture, such as organization, administration and the necessary details which must be executed before an amateur drama can be made, are sadly neglected. Perhaps the best known authorities on how to produce an amateur movie are those who have produced amateur movies. At any rate, they are well qualified to tell of their experiences so that other ambitious movie makers can either profit or lose by said experiences. What has hap- pened in amateur picture making is a good criterion for what is right or wrong. For the dyed-in-the-wool aspirant who thinks in terms of professional cinema art and whose bits of camera work show that, this article is written, for, I think that the epitome of the amateur's success lies in the fact that he has at last created a motion picture of professional quality. In the first place, when the amateur makes up his mind that he must have a vent for his aesthetic intellect (in other words, decides to make a movie) he almost invariably chooses something that either means absolutely nothing in the way of worth while cinematics, or else he decides to produce a story so difficult and "arty" that many professionals wouldn't attempt doing it. Whether we of the Department of Cinematography at the University of Southern California fall into the former category, remains to be seen. At any rate, we chose "The Oval Portrait," one of Edgar Allen Poe's lesser known novels. The reason this was selected is not exactly known, unless it was because the story in itself more or less contained an unfinished thought. Poe leaves you wondering why he ever wrote such a story. This was just what we wanted because the original would therefore be flexible and easily adaptable to what- ever thought we desired to express in our motion picture dramatization. Briefly, the original story, in typical Poe style, de- scribes the arrival to the old darkened chateau, on a stormy evening, of the stranger and his valet. Amidst Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers thunder and lightning and a downpour of rain, the two somber figures take refuge for the night in one of the remote rooms of the chateau. Here the stranger pre- pares for bed, but before this, discovers a small, black book which describes the history and importance of the various paintings hanging around the room. Reading this book in bed, the stranger, after several hours of intense interest in the paintings and their descriptions in the book, realizes that the candelabra by which he is reading, is not in the most advantageous position. He extends his arm to pull it closer to him, and as this is done, the light protrudes on to a portion of the wall hitherto unnoticed. When the stranger's eyes meet the oval por- trait hanging in this heretofore darkened spot, he is completely hypnotized by it, and raising up into a half reclining position, stares for hours, strangely entranced. When later he suddenly comes to his senses and falls back on to his pillow, his thoughts turn to the book and to what it might have to say about this mysterious oval portrait. Then reading from the pages we see the rest of the story in retrospect. There is a painter who falls in love with the maiden and marries her. He then de- sires to make her immortal upon canvas and so she poses for him. Day in and day out she poses and he paints. His neglect of her is described ; he loves his bride, but not as she is upon the stand, but as she is upon the can- vas. She suffers untold agonies through his neglect and enthusiasm for his work. The room is cold and barren ; winter passes and still he eagerly paints on. Finally the last touch is applied and the painter, in great jubi- lance throws back his paints and pallet and exclaims in a loud voice, "It's life itself!" Then for the first time in days he turns to regard his bride — to behold her figure on the floor, dead. This is where Poe leaves you. Whatever connection there has been between the old man in the bedroom and the tragic figure described in the little black book, one must imagine. And so we did. We left the beginning almost identical with the exception of changing the valet into a chauffeur, and the time of the story from the nineties to around 1920. We used the chauffeur to create a mysterious mood right from the very beginning, preparing the audience for the mood of the story. When we dissolve out from the pages of the book and go into the root of the story seen in retrospect, here is where our scenario department took the stand. But to make Poe's nucleus, or rather the unfinished thought, as I insist upon calling it, into a story which is perfectly and sanely congruous, a definite tie-up must be made be- tween the old man in the chateau, and the painter and his bride. This was done by what we termed the "key situa- tion." Simply and logically, the girl gives her painter- lover a small cross, which she tells him is a token of her love, and that he should wear it forever. Then we proceed, with the arrival of a bulletin-announcement telling the painter that a scholarship to the Paris Art Academy will be presented to the artist-creator of the most perfect conception of feminine charm and beauty. May, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH T. K Nine This is the painter's incentive to creat his masterpiece. Then the contrast between the beautiful girl on the posing stand and the rough outline on the canvas, through to the near-finished masterpiece in paints and the slowly withering human form nearby, is emphasized. The cli- max comes when the painting is completed, and the tragic contrast between the portrait which is "life itself" and the dead figure of the girl on the floor. Then back to the chateau we go where we find the old man finishing the narrative. He gazes at the oval portrait hanging on the wall, his eyes now dimmed with tears. His hand slowly raises to a chain around his neck and we discover (if we haven't already guessed it) that the cross at the end of the chain is the same one that years ago was given to the painter by the maiden. Here our story is done, and to finish, still in the Poe mood of story telling, our camera leaves the stranger in bed and travels to the windows where "outside the storm rages on." To produce a story like this, simple as the idea is, would be quite out of the question for the majority of amateurs unless they received the co-operation we did. This picture had to have the touch of professionalism or it could never have been satisfactorily done by ama- teurs. A studio to work in was vitally necessary and if Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios had not graciously al- lowed us to shoot on two of their stages, "The Oval Portrait" would still be a myth, as it was over two years ago when I submitted my adaptation of it to a northern amateur movie club for production. It was rejected due to the fact that it was much too difficult, and could never in the world be made with the talent and facilities of the northern club. So, "The Oval Portrait" was pigeon- holed for the time being. But when I entered the University of Southern Cali- fornia and majored in Cinematography, I slowly but definitely became aware of the advantages and facilities which the University could offer an amateur production organization. Here was assembled and studying (out of books, however) a group of picture enthusiasts eager to gain experience on actual production. Here was a Uni- versity with perhaps the only real separate department of cinematography in the world. Here was Los An- geles, the heart of the motion picture industry. Here, and only here, could be made a motion picture drama, purely amateur, yet with professional facilities. Perhaps the most important function of the amateur production company is organization. Unless the would- be directors, cameramen and actors are brought together co-ordinately and in harmony, a picture will never re- sult, and if started probably will never be finished, rather dying the death of so many amateur movies, that of dis- agreement and lack of administration. In our case, the first thing we did was to assemble a staff of competent workers, who didn't feel as if their services were rendered as a favor to someone. We tacked a chart on the wall in our "office," which out- lined the departments under which persons worked. The executive department, with the supervising director as head, had direct control over three sub-departments, the camera, technical and directional departments. Emerg- ing from these three were the individual positions of all the co-workers on the picture. For instance, the head of the camera department had control over the elec- tricians, assistant cameramen and still photographers. The technical department head had direct supervision over the script clerk, assistant directors, property man, technical director, research director, art director and pub- licity director. The directorial department had under it the cast, the film editor and the musical scoring director. In this manner was the organization of "The Oval Por- trait" prescribed. Casting was difficult. Many weeks were spent in searching two campuses for a leading woman. Screen tests were taken of three debutantes, but none filled our critical requirements of "sweet maidenly beauty," yet possessing true acting ability. The one finally selected for the part was neither tested nor recommended, but was instantly decided upon as being the one and only type. Foot after foot of celluloid may be wasted in screen tests for those applicants who are doubtful, but when Richard L. Bare, Supervising Director and Chief Cine- matographer, Dept. of Cinematography, University of Southern California. the right person for the part comes along, his or her fitness is sensed and screen tests wouldn't tell you more emphatically. Inasmuch as we are undertaking the production of a period costume drama (French, 1880) considerable re- search was necessary. This duty was entrusted to a student better qualified than any of the others, as she had traveled all over that section of Europe and could advise us accordingly. Information regarding the authen- ticity of costumes and styles was dug up efficiently and promptly upon some such demand as "What does an 1880 French postman look like?" or "Does it snow in France?" The job of research director is probably the most thankless of all, because if you are correct in every detail your work is not noticed, but the minute you slip up on some minute point, you may never hear the last of it. One way to insure a better picture, whether amateur or professional, is to shoot a lot of film. The more waste on the cutting room floor, the better the film on the reels. We had lots of waste on the cutting room floor, if that means anything in our case. Over 8500 feet of negative were shot for a picture originally in- tended to be a single reeler. But as the shooting pro- gressed and the enthusiasm became more intense, it was decided that to justly tell such a story cinematically, the picture should be at least two reels in length. Well, when the first cut was ready, with titles, inserts, etc., all in, it was found to be complete in four reels, not counting several sequences scratched out of the script. The story was there, but when told in this length it lagged quite obviously, so it went back to the cutting room for more trimming. Unnecessary sequences to the plot of the story were temporarily stricken, while all the scenes in general were cut a little closer in order to quicken the tempo. Tempo is the most important thing in cutting, and vested in the realm of this little art, is the success or defeat of your picture. (Turn to Page 24) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 Miniature Camera Photography \ILTER TALK: With summer and the much thought-of vacation almost upon us, a check-up of accessories to add to the equipment should be taken, notably filters. Miniature camera users represent the advanced type of amateur photog- rapher, and it is safe to say that at least 90 per cent of baby camera owners possess one or more filters. The necessity of the filter for successfully recording certain subjects is well recognized by photographers, but it is taken in a matter-of-fact way. They employ yellow fil- ters to compensate for the extreme blue sensitivity of the film they are using, enabling blue skies, sea scenes, etc., to be photographed in a successful manner. A clear understanding of the manner in which the filter func- tions, or the correct use of filters of different color, or density, is lacking. The usual yellow filter is quite prevalent amongst miniature owners' equipment, but few photographers will be found to have a series of yellow filters of different densities, or perhaps the new green filters, or such filters as the 23-A, 29-F, or 72-Gamma, etc. As its name implies the filter allows certain wave- lengths (colors) of light to enter the lens while retard- ing others, in this manner compensating for the unbal- anced sensitivity of the emulsion being used, except in cases where special effect filters are employed, which pro- duce exaggerated results. The filter holds back a cer- tain percentage of the actinic light necessitating a longer exposure in order to correctly expose the film, hence the filter factor. The deeper the color of the filter the more light it holds back, and the greater is the filter factor. The latter is also dependent upon the color sensitivity of the emulsion. The more sensitivity the film possesses to the color of light the filter admits into the lens, the shorter will be the required augmentation of the ex- posure. In order to easily understand the action of the filter it is advisable to refer to the three primary colors of light — red, green and blue-violet. Yellow light is a com- bination of red and green light. The filter allows the light of its own color to enter the lens and retards the other colors. If we slip a yellow filter over the lens it will allow red and green light to pass through it, since these are the components of yellow, and it will retard a portion of the blue-violet light according to the density of the filter. Thus a Kl filter cuts off only a portion of blue and violet light, whereas the denser K2 filter eliminates all violet light, and a large portion of blue light. Now let us assume we employ a red filter, which according to light theory allows red light to pass through it, cutting off the other two primary colors of light — blue-violet and green. By referring to an actual trans- mission graph of a red filter, such as the F filter, we find that it eliminates all violet, blue, green and yellow light, allowing only orange and red light to pass through it. When such a filter is employed to photograph the sky the latter will appear practically black in the finished print. Normally the sky is blue in color and since blue will not pass through the F filter the sky will repro- duce in the manner described. Correctly used a filter of this type produces artificial night effects. Lately there have appeared green glass filters which are classed as being suitable for both orthochromatic and panchromatic films. In filtering for an orthochromatic I ;:3ft. By Augustus Wolf man emulsion we are mainly concerned in eliminating blue- violet light. The usual orthochromatic film possesses a large excess of sensitivity to blue-violet, and is also capable of recording yellow and green light to a lesser degree. The green filter cuts off the blue-violet and red light. It serves its purpose with orthochromatic films because of its elimination of blue-violet. Since ortho films are not sensitive to red the elimination of that color in this case is of no concern. Most modern super speed panchromatic emulsions usually exhibit an excess of sensitivity to red, therefore the new green filters are suitable in this case since they eliminate a portion of red light besides blue-violet. Green glass filters also represent an improvement over the yellow glass filters commonly employed. To under- stand this point let us digress for a moment to consider briefly the manufacture of filters. The first type of filter to be commonly used was made by cementing a piece of dyed gelatine between two pieces of glass. Even though perfectly plane parallel pieces of glass were chosen strains were set up by the cement, and the result was that the finished filter was far from being plane and parallel, which is naturally productive of unsharp results. Such defects were over- come only when glasses of unusual thickness were used, as in the case of the Wratten A filters. The precision necessary in miniature photography ob- viates the use of poorly made cemented gelatine filters, with the result that yellow filters made from optical glass colored yellow in the melt appeared on the market. In this way good plane parallel filters could be produced by the careful grinding of the glass. However, yellow pot glass filters present a specific disadvantage. Dr. Phil H. M. Kellner in an article in the September, 1933, "American Photography," clearly explains the advantage of green glass filters. Much of the following information is obtained from that article. Yellow glass filters are made from cadmium sulphide glass which is a so-called colloid glass, and there are therefore variations in the quality and density of the color, since it is not so dependent upon the quantity of cad- mium sulphide which is added to the glass, as on the temperature used in making the glass. In the same melt may therefore appear parts which are yellow and strongly absorbent, and parts which are brownish and do not ab- sorb as well as the yellow parts. If the filters are not inspected such variations will appear in them. Because of the variation of the density of the color it is practically impossible to produce a series of filters of equal density, necessitating the setting up of a wide tolerance for each grade of density. Thus it may hap- pen when purchasing two yellow glass filters of differ- ent density, that the designated lighter one will approach the upper limit of tolerance, whereas the designated darker one will be at the lower limit of tolerance. In Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T 1 1 INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Eleven such a case the difference in the effects produced by both filters may be negligible. The idea was then hit upon to substitute green glass filters for the usual yellow glass filter. Green glass is made from a so-called true solution glass, which unlike yellow cadmium glass is homogeneous in evenness of color. The glass can be given perfect optical treatment as in the case of yellow filters, and we also have the decided additional advantage of the even distribution of the color- ing matter. The density of the filter can also be varied by the difference in thickness of the finished filter. Thus with a given melt of glass different filters may be simply pre- pared by varying the thickness of the glass. Now to return to the discussion of filters in general. If the photographer is to have but one or two filters he can obtain them in slip on mounts. Such filters are ordered in sizes according to the diameter of the lens mount. They are supplied in fixed mounts which slip over the front of the lens. Some of us more interested in the art of filtering may be contemplating the acquisi- tion of a set of filters. Such a set may be purchased complete at one time, or the filters can be acquired singly over a period of time until the desired set is complete. In this case it is advisable to choose a definite size in which all the filters purchased will be such as the 31-32 mm. round glass filters, or two inch square filters, etc. A filter holder, or one of the newly introduced combined sunshades and filter holders accommodating the size of filter chosen, is obtained. The various filters can now be acquired in one definite size to accommodate a single holder, making for greater compactness and portability. Photographers choosing a size such as the two inch square filter, can avail themselves of the varied filters employed by the motion picture industry. I am including below a partial list of such filters and the general pur- pose for which they are used to enlighten the photog- rapher in making his choice: K-l (Yellow) — For moderate correction. K-2 (Yellow) — For medium correction. Aero No. 1 and No. 2 — For aerial work and land- scapes. G. (Orange) — For full correction. 23-A (Red) — For over-correction and night effects. 25-A (Red) — For greater over-correction and night effects. 29-F (Red) — For extreme over-correction and night effects on regular panchromatic film. 72 ("Gamma") — For night effects on supersensitive film. 56 (Green) — To reduce contrast. Fog Filters — For producing artificial fog effects. Besides these there are also a large number of gradu- ated filters such as the Scheibe graduated filters, avail- able in the two inch square size. The graduated filter enables the sky and foreground to be rendered in a dif- ferent manner. The simplest one of this type is that in which the upper half of the filter is yellow, and the lower half composed of colorless optical .glass, the yel- low half blending into the colorless portion at the center of the filter. In using these filters they are adjusted so that the sky is photographed through the yellow portion whereas the foreground is recorded through the clear half. Normally, when exposing for the foreground the sky will be found to have been over-exposed, due to the vast amount of actinic light it contains, in comparison to that reflected from the objects in the foreground. When using the graduated filter the upper yellow half will correct the unevenness in exposure and improve the tonal reproduction of the sky. There are also more advanced graduated filters avail- able such as those in which the upper half is either red or orange, thereby producing darker skies. Some have the lower half yellow instead of being clear, and the upper half red or orange, enabling one to obtain cor- rection for the foreground, and at the same time over- correct the sky. Question will arise as to the XI and X2 green filters. This set is designed primarily for use with Eastman Supersensitive Panchromatic film in both daylight and artificial light. Too Much Contrast: Many photographers get too contrasty results with the film and developing formula they are using. Such films as the DuPont Micropan and Perutz Persenso are prone to produce excessive contrast when employed for the making of ordinary run of pho- tographs. In copy work or photomicography strong con- trast would be desirable, but this is not the case in pic- torial, or similar photographs. The simplest means of controlling contrast is to shorten the developing time. If the instructions of your chosen developing formula prescribe 20 minutes at a definite temperature, reduce the developing time to about 15 minutes, and you will find the resulting negative to be less contrasty. The modification in the developing time will naturally be dictated by the amount of con- trast desired. Contrast increases as the development of the film is prolonged. Incidentally, the decrease in the development time will also favor a finer grain. As development pro- ceeds density increases, and it has been proven that if a print of constant density is made from negatives of in- creasing density, the graininess in the print increases as the density of the negative increases. The shorter de- velopment will produce a negative of lower density. The New Weston Leicameter New Weston Leicameter: This Leicameter now ap- pears in a new form similar to the regular Weston Electric Meter. When pointed at the scene the meter indicates the proper shutter setting for Superpan film at f:6.3 or Plenachrome fil mat f:4.5. A guide is at- tached with which the meter shutter speed rating can be quickly converted to the proper exposure necessary for films whose speed differs from those mentioned. The meter incorporates the well known Weston Photo-electric cell, which converts the light reflected from the object into electrical energy, obviating the use of bat- teries. It is a very compact and handsome instrument and will no doubt be very well reecived. Use Lens Hoods: Despite the fact that many new lens hoods of accurate design have appeared lately, such as the Hollywood combined sunshade and filter holder, the Solite, the Counter Light Cap distributed by Hugo Meyer, etc., many miniature camera users still persist in photographing without the use of a lens hood. The lens hood deserves to be classed as a necessity rather than an accessory to be employed occasionally, especially when consideration is taken of the greater use today of speed lenses. When used without a hood the lens will pick up a large quantity of extraneous light, resulting in a negative which appears flat, and is lacking in brilliance. The faster the lens the larger is its aper- ture, and it will be more apt to pick up stray light. (Turn to Page 26) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 The Steadman Measurements in Motion Picture Exposures By F. Morris Steadman ^ 5i ff t'.-» J *4 ?4 "4 *J 1 5 3) The (1) The Mestizo of Yucatan, Mexico. (2) Flamingoes. Night Blooming Cactus. (A time exposure by electric light every minute or two as it opened in the night. (4) The Kiddies Carnival. (5) Along the Beach. HE measurements here referred to are for meas- uring: Film Speed. (In seconds of time.) Subject brightness. (In Actinos. ) Working value of lens stops. (In Steads of solid angle.) To review briefly the truths that have been explained carefully in former articles appearing in the International Photographer : The speed of a film is the exposure which it requires to secure a normal chemical effect when the brightness of the subject before the lens is one Actino and when the one Stead stop is used in the lens in taking the picture. This speed is 32, 64, 128 or 256 seconds for films now used, 64 seconds being the speed of the present Plenachrome and Verachrome films. A subject to be photographed has one Actino of pho- tographic brightness or actinicity when the light from its high-light area, shining thru an opening, creates on a small strip of film or standard tinting medium a least visible tint, in 64 seconds, when the tinting medium rests at a distance from the opening equal to one of the diameters of the opening. If the highlight area is bright enough to create that tint in 4 seconds, it proves to be 16 times brighter than if 64 seconds were required, and it, therefore, has 16 Ac- tinos of intensity. Sixty-four divided by the tint time as found by a test, gives the brightness of the area in Actinos. The one Stead lens stop is that now known as F/64. 4096 (64), divided by the square of any F/number, gives the Steads of solid angle dimension in that stop. The Steads of solid angle express the "working value" of a lens stop, just as 4 horses or 16 men express working value in a problem of labor. The F/l light cone has 4096 Steads and the hemisphere has 8 times that value or 32768 Steads. (32M, in practice.) All cones are fractional parts of a hemisphere, just as any angle is a fractional part of a circle and tbe hemi- sphere has 32M (read 32 thousand) Steads of solid angle just as a circle has 360 degrees of plane angle. The F/ numbers are cone altitude numbers or form numbers while the Steads are pure value numbers. The following table shows the value of the different cones from the form F/64 Please mention The International Photogra to the full hemisphere : The cone forms F/64 F/45 F/32 F/22 F/l 6 F/l 1 F/8 Steads of solid angle 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 F/5.6 F/4 F/2.8 F/2 F/l. 4 F/l The full hemisphere 128 256 512 1M 2M 4M 32M (32,768) Steads I will assume that the M. P. film has the same speed as the Plenachrome and Verachrome films, 64 seconds, which, as stated, is simply the correct exposure for those films when the one Stead stop is used and the subject measures one Actino of brightness. The fact that the motion picture exposures are ordi- narily 1/32 of a second makes it evident that, to take a one Actino subject correctly in that time, the lens stop will have to be as many times larger than 1 Stead as 1/32 of a second is shorter than 64 seconds, the speed exposure of the film. This standard motion picture exposure is about 2000 times shorter than the speed exposure, 64 seconds, therefore, the correct stop for taking a one Actino subject must have a working value of 2000 Steads. (F/l. 4). The key to the correct motion picture exposure is, there- fore, this 2M Stead stop, since it is the correct stop to Use when taking a one Actino subject with the regular motion picture exposure. (1/32 second). (This is a mathematical key; your lens does not require that stop.) In exposing with the motion picture camera the brighter the subject, the smaller the stop that must be employed. We have found that stop 2M Steads must be used for a one Actino subject. Therefore, if the subject is 4 times brighter the stop must be 4 times smaller than 2M or 512 Steads. The simple rule is as follows: Divide 2M by the brightness of the subject in Actinos, as meas- ured from the highlight area of the subject: The quotient is the Steads of solid angle to use in the lens in making the exposure. Should there be a motion picture film twice as rapid as the 64 second speed films mentioned, then it will re- quire only half as large a key stop to take the one Actino subject properly, or stop 1024 or 1M, which number be- comes the exposure key instead of 2M. The speed of such a fast film will be 32 instead of 64 seconds as for the other films mentioned. A practical example : The actinicity of an average sun- lit exterior is 128 Actinos, when the sun is well up from the horizon. The stop to use is, therefore, 16 Steads, as found by dividing 2048 by 128. It would be impracticable and also an injustice to the present teachers in our schools to compel them to teach photography as a special extra study and craft. But it is evidently a reproach to our educational system that students must now finish their studies and still remain ig- norant of the functioning of light. The right thing is to alter our basic idea of light intensitv and eliminate the POINT SOURCE theory from the physics books so that the study of the basic truths of light would reveal the nature of light variations in photography, in common with all the other light conditions which we experience, thus placing photography in the hands of students in the regu- lar course of study. In other words: Eliminate the error of the POINT SOURCE and let the universal truths of light take their true place in the schools. pher when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirteen The New Studio \Aijltt NATIONAL t}M MOTION PICTURE STUDIO CARBONS BALANCED These carbons LIGHT have been de- veloped especially for the mo- tion picture studio. The color composition of their light is accurately balanced to the color sensitivity of modern motion picture film. This is apparent from the adjacent curves. This light duplicates the photographic effects of daylight without using filters. Angstrom Units Curve A — Energy Distribution from the new no ompere Studio Corbon Arc Curve B — Color Sensitivity of Supersensitive Ponchromotic Motion Picture Filrr PHOTO. ACTIVE HAYS NEW 40 AMPERE STUDIO CARBON ARC NEXT MOST EFFECTIVE STUDIO LIGHT COOL At equal photograph- LIGHT ic intensity, the new studio carbon arc projects far less heat onto the stage than any other source of illumination used in the studio. NEW LAMPS have been de- TRIED and APPROVED in the STUDIO veloped to use these improved studio carbons. These lamps are silent in operation. They maintain a steady arc and provide illumination of uni- form intensity. Side arcs, scoops and spots are available. A BETTER LIGHT for BLACK and WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY A NECESSITY for COLOR NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INC. Carbon Sales Division, Cleveland, Ohio ^1££ Unit of Union Carbide [TTjB Qnd Carbon Corporation ffiK Branch Soles Offices •> New York ♦ Pittsburgh * Chicago ♦ San Francisco San Francisco Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Motion Picture Production South America May, 1934 IN By Jack Alton (A Letter from Argentine to the Editor) | HE Spanish Market, as you know, is the sec- ond after the English. I believe there are about one hundred and sixty-three million Spanish-speaking people, although many of different accents, but always Spanish. During the silent era of motion pictures this market was controlled en- tirely by Hollywood. Here and there appeared a few pictures of German origin, or a few French comedies, but the Latins preferred the quick tempo of American cutting. There were no so-called Spanish productions. There was no need for them, for a picture could be interpreted in various ways. A Spaniard saw it in Spanish. Then the talkies came and here the difficulties began. Sub- titles, a strange language, misinterpretations, wrong translations, half of the screen covered with titles — one did not know where to look or what to listen to. And on top of all never in history has Hollywood sent out so many pictures of inferior quality. And so we arrive at the year 1933. People in the Spanish-speaking countries are getting tired of the gaba-gaba they do not understand. Pic- tures are too much nationalistic. Problems, that little interest the public of South America. Managers of local exchanges of American firms beginning to com- plain. Box office dropped considerably. So the pro- ducers got their heads together and soon Hollywood sent out a few so-called Spanish talkies. A well-known Spanish studio began to manufacture them like sausages. The result? Tragi-comic. Tragic for the box office and comic for the public. It so hap- pened that the man in charge of Spanish productions in Hollywood sent out an S. O. S. for Spanish-speaking authors, actors, etc. He had no idea of the different accents ; during the most serious dramatic scenes the pub- lic burst out laughing. Why? Because one of the actors would speak in Mexican and the other would answer him in a Cuban accent. Soon appears a Spanish police- man and yells out in pure Chilean accent until the final result was that the picture flopped. Or, in another pro- duction, the leading man would make love to his senorita in pure Castillian that, to the Argentinian, is something like if they would show an Englishman making love in good old Cockney accent. Wouldn't you all laugh at it in Hollywood? Then again producers in Hollywood have little or no idea of local costumes and customs. Whenever the tango appears on the screen even in an English talkie people get a kick out of it and they love to see girls dressed up in Spanish shawls and high combs. True, here and there some of the American com- panies send the inspector down here to "study" condi- tions. He arrives with the Pan-American Airways, for he is in an awful hurry. The reporters await his ar- rival and ask him how he likes the country. He looks around on the flying field and answers in Spanish, "fantastico." They get him in a car and it being a hot day, the local manager takes him to the nearby sea- side resort, where the press is invited. The Mogul an- nounces the friendship between the United States and Argentine and his next year's program. Big applause and, while others still enjoy the imported French cham- pagne he is on his way to the flying field with the de- tailed report that some stenographer has, in the mean- time, prepared for him. He arrives in the States and reports his "studies." The next Spanish productions are even worse. The most phonetic of all Spanish accents and the most generally accepted in the Spanish world is the Ar- gentine. Also the most motion picture minded of all are the Argentinians. As may be seen from the annual report of a Buenos Aires trade paper published during the season of 1933, 404 films were shown and only a small percentage of them in Spanish. Five of them were produced in the Argentine. Two of the five, the only two that can be accepted as pictures, were produced by myself. At least, technically they were O. K. and are making money. One of the other two for a local studio and the other two on my own account, even released by myself, which for a foreigner is no easy task. When I was in Paris (at that time in the post of chief cameraman of the Paris Paramount studios) I asked the president of the company about equipment, especially about lights. He took a deep breath and with the air of a "Thinkheknows" around him, answered: "Lamps! Ha! Ha! — we have more than enough!" Imagine my embarrassment when, upon my arrival in Buenos Aires, I found the ceiling of the new studio full of reflectors of the kind they use to illuminate a tennis court at night, or a huge ballroom. I died instantly. The other day I asked a local exhibitor his opinion about last year's Hollywood product. He took as an example "The Sign of the Cross," a De Mille pro- duction. "H'mm," said he, "very poor, empty theatres. People down here don't like artistic pictures. My cus- tomers in the neighborhood like Spanish pictures," and he mentioned a local made picture. When I heard that I almost fainted. Six times he re-booked it, a picture or rather a calamity of film strips on which the patches sound like huge guns; without a story, no sets, under- exposed negatives, actors barking like dogs, something that never would have been accepted in the States as far back as 1800; the director of which would have been shot at sunrise in Soviet Russia — in other words, a crime against good taste and civilization. And this they liked. At the same time pictures like "A Kiss Before the Mirror," "The Rebel," with its gorgeous photography, "Cavalcade," the picture that went over like a million in England ; all these and others of similar quality flopped down here. They have a peculiar taste. Only ten per cent of the population have or form their own opin- ions ; of the others I can only answer with the follow- ing incident that actually happened to me. I asked a local yokel why he did not like a certain picture that was quite a success in Europe. "Read in the paper that it was no good," was the answer, and when he reads in the paper that a picture is good he swears it is marvelous. Building on my experience I produced my picture for the masses and not for the ten per cent. True, it was called everything by mem- bers of society, but in the neighborhood they are enjoy- ing it and it makes money. After all that's what counts. (Turn to Page 27 ) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T he IN T E RNATI 0 N A L PHOT () G R A P H E R Fifteen IMPORTANT to any picture ANY picture, made on any film, may ■*■ -^ prove a hit. But the fact remains that the majority of the big motion picture triumphs are being filmed on Eastman Super-sensitive "Pan' Negative with gray backing. In other words, this film seems to be an important factor in any picture's chances of outstanding success. That fact is vitally important to every cameraman and producer. Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N. Y. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distributors.) EASTMAN Super-sensitive Panchromatic Negative Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. As a Class of Artistic Craftsmen, the Cameramen of the Motion Picture In- dustry Are Considered to Be Unexcelled in Efficiency. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTION DOINGS AT COLUMBIA By BOB TOBEY "BLACK MOON," directed by ROY NEILL. Joe August is captain of the Light Brigade on this Neill thriller. His lieutenant is Dave Ragan, with Marcel Grand and Tack Andersen as Privates. Irving Lippman gets in the way as usual with his Dark Hazard (still camera to the uninitiated), Eddie Bernds gathers in the weird noises, Stanley Dunn knurses the knecessary knick-knacks (props, of course), and Eddie Blaisdell is grip. This black and jungleerie tale about the hoodoos of the Voodoos pays the kudos to a grand cast including Jack Holt, the very charming Fay Wray, Dorothy Burgess and little Cora Sue Collins, who probably gets ENTIRELY eaten up by nasty vampires or something. But don't worry about it, as I haven't read the story. I COULD be wrong. The boys have been trying to work a little black magic on the indefatigable Roy Neill, but to no avail, as he continues to work every night right up to the last gong. And that's a little tough, especially on the camera crew, what with bend- ing over all the time to get Roy's pet shots right off the ground or shooting through holes in the roof. Ragan claims two more Neill pictures would give him a physique like an angle worm, the way he has to twist and turn for weird camera angles. But it's all fun — to look back on ! R-K-0 "FIRE PATROL," directed by ROSS LEDER- MAN. Al Siegler has been truant from Columbia for some time, but he came back this month to handle the peepsight on this Tim McCoy scorcher. His fellow firefighters were Henry Freulich as operative cameraman, and Al Keller and Jim Goss as assistants. Earl Crowley grabbed the lobby dis- plays, George Cooper dished up the microphone soup, George Rhein prandled the hops — I mean dandled the cops, er, coddled the hams — oh, there I go again. You know what I mean. He wasn't the head grip, because Al Becker was. Those out among the flames were Tim McCoy, Evelyn Knapp, and Ward Bond. Tim played the man in the red tin helmet and ran in at the crucial moment to save Evelyn from a fate worse than death with a dash of arson thrown in. I was around when Ross Lederman started his big fire scenes and believe me they were the real McCoy. Heigh-ho ! Al Keller says it got so hot by his camera that he was expecting the focus-changing device to melt in his hand. SPECIAL CAMERAGRAM NEWS FLASH— Henry Freulich finally gets Big Break. Columbia has long had an eye on Henry as good timber for advancement and this month George Seid assigned him a comedy short as his initial adventure as chief cinematographer. The picture is "GET ALONG LITTLE HUBBY," directed by Ray McCarey and supervised by Jules White. This is a real promotion picture — it is Jules White's initial effort as supervisor, Columbia having just moved him up from a director's berth. Freulich has with him lack Thompson as operative cameraman and Al Keller and Jim Goss take care of the assisting. Irving Lippman transfers his Dark Hazard to this picture; Homer Planett puts forth his best artistic efforts as gaffer to help put Freulich across ; George Cooper (that blonde menace gets in everywhere) twiddles the dials ; Tommy Flood carries the torch (assistant director) and Frank Foster handles the props. Walter Catlett heads the cast of the picture and I think Catlett is stellar comedy material. He bounds around in a series of white sets that are giving Freulich a headache as regards photography, but George Seid says white sets are a great saving on developer — you just have to wave the film over it. Everyone is rooting for Henry and I'm predict- ing he will be eminently successful, because he is a conscientious worker as well as a real artist. "WHOM THE GODS DESTROY," directed by WALTER LANG. Ben Kline is peering through the blue glass — am I ashamed ; I mean the pan glass — at this one. F. M. Browne, Fred Dawson and Jack Russell give him their customary able support. Bill Fraker makes some of his 8x10 paintings-in-light for the picture, Dave Selman has returned to the lot as assistant director, by which all are greatly pleased, and Jerry Franklin also returns as script girl after an absence of well over a year. Must be Old Home Week. Walter Meins lends his brawn and Lambert Dav is Big-Ears, the mixer. I couldn't find any gaffer on the pic- ture, but Howard Robertson tells me he holds the position of chief illuminating technician. I still don't see how a cameraman can get along without a gaffer. In the cast are Walter Connolly, Robert Young. Doris Kenyon, Rollo Lloyd and a new child actor by the name of Scotty Beckett. Little Scotty "COCKEYED CAVALIERS." Authors, Ed- ward Kaufman and Ben Holmes; screenplay by Ralph Spense; director, Mark Sandrich; assist- ant, Argyle Nelson; first cameraman, David Abel; operative cameraman, Harry Wild; assistant, Charles Straumer; stills, Gaston Longet. Cast: Wheeler and Woolsey, Thelma Todd, Dorothy Lee, Robert Greig. "MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD." Au- thor, Stuart Palmer; director, George Archain- baud; first cameraman, Nick Musuraca; operative cameraman, Frank Redman; assistant, Willa.d Booth; stills, Ollie Sigurdson. Cast: Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Bruce Cabot, Gertrude Michael, Regis Toomey, Edgar Kennedy, Tully Marshall. "SOUR GRAPES." Associate producer, Myles Connolly; author, Vincent Lawrence; screenplay by Ernest Pascal; director, Worthington Minor: first cameraman, Roy Hunt; operative cameraman. Eddie Pyle; assistant, James Daly; stills, Robert Coburn. Cast: Diana Wynyard. Clive Brook, Bruce Cabot, Ada Cavell, Steffi Duna. "VERGIE WINTERS." Producer, Pandro S. Berman; author, Louis Bromfield; screenplay by Jane Murfin; director, Alfred Santell; first camera- man, Lucien Andriot; operative cameraman, Pierre Mols; assistant, Kay Norton; stills, John Miehle. Cast: Ann Harding, John Boles, Helen Vin- son, Betty Furness, Molly O'Day, Creighton Charley, Sara Haden. "OF HUMAN BONDAGE." Screenplay by Lester Cohen; director, John Cromwell; assistant, Dewey Starkey; first cameraman, Henry Gerrard; operative cameraman, Robert De Grasse; assistant, George Diskant; stills, Alexander Kahle; record- ing engineer, Clem Portman. Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Reginald Denny, Alan Hale, Reginald Sheffield. MACK SENNETT "FIGHTING TO LIVE." Producer, Sol Lesh- er; author and screenplay by Bob Ives; director, Ed. Kline; assistant, Doc Joss; first cameraman, Frank B. Good; assistant, Leo Hughes; stills, Warner Bill Crosby; recording engineer, Harry Bellos; chief grip, Ray Bouc. Cast: Marion Schilling, Gaylord Pendleton, Ed- die Phillips, Reb Russell. nearly disrupted the smooth flow of the picture the other day by finding on the set and totally consuming a whole box of ex-lax. The staff was a little anxious as Scotty was in every scene the next day, but he weathered the situation perfectly, to the disappointment of those who were hoping for a day off. Heigh-ho, another treasured theory exploded. Brownie is still struggling to lift the mortgage off the old Leica. Dawson and Russell are still struggling to lift the Leica. Ben Kline is having his troubles too. He has a lot of trick shots com- ing up later in the picture where he'll have to just about run the camera forwards, backwards, and sideways all at the same time to accomplish the illusion that is wanted. Notice all the gray hairs next time you see him. But I've seen Benny weather tougher ones than that, so be smart and don't send flowers prematurely. "ONE NIGHT OF LOVE." If you want to find out about Joe Walker and his crew you'll have to refer to my column in last month's IN- TERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. They are still working on "ONE NIGHT OF LOVE," the musical directed by Victor Schertzinger and star- ring Grace Moore with Lyle Talbot. The final scenes are being shot as I write this. Miss Moore is so enthusiastic over Joe's photography that she recently presented him with one of the most beau- tiful electric clocks I have ever seen. Now Joe will have more time between pictures. Catch on? Ouch ! The entire crew received presents of appreciation from the star. But these were not needed to win their respect and admiration, for she had it already by reason of her lovely voice, her sincere efforts and her charming personality. The complete proscenium and part of the wings and seating plan of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York were duplicated by the Art Depart- ment for use in the picture. They occupied the whole of Columbia's largest stage. Joe has been receiving compliments on the beautiful lighting effects he obtained in such a tremendous set. But Columbia is going to have to stop making these long-schedule pictures. I run out of copy. MOVII Us kids is makin' pictu There's Me an' Sam, an' Dot. 'Sides a leadin' actor, ar We got a cowboy diked Sam Simpkins is our car I holler through my me; We got Doug Fairbank ford, too, Dave Griffith isn't there Most kids' actin's kind. But when they do jest Yeh act best when the; Yeh oughto see'm put But actors is tem-per-m Each holler'd for his fav Some wanted th' "Coveri Yeh couldn't hardly hea made, So I called'm down wi they's at. An' I was a he-directo Dad says I'm full of eg But I'm strong for mad y .he ski -tall ponl I i m do; -ra te; W vcj MISCELLANEOUS Ray Fernstrom packed a Technicolor calri under his arm and on April 14 left for Eu>e His destination is Holland, where he will pto graph a travelog for Fitzpatrick. Lycka pa rm Ray! Ray Rennahan is in charge of camerasE9 Technicolor at Warner Brothers First NaSial Studios, where a series of shorts is in produpn, Associated with Mr. Rennahan is Willford Ce. Phil Tannura, one of THE cameramen of JS land, is in Hollywood for a stay of several » - Welcome home, Phil. We hope you won't be if appointed in our village. Charles Rosher has been receiving quite bouquets from the critics for his work in Twentieth Century production, "Firebrand." So many cameramen have turned nautical ing the past three or four years that the Cii tographers' fleet at Los Angeles Harbor is aw as large as the Swiss and Abyssinian navies ~ bined. Nearly all the boats are seaworthy should afford ample protection to the West while our war fleet is in the Atlantic. Harry A. Mimura, our talented young Jap* assistant, has gone to Nippon for a prolongej; journ. While there he will be engaged in ;? production work. Mrs. Mimura accompanies* Dan Clarke, who has been in Hawaii cinenog ing for M-G-M, is expected to return soon, j Len Powers is assisting Eddie Tanak; "' JtACQMAM As a Body of Citizenry the Cameramen of the Motion Picture Industry Bow to None in Point of Civic Use- fulness; Also They Have No Police Record. DM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANGLE No. 5 i MAKING rour barn-yard lot. n Sue, Hair-lipped Tim la', too, nwe got a dandy zoo. ttam-ry is a beaut; I'm when to shoot, amile, and Mary Pick- 'ell'm what to do. :' d'rector tell'm how; ' cture's sure a wow. sove got a orchestray, n i' ban' b'gins to play. elth' world they are. h th' leadin' star, aisome th' "Big P'rade," coit th' awful fuss they spine, an' told'm where TVAS THAT! Hot a crust, — s either that or bust. HICORYDON HILL. U. LAB. OPENS A Hunter, Superintendent of photography at ■Bal Studios, recently interviewed five hun- fl len and women in search of employment ioug an announcement that the Universal ")r >ry would again open its doors. ■ the aid of his assistant Claude Baldridge, h ^dividual applicant was interviewed person- determine his experience in this type of ■k Out of the five hundred applicants, Mr. I ^elected fifty; the majority of these were 1 iployees and were given first consider- iijHunter expects to double the personnel of lartment within the next few weeks. This arge his staff to one hundred and fifteen M d women. ling the interviews we had men from every ■■' apply for work in the laboratory," Mr. I said. "It is impossible for me to employ V who have not had experience in this line. irk is very scientific and a man of knowl- science is demanded to do the class of ■ me in a studio laboratory." Foi former employees of this department have ■n ,tmed as heads of departments. William '«. i ad chemist; Fred Feichter, chief electrical H ; V. E. Osborne, head timer, and Wilson "Y, ead negative developer. 'YGfapan, to select a number of independent j' release in Nippon. Mr., anaka, an old friend of Mr. Powers, built hi sound studio in Japan and was for sev- 1 >' s chief newsreeler there for the Fox Com- >'• fe also imported the first sound truck into UNIVERSAL "CITY PARK." A Chesterfield production. Screenplay by Karl Brown; director, Richard Thorpe; assistant, Melville Shyer; first camera- man, Andy Anderson; assistant, M. Santacrose; stills, Joseph Harris; recording engineer, L. E. Clark; assistant, F. Redd; film editor, Fred Perry; art director, Edward Jewell; chief electrician, War- ren Munroe; chief grip, George Robertson; chief prop, Robert Murdock. Cast: Sally Blane, Henry B. Walthall, Hale Hamilton, Edmund Breese, Johnny Harron, Matty Kemp. "UNCERTAIN LADY." Adaptation by Martin Brown and Daniel Evans; screenplay by George O'Neill, Doris Anderson and Dan Evans; direc- tor, Karl Freund; assistant, Joe McDonough; first cameraman, Charles Stumar; stills, Fred Levy. Cast: Edward Everett Horton, Genevieve To- bin, Paul Cavanaugh, Renee Gadd, Mary Nash. "HALF A SINNER." Stage play by John B. Hymar and LeRoy Clemens; screenplay by Earl Snell and Clarence Marks; director, Kurt Neu- mann; assistant, Archie Buchanan; first camera- man, George Robinson ; stills, Roman Freulich. Cast: Berton Churchill. Joel McCrea, Sally Blane, Mickey Rooney, Russell Hopton, Theresa Maxwell Conover, Alexandria Carlisle. "BLACK CAT." Directed by Edgar Ulmer; first cameraman, John Mescall; stills, Roman Freulich. Cast: Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Jacqueline Wells, Lucille Lund. "I GIVE MY LOVE." Story by Vicki Baum; adaptation by Milton Krims; screenplay by Doris Anderson; director, Karl Freund; first camera- man, Charles Stumar. Cast: Wynne Gibson, Paul Lucas and Louise Lattimer. "LOVES OF A SAILOR." Original screen- play by Dore Scharey and Lewis Foster; first cameraman, George Robinson. Starring Chester Morris and Slim Summer- ville. MONOGRAM CARR "BLUE STEEL." Producer, Paul Malvern; author and director, R. N. Bradbury ; assistant di- rector, Glenn Cook ; cameraman, Archie Stout ; stills, Joe Walters ; recording engineer, J. Stransky ; assistant, Jerry Roberts ; film editor, Carl Pierson ; art director, E. R. Hickson; chief electrician, Edward L. Cox. Cast : John Wayne, Eleanor Hunt, George Hayes, Yakima Canutt, George Cleveland, Ed Peil, Lafe McKee, George Nash. "MAN FROM UTAH." Producer, Paul Mal- vern ; author and screenplay by Lindsley Parsons ; director, R. N. Bradbury ; assistant, Glenn Cook ; cameraman, Archie Stout ; stills, Joe Walters ; re- cording engineer, J. Stransky ; assistant, Jerry Roberts ; film editor, Carl Pierson ; art director, E. R. Hickson; chief electrician, Edward L. Cox. Cast : John Wayne, Polly Ann Young, George Hayes, Lafe McKee, Yakima Canutt, George Cleveland. ALL ABOUT ME And as for your noble scribe (if you will not indict me on two counts of flattery) I've been amused a little hither and some more yon. Had a lot of fun a few days ago photographing a gag with Skeets Gallagher and one of those vaudeville horses that can do jigs and handsprings and other marvelous! antics. No, folks, not an india-rubber pony, but two pepole under a horse's skin. I often have had occasion to reflect in my observation of human nature that there didn't really seem to be enough horses heads to go around, but this was the first horse I've ever worked with that could take himself apart and put himself together with the utmost nonchalance. He behaved most amaz- ingly. C'mon up sometime and I'll show you the film. Another epic in my youthful career occurred this month. At a premiere I photographed I actu- ally saw and photographed the elusive Marlene Dietrich on one of her rare excursions into public places. I had never seen her before. Now there remains for me but the desire of Yahbut — to see Mae West. And I'll probably c'm'up and see her at the wrong time ! — Bob Tobey. PARAMOUNT "SHE LOVES ME NOT." Director, Elliott Nugent; assistant, Ewing Scott; first cameraman, Charles Lang; operative cameraman, Robert Pit- tack; assistant, Clifford Shirpser; stills, Frank Bjerring; recording engineer, Harold Lewis. Cast: Bing Crosby, Miriam Hopkins, Kitty Carlisle, Edward Nugent, Lynne Overman, War- ren Hymer, Judith Allen. "CLEOPATRA." Screenplay by Young-Law- rence; director, Cecil B. DeMille; assistant, Cul- Ien Tate; first cameraman, Victor Milner; opera- tive cameraman, William Mellor and Cooper Smith; assistants, Guy Roe and Robert Rhea; stills, Ray Jones; recording engineer, Harry Lind- gren. Cast: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Ian Keith, Gertrude Michael. "PRIVATE SCANDAL." Screenplay by John- son-Gollomb; director, Ralph Murphy; assistant, Raoul Pagel; first cameraman, Milton Krasner; operative cameraman, Harry Hallenberger; assist- ant, Irving Glassberg; recording engineer, A. W. Singley. Cast: Phillips Holmes, Zasu Pitts, Mary Brian, Ned Sparks, Lew Cody, June Brewster. "IT AIN'T NO SIN." Director, Leo Mc- Carey; assistant, James Dugan; first cameraman, Karl Struss; operative cameramen, George Clem- ens and Hatto Tappenbeck; assistants. Fleet South- cott and Donald Sargent; stills, Don English; recording engineer, Harry Mills. Cast: Mae West, Roger Pryor. John Mack Brown, Katherine De Mille, John Miljan, Stuart Holmes, Edward Gargan, Warren Hymer. "DOUBLE DOOR." Director, Charles Vidor; assistant, Russ Mathews; first cameraman, Harry Fishbeck; operative cameraman, Fred Mayer; as- sistant, Neal Beckner; stills. Sherman Clark, re- cording engineer, R. G. Wisdom. Cast: Mary Morris, Evelyn Venable, Kent Taylor, Sir Guy Standing, Anne Revere, Colin Tapley. "THIRTY DAY PRINCESS." Screenplay by Edwin J. Mayer; director, Marion Gering; assist- ant. Art Jacobson; first cameraman, Leon Sham- roy; operative cameraman, Daniel Fapp; assistant, Milton Bridenbecker; stills, Elwood Bredell; re- cording engineer, J. A. Goodrich. Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Cary Grant, Edward Ar- nold, Vince Barnett. UNITED ARTISTS "OUR DAILY BREAD." Producer, King Vidor; original story by King Vidor; screen adaptation, Elizabeth Hill; director, King Vidor; business manager, Isadore Bernstein ; production manager, Vernon Keays; assistant director, Ralph Slosser; dialogue director, Mortimer Offner; cameraman, Robert Planck; assistant cameraman, Reggie Lanning; stills, Madison Lacey; casting, Ray Hanson; technical director, Lloyd Brierly; film editor, Lloyd Nossler; sound engineer, Rus- sell Hanson. Cast: Tom Keene, Karen Morley, John T. Qualen. Barbara Pepper, Addison Richards, Ma- dame Boneita, Harry Holman, Harold Berquist, Marion Ballow, Alma Ferns, Lionel Baccus, Har- ris Gordon, Bill Engel, Frank Minor, Henry Hall, Frank Hammond. Lynton Brant, Henry Burroughs, Harry Brown, Harry Bradley, Captain Anderson, Harrisan Greene, Si Clogg, Rav Spoker, Eddy Baker, Harry Barnard, Doris Kemter, Florence Enright, Harry Semels, Sidney Miller, Nelly Nichols, Alex Schumberg, Bud Ray, Bob Reeves, Ed Biel, Jack Baldwin and Three Milsfield chil- dren. ANDRE, THE MAGICIAN If Andre Barlatier makes any more trips to Catalina to make background shots I'm going to present him with a commodore's cap. He's prac- tically a commuter. He does get off the ocean occasionally, though. The last time I saw him he was photographing a dozen extras in theatre seats with a black velvet drape in back of them, and said he was going to make the dozen extras look like a few hundred all unbeknownst to them. I suspect the NRA could sue him. Enzo Marti- nelli assists Andred in all his feats of legerdemain which probably makes Enzo an accessory after the fact. You figure out what fact. — Bob Tobey. Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 Newsreelinc on the Golden Gate Bridge By WARREN M. McGraTH, Sound Technician The Newsreel men make an attack on the New Golden Gate Bridge. Frank Vail getting a wide angle shot more than 500 feet up. [Because of lack of space it was impossible to print all the fine shots supplied by Mr. McCrath. They will appear later with another article by this author. — Editor's Note] FRIENDLY sun has begun to bore big rifts in the early San Francisco fog as the broad white bulk that ferries across the Golden Gate gives its warning blast and slips silently into the enveloping mist. Aboard, a group of newsreel cameramen peer anxiously into the west where the rap- idly disappearing fog is reluctantly giving up the ghostly outline of the mighty north tower for the world's largest span — the Golden Gate Bridge. From here, it's 580 feet, made diminutive by fog and distance, appears ridiculously inadequate for the bur- dens it is to bear. This illusion is quickly lost, however, when driving around a bend in the road the enormity of its mass and height bursts upon you. Involuntarily your eyes are drawn upward where they come to rest on the tiny specks of humanity becoming increasingly visible through the thinning fog. Right there is where your author becomes aware of a frigid sensation in the region of his feet. Getting by the gates of the construction camp is worse than crashing the well-known wrestling matches. All sorts of credentials must be shown before we are finally admitted to the main office. But once inside the comforting influence of solid walls the old backbone straightens up again — that is, it does until we are issued a funny kind of hat resembling a French trench helmet but made out of a composition material designed to be a little lighter in weight. Inside the hat is the legend, "HARD BOILED HAT," and I suspicion that they are designed to shield us from falling rivets, etc. I decide not to ask, however, lest my suspicions be con- firmed. Looking upward from the gigantic base of the struc- ture reminds you of a modern Tower of Babel with its hundreds of workers building their structure clear up to the sky and vanishing in a whirl of fog. I rightly surmise that I will witness an object lesson in the well- known daring exhibited by these news cameramen on stories such as these. As for myself, well, I've decided that good Old Mother Earth has been a pretty good friend this far and I ought to kinder' stick by her. But maybe I spoke too soon for it becomes evident that my services are required "upstairs." In a little basket-like cage in which we are solidly squeezed, we are swiftly Please mention The International Photogra raised to the highest level that it can take us, from there we make our precarious way up a spidery ladder to a sort of skeleton framework known as a "creeper truss." The creeper truss is located about forty or fifty feet from the top and is raised by a system of cables as the height of the structure is increased, thus affording work- ers a maximum of safety. Safety, did I say? Maybe so, but it sure seems a long way down. Local angles completed on the creeper truss, alpine climbing becomes the style and here we see daring matched with the best that the steel workers offer as our camera- men climb over the uppermost parts of the raw frame- work to catch those angles that pass so fleetingly before you on the screen. Look at the accompanying still shot of Cameraman Jim Seebach fogging some of Movie- tonews' film clear out on the end of a section member and remember that the first stop dowm is 580 feet away. Do I thank my stars they don't want sound up there — you're telling me ! Those two hours atop the great tower saw enough exhibitions of pure guts that cannot be adequately de- scribed in many articles like this — but our picture has just started and as it is noontime we knock off for lunch. For the sake of posterity I submit this shot of Camera- man Irby Koverman guzzling a bottle of 98 proof cow- juice to "fortify himself for the afternoon's rigors." And now for the shots that are to "make" the pic- ture. Arrangements have been made to have us hoisted clear up the front of the structure to a point over the top and then to swing us around the tower, then back around and down the front again. For this, the equip- ment is loaded into a light skip (or platform) attached to the derrick on the top of the tower by a series of cables. A guide rope between the skip and a lead cable running the height of the tower is attached to keep us from spinning. All in readiness and the cameras securely fastened to the floor of the skip, the "hoist away" signal is given and we start our trip heavenward. It's an inspiring sight to see level after level with their components of riveters, bucker-ups, etc., pass like a modernistic kaleido- scope before you. The magnetism of the scene even enthuses our hard boiled "button pushers" as from all angles the cry echoes "great shot." And so our modern pher when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T h e INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E R Nineteen Tower of Babel, soon to rival the Woolworth Building in height slips before us. Lee — we're over the top now! Every vestige of fog has disappeared and San Francisco lays before us like a bas relief map. Across the Golden Gate lies Fort Point where workers are frantically striv- ing to regain those precious months lost when severe storms played havoc with their trestle work. Two huge masses of concrete mark the progress of the great cable anchorage there. Behind us lies beautiful Marin County with the grim coast defense guns of Fort Baker pointed determinedly out the Golden Gate. Is this an omen? Below — oh, far below, we can see mere dots getting into bug-like vehicles and driving off. To our right, a pearl in an emerald setting, is Alcatraz, formerly a military prison and soon to become a Federal Penitentiary. Secure in the belief that our little skip swung away out there in the air is as safe as a trolley car, my attack of cold feet has left me and so I can be excused if at first I didn't notice the faint cries from the tower. Looking down, my heart takes a mighty leap and lands in the region of my tonsils as I see the guide rope hang- ing limply from the skip. Almost instantly we start a slow spin which gathers speed. Right then and there I decided that this type of sound could best be monitored through the headphones. It would have taken a crow- bar to open my eyes. Boy, oh boy, what a wonderful "dry" jag you can get from a spinning skip. Here, our derrick engineer proves himself equal to the emergency as with skill approaching genius he lowers us gently into the tower where the guide rope is fastened once again. Hundreds of feet of raw stock pass through the gates to become permanent records (and perhaps bore a blase audience) of another achievement of mere man in the making. Can I be excused, in this age of daily miracles, if I pause to marvel that enormous projects such as these can be conceived and planned in every detail before a single piece of the structure is fabricated? Everyone is satisfied with their stuff and the lower away signal is given with the added command "and hurry up" given by Jack McHenry. Almost instantly he re- gretted them thar words for our engineer took him literally and our descent was made in nothing flat. Well, it's all over but the shipping. The weather held out just long enough for the story and we speed along the Marin shore through the thick fog rolling in to catch the last ferry that will bring us in in time for the air express plane leaving that night. Just another assignment completed and we are free to turn our thoughts to the next story — a picture of trained cats! But I'll gamble with you that our newsreel cameramen tackle it with the same enthusiasm that was so evident on the bridge story — because — well, not because it's all in a day's work but perhaps it's sort of part of the make-up of these fellows to get the most out of the old box no matter what's in front of it. The use of Fred Westerberg's CINEMATO- CRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES will make your job worth more by saving time and assuring accuracy. $1.00. WE . a . cook* v-c .- *ardo; "Zooms" Us way , . ...~«s(ul films o* " f^he petto" + BELL * HOWELL c O M P A ig49 Larchmont A> . Yo,k; , 1 films of recent m » ~ SonsWestudtostnt &chro ^f? \1 roOR-e^P nrrected for PrlCC ' Seal lengths from Seven tocai £5, and pnees- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 Why and What Is an Assistant Director By Carlisle Jones HE "big noise" on any motion picture set is the assistant director. Only men with strong voices are fitted for this job. Studio visitors often go away with the im- pression that the assistant director they have seen at work on a set is the most important man in the company. This is not so, of course, but it is not as much of an exaggera- tion as it might seem. William Koenig, studio manager and active produc- tion chief of Warner Brothers-First National studios, re- ceives more applications from men who want to be assist- ant directors than from any other one class of people. Many seem to believe that such a job is an easy back-door entrance into the ranks of the directors. This isn't true. More cutters and writers than assist- ant directors become directors. The successful assistant director is too valuable to his studio to be lost by promo- tion. He is the straw boss of a picture. His work starts as soon as the story is set, long before the cast has been fixed upon definitely and sometimes before even the director himself has been named. He holds a position of responsibility not unlike that of the stage manager in the theater. He is the liason officer between all departments and crafts in the studio from the start of the preparation of the picture to its final cutting. The assistant director is responsible for the manage- ment and the co-ordination of the directorial staff, which may include as many as forty men and women. He has charge of the cast and the extra players who may number hundreds or even thousands. He gives or relays all orders. In simpler language he is the "big noise" on the set. The "big noise" is also the big money saver for the producing company. He is the budget officer for the com- pany with which he works and at the Warner studio he attends a daily "budget" meeting in Koenig's office every working day. Upon his ability to plan ahead, to anticipate trouble and to circumvent it, the eventual profit or loss of a pic- ture often depends. No wonder he has a reputation for being hard and sometimes unreasonable. On the other hand a good assistant director must be tactful and able to deal with temperamental people. He it is who must ask Ruth Chatterton to work late at night, if that necessity presents itself, or to get up early in the morning to start for location. Miss Chatterton's well known dislike for early rising makes this task no easier. If Edward G. Robinson has been called to the set and an unavoidable delay in production leaves him idle for two hours — hours in which he might have bought a new chair for his new house — it is the assistant director who has to placate him. Not all famous players are punctual by nature. Ruby Keeler, who loves to oversleep, must be checked by tele- phone each morning during ffie making of one of her pic- tures, to make sure that she will be on hand when needed. If the assistant director forgets to do that and Ruby for- gets to arrive on time it is the assistant director who gets the blame — not Ruby. Often the assistant director has an assistant. Some- times, with special pictures when a great many extra peo- ple are to be handled, he will have two or even three assistants. But the responsibility is all his. Good assistant directors are the scarcest article in Hollywood, according to Mr. Koenig, who has hired and fired hundreds of them. He recruits them from all con- ceivable sources. Since they are only indirectly concerned with the actual filming of the picture, they are not neces- sarily of the "artistic" type. More often they are chosen for their ability at handling difficult people and their capa- city for getting things done. Recently Koenig garnered one promising young assist- ant director from the ranks of the nation's football heroes. He is Russ Saunders and he finds use for all his football training in his new job. Most recently he worked with Director Ray Enright on the picture "Hells Bells." It was filmed during the football season and played by people who are without exception football fans. Russ had an easy time with that picture. Many assistant directors are tied, unofficially, to one director. Gordon Hollingshead, a veteran in the business, always assists when Mervyn Le Roy directs. For many years Hollingshead was the assistant director on every picture which his friend, John Barrymore, made. Barrymore himself wrote a public tribute to the assist- ant director not very long ago. "An assistant director," Barrymore said, "must have the tenacity of a bulldog, the fighting spirit of a Jack Dempsey and the diplomacy of a Talleyrand." Most of them are hoarse voiced from years of shouting at milling crowds of inattentive extras. Most of them are good fellows, too, who hunt out and help those on a set who need help most. Theirs is a troubled existence and they invariably have a deep seated sympathy for the under- dog. Important people have gone out of their way to sing the praises of the studio property man, a modern miracle worker who never admits defeat. But until recently the assistant directors have gone almost unnoticed — even in Hollywood. A few months ago a place was made for them in the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and their real importance to the industry was partially recognized. Some of the best known director-assistant director com- binations in pictures include : Michael Curtiz and Frank Shaw ; George Fitzmaurice and Hezi Tate ; Clarence Brown and Charlie Darian ; Howard Hawks and Dick Rossen ; John Stahl and Scotty Beal ; Alfred E. Green and Bill Cannon. There is one misapprehension commonly in circulation about assistant directors. They do not, as a rule, carry the director's favorite cigars about in their pockets. That job is reserved for the ever-active property man. Almost every property man has one ambition. That is that he may become, some day, an assistant director. They generally make good ones too, according to William Koenig, the studio manager. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-one A CINEMATOCRAPHER LOOKS IN ON TELEVISION By Ray Flinsky r seems that all this started in 1885, when an inventor by the name of Nipkow built an ap- ,. paratus called the electrical telescope, which employed the same theory used in television. During the succeeding years and up to the present time we have been waiting for someone to bring out some- thing by which we could see for ourselves and in our own homes the wonder of television. But this someone was always just around the corner. The nearest we could get to television was to listen with the aid of our own short-wave set, to the buzz saw noises and the voice of the announcer. After listening for several months to the local station W6XS and hearing the familiar titles of our own Holly- wood motion picture productions, my curiosity got the best of me and I took the advice of the announcer and sent for the data on their receiver. This information was published in THE INTERNATIONAL PHO- TOGRAPHER, March issue. The next step was to gather in the material called for in the diagram. This caused a temporary delay. I found that the cost of the Neon lamp, motor, scanning disc and the numerous other gadgets that were required would put a dent in my income tax report. So I looked around the attic, the neighbors' basements and into the telephone book until I found that by changing the hook- up of the diagram a bit and by using a varied assort- ment of parts, I could at least start operations. Among the parts were a Wurlitzer player-piano motor of un- certain age and speed, a "J" Slipper clutch removed from an ancient developing machine, and a 3-watt General Electric Neon glow lamp, this latter being a maiden aunt to the television Neon tube. For the scanning disc, I first made a plan on paper, from the directions of W6XS and transferred the mark- ings onto a piece of cardboard advertising a well known cigarette. This card I procured at the neighboring drug store. I then punched the holes with a push pin tapered to the correct sizes. The four above mentioned articles, not including the push pin, constituted my televisor. I might add that the televisor is to the television set what the loud speaker is to radio. My receiver contains six type 24 tubes and a type 45 power tube, which are a bit older in the realm of radio than they would care to admit. The resistors and by-pass condensers are of good quality and were obtained by a major operation on the family radio. After assembling this heterogeneous supply of parts, the reader can well imagine my joy (as well as amazement) to see the indistinct, yet discernible figure of a man, dressed in white knickers, swinging a stick and then run- ning like he was in a great hurry. I later discovered that he was a baseball player, but never did find out if he was the Big Bambino or not. After making a few adjustments, the picture came in more clearly and the succeeding programs were received with gratifying results. On a recent visit to W6XS, I looked at pictures re- ceived on a television set built by Mr. Harry Lubcke, chief engineer of the Don Lee Television Station. These were about 6x8 inches in size and of a very fine quality. Although the image is only one-third that size on my receiver, I have the satisfaction of knowing that anyone with an interest in radio and access to a small workshop can have a television set at a very low cost, without waiting for the man around the corner. It's off the Press and Going Fast! FRED WESTERBERG'S CINEMATOCRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES At Your Dealers All Over the World or Address INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. 1605 North Cahuenga Ave.. Hollywood dfl^H ^Bih "ArtReeves n Automatic Speed Control Motor. Especially designed RIGHT SIDE UP tocusing tube. Twin-fidelity optical unit. Tachometer. Shuttle SILENCED. SINGLE SYSTEM SOUND Built into your Bell & Howell Camera Write for particulars. Cables: ArtReeves Francais Deutsch Espanol Svenska Motion PicTurl/^quipmemTCo. |Td. 6A 5 NORTH MARTEL AVE- CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES Phone: WYoming 4501 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, USA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 An All Around Compact Camera P^tey~l ANY photographers, both professionals and the serious-minded amateurs, like an all around compact camera. This camera should be versa- tile enough to do several kinds of work. Such a camera can be had in an ordinary 3% by 4*4 or 3^4 by 5y2 roll and plate camera. I have a 3J4 by 5^ Zeiss Ikon fitted with a 6 inch Zeiss Tessar and I use everything in it from the motion picture film to the full 3% by 5j/2 plates or roll film. *P«IL XO, IQ34- HOLiyVOCDCALiF. (Make It Yourself) By Paul R. Harmer 24 gauge plate. This void must be taken care of by gluing a piece of velvet or black paper, just the width of the film, to the camera back. A small piece of black leather should now be glued to the top and bottom of the lens side of the aperture plate. This is to stop any light leaks when the lens is open. Paint the plate with black lacquer and polish very carefully where the film will touch it, because a small scratch will spoil a picture. QtB=^n 1 i-K-» 1 1 — P-l r | : i IKKOFCMIM SIDEi/iCW SUN SHADE FILTFR HOLDER This same lens serves all purposes by using a 4^4 incn supplementary attachment and a 9 inch supplementary attachment. There is no need of making any change in the camera at all in order to use these various films ; the only requirement is a few accessories, easily carried in the kit, or installed before going on a trip. I will show you exactly how I handle motion picture film and then you can use your own ideas about the other size roll films. Making an aperture is the first step. I used 24 gauge brass plate, just the size of the aperture in the camera shown, 3j4 by 5j4 inches. In the center of this plate is the aperture for the motion picture film 31/32 of an inch by 3 inches long. I chose this size because I wanted to get all the picture my 4^4 supplementary attachment would permit and yet allow big enlargements for 1 1 by 33 inch panels, also this size aperture gives me a full figure 2 feet wide and 6 feet high at 10 feet. If a smaller aperture is wanted it is easy to mask off from the inside. The next step is to put the film guides on the aperture plate. This, too, is of 24 gauge brass and overlaps the top, sides and bottom; allow \y% of an inch for the width of the film, then sweat solder these guides securely to the aperture plate. This aperture plate should now fit in your camera snugly. Careful fitting is necessary, a small screw or bolt can now be placed in each of the four cor- ners, to hold it fast. If you are afraid of injuring your camera a short piece of adhesive tape will hold it in place, as the aperture plate fits snug and can't move either in or out because of the guides and the back of the camera. The next step is to set the roller guides in place, using a straight edge; see if the aperture plate aligns with them. This is very necessary. Your film must run straight and remain in a perfectly flat plane. The motion picture film is only six one-thousandths of an inch thick and lies down below the surface of the !«D The take up spools are made of hard wood, a hole is drilled 15/32 of an inch in diameter. Place the piece of wood on a lathe, centering the hole in the chuck and turn the piece down to 1-3/16 in diameter. Cut them off about Y2. inch long. They will now slip over the axle of the regular spools which any photograph finishing shop can supply. Place them in their holders in the camera and carefully line them up with a piece of film. They should fit snugly to the film, so you can use a black paper back- ing for your film and have daylight loading. Try a piece of old film and count the number of turns on the film take up. You will soon see how many turns are necessary to bring your pictures up out of the way. The next item to consider is the focus of your camera ; very few folding cameras are properly focused by the scale which comes with them from the factory. Use a piece of ground film or ground glass ; be sure it is in per- fect position, then make your own focus scale. Make a separate scale for each lens combination. I prefer to do this at night. I use a carbon light. One of the wires to this light is cut and bared, just a small piece of copper screen about one inch square is fastened to each of these bare ends, then take a glass of water and add some salt. By moving these two little pieces of screen toward each other the carbon light brightens and moving these screens apart the carbon light dims. Focus on the filament and use a strong magnifying glass. The better you do this job, the better your pictures will be. For infinity focus on a distant electric sign or a star. A suitable view finder must be had. I used a white wire on the finder that was already on the camera, as you can see in the picture. If you wish to use small plates it is easy to take a thin piece of sheet metal and cut to the size that fits in the plate holder. If you wish to use smaller cut negatives, cut an aperture in this sheet metal, but leave about half an inch in the corners. Cut a small slot in this piece so Ple7se mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T h e I X TKRNATIONAI. PHOTOGRAPH E R / went x three the corner of the film will fit into this, then slide the sheet metal and film into the holder — and there you are. Try tin's with an old negative and you'll see how easy it is. 1 have used 2l/2 by 3^2 plates in an 8 by 10 still camera by this method. This is "Telephoto De Luxe." The next accessory needed is a sun shade and filter holder. This is made of a single piece of thin sheet metal 26 or 28 gauge and the layout is similar to the layout which I have given here. The lens opening is 2 inches in diameter, which will just fit around the outside of my Zeiss Tessar. The matt and filter holder slides in and out and is made to accommodate 2 inch square filters and matts. When a person can afford to have only one camera and that not a real expensive one, this combination will serve very well. In this article 1 am endeavoring to help the serious- minded photographer who needs two or three small com- pact cameras, but cannot have them for financial reasons. After all has been said, it is good pictures you are trying for — and a good picture is good photograph), in anybody's camera. MINIATURE PRICED MINIATURE CAMERA By Keit AN i of us are unable to own a miniature camera on account of the cost of such equipment. But I Ik /£jH rnere 's a new camera on the market that per- l^2»iuS haps has been overlooked as it is not advertised to use motion picture film. This is the Norton camera, selling for four bits, and which can be used with motion picture film very nicely. If one has the necessary extra spools and the red paper it is a simple matter to wind up negative stock and use it the same as the film made for the camera. However, this makes possible only six exposures. The better method is to discard the usual long strip of red paper and use two short pieces, attached to each end of the film, similar to the method used in the cine-kodak. This makes possible a 30 inch strip of film, good for about sixteen pictures. The film must be attached to the 9 inch strip of paper as shown in the illustration or else the leading end of the adhei /*t? <--y^ tno>-t ^Pe-^ H La Bar made by masking off to give the regular 1" x 1 \ ''/' shows that the one with the sprocket holes looks distinctly larger. No camera is complete without a lot of gadgets and so we have them for our MPM camera. Although it is possible to make portraits without much fuzziness, yet a portrait attachment can be used with good results. This is one lens from a pair of ten cent store spectacles, focal length 20 inches. And for that copying, a six inch focus magnifying lens selling at 10c makes it possible to get down to six inches from the object. And those night pictures. These require a time ex- posure. This may be done by drilling a small hole in the camera in the position marked, and inserting a wire. The shutter opens when the lever is pushed down and closes when the lever comes back up. Remember that the hole goes through only the outer shell, and must be drilled with the lever up. One or two minutes gives a good pic- ture at night. The writer offers to wind up some spools, which is really quite a job, in exchange for some short ends. Please, mister, have you got any ends today ? film will catch on the aperture and pull off from the leader, which is exasperating, to say the least. It is necessary to effectively seal up the red window at the back of the camera. A little sealing wax on the inside does the trick. Now, you say, how will we know how to turn up the film? If one is too lazy to make the "clucker", to be described, it is necessary to use the fol- lowing table of number of turns of the spool : After threading, to bring film up to starting point, 1 1 turns. Thereafter, 1#, \]/2, \l/2, V/4, \JA, 1}4, 1^> 1- h 1. 1, 1, 1, 1. This schedule gets out of hand at times and requires a secretary or bookkeeper for best results. So the clucker was invented. This consists of a piece of copper wire, fastened to the camera near the lens, and extending back and engaging with, the perforations on one side of the film. As we turn the spool, this makes a snapping sound and it is only necessary to count nine snaps, and the deed is done. Or if you prefer, one end of the aperture is masked off ^ of an inch and then we give 8 snaps, mak- ing our negatives the same size as other miniature cam- eras. Of course the perforations could also be masked off, but there is no point in doing so, as a comparison of pictures made with sprocket holes showing and pictures HOLLEICOUD By the makers of ROLLEIFLEX Rolieieord represents the most remarkahle achievement in present day camera construc- tion for it uniquely combines the advantages of a precision mirror reflex camera of the Rol lei flex type with exceptionally moderate price. It is equipped with a high speed focusing finder lens which shows a sharply defined image in actual film size and a powerful magnifier which aids you in ob- taining ultra-sharp focus. It is also equipped with an eye-level finder and is compensated for parallax. It has a single lever compur shutter with speeds up to 1/300 second and is provided with a Zeiss Trio tar f :4.5 lens. It is staunchly constructed and of elegant all metal finish. Takes 21/4x3*4 inch roll- film giving eleven 21/4x21/i" pictures. Literature on request $62.50 BURLEIGH BROOKS 127 WEST 42 STREET NEW YORK Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. 1 W( nly-four T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 WITH CAMERA AND COMPASS IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA (Continued from Page 5) two sphinx-faced Carib sons awaiting the photographer. I was just about to snap them when two more sphinx- faced Caribs ran up to get in the picture. The next attempt was interrupted by another diminutive member of the family who swooped down on us from nowhere. All efforts to induce smiles failed, so we photographed them as they were. Strange what a zest these natives have for being pho- tographed. In Grenada several made appointments to have their pictures made and at the appointed time ap- peared all washed and starched. On one occasion, half a dozen black youngsters swam out to the boat and teased to have their pictures made. I lined them up on the forward deck, brought them into focus and said: "Ready!" In an instant they snapped into the pose of boxers, fists raised, jaws set, like so many Jack Johnsons. We may have to sell the camera to send back all the pictures we have promised. For standard light conditions in the tropics we used diaphragm stop f:9 and a shutter speed of l/60th when using orthochromatic film, using a larger stop according to our estimate of light conditions. We followed the standard of f :16 and shutter speed of l/60th when using panchromatic film under average light conditions. We found the orthochromatic films better suited to our use than the panchromatic. Light conditions in the tropics are so consistently favorable that we found little need of the greater sensitivity of the panchromatic emulsion. On a small boat which has no space for a darkroom and chances of getting film light-struck are so great we felt much more secure with the orthochromatic film. Thanks to our Leica, the short months of blue water, cocoanut trees, and interesting people are not only memo- ries. We have several hundred good pictures to carry us back to the sunny green islands which shall long have a place in our hearts. And fortunate it is that we have our pictures to carry us back, for the sturdy ship which saw us through six months of adventure is no more. When two days away from Miami, Florida, which was to be our final destination, our keel stuck a submerged coral reef two miles off shore and forty miles from the nearest town — on the north shore of Cuba. It seems a bad dream as we recall the events of that fatal night — ■ the grating of the lead keel on the coral, our frantic efforts to kedge The Seal back to deep water, the salvag- ing of our instruments, our Leica, and our precious nega- tives, sleepless hours spent on a deserted island covered with grotesque mangrove trees and infested with mos- quitos. A bad dream to be sure, but a true one. The splinters of The Seal's smooth white sides have taken their place on the beach beside the bleached remains of other good ships which have met a similar doom. The other night we saw our little ship again in all her glory, close-hauled, decks awash, sails stiff with the strong trade wind. The Seal was once more roaring through Boca Del Drago between Trinidad and the coast of Venezuela as did Columbus long years ago. She was alive again! A dream, you ask? No, we were quite awake. We were seeing our projected pictures for the first time upon a screen. And yet it was a dream. A dream which carried us back to endless stretches of blue water and green islands, and experiences which we shall ever treasure. Call on your dealer anywhere for Wesrerberg's Cinematographer's Book of Tables or write The International Photographer. Please mention The International Photogra UNIVERSITY IN MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION (Continued from Page 9) One sequence, a touchy situation in which was in- volved a love scene which must be interpreted by the audience in only one way — the right way, was shot two entirely different ways and to a select preview group these two versions were shown side by side, at the point it occurred in the story. Then it was up to the pre- view group to judge which love scene was most appro- priate to the theme of the story, and to the fact that the picture was a university production. In one instance the story called for the girl to be riding horseback through the forest, when suddenly the horse was to step on a sharp stone (supposedly to be lodged in the hoof) and rear up, almost throwing the girl to the ground. This was done by using a double, in this case our young technical director, who donned the girl's costume, put on a wig and rode the horse, making him jump around furiously. This scene was photographed in a long shot, and when cutting, a close-up of the girl's face as if she were having a difficult time with her horse, was inserted in the middle of the action. This gave a perfect illusion and no one ever suspected that the girl herself did not ride the horse in that scene. In photographing the "chases," as they are so appro- priately called in Westerns, we used three cameras simul- taneously from different points of view. This eliminated about one-half of the galloping which would ordinarily be necessary if only one camera were used. For in- stance, if two horses were desired to be shown gallop- ing in a continuous piece of action, three cameras were set up at various vantage points along the course, each one getting an entirely different angle of the same piece of action. In the first sequence, when the scenes were cut in side by side, one never suspected that the gallop- ing he saw was repeated three times in succession, as the angle at which they saw the galloping was entirely different each time, therefore insuring non-recognizance of the action duplicated. A sad occurrence during the filming of the picture was our temperamental "star," an indifferent bullfrog. The script called for a frog in a rain barrel, both of which were to be shown in a raging storm. The se- quence was to denote a lapse of time, the first shot show- ing the frog swimming around in the barrel half full of water, the next shot showing the barrel now overflow- ing and the frog climbing over the top of the barrel. Well, that seemed easy — when we read the script. But, as in most cases, doing and contemplating doing, don't always correlate. It was decided to shoot this sequence at night, and so cameras and lights were set up, as were rain barrel, artificial foliage and a very realistic over- head rain system. Two bullfrogs were obtained from a nearby frog farm, one to be used as a sort of "spare," in case we wore one out. This extra precaution must have been intuitive, as that is exactly what happened; we not only wore one frog out, but he got loose and ran away, while we were inside having a midnight mor- sel. We had already spent three hours and several patient dispositions in attempting to get Mister Frog to do what we wanted him to do. The idea was to get him to swim on top of the water at just the right time, but every time the camera was ready to grind, he would casually sink to the bottom, and there peer up at us with great indifference. Then as soon as he (probably) saw that we were either shifting lights or giving the rain system a rest, which by the way was drenching all of us, he would shoot to the top and paddle around for all he was worth, quieting down and continuing to the bottom as soon as we were ready to shoot the scene. This went on for hours, and as we mentioned before, with one frog worn out and no results on the film as yet, not even with all the pleading and jabbing of sticks pher when corresponding with advertisers. May, 19J4 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-five toward that stubborn frog's anatomy. So we dragged out the "spare'' frog and started all over again. This time, after several more hours of downpouring artificial rain and increasing natural cold, we finally succeeded in photographing the desired effect. Then after rushing to the "milk bottles," we developed a test on which we were sure of a miniature masterpiece. To our terrific dismay, and even agony, we discovered that the camera had been loaded with positive stock instead of negative ! What a blow. But there was nothing to do but shoot it over again, this time making certain that the assistant cameraman wasn't thinking of some remote subject while loading, as probably was the case before. But it is just these kinds of occurrences, coupled with hard work, endurance and stick-to-it-iveness which go to make up an amateur picture which gets finished. I lay particular stress on that point of getting finished, as in my own experiences, and in my knowledge of what many of my fellow amateurs have done, I know how easy it is to start something and not finish it. Whatever you do, no matter how easy or how hard, if you start something, finish it. That is the factor around which is laid all other exponents of the non-professional film. All other attributes of the amateur film company, which may be fertilized by the intangible idea of making a movie, are thrown to the winds if what is started is not finished. In our own case, only through the proper selec- tion of cast and staff; people who were professionally minded and whose only thought was to do things pro- fessionally, was the finished picture possible. Artistic souls and inspired genius, unless suppressed by level- headed and persistant organization, will not usually go very far in completing a motion picture, professional or amateur, as has certainly been proven. Amateurs, to my way of thinking, should not attempt to work out their own formulas on how pictures should be created. After all, the professionals must know what is best or they wouldn't be professionals. Watch the way Hollywood does it, for there is the ultimate to which all amateurs should look for the solving of their problems. The Leading Cinematographers of the Motion Pic- ture Industry, The Men who know Make-up, to insure the best in photography, insist on the use of NUCHROMATIC MAKE-UP FOUNDATION wood // Holly Compounded of the finest and purest of ingredients and certified colors. DE LONG MAKE-UP STUDIO CLadstone 8140 5533 Sunset Blvd. DOUBLE MATTING (3 PATENTS. 1932) w. ILLIAM SHOTS S Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. Phone CLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue WORLD MOTION PICTURE THEATERS TOTAL 60,347 There were 60,347 motion picture theaters operated throughout the world at the end of 1933 of which 41,822 were equipped for the exhibition of sound pictures, ac- cording to a study by N. D. Golden, Specialties Division, Department of Commerce. The United States is shown as first — ranking among all countries in the number of motion picture theaters of record with 19,000, of which approximately 15,000 are now operating and equipped for sound, the study shows. The regional distribution of motion pictures throughout the world, as recorded by the study, shows Europe rank- ing first with 29,693; the United States, 19,000; Latin America, 5,270; Far East, 4,639; Canada, 1,100; and Africa and the Near East, 645. FAXON DEAN HOLLYWOOD'S BARGAIN SPOT Individual Attention — Courteous Service — Sensible Prices Prompt Service on Rentals Might or Day CAMERA SUPPLY CO., LTD. Phone GL 2404 Nite Phones : No. Hollywood 1271 — CLadstone 6583 Cable Address "CAMERAS" All Codes 1515 Cahuenga Avenue Hollywood, California RIDDY CERAUS Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six 1 Ix INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 11) A Big Catch: Taken with a Leica Camera by Oscar Soetbeer. When a lens hood is used it will prevent light that is not used in making the negative from entering the lens. Tn my own work I never make an exposure unless a hood has been previously slipped over the lens. There are occasions when the hood is left at home. However, with a small piece of pasteboard and a few bits of ad- hesive plaster a lens hood can be improvised in a few minutes. Use a lens hood for every "shot" you take, and you will notice a decided improvement in your pic- tures. The Super Ikomat Camera: This new camera, fea- tured by Carl Zeiss, Inc., introduces one of the latest advances in roll-film cameras in that it is supplied with an accurate range finder which is connected to the lens. The range finder is of the usual military type ; that is two images are seen, the lens is turned until both images co- incide, at which time it is critically focused. The Super Ikomat uses the standard 8-exposure 214x334 roll-film (No. 120, B-2, etc.) and a removable metal mask allows either 8 exposures 2 3/16x3^ inches or 16 exposures 2I/«xl 11/16, to be made. The latter size negative makes this camera a member of the minia- ture class. Optical equipment includes a Zeiss Tessar f :4.5 10.5 cm. lens in a focusing mount. The shutter is the Com- pur, enabling exposures from 1 second to 1 /250th sec- ond, and T. & B. The new 12 second delayed action feature is also included. The camera is of the usual folding type retaining the drop bed and self-erecting front feature. The body is all metal covered with grained black leather. A Note on Printing Papers: Hard papers have the tendency of bringing out graininess in the negative, mak- ing the general use of soft printing papers desirable in many cases. Of course if the negative possesses extreme fine-grain characteristics this is of no import. In cases where the negative is prone to produce a grainy print, it is advisable to use a soft paper compensating for the low contrast it produces by using a contrasty paper de- veloper. The Super Ikomat Camera Featured by Carl Zeiss, Inc. OBITUARY Ernest L. Wallace, prominent patent attorney, well known and popular in the motion picture and oil indus- tries, passed away, April 18, at his home, 111 West Sev- enth Street, Los Angeles. Mr. Wallace was fifty-five years old and died sud- denly of a heart attack. He is survived by wife and family. Carl Meister has gone "to join the in- numerable caravan which moves to that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death." On the night of April 18, while romp- ing with his baby, he suddenly called to his wife that he felt ill and he had time only to place the baby safely on the couch before he slumped upon the floor and immediately passed away. Brother Meister was for many years operative cameraman at Universal and he was popular with both his employers and his fellow craftsmen. To his bereaved wife The International Photographer extends assurances of pro- foundest sympathy and sorrow. May, 1934 T he INT E RNATI 0 X A L P H 0 T 0 G R A P H E R / wenty-seven MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AMERICA (Continued from Page 14) Production in the Argentine There is no company at present that is equipped to produce pictures of the required quality. The company I was with before lias an old Hell & Howell camera and a Debrie developing machine, but has no technicians and needs badly to be reorganized. Several local people are experimenting in an effort to invent a sound recording machine. This would be the same as if I went out tomorrow on some deserted island trying to invent a vehicle that will run without horses. And they still spend thousands of dollars on tests and tests and tests, instead of wiring ARTREEVES for a complete set. But they will not listen. The country is beautiful, has the well known Tango and is rich in old legends which could easily be adapted for screen purposes. The possibilities are enormous, but not until foreign technicians will take the matter in their hands and with foreign organization will there be local industry. The gorgeous countryside lends itself wonderfully to background of even a Hollywood made picture. Some of these days some smart producer will realize the gold mine that no camera has touched as yet. Production cost would be considerably lower than in the States. Of a fairly good picture, Buenos Aires and its province would and should cover the negative cost. Then there is all of South America, Spain, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, etc. BI-POST LAMP NOW MADE SIZE IN 2000- WATT The Incandescent Lamp Department of the General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio, an- nounces the adaptation of the bi-post base construction to the 2000-watt, 115-volt G-48 bulb lamp. The application of the bi-post design principle to this popular motion picture studio and spotlight lamp insures a more rugged lamp and one in which the relative position of the base and light source is determined entirely by the limits of metal working accuracy. The list price of the lamp is $13.00. Its maximum over-all length, from shoulder of prong to center of fila- ment, is 5 inches, and it has a life of 200 hours. Note: The new 2000-watt G-48 bulb lamp in bi-post base is shown at right in the attached photograph, with the conventional screw-base design at left. MOTION PICTURE SOCIETY OF INDIA (Kitab Mahal, Hornby Road, Bombay) In response to the requests from overseas manufacturers, the proposed Photo-Cine-Radio Exhibition and the first Motion Picture Convention, April 1934, organized by the Motion Picture Society of India, have been postponed to November-December, 1934, in order to enable such manufacturers, Societies, Associations and others inter- ested in the Motion Picture Industry to participate more effectively in the Exhibition and Convention. Ready NOW The Cinematographer's Book of Tables For Professional and Amateur By FRED WESTERBERG Fabrikoid Binding $-|00 Size 4!/2 x 7 inches 52 Pages of Condensed Data at Your Finger Tips THE CINEMATOCRAPHERS BOOK OF TABLES If Your Nearest Dealer Cannot Supply You Send to THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 SMALL FILM-IANA (Continued from Page 6) taking it except from the position of objects in the pic- ture which he knows to be vertical or horizontal. This peculiarity permits a number of strange effects, the most common of which is that of a man walking up the side of a building, made simply by constructing a section of the side of a building in a horizontal position and mak- ing the man walk along it normally. It is also valuable in creating certain psychological effects resulting from the unusualness of abnormal camera angles. The screen is the film artist's canvas, and on it he can put any subject he wishes, can re-arrange this sub- ject by choosing a particular camera angle and lighting arrangement, and compose it into a pleasing picture. He has the advantage over the painter, however, for in the same space he can immediately follow one picture with another and this with still another, and so on, without at any time the screen being blank, thus creating a com- bined effect which is not possible in any other pictorial art form. With this succession of moving visual images the film artist can readily build up any effect he wishes. He does not even need to regard continuity of time and space — he can jump from prehistoric times into the imaginary future and back again, or travel from the earth to a distant planet, all in a fraction of a second. The camera can likewise jump from a distant shot of an object to a full close-up without any intervening time — a feat which certainly cannot be accomplished in real life — or it can be moved from one place to another gradually. It is even possible to show two entirely separate events, which may have taken place at widely separate times and places, at the same time and on the same screen by means of double exposure and other trick effects, or to cause these separate events to dissolve one into the other without any abrupt change. The film artist can slow up motion to produce a lazy feeling or to analyze a motion too fast for the eye to follow ; he can speed up motion to produce the feeling of activity or to analyze motions too slow for the eye to perceive, as the opening of a flower ; he can reverse motion to create a comical effect or assemble broken parts into a whole ; he can stop motion suddenly at any point to note what is happening at that point. A scene can be dis- torted, diffused, or thrown out of focus at will to pro- duce numerous psychological effects. In short, the film artist has at his disposal a variety of effects which is found in no other art form. The limitations of the medium are in reality charac- teristics which form the tools for the creative artist. A thorough knowledge of these characteristics and how they can be most effectively used will open an entirely new field for the amateur cinematographer. I have intended here merely to introduce the cine-amateur to this field, and in future articles I will go more fully into the many aspects that make up motion picture art. For the amateur who wishes to go deeper into the subject I suggest, besides books on photographic com- position, three outstanding books: "FILM MANU- SCRIPT" by Pudovkin, "THE FILM TILL NOW" by Paul Rotha, and especially "FILM" by Rudolf Arn- heim, which I have used as a source for some of my material. These books may be a bit advanced for the amateur, but he cannot help but profit by reading them. They may even seem quite radical in some respects, but this will set the amateur thinking along new lines and get him out of the rut of mediocre, uninspired pictures. They will make him appreciate more fully the medium with which he is working, and realize its great poten- tialities, as yet almost untouched, thus helping and in- spiring him to make pictures of which he may well be proud. B & H ANNOUNCES A NEW FULLY AUTOMATIC SOUND AND PICTURE CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION PRINTER The Bell & Howell Company has created a "new fully automatic continuous sound and picture production printer," which is now being exhibited and demonstrated to the Motion Picture Laboratories on the West Coast. This apparatus, which is the result of several years of experimentation by the engineers of the Bell & Howell Engineering and Research Laboratories at a cost of over $200,000, permits the simultaneous printing of both the sound and the picture records, and its fully automatic operation suggests its comparison with the automatic screw machine which has practically revolutionized machine shop practice and its economics. The following will outline some of the revolutionary features of this ma- chine: 1. FULLY AUTOMATIC OPERATION: After being set up, the printer does not need any further attention except for threading it with raw positive stock. It runs in either direction so that the negative, after the initial threading, does not require further handling nor inspection. 2. LIGHT CHANGES: These are secured through the use of a film traveling matte running between the printing light and the printer aperture. A positive and instantaneous change of the light intensity without alteration of its spectral characteristics is thus ob- tained for each scene and, if desired, for any portion of any scene. The film traveling matte is inclosed in a dust-proof compartment to- gether with the negative, and the handling of both (after the original setting) is therefore eliminated regardless of the direction in which the machine is run and the number of prints that are to be made. 3. PRINTING LIGHT: Standard 250-watt, 110-volt, T-20 mono- plane filament bulbs on prefocusing base are used. 4. PRINTING SPEED: A speed of sixty feet per minute is recommended. The machine can be especially adapted for higher speeds if desired, in which case lamps of higher wattage up to 500 watts can be used if necessary. 5. PRINTING VALUES: The densitometry control of the printing light values is absolute for a predetermined development "gamma" which insures at all times the exact duplication of print densities for both the picture and the sound records. 6. CONTACT: Intimate contact of the negative and positive films is secured by air pressure. Two cushions of filtered compressed air are formed at both back faces of the films at the printer gate. This eliminates frictional contact of the films with the printing aperture and the anerture gate. 7. REGISTER: An improved main sprocket similar in design to that of the B & H Model D Printer insures perfect registration within maximum tolerable limits of film shrinkage. 8. CLEANLINESS OF FILMS: Combination compressed-air and vacuum units cleanse both the negative and the positive film as well as the film traveling mattes before entering and after leaving the printing apertures and prior to winding at the take-up reels. This double action assures perfect cleanliness. 9. TEMPERATURE CONTROL: The heat generated by the printing lamps is dissipated through an ingenious cooling system, which insures the proper temperature for all parts of the machine as well as a comfortable temperature for the printing room irrespective of the number of machines in operation. The cooling system also insures dust-proof lamp chambers. 10. LUBRICATION: A fully automatic lubricating system sup- plies the proper amount of oil to all working parts of the machine every two minutes. A minimum of personal attention is therefore required. Special precautiotis have been taken to prevent the escape of the lubricating material, especially at film-contacting or any ex- ternal points. 11. DRIVE: The machine is positively driven throughout. All film guide rollers are of the dry ball-bearing type. The motor is of the synchronous type insuring constant speed. 12. BAFFLE LINES: A special printing head is provided to print (simultaneously with the picture and the sound records) two black baffle lines (or light shields) between picture and sound record and between sound record and film perforations. The key-number printing for both sound and picture records is done at the main heads. The above mentioned main features of the apparatus suggest by themselves the utmost accuracy and duplication of results in "release printing," as well as considerable economy in operation due to the almost complete elimination of the necessity of constant personal attention and time-saving factor which it involves. Several protection features have also been incorporated, rendering the printer entirely "fool-proof" and eliminating all possibilities of wastage. The machine cannot function if any of its parts are not in per- fect order. The accidental "burning out" of a lamp, breakage of film, or any error in threading will lock the machine or stop it automatically, if the accident occurs while the machine is operating. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. May, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOCRAI'H KK Twent v-nine CYCLES OF LIGHTING Much has been said about picture cycles. We have had costume, mystery, gangster, sex and many others. Now we are back to costume pictures once more. It has been said that this is typical only of the motion pic- ture industry and that other fields of art and science do not follow the same pendulum swing. How about the styles of furnishings, the clothes that we wear and the very food that we eat ? All of these things seem to fol- low very well defined cycles. The reason for this is that human beings demand change. At the present time we are starting on another cycle in lighting. For a time, sound limited us to the use of one type of equipment. Our method of working during the early days of sound pictures made that single type of equipment adequate. Now we are expanding into greater cinematographic fields again and our tools must be varied to meet the changed conditions. Arc spotlights and searchlights have found their way back to universal use and newly developed broadsides are finding their niche in our "Hall of Flame." How far this return cycle of arcs will go depends entirely on the changing conditions, but we do not stand still. BON VOYAGE, GEORGE MITCHELL George Mitchell, the genius of Mitchell Camera Corporation, is grooming his beautiful sea-going yacht (George calls it a boat) for a cruise to the South Seas. This trim craft is 89 feet long and is equipped with everything necessary for a deep sea voyage of unlimited cruising radius. Tt carries a full complement of men skippered by Henry Kruise and with Charles Hubble, past commodore of the Southwestern Yacht Club, as navigator. Dr. Mur- ray will join the cruise as physician in charge. Mrs. Mitchell, with George, Jr., will accompany her husband and Victor Milner and family will be guests on the trip. The ship will sail from San Pedro harbor as soon as Mr. Milner's current picture now in production at Paramount is completed. The itinerary will include the Marquesar Islands, Papeete, Hawaii, and other interesting places, ending at San Pedro the middle of September. Mr. Mitchell will take a camera to make a record of ICTER^ in Daylirn*~F^ Scen^s- ,a F^cus.and many vmsr «FF«cts n t r-?i ■ i Georcje H. Scheibe ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS 1927 WEST 78th ST. LOS ANGELES. CAL. BARBARA FRIETCHIE released in 16mm. An 8-reel Ince production with Edmund Lowe. The ideal picture for 16mm. library use. HOLLYWOOD FILM ENTERPRISES, INC. 6060 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood California Be sure this trade-mark is perforated into the main title. WE WANT 35 mm. travel, fight, thrill and curiosity films from all parts of the earth. We Sell All Kinds of Raw Film at Reduced Prices. CONTINENTAL FILMCRAFT, INC. 1611 Cosmo Street Hollywood, Calif. CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone CRanite 9707 Hollywood, California DR. G. FLOYD JACKMAN. Dentist Member Local No. 659 706 Hour Hollywood : 9 to 5 First Nat'l BUI-.. Hollywood Blvd. GLadstone 7507 And by at Highland Appointment the trip, but there is to be no laboratory aboard — no hard work. Something New ... In Motion Picture Developing THE DAVIDCE DEVELOPING PROCESS 1,000 feet of film developed in only 50 gallons of developer. Make your pictures live on the screen by developing to the maximum of gradation. No directional effect; greater color separation. Sound track developed by this method has cleaner, sharper striations, which produces clearer and better sound. Also made in combination units to take either standard or 16mm. film and in small units for amateur use. For full particulars write to ROY DAVIDCE FILM LABORATORIES, LTD. 6701 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, California Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Max, 1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALE OR RENT — Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free heaa, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — 40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. ienses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — fine grain nnishing — -courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave.. Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS LIKE NEW— BELL & HOWELL 5-WAY SOUND PRINTER, Moviola Model C or D. Hughes 4-wheel inflated tire dolly, two Holmes sound projectors. Cheap for cash. Box XYZ, I. A. T. S. E., 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. MITCHELL MOTOR— 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange 9treet, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — -advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device, Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. Tames T. Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St., New York. WANTED TO BUY I WANT THE BEST USED CINE-KODAK SPECIAL I can buy for the lowest price. Will pay cash. Barnes Living Picture Company, 330 North Austin Blvd., Oak Park, Illinois. WANTED TO BUY — Used Leica or Contax cameras and any kind of accessories for above cameras. Must be cheap. Box XYZ, International Photographer, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. To the Cameraman We supply fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film at .02^ per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS KOMPANY 6510 Selma Ave., Hollywood, Calif. GL. 0276 30% to 60% CASH SAVINGS on 16 mm. and 35 mm. Cameras, Projectors and Accessories Write for Bass Bargaingram. Specify size of apparatus interested in. For over 22 years Value Leaders of the nation. Your copy is ready. Write for it. BASS CAMERA CO. 179 W. Madison St. Chicago, III. Motion Picture Settings and Equipment Special or Standard Any place — any time. Phone or write PAUL R. HARMER 1630 Redcliff St. Morningside 11921 Hollywood, Calif. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction ; or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly wood. AN AUDITOR AND ACCOUNTANT of thirty years' experience with large companies wants small accounts with individuals or business houses. Wide experience in opening, closing and keeping books, in auditing, and in income tax procedure. Wishes to assist individuals in opening their own books. Advice and assistance on filing income tax returns and income tax regulations. Very reasonable rates. CHARLES D. FELSTEAD, 2010 Sixth Avenue. Telephone: PA-6768. MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING — If interested in aviation, see Roy Klaffki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Earl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY. Exclusive agency for three leading Holly- wood makers of trick lenses. Apply for prices and demonstration, sale or rentals. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Maw 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH IK Thirty one CONTROLLED REFLECTION By Milton Moore The art of cinematography has ad- vanced in the past three years through a startling evolution. Screen results of today are undeniably far superior to any results heretofore obtained. Art now as always is dependent upon science to produce the perfect medium of expression. Eastman, Dupont, Agfa have given us a film almost perfect in mono- chrome reproduction. Bell & Howell and Mitchell have given us the cam- eras ; Bausch & Lomb, Zeiss, Cooke, Astro have contributed the optical units; Mazda and National Carbon the lights. With all of these perfected elements at his command the artist cinemato- grapher is able to reproduce on the screen a picture which varies but slightly from the one he has painted with light in front of his camera. Until recently scant attention has been given to the science of controlled reflection of sunlight. The cinemato- grapher has continued to use the aluminum paint and "gold" type of reflector which was designed for use with the old "Ortho" and old "pan" negative stock. At the request of Silas Snyder, edi- tor of The International Photogra- pher, the writer recently carried out a series of practical experiments with the new Helio-lite reflectors. The re- flectors were used in research work of a highly technical nature, under con- ditions and requirements which de- manded the utmost efficiency of all contributing elements. These reflect- ors were used in color photography where a normal requirement of vol- ume and intensity by reflection were indicated. Results gave definite evidence of the inventor's claim that Helio-lite reflec- tors reflect the solar spectrum with unusual fidelity- Printed colors, closely, approximating the solar spectrum, when illuminated by reflection only, reproduced in the same bands as the same colors photographed in direct sunlight. The importance of full scale reflection in color photography can scarcely be over-emphasized. It is sufficiently apparent in the exquisite results obtained to be truly a controlling factor in exact color reproduction. In black and white research the reflectors showed a like efficiency. The panchromatic film color sensitivity characteristics no longer require the use of a "gold" reflector to build up exposure, by intensifying that partciular wave length in reflection. It has been proven in the experiments conducted under exacting requirements and by several thousand feet of exposed negative that the full wave band reflectors produce a picture of the proper high light and shadow balance and rich in tone values in the softly illuminated shadows. A minimum volume of reflected light only is required. Since all color values are actinic to the present pan film, it is B e autif ul Indoor Photography EASY AND INEXPENSIVE WITH THE LEICA CAMERA AND THE NEW SUMMAR 50 mm. F:2 SPEED LENS No longer need you neglect this most delightful field of photography — the making of pictures at home. LEICA has stripped it of all mystery, guess-work and costliness. LEICA'S new Sum- mar 50 mm. f:2 Speed Lens combines high speed with amazing clarity and accuracy. It gives you sharp pictures without costly lighting equipment. Built-in Range-Finder coupled with lens gives you correct focus instantly. Focal Plane Shutter gives you speeds from 1 to 1/S00th second. 11 Interchangeable Lenses (including telephoto, wide angle, etc.) adapt the LEICA to all kinds of photographic work. LEICA photos made by Clarence Slifcr, Holly- wood, SUMMAR f.-B lens wide open, l/20th second exposure. Booklet. Write for free sample copy of LEICA PHO- TOGRAPHY (only monthly magazine devoted exclusively to LEICA pic- tures, regularly $1.00 a year. Free to registered LEICA owners). E. LEITZ, Inc. DEPT. 512 60 East 10th Street New York Western Agents: Spindler £r Sauppe, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif. Model F with f:2 SUMMAR Lens not necessary nor desirable to produce normal exposure in one color band only, rather it is desirable to use the least intensity and the greatest diffusion possible in order to produce the soft shadow transparency necessary to secure the cameo-like close-up. In the hands of the amateur 16 mm. cinematographer, the Helio-lites should prove a source of much pleasure, in the professional like results he may obtain. He need illuminate only the shadow side of the subjects to the brilliancy which the eye finds pleasing. He need not "allow" anything for imperfect reflection. This rule applies of course to film having a panchro- matic color sensitivity characteristic. The inventor of Helio-lite reflectors did not by accident discover the new substance with which the reflectors are coated. The material is the result of research entered into for the express purpose of producing such a medium. Mr. John Q. Roscoe, member of the famous family in scientific research, is responsible for the Helio-lite development. The results obtained are thoroughly substantiated by spectrum analysis and other scientific tests. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty-two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER May, 1934 or tocos By Otto Phocus GOING TO- ON HIS- This little study in photochromolithography icas captured between scenes by MacJulian and catches Bert Longnaorth sitting on his "burro" (!) That you should not serve wine with the hors d'oeuvres. So I have been told. That Bob Martin posts cards from Budapest, that "all's well." That you should serve Chablis with the fish. If you catch one. That if the Communists seize other people's "prop- erty", I have my eye on a swell red head. That when Vic Fleming went to war, in 1917, Doug Fairbanks gave him a wrist watch and a bedding roll. That when I signed up in the same war, I "Hocked" my watch on account of a "Bent" roll. That Paul Perry and Bob Miller are getting some great stuff at Saigon, Dutch East Indies. That in a recent article Producer George White says — Get a good cameraman, that's most important — treat your crews right. That he discovered this on his first picture. Smart? That Mickey Whalen reports: A director wanted to shoot some close-ups in the studio with artificial light. The Producer said: "This is a super production. Don't use anything artificial." This month we will hold a contest for the purpose of finding out whether or not anyone reads this page. For the first 500 letters received at this office, supplying the missing words to the above title we will send at once, six subscription blanks for the INTERNATIONAL PHO- TOGRAPHER. These blanks when properly filled out and accompanied by the necessary cash will be accepted by the office in order received. The rules for the contest are very simple. Letters over 5,000 words will not be considered and the Judges will be selected promiscuously. All entry's must be in this office not later than January 1, 1936. A suggestion. Going to heaven on his mule, is not the title. A well known star did this recently and it was rumored that some of the people working with him wished he had gone in the opposite direction. We hardly believe this though. Di DO YOU KNOW That Phil Tannura has returned to Hollywood for a visit after several years abroad. That he should be made an Ambassador of Good Will by the British Producers as he is sure a booster for them. That Ray Wise is a splendid actor. See Esquimo. That Dr. Floyd Jackman (659) has been advertising in the International Photographer since March 1929, (Second issue), and has looked more cameramen in the mouth than any other looker in the mouth. aiv of a Modem Pepys, with apologies to O. O. Mclntyre, the ' Londom Symphony Orchestra, and don't forget to rack over. By Francis (Skippy) Burgess. N.O.W.O.R.K. Up and out before dawn— and by skates to the "Trois Petit Enfants" for breakfast on the cuff— did tip my hat on the way to George Mitch- ell George Washington, and George V, also Virg. Miller and my zaney— and to breakfast on my favorite dish of G filters garnished with parsley— whistled to Greta Garbo and we fell to arguing over the origin of the word Status Quo. Home by fire escape to dodge the landlady, and to slit my mail — receiving invitations from Joan oi Arc Toan Blondell, Joan Crawford and John Arnold, to join them in a game of Catch-as-catch-can. Then to answer a pleasant long dis- tance call from Howard E. Hurd, his voice as clear as if he were calling from Hollywood. In the evening slumming with Sol Rosen- blatt Al Smith and Dewev Wrigley. Later supping with Bernard Shaw, Louis B. Mayer and Eddie O'Toole— Swam home in my B V.D.'s — did catch pneumonia and hell from my Zaney. And to read Who's Who from cover to cover and backwards, and so to find my bed. THINGUMABOBS — I once walked thru a fog in London, so thick that it was impossible to read a newspaper 20 feet away — I also visited every Studio in Hollywood, and they all said no — Jack Dempsey is a dead ringer for Ted Sparkuhl — If they chewed the same tobacco, Leon Shamroy and Johnny Mescal could pass as brothers — Ernest Lubitsch plays the Harmonica when taking a bath — One word description of Alvin Wyckoff — President. There is something about the name Wookey that suggests Wednesday — Nothing as embarrassing as working on 1-A and running out of film on a "boom" shot. THOUGHTS WHILE STROLLING — Wonder if that cop on the corner of Hollywood and Vine can repeat the Declaration of Inde- pendence?— Always an abundance of umbrellas around Cahuenga and Hollywood on rainy days — Saw the "Three Little Pigs" sixteen times, and will go again if I can get some more passes — Mentioning of "Alice in Wonderland" reminds me of Lewis Carroll the Showman — Gary Cooper's name begins with the seventh letter of the alphabet — Larry Ceballos staged the dance numbers in "Frankenstein" — The Four Marx Bros, shave only when they have to, which is every day — Babe Ruth sleeps in the nude, yet denounces nudism — I once knew a Cameraman that had to get up in the morning and go to work — Nothing as beau- tiful by night as London, Paris or Berlin — Nothing as up and down as crossing the Atlantic in rough weather — Am intrigued by the color and design of the new $100 bills — It is estimated that over 500 members of the camera profession read trash like the above with their grapefruit — You have, no doubt, heard of wars to end wars — Gangster pictures to end gangster pictures and putting cameramen to work — And with this thought in mind and a bottle of wine under my belt — ■ I wrote this column to end columnists — I hope that it serves its pur- pose— Thank you. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Why must G-E scientists know about SHADOWS? A. Harsh shadows produced by bare lamp B. Soft shadow created by lamp in reflector Tt HESE three illustrations bring out, simply, three basic facts about shadow formation. Picture A shows the harsh, sharp shadows produced by a concentrated light source, such as a bare lamp. Picture B shows the softer shadows created by a some- what diffused light source, such as that same lamp in a reflector. Diagram C illus- trates the principle that the sharpness of a shadow depends upon the distance of a light source as well as upon its size . . . and hence that the sharpness of a shadow re- mains unchanged, provided the diameter of the light source is proportionally increased or decreased as the distance from source to subject is in- creased or decreased. Cinematographers are familiar with these basic prin- ciples about shadows and with their several corollaries . . . and with scores of refinements of them gained from long, practical experience. The sharpness of a shadow depends upon both the distance of a light source and its size Why, then, is it important for G-E laboratory experts to be grounded in the fundamentals? Because, by being well versed in the basic principles of shadow formation and of the whole art of cinema- tographic lighting, these engineers can work more in- telligently with you in creating new lamps for motion picture needs. Likewise, they are better able to help you make full use of the many G-E Mazda lamps already available. Studios from coast to coast recognize the advantages of this, as well as of dependable lighting, by using G-E Mazda lamps for all their lighting requirements. General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, O. GENERAL |p ELECTRIC MAZDA LAMPS MITCHELL SOUND CAMERA England Follows Hollywood in recognition of MITCHELL leadership Six new Sound Cameras have been shipped within the last THIRTY DAYS to one of the GREATEST BRITISH STUDIOS Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 I HOTOGRAEHER TH YEAR HOLLYWOOD JUNE, 1934 VOL.6 NO. 5 CENTS A COPY Leave it to the Fans to know THE BIG SHOW when they see it! Cartoon by rollie tothero OTION PICTURE ARTS % AND CRAFTS R«. U.S. PAT. Off- Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45™ STREET NEW YORK CITY PLANT • • • PARLIN, N.J. SMITH & ALLER LTD. 6656 -SANTA MONICA BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CAL. THECffllPTRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, JUNE, 1934 No. 5 Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Earl Theisen and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BY THE TRAIN LOAD - - - 2, 5 & 18 Contributed by The Solka Magazine A CAMERAMAN AMONG THE LEPERS - 6 By Max DuPont IN THE REALM OF TRICKS AND ILLUSIONS - - -8,9,10 By Earl Theisen DANTE'S INFERNO HAS NOTHING ON THIS! - - - - 12 & 19 By Paul R. Harmer AROUND THE WORLD ON LOCATION ------- h By Robert W. Miller THE CAMERAGRAM ----- 16 & 17 EARL THEISEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTE BOOK - - - - 20 & 29 By Earl Theisen KODAK HONORS BUILDERS - 21 16 MM.— CONTINUITY IN AMATEUR PICTURES - - - - 22 By Walter Bluemet MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING ------ 24 By Charles Felstead HOLLYWOOD AND LONDON - - - - 28 By Philip Tannura CLASSIFIED - - 30 LARGEST PHOTO MURAL EVER MADE ------- 31 Contributed by Century of Progress OUT OF FOCUS 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California 80-Qgg5S> SERVICE ENGRAVING CO Mr. August Wolfman, Editor of our Depart- ment of Miniature Camera and Photography, whose work in this magazine has attracted international attention, is taking a vacation this month, but he will be with us in the July issue, as usual, with an extraordinarily fine article on "Tricks in Enlargement." Among the attractive features to appear in the July issue of International Photographer are special articles by Lewis W. Physioc, Karl A. Barleben, Milton Moore, etc. . . . Charles Felstead, Walter Bluemel, Earl Thei- sen and Paul Harmer will entertain and in- struct in their own inimitable styles, while several new names will also appear. • Two new articles to which the attention of our readers is directed are, one on the beginnings and evolution of miniature pho- tography, and one on the history of lens making. • Mr. Charles Boyle, Out-of-Focus editor, will tell about the development of the famous Bucklebird camera. Meet Mr. Earl Theisen, Associate Editor, International Photographer. INTRODUCING MR. TOTHEROH The wonderful cartoon which ornaments the front cover of this issue of The Inter- national Photographer was done by Mr. Rollie Totheroh, for more than twenty years chief cinematographer of the Charles Chaplin Film Corporation. Mr. Totheroh is good enough in his cartooning to command space in any publication, as his ideas are original and his style is something quite his own. The cameramen are proud of him both as cartoonist and cinematographer and The International Photographer is most grateful for his con- tribution to this issue. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June. 1934 Everyone everywhere in Kodak Park is enlisted in an unrelenting fight against seemingly inoffensive enemies — a speck of dust too small to be seen, a variation of temperature, a dim ray of light entering where it does not belong. The rolls of brilliant white baryta coated paper coming off of this calender must be physically perfect and chemical- ly pure, so as to take the extremely sensitive emulsion later applied. Purity and precision are imperative, for a microscopic speck of dirt might later cause an unwanted freckle on some photographic portrait or spoil a snapshot of a child in some entrancing pose. Please mention The Internationa! Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. T It e I N T K R N A T I O N A L PHOTOGRAPH E K 7 hr,-r Good Housekeeping— in Trainload Lots < A Tribute to Kodak and to the Immaculate) "There is more to any industry than cogwheels and chemistry; than energy and engineering, than money and markets." (From The Solka Age, Published by Brown Co., Portland, Maine) ITH these modest printed words, visitors at Kodak Park in Rochester, New York, are in- troduced to an industry in which machines and humans work together to produce the magics of photograph}. One sees projects and products almost literally "hewn from the future by research and far- sighted planning," and stands in awe of the unbelievable orderliness and easy quiet with which this huge plant operates. The Eastman Kodak Company's largest factory — com- posed of eighty buildings on four hundred acres of land — is unique in its extreme cleanliness on a large scale. The personnel of many thousands, immeasurable brain power, abundant resources are concerned in an unre- lenting fight against the photographic industry's enemy — impurity. A speck of dirt too small to be seen, the slight- est variation in temperature, a ray of light penetrating a darkened room might cause loss and trouble and, most important, a momentary deviation from the uniform quality of product that users of photographic materials have learned to count on. This, then, is the story of a great industry largelv motivated by an extraordinary purpose — to avoid dirt or contamination in any form that could affect film or photographic paper. Purity of raw materials is no more necessary to per- fect photographic products than cleanliness of surround- ings and a well-regulated manufacturing technique. Everything in the House of Kodak, therefore, is im- maculately clean. Exhaustive testing of raw materials and of materials at every stage of manufacturing is a commonplace here. The urge for purity begins with the surroundings of the plant, with the very air that lies over the buildings. It is found in the laundered clothing of workmen, in the frequent vacuum-cleaning of buildings, in the con- Purity takes on a new meaning the moment raw materials enter the plant. The "beater" preparing the pulp to be made into photographic paper is lined with white tile; all parts are kept polished and spot- lessly clean, and even the air is washed before it is allowed in. stant sprinkling of the plant's paved streets, and in many re- lated precautions that would surprise persons familiar with other industries that need to be less meticulous. Cleanli- n e s s, orderliness, exacting care — "good housekeeping" — yet withal an easy smooth- ness that impresses visitors as the acme of quiet efficiency — that is the composite pic- ture carried away from this House of Ten Billion Pic- tures. From Kodak Park a con- stant stream of photographic material flows forth : film to record the pleasures of family life and the growth of chil- dren; the medium for por- trait photographers and com- mercial photographers requir- ing many different types of film and paper for their varied work ; two hundred thousand miles of motion pic- ture film annually ; home movie film ; x-ray film for diagnosis of human infirmi- ties, x-ray film to reveal flaws in the structural mate- rials of an exacting indus- trial age; photographic mate- rials for photo-engravers, bankers, astronomers, avia- tors, draftsmen, detectives, experts in microscopic work and the men behind almost any other human activity. Four Photography could not retain con- fidence as an important medium if the materials were not entirely de- pendable. That is why Kodak Park is a battlefront against impurity. "Good Housekeeping" as a term to describe Kodak Park should be construed in its larger sense. Clean- liness is only part of it — although the immaculateness of the House of Kodak would put the most fussy New England housewife to shame. "Good housekeeping" denotes order- liness, exacting care in every big and little operation in the involved pro- cesses of manufacture. The making of test-tube products in trainload lots requires care that reaches into the quality of every piece of ma- chinery and every part, every tool that the workmen use, the clothing they wear, their bodily health, their peace of mind, the very air they breathe. Three switch engines operate in Kodak Park to shuttle freight cars hither and yon. Dust and smoke are taboo on the grounds, so these engines burn neither coal nor oil. Their boilers are partly filled with water ; then super-heated steam from the power house is forced into the boilers under pressure. The water generates into steam — and the boil- ers are charged for several hours' work, with no smoke nor any cin- ders to escape. Then there is the air-washing process. Air is purified before it Baryta coating which is being prepared in this kettle is about the "whitest white" that the eye and the chemist can conceive. It is applied in varying number of coats de- pending largely upon the surface desired. In picture 3 you see the paper — now coated — emerging from the long drying tunnels. enters the buildings — a process common enough — but at Kodak Park the air ducts them- selves are kept spotless and rleckless. Their inside walls are fre- quently Hushed a n d polished by men in sou'- westers, armed with hose and polishers. Not an atom of dust is per- mitted to linger in the ducts. Why all this clean- liness, this emphasis on "good housekeeping"? Surely, on such a large factory scale, this can be no idiosyncrasy of an over-careful man- agement ? Imagine a roll of motion picture film in a camera "shooting" a scene that may have re- quired a small fortune for preparation. Then imagine w h a t Kodak Park has made un- imaginable — dirt or grease on the film, that would spoil the scene. Conjure up the photographic records of astronmical explorers. A speck on the film might put an extra star in a significant cluster. Any cartridge of amateur photographer's film leav- ing Kodak Park may have important work to do. It may get a rare opportunity to record a baby's fleeting smile. Of such things, large and small, the world's affairs are made. Kodak Park's job is to assure that photo- graphic materials are ready without flaw to take the picture, whatever the job on hand. With a look at photographic paper, let us begin an inspection of Kodak Park. Prints made from nega- Though this huge duct carries nothing but purified air, it is nevertheless flushed and polished. Huge ducts carry washed and conditioned air within the various production buildings of the plant. tives — by way of explanation — are on a paper base, coated with the sensitive silver "emulsion." Certain chemicals in the content of ordinary paper would ruin the photographic printing materials. Cop- per and iron, for example, could destroy the photo- graphic effectiveness of the emulsion if a trace of them appeared in photographic paper. Not only, therefore, are extreme precautions exercised to keep impurities out of the photographic paper in the making — precautions evolved from years of experience — but also the system of tests to assure that the standards are met is very extensive. Not only chemical tests, but actual photographic printing tests as well are applied to every batch of paper and some parts of this testing pro- gram are carried out at every stage of manufacture — the raw material, the wet band of new paper as it first gains strength enough to hold together, the finished paper, the paper after sensitizing and the paper at points in between. Every department concerned with making photo- graphic paper at Kodak Park — and the same thing ap- plies to film — has its independent control laboratory, manned by alert chemists whose job is to detect and arrest any chemical stranger intruding into the sacred purity of the materials. They take nothing for granted at Kodak Park — not even the o.k. of their fellow chem- ists in other departments. One can't get away from that struggle for purity. Paper making in the House of Kodak begins on a small paper machine, where test sheets are made. These sheets must cope successfully with the tests before major production on any given paper-making job can commence. If the test paper stands up, production begins on the larger paper making machines. Yet, even when production jumps from the small laboratory basis to full-scale manufacture, the purity- control setting is present. The digesters are made of glazed white brick. Pipe lines are similarly protective. The water is rigidly purified after being piped from the undisturbed depths, far from shore, of Lake Ontario. The workmen's clothing is spotless. Their hands are (Turn to Page 18) Five Six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 A Cameraman Among the Lepers of the South Seas By Max DuPont [ELL, one would think that in the South Seas a fellow would dream more than work, but such J is not the case unless the man has the making of a beach comber. In fact, most of us work harder here than we did in the States. We get up at sunrise. Every business starts at six o'clock except the Government. My studio is not large, but I do enough business to keep the pot boiling. In this hot climate photographic process means about twice the work it would in a tem- perate climate. Everyone who orders a portrait wants to look like an Adonis or Greta Garbo, so you can see it is not so easy. It is not possible for a white man to live like a native or he will land in the hospital or go back to good old U. S. A. The nights here are delightful, so I do not go to bed until midnight after having put in a good day's work for very little money, but being one's own boss is worth a million. It eliminates the suffering of being a "yes" man, a specimen that you don't find out here. From time to time I have to grind a camera for dif- ferent people who blow in for a picture. Recently a French Government Mission, scientific and medical, headed by Professor Dr. Le Mee, of Paris, came to make an intensive study of the dread disease of the lepers. The doctor conceived the idea of getting me to shoot a picture of the life of these poor souls from childhood to death. To tell you the truth, I tried every excuse I could think of to get out of it, but being a cameraman I had to go "For science, you should risk anything" — etc. — the usual stuff. Well, the first day we went into the secluded reserva- tion of the lepers and if I could have vanished gladly would I have done so. In my life I have seen many things, from cyclones to war, etc. but this last experience took the bouquet. Dante's Inferno is a joke compared to the vis- ions you get there. The pity you feel for these poor people is indescribable; then there is the fear of being contamin- ated. You shrink from it and then realize it is worth the risk to be able to help in any way the betterment of the situation of such human wrecks. The wonderful thing about them is how they conduct themselves so that one never gets in contact with them. They were so happy to have us among them and most anxious to do all they could to help and follow instruc- tions, even as veteran actors, and with no back talk. It is surprising to see how some of them are appar- ently intact, even healthy looking. Some of the girls are very beautiful Polynesians and you will see them sitting next to a lion-like monster (the lepers at a late stage often have that appearance). Without blinking an eye the girls will talk to him and kid him as though he were a Beau Brummel. All of this to our astonishment. We saw only a few who were very sad looking. Most of them laugh and talk like children. The life there con- tinues like an ideal little city from the chief of the popu- lation to the policeman. Yes, there is a jail, too. Love affairs go on just the same, petty jealousies; rank still exists — the rich and the poor. But they are all equal to that dread disease. We took very important camera observations from a technical and medical standpoint, which will be of great assistance to the doctors. We stayed over two months making the picture and the wonder to me is that I am not pickled like one of the poor fish you see in a jar. After all our bathing we put ourselves into a solution of Formal acid — and we sure made it hot, I tell you — then a rinse in alcohol. I have received news from Paris that the picture is of tremendous service in the medicinal centers. I hope they show the picture to raise funds for the leper. They need it, not so much that they need money, but a few little luxuries could do much to help and cheer these human wrecks. It would mean not only a material treat, but a moral consolation, to know that people thought about them, which causes them more happiness than any- thing else. The leper does not feel the burn of fire, the coldness of ice, the prick of a needle. As the disease advances they suffer greatly from fever and chills. They are very active and energetic and they are wonderful housekeepers — their little bungalows are spotless and so are they. They love music and a motion picture show is paradise to them (producers take notice). They are tractable patients and do all they can to cooperate with the doctors. The disease is not hereditary. We saw many ex- amples and proofs of that and we were informed that dur- ing the decade just past the malady had somewhat dim- inished. I have been thinking that if someone would start a campaign in the studios to get them to send pictures of stars, any kind of used articles, cigarettes, candy, or any- thing at all, even though not of great value, the attention would give them a great deal of pleasure. Any such gift should be addressed to the Hospital of Oro Fara, c/o The Nurses, Tahiti. DON LEE TELEVISION SETS NEW RECORD At 9:00 p.m., Saturday, May 26, the Don Lee Tele- vision transmitters W6XS and W6XAO had transmitted exactly 6,000,000 feet of motion picture film over tele- vision, according to Harry R. Lubcke, Director of Tele- vision, for the Don Lee Broadcasting System. Transmis- sions have covered a period of three and one-half years. In this record television footage, those who have made or purchased television receivers have looked in on such Paramount features as "Blonde Venus," "The Way to Love," "A Lady's Profession," "I Love That Man," "A Bedtime Story," "Trouble in Paradise," "The Eagle and the Hawk," "Woman Accused," "The Girl in 419," "Three Cornered Moon," "One Sunday Afternoon," and many others. Paramount shorts, such as "Hollywood on Parade," Paramount Pictorials, "Hot and Cold Chills," "Stuff on the Ball," "Building Winners," "The Wonder Girl" and "Sporting Melodies," as well as current Pathe Newsreels, have made up the lookers' fare. Ray Flinsky, six miles south of the transmitters, reports seeing dancing girls, a display of the latest in women's shoes, and a toboggan sled ride in the Pathe Newsreel of May 2, 1934. L. G. Gilbert, 27 miles east of Los Angeles, in the City of Pomona, wrote on May 17th to say that one of the characters in Paramount's "This Day and Age," wore "pinch on" glasses on his nose. Mr. Gilbert has been an interested looker for over a year, having received his first television image in February, 1933. Both of these lookers have built their own equipment according to instructions that were published in the March, 1934, issue of the "International Photographer." The Don Lee stations transmit television images night- ly, except Sunday, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., and on Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday morning from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., W6XS on 2,800 kilocvcles (107 meters), and W6XAO on 44,500 kilocycles (634 meters). Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Seven EVERY MONDAY- as a special feature of poniim all the news of all OUTSTAN DING CAMERAMEN 15 presented in WHAT'S WHAT BRULATOUR BULLETIN published in the spirit of WHO'S WHO SERVICE Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 In the Realm of Tricks and Illusions (Associate Editor of International Photographer and Member of the Faculty of the University of Southern California as Lecturer in the Department of Cinematography) By Earl Theisen Honorary Curator Motion Pictures L. A. Museum IRPLANE crashes, train wrecks, under-sea hots, volcanic eruptions, are made by the triclc- ^ men of the studios. They are part of the motion picture. Without them pictures would lose a valuable vitality. From the very first the industry found it necessary to resort to effect and trick photography. W. K. L. Dickson, who worked with Edison to bring the motion picture into being, used effect photography. As early as 1894 Dickson employed double exposures and masking in the then crude motion picture. One picture, "The Banjo Player," shows a man playing a banjo and several of his own heads watching him play. The heads are lying on a nearby table. Since the pictures of this period were largely news- reels and topical pictures, much of the news that was presented on the screen was simulated through miniatures. Because the history of trick and effect photography is too long for the present article, and because this has been covered to an extent in "The History of Newsreeling," in the International Photographer of September, 1933, we won't elaborate on early miniatures. At best they were very crude, but they satisfied the particular needs of that time. Trick and effect photography came into use about 1910, at which time there was a general trend towards a wider narration in picture technique. It became neces- sary for the cameraman to employ various dramatic and technical devices to expedite the screen story. During this period, such men as Joseph Dubray, G. W. "Billy" Bit- zer, A. S. Howell and Eddie Kull were actively inter- ested in the perfecting of such devices. Dreams and visions made by "double exposures," "lap dissolves," etc., were widely used about 1910. These and other effects were utilized to great extent in the Pathe and Biograph pictures. George Melies had used these processes as early as 1900. Melies, by the way, may be considered the dean of trickmen. His pictures almost entirely depended on trick photography. The majority of his pictures were made by stop motion. That is, he photographed the picture frame by frame and by this method created such effects as the furniture and other inanimate objects moving about. One particularly notable effect used by Melies was in "The Clown," which consisted of a clown building up a dummy piece by piece. When completed, the dummy suddenly came to life and had a very active fight with the clown. The "mask" or "matte" process dates back before the advent of motion pictures. On April 14, 1874, C. M. Coolidge was granted patent No. 149,724 for a process of making composite prints by masking. It was, of course, designed for still photographs, with particular reference to combining cartoon pictures. According to present records, the first patent on a mask process designed for motion picture use was issued to J. E. Garrette on October 19, 1915, patent No. 1,156,896. The patent covers the combination of a lantern slide and motion picture film. The traveling mask used in motion picture work was first patented May 15, 1917, by R. V. Stanbaugh, patent No. 1,226,135. Stanbaugh's system consisted of threading in the camera a traveling mask, together with an unexposed film. This process was pri- marily designed for advertising, in cartoon form. The cartoon action was photographed and then it was used as a mask to which the names of the advertisers were added by super-imposition. There were many other mask patents, notably the one granted to Norman Dawn on June 11, 1918, No. 1,269,- 061. This process used photographs of the foreground, which were used as a cut-out mask. The background of a desired scene was then added. A very complete resume of the patent literature may be found in the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers for April, 1933, Volume XX, No. 4. "Composite Photographic Processes," by H. D. Hineline. The credit of perfecting and the commercializing of the "mask" or "matte" process goes to Frank D. Williams. His first patent that came into wide use was issued on June 23, 1918, No. 1,273,435. The Williams' process consisted of photographing against a black background with a Bi-Pack that gave a transparent negative and a fore- ground action. In the Williams' process, by using this mask made of the foreground action, he was able to add any desired background from any portion of the world. The foreground action, in the form of a matte, was then used as an intermediate step in introducing later, by pro- cess, the people in the foreground. William previously had been interested in motion pic- ture process work in connection with the Essanay in 1910. The first experiments were made in the form of silhou- ettes of camels crossing a desert. His process at that time, could not more than make shadow silhouettes in the fore- ground. He made the foreground negatives of the camels against a white background, which, when intensified, were double printed over any desired background. By 1912 he had developed the process where he could add an image instead of just a silhouette in the fore- ground. Williams introduced and perfected many de- vices in the field of process work. In 1919, he was the first to use, according to present records, a double maga- zine. Prior to this time, he had been using a single magazine and had threaded double films in his camera. By using the single magazine, he could only thread in 20 or 25 feet of film, because it was necessary to roll the two strands together. This made one of the strands longer than the other. While with Sennett, he used a Bell & Howell camera with registering pins. The Williams' process, though used earlier, was first used commercially about 1922. His first picture was the Famous Players Lasky picture, "Beyond the Rocks," starring Gloria Swanson, released on May 14, 1922. Williams, in the last three years, has applied for a number of patents which greatly improved his process. His last patent, applied for in 1932, makes it possible to photograph with bipack panchromatic emulsions. Through the use of panchromatic emulsions, it is possible for him to photograph colored objects in the foreground. Williams had been using an orthochromatic emulsion Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. J Hue, 1934 T 1 1 INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nine in a bi-pack form, which would not permit him to photo- graph black and white objects over a background. Now it was possible, through the use of a panchromatic emul- sion, to photograph both black and white, as well as any colored object. Frank Williams had first become interested in panchro- out every portion of the setting except the portion where ing out any undesirable portions of the set. By this pro- the horsemen can be seen riding. That portion is left clear. When the camera records the horsemen riding along, it also records them with a background of castle and mountains, the painting and the riders are blended Top — By Ralph Hammeras, is a miniature barnyard. Center — Snow scene in miniature. Right — A miniature landslide such as is used in earthquake scenes, etc. Center — Showing a miniature plane landing. Right — George Teague and his "rear pro- jection" equipment. The picture is projected to the window which represents the side of a traveling train. Lower — Showing how a glass shot is made. No. 1 Left — Is the scene photographed from real life. No. 2 shows the paint- ing and real life scene before they are correctly balanced and No. 3 is the final scene as shown on the screen. Courtesy Willis O'Brien and George Teague. matic emulsion in 1918. On September 1 of that year, Fox released the Annette Kellerman "Queen of the Sea." Sequences of this picture were photographed with pan- chromatic emulsion. Then panchromatic film was only sold on special orders. It was necessary to order 8,000 or more feet of film, which was made in 200-feet rolls. The panchromatic film would only keep two months. It is of interest to note that pancbromatic emulsion was used by the experimenters in color. For experimen- tal purposes, Williams had bought 2,000 feet from a color experimenter. He used this type of film for a number of later pictures. In addition to the "mask" process, there are three other processes — the projection, the color separation, and the glass shots. The glass shot is used for adding atmospheric scenery, while automatically blocking out other undesirable por- tions of a set. As the term implies, glass is used, on which is painted a picture. For instance, one may see a mo- tion picture setting with high mountains and a feudal castle in the background. In the foreground are some horsemen riding. The general method of making such a scene is to set up a plate of glass several feet in front of the camera and paint the pictures of the mountains and castle on the glass. The painting of the mountains block Please mention The Internationa! Photogra realistically. The painting serves the purpose of block- cess, it is not necessary to construct castles or other large sets. Walter L. Hall perfected this process for successful motion picture use. He began working on it during the filming of the D. W. Griffith "Intolerance," in 1916. In its first form, glass was not used. Instead the paintings were put on compo-board, then the outlines of the painting was cut away. This painted matte was set up in front of a camera and then in the background was built the remainder of the set for the action of the players. Of course, it was not as simple as that ; to make a glass or a matte shot of this kind requires artistic skill and particu- lar ability in lining up the perspective of the foreground picture with that of the constructed set. Glass shots are used in practically every picture todav- Hall patented the process on March 29, 1921, as No. 1,372,811. There had been earlier patents on this process; in fact, William Callcott was granted a patent on December 13, 1864, No. 45,449. The Callcott patent, however, refers to a stage illusion and was not for photographic purposes. On March 5, 1912, A. Engelsmann was granted pat- ent No. 1,019,141 on a system of combining actors and the glass plate. The glass was placed in front of a painted drop. pher when corresponding with advertisers. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 On December 11, 1923, D. W. Griffith was granted patent No. 1,476,885 on a process using a painted screen with a hole cut in it. It was designed to combine both the screen and the actors, who were photographed through the opening. Ralph Hammeras, now with Fox Films, was granted Showing the set-up on making a tricky plane landing shot in miniature. Courtesy Vernon Pope. glass shot patent No. 1,540,213 on June 2, 1925. P. Artigue's patent No. 1,742,680, issued January 7, 1930, should also be mentioned. This patent and the other Artigue patents, however, had very little use in the motion picture. There is another type of glass shot developed by Eugene Schufftan. This process, patented on January 12, 1926, No. 1,569,789, covers a system of photographing through a transmission mirror. This mirror is set up at an angle before the camera and is partially silvered so that the camera eye can see through the mirror. In this manner the background of a painting could be seen through the mirror, while the actors would be photographed simul- taneously from the silvered portions of the mirror. There are other patents, too numerous to mention. Another quite interesting system is known as "color separation." The color separation method is much too technical to attempt explanation. It was first patented by Dodge and Carroll Dunning, and Roy Pomeroy. The first Dunning patent, No. 1,613,163, issued Janu- ary 4, 1927, to C. D. Dunning, covers a method of com- bining traveling background scenes into sets. By its use foreign scenes can be introduced into pictures without leaving the sound stages. Suppose a picture called for a taxi going down a street in Paris. To get this shot, the studio would locate from a film library, a suitable motion picture of the Paris street. They would also locate a French taxi, which would be placed on a parallel in front of a special bluish colored background. The players would sit in the taxi, which would be lit with an amber yellow light. The camera then records both the back- ground and the taxi in which the stars are sitting. By a combination of the amber light on the taxi and the blue background, the players and the taxi seem to be riding down the French street. Even though the taxi never moves, it is realistically blended in this French street scene. The general method of doing this consists of dying the French street scene a special amber color. It is then threaded in the camera in contact with the negative film. The amber light on the taxi passes through this dyed image, while the blue light of the background records the street picture. This process was first used in the F.B.O. picture, "Sil- ver Comes Through," May 29, 1927. That this process puts a punch in pictures is judged from the fact that when this picture was released, difficulties were encountered from the censors in one of the states. That was because Silver, Fred Thompson's horse, was seen to be jumping off a traveling train. Of course, he had not jumped off the train, but had been made to seem to do so. When this was explained to the censors, they were appeased. The history of color transparency dates back to June 25, 1907, when F. J. Deschner was granted patent No. 858,162. Another patent which had extensive use was the one granted to Roy Pomeroy on June 12, 1928, No. 1,673,- 019. There were a number of patents covering such pro- cesses throughout the intervening years. The projection process dates back to November 22, 1892, when F. Seymour patented No. 486,606, a process for combining a projected image and an actor. It was designed to use stereopticon pictures into which was added the picture of a person. This process was again patented by R. M. Hunter on August 28, 1900, as No. 656,769. A patent issued to H. Sontag, February 18, 1913, No. 1,053,887, was also issued for the purpose of introducing actors into a projected scene. In the interim there had been a number of other patents along similar lines. They were intended for still photographic processes. The projection process, popularly known as the "rear projection," is designed to introduce background and at- mospheric motion pictures around the players on the sound stages. The projector is placed in back of a trans- parent screen and the players enact their roles in front of the screen. The camera then photographs both the actors and the motion picture background projected on the screen. This process has particular use in introducing foreign scenes in the pictures made on the Hollywood sets. The projection process first came into popular use with the advent of the sound motion picture, when it became necessary to confine the making of pictures to the sound stages. A great number of people contributed to the successful achievement of this process, among them being Ned Mann, Frank Williams, L. S. Brainard, J. S. Dawley, Ralph Hammeras, Willis O'Brien and George Teague. George Teague is credited with many contributions to the projection process. In collaboration with Willis O'Brien he started a series of tests in 1927. In 1930, in the making of the Fox "Just Imagine," the process was used commercially for the first time. There had been many tests prior to this ; however, they were not entirely successful. With the advent of the sound picture, the synchronous motor, the high inten- sity arc lamps, the projection process was finally realized. It is used in practically every studio today. Another medium used by the trickman are the minia- tures. Through the use of miniatures, it is possible to bring to the screen, train wrecks and airplane crashes with more realism than it is possible to photograph using the real thing. The dean of miniature men is Willis O'Brien. Willis O'Brien started in San Francisco in 1914. His first pic- ture, a single reeler, "The Dinosaur and the Missing Link," was made for Edison at that time. In 1916 he made five complete pictures in miniature. In 1918 he made what was perhaps the best of the miniature pic- tures until that time. It was "The Ghost of Slumber Mountain." In 1924 he made "The Lost World." It was one of the biggest pictures made in miniature, prac- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Eleven tically the entire footage being composed of miniatures. Recently he did "King Kong." In "King Kong" the miniature ape, which was only 18 inches in height, was made to resemble a mammoth pre-historic creature of about 30 feet. The backgrounds in this picture were largely introduced by means of the glass matte or the projection process. Through a skillful use of perspective and optics in this picture, he made a miniature of about 18 inches seem to have a full size person, Fay Wray, in the miniature's hand and the person seemed no larger than the ape's thumb. Willis O'Brien also had birds flying through the sets, had miniature planes Hying, and had this ape in combat with other prehistoric animals. They were all in miniature. Other miniature makers prominent today in the stu- dios are Harry Reynolds at Paramount and Ralph Ham- meras at Fox. In summarizing, it is interesting to note that the trick and effect artists of the motion picture deserve far more credit than they are given. It is through them that the motion pictures have scenes that otherwise could never be brought to the screen. It is through them that an added realism is gained. They are the people of the motion pic- ture whose results are seen on the screen, but who never are given credit. That is because of the fact that the motion picture producers are selling romance and credit to these men would detract from the realism of romance. Throughout the history of the motion picture, this group of men have been called "crazy as a loon." They are always far ahead of themselves and they were always far ahead of the times. Now, for instance, "nuts" are work- ing on improvements that won't be used for years. Wil- liams tried to put over his traveling matte in 1915 and 1916, but he was told it couldn't be done. When George Teague tried to use a motor for running the camera in 1917 he was told it would cause static, and so on end- lessly. THE NEW FOCOMAT ENLARCER E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th St., New York City is announcing a new autofocal enlarger for miniature nega- tives known as the FOCOMAT. It resembles the pop- ular VALOY Enlarger, and accommodates all small neg- atives up to 3x4 cm. The big feature of the FOCOMAT is the autofocus arrangement by means of which enlarge- ments from \y2 to 10 diameters can be made with the full assurance that the image is in absolute sharp focus. As with the VALOY, the FOCOMAT permits LEICA Camera 50 mm. lenses (ELMAR, HEKTOR, and SUM MAR) to be used as enlarging lenses, hence the enlarger may be purchased without lens. This per- mits the LEICA owner a decided economy in the pur- chase. The FOCOMAT is easily and quickly adjusted for the autofocal feature, and once a lens has been adjusted in it, no further attention need be given the outfit, even though the lens may be removed and re-inserted at will — the adjustments remain the same. There are only two positions for the enlarger sup- porting arms which carry the lamphouse. These are in- dicated by two holes in the upright pillar. The top one indicates the position for the enlarger when the standard paper easel is used, and the lower one for instances where no easel is employed. The ease and certainty of the autofocus enlarger is well-known, and miniature camera devotees will be glad to know that at last there is such an enlarger incorporat- ing the special optical system most practical for their tiny negatives. Literature on the new FOCOMAT may be secured by writing to E. LEITZ, Inc., or better still, visit your local dealer and see this new creation. Model 71-A: Two speeds, single lens mount, Cooke 47 mm. F 2.5 lens, spring motor, spyglass viewfinder. Model 71-C: Seven speeds (4 to 32), three-lens turret, Cooke 47 mm. F 2.5 and optional Cooke There's an EYEMO for every purpose Here are the Eyemo 35 mm. hand cameras most widely used. There are other models and adaptations for numerous special uses. Tell us your problem . . . we'll recommend the right equipment. lenses, variable viewfinder, and auxiliary hand crank. Ideal for sound speed. Optional — 12- or 100-volt electric motor and 200- or 400-ft. external maga- zine, as illustrated. Model 71-CD: Same as above, but with 8- to 48-speed range for work requiring slow motion. BELL & HOWELL Bell & Howell Company, 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North LaBrea Ave. Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.). Established 1907. Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 Dantes Inferno Has Nothing On This! By Paul R. Harmer KRAKATOA — a motion picture of 3,000 feet in length and accorded the honor of being the most unusual picture of 1933, released by Educational and brought out of Java by Joe Rock, one of the keenest minds and most wide awake Independent producers in the motion picture industry. To those who have seen the film, or will see it, a few words need to be said about the history of the great volcano, Krakatoa. Little of the early history of Krakatoa is known except that it was in eruption in 1680. This volcano is located on an island in the Straits of Sunda, about half way be- that night ; the houses trembled from subterranean vio- lence— but this was only a rehearsal for the fury to come. By ten o'clock the next day, August 27, 1883, the real performance began. An overture consisting of two or three introductory explosions was succeeded by a frightful con- vulsion which tore away a large part of the Island of Krakatoa and scattered it to the winds. In that final effort all records of previous explosions on this earth were completely broken. It was this supreme effort which pro- duced the mightiest noise that, so far as the writer can ascertain, has ever been heard on this globe. Thousands Top, Left to Right — Shot from an airplane about 300 feet from the periphery of the main disturbance. Still by J. H. Bekker; Long shot of the demon volcano Krakatoa in eruption. Column of steam, flame, smoke and lava approximately four miles high. Still by J. H. Bekker; Medium close-up showing the explosive force of the vol- cano. Shot from a boat at 800 feet distance. Note tidal wave at tween Java and Sumatra. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 was the most violent outburst of nature ever re- corded. In May of 1883 the first eruption did not threaten to be a serious one. The people chartered steamers and ran excursions to the volcano, where a vast column of steam poured forth, accompanied by a terrific noise, from an opening about 90 feet in width. Earthquakes were felt with increasing violence and fine dust clouded the sky. Great rumblings were heard, the sea was disturbed and the population was annoyed over an area as large as the British Isles. As the wind was unable to carry the dust away as fast as Krakatoa threw it up, the atmosphere became charged with sus- pended particles. A pall of darkness hung over the ad- joining sea and islands. So dense was this suspended dust that at midday a darkness as intense as midnight prevailed. On the night of Sunday, August 26, 1883, the dust clouds in the Straits of Sunda, now thicker than ever, were only occasionally illuminated by lurid flashes from the volcano. At Batavia, 100 miles away, there was no quiet base of cone. Still by J. H. Bekker. Bottom, Left to Right — A shot from boat showing part of new cone on right. Still by J. H. Bekker; Note new cone on left. A long shot from the boat showing the un- imaginable power of the explosive force of incandescent lava. Still by J. H. Bekker; A shot from boat at a distance of approximately only 500 feet. It is an explosion of lava. Still by J. H. Bekker. of nearby inhabitants' ear drums were broken and four hours later the sound was heard and recorded by the coast guard on the Island of Rodriguez, a distance of 3,000 miles west. In ten hours the sound was heard and felt in Berlin, Germany, and the shock was felt clear through the earth. The air in Britain tingled with the volcanic impulse, while in Central America the wave impulses, coming around the earth in opposite directions, met. Barometers all over the earth vibrated and were disturbed for five days, violently at first, then gradually becoming normal. The dust of Krakatoa encircled the earth in thirteen days. The marvelously beautiful sunsets which prevailed during the autumn were caused by fine dust hurled into the upper atmosphere, where it remained suspended for many months, finally becoming gradually diffused over the earth. Geologists estimate ten cubic miles of rock and earth were hurled into the air. Stretches of water that had an average depth of 117 feet were so filled up as to be no (Turn to Page 19) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 I (r[ht The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER NEUMANN PROCESS PROJECTOR Thirteen /■ or Projection Backgrounds (Patent Pending) Light and Portable. Guaranteed 100% steady. Permits shooting of process plates with any type of pilot pin camera. Has operated as high as 48 frames per second. No cooling system, such as air or water, required. Simplified loading design saves time. Positive synchronizing arrangement. And Stereoptican Slide Projector. We have available Synchronous Interlocking Electrical System. We are contracting the construction of complete Process Units, and also specialize in any film operation where steadiness is required. The Neumann Process Projector is the only independently built machine ever placed in major studios. These machines are operating perfectly at FOX FILM CORPORATION STUDIO COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION BIOGRAPH STUDIOS PRICES: Projection Head Complete Motor and Accessories Additional $2200.00 Complete price list of process equipment will be sent upon request. Address: 6227 Santa Monica Boulevard Hollywood, California Phone: GRaiiite 0515 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 Around the World on Location B\ Robert W. Miller ATHER an uninteresting title for a very inter- esting trip, but after all, that's the way one feels about these jaunts when he gets back to the home soil again. To go back a few months, six of us left Hollywood for Vancouver, where we took the "Em- press of Japan" for the Orient. Our party consisted of Chester Bennett, well known in Hollywood film circles; Mrs. Nell Emerold Beattie, English authoress ; Ward Wing, Hollywood director ; liis wife, Mrs. Lorie Bara Wing; our old friend and ace of good fellows, Paul Perry, in charge of photography, and only a few sleepy faces peering out of shaded win- dows, the latter wondering, no doubt, what those crazy Americans were trying to do when anyone with good sense was taking a siesta. Personally I have a great regard for the French custom and admit that even 3 :00 o'clock was a little early to start out. I am wondering what would happen if something like that were tried in Hollywood. After about three and one-half weeks of shooting, in the city, on the river and in the jungles, we completed our thirty thousand feet of background and were ready to Left to Right — The King of Cambodia goes for a stroll. 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen Triple DISTINCTION E ASTMAN Super-sensitive Panchro- matic Negative has a three-fold dis- tinction. Its introduction has led to more significant advances than any other film ...excepting only Eastman's original motion picture negative. Under the expert hands of the cameraman it has in the last three years photographed a great majority of the big- gest screen hits. And. ..because of this rec- ord of accomplishment. ..it now enjoys by far the widest preference among all motion picture negative films. Eastman Kodak Co. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distributors, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-sensitive Panchromatic Negative "It was in fact a camera- man assistant who helped Edison bring motion to the picture, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson." Terry Ramsaye. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTIC COLUMBIA CLIPS By Bob Tobey "BLIND DATE," directed by ROY NEILL— Al Siegler is Master of Cinemonies on this one, with Jack Young as his operative cameraman and Al Keller and Walter Lackey assisting. Irving Lippman and his Dark Hazard cop the stills, Homer Plannette. V. E., is the gaffer, (V. E., my fledgelings, stands for Very Excellent) ; Buddy Coleman is Chief Heckler, otherwise called assist- ant director; Jack Wrenn nurses the props; Glenn Rominger garners the sound waves, and Jimmy Lloyd supplies the beef. Not the butcher, just the grip. The cast boasts of (casts, my good people, AL- WAYS boast. It is called PUBLICITY.) As I said, the cast boasts of Ann Sothern, who can do a little special boasting because of her meteoric rise, Neil Hamilton, Paul Kelly, Joan Gale and Mickey Rooney. At least I believe it's Joan Gale. The three sisters, Joan, June and Jean confuse me. Ennihoo, Joan is a cute little breeze — a Gale after my own heart, if you'll pardon my sudden departure. Fun was had the very first day. There was a pancake eating sequence that delighted little Mickey Rooney's heart. He, with others of the cast, were supposed to consume large stacks of delectable wheat cakes smothered in butter and syrup. (Par- don me while I gulp a bit.) It needed no direc- torial genius to get Mickey to put his whole soul into the scene. But the sequence took a day to complete and an entire day spent consuming pan- cakes is enough for any glutton. The final scenes were misery for the cast and the very next day they all organized to form an Anti-Pancake So- ciety. "TAKE THE WITNESS," directed by LAM BERT HILLYER. Joe August is Presiding Judge on this picture, but he's not on the bench. Dave Ragan is the pan and tilt expert, while Marcel Grand and Jack Andersen keep the key of the picture in C sharp. (In focus, you muggs — they're assistants.) I've patted Bill F'-'-er on *'ip VaoV so much I'll just say he's the still man this time; Jimmy Punter pours the juice in the proper spots (make mine about so-o-o tall, thank you); Eddie Blaisdell, the gentleman grip, directs the nail- swatting; Eddie Bernds gets away from Frank Capra long enough to snare the syllables; Wilbur Mack is assistant director and George Rhein keeps his eagle eye on the props. The picture is a Jack Holt starring vehicle, with Jean Arthur, Shirley Grey, Sara Padden, and Nat Pendleton. Looks now as if the picture will run way over schedule — perhaps I'd better explain. Jack Holt just finished working on "Black Moon" and the African voodooism is still in his blood. Right in the midst of dramatic legal denunciations he breaks out into the weird "OOMBA-oomba, OOMBA-oomba, OOMBA-oomba," native chant, to the utter consternation of all concerned. Yessir, that mammv-palaver gets in one's blood. "WHOM THE GODS DESTROY," directed by WALTER LANG, finishes as I write. Looks as if the whole crew is going to take a vacation. They deserve it — they have been working for months without a rest. Brownie, officially known as F. M. Browne, is hot-footing it for the races at Indianapolis. His only time off in months. Brownie's going to make a fireman's holiday of it and take a camera along, "just in case." Ben Kline is also going to take a trip, but he won't announce the destination — probably afraid the studio will wire him to come back to work. Jack Russell, who got himself ensnared in those nasty old matrimonial meshes not many moons ago, will seize the opportunity for his first honeymoon and gallop off on a camping trip. Heigh-ho, love in a tent! I hope the pine needles don't point the wrong wav. They'll probably all come back so weary they'll have to go right to work to get some rest from their vacations — an old idea, but only too true. Fred Dawson is the only sensible mem- ber of the camera quartet — he's going to take it easy and stay right here and work. R-K-0 STUDIOS SUCCESS NOTE: Frenlich keeps up the good zvork! Your little keyhole-peeker is happy to note that Henry Freulich is justifying the break Col- umbia has given him. Henry photographed two "Minute Mysteries" (not at all the same as 1 Two-Minute Mystery) with Lambert Hillver dur- ing the past month. He also handled the peep- sight on a two-reel comedy featuring Steelies for- mer Hooges ... I mean Hoolies steamy codgers . . . er. former Holv Stogies . . . well, ennihoo, they're the three mugs that knock you in the aisles what with their poking each other's eves out. sbnping of faces, tearing of shirts, and other odd little prar,1's. At present Henrv is Chief Cinematogranher for Jules White, who is megaphoning as well as su- "BACHELOR BAIT." Producer. Lou Black; authors, Victor and Edward Halpin; screenplay, Glenn Tryon; director, George Stevens; first cameraman, Dave Abel; operative cameraman, Harry Wild; stills, Fred Hendrickson; recording engineer, Clem Portman; film editor, James Mar- ley. Cast: Stuart Erwin, Rochelle Hudson, Pert Kel- ton, Skeets Gallagher. "HAT, COAT AND GLOVE." Producer, Ken- neth Macgowan; author, Wilhelm Speyer; screen- play, Francis Faragoh ; director, Worthington Minor; first cameraman, Roy Hunt; operative cameraman, Eddie Pyle; stills, John Miehle; re- cording engineer, George Ellis; film editor, Ralph Dietrich. Cast: John Barrymore, Barbara Robbins, John Beal. Sara Haden. "WE'RE RICH AGAIN." Producer, Glendon Allvine; author, Alden Nash; screenplay, Ray Har- ris; first cameraman, Nick Musuraca; operative cameraman, Frank Redman; stills, Alex. Kahle and Oliver Sigurdson; recording engineer, John L. Cass; film editor, George Crone. Cast: Marion Nixon, Billie Burke, Edna May Oliver, Grant Mitchell, Buster Crabbe, Joan Marsh, Reginald Denny, Gloria Shea. "AFTERWARDS." Producer, Cliff Reid; screenplay, William Hackett; director, James Cruze; first cameraman, Harold Wenstrom; opera- tive cameraman, Jos. Biroc; stills, Gaston Longet; recording engineer, P. J. Faulkner; film editor, Billy Hamilton. Cast: Zasu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Ralph Morgan, Bruce Cabot, William Gacton, Huntley Gordon. "FAMILY MAN." Producer, Myles Connolly; author, Salisbury Field; screenplay, Sidney Bu- chanan and Harry Hervey; director, John Rob- ertson; first cameraman, Teddy Tetzlaff; operative cameraman, Russell Metty; stills, Fred Hendrick- son; recording engineer, John Tribby; film editor, William Hamilton. Cast: Richard Dix, Bruce Cabot, Barbara Kent. Erin O'Brien Moore, Edith Fellows, Leonard Carey, Dorothy Wilson, Shirley Grey. "DOWN TO THEIR LAST YACHT." Auth- ors, Herbert Fields and Lou Brock; screenplay, Marion Dix and Lynn Starling; first cameraman, Eddie Cronjager; operative cameraman, Al Wet- zel; stills, Alex. Kahle; recording engineer, Hugh McDowell; film editor, Arthur Roberts and George Marsh. Cast: Sidney Fox. Mary Boland, Sidney Black mer, Polly Moran, Sterling Holloway, Ned Sparks, Irene Franklin. pervising the comedy, "PAY DIRT." In this en- gaging little comedy George Sidney and Charlie Murray get on the trail of some gold; and East- man makes a pretty penny too, in case you're in- terested. Fred Kaifer makes an appearance on the lot as operative cameraman on this picture. Fred- die says this makes 13 days he's worked this year and he doesn't know whether to buy a yacht or take a trip around the world. Jim Goss and Roy Babbitt keep the scenery in focus — all that the actors don't eat up, anyhow. Howard Robertson is among the crew — he says that, as long as this is only a two-reeler, he won't hold out for being called Chief Illuminating Engineer, but will an- swer to the title of gaffer. George Cooper is the mixer. Tommy Flood is assistant director, and Al Becker is head grip. That conscientious gentleman who starts 'em and stops 'em at Columbia (and don't be thinking about a motorman ; I'm referring to the head of the Camera Department, Emil Oster) has been ap- pointed by Sam Briskin to be Columbia's repre- sentative to the Silent Camera Subcommittee of the Research Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A splendid choice it was, too. When Emil gets all that new bridge- work done I'll take his picture for you. Joe Walker would have had a clean record of a month of leisure, if he hadn't had to show up for some retakes on the Grace Moore picture, "ONE NIGHT OF LOVE." I suspect Joe of ang- ling for another electric clock! Of course George Kelley assisted Joe, Vic Scheurich was second cameraman and Eddie Kearns was his assistant. The press having named the best dresi present the best dressed crew. This photogr h of wires, split screens or perambulators. Reading from right to left: H. JOHN HI photographer and interrogator, (how many?):C of "spots", and gaffer. HAL WALKER (seat ). tor (what's holding us up?); MILTON KRAHI of the latent image on film; ADOLPH FREUL H hunter, best boy and electrician; IRVING (V upper of the camera. On the extreme left is Adolph Menjou | pictures, but to me he is the BEST PAID ma n MISCELLANEOUS Phil Tannura asks the CAMERAGRAM to :■ tend thanks to all those good Hollywood folk o helped to make his stay in the Film Capital o immensely pleasant and profitable. He is has i- ing back to London to take up his work \ li Gaumont British. Dan Clark, the man who made Tom Mix cp-j matographically famous, has returned from a >■ journ of two months in Hawaii whither he » t on a special mission for M. G. M. He handicapped by almost constant rain, but cam ■ men have ways of overcoming little things e deluges. Len Powers is doing some special shot? r Romance Productions at Mack Sennett St id Tom Galligan reports the arrival of th' s™ at the Galligan homestead, Hollywood. 5. ay • Both Mrs. Galligan and daughter are dons: ' and Daddy Galligan is the happiest corner.-.- in the industry. Do you know that Lindsay Thompsjn is l .>- licity photographer for the Columbia Lroadcas't: System? Paul Perry post-cards us from Angkor Wat P he will write us a letter from Hong Kong. \M1 be looking for it, Paul. The redoubtable Lester Rowley, than wlp they can't make any better still man, is lool g longingly toward the bosky dells of Nortl n Illinois for that long wished for vacation. Fred Archer, internationally known pictorial. CRAGMAM ". . It was another cam- eraman, Edwin S. Porter, who, years after conceived the notion that motion pic- tures might tell stories — and so he gave us the pho- toplay." Terry Ramsaye. FIOM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 6 ss, ctor, director and cameraman, we wish to Tia- at the Paramount Studios without the aid ERcR, operative cameraman, cinematographer, )BETS, illuminating engineer, diplomat, focuser uir tor's assistant, caller of people and inquisi- IhielCameraman, Dir. of Photog., or reproducer urtA Earl Miller, Chief Electrician I , fisherman, RG.keeper of the slate, tape, chalk and oiler gu He may be the BEST DRESSED man in 5 pture. — (Caption by Otto Phoius). ■ R-K-0 PATHE [HE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO." Pro- r . Edward Small; author, Alexandre Dumas; - rAplay and dialogue. Harvey Thew and Harry *»y; director, Rowland V. Lee; assistant, Nate ' lust cameraman, Peverell Marley; operative iftfaman, Harry David; assistants, Charles WM, 1-ee Crawford, Don Green and Matt Kluz- ink (special effects, Jack Robson; stills, Clifton 18 n. ; recording engineer, Vinton Vernon; film in, Grant Whytock; art director, Tack Schulze- (l«J electrician, Lew Johnson; chief grip, Buzz Ah! chief prop, Martin Hershey. ' t : Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, Louis Cal- ' Sidney B ackmer, O. P. Heggie, Raymond a in, Luis Alberni, Georgia Caine, Irene Her- 1 \ llham Farnum, etc. '.in O HEADS ON A PILLOW." Producer, Hoffman; author, Dorothy Canfield; screen- i u Mond; director, William Nigh; it, J. H. McCloskey; first cameraman, Har- uman; operative cameraman, Toe Novak' it. Jimmie Higgins; stills, Neal" Harbarger- ng engineer, Dick Tyler; film editor, Mil- Johnson; chief electrician, Donald Donald- :hief electrician, Frank Levitt; chief prop \sh. ^ ' : Neil Hamilton, Miriam Jordan, Henr. ta, Hardie Albright, Loma Andrie. WARNER-FIRST NATIONAL STUDIOS "HEY, SAILOR!" Author, Ben Markson; screenplay, Al Cohn, Ben Markson and Earl Baldwin; director, Lloyd Bacon; first cameraman, Arthur Edison; operative cameraman, Carl Guth- rie; assistant, Martin Glouner; stills, Cliff Kling and Bert Six; recording engineer, E. A. Brown; film editor, George Amy; art director, Adreas Hartley; chief Elecrtician, C. Alexander; chief grip, Owen Crompton; chief props, Red Turner and K. Malay. Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Gloria Stuart. Dorothy Tree, Frank McHugh, Niles Welch. Willard Robertson. 'MADAME DU BARRY." Original screenplay, Edward Chodorov; director, Wilhelm Dieterle; first cameraman, Sol Polito; operative cameraman, Al Green; assistant, Fred Terzo; stills, Homer Van Pelt; recording engineer, Al. Riggs; film editor, Bert Levy; art director. Jack O'Key; chief elec- trician, F. Flanagan; chief grip, Harold Noyes; chief props, Clarence Enrest and Bert Friend. Cast: Dolores Del Rio. Reginald Owen, Veree Teasdale, Osgood Perkins, Helen Lowell, Victor Tory. "DAMES." Author and supervisor, Robert Lord; screenplay, Delmer Daves; directors, Roy Enright and Busby Berkeley; first cameramen, George Barnes and Sol Polito; operative camera- men, Warren Lynch and Al Green; assistants. Tack Koffman and Louis De Angeles; stills, John Ellis; recording engineer, Stanley Jones; film editor, H. McLernor; art director, Bob Haas; chief electricians, P. Burnett, George Satterfield and F. Flanagan; chief grips, D. Mashmeyer and Harold Noyes; chief props, Howard Oggle and Gene Delaney. Cast: Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Joan Blon- dell. Guv Kibbee, Hugh Herbert, Virginia Pine, Ronny Crosby, Zasu Pitts, Bess Flowers, etc. "BRITISH AGENT." Supervisor, Robert Presnell; author, H. Bruce Lockhart; director, Michael Curtiz ; first cameraman, Ernest Haller; operative cameraman, Al. Roberts; assistant, Bob Davis; stills. Homer Van Pelt; recording engi- neer, Dave Forrest; film editor, Tommy Richards; assistant, Warren Lowe; art director, Anton Grot; chief electrician, C. Hutchinson; chief grip, Owen Crompton ; chief prop, Scotty Moore. Cast: Leslie Howard. Kay Francis, Philip Reed. John Eldredge, Tenen Holtz. "HOUSEWIFE." Authors. Robert Lord and Lillie Hayward; screenplay, Manuel Se and Lillie Hayward; director. Al. Greffen; first cameraman, William Reese; operative cameraman, Charles Seeling; assistant, William Shuck; stills, Mac Julian; recording engineer, Oliver Garretson ; film editor, Jimmie Gibbons; art director. Bob Haas; chief electrician, E. Burkholter; chief grip, Charles Eastman ; chief prop, Pat Paterson. Cast: Bette David. George Brent, Ann Dvorak. Robert Barrat, John Halliday, Ruth Donnelly, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ronnie Crosby. MONOGRAM (General Service Studio) "THE STAR PACKER." Producer, Paul Mal- vern ; author, screenplay and direction, R. N. Bradbury; assistant. Glenn Cook; first camera- man, Archie Stout; assistant, Russell Harland ; stills, Joe Walters; recording engineer, John A. Stransky, Jr.; film editor, Carl Pierson; art direc- tor, E. R. Hickson; chief electrician, Edw. L. Cox; chief grip, Robert Murphy; chief prop, Wil- liam Stratton. Cast: John Wayne, Verna Hillie. George Hayes. <.>;gnomy. etc Will Connell is Director of e holography Department. DIRT AND SCRATCHES By Bob Tobey FRANK CAPRA is preparing his next produc- tion, "BROADWAY BILL," and recently spent a week at Tanforan making race-track backgrounds. He took with him Joe Walker. Andre Barlatier. George Kelley and Enzo Martinelli. Andre Bar- latier, the old background-snatcher, made a trip to Santa Barbara for a few days, taking Enzo with him. Andre also made a trip to Columbia's execu- tive offices, anil found they liked his work so well they had a nice new six-months contract ready for him to sign and the contract provided for a size- able increase in salary. lust goes to show, that murder will out. Marty Crail, Emil Oster's assist ant in charge of the Camera Department, has worked himself up into such a lather over Leica pictures that he has built for himself, at no end of labor, a complete finishing lab so he can fuss FOX "GRAND CANARY." Author, A. J. Cronin; screenplay, Keene Thompson; director, Irving ("ummings; first cameraman, Bert Glennon; opera- tive cameraman, Don Anderson; assistant, Lew Kunkle, Roger Sherman; stills, Emmett Schoen- baum. Cast: Warner Baxter, Marjorie Rambeau, Zita Johann, Madge Evans, Barry Norton. "BABY TAKES A BOW." Director, Harry Lachman; first cameraman, L. W. O'Connell; operative cameraman, A. Arling; assistants, E. Collins and M. Gold; stills. Cliff Maupin. Cast: James Dunn, Claire Trevor, Shirley Temple. "CHARLIE CHAN'S COURAGE." Producer, John Stone; author, Earl Derr Biggers; screen- play, Seton I. Miller; director, George Hadden ; assistant, Sid Bowen ; first cameraman, Arthur Miller; operative cameraman, J. La Shelle; assist- ants, W. Abbott and S. McDonald; stills, Bill Thomas; film editor, Alex. Troffey; art director, Duncan Cramer. Cast: Warner Oland, Drue Leyton, Donald Wood, Paul Hervey, Murray Kinnell, Reginald Mason, Si Jenks. Virginia Hammond, Harvey Clark, James Wong, Jerry Jerome, Jack Carter. "SHE LEARNED ABOUT SAILORS." Pro- ducer, John Stone. Based on story by Randall H. Faye; original screenply, William Conselman and Henry Johnson; director, George Marshall; first cameraman. Harry Jackson; operative camera- man, I. Rosenberg; assistants, H. Dawe and A. Lebovitz; stills. Gene Kornman; recording engi- neer, Bernard Fredricks; film editor, Fred Allen; art director, Duncan Cramer. Cast: Lew Ayres, Alice Faye, Frank Mitchell, Jack Durant, Harry Green. "CARAVAN." (English version.) Producer, Robert T. Kane; author, Melchoir Lengyel; screen- plav and dialogue, Sampson Raphaelson; director, Erik Charell; first cameraman, Ernest G. Palmer and Theodor Sparkuhl; operative cameramen. B. Anderson and J. Gordon ; assistants, W. Cruze and Robert Mack; stills. Anthony Ugrin; recording engineer. A. Von Kirbach; film editor. Bob Bishoff; art directors, William Darling and Ernest Stern. Cast: Charles Boyer, Loretta Young, Jean Parker, Phillips Holmes, Louise Fazenda, Eugei ■ Palette, C. Aubrey Smith, Dudley Diggs, Richard Carle, Charles Grapewin, Bill Bevan, Noah Beery, Armand Kaliz, Harry Bradley, Lionel Belmore. Harry Wood, Blanca Vischer. "SHE WAS A LADY." Producer, Al Rockett; author, Elisabeth Cobb; screenplay, Gertrude Bruce; adaptation, Josephine Lovett and Ainsworth Morgan; director, Hamilton MacFadden; assist- ant, George Blair; first cameraman, Bert Glen- non; operative cameraman, J. McDonald; assist- ants, L. Kunkle and Harry Webb; stills, Em- mett Schoenbaum; recording engineer, W. Slick; film editor, Dorothy Spencer; art director, Max Parker. Cast: Helen Twelvetrees, Donald Wood, Doris Lloyd. Ralph Morgan, Monroe Owsley, Paul Har- vey, Harold Goodwin. Barbara Weeks, Carroll Kay, Jackie Searles, Ann Howard. with the little devils. Can make big ones out of little ones and all that. There are columns and columns written by us humans telling what we think about motion pic- tures, but not often does a dog get a chance to express his opinion on the subject in a manner intelligible to us dumb brutes. The following little tale, folks, goes to show what our lowly four- footed friend thinks of a movie camera. I was at Neil Hamilton's home photographing a swimming party for Screen Snapshots. Esther Ralston was there (and very cute too) and Alice White and Tom Keene and a whole batch of others. I was set up for a long shot of Neil Hamilton's swimming pool and surrounding grounds, using a 25 MM lens without the matte box on the camera. The pool is flanked by a vast lawn, and bordering the lawn is a high hedge. George Kelley, assisting me, set the matte box in a nice safe spot on the lawn, by the hedge. Just about this time Doug Montgomery arrived at the party, accompanied by his mammoth Irish wolfhound. It seems the dog had been drinking beer. . . . You guessed it. my people — out of that vast expanse of lawn and hedge, the dog found the matte-box. For further particu- lars see George Kelley. Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 Three tons of silver bullion last less than a week. These bars will soon be dissolved in nitric acid as the first step in converting silver into photo-sensitive materials for motion picture film, Kodak film and Cine-Kodak film. (Continued from Page 5) freshly washed. Purified, dustless air circulates in the room. Photographic paper has become a semi-finished prod- uct in the Kodak Park scheme of things when it emerges from the paper mill, even though it is a fine finished product in terms of paper manufacture for ordinary pur- poses. Kodak Park's paper must still take the sensitise coating for recording photographs, but, before that is applied an intermediate coating must go on. To isolate the emulsion from the paper, chemically pure though the paper is, is one function of the baryta coating — one or more applications of barium sulphate — that precedes the sensitive coating. A second function is to control the type of surface required for the pho- tographic paper, of which two hundred and fifty varieties are made at Kodak Park. In the baryta coating vats, you find coating pig- ments that are white — not nearly white, or blue-white, or oyster white — but white — a pure, dazzling white that looks white to the eye and that the chemists say is white. When Kodak chemists declare a substance white, you can bet it is white. Paper plays an important part in Kodak's business quite aside from the actual photographic print material, for the film and the sensitized papers must be carefully packaged to protect them from light. Kodak makes its own packaging papers. Although the problem here is less acute, no less care is exercised in holding the pack- aging paper up to set standards than in the case of the highly refined photographic printing paper. Now for a visit to another part of the plant where purity again is the dominating note. More silver is consumed at Kodak Park than the United States Government is using in minting half dol- lars, quarters and dimes. Shipments of silver bars arrive daily at Kodak Park, to be kept in a large safe until they are used. Silver is ordinarily quite free from im- purities, but Kodak chemists never relax their vigilance. A boring from each bar goes under analysis, for the Please mention The International Photogra slightest quantity of copper or iron must be detected and removed before this silver, transformed into silver nitrate, is ready to go into an emulsion. Beginning with the solution of silver bars in nitric acid, dusk commences to cover the operations in which silver salts are concerned. Silver nitrate is only slightly sensitive to light, so no greater darkness veils the silver- nitrate operations than shading from the brightness of the sun. But when the silver nitrate goes to the emul- sion department, to be combined, with potassium bromide and gelatine and other ingredients, into a diversity of light-sensitive emulsions for a variety of photographic materials, darkness falls, and thereafter all operations — putting the seasoned emulsions on the film (or paper), slitting the film into the proper widths, perforating it for motion picture camera sprockets or spooling it in the proper lengths for amateurs' cameras — go on either in a low-intensity red light or in a green light so dull that only persons accustomed to working in these rooms can see anything. Scarcely less important than cleanliness is temperature control, for variations in heat would wreak havoc on the manufacture of photographic materials. The House of Kodak, in consequence, operates refrigeration equip- ment far larger than that of any ice company. Many of these huge machines, each capable of producing cold equivalent to the melting of six hundred daily tons of ice, are in constant operation. Brine, cooled by am- monia, is kept circulating from the refrigeration plants through a piping system that covers many buildings in the Park. In some departments, the thermometer is not permitted to show a variation of more than two degrees all year. It is an intricate and involved business, that of mak- ing photographic materials. Kodak Park is remarkably concerned with making the present perfect. Another important question, however, is that of making the future fertile. The future, at Kodak Park, is in the hands of the Research Laboratories, with their staff of two hundred or so. From these laboratories have come marvels of photographic progress — home movies, home movies in natural color, photo- graphic emulsions that can take pictures from hundreds of miles away, other emulsions that can take pictures in darkness, other emulsions that have greatly "speeded up" photography by artificial light and numerous refinements that have contributed to the broadening field of picture making. The Kodak Research Laboratories are a veri- table research university in the field of photography. Conjure up the photographer of a little more than fifty years ago. His camera was a large, clumsy in- strument. He carried with him a portable darkroom in which he had to sensitize his own plates before taking his picture. He worked under difficulties that seriously confined public interest in photography. He knew noth- ing of the harmful results of foreign elements in plates and paper (there was no film fifty years ago) — foreign elements that tended to spoil his materials. He knew nothing of these things except that his materials were often spoiled. The wonderful thing about him is that he didn't give up photography as a bad job. Perhaps the reason he didn't is that along came East- man, with ideas of simplification and standardization. Eastman visualized, and established, a system of film photography that turned a difficult vocation into a sim- ple pastime and a versatile tool. Early in his experience, George Eastman discovered through adversity, the need of pure raw materials and proper methods of manufacturing control. For fifty years the organization he founded has been working on that knowledge and refining it. For three generations, the progress has been steady toward that important goal — absolute purity of materials. pher when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOd R A 1' II K k Nineteen DANTE'S INFERNO HAD NOTHING ON THIS (Continued from Page 12) longer navigable. Enormous masses of pumice floated on the sea and stopped navigation. Where the Island of Krakatoa had stood there was now sea 600 to 1,000 feet deep. The shaded area on the accompanying map illustrates where the tidal wave drowned more than 70,000 people. Two hundred and ninety-five villages were inundated and the waves were of such force as to reach and be observed at Cape Horn, 7818 geographical miles away. Such was the energy in- itiated by the eruption of Krakatoa. After this outburst Krakatoa seemed to settle down peacefully, until the summer of 1931, when it again be- gan to erupt. Mr. Joe Rock was in the Orient at that time. Hastily he left for Batavia, for the purpose of organizing a crew to photograph the spectacle. Upon his arrival there he found that J. H. Bekker, an independent cameraman, had some friends who had furnished him with enough funds to hire two sea planes and a boat. In these planes Mr. Bekker and his party flew all around the volcano which was hurling dust and rocks four miles into the air. They were so close sometimes that hot lava fell on the wings of the plane, in one instance causing one of the wings to catch fire. At the risk of his life, one of the men crawled out to extinguish the fire. However, this necessitated landing immediately and fortunately the boat was handy to pick them up. The party remained on the scene three days and three nights, not knowing when their work would suddenly end in catastrophe. Many shots were taken from the boat, which went as near the volcano as 300 feet. By examining the film, cameramen and lens experts agree that these close shots were not taken with a telephoto lens, but with a two or three inch lens. Part of the boat is in some of the shots, which further proves that the foregoing statement is true. There must have been a large steamer passing over the volcano when the last eruption occurred. Wreckage of a ship was found close by and a boiler was found several miles away. Mr. Bekker came back to Batavia with his film at about the same time as Mr. Rock arrived. Immediately Mr. Rock contacted him and saw the film run on the screen. He was satisfied with the results and made a deal with Mr. Bekker. Upon arrival here in Hollywood, Mr. Rock took the film to all the major studios for a showing. Strange to say, they all turned it down, with one exception. Mr. Cummings at MGM wanted to buy it outright, but Mr. Rock wished to make a deal for distribution and couldn't let it go otherwise. Imagine a great picture like this being turned down by major studios. When Mr. Joe Brandt bought into Educational, he asked to see the film. As soon as the picture had been run he made the deal. The results speak for themselves. The picture is a real sensation ! In closing the writer wishes to extend grateful ac- knowledgment to Messrs. Scott, Judd, Ball and the Royal Society of Geologists. DEBRIE EXPANDS Mr. George Noffka, general manager of Andre Debrie, Inc., is now at the Hotel Roosevelt, Hollywood, display- ing the new model Debrie Super Parvo 35mm Camera. While in Hollywood, it is Mr. Noffka's intention to appoint a Western representative for the Debrie line of cinematographic equipment. Eastern sales are under the direction of Mr. H. R. Kossman, whose offices are lo- cated at 115 West 45th Street, New York City. CINE-KODAK UNIVERSAL FILTER HOLDER A device that permits a single filter to fit a variety of lenses has been put on the market by the Eastman Kodak Company, designated as the "Cine-Kodak Universal Filter Holder." A metal collar, equipped with rubber-covered coil springs arranged in such a way as to clamp on lenses differing in size, the device provides an unchanging cir- cumference to which the filter may be affixed, thus elimin- ating the need to buy different filters for different lenses. The Cine-Kodak Universal Filter Holder's useful- ness will be, of course, for persons with interchangeable- lens cameras. The Cine-Kodak lenses it is designed to fit are the following ones: f. 2.7, 15-mm.; f. 3.5, 20-mm. (interchangeable style only) ; f. 1.9, 1-inch ; f. 3.5, 2-inch ; f. 4.5, 78-mm.; f. 4.5, 3-inch; f. 4.5, 4K-inch. In addi- tion, it will fit many lenses of other makes. The U7 Cine-Kodak Color Filter is of the correct size to slip over the filter holder and thus becomes stand- ard when the holder is used. TRAILEREEL TRAILEREEL — a sample of which has just been re- ceived, is a convenient device in the projection room for winding trailers, etc. It is made of well finished alum- inum, with a hub one inch in diameter. It has the usual opening and keyway for the rewinder, one side being a solid disc one-eighth of an inch thick and Sl/2 inches in diameter. It is cast in one piece and fully guaranteed. TRAILEREEL has been rigidly tested by projection supervisors, who have praised it highly. It may be pur- chased for the surprisingly low price of $1.00 from the Trailereel Mfg. Co., East Hartford, Conn. 16mm. COLORED SOUND MOVIES EXPERIMENTS SHOW FEASIBLE Laboratory experiments which for the first time demonstrate the practicability of making and printing: 16 mm. sound-on-film motion pictures in natural colors, were described recently before the Society of Motion Picture Engineers convening here, by research engineers of the RCA Victor Company of Camden. It is believed that these experiments will open up a new and potentially broader field of usefulness for the convenient 16 mm. size sound-on-film industrial and educational motion pictures which have hitherto been restricted to black and white sound photography. With the new color methods, products which depend on rich coloring and design for their principal sales appeal will have new avenues of mer- chandising and selling opened up for them. Color photography added to sound should also prove valuable in enhancing the "eye value" of other types of products and services. Its application to visual educa- tion will mark an important step forward in that field. The sound recording experiments with color photography were conducted by the RCA Victor Company engineers with the Kodacolor film and color filter process. Actual recording tests showed that no distortion of a serious nature resulted from the peculiar base of the film which is specially embossed (longitudinnally lenticulated) for color sensitivity. Further experiments by the Camden engineers established that color subjects made by the subtractive color process on standard 35 mm. film could be optically reduced to 16 mm. size and successfully printed on Kodacolor fihn stock. AMATEUR TALKIES CAMERA SOON HERE SAY ENGINEERS The development of simplified apparatus which promises to make it possible for anyone to make personal sound motion pictures in the near future was described recently in a joint paper delivered befor the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, by research engineers of the RCA Victor Company of Camden. It was disclosed that since the advent of sound revolutionized the motion picture art, the Camden engineers have been working on the problem of developing a practicable amateur sound camera, which would be compact in size, and simple and economical to operate. Ac- cording to the paper presented, these efforts are expected to bear prac- ticable fruit in the near future. The sound camera apparatus discussed utilizes 16 millimeter film with a narrow track on one side for recording sound. It was de- scribed as a "newsreel" type, incorporating the sound recording sys- tem in the single light-weight camera case. As the subject is photo- graphed, the operator talks into a mouthpiece leading to a vibrating metal diaphragm. This diaphragm, which is set in motion by the speaking voice, is coupled mechanically to a tiny mirror which vibrates in unison with it. A light beam directed on the mirror is reflected with its fluctuations on the sensitized edge of the film as it passes through the camera. For recording the voice of the person or group being photogaphed, as well as for atmospherical sound effects, a sepa- rate microphone attachment together with electrical amplifying and recording equipment are provided for convenient mounting on a spe- cially designed "unimount" tripod upon which the sound camera itself may also be set. The paper emphasized that while experimental models of amateur sound cameras have been brought to an advanced stage of development in the laboratory, the final models would not be ready for public use for several months yet. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 AROUND THE WORLD ON LOCATION (Continued from Page 14) Later on we were entertained by the King's private dancers and a parade of his sacred elephants. Taken all in all, it was a great birthday party, with the King having as much fun as anybody and snapping pictures right and left with his small camera, prints of which he proudly showed us the next morning. If a colorful background and inter- esting, happy people, connected with a unique story, have anything to do with it, we should have a very interesting short subject of Cambodia. Leaving Phnom Penh we drove farther into the in- terior of Indo China, eventually arriving at the world- famous ruins, Angkor Wat. Here again we met our old friends, the Bonzas, and with their help, wove a story around the deserted ruins of what had once been one of the world's most beautiful cities. Angkor covers approxi- mately twenty-five square miles. There are some twenty or more large temples and palaces and many smaller ones that have been won from the dense jungle by the exten- sive exploration of the French Government. It was our pleasure to meet Mons. Marshall, who has spent the great- er part of his life obtaining historical data and rebuilding these marvelous old ruins. It is impossible to describe their magnificence and one must see them and spend many hours climbing up huge steps, through long, dark corridors and feeling the silence that seems to surround them, to appreciate them, even in part. One amusing incident stands out from all the others. In the very top of the largest building of Angkor is a small alcove that seems to be the storehouse of all the stone, bronze and wooden idols of Buddha, reclaimed from the ruins. To this place we brought fifty yellow robed Bonzas, as we wanted a scene of these monks pay- ing homage to the Buddha. The camera was set up on the rock floor while Paul Perry and the rest of our party ■were outside the temple working on our generator. I was staying close to the camera, as a slight bump on that rock floor would cause it to slide. The Bonzas were friendly, but as inquisitive as ever. They had mooched all of my cigarettes, a package of gum and a box of raisins that I had and I was casting around for some way to entertain them and keep them happy, anything, in fact, to steer them away from the camera. It was beginning to look like a hopeless task when I re- membered that there was a small German music box in my camera case. Some years ago I had been given a wine jug (without the wine) as a Christmas gift, and in the bottom of this jug was a music box. The jug had long since been bro- ken, but the music box remained as a necessary part of my equipment. Winding it up, I set it in the hand of a large, bronze image. The melody of "How Dry I Am" filled the temple. The priests sat around very quietly, as it was some new miracle to them, and they were quite happy and forgot all about the camera ; so, for the next three- quarters of an hour, I played "How Dry I Am," for what seemed like a hundred times, and on any future trips I shall never be without something to keep the natives happy. Our work finished at Angkor, we returned to Saigon, and there took a small China coaster, the Sun Sche, back to Hong Kong, where Paul and I made new contacts and obtained much information regarding our Chinese pirates' story, which we hope to make in the near future. And right here I want to say that I have never worked with a finer fellow than Paul Perry, and I am looking forward to the time when we can be together again. There is an old saying about one going to the Orient — if you go there once, you will spend seven years before you shake the dust of the Orient from your feet for good. After fourteen trips to the Orient I have learned that there is no place so wonderful as California, but I also know that I shall go back to the Far East again, mavbe for— JUST ANOTHER LOCATION. EARL THEISEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTEBOOK stance, BEFORE an infant can appear before the camera there are miles of red tape to be unwound. The State of California has done everything possible to protect the youngsters in the movies. For in- little Katherine Snelling, at Universal Studio, could not be in films without the consent of both parents ; a welfare worker as well as a trained nurse had to accom- pany her to the studio. The baby could remain at the studio for only two hours and is permitted to "act" only twenty minutes. No smoking is allowed on the set while she is working. Also a properly heated nursery and a thoroughly disinfected auto must be provided. The salary paid the infant's par- ents is fixed by California State Law and is at the rate of three hundred dollars a day. While on the subject of babies mention should be made of Pete Smith's short subject on baby raising, which is to be released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture will illustrate the right and wrong methods of doing things for the infants. The picture should include directions of what can be done with the child while the parents go to the movies. Another short that would prove popular could be on the care of the older babies ; when to buy them diamonds, when to feed them and in what quantities, what to do with them on club nights, and many other practical phases of the subject could be covered. Of course such a sub- ject would have little value in Hollywood, since here the babies are busy in the movies. "The Butcher who sells you a ham, doesn't worry about its fate. You can boil it or fry it or drop it in the well ; it's all the same to him after he gets his money." That is the attitude of Irvin S. Cobb, who has sold a number of his Judge Priest stories to Fox Film. Cobb should be appointed a missionary of one to convert other equally famous writers to a faith in the picture makers who are in the business of making pictures. Until now most fam- ous writers were egotists enough to feel that they knew the picture medium. A few story conferences in the stu- dios showed them there was as much difference in the screen story as there is difference in prose and poetry. William Darling, Fox Film art director, is faced with the task of reproducing an entire Hungarian village to be used in "Caravan." The "Chateau Tokay," an im- mense structure nearly two hundred feet long and more than sixty feet high, with its moat, drawbridge, and port- cullis, is nearing completion on the crest of a hill at Fox Movietone City. Did you know that much of the material that goes into make-up is ground as fine as the pigment in ink? In fact the same type of machine is used in both factories. Max Firestein, of Max Factors, took me through the Max Factor Make-up Factory. He showed me vacuum ma- chines for cleaning the boxes from the factory before make-up materials are put into them, machines for past- ing a label on any shape bottle (in fact, the same machine will put a number of labels on the same bottle), machines for screwing caps on bottles, and so on endlessly. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-one KODAK HONORS BUILDERS Eastman Company Elects President Stuber Chairman and Sends F. W. Lovejoy To Presidency F. W. Lovejoy William C. Stuber The Eastman Kodak Company has a new president, Frank W. Lovejoy, who recently succeeded William G. Stuber when Mr. Stuber was elected chairman of the board of directors to fill the vacancy existing since George Eastman's death. Mr. Lovejoy has been associated with Kodak for 37 years. Three years after his graduation in chemical en- gineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he came to Kodak Park as superintendent of the film de- partment. In 1900 he became manager of the Kodak Park Works, in 1906 general manger of manufacturing de- partments, in 1919 vice-president, and in 1925, when Mr. Eastman relinquished active management of the Ko- dak Company, general manager. As president, Mr. Lovejoy retains the duties of gen- eral manager. Mr. Stuber resigned the presidency, with its more active administrative duties, two days after his seventieth birthday. Along with his functioning as chairman, he will continue to watch the quality of the company's photo- sensitive products, his specialty since he joined the East- man organization in 1894. Mr. Stuber came to Rochester from Louisville, Ken- tucky, where he was a successful professional photogra- pher. His original charge with Kodak was dry-plate manufacture. Shortly after he had assumed that work, he took charge of making the sensitive emulsion for films, NEW BOOK FOR THE CINEMATOCRAPHER MOVIE MAKING MADE EASY By William J. Shannon 219 Pages — 36 Illustrations Moorfield & Shannon, Nutley, New Jersey The title of this book is well chosen, because the au- thor has approached the question of movie making in a simple and practical manner. One gets the feeling of wanting to get to work without delay for like the books of Dan Beard that told how to make tree houses, caves and all manner of boyhood contraptions, this book tells how to build many fascinating things that have to do with movie making. The glamor is all there. For instance, mention is made of one enterprising enthusiast who built a "theatre" in the cellar, boasting such refinements as a "procenium arch resplendent in mottled gold" and "glimmering drapes of soft rayon." The latter served a double purpose, acting also as a screen to hide the heater and the wash tubs. In fact, the whole book deals largely with the prac- tical question of ivhat to do from the time the camera is selected until the finished picture is shown on the screen and for this reason it is bound to make a hit with boys young and old who, like Tom Sawyer, are showmen at heart. on the quality of which depended the prosperity of the company. Mr. Stuber was above all an expert in photographic quality, and his skill in that field supplemented Mr. East- man's ability as an organizer and an executive. The rapid growth of the company was a result of that associa- tion, depending as it did on the continuous improvement in the quality of the Kodak products and on the develop- ments necessary to adapt those products to the great va- riety of uses to which they are now put. In 1918 Mr. Stuber assumed charge of all the sensi- tive materials made by the company, adding the produc- tion of photographic papers to that of films and plates. In 1919 he became vice-president in charge of photographic quality. Upon the retirement of Mr. Eastman from the presi- dency, in 1925, Mr. Stuber was elected to succeed the founder as president. In that position he has led the com- pany through the difficult problems that have confronted it, both in its domestic trade and in its international trade ; but at the same time he has continued to take a special interest in the quality of the sensitive materials. Cables: ArtReeves Francais Deutsch Espanol Svenska "ArtReeves" Automatic Speed Control Motor. Especially designed RICHT SIDE UP focusing tube. Twin-fidelity optical unit. Tachometer. Shuttle SILENCED. SINGLE SYSTEM SOUND Built into your Bell & Howell Camera Write for particulars. j-follVrVood Motion picTuRt/rxiuiPMENTQ. |Td. 645 NORTH MARTEL AVE- CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES Phone: WYoming 4501 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA. USA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 CONTINUITY OF AMATEUR PICTURES mm. By Walter Bluemel (Chief of Workshop, Department of Cinematography, University of Southern California) j^j^W*3LTHOUGH this magazine may appear as in- tended chiefly for technicians, especially camera- men, an article on story and continuity may- seem somewhat out of place here until one real- izes the importance of a close association between writer, director and cameraman. It is only by full co-operation between these departments that the best results are ob- tainable, the ideal being reached when they are one, at least in effect. Only then can perfect unity, which is so necessary for good pictures, be achieved. This condition is, unfortunately, not usually possible in professional pro- ductions, but, with exceptions, is readily possible in ama- teur production. In order that a picture may be interesting it must have some form of continuity — a linking together of the separ- ate scenes, which alone have little value, into a congruent whole, the combined effect of which is to tell an interest- ing story which produces an emotion or series of emotions as desired by the writer and director. Without the co- operation of the cameraman, and his understanding of what mood, emotional, or pictorial effect is desired, the separate scenes will not fuse into a congruent picture, and the effect desired by the writer and director will be lost. Hence the importance of close co-operation and the neces- sity for the cameraman to understand story and continuity construction. I do not believe that the amateur should be taught a lot of theory, for there is no substitute for learning by experience, and too much theory can only be confusing. He will, also, get more enjoyment out of his pictures if they are the result of his own efforts than if he follows closely someone else's suggestions. Enjoyment, after all, is his chief, and sometimes only, desire in making pictures. My object in presenting suggestions is only to whet up the amateur's interest and ambition to make better films, and to help him find new methods of approach. The space here is too limited to go into any amount of detail on the matter of story and continuity construction (for which purpose I again refer to the books I mentioned last month, as well as others on story writing), but a few sug- gestions at random will not be out of place. The question the beginning amateur who has just re- ceived a movie camera will ask is: "What shall 1 photo- graph?" Realizing that he is dealing with a pictorial medium, and especially one that moves, his first impulse will be to photograph anything that moves. His pictures are merely a group of unrelated scenes, each of which has movement of its own, but does not contribute to the whole effect of the film. It is equivalent to a lot of moving snapshots, and produces no more effect on an audience than a group of ordinary snapshots would do. Like snap- shots, these scenes may at first be of interest to the person who took them, or the people who appear in them, and their friends and relatives, but, like the novelty of motion, the novelty of seeing friends, relatives, the baby, or, per- haps, some vacation scenes, soon wears off. If the money spent on movie equipment is not to be wasted, it is time then to consider improving the future films by using good continuity, effective direction and photography, and con- structive editing. This only can give lasting appeal. Every amateur is surrounded with things that have story possibilities. He should train himself to appreciate these possibilities and make the most of them. Instead of just taking pictures of the baby or the vacation trip with- out any thought for continuity, why not make them doub- ly interesting by building up a continuity around them? Innumerable incidents come up continually in the average person's life which suggest a story for pictures. Some of the most common emotions and experiences often suggest the best story material. In this connection Rudolf Arn- heim, in his book "FILM", says: "It is of the greatest works of art that it can most truly be said that they are concerned with emotions everyone knows and experiences — jealousy, filial love, revenge, loyalty, treachery." To make interesting, or even artistic pictures, it is, therefore, by no means necessary to go to out of the way places for out of the way subjects, nor is it necessary to have elab- orate equipment. By good continuity, or treatment, most commonplace subjects can be made good picture material. The possibilities are unlimited. Among professional scenario writers, the rule gener- ally is to first choose the character or characters, and then write the plot around them. A plot without characters is naturally impossible. Once, however, we have a specific character, or group of characters, whether real or ficti- tious, a story can readily be woven around them. The character himself, by his appearance or mannerisms, will often suggest a story to the writer. As with the profes- sional writer, who must usually write for some particular star, the amateur must write stories which fit characters at his disposal. He must, therefore, choose the characters first and write the story around them. The baby, to use a common example (so many amateurs seem to have babies to take pictures of), has excellent story possibilities to the imaginative picture maker, and a picture-story of the baby serves the double purpose of being a photo-record and of being interesting to those who have no particular interest in the baby itself. The same applies to pictures of friends and relatives. The principal character need not always be human. The family pets often offer good story material. Even inanimate objects can sometimes be characters, as, for in- stance, the family car in a vacation picture. Not long ago I wrote a little scenario in which a dam was the principal character, being the villian. Thus there are so many story possibilities all around that I hardly need mention them to the imaginative amateur. Travel pictures may at first seem devoid of any con- tinuity, but it is very rarely that they are. When there are several people in the part they can readily be made to link the scenes by building a little scenario around them and their travels. The incidents will usually suggest them- selves, and in this case the story must be built up as you go along, as was frequently done in very early motion pictures. The country traveled over should suggest story material, as will the characters themselves by their actions and appearance. Repetition in the form of running gags may be used effectively to create comic relief in an otherwise unexciting travel film. A repetition of the same scene throughout the picture is sometimes very comical. This method is used in the J. P. Medbury and Pete Smith travelogues. I remem- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-three ber one of J. P. Medbury's in which a native was shown trying to light a fire by friction. This scene was inserted several times throughout the picture, but still no fire, until near the end a big brush fire was shown, to which Mr. Medbury announced that the native had finally started his fire. In another travel short on Holland, a native was shown bailing out his boat throughout the pic- ture, while in a Pete Smith short on bicycles from old times to the present one of the old-timers ran into a lake, and spent the rest of the picture struggling to get out. The same scene, was, of course, used each time. The ama- teur who plans to travel would be wise to study profes- sional travel films for tricks of continuity. Clever titles will help much, and will to some extent supplant the ex- planatory dialogue of the professional pictures. My advice to the beginning amateur who wishes to make a picture with continuity is to first take into consid- eration his resources. He should consider what char- acters are avaiable and what are their dramatic abilities. Then the locations must be considered, for they can nat- urally not be made to order as in a Hollywood studio. An amateur living in the Middle West- cannot expect to make a South Sea Island picture, or a Foreign Legion picture, but must confine his picture subjects to life in the cities and countrysides of that section of the country. Then, too, the amateur must choose stories which his equipment will allow him to film. For example, if he does not have adequate lighting equipment, an abundance of interiors is naturally out of the question, or if his camera does not have a critical focusing device it would hardly be wise to make a picture entirely in close-ups. Technical problems, however, should be the least worry to the amateur who has any ingenuity and inventive ability. In planning to make a picture he should first consider what he has to work with, and build his story and continuity accordingly. His characters, his locations, and his equipment will sug- gest the story, the continuity, and the technical treatment he can give it. No amateur, 1 am sure, is so unimagin- ative or has so few resources that something will not sug- gest itself to him. Once the story has been chosen, the next stage is to put it into detailed scenario, or continuity, form. This is also called the treatment. Assuming that the subject mat- ter, or story, is the same, the treatment is the deciding factor in the quality of the film. It can make a story into a good picture or a bad one, an artistic picture or an un- inspiring one. Two current pictures, "Catherine the Great" and "The Scarlet Empress" have almost identical stories, yet their treatments make them as different as any two pictures could be. "The Scarlet Empress" is an ex- cellent (though, perhaps, somewhat overdone) example of purely cinematic treatment, and of the tremendous pos- sibilities of the motion picture as an art medium, while the English picture is, by comparison, just another pic- ture, leaning, because of the large amount of dialogue, too much toward stage technique, and above the average only because of subject-matter. When writing the continuity, always think in terms of pictures, not in words or thoughts which cannot be shown on the screen. The camera can record only con- crete physical events, not the abstract, like thoughts or emotions which have no visible manifestation and cannot be translated into visible terms. There can be no abstract explanations except in dialogue or titles. In the scenario words should serve only the purpose of explaining how a visible subject is to be photographed — they must not ex- press something that is purely literary and cannot readily be transformed into the pictorial. The pictorial is always more vivid than the spoken or written word, and the mo- tion picture is essentially a pictorial art. If a person in your picture is to be characterized, don't use a title for this purpose, but express it through his actions and appearance. His thoughts and emotions can (Turn to Page 25) MEET OUR NEW MANAGER! Courtesy Attention Service Sacha L. Bollas Secretary Courtesy Attention Service Edward T. Estabrook Studio Rentals RUDDY GERAUS CAMERA SUPPLY CO. Ltd Phone CL 2404 1515 Cahuenga Avenue Nite Phones: No. Hollywood 1271— CLadstone 6583 Cable Address "CAMERAS" All Codes Hollywood, California Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording CHAPTER IX HIS chapter introduces the discussion of audio- frequency amplification, particularly as it is em- ployed in motion picture sound recording to in- crease the weak speech current to a value great enough to operate a recording device. Many of the mod- ern miracles of science owe their existence to the vacuum tube and its application as either rectifier, oscillator, de- tector, or amplifier. Sound motion pictures, long-distance telephony, radio broadcasting, television, and a host of other twentieth-century marvels are outgrowths of the application of the vacuum tube in one or more of its va- rious capacities. The Transmission Line When the monitored speech current leaves the main volume control in the monitor room it is carried by a transmission line to the amplifier room, which in perma- nent installations is usually located fifty or more feet from the monitor room. Like all the transmission lines in the sound recording studio, this line is formed of two rubber- GRIP-j {-PLATE PLATE. BATTERV FIGURE \. ONE STAGE TRANSFORMER - C OU PL E D AMPLIFIER covered wires encased in a lead shield. In the older type of transmission line the two wires were run parallel within the shielding; but in the newer type of line the wires are twisted about each other inside the shield. This may seem like a trifling detail, but that is not the case. The lead covering over the wires serves as an electro- static shield, preventing stray electrostatic currents being induced in the wires, but it does not serve so effectually to block the influence of any electromagnetic fields to which the transmission line may be exposed. The result was that when a number of these shielded transmission lines of the older type were bound together in a cable, the electromagnetic fields about each pair of wires had an effect on the adjacent lines. Twisting the wires about each other inside the lead shielding, as is now done, causes the electromagnetic fields about the two wires to cancel each other out, resulting in the almost total elimination of any external electromagnetic field about the transmis- sion line. The Vacuum Tube The type of vacuum tube used in sound recording has three elements: a filament, a grid, and a plate. The fila- ment is a hairpin of wire, usually formed of a platinum- nickel alloy coated with a mixture of certain oxides that give out electrons freely when heated. The grid is a spiral of fine wire around the filament ; and the solid metal plate is supported outside of and surrounding the grid. These three elements are enclosed in an evacuated glass bulb. The two ends of the filament, the grid and the plate leads are connected to the four prong terminals on the base. By Charles Felstead Associate Editor An electric current from the filament battery (the A battery) flowing through the metal of the filament heats the oxide coating and causes it to emit electrons. The plate is maintained positive and at a much higher potential (voltage) than the filament by means of a plate, or B, battery. Operating on the electrical principle that like charges repel and unlike charges attract, the positively- charged plate attracts the electrons (which are negative charges of electricity) released by the filament and draws them through the grid mesh. This flow of electrons from the filament to the plate sets up a plate current that is steady in value as long as the plate voltage and filament temperature are not changed and there is no potential applied to the grid of the tube. Functioning of the Grid When a vacuum tube is used as an amplifier, the grid is kept at small negative potential with respect to the fila- ment bv means of a grid-bias (C) battery, or by means of a voltage obtained from the filament or plate battery. This negative charge on the grid tends to repel many of the electrons emitted by the heated filament and prevent their passage to the plate, in that way limiting the plate cur- rent flow to a value that is determined by the amount of the negative charge on the grid. The higher the negative grid potential the lower the value of the plate current, filament temperature and place voltage remaining the same. The alternating voltage that is to be amplified (the speech voltage, or speech current, in sound recording) is applied to the grid circuit of the tube in series with the grid-bias battery, as shown in Figure 1, the amplified dia- gram of a one-stage transformer-coupled amplifier. The variation in the speech voltage causes the potential of the grid to vary proportionately. When the speech voltage is on the negative half of its cycle it increases the value of the negative potential on the grid, and when it is on the positive half of its cycle it decreases the negative grid bias potential. The fixed grid bias voltage is chosen so that at no time will the grid be permitted to attain a positive value, because that would cause electrons to be drawn to the grid, creating an appreciable grid current flow and re- sulting in distortion of the amplified speech current. The variation in grid potential under influence of the applied speech voltage produces a corresponding but much greater variation in the number of electrons that are per- mitted to pass through the grid mesh and reach the plate. This results in a variation of plate current which, after it is fed through the output transformer OT to the next tube in the amplifier or to a transmission line, becomes a variation in speech voltage. This output speech volt- age is — in a correctly designed amplifier circuit — an exact but considerably amplified copy of the speech voltage sup- plied to the input transformer IT. Tubes Used In Sound Recording The audio amplifiers used for sound recording have from one to four stages of amplification — that is, one to four tubes — each stage serving to raise the level of the (Turn to Page 26) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-five CONTINUITY IN AMATEUR PICTURES (Continued from Page 23) usually be shown cinematically. The Russians and Ger- mans are especially adept in showing thoughts and emo- tions in terms of pictures, sometimes symbolically or by indirect suggestion, and sometimes by close-ups of the actor's features, hands, etc. That this does not necessarily require difficult action is borne out by the fact that the Russians (whose pictures, though not entirely according to our tastes, are dramatically powerful and vivid) use mostly natural types, that is, characters taken from the walks of life they depict in the picture, and who have had no previous motion picture experience. An actor need not go into hysterics to show that he is angry: a close-up of his clenched fist will put the idea across much more effec- tively. Overacting to express an emotion is inexcusable, for there are many more subtle ways in which it can be shown. Restraint is often more powerful than a violent exhibi- tion of emotion, as is evidenced in the pictures of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Norma Shearer, Helen Hayes, and other outstanding actresses. For the amateur it is especially well to practice restraint, for there is always a tendency to overact. Observation of the people around him will teach him better than anything else how people act, and suggest little characteristics and mannerisms which he can use very effectively in his pictures. Keen observa- tion is indeed a valuable help in writing and directing a picture. Little details of action and properties can often be used much more effectively than the whole. Details, if used properly, give emphasis. The detail becomes the sym- bol for the whole, and, because it concentrates the atten- tion, has more dramatic significance than the whole. The close-up is a very valuable property of the motion picture, and if used judiciously there is little danger that it will be over-done. The amateur, especially, will find it useful in showing scenes which, because of limited sets and equip- ment, could not be shown in full shot. Symbolism and indirect suggestion, which frequently go hand in hand, may also be used to express incidents which are prohibitive to the amateur. The symbol, whose meaning must, of course, be generally understood, can be a representation of the object, the event, or even an ab- stract subject, which cannot be, or is not desired to be, shown actually. A flag, for instance, is a symbol of the country to which it belongs, and if it be desired to show the defeat of that country in war, which, of course, the amateur could never do, it is a simple matter to show the flag being taken down from its staff and the flag of the victorious country being raised in its place. The Russian Eagle is a symbol of Imperial Russia, and I remember one picture in which the Russian revolution was symbolized by mud being thrown on the coat-of-arms. In "Scarlet Empress" gargoyles where used continuously to symbolize the grotesqueness of that period. In "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", instead of showing a passionate love scene the camera panned to a statue of cupid. Innumerable examples of symbolism and indirect suggestion could be given, espe- cially from the pictures of Ernst Lubitsch, Rouben Ma- moulian, and Josef von Sternberg, as well as those of outstanding European directors. A word of warning in their use should be given, however. They must not be trite, or their effectiveness will be lost, yet they must be such that their significance is clearly understood. Subtle- ness in pictures is desired only to the extent where its meaning is still evident. The amateur continuity writer should, by all means, have a knowledge of the principles of montage, which are outlined in detail in Rudolf Arnheim's book, and by Podovkin in "Film Technique." It is essentially a pro- cess of constructive editing — of assembling the separate strips of film, irrelated by time and space, or even subject. into a complete, unified pictures — and involves the utiliza- tion of many cinematic devices, such as similarity and con- trast, parallel action, repetition, flash-backs, association, camera position and angle, details, symbolism and indirect suggestion, transitions, intercutting, superimposition, tempo and rhythm, and others, with which most amateurs are, no doubt, already partly familiar. With all these possibilities at the disposal of the con- tinuity writer it is just as important that he know what effect not to use as to what to use, for, as Arnheim puts it, "It is the fundamental condition of a work of art that it should contain everything essential and nothing superflu- ous." An unusual camera angle used just for an unusual (Turn to Page 28) The Leading Cinematographers of the Motion Pic- ture Industry, The Men who know Make-up, to insure the best in photography, insist on the use of NUCHROMATIC MAKE-UP FOUNDATION /f Hollywood Compounded of the finest and purest of ingredients and certified colors. DE LONG MAKE-UP STUDIO GLadsrone 8140 5533 Sunset Blvd. DOUBLE MATTING (3 PATENTS. 1932) mWJTlLLIAMCS ▼T SHOTS » Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. To the Cameraman We supply fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film at .02^ per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS KOMPANY 6510 Selma Ave., Hollywood, Calif. GL. 0276 LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE • the first and only magazine devoted exclusively to the LEICA camera in the United States. • if you own a LEICA, register its serial number with us and receive this magazine regularly each month free of charge. • non-LEICA-owners may secure this magazine at 10c per copy or $1.00 per year, (foreign, $1.50 to all — owners and non-owners.) • edited by famous authorities, crammed with useful and interesting information, LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY sets a new standard in photographic journals. Ask for sample copy. E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th St., New York City Please mention The International Photographer v.hcn corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING (Continued from Page 24) speech current by an amount determined by the type of tube used, the voltages applied to the tube, and the coup- ling devices in its input and output circuits. There are several different types of tubes used in sound recording ; but they are all operated from batteries to avoid any pos- sibility of an alternating-current hum being introduced in the sound record, as might well be the case if rectified a-c. supplies were used. In radio receivers the amount of audio amplification is so very much less than in a recording channel that any a-c. hum present in the power supply is not amplified to an extent great enough to be trouble- some. The tubes used in the condenser microphone amplifiers and in certain types of pre-amplifiers are of the small "peanut" type that operate on low filament and plate voltages. These tubes are not required to handle a large amount of audio power because the speech energy in this portion of the circuit is at an extremely low electrical level. The other tubes in the recording system are of standard size ; although there is a considerable difference in the electrical characteristics of the different types. The tube used in the low level portion of the main amplifier circuit — the input from the monitor room trans- mission line — is of the voltage amplified type. This tube provides a large step-up of speech voltage, but is capable of handling very little audio power in its plate circuit. The shape and construction of the elements, their spacing, and the voltages applied to a tube determine its type. The tubes used in the final amplifiers, the ones that supply energy to the recording devices, are of the power amplifier type. They provide very little voltage gain but are con- structed to control the flow of a relatively large amount of electrical power in their output circuits. The inter- mediate tubes are a compromise between these two types. The purpose of voltage amplification is to build up the voltage of the speech energy to the highest possible value without regard to the actual electrical power involved ; and the purpose of power amplification is not so much high amplification of the speech current as it is to increase the energy of the speech current so that it will have suffi- cient power to do work. Amplifier Circuits The apparatus used in coupling the tubes in an audio amplifier to each other or to other equipment — the coup- ling device — is an important element in determining the amount of amplification provided by the amplifier. There are three main types of coupling devices and several modi- fications of these three types. They are : resistance coup- ling, impedance coupling, and transformer coupling. There is not the space to discuss these circuits exhaustively, so only brief comparisons between them will be made. Resistance coupling employs a resistance in the plate to B battery circuit of one tube, and another resistance (grid leak) in the grid to filament circuit of the following tube, and two circuits being coupled together by a coupling condenser that connects from the plate of the one tube to the grid of the following tube. This is known as a 1-to-l coupling device because it provides no step-up of speech voltage. This coupling arrangement is not economical of plate voltage because of the large voltage drop through the plate resistor ; but on the other hand it does not dis- tort the quality of the speech voltage passing through it, providing when correctly designed absolute fidelity of am- plification. Impedance coupling is like resistance coupling with the single variation that an impedance (a choke coil) is substituted for the resistance in the plate circuit of the first tube. This likewise is a 1-to-l coupling device; but it does not require such a high plate battery voltage to sup- ply the same tube plate voltage, because the direct-current voltage drop through the impedance is a great deal less than the voltage drop through the plate resistance. Al- though the direct-current resistance of the impedance is low, its impedance (resistance) to the alternating speech voltage is as high for most frequencies as that of the plate resistance. The fidelity of amplification of impedance coupling is not as good as that provided by resistance coupling, but it still is excellent. Transformer coupling employs an audio transformer having two windings of wire — a primary and a secondary — on an iron core. The primary winding is connected in the plate circuit of the first tube in place of the plate re- sistance, and the secondary winding is substituted for the grid leak in the grid circuit of the following tube. No coupling condenser is employed between the tubes, the coupling being furnished by the mutual impedance of the two windings. This form of tube coupling provides a decided voltage step-up between the tubes, the exact amount depending on the ratio of the turns in the two windings. Less stages of amplification are required if transformer coupling is sub- stituted for resistance or impedance coupling; but the out- put of a transformer-coupled amplifier is a much less faith- ful copy of the input speech voltage than would be pro- vided by an amplifier employing either of the other types of couplings. In other words, more uniform amplification over the audio frequency range is provided by resistance or impedance coupling. The Recording Channel A sound recording channel is formed of the micro- phones, the monitoring apparatus, the amplifiers, the re- cording machines, the motor control system, and the bat- teries necessary to comprise a complete recording system. A semi-portable (mounted in a motor truck) or portable (trunk-type) recording unit is a single recording chan- nel ; but the permanent installations in studios comprise two or more complete channels. The several recording channels in a studio are separ- ate and independent, with the exception of a common bat- tery room, motor control room, and main amplifier room. The channels each have their own monitor and recording rooms and their own sound stage. Individual intercom- municating telephone systems and signal light systems are provided for each channel. Main Distributing Frame In the permanent sound installation, the amplifier room is located as nearly as possible in the center of the recording studio. In this large room all the wiring for the several channels is brought to a common point, a bulky metal framework supporting dozens of terminal blocks and known as a main distributing frame, or MDF. Every terminal block is equipped with some twenty terminals, each terminal numbered and listed in a catalog. The in- put and output circuits of practically every piece of speech equipment in the sound recording installation, whether located in the amplifier room or not, are brought to the terminals on these connection blocks. Large panels made up of rows of double jacks are mounted in the main amplifier bays. The terminals of each of these double jacks connect to terminals on the con- nection blocks. Wire straps link the proper terminals on the connection blocks together, thus placing these double jacks in the input and output circuits of each piece of speech equipment terminating on the connection blocks. By means of special plugs that fit the jacks, connection may be quickly and easily made to the input or output of any piece of speech equipment. Permanent alterations in the circuit of a recording channel can be made by changing the straps between terminals on the connection blocks without the necessity of touching the apparatus itself. All connections at these blocks are carefully soldered. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 T 1 1 e INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K !< Twenty-seven The transmission lines connecting the apparatus to the MDF are all of the standard lead-shielded type with twisted pairs of wires, the lines laid together and bound into neat cables. The MDF is enclosed in a grounded metal case as large as a clothes closet ; and the cables all run through metal "gutters," the gutters and the lead shielding on the lines being likewise connected to the com- mon ground system. High and low level speech circuits are kept as widely separated as possible. These precau- tions tend to prevent cross-talk between circuits and to minimize the pick-up of stray currents and similar extran- eous electric disturbances. The next chapter will continue the description of the main studio amplifying equipment and its operation. THE NIKOR TANK Burleigh Brooks, photographic goods, 127 West 42nd St., New York City, announces his new Nikor Tank which, he declares, comprises the simplest and most ap- proved method of loading in existence. The high lights of the new Nikor Tank are: EASILY LOADED— The NIKOR tank is easily and quickly loaded. It is impossible to mar or scratch the film. .No marks are left on the negatives as the only contact point is at the extreme edge of the film. QUICKLY CLEANED — It is easy to detect deposits of dirt and scum on the bright, hard surface of the NIKOR and to remove these by the application of nitric acid in any strength. Even conditions of long and constant usage will neither stain nor tarnish the tank. RAPID DAYLIGHT FILLING— The NIKOR tank allows solutions to be poured in and out (completely) with exceptional rapidity, in day- light. ECONOMICAL — The compactness of the NIKOR obviates the use of an unnecessarily large quantity of developer and prevents serious temperature changes during development. The latter is a common fault in the use of odd-shaped containers. DURABLE— The ruggedness of the NIKOR tank makes it an ideal device for travelers and explorers and whenever hard usage may be expected. It will last a life-time. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT— Two German investigators, Dr. Franz Baur and Dr. Gottlieb Imhof have shown that stainless steel may be used for physical development. The NIKOR tank gives excellent results with physical development and can be cleaned with nitric acid as recomrr ended. Capacity Size Price No. 1 for V. P. (127) film 16 oz. 3x35/6" $6.75 No. 2 for 2J4" (120. 117) film 16 oz. 3x35/6" 6.75 No. 3 for 35mm. (S ft. length') film... 21 oz. 2 x 5" dia. 6.75 The Cinematographer's BOOK of TABLES IS ON SALE AT ALL DEALERS Price $loo PLASTIC FILM SOLVED? The problem of the plastic film has been solved, ac- cording to reliable reports, by Professor Koegel, of the Technical College in Karlsruhe. After many years' ex- periments he has invented a process which makes the pro- duction of the plastic film easy and comparatively cheap. Methods hitherto followed achieved their plastic effects by the production of a double series of pictures in com- plementary colors (red, green, for example) and then by the use of red, green spectacles. But to supply each visitor to a cinema with red, green spectacles made the plan impracticable. Professor Koegel's new invention results from a thorough study of the human eye which led to the conclusion that the same system which there produces the breaking up of light rays could be applied to the screen. As a result, he constructed a special screen with a nickel surface which, according to special calculations of light-ray action, produces certain definite ray reflec- tions. It is probable that the new Koegel film screens will be fitted in a number of German cinemas in the near future. — Christian Science Monitor. AMATEURS ! ! PROFESSIONALS ! ! Fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film Supplied at .02J/2 per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS KOMPANY 6510 Selma Ave., Hollywood, Calif. GL. 0276 Phone CLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHINC MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone CRanite 9707 Hollywood, California Something New ...In Motion Picture Developing L THE DAVIDGE DEVELOPING J PROCESS 1,000 feet of film developed in only 50 gallons of developer. Make your pictures live on the screen by developing to the maximum of gradation. No directional effect; greater color separation. Sound track developed by this method has cleaner, sharper striations, which produces clearer and better sound. Also made in combination units to take either standard or 16mm. film and in small units for amateur use. ■ For full particulars write to ROY DAVIDGE FILM LABORATORIES, LTD. 6701 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, California Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER J unc, 1934 HOLLYWOOD AND LONDON [Phil Tannura departed for his home in England, May 15, after a sojourn of several weeks in Hollywood studying American motion pictures up-to-date. Mr. Tannura has been in England and France for six years and is at present associated with Gaumont-British as lighting expert with the title of Technical Adviser. He reports Eng- lish production as coming fast and that the Americans at work there are doing their part in a creditable manner. Come again soon, Phil; everybody likes you here. Editor's Note.] Said Mr. Tannura in a brief chat between studio jumps: "Six long years, but on second thought they were useful years considering the valuable experience I obtained on how several European companies conducted their vari- ous ways of producing a picture. "France always gave me the impression of hectic busi- ness ideals, no matter what was done excitement had to be featured, but it was never shown in the finished picture, for in reality the tempo was slow even with an excited mind. Hollywood should think twice before they put money into French production. "London gave me a new slant on production. The field is not crowded with over rated production heads, the thought behind each picture is sincere, with only one thing in mind and that the production of a good picture. No time is lost during the day checking up on chiseling friends; no such methods are carried on in England. Each and everyone has a particular job to do and if that job is done well you have no fear that someone is quietly 'cut- ting your throat' to get your job. "Everyone is kept happy; your mind is clear of destruc- tive thoughts and that is why Em sure that some day Lon- don will be as popular as Hollywood in the production of pictures. "Having come six thousand miles for rest and to see how much the great motion picture center had progressed in the matter of making motion pictures, I was sort of disappointed. The only departments that I can say have materially improved since I left six years ago are the camera and processing departments. Otherwise things are the same. The men in these departments should be recognized by the producers as they save thousands of dollars on every production. "I want to say here and now that producers are mak- ing a grave mistake in the kind of pictures they are pro- ducing. Here is some free advice ; instead of wasting so much time on ridiculous arguments regarding double bill- ing and sex pictures as the cause of reduced box office receipts, why not wrack their brains and find out the real cause. Some years ago Hollywood was producing the kind of pictures that glorified America. What did the pictures do in foreign countries? They made the natives have a yearning and desire to see America. Then the producers turned to gangster pictures instead, showing all kinds of crooked officials, depicting every phase of life, which gave the impression that America was a terrible place to live in. "The countries that were showing these American pic- tures were mighty happy, for it kept the natives at home to spend their money in their own home country. While in England, at the theatres, not only once, but many times I have heard people around me after viewing one of these pictures exclaim : 'Thank God the Atlantic Ocean is be- tween us.' "What does this really mean? It means that the enor- mous tourist trade that the American merchants depended upon has either stayed at home or gone to another country. Has anyone in America ever seen a foreign picture show- ing the bad parts of their country? Never! So, pro- ducers, take a tip from someone who has studied the situa- tion and get back to the kind of pictures that show Amer- ica as the greatest country in the world to live in." Motion Picture Settings and Equipment Special or Standard Any place — any time. Phone or write PAUL R. HARMER 1630 Redcliff St. Morningside 11921 Hollywood, Calif. Alvin Wyckoff WE WANT 35 mm. travel, fight, thrill and curiosity films from all parts of the earth. We Sell All Kinds of Raw Film at Reduced Prices. CONTINENTAL FILMCRAFT, INC. 1611 Cosmo Street Hollywood, Calif. DR. G. FLOYD JACKMAN, Dentist Member Local No. 659 706 Hollywood First Nat'! Bldg., Hollywood Blvd. at Highland GLadstone 7507 And by Appointment Hours: 9 to 5 Ready Now... $100 FRED WESTERBERQ'S CINEM ATOGR APHER'S BOOK of TABLES Do you receive your INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER regularly? If you have changed your address, notify us immedi- ately, then we are sure you will get it regu- larly each month. CONTINUITY IN AMATEUR PICTURES (Continued from Page 25) effect and having no bearing on the particular scene shown is bad because it only detracts from the scene and draws attention to the mechanics of the picture. It gives the im- pression that the cameraman is trying to show off his ability to get unusual angles or composition. The same applies to other cinematic effects if they are used improp- erly. It is the purpose of the detailed scenario plan to have each scene worked out in its relation to the others and the picture as a whole, so that each person connected with the making of the picture may work toward the same goal. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-nine MORE LEAVES FROM TY'S NOTE BOOK A novel department in the Para- mount Studio is the Censorship De- partment, headed by John Hammel. Its problem is to struggle with the "Good Taste" aspect of pictures. This with-in-the-studio remedy should prove advantageous, and should do much to correct the situation. The keynote of the plan is to give the peo- ple what they want. That sounds like the 77,000,000 , y^ persons in the United States \\]n> go \ \^„ w 7 ?jt to a movie each week have not been 1\ _P>" " getting what they want. Sixty-five percent of the theaters of the United States are controlled by eight major censorship territories. Each of these have the right by statute to cut any film declared offensive in their respective territories. That ac- counts for the fact that a picture viewed in one locality is different in another, and that also accounts for some of the hashed pictures. Over and above the eight censor boards, there are 267 minor boards. Then too, there are an uncountable number of non-official organization boards who have a voice in the cut- ting room. It is difficult to determine who does the most damage to the interests of better pictures, the hashing of the cen- sors, or the possible non-social element of pictures if left alone. The situation would not be so bad if the boards could get together on a code, but each group have their own particular pet peeves. These peeves cost the produ- cers millions of dollars annually. It is possible that a code could be arrived at if the members were trained in the social aspects of pictures ; but, on the whole they are not socially trained persons. Instead of relying on conventional standards, they de- pend on their personal like and dis- likes. According to Jack Lewis, who is close to studio affairs, the censorship revisions and alterations of pictures ^^^^^^^^^^^ since the first of the year have been ^^^^^^^^^^ greatly reduced because of a code of ethics adopted by the producers to conform to the general demands of the censor boards. The Producer Code of Ethics means a closer policing of story material before pro- duction. Movie censorship began as a police and fire control activity. Why LEICA Is the Most Economical Camera for Fine Pictures Take half a dozen LEICA shots at the cost of one ordinary size negative. Then select the pic- tures you like and enlarge them to any size you want — as big as 12x18 inches or more! Enlarge- ments are clear and beautifully detailed. Miniature negatives, made with precision lenses, is one of LEICA'S economical features. There are more. 11 interchangeable lenses and over 300 attachments and accessories adapt the LEICA to all kinds of photographic work, taking the place of many other cameras. Once you have bought a LEICA, you need never buy another camera, no matter what special job is required. It will do everything and will save its cost many times over in the long run. Built-in Range-Finder coupled with lens gives you correct focus automatically. Focal Plane Shutter gives you speeds from 1 to 1/500 second. See the LEICA at your Dealer's or write for free Descriptive Booklet and sample copy of "LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY" (only monthlyy^ magazine devoted exclusively to LEICA™ pictures, regularly $1.00 a year; free to LEICA owners). E. LEITZ, Inc. New York DEPT. / 533 60 East 10th St Pacific Coast Representatives: SPINDLER and SAUPPE, Inc. Los Angeles and San Francisco, Cal. Pictures above, looking from top to bottom: LEICA portrait by V. R. Haveman; LEICA aerial photo by C. J. Lewis; LEICA night photo luith f:2 S U M M A R speed lens; LEICA indoor portrait by Dr. Henry Taka- hashi. Model F with f:2 SUMMAR Lens Let's talk about something else. from persons in different parts of the country offering the identical articles. As an example, nineteen people have offered him one of Villa's pistols. Villa at the height of his career had only two. Seven have offered the sombrero worn on the day of Villa's death. Three different individ- uals have offered the bullet torn shirt. Villa's left boot can be purchased for forty pesos. With the release Villa," Wallace Villa relics swamp Wallace Beery, of Metro-Goldwyn-Alayer's "Viva Beery, who created this famous character on the screen, has been offered any number of things used by Villa. Beery has not availed himself of these opportunities be- cause he has received no less than three hundred letters The latest technical achievement is home movies in color and sound. The Dunning Process in collaboration with R.C. A. -Victor has made perfect a 16mm. process. At present it is being used by the California Packing Cor- poration for selling their product. Their salesmen all over the United States have been equipped with portable pro- jectors and film. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirl x T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Jim?, 1924 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALE OR RENT — Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free head, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35—40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. ienses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT SIX 1000 FT. MITCHELL MAGAZINES with Cases, 1 Mitchell Motor Adaptor. B. B. Ray, 930 So. Gennessee, Hollywood. YOrk 4553. NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — fine grain finishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all' popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS LIKE NEW— BELL & HOWELL 5-WAY SOUND PRINTER, Moviola Model C or D. Hughes 4-wheel inflated tire dolly, two Holmes sound projectors. Cheap for cash. Box XYZ, I. A. T. S. E., 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. MITCHELL MOTOR— 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange 9treet, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device, Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. Tames T. Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St.. New York. WANTED TO BUY I WANT THE BEST USED CINE-KODAK SPECIAL I can buy for the lowest price. Will pay cash. Barnes Living Picture Company, 330 North Austin Blvd., Oak Park, Illinois. WANTED TO BUY — Used Leica or Contax cameras and any kind of accessories for above cameras. Must be cheap. Box XYZ, International Photographer, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. GUARANTEE "I personally guarantee money back. I guarantee the 400 wait Biplane Mazda equal Fil 500 V, \&&i**L*~<^ Best 16MM Value Bass . . . value leader- . . . offers Precision Made Ampro . . .New guaranteed — at a saving of $50.50— Powerful- Brilliant — Plastic projection — Long-life— Smoothness — Quietness assured. 400 watt Biplane Mazda light is equal to 500 watt. Kodacolor may be used. Instrument complete with cord and plug — instructions — carrying case. Fully guaranteed for one year. Regular % 150.00; Bass price $99.50. Full details and Bass Bargaingram No. 212 is free on request. DEALERS: WRITE FOR DETAILS BASS CAMERA CO. 179 W.Madison St.Chicaoo The use of Fred Westerberg's CINEMATO- CRAPHERS BOOK OF TABLES will make your job worth more by saving time and assuring accuracy. $1.00. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction ; or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly wood. AN AUDITOR AND ACCOUNTANT of thirty years' experience with large companies wants small accounts with individuals or business houses. Wide experience in opening, closing and keeping books, in auditing, and in income tax procedure. Wishes to assist individuals in opening their own books. Advice and assistance on filing income tax returns and income tax regulations. Very reasonable rates. CHARLES D. FELSTEAD, 2010 Sixth Avenue. Telephone: PA-6768. MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING — If interested in aviation, see Roy Klaffki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Earl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY. Exclusive agency for three leading Holly- wood makers of trick lenses. Apply for prices and demonstration, sale or rentals. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. In World" U)id* Us* cice f^Otf^nli^br and Ni^nt ^ffecls in DayTim*~F^ Scenes- Diffused. F^cus.and many olW sffscrs With any Camera ** In any Ulimare Gcorcje H. ScHeibe ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS 1927 WEST 78th ST. LOS ANGELES. CAL. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. June, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirty-one THE LARGEST PHOTO MURAL EVER MADE The largest photo mural ever made, in effect, a photograph, nearly 600 feet long and twenty feet high will be in- stalled in the Ford buliding at A Cen- tury of Progress. It will almost en- circle the great central rotunda of the building. The mural was conceived by Wal- ter Dorwin Teague, leading indus- trial designer who is directing interior work on the Ford building in cooper- ation with Albert Kahn, architect. It is being executed by Kaufmann & Fabry, official photographers of A Century of Progress. The original photographs are being taken by George Ebling, Mr. Ford's personal photographer. In size, execution and detail, the huge mural far eclipses anything of its' kind yet achieved. It is a study in magnitude. It is in keeping with its subject and reflects the central theme of the fair-progress. This huge mural requires nearly four-fifths of a mile of photographic paper forty inches wide. It consists of ninety-seven panels and will take forty men nearly a month to complete it. More than fourteen tons of steel are being welded in a Chicago factory to form the framework backing for the panels. Upon this steel work, 12,000 square feet of Masonite will be attached. This will require 11,000 screws and nearly twenty-five gallons of a special cement. Upon the flat foundation so formed, 12,000 square feet of special canvas will be applied and the photograph itself mounted on the canvas. Approximately 200 gal- lons of paste will be used in the ILLUSTRATED BELOW i Sound Reduction Printer cal Trick Printer tl Developing Machine THIS IS THE NEW jd&ni DEBRIE SUPER PARVO result of years of precision craftmanship • 10OO Fool Ins.de Ma, • Direct Focusing on ] Ground Glass • Anti-Buckling Devi< Other Debrie Precision Equipment You Should Know About: • Sound Recording Camera • The Famous PARVO "L" Camera • Color Camera • Micro Camera • G. V. Ultra Speed Camera • Animation Stand • Perforating Machines • 35mm Printers . . . Sound and Picture . . . superim- poses titles without title negative • 16mm Reduction and Contact Printer for picture and sound • Production Developing Machines . . . capacity up to 14,000 feet per hour • Splicers • Polishing Machines • Re winders • Editing Machines • Portable Sound Projectors and THE QUINTUPLE PRINTER . . . which makes five prints, picture and sound, simul- taneously bom one negative with output of 450 feet per minute. ANDRE DEBRIE. INC., 115 West 45th Street, New York City Its only equal is another Debrie! mounting. Each panel complete, including the framework, foundation and the photograph, will weigh over 400 pounds. The entire mural will be made from a comparatively few photographs which will be selected from the hundreds of eight by ten-inch original views now being made. A special apparatus has been constructed in the Kaufmann & Fabry plant to handle the enlarging and printing of the mural. In the special enlarging machine built just to handle the mural sections, there are 7,000 watts of brilliant light. When the panels are completed, they will be assembled unit by unit, to form seventeen settings or scenes in the photographic story, all tied together to create a coherent effect. Over half a mile of chrome alloy aluminum molding, one inch wide, will be used as a border for the mural. The designers have seen fit to allow the great picture to tell its own story without the aid of an elab- orate outer frame. Special illumination is being developed by electrical engi- neers adequately to show the gigantic mural to the millions of visitors who will throng the Ford building. Decision to call upon photography in this way to add a further impressive touch to the magnificent interior, followed previous installations of the kind, notably, the recent one in Rockefeller center although on a much smaller scale. The development of processes which eliminate the effect of "grain" in the finished product and the comparative simplicity with which an elaborate story such as that of the Ford Motor company can be told accurately and convinc- ingly by the camera, were other factors favoring the mural, it was announced. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty-two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June. 1934 «<^ei6E8Q. =0Ot3SLF&CU£ By Otto Phocus DESIGN FOR SOMETHING A cameraman married a film editor and this is zvhat happened when he came home for dinner. Dinner has been ready for two hours as the old master heads his car into the driveway and parks. The red porch light is burning, and while waiting for it to go out, sud- denly realizes he is home, opens the door and enters. He is met by Goboe, the colored maid, and as he hands her his hat and coat he asks her for the light tests. His wife comes into the hallway and he starts to shake hands with her, but discovers his mistake and says: "Hello, Sweetheart. What is the first shot ?" "The bathroom," she answers. "Get some of that dirt off of your face. You look as though the property man had been trying to age you instead of the props. What kept you so late; you are two hours behind schedule?" "I had to make a few glass shots with the director, but I got away as soon as I could," he said. "I understand," she replied, "but I wish you would not stop to drink when you know I have dinner prepared for you. Some of the things I have for dinner have been on the stove so long they should be re-cut. This dinner was not edited for suspense and as it is I will have to order reprints on butter. It has melted." "Oh, don't worry, Honey. I'm sorry," he says as he makes a wipe dissolve with the dirt onto the clean towel. She walks over to him and he takes her in his arms and says: "Tilt your pan, dear," and kisses her, and they go into the dining room. "Gee, honey, this is swell. Framed perfect, and what composition. Wouldn't this look great on a large screen with music? Just look at the color values. And that jelly would make a swell insert. What is it?" he asked. "It is a two-color process I thought of — mint and strawberry. I hope you like it," she answered. "I get it. A 56 and 23 combination. What that can do to the blues. Get it!" he asked her. "Yes!" she agrees. "I get it, but let's get under pro- duction and have some food." Goboe, the maid, brings in the soup, and when the Mrs. sees it she apologizes: "I am sorry, dear, but these noodles have been in the soup so long they are over de- veloped." "Pay no attention to it, honey," he tells her. "Just mark it a 'false start' and watch me reduce them," as he starts to eat. "Have a biscuit, dear," as she passes the plate. "This is a new formula I ran across. The recipe called for twenty minutes, but I made a hand test and pulled them in fifteen minutes. Do you think they were timed right?" "Yes, I do," he said, as he examined them. "I would say they were timed perfectly, but keep in mind that as you increase your temperature you must decrease your time." "I know that, dear," she replied. "Why don't you try your salad ?" "What kind is it?" "Raw stock; it is made from beets, carrots, and turnips. I used some mayonnaise for diffusion. I hope you like it." Goboe brings in the roast and sets it in front of the old master. He takes out his viewing glass and examines Please mention The International Photogra the roast through it. "I think you have over exposed the meat," but he says it with a smile. "Is that so?" from the Mrs. "If you had been in the oven as long as this roast you would be burned up, too. But don't worry — it won't be wasted. We will have cold cuts tomorrow night and then the next night we will have 'news reel'." "What's that?" he asked. "You should know — it's your gag. News reel, a little bit of everything — hash to you." "Oh, yeah, that sure is funny, but we are working that night and I won't be able to get home for dinner." "Well, you'll get it for breakfast, then. You gave me orders to cut down on the overhead and use up all the short ends around here and when I do you try to run 'out on it. You'll get hash if I have to take it out to the studio." "All right, dear," he replied. "I would just love it for breakfast. I have a six o'clock call in the morning and you know it's Goboe's day off. Nice of you to get up so early. Please dolly over the gravy." "You will get hash," she threatens, as she passes the gravy, "if I have to make a stock shot out of it and keep it in the ice box until you do come home." "All right," he replied. "But say — isn't this gravy a little thin?" "Yes, it is. I didn't start it until I heard you coming in, and I'm afraid 1 didn't carry it far enough. I can have Goboe intensify it if you want me to." "That's not necessary. It has everything in it, and she might carry it too far and make it too heavy. What happened to the potatoes?" "They were too white and I had Goboe tone them down with butter," she explained. The telephone rang, and they both yelled, "Quiet !" and when Goboe entered the room she announced it was Miss Mary calling. "Old digs and dirt," he said. "I wonder what she wants?" Then he instructs the maid : "Tell her we are having dinner and we will give her an early call." "They are having trouble again," said his wife. "Yes, I know," he said. "I saw Harry at the studio. He came in while we were making the glass shots. He had about a dozen reloads and was wound up to four times normal and reeled into the other room and did a fade-out. He was as tight as the film in a camera on a sixty- foot buckle." "That's a shame. I'll bet his wife plays a 'heavy' when he does get home," she sympathizes. "Can you imagine the sustained suspense around that house? If he was knocked loose from a couple of those sequences and developed a Iitle more heart interest they would avoid a lot of those anti-climatic situations. As far as I can see, he has very little production value." "Nevertheless," he replied, "he is the main title. He brings home the dough." "Yes, that's true, but she rates the credit title in that production. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see them separate. They have been out of sync for a long time." "That may be, but even if they are out of sync at times, they man- age to re-record and the next time they make an appearance are an example of perfect synchronization." "Oh, well, why worry about them," she rejoined. "You look tired tonight, dear. Your eyes have dark shadows under them." 'That's this overhead lighting that causes that. A little front light will fix that up. How about a little drink?" "I have some nice white wine," she suggested. "Would you like some of that?" "No, I don't think so," he replied. "How about a little wild shot? Have we any?" "Yes," she hesitatingly admits, "there is some of that dynamite you brought home the other night." "What do you mean dynamite. "That's as smooth as a Lubitsch picture." "It would be if you could take the jumps out of it," she answered, as she arose to get the bottle and glasses. "What are you going to do tonight?" inquired the old maestro, as he pours a long one. "There is a preview at the Beverly. 'Henry the Eighth' is showing also and there is another feature. They have a Mickey Mouse and a news reel. All good pictures — and I hope they have a comedy. I'll get ready as soon as I can, dear," and she leaves the room. "Geez!" exclaims the old focuser. "T-h-r-e-e features." and he takes another drink "A news reel," as he pours another. "A Mickey Mouse," as he grabs another. "A comedy," as he drains the bottle and goes into the other room and stretches out on the davenport. The Mrs. dashes into the room and tells the old meanie she is ready. She tries to get him on his feet — and then discovers — he has emptied the bottle. Then she goes over to the closet, takes a blanket and covers him, and leaves for the picture show. As soon as she drives out he gets up and goes out to the kitchen and pours a glass of the white wine. "Goboe," he asks the maid, "do you like picture shows?" "No, suh," she replied, "Since I'se been working here I'se jest lost my taste for 'em." pher when corresponding with advertisers. TH IE II AM> MOTION PICTURE STUDIO CARBONS The cool, balanced light jrom these new studio carbons receives the hearty approval of both actor and cameraman . . . A Better Light for black and white photography . . . A Necessity for color. NATIONAL Motion Picture Studio Carbons have been developed especially for the motion picture studio. The color composition of their light is accurately balanced to the color sensitivity of modern motion picture film. This light duplicates the photographic effects of daylight without the use of niters. It gives maximum photographic speed and superior photo- graphic quality. At equal photographic intensity, the new studio car- bon arc projects far less heat onto the stage than any other source of illumination used in the studio. New lamps have been developed to use these new studio carbons. These lamps are silent in operation. They maintain a steady arc and provide illumination of uniform intensity. Side arcs, scoops and spots are available. A still from "Motor o' Mine" featuring Leon Errol. Director, Roy Mack. Lighting by Frank Murphy. NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INC. yjgtS' Carbon Sales Division • Cleveland, Ohio f^^s Unit of Union Carbide [Hjjj an(J Carbon Corporation Branch Sales Offices: New York Pittsburgh . Chicago San Francisco MITCHELL SOUND CAMERA LIQHT in WEIQHT Includes the Many Favorable Features of the MITCHELL Standard CAMERA USED FOR MOST SHOTS WITHOUT ANY COVERING Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO' Phone OXford 1051 I HOTOGRAEHER HOLLYWOOD XTH YEAR JULY, 1934 VOL.6 NO. 6 CENTS A COPY A Stillman's Shot of a Scene from Warner Brothers First Natianal Great Production, "Dames." Left to right: Bill Derby, in charge of Public Address System; Frank Flannigan, Chief Elec- trician; Al Green, at the Camera; Sol Polito, Chief Cameraman; Ruby Keeler; Busby Berkeley. Photographed by Bert Longworth MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS "EG. U.S. PAT. Off Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45th STREET NEW YORK CITY PLANT • • • PARLIN, N. J. SMITH & ALLER LTD. 6656 --SANTA MONICA BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CAL. THE-dSDSJDTRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. (> HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, JULY, 1934 No. 6 Sn. as Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Earl Thf.isen and Charles Felstead, Associate Editor* Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberc, Technical Editors John Corvdon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. IN MEMORIUM - 2 THE IMMORTAL PAL - - - 3 By Lewis W. Physioc "THE HOME OF KODAK" - - 4, 5, 6 & 7 Contributed by Kodak THE MAX FACTOR MAKE-UP FACTORY - - 8 By Earl Theisen MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY 10 By Augustus Wolf man A NEW ERA FOR THE AMATEUR DEVELOPMENT AND PROCESSING OF SMALL CAMERA FILM ----- 12 By Jack Smitb THE RETURN OF THE ARC -------- 12 By C. W. H. THOUGHTS ON PHOTOGRAPHY - - - - - - - 14 By Karl A. Barleben, Jr. THE MINIATURE CAMERA— ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT 16 By William Hartman, of Carl Zeiss, Inc. THE CAMERAGRAM - 20 & 21 NEW KLIEGLIGHT OF REVOLUTIONARY DESIGN 22 By Herbert A. Kliegl NEGATIVE OR REVERSAL FILM FOR THE AMATEUR 24 By Walter Bluemel MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING - - 25 By Charles Felstead TELEVISION ... . - 32 Contributed THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE LA. T.S.E - - 33 PATTERNS OF ILLUMINATION 34 By F. Morris St cad man THE CAMERAMAN AS DIRECTOR - 36 By Jack Alton TELEPATHIC EXPERIMENTS WITH RADIO MIND 38 By Archbishop F. fl. Du Fernet CLASSIFIED ------------ 39 OUT OF FOCUS ----------- 40 By Charles P. Boyle Kntered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles. California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California 80-^gBB^ beRVICE ENGRAVING CO ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR AUGUST ^^W Mr. Robt. Tobey, the brilliant young reporter from Columbia Studios, will break into print in our August magazine with a screed labeled, "Cinemacaroni ." Look out for it. • Otto Focus (Charles P. Boyle)— well, just turn to his page in the August issue and see what you shall see. Associate Editor, Mr. Earl Theisen will not announce his August title in this issue. "It's a secret," says Earl. That clever story teller, Milton Moore, comes to our August magazine with a yarn of the studios entitled, "Hokum." Augustus Wolfman will surely be on deck with another chapter on Miniature Camera matters. Yes, he lives in New York. Walter Bluemel's 16 mm. yarns have cre- ated a lot of interest in the ranks of the amateurs. He will be with you again in August. Karl A. Bardleben, jr., F. R. P. S., contrib- utes an article entitled, "Selling Pictures," for August. If you want to know something on that subject here it is. Paul R. Harmer, whose articles on his chosen subjects are ex-cathedra, and which have attracted immense attention among Mo- tion Picture technicians everywhere, will be among those present in August edition. Associate Editor Charles Felstead contrib- utes Chapter XI to his liberal education on Sound Recording. It is amazing how this series of articles had attracted attention in all parts of the world, especially in India and Japan. • OUR FRONT COVER An exclusive shot by that genius of the still camera, Mr. Bert Longworth, of that wonder- ful picture "Dames," soon to be released by Warner Brothers-First National. Author and supervisor. Robert Lord; screen- play, Delmer Daves; directors, Roy Enright and Busby Berkeley; first cameramen, George Barnes and Sol Polito; operative cameramen, Warren Lynch and Al Green; assistants, Jack Koffman and Louis De Angeles; stills, )ohn Ellis; recording engineer, Stanley Jones; film editor, H. McLernor; art director, Bob Haas; chief electricians, P. Burnett, George Satter- field and F. Flanagan; chief grips, D. Mash- meyer and Harold Noyes; chief props, Howard Ogde and Gene Delaney. Cast: Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, )oan Blon dell, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert, Virginia Pine, Ronny Crosby, Zasu Pitts, Bess Flowers, and others. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two T he INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 ,11111 .. i l • ,J J ,Jt .^-J .-.L~..-J 8 .-.J— ..— L. Jn iWnwinum Louise Lincoln 1899- 1^34 • "Good a n d Faithful Servant; Enter Thou into the Joy of Thy Lord." — Matthew. Wm. P. McPherson 1873 - 1^34 "A Workman That Needeth Not To Be Ashamed." — // Timothy. July, 1934 T h e I N T E RNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E H Three The Immortal Pal By Lewis W. Physioc I Lewis W. Physioc, who worked for Thomas A. Edison four and a half years, frequently has relieved the tedium of our editorial rooms with his reverential reminiscences of those days with "the old man," as Mr. Edison was affectionately called. Lew now calls him the GRAND old man and comments on the exalted simplicity of his nature, his beautiful attitude of comradeship with his employees, his easy ES, I worked for tin's man who, it is said, in- V&m vented the moving pictures — even the talking IHH fc* picture, for his first experiments were a combin- fc*i*.4Kcl atjon of his phonograph and the moving pic- tures. 1 believe he really did this great thing, for I have seen him do enough that is important to mankind to con- firm my belief. I was engaged, with William Wardell (business man- ager) and Daniel Higham, an engineer, to assist in de- veloping Mr. Edison's ideas of talking pictures, then known as The Kinetephone. He fitted us up a fine little studio in 43rd Street near 11th Avenue, New York City. It embodied every essen- tial, even to a kitchen, dainty table service and an Italian chef. We spent many joyous days experimenting with all sorts of materials for making diaphragms for recorders, adjusting the sapphire styluses and carefully noting down the formulae. When we put together a satisfactory recorder we called in a "bunch" of actors, who showed more "horn fright" than dramatic ability, and proceeded to make a picture. Then came the great day when we were to show "the old man" something of what we had been doing. One day Wardell called John, the chef, and said: "John, the old man is coming over today . . . you know, he likes spaghetti ... so, do your stuff." John was immediately thrown into a flurry of excite- ment. There was much coming and going, with his arms filled with paper bags and packages of delicacies, meticu- lous polishing of silver and chinaware, spreading of snowy white table cloth, etc. Finally Mr. Edison arrived. He entered without any fuss or ceremony — much as any man might have done. We were suddenly aware of him standing in the center of the studio looking around at the various appointments. He was probably estimating the manner in which we had been spending his money. He asked Wardell who was the long-haired fellow and what he did. "Oh, that's Physioc," answered Wardell, calling me over and presenting me, "he does everything." "Everything?" repeated Mr. Edison, looking at me in a manner that seemed to express some doubt that a man who could do "everything" could do any one thing well. "Yes sir," continued Wardell, "he paints our scenery, runs the camera, develops the films, plays the cello — everything. " The old man" looked around and scanned some of my masterpieces, looked at me and nodded approvingly. The session opened in his favored form — a bite from his plug and a round of stories. We had an able draughtsman of whom Mr. Edison was very fond, because of his ability as a story teller. Perc) Eggleston started in : I just heard a good one," he shouted at Mr. Edison. "Let's hear it," answered the old man, putting a mega- phone to his ear. The joke brought a hearty laugh. "I've got a better one than that," he said, and he told a "wow." le conceded, and we all around at Damn' and You' approachability — there was no antechamber where sat an implacable sentry to ask: "What's the nature of your business?" One had but to knock at his door and receive his cheery: "Come in." We have prevailed upon Lew to forego his aversion to that little personal pro- noun and record some of those experiences.— Editor's Note.l After luncheon we showed him a picture. He sat with his elbows on his knees, holding a megaphone to his ear. His glances shifted alternately from our faces to the screen. Suddenly he said : "It's too loud !" Danny Higham coughed — an apologetic little cough — "Too loud, sir?" "Y-e-s ... If I can hear it that well, it'll drive em out of the theatre. He studied it again. "It matches all right, 'tho," felt easier. Then he squirmed ^aid: "Too many echoes . . . loo many echoes got to get rid of those echoes." We then showed him a picture in which 1 played the cello. After he had studied it for a while he turned to me and said : "That's pretty good . . . You know, that instrument is very difficult to record." But he didn't like those echoes. So one day he moved us over to West Orange, and installed us in a circus tent. We got rid of the echoes, all right, but had other troubles. It was fine in the summer time, "but oh, my! ... in the winter time." At one time, during the month of February, Danny Higham was wrapped in his fur-lined overcoat, trying to shave off one of the recording cylinders and the wax was so brittle it splintered away like glass. I shivered in everything I could get on and, endeavoring to paint a drop, the sizing in the color froze in the brush before 1 could get it to the canvas. Wardell spent most of his time hanging around the big stove in the middle of the tent. John, at his cooking stove, was the only one who could accomplish much, and this he did to the cheer and comfort of us all. And the old man kidded us . . . but encouraged us. He was an indefatigable worker. A lazy man would have been shamed by his very presence. One morning, Percy Eggleston and I had occasion to go over to his laboratory, where he had been working days and nights in intensive research. As Percy expressed it "the old man was trying to find the 'bugs' in his new Dia- mond Disk Phonograph." He must have found the bugs all right — he never gave up until he did, for he was stretched out on an old table whose top was covered with cold, hard zinc sheeting. He must have been fagged out before he lav down, for he slept soundly. He had on nothing but his trousers and undershirt, the latter being much bedribbled with tobacco juice. He must have been away from home for some time for his stubby gray beard stuck out in energetic bristles from his worn face. No wonder his good wife had fre- quently to drag him away sometimes for the comforts of a shave and the neglected breakfast, so persistent was he. No wonder this man achieved things. Men speak of work- ing hard — let them learn from Thomas Edison. I will always remember, with reverence, "the old man" lying there on that slab of zinc sheeting. If there is anything of patience and perseverance in me it was inspired largely by m\ knowledge of his character. He always had a cheery word for everyone who passed (Turn to Page 26) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. The INTERNATIONAL P H 0 T ( ) G RAPHER ' ill v. 1934 \\ The Home of Kodak 1 1 l Follow-Up of "Good Housekeeping in Train Load Lots," Published in the June Issue of International Photographer HOW EASTMAN FILM IS MANUFACTURED atmg ILLIONS own snapshot cameras . . . The motion picture industry consumes more than 200,000 miles of film annually. . . . An increasing num- ber of home movie cameras are making fascin- records of intimate familv life each year. . . . Por- '"<--\ Along another thoroughfare Hanked by ivy-covered walls we catch a glimpse of an imposing structure that overlooks the main entrance to the Park. This, our guide answers, is the center of research for the Kodak organiza- tion. From here, we learn, has come the introduction of home movies, of Koda- color, of film that can take pictures from hundreds of miles away ; here, too, have been discovered many hidden complexities of photographic sensitiv- ity ; and here, as well, numerous patient studies have been made that have given photograph} and the motion picture art a scope undreamed of when they first came into being. The Kodak Research Labora- Before George Eastman began his work of simplification, the photographer had to carry a portable darkroom and sensitize his own glass plates just before he took a picture. trait and commercial photographers must be supplied with, not one type of film and paper, but scores, to meet the various exacting needs of their work. . . . Medical and dental radiologists diagnosing the infirmities of human anatomies and teeth, x-ray technicians examining the soundness of metals, building materials, and aero- plane parts, use a huge annual acreage of their recording medium. . . . Photo-engravers, bankers, astronomers, aviators, draftsmen, detectives, engineers, microscopists — a great variety of professions and activities have need for the photo-sensitive materials that Kodak Park supplies. When we visit Kodak Park we are inspecting a manufactory that is unique. Let us take one of the passenger busses that depart every quar- ter hour on routes carrying those with business, and perhaps carry- ing us as visitors, to the factories and offices of this expansive area. The busses are a necessity, for there is a mile and a half of distance from the entrance gate to the remote buildings of the many that /it into the scheme of this city of well seasoned brick and ivy. Down one street we observe a solid mascnary wall with no win- dow breaking its expanse. Behind it, we are informed, great, white machines with many precise moving parts are turning in dim light or none, coating the transparent, flexible film base with the "emul- sion" that is sensitive to light and to visual images. The famous twin chimneys of Kodak Park — landmarks that give dominating evidence of the tremendous power, heating, and refrigeration systems that consume 700 tons of coal daily. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. tories constitute, in truth, a research uni- versity in the sphere of photographic science. There, on our right, is a huilding in which silver, by modern alchemy, is turn- ing into materials far more precious to this civilized era — motion picture him to entertain every week nearly as many per- sons as the population of the United States, spools of Kodak Film and Cine- Kodak Film for pleasure and sentimental record, sensitive substances for the cam- era craftsmen who satisfy many civilized needs and tor scientists who use photog- raphy in ferreting out the earth's remain- ing secrets, recording surfaces to capture the pictures that illustrate newspapers and magazines the world over — film and sensitive paper for every conceivable pur- pose. Let's begin our inspection by seeing what happens to the silver. The treat- ment of this raw material will give us something of an introduction to Kodak Park's manufacturing methods. Comparatively little bullion is stored in Kodak Park at one time. Every day, under heavy guard, a shipment arrives to maintain the supply. A single safe, holding about three tons of bars, which is less than a week's supply of raw material, is the respository from which the silver flows. Into every bar a hole is drilled, a record number is punched. Chips from the drillings are promptly tested by the department handling the silver and, in addition, by the Industrial Laboratory, which is charged with the res- ponsibility for the quality of all raw materials. Impuri- ties are rarely found in Kodak Park's silver; yet inspec- tion continues year after year. If a trace of copper or iron were permitted, unchecked, to go into the manufac- turing stream, endangering photographic effectiveness, later tests would discover and eliminate the result, but time and other materials would have been wasted in the meanwhile. Production schedules would have been inter- rupted. Therefore, Kodak Park tests every ingredient as In coating film base, dim colored lights or total darkness is required. well as finished products and products in process of man- ufacture. Of the thousands of employees at the plant, hundreds devote their whole time to the careful inspection of materials at every stage of evolution into finished pho- tographic products. Observing the first step in converting bar silver into photo-sensitive materials, we shall instinctively feel that The Research Laboratories occupy this spacious building near the Park entrance. we are witnessing wanton destruction. With our realiza- tion of the worth of silver in its original form, we can not avoid a shock at seeing the bars of metal dissolved in nitric acid until all is fluid and nothing solid remains. The nitric acid, it is worthy of note, is made at Kodak Park under scientifically controlled conditions leading to purity of grade. The silver nitrate solution we have seen compounded is siphoned from its porcelain bowls into troughs, whence it runs through glass tubing to an evaporating room on the floor below. There, men wearing rubber aprons and rubber gloves guide the flow into other bowls, which are set on heated tables. The heat drives off water from the solution ; and, when the concentrated solution cools, the silver nitrate crystallizes. Silver nitrate in this form would be more than pure enough for most uses — but pho- tographic manufacture is an exacting master. Consequently, the crystals are once again dissolved in distilled water and once more crystallized. This oper- ation is repeated many times — until all impurities are removed. Final evaporation leaves crystals appearing like soap flakes but more vitreous and brittle. Then come careful drying processes. Silver nitrate is sensitive to light — a fact ascertained by Arab alchemists seven centuries before Columbus dis- covered America — gradually losing its whiteness under the influence of the sun's rays. It is this basic chemical fact that makes photography possible. The discovery of the transparent, flexible base of pho- tographic film constitutes the Eastman organization's greatest contribution to photography and motion pictures, and in this connection a humbler material now enters the process of film-making. The film support, or base, is composed of cotton that has been treated with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids to render it soluble in a mixture of solvents, the chief of which is methanol (wood alcohol). The "dope" thus obtained, having the consistency of honey, is spread on the polished surfaces of great wheels that run continu- ously, night and day, month after month. Heat around the giant wheels drjves the solvents from the "dope" and permits the nitrated cotton, or cellulose nitrate, to assume the form of a thin, transparent layer on the surface of the wheels. After various convolutions within a machine, a wide strip of finished film base emerges and is wound up in a roll like newsprint paper. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Evaporating silver nitrate solutions for crystallization- repeated until a high degree of purity has been achieved. Consider the steps that must be taken, collateral with the manufacturing process so briefly outlined, to insure the quality of the resulting film support. Samples of all cotton coming into the plant are tested before use. Three potential variables are thus governed. . . . Cotton, before being dumped into the nitrating ma- chines, is accurately weighed. Variables of the nitrating acid, in addition to its temperature and amount, need to be controlled — and tests accomplish this. Nitrated cotton, immersed in water, flows only through tile pipe lines, to avoid contact with metal. In the purification and storage building to which the flow is conveyed under a street and a railroad track, the tanks are made of material inert to the ravaging action of acids so that no impurities may be introduced at this point. The substance inelegantly called "dope" at Kodak Park, after the cellulose nitrate has been thoroughly dis- solved by its solvents, actually is the direct culmination in chemical purity of the careful work of hundreds of chem- ists and skilled workmen ; and the result of study and im- provement by two generations of engineers and research scientists. The physical condition of the material, as dis- tinguished from the chemical, becomes evident when one sees the film base winding through the great machine, so flawless and transparent as to be virtually invisible. Cellulose acetate for the "safety film" of home movies and radiography results from : imilarly controlled manufac- turing processes at the Ten- nessee Eastman Corporation's plant in Kingsport, Tennes- see, close to the source of sup- ply for raw materials. In the manufacture of "safety film," acetic acid and acetic anhy- dride are substituted for ni- tric and sulphuric acids to treat the cotton. Subsequent conversion of cellulose acetate into film base is carried on at Kodak Park, just as in the case of cellulose-nitrate film. While we are close to the subject of cellulose acetate made by Tennessee Eastman for Kodak Park, let's indulge in a conjecture. It is not un- likely that the socks — or the dresses — of persons reading these words are of that very material. . . . Not only film, but also Eastman Acetate Yarn, is made from cellulose acetate produced in the large plant set among the hills of Eastern Tennessee. The yarn mill there, the supplying of acetate for safety glass, the manufacture of Tenite, an acetate molding composition for making combs, automobile fittings, and a large variety of other products — all that is another story. Gelatine is used in large aggregate quantities to sus- pend the emulsions' silver salts evenly on the film base — but gelatine for photography must be chemically purer than that used for food. Gelatine for Eastman film and photographic paper is produced principally at Kodak Park and by the Eastman Gelatine Corporation at Peabody, Massachusetts. Patient processes of chemical treatment in hundreds of covered concrete tanks prepare animal-hide remnants for cooking. The gelatine, after washings, boil- ings, filtration, solidfication, blending, and removal of any chance metal content, joins the silver nitrate in the emul- sion rooms. It may be interesting to pause now and catalog the most important raw materials of film : cotton from sunny Southern fields ; saltpeter from mines in Chile or produced synthetically from the air in the United States; sulphur from Texas mines ; camphor from Formosa ; wood alcohol distilled from the Tennessee Eastman Corporation's saw- mill waste ; hides from cattle that once grazed in Texas or the Argentine; silver from Mexico; and potassium bro- mide from the Great Lakes brine deposits. The making of light-sensitive emulsions — the layer of film that actually takes the picture — is a highly diversified and extremely delicate process. The Eastman organiza- tion, in fifty years of experience, has turned an art depend- ing on chance and mood into an exact science. The genius of pioneering emulsion makers, combined with the manu- facturing talent of picked chemical technologists, has estab- lished methods by which uniformity is insured to Kodak photo-sensitive materials. The press photographer snaps sharp pictures of racing planes in a thousandth of a sec- ond ; the studio photographer makes softly molded por- traits with exquisite care. Both require types of film that will faithfully respond to their skill, every time, year after year. Chemical and physical control of silver-salt crystals, together with the addition of extraneous materials, makes emulsions "fast" or "slow," "contrast}-" or "long-scale," A battery of machines converting fluid "dope" into endless sheets of the familiar transparent, flexible film base . . . almost invisible as it passes over the brightly polished rolls that may be seen through the heavy plate glass windows. The scale, the silence, the cleanliness of this operation are characteristic of Kodak Park. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. sensitive to light from various parts of the spectrum, or photographically responsive in still other significant ways. Combinations of these prop- erties in various degrees result in the production of nearly 100 types of Him by Kodak Park. Most types of x-ray film, and the popular Veri- chrome Film for use in Kodaks, are actually double coated, with two separate emulsions. In the years following the first Eastman production of transparent, flexible film base, that material was made and sensitized on glass-surfaced tables 200 feet long. Now this work is done on great continuous ma- chines. Of photographic paper there are even more varieties than of film — 250 types, distinguished by purpose, degree of contrast, color, weight, texture, and action under development, produced under conditions similar to those of film-manufacture. It is a remarkable fact that even the red and black paper sheathing the familiar cartridges of Kodak Film, only to be thrown away after the film is developed, is of a higher grade than the best sta- tionery of discriminating business houses; yet a similar paper sensitized to print photographs would degenerate rapidly. Because the highest-grade commercial paper stock is unsuitable, Kodak Park -manufactures its own paper for sensitizing. Paper is not ready to receive the emulsion simply after manufacture and a period of seasoning. Baryta coating intervenes — treatment with a substance containing prin- cipally barium sulphate — and accomplishes two main ob- jects. It helps to separate from the paper the chemical constituents of the emulsion later to be applied, serving as a barrier against the possible deterioration of paper that already has been made as proof against deterioration as possible. Secondly, it gives the necessary gloss to glossy paper and controls the degree of gloss on matte-surface papers. One of the most important tests at Kodak Park, to the traveler, occurs in an incubator that simulates equa- torial temperatures, from the cool of morning to the heat of noon and back again. A military metaphor suggests itself for Kodak Park. An army is helpless without its services of supply. The production forces of this city of light and darkness need constant support from large and elaborately regimented auxiliary "troops." Cores and reels are needed to wind film on. A metal- and wood-working plant makes them. . . . Cartons and containers are necessary. A large printing shop and a paper-box factory are complete within the Park. . . . Artificial leather is required to cover hundreds of thou- sands of cameras. Kodak Park produces it. . . . The red and black paper mentioned earlier is essential for the pro- tection of roll film, as well as black paper for packing other light-sensitive materials. A second paper mill, the "commercial mill," supplies these needs. Think of the machinery repair work to be done, of the 6,000 electric motors to be serviced, of the plumbing and steamfitting and carpentry activity involved in maintain- ing a plant of 80 buildings, of the special machinery to be constructed for Kodak Park's unique manufacturing pur- poses. A large corps of men skilled in these functions is on the job constantly and the various mechanical shops are a story in themselves. Mixers require hours to bring about the proper solution of treated cotton in wood alcohol and other solvents. The resulting "dope" is passed through filter presses before being turned into film base. Vast quantities of supplies, from coal to platinum, must be bought and tested. One department buys, another tests. The Kodak Company has its own waterworks with a capacity for drawing 31,000,000 gallons a day from Lake Ontario, five miles away, a filtration plant on the lake shore, and a 5,000,000-gallon reservoir at the Park. The shipping departments are important, for the Park's great production must be kept on the move. Truck- ing, maintenance of roads and grounds and 15 miles of railroad trackage, even janitor service, constitute major projects. A hundred freight cars a day are "spotted" at the loading and unloading platforms. Kodak Park has its own fire department. A laundry is maintained. A safety department acts continually to eliminate hazards to employees and property. In further ramification of this plant's activity, numer- ous materials must be provided in addition to film and paper to satisfy the photographic needs of a hemisphere — chemicals for developing, fixing, toning, bleaching, inten- sifying, and other mysterious manipulations of photogra- phers, amateur and professional. One photographic chem- ical known as "Pyro" is made of "gallnuts" brought from China. These "nuts," imported in large quantities, are really excrescences resulting when oak trees are stung by flies. Nearly 3,000 organic chemicals are stocked by the Kodak Research Laboratories. Although this aspect of the Kodak Company's activity is not widely known in non- scientific circles, the chemicals provided are used in hun- dreds of universities and research laboratories where the future progress of science and industry is steadily being worked out. Sheeting similar to film base, and solutions similar to the "dope" from which it is made, are sold to many cus- tomers manufacturing a diversity of products ranging, say, from cakes and aeroplanes to poultry supplies and elec- trical equipment. Among the Eastman Kodak Company's employees 245 of the 572 principal occupations listed by the census are represented, in addition to many jobs peculiar to the pho- tographic industry. That numerical statement is scarcely needed to send us out from Kodak Park conscious that we have felt the pulse of a complex industrial organism. Henceforth, also, we shall find new meaning in the his- toric Kodak slogan, "You pres:- the button, we do the rest." Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 The Max Factor Make-up Factory By Earl Theisen Honorary Curator L. A . Musew (Associate Editor of International Photographer and Member of the Faculty of the University of So. California as Lecturer in the Dept. of Cinematography.) My first impression when I visited the Max Factor Make-up factory was one of whiteness. Everything is painted white and everything is spotlessly clean. The janitors there must be busy men ; in fact, the one I saw busily polishing a corner had a virtuous expression as he jealously rubbed away. The employees, too, leave the same impression. They wear spotless smocks and there is a clean cut and clear- ness of complexion that one would expect in a factory where make-up is made. Each morning before the employees are permitted to start their tasks, a trained nurse inspects each individual for any illness or skin disease. This inspection is surpris- ingly detailed. The nurse, by the way, has a three room hospital in which is much scientific looking equipment. The day I was there the nurse was proudly showing the latest acquisition to her hospital, an infra-red heat lamp. The lamp was set over a bed which seemed rather invit- ing until I looked at the nearby cases of instruments. Lining these containers is indicative of the detailed care given each operation. The container is first inspected, then the bottom paper is inserted ; it is then inspected again and adhesive added to the walls. After another inspec- tion the wall paper is put in place, then it is again in- spected and the wall papers secured in place. Two per- sons again inspect the can and it is ready for filling. Each of these inspections and operations is conducted by a dif- ferent person. It seems that at least half the employees are inspectors. The grinding of the powder is done in a separate room by a machine especially made for Max Factor. The fine- ness and weight of the powder is controlled by gravity. Air under definite pressure is forced into the grinder at a certain point which sorts the powder grain and eliminates the grains of undesirable weight. Similar care is given the mixing and making of un- guents. The pigment and other coarse material is first ground between polished rollers in a machine that is some- Left to Right: Filling powder boxes; grinding face powder; filliing collapsible tubes. The Circular Inserts: The application and experimental room. Max Factor shown in center of right circular insert. The factory is laid out efficiently, so that an article starts at one place and progresses through various stages until it is packed and sealed ready for the consumer. In no place during the process is the make-up material touched by the hand. In the packing of face powder, the empty boxes are first inspected and then put on a device where each box- is vacuum cleaned before being put on a conveyor belt which takes it to a filling machine. After the filling ma- chine, the box is inspected by a girl, who looks at each box as if it were her first biscuit. The box is then sealed by a label applied under pressure. In the meantime it has gone through four inspections. It is then ready to be put into a cellophane container. In another part of the fac- tory the tin outer protectors are being lined with paper. what similar to those used in ink factories. After the material is ground sufficiently fine it is taken to vats where it is mixed with the desired waxes and oils. These oils, by the way, are not animal fats, but natural vegetable oils. The vats are heated to a correct temperature by electricity. The heat is controlled for the reason that in mixing a series of chemicals, such as would compose a facial cream, the compounds are affected by variation or too high temperature. The compounds are heated to a liquid form, then con- tinuously stirred by a mechanical arm for a period of time to insure thorough mixing. Max Factor has developed a number of special ma- chines to handle his make-up. For this purpose he has a mechanical department whose sole purpose is to develop Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. My,1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRATH E R Nine whatever equipment is needed. One device perfected is the labelling machine. The machine will label any size or shape bottle and, one label not being enough, it will apply as many as three on any single bottle. Another machine is a capping apparatus for screwing on caps. It is constructed so a cap is screwed on to the right tightness. There are a number of departmental research labor- atories. Each bit of raw material is carefully analyzed for composition and purity before it is accepted from the manufacturer. The color pigments are studied under colorimeters, while the other chemicals and drugs are chemically analyzed or studied under a miscroscope. There is also a number of research laboratories whose purpose is to develop new formulas. In the perfume department there is row after row of shelves extending to the ceiling laden writh containers of perfumes and essential oils. The perfume materials are obtained from all over the world and they are shipped, as a rule, in metal containers, because of the risk of break- age in transit. The perfume oils very often cost as much as rive cents a drop. The containers are copper or copper lined for the attar of Roses and citrus oils, while the other oils are contained in aluminum and tin bottles. When they arrive they are elaborately sealed and covered with government tax stamps. As a rule the essential oils are used in compounding the makeup ; however at times the synthetic oils must be used. When a crop fails or the essential oils are of poor quality, then the laboratory-made perfume oil is used. For blending and matching in order to maintain a standardized powder and make-up color, both the colori- meter and artificial daylight apparatus is used. The day- light apparatus was specially made by Western Electric and gives an unvarying light that permits easy matching by the visual method. The tests are conducted in a dark room. In their hair department, under the guidance of Perc and Ern Westmore, is made the various wigs and other hair creations used in the motion picture. They have hair in all shades and textures from all parts of the world. Usually the hair used in wigs is imported from the peas- ants of Europe, many peasant women earning a consider- able income growing hair. Certain kinds of hair costs Max Factor as much as fifteen dollars an ounce ; it is kept in rows of drawers in preservatives. The various period productions where wigs are used are contracted for by Max Factor. He maintains a staff whose purpose is to authentically make the hair creation to match in both style and personality in keeping with the period in which the picture is set. When I need a wig Max Factor will make it. In 1908, Max Factor started in business in Los An- geles. At that time he had a small establishment that manufactured make-up for both society and the motion picture. Max Factor when only a ten year old boy in Russia, served as an apprentice to a Doctor. In this connection with the Doctor he acquired a knowledge of chemistrv which he improved with the passing years. When fourteen, he became associated with an operatic theatrical troupe. With this troupe he travelled every- where, finally to St. Louis, where he made make-up ma- terial and perfume. Shortly thereafter he went to Los Angeles. In 1908, make-up for the motion picture, was of a pinkish color. This make-up in connection with the then used Orthochromatic film emulsion gave a chalky white face on the screen. Also the heroes and heroines accen- tuated their lips and eyebrows with heavy colors. The accepted hero then usually had cupid bow lips. As the art and technic of the motion picture improved, Max Factor was in step with the improvement. His close Late portraits of Richard Dix in a character pose from his latest production, RKO- Radio picture drama, "His Greatest Gamble." Edna May Oliver, age 86, 1929 ()an. 28, 1932), and as she portrays the character of Maude in RKO Radio production, "We're Rich Again." association with the industry made possible the present standard panchromatic colors. The panchromatic make-up used today in the motion picture was introduced subsequent to a series of experi- ments with the Eastman Panchromatic emulsion, held at the Warner Brothers Studio, in February, 1928. At that time a related standard between Mazda illumination, make-up, and the panchromatic emulsion was studied. Very shortly thereafter the Panchromatic make-up color was adopted. Before the introduction of the standardized panchro- matic make-up color, Max Factor was confronted with a number of problems. His make-up, even though visu- ally appearing to be the natural flesh colors, must have sufficient color balance for the panchromatic emulsion. That is because the panchromatic film does not "see" or record the colors as the human eye sees them. It is the problem of make-up to bring the photographic recording to the visual balance. That problem would be simple if a second situation did not present itself, that is, the psychological aspect. A suitable color balance in make-up for a correct photogra- phic recording would result in a muddy-brown make-up color. If two players were doing a heavy scene and had to look at each other with undesirable or unnatural brown colors on their faces, a certain emotional response would be inhibited. Max Factor had to incorporate enough of the photographic colors in his make-up and still hold the colors of the make-up in the range of natural flesh colors. Also the unguent form in collapsible tubes was adapted, because it permitted easier and thinner application. This soft form was a distinct advantage over the older stick form which was either too hard in cold weather or would melt in hot weather. Too, unsanitary open stick gathered dirt. Through the enterprise of the Max Factor Company, the application of make-up has been standardized. Their research laboratories solve whatever problems arise. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Miniature Camera Photography July, 1934 Tricks in Enlarging JROJECTION printing, or enlarging, to which H -Jsk we resort: m miniature photography, allows the photographer to easily manipulate his prints. This is made possible largely by the working distance present between the negative and the paper in the easel. In contact printing, our negative and paper are placed into the printer in contact. Before going further, I wish to review some points which have been mentioned in a former article, but whose importance demands that they be impressed upon the pho- tographer by the time tested method — repetition. The first is cleanliness. It is very disturbing to ex- amine an evening's batch of prints and find that they are covered with numerous markings due to smudges, dust particles, and small hairs on the negative. Of course, many such disfigurations can be eliminated by spotting the print, but why not avoid them when that is possible ; and then again, it is not so simple to spot one of those "rugged road" markings produced by a hair of relatively long size on the negative carrier, or on the film. The negative carrier should be wiped with a lens tis- sue or a soft chamois before every new roll of film is in- serted into it. I have found a soft camel's hair brush to be quite handy. Every time I move the roll of film so as to place a new negative in the printing position, I remove the carrier from the enlarger and examine the film for dust particles. A few wipes with the camel's hair brush easily removes them. Before a roll of film, a short film strip, or even a single negative, is inserted into the enlarger, it would be well to treat it according to the following "anti-dust and smudge procedure:" By Augustus Wolfman This fact speaks for itself. We should not, however, condemn hard papers. There are occasions when a weak negative with flat tones can be made to yield a present- able print with the aid of a hard printing paper. The appearance of graininess in such a print will, of course, be dependent upon the degree of enlargement and the type of fine-grain processing to which the film has been sub- jected. Wherever possible, the use of soft and medium papers, in conjunction with contrasty paper developers, will favor the production of grainless prints. Now to return to some special methods to employ in enlarging. Frequently, we encounter a negative in which certain portions are quite heavy and dense, whereas others are lighter. Even though a paper of a comparatively long tone range is chosen, the light and dense portions cannot both be reproduced with success: one must be sacrificed for the other. If the print is exposed for the light portion, the dense part will not show up on development. Con- versely, if the exposure and development is such as to bring out the dense part, the objects in the light portion of the negative will be "burned up." This is usually present in negatives which include a foreground and a large expanse of sky. When the ex- posure is calculated for the foreground, the sky will be greatly overexposed. This is to be expected because of the vast amount of light present in the sky. By referring to the Wellcome exposure calculator, we find that when an exposure of 1 /30 of a second is recommended for a nor- mal foreground, an exposure of about 1 /500 sec. would be ample for the sky at the same lens aperture. It is ob- vious that when exposure is made for the foreground, the sky will be grossly overexposed. To obtain a successful print of both sky and fore- ground from such a negative, it is also obvious that both of these portions of the negative must receive different exposures during printing. The negative is placed in the enlarger and focused upon the easel. It is best now to make test exposures upon small pieces of paper of both the sky and foreground por- tions of the negative to determine the correct exposure for both, so that they will be rendered properly in the same developing time. Let us assume that five seconds exposure is necessary for the foreground portion of the negative and 20 seconds for the sky in order to reproduce both properly in two minutes developing time. The paper is placed in the easel, an orange printing filter slipped in front of the lens and the light turned on. A piece of cardboard is now held between the lens and paper in such a manner that it just blocks out the fore- ground portion. The filter is then removed and the ex- posure is made while the cardboard blocks the foreground for 15 seconds, after which the cardboard is removed and the entire negative allowed another 5 seconds of printing time. Tn this manner the sky will receive 20 seconds of exposure whereas the foreground will have been exposed Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. 1. Wipe both sides with a soft, clean chamois to re- move small hairs and dust particles. 2. Clean the film with carbon tetrachloride or a sim- ilar cleanser to eliminate grease smudges. It is best to keep a chamois skin steadily soaking in a jar of cleaning fluid for this purpose. 3. Wipe the film again with a clean chamois to give a final polish and to insure removal of loose foreign particles. When you have submitted your negatives to the above treatment you are assured of the removal of most avoid- able print-marring influences. Even after this procedure, it would not be amiss to wipe the portion of the roll of film to be placed in the carrier each time the roll is shifted to place a new negative in the printing position. A second precaution which I wish to impress upon the miniature camera photographer is to avoid hard papers, especially glossy hard papers, whenever possible. As I have mentioned in a previous article, such papers have a tendency of showing up the grain in the negative. Re- cently, I was making a number of prints from a negative one of which was on a glossy hard paper representing a nine times enlargement, and another on a soft matte paper (developed in a contrast developer) which was a fourteen times enlargement. The nine times enlargement upon the glossy, hard paper was visibly grainy, whereas the fourteen times enlargement upon the soft paper did not reveal graininess. Of course the matte surface of the paper helped to conceal the grain. /„/v ig34 T h e 1 N T E R NATIONAL 1'HiiTOGRAPH E R Eleven for 5 seconds, and a successful print will be produced in New Paraphenylene-diamine — Glycin Formulas two minutes developing time. In a former installment of this department it was In order to avoid a hard line of demarcation between mentioned that paraphenylene-diamine tended to produce the two portions of the print, it is necessary to move the negatives that were lacking in contrast, especially in the cardboard slightly forward and backward with a rapid case 0f supersensitive films, and that it was desirable to movement. add glycin to the formula, to "pep" up the developer. Portions of a negative which are too thin because of The Edwal laboratories who market pure parapheny- improper development, exposure, etc., can be shaded out lene-diamine under the trade name of Diamine- P, and in this manner and a successful print produced. purified Glycin, supply the following formulas which they At times, especially in portraits, it will be desirable to have tested with various films. Formula 1, for superspeed introduce diffusion to soften the hard, sharp lines pro- fUms ;s especially to be recommended for it produces a duced by the highly corrected anastigmats supplied with g00d degree of contrast with such films which under ordi- miniature cameras. This is simply produced by introduc- nary circumstances give soft results. ing between the lens and paper a piece of gauze stretched Tr/~mi\,TTTT a 1 r in te ji j j t-u- -n j fUKMULA 1. v or super-speed hints. across a cardboard or wooden frame. 1 Ins will produce a slight degree of diffusion so desirable in portraits and pic- Diamine-P 6 grams 90 grains torial photographs. The degree of diffusion in this case is Glycin 6 grams n) grains dependent on the distance of the gauze screen from the Sodium sulphite (anhydrous).... 37.5 grams 1 \ [oz. paper; the farther its distance from the paper, the greater Water, distilled 500 cc. 1 pint is the diffusion. FORMULA 2. For regular pan chromatic and Cloth can also be utilized as a printing screen to pro- orthochromatic films. duce unusual effects. If a comparatively wide mesh ma- Diamine-P 5 grams 75 grains terial such as silk bolting cloth is placed in contact with Glycin 5 grams 75 grains the negative during printing, the result is that of a print Sodium sulphite (anhydrous).... 37.5 grams 1*4 oz- made on a fine-mesh canvas. In order that the cloth lie Water, distilled 500 cc. 1 pint flat over the paper it will be necessary to stretch it across To mix: Measure out the water, warm it to 125° a cardboard or wooden frame. When the framed bolting or 150° F. Add the sulphite first, then the Diamine-P cloth is placed over the paper so that it is in direct contact and Glycin. Stir until completely dissolved, filter while with it, only a slight degree of diffusion is produced. On still warm and let cool in a tightly stoppered bottle. reversing it so that the thickness of the cardboard or T^/^nn/rnT a t r^ ■ i r ■ , i • i . j • . i . . fUKMULA 5. t or special hne-arain panchromatic paper of which the frame is made intervenes between the fi printing paper and the cloth, the degree of diffusion is r,. . ^ y nn • * j /-. i-jT • i j j u i • Diamine-P 6 grams 90 grains augmented. Lrreater diffusion can be produced bv placing n ,. , . . , , , N ~~ e b 1t/P i- ji ji .i .1 r . .... % r oodium sulphite (anhydrous ).... 51. j grams 1 Vi oz. bits of cardboard beneath the trame to raise it higher from . v , ~ te ~fr ■ Ammonium carbonate : Z grams 3U grains tne PaPer- . , , _. , „ ,. Water, distilled _ 500 cc. 1 pint An interesting screen known as the Simplex Etching T() mix. Dissolve the Diamine-P and sulphite, but Screen can be obtained, which when placed in contact with not the ammonium carbonate as for formulas 1 and 2. ..... . v,^,,.»^-~-. .- ~^~ ~ .m,„M ^^^^ _-..,- .w..„^^„„„-^^. Just before using the developer add the ammonium car- bonate (which must be finely powered) and stir until dissolved. Developing time for the above formulas is: 60-degrees F. (16°C) 36 minutes 65-degrees F. (18°C) 30 minutes 70-degrees F. (21°C) 25 minutes The Stone Laboratory offers the following formula: Diamol (Paraphenylene-diamine) 90 gr. Glycin 60 gr. Sodium sulphite (anhydrous) 600 gr. Water 16 oz. ■ *^ik is " Developing Time Supersensitive panchromatic 30 min. at 65°F. Panatomic 15 min. at 65°F. Plenachrome and Persenso 24 min. at 65°F. Neiv metal masks: Burleigh Brooks is marketing flex- ible metal masks to be used instead of glass negative car- riers. Four slots hold the film in position over the open- ing in the mask. Bakelite vs. metal tanks: It is a well known fact that bakelite is a poor conductor of heat whereas metal con- ducts heat very readily. This fact can be utilized in con- trolling temperature with the use of either bakelite or metal tanks. The miniature camera gets great results when trained When it is desired to place the tank in a tray through on animals. which cool water is running in order to keep the processing solutions at a constant temperature, a metal tank is called the paper during printing, produces a print which appears for. Bakelite tanks would be of little use in such a case like an etching. The effects are very interesting when used because of the poor conductivity of the material of which for portrait and pictorial photographs. they are made. These special enlarging methods will suggest to the On the other hand, we may first cool our solutions photographer other means of obtaining unique effects, as and then place them in the tank. In this case a bakelite well as procedures to follow to obtain the most from a tank offers the greater advantage. If the temperature of negative. (Turn to Page 27) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 A NEW ERA FOR THE AMATEUR DEVELOPMENT AND PROCESSING OF SMALL CAMERA FILMS 1,00 feet unit used at Davidge Film Laboratories A new era for the amateur development and process- ing of small camera films is ushered in by the advent on the market of the Hollywood Roto-Tank. The unit is a small edition of the developing system which the Roy Davidge Laboratories are using for commercial work. Roy Davidge, for some years past, has catered to the individual processing of negatives, daily prints and dupes, giving special attention and development to suit the par- ticular tastes of cameramen and producers. This type of work presented a problem difficult to cope with on the con- ventional type of developing machines. Three methods of sound recording requiring five different sensitometric standards on four brands of film added complications. The rack and tank method of development was a fairly simple answer to the situation, but it had three major drawbacks: rack flashes, the inability to handle rolls larger than 400 feet and the lack of necessary agitation of the solutions used on the faster emulsions that were being developed by the raw stock manufacturers. With the aforementioned requirements in view, the Davidge Laboratories evolved a system of unit develop- ment which has all the flexibility of the rack and tank sys- tem with none of its drawbacks. Each of the new developing units has a capacity of approximately 1100 feet and consist primarily of a wheel or rotar having alternating vanes to agitate or direct the developing solution to the surface of the film at opposed angles. A celluloid separator with staggered, elongated pro- tuberances breaks up the cross currents from the agitators and displaces the solution on the emulsion surface of the film approximately 480 times a minute with a constant change of current direction. The tanks in which the unit operates use a floor space 1 x 4 feet each and contain approximately 47 gallons of developer, different formulae to meet individual needs can be handled by no great cost by either materials or floor space. The principal advantages, from the producer's angle, are a better quality negative and positive due to greater color gradations through all densities from flesh tones to shadows. Better duping prints and negatives can be pro- duced by films processed by this method, owing to a smaller grain structure being obtained by the use of weak- er solutions, depending on extreme agitation to produce the required densities. The smaller units in all essentials duplicate the re- sults obtained with commercial equipment. The Roto- Tank can be loaded in a change bag or dark room and all other operations carried on in the light. The film capa- city is 25 feet of 35 mm. or 50 feet of 16 mm., eighteen (18) fluid ounces of liquid are used in each operation. A unit is highly adaptable to the needs of cinematogra- phers and sound units when on location. The test strips produced in the Roto-Tank will duplicate the best results obtainable at the studio laboratory. THE RETURN OF THE ARC Recent developments in motion picture photography have shown a definite trend toward the return of the arc light. The quality of photography obtainable with the arc light, — which closely approximates the quality of sun- light,— has never been questioned ; but other factors such as the noise from the mechanism, the hum of the gener- ator and the cost of manpower to operate the searchlight types caused them to be displaced to a very large extent. Gradually the searchlight and spotlights of the carbon arc type have found their way back into general usage. Im- provements have been made by the studios themselves which take care of the objectionable electrical and mechan- ical features. The additional manpower required to oper- ate arc lights of the searchlight type is more than justified by the results obtained. This is proven by the fact that almost all of the searchlight type lamps are again in use. This trend on the part of the studios has given the manufacturers of carbons and carbon lamps the courage to go ahead with a program of development. Recently a new type high intensity studio carbon was announced. In order to meet a demand for a silent and efficient flood- lighting unit the Mole-Richardson Company built a gen- eral flood light, of the side arc type, around this new car- bon. While the new carbon is only eight millimeters in diameter and the new floodlamp weighs a great deal less than the old type, they were able to increase the intensity of illumination from approximately sixty-five foot candles at fifteen feet with the old type lamp to a figure which exceeds two hundred foot candles with the new unit. In both cases the same wattage was used. These lamps have given excellent service on a number of Technicolor pic- tures and are now finding their way into black and white photography. From a standpoint of efficiency, silence and light quality, this new type lamp seems to be an ideal unit wherever general floodlighting is required. There is no reason why this new development in car- bons should not be used in the spotlight and searchlight type lamps also and considerable work is being done to provide a light and efficient spotlight and sun arc. It is quite probable that the near future will find the perfection of light weight semi-automatic lamps, of the eighty ampere rotary spot and sun arc types. LIEUT. FELSTEAD IS SOLDIERING Lieutenant Charles Felstead, Associate Editor of the International Photographer, has been assigned to active duty with the 63rd Coast Artillery (AA), at Fort Mc- Arthur. The regiment left recently on its annual man- euvers that are taking it through the more northern part of California, where tactical and anti-aircraft defense problems are being worked out under actual field condi- tions. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOT O G R A I" H E R 1 hirteen EVERY MONDAY- as a special feature of mpqmek all the news of all OUTSTANDING CAMERAMEN is presented in WHAT'S WHAT BRULATOUR BULLETIN published in the spirit of SERVICE WHO'S WHO Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Julv, 1934 Thoughts on Photography By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. HOTOGRAPHY as a hobby offers many un- ' usual attractions to the amateur who is willing to go into it with both feet and realize from the 2LMZ&& start that it is far from an exact science. To many, photography is a simple matter which can be learnt in a few hours. Yet, in order to fully understand it, one must delve into optics, mechanics, art, and chemistry. It is possible, of course, to teach a person how to operate a simple camera in half an hour. At the end of that time he should know how to release the shutter, focus the lens, and set the diaphragm. In a sense this is photography, but it hardly suits the term. Photography in its broader mean- ing suggests far more. Regarding the matter from another view-point, let us for a moment dwell upon the self-styled expert. For the sake of the argument he may claim to know photography from A to Z — but does he really? It has been my experi- ence that the more a man knows about photography the less inclined he is to be sure of himself, for he has come to realize what a vast held photography actually is. The more a man knows, the more he realizes what an enormous amount there is still to learn and know and this fact makes the true "expert" doubtful as to his ability. No one man can claim to know all about photography — nor even all about one single branch of it. One may specialize in photographic chemistry, for example, and know all about developers, fixing baths, time and temper- ature, gamma, and the like. Yet when it comes to making pictures, he may be a decided flop. This is only to be ex- pected after all, for, as those who have thought about the matter agree, no one man can be proficient in everything. It is even something of an achievement to be a master of one phase of the work. I have known excellent photogra- phers who didn't know what f :4.5 meant — and cared less. They closed the lens down by rule-of-thumb plus years of experience. Nevertheless, while we may laugh at them, it must be admitted that they knew how to make photo- graphs. There is no denying that a sounder knowledge of photography in general is a decided aid to better pictures, but just how deep to go depends greatly upon the indi- vidual. The popularity of the miniature camera today has brought forth many new theories, ideas, and formulas. These were necessary in order to secure the best results with the tiny camera. But more than that, these new ideas have crept into the fields where larger cameras, too, are used. But the point is that in the miniature camera field there exists a certain type of enthusiast who is continually thirsting for technical knowledge. He experiments, he asks, and in general one 'would consider him a remarkably well-informed individual. But see some of his work! Nine out of ten are lucky if they can show you one decent photograph. On the other hand, the enthusiast whom most of us scoff at in pity, who goes about snapping pic- tures here and there without any real basis of photogra- phic lore — ask to see some of his results. You may often be surprised at the beautiful technique and quality they exhibit. A person of this type has a mind which is not in the least scientific or mechanical, but highly artistic. He figures, but owing to a lack of imagination and artistic experimenter, who runs towards technicalities, knows his appreciation cannot make one decent print. Without discrediting the technician — we need them badly — it would appear to me that the uninformed "boob" who can make good pictures in spite of not knowing the difference between f :4.5 and gamma is the best off. At least his mind is at ease and he can secure real enjoyment from his camera. He is not being constantly thrown into an uproar every time a new fine grain formula is sug- gested. In short, he is playing with photography for the fun he gets out of it. The other chap gets all the worries and headaches — but maybe he likes them, or else how can you account for his going into it? Photography has been called both an art and a science. So far as technique is concerned, it has all the earmarks of being a science — surely it is based on some very definite and familiar laws of physics. But because artistic pictures can be made with it, it spells art to others. Both factions are, therefore, right in their contention. And speaking of art and the like in connection with photography — which is a dangerous subject to even touch upon — I should like to mention that some of the most famous photographers who specialize in pictorial and sim- ilar artistic efforts feel that an artistic temperament can- not be gotten from books. Several of my friends express themselves in a way that leaves no doubt in one's mind on listening to them. They claim that artistic appreciation and interpretation is something born in us, and not ac- quired. I should mention, however, that these gentlemen are well-versed in art — painting and drawing — and possibly their ideas may be slightly biased. Needless to say, be- cause of their artistic training, they are enabled to produce photographs which are truly examples of artistic photogra- phy. Regardless of these attitudes, there can be no deny- ing that an understanding of art stands the photographer in good stead. To indicate a few of the variables of photography — the reason why one cannot be smart enough to know all about it — we might mention that the photographic emulsion as we today know it is one of the most profound mysteries. Sherlock Holmes himself would be stumped on a case of this nature. We know how to make emulsions, but that is about all. Even the manufacture of emulsions is a delicate process, liable to spoil through an error of a minute or two or an ounce or two. As a result, the process is kept strictly secret by the respective manufacturers. If any reader thinks that the process of emulsion making is easy, he is referred to the book "Photographic Emulsions" by E. J. Wall — it will be an eye-opener. What happens when light strikes the emulsion? Many guess but no one actually knows. Several theories have been brought forward, but so far none has withstood the test of time and science. We place a film or plate in our camera. The film is labeled a certain speed. Just how accurate is this rating? It is well known that film cannot be made uniform, batch to batch. There are bound to be slight discrepancies, yet as far as we are concerned, this does not bother us. True, can make pictures, in other words. The other type, the Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1V34 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOC R A I' HER Fifteen the difference might he so slight as to he negligible, still it exists, and must, therefore, he reckoned with. Your shutter — how accurate is it? When you set it for 1 /100th second, does it give exactly that exposure on the film? Here again, this is a very small matter, still it should he added to the discrepancies of the film speed. For the sake of argument let us suppose the lens is ex- actly f :4.5 when you set the diaphragm at f :4.5. We now attempt to calculate a proper exposure. We have numer- ous considerations to think of. Even in daylight the color may vary from day to day ; the intensity certainly does vary and the objects photographed present all sorts of con- ditions which make a correct estimate well-nigh impos- sible. The exposure meter comes to the rescue, but even this most useful instrument must be set properly as to film speed before it is capable of giving a proper light-in- terpretation. So we have just a few of the many condi- tions confronting us each time we take the camera in hand. Naturally enough these are of trifling importance for all practical purposes, for the latitude of the modern pho- tographic emulsion will more than "cover up" small er- rors. But those workers who dig right down into the depths of photography find these things out and then the fun begins, as it were. When it comes to development of the negative, we again contact various problems. For example, each worker has his pet formula which he swears by. Strangely enough, few photographers agree as to the choice of developer. This may be accounted for by the fact that each individual has different conditions to contend with and, likewise, has his own ideas regarding what constitutes a "good" negative. Some like a heavy or meaty negative ; others prefer a thin one. Obviously no one formula can produce a negative to the liking of all. To be strictly correct, we must realize that a different formula should be used for each grade, type and make of emulsion. Yet ordinarily any and all films are developed in one formula. The technical boys like to talk about gamma, and can show you curves and figures which make the hair of the uninitiated fairly stand on end. It is true that gamma is important, but it will vary with the worker. To be cor- rect, we should say that gamma should be controlled and applied to each type of picture, for some subjects are at their best when developed at a low gamma, others at a high gamma. The miniature camera has made us all "grain con- scious." The old-fashioned formulas are no longer in use, for today a formula must have fine grain characteristics to be fashionable. This is well, for grain is a most de- cidedly annoying factor. However, in the opinion of many, we seem to have swung too far over in our efforts to- wards fine grain. In other words, there are now in use formulas which give a marvelously fine grain, but sacrifice richness and detail. This should not be. If we can secure fineness of grain sufficient for our purpose, why sacrifice important qualities in the negative? So reason some keen amateurs who have not been misled about fine grain. In Europe they secure fine grain results by using the various special fine grain films. In America we work a bit differently. We insist on speed in our films, hence we are forced to use comparatively grainy films and try to cover up by using fine grain formulas. But what're the odds? Photography is a grand game regardless of whether you are working for technical data, pictorial and art results, or just casual snapshots. If you use a movie camera, miniature camera, or a box camera — aren't we all more or less brothers under the skin? The technical fans supply us with our modern emulsions and formulas, to say nothing of making it possible for us to know the focal length and speed of our lenses without the necessity of sitting down and getting all balled up in a maze of figures. The arty workers give us pictures that delight our eyes — in short, each one contributes something to the game. We all share and share alike. A grand game. THE lens that brings great ideas to life Special effects which baffle photographic tech- nique— and are therefore shelved as "impractical" — are brought to life with the B & H Cooke Varo lens. Because of its almost miraculous ability to "zoom", it accomplishes subtleties and ingenious dramatic transitions not hitherto possible. At F 3.5 the range is from 40 mm. to 50 mm. ; at F 4.5 from 40 mm. to 85 mm., and at F 5.6 and F 8 the full "zoom", from 40 mm. to 120 mm., is obtainable. Adjustable stops provide for limit- ing the "zoom" as desired. One crank controls all moving parts. The iris is varied automatic- ally with the focal length to keep the f/ value BELL & HOWELL COMPANY constant. Close focusing is done with auxiliary lenses. Write for full details. Sometimes avail- able on rental to responsible studios. The B & H Cooke Speed Panchro Lenses B & H Cooke F 2 Speed Panchro Lenses are corrected for the blue and red rather than blue and yellow rays. They give the most critical definition under the most difficult of modern lighting conditions. Made in eleven focal lengths, from 24 to 108 mm. B & H Cooke F 2.5 Panchro Lenses, at considerably lower prices, meet many needs where their speed is adequate. Seven focal lengths from 32 to 162 mm. Write for details and prices. 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York ; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood ; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.) Established 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 THE MINIATURE CAMERA-ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT By WILLIAM HARTMAN of Carl Zeiss, Inc. [ITH the rapidly increasing use of the miniature camera it is only natural that many enthusiasts W'wA show some interest in the evolution of that method of photography, and many are the the- ories advanced as to its beginning, and questions asked on its progress. When did it start. How was it developed. Is it a passing fancy or has it come to stay, and so on. Strange to relate, the consensus of opinion seems to be that miniature cameras are of comparatively recent origin, that A NINETEENTH CENTURY CANDID CAMERA SHOT This illustration is further evidence that the "Candid Camera" was used several years ago, by the fact that the fair lady wears a bonnet quite popular in early 1900. it is only in the past five years or so that general interest has been aroused, and that "candid photography" came in with streamline automobiles. While it is true that the use of the small camera has made its greatest strides in the past few years, the begin- ning of the idea goes back much further than most of us can remember, and the present important position of the small camera has been reached only after many years of evolution and somewhat steady progress. There is evi- dence that the miniature camera had aroused plenty of interest almost twenty years ago, for the well-known jour- nal "The Miniature Camera" of February 1916 devoted a whole issue on the subject of "Success with the Pocket Camera" by Charles F. Rice. In this number we find the following paragraph: "As evidence of the growing popularity of very small cameras, it is interesting to glance over the catalogs of the past few years, and note how the manufacturers have found it expedient from year to year to discontinue the larger sizes of amateur cameras, and at the same time to sup- ply high-class lens and shutter equipment in smaller sizes." As to the origin of the miniature camera, it was some- time in 1900 that the lea Aktiengesellshaft introduced the BEBE, later followed by the VICTRIX and ATOM. All of these used 4.5x6 cm. plates and film packs, and it was left to the Ernemann Camera Works to utilize motion picture film with their BOBETTE. Both lea and Erne- mann are now part of that famous camera combine known as Zeiss- Ikon. There is nothing to indicate that the miniature camera went over with a bang, and for about a dozen years its use was restricted to the European countries. Then about 1912 we find the ATOM coming over to this country and it would seem that the small camera made an imme- diate appeal for during the decade following the appear- ance of the BEBE, other camera manufacturers produced more miniature cameras and from then on the use and popularity of this method of photography enjoyed unin- terrupted and rapid progress. And there is every reason to believe that the use of the miniature camera will continue. So much has been, and is being written on the subject that I shall mention only a few of these reasons. Compactness, which makes it more likely that we will have the camera with us when needed for an emergency shot. Economical, for there is hardly a comparison with the low cost of miniature camera film and the cost of material for the larger camera. Ease of manipulation, for the short focal length of the miniature camera lens means great depth of field. A 50 mm. lens on a 24x36 mm. picture size is approximately equal to a 10 inch lens on a 5x7 inch picture, and while the short focus lens, say at f :2.8, has comparatively great depth, the 10 inch lens at f :2.8 would have none at all. At the same time, all the fine pictorial quality of the 10 inch lens on a 5x7 inch would be equaled by a 5x7 enlarge- ment from the smaller film. In high speed work the small camera is unexcelled, for the short focus lens requires much less shutter speed to stop motion than is needed with a large camera fitted with a long focus lens. Finally, the quality of enlargements leaves little to be desired, and the end is not yet in sight. I can safely say that the time will come when we shall see perfect enlargements of fifty or more diameters from miniature films. CHICAGO CINEMA CLUB The Chicago Cinema Club is sponsoring an amateur motion picture contest this coming summer. In view of the fact that they as Chicagoans are trying all in their power to make the 1934 "A Century of Prog- ress" International Exposition a success, the} have limited this contest to films of that exposition. The first award will be a Weston Exposure Meter donated by the Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation. All entries must be in the hands of the Club secretary, W. W. Macomber, Room 11-117, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Illinois, by November 15, 1934. Entry blanks and copies of the Rules and Regulations may also be obtained from the secretary. The length of the films has been limited to 400 feet 16 mm. or 200 feet 8 mm. and they will be judged on: 1 — Exposure; 2 — Composition; 3 — Continuity; 4 — Titles; 5 — Interest. TO FILM THE COLOSSUS Some time ago Gaumont British Picture Corporation announced its intention of filming the life of Cecil Rhodes. The time that has elapsed since that announcement has been devoted to extensive preparation and it is now defin- itely stated that the film will go into production. Imme- diately following its decision to make the picture the com- pany sent Geoffrey Barkas, unit production manager, to South Africa to make a detailed reconnaissance of loca- tions and buildings and to arrange facilities for transport, materials and power. Contacts have been established and such complete ar- rangements made with Government, railways, public and private bodies that the stage is already set. The film ver- sion of the script is all but complete and the difficult work of casting for the many important parts in the film is now occupying the attention of the production executives. This ambitious production will be directed by Victor Saville. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. My,1934 T h e INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E R Seventeen Noted for UNIFORMITY REVOLUTIONARY new qualities -^ *- made Eastman Super-Sensitive "Pan' a byword almost overnight. But only day-in and day-out delivery of those qualities over a long period could give this film lasting fame in the motion-picture world. U/i/Jvrm- //y...the quality that has always character- ized Eastman films . . . has made Eastman Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative the brilliant leader it is today. Eastman Kodak Company. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distribu- tors, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative Please mention The Internationa! Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eighteen T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 SOUND PROOF STAGE DESIGNING By Paul S. Harmer Sound stages are no longer the nightmare to the motion-picture producers that they were in the early days. Much has been learned. Some things had to be changed as improvements were made in sound recording equipment. When sound first came to the studios of Hollywood, Dr. Knudson, of the University of California, Los Angeles, fortunately was equipped to carry on experiments in his sound testing laboratory at Westwood. He found definite figures for transmission and reflec- tion of sound with the various types of walls which were tried. Had it not been for his co-operation right here at home the problem would have been more costly and hap- hazard. Much of the early efforts in the sound proofing of stages were made by men who had worked in radio broad- casting stations ; the principles involved were similar, but a suitable motion picture stage has been found to be an entirely different construction problem. The major studios have found that a stage 80 ft. wide and 150 ft. long by 30 ft. clear under the trusses; or 110 ft. wide by 200 ft. long and 40 ft. clear under the trusses will suit almost any condition that may arise. A single unit stage is by far the most efficient. Some studios have built two and three stages adjoining each other, all under one roof. The studio saved the price of an outside wall, but they have paid for it many times since in delays and spoiled sound track, caused by noise from the adjoining stage, this noise following the floor joists or passing through the wall and doors. Steel framework and steel trusses have always proven superior to wood trusses, especially since earthquakes must be considered when designing any new building. Wood studs, joists, rafters, sheeting and flooring are better non-conductors of sound than steel ; consequently they are preferable because of this quality. No resonance trouble is encountered from any ordinary building mate- rial, the fundamental frequencies are usually below 50 cycles ; for instance, pine wood measured 7 cycles per sec- ond; iron measured 12 cycles; plastered concrete meas- ured 28 and plastered brick measured 48 cycles. These are relative values and will vary according to mass and volume. The partial modes give rise to overtones two and three cycles higher, but these are too weak to cause any trouble. Strange as it may seem, frequencies below 500 cycles carry through building walls and reverberate longer than the others; frequencies from 500 to 4,000 cycles are inter- mediate, while the frequencies above 4,000 are quickly absorbed and fade out. This is the reason that calcula- tions on the low frequencies are so important when design- ing a new stage or sound proofing an old one. This also is the reason the hard wall sets have come back into use; in order to preserve the higher frequencies in more equi- table proportion. In order to make clear the intensity of sound as ex- pressed in decibels, I will illustrate the difference between these intensities as expressed in numbers. A bel is the intensity of sound in dynes per square centimeter for a given frequency, and a decibel is one-tenth of a bel, or ten decibels equal one bel. The following is a logarithmic table. Numbers expressed in exponents. And so on up to 130 decibels, where sound is so intense it becomes painful. A sound of 70 decibels level is 1,000,000 times more intense than a sound of 10 decibels level. It is practical to build a sound stage which will have a sound transmission loss of 60 decibels at 128 cycles, pro- viding the neighborhood noise warrants such a building. Fig. I shows a typical wall and roof of such a structure. This is one of the first large stages built for M-G-M and is located betwen the Pacific Electric Railroad and Washington Boulevard. Fig. 4 shows a typical wall and roof of a recently built stage in the same studio ; instead of reinforced concrete they used steel trusses and steel frame ; wood studs, joists and ratfers doing away with the concrete floor, this is typical of the advances made during the past six years. It is an expensive proposition to build a large stage with a 60 decibel transmission loss and a reverberation period as shown in Fig. 8. Con- sequently, quieter locations are sought, or the building is constructed to a less expensive specification. A stage with a 50 decibel transmission loss at 128 cycles can be built either with a double or single wall. The double wall type has proven to be the best. Roofs and ceilings generally do not give any trouble, even when airplanes fly overhead at a reasonable distance ; trucks, tractors, hammering and loud talking are the des- pair of the sound mixer. Extraneous noise which exceeds 6 decibels in the set, where a company is recording dia- logue, is sure to cause a retake, and while some shots can stand more than 30 decibels interference it is not recom- mended. To illustrate the sound insulation value of various walls, a 2 by 6 studded wall with metal lath and 1 inch of gunite plaster has a transmission loss of 30.6 decibels at 128 cycles; the same wall with l/2 inch plasterboard added to the inside, has a transmission loss of 34.4 deci- bels. The same wall, except using % inch fibre board instead of plasterboard, has a transmission loss of 37.4 decibels. There is a difference in the kind of plaster. For instance, a 2 by 6 studded wall with metal lath and two coats of gypsum plaster has a transmission loss of 40 deci- bels at 128 cycles. It is an easy matter to construct a sound stage with a transmission loss of 45 decibels, and a reverberation pe- riod of \y2 seconds, at 128 cycles, but as you go into walls of greater transmission loss and shorter reverberation pe- riods, the costs mount quickly to the benefits accom- plished. Fig. 2 is a typical wall at Universal ; Fig. 3 at the small studio on Beachwood ; Fig. 5 at Darmours ; Fig. 6 at United Artists and Fig. 7 at RKO-Pathe. Fox Hills stages correspond to Fig. 1, while their Western Avenue stages have not been treated for sound, except by hanging large ozite blankets, 1 inch thick, about a foot 10" = 1 1111 = 10 lir = 100 Hi = 1,000 10* = 10,000 106 = 100,000 10" = 1,000,000 107 = 10,000,000 then logi, 1 = 0 10 = 1 100 = 2 1,000 = 3 10,000 = 4 100,000 = 5 1,000,000 = 6 10,000,000 = 7 — 0 bels — 0 decibel* — threshold of audibility. 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 above Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Julv, 1934 T h e I K T K R N A T I O N A PHOTOGRAPHER Nineteen I'1 8-fNtf* CoNcpere 1 7 - Air spa ce Concrete ploor Wood PLoomJoiSTS OCA OCtUNG CUSHION WOOO PLOOR Wnoo Sruo PLASTER BOAKO V'6 MSOHITt /" BALSRM WOOL. RlR SPRCE BALSAM WOO. H" MASQniTE fA" PIASTER BOARD WOOO PflPTER 12- AIR. SPACE 6' CONCRETE COMP. POOP UNffeR PlNNIN STRlNCER FLOOR joists Sob pl oop 3/4~ T*0 FLOOR /" i°LA$T£R woo a sruo /a" piaster air spate I " ROCH WOOL WAFFLE CLOTH /i " iNSuiite. Haftcp SHEArtNiC Con\p. Poof J -So,L 2 ' founortion 3 Concactl floor 4 'I" GUNlTE 5 ' WOOOS7UD 6~'/i" plasterbo 7 - Air space 8 " 2 " JtOtK WOOL f-'h'PLPSTfRBO. to- WOOO rafter II • /•• SM FETING 12- COATft POOP t - Soil 3 - Pou» 3 ' UNDSX 4" I 0 Off I TC S' Wood joists 6 " $U8PLOOH 7- J/-* T*G- 3 - WOOO 3 TUO 9 ■ '/i PlAtTERSO. IO- 7//A flAX. BO. ft' 7/,6 13- RATTER I*- SHEETING 14- COMP Poor JTq3 li Br s £. / - Soil 2 - foundation 3 ■ UhlOCRAINHINC <• /" Gun/re 5- wctoo rtooR-jOiST 6- Sub floor 7- /■*»• 7"*C TLoor &- Ci/Si/ioiu ?■ wood stuo 10- T//i ransom T£ it- J'/>" Air SPPCF il- y* ■ Pi/ts r[ r eaaiKo 13- WOOO STUO 14- 4--ROCK wool. BLAhkf It- 2" .. 16- Sir SPACC ,T '/%» PL.Iirea SaHRO le- Rafter ti- I" SueA Tliwo 2a- Composition Roof Fi<]-4r UNDER PINNING STRINGS* 6 - pi OOA JOISTS 7 • sua fl oor 8-1'/+' T»£ FtOOR 9- I " G-UNiTE 10- Sruo 11- 2- •A"FLASTtRBS>. II' 4" AIR SPACE 13- t/i." PLAJTFP 60 i+'STC- 21- COMP. Roop kC-Y '- s 0 t-ut-^ 51 2 T Lii^ Fi^7 CU-FT- * VOLUME Is It H Q to from the wall. This type of treatment stops excessive reverberation, but does not eliminate enough external noise being trans- mitted through the walls and consequently interfering with production. Concrete floors are not popular with the art depart- ment or the recording engineers. When a set is built on a concrete floor, a wooden sub-floor is usually necessary, and this generally causes a drumminess to the recorded sound. When a stairway is required in the set, it becomes neces- sary to build the entire structure on a high platform, in order to get sufficient height above the concrete. Air conditioning is absolutely necessary to sound stages, not only to keep fresh air circulating, but to keep the temperature down to a reasonable figure. When the air is 80 degrees Fahrenheit 4 feet above the stage floor, I have seen it 110 degrees on high spot light platforms. Large electric lights throw off much radiant heat which does not become heat until it strikes some object; if it happens to be the actor, it is torture. The only way to overcome this is by circulating air from the level of the stage floor, in well distributed locations, and taking it out through the topmost part of the stage. A large fan or blower is built on steel stilts on the outside of the stage, with a heavily sound insulated air duct and necessary fil- ters passing to the circulating points. Complete air con- ditioning plants with automatic temperature and humidity control were installed in the first sound stages, but this is another expense which has been dropped by the major studios. Some stages fortunately are located in a sound shadow, other buildings are directly between the stage and the most troublesome sound source. At United Artists the office building forms an unbroken line between Santa Monica Boulevard and the stages. This is also true at Darmours. At RKO-Pathe there is a double line of buildings causing a sound shadow from Washington Boulevard. This is a great help, as the diffused sound is greatly reduced in force. First National is less fortunately situ- ated, as some of their stages face directly on Dark Canyon Boulevard. The general complaint from the sound engineers that I know is that the stages which are good enough to keep out troublesome noise are too dead inside ; while the stages that are alive enough inside do not keep out the trouble- some noise. However, to strike a happy medium, there is not much chance that anyone can design a sound stage that will do everything it might be supposed to do, for any and all recording. By the use of hard and soft flats, or reflectors, ideal conditions are closely approximated. EARL THEISEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTE BOOK | HERE are some rootless persons who accept the world as their just due. They are those mugs who never show appreciation for courtesies ex- tended them. It seems that I am one of them. Last month Reis & Fitzpatrick, photographers, gave me some photographs to illustrate my "In the Realms of Tricks and Illusions." It was through an oversight on my part that credit was not given them. Sorry, I'll be over in a couple of days with a cigar. * * * As little a thing as a bunch of grapes may present a problem in the making of a movie. Rudy Bylek drove some 1800 miles through California and Mexico trying to locate some Tokay grapes to be used in filming "Cara- van. ' None were found, since the local variety won't be ripe until after Thanksgiving. The eastern cold stor- age houses were also called upon without success. After a number of cables were sent out over the world the grapes were located below the Equator in Argentina, where they are experiencing their Fall and the Argentina grapes are already being picked. That night several tons of grapes were put aboard a fast moving cold- storage boat. Four weeks later they arrived. You will see them in the wine making sequences in "Caravan." * * * The Fox Newsreel is going to be changed. On Labor Day the Fox Film will have its own exclusive cover- ages throughout the world. Lawrence Stallings will edit and Lowell Thomas will be the commentator, according to plans. See also pages 29 and 38. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. When the History of the Motion Picture Is Written the Camera Will form the Gonfalon of the Procession and the Cameraman Will Be right Alongside. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCTKN COLUMBIA CLIPS By Bob Tobey "BROADWAY BILL," directed by FRANK I APRA. Joe Walker, the old lens and lighting maestro, on June 16. threw his clothes into a small valise, packed his special lenses into four- teen trunks and an egg crate and took off for the vicinity of Tanforan, trailing after him an admirable crew consisting of Vic Scheurich, George Kelley, Jim Goss, Jack Andersen, and Walter Lackey. Top spots in this tale of the turf are filled by Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy. Sterling Holloway and that darkly handsome troubador, Clarence Muse. In support — and get a load of this load — Lynn Overman, Ward Bond, Charles Levison, Arthur Rankin, Ray Walburn, Margaret Hamilton, George Cooper, Charles Wilson, Forrester Har- vey, Paul Harvey (Fred Harvey was busy build- ing a new restaurant), Samuel S. Hinds, Harry Todd, Barbara Reed, Mary McGrath and Bruce Galbraith. Heigh-ho — looks as if Mr. Capra will need eyes in the back of his head to direct tbis crowd. Your little keyhole-peeker is delighted to an- nounce that this picture moves George Kelley up one notch, and a very sizeable notch, in the camera profession. He takes over a second camera for the first time, on this production, and it is a deserved promotion for a hard working young man. Emil Oster, head of Columbia's Camera Department, and who is indefatigable in the in- terests of his "boys," put the deal over — with the hearty co-operation of Frank Capra and Joe Walk- er. Best of luck, George. Irving Lippman toted his Dark Hazard along on the trip and Marty Crail went up, too, as Knight of the Darkroom. Frank Capra is in such a hurry to see his rushes that the film is being rushed to the lab. each night by plane and the dailies are returned to the location the next after- noon in the same speedy manner. If the com- pany stays in Tanforan too long Crail is threat- ening to stow away on the plane some night and come back and see his wife. And they've been married for two whole years. "GIRL IN DANGER," directed by ROSS I.EDERMAN. Ben Kline, none the rustier for his well-earned vacation, handled the peepsight on this one. Now repeat after your Uncle Bob. little kiddies: "His camera crew consisted of Mr. Browne, Mr. Dawson and Mr. Russell." (In a couple more issues this column will write itself. Untouched by human hands.) George Cooper, the Blonde Menace, took the bows as sound tech- nician, Walter Meins was grip and Howard Rob- ertson, regardless of what he terms himself, gaffed the picture. (Remind me to tell you a funny story about Howard some time.) Ralph Bellamy, Shirley Grey, J. Carrol Naish and Charles Sabin lend their personalities to the epic. Bellamy also loaned (lent, leaned, or what- have-you) a temporarily athletic touch to the en- semble by limping about on a bum ankle, ac- quired while playing tennis. "TROPICAL MADNESS," directed by AR- CHIE GOTTLER. Joe August photographed this idyll of the African Wild with lyrics and music, featuring Frankie Albertson and Lois January. I can't see how the picture can be so tropical with a January cast to it, but we will sort of skim over that and tell about how Dave Regan was operative cameraman and Marcel Grand and Jack Russell did the honors with the focus- changing devices. Glenn Rominger was dial- twister, Jimmy Punter (I can never look at that name of his without wanting to do word-puzzles with it) gaffed for August and Eddie Blaisdell w-as grip. The man with the frantic scissors was James Sweeney (film editor to some). LEWIS MILESTONE has been testing for several days for his production, "THE CAPTAIN HATES THE SEA," which should be already under way by the time you read this. Arthur Edeson makes his first appearance on the Colum- bia lot, as chief cinematographer for the Mile- stone production; and AI Keller, he of the beam- ing smile, is assisting Edeson. The cast is not definitely set as yet, but Vic- tor McLaglen probably will play a leading role. Fred Keating, the former prestidigitician (somi what more skillful than a prestidigitator — ma- gician to the youth of the land), who is now one of Columbia's White Hopes, has been tested on miles and miles of film (to the huge delight of Eastman Kodak Company) and will doubtless have a part in the picture. Ennihoo I don't care so much whom they cast for the production, but if thev change that perfectly marvelous swell title I'll shoot to kill. BARNES AND POLITO HANDLE PHO- TOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS OF WARNER MUSICAL "DAMES" By BOB HUSSEY Warner Brothers-First National Studios created a furore in the entertainment world with their "42nd Street" and continued establishing new high standards with the succeeding extravaganzas, "Gold Diggers of 1933", "Footlight Parade" and "Wonder Bar." Each seemed unsurpassable, but each excelled its predecessor. Now comes the Warner Brothers special musical "Dames", and those engaged on the mammoth production declare it is certain to establish itself as the acme of perfection in its type of screen entertainment. "Dames" has been produced in two distinct units. Ray Enright directed the story sequences from Delmar Daves' adaptation of Robert Lord's original story. Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler head an all-star cast which further includes Hugh Herbert, ZaSu Pitts, Guy Kibbee and others. Sid Hickox photographed the story sequences with Messrs. Larson and Anderson assisting. Busby Berkeley unit operated individually and at one stage of the production, both units were before the cameras simultaneously. Of the four Berkeley numbers in "Dames", two were of the intimate or novelty class and two were of the ensemble category. Some of the Berkeley photography was handled by George Barnes, with Warren and Lynch assist- ing and Sol Polito photographed with Green and de Angeles as his worthy assistants. An endless number of photographic problems were presented in the filming of the Berkeley en- sembles. Berkeley has gained his fame from his ability to place the audience eye in usual positions from which is seen the rhythmic and co-ordinated movmnt of groups of screen beauties. In the spectacular "Dames" numbers Berkeley, with Harms and Polito, have outdone their previous sen- sational efforts. The "Eyes for You" ensemble presented a huge revolving upright wheel, without an axle, and on it was an arrangement of platforms on which the young beauties were placed. The set was erected on a huge turntable and from each side was built a series of stairways which continued, in zig-zag manner, across the turntable, through the wheel and beyond to the other side. This one set. constructed at the studio at a cost of more than $30,000, afforded no end of photographic problems which were successfully surmounted. Silhouettes, angles, black-and-whites, arcs, all were beautifully filmed. The second ensemble number in "Dames", for the song of that title, was a vast, graded floor through which came a maze of half-circled shields to present an odd kaleidoscopic effect and adorned with young beauties in novel costumes appearing in fascinating array. Trick lighting effects were used throughout the filming of "Dames" and served to greatly enhance the photographic beauty of the ensembles. John Ellis was still-photographer with the Ray Enright unit of "Dames" and performed an ad- mirable job with his art. Bert Longworth, doing speciil art photography with the Berkeley unit, won attention for his especially fine work on overhead and angle shots, delivering a fine collection of beautiful studies on the production. RKO-PATHE (Reliance Pictures, released thru United Artists) "TRANS-ATLANTIC MERRY-GO-ROUND." Producer, Edward Small; author, Leon Gordon; additional dialogue and scenes, Joseph Moncure March; comedy dialogue, Harry W. Conn; direc- tor, Benjamin Stoloff; assistant, W. J. Reiter; mu- sical numbers directed by Larry Ceballos; first cameraman, Teddy Tetzlaff; operative cameraman. Kenneth Green; assistants, William Whitley and Ellis Carter; stills, Clifford Maupin and Clarence Hewitt; recording engineer, Oscar Lagerstrom; film editors, Grant Wytock and H. T. Fritch; art di- rector. John Ducasse Schulza; chief electrician. Jim Potevin; chief grip, Charles Rose; chief prop, Emmett Emerson. Cast: Jack Benney, Nancy Carroll. Gene Ray- mond, Sydney Howard, Sid Silvers, Sidney Black- mer. Ralph Morgan. Shirley Grey, Patsy Kelh . Frank Parker. Jean Sargent, Robert Elliott, Will- iam Boyd, Sam Hardy, Carlyle Moore, Wallis Clark, Esther Howard. PARAMOUNT "ELMER AND ELSIE." Producer, Lou D Lighton; authors, George S. Kaufman and A Connelly; screenplay, Humphrey Pearson; rec- tor, Gilbert Pratt; assistant, Jay Marchandil cameraman, William Mellor; operative earner ar William Rand; assistant, Guy Roe; stills, ier man Clark; recording engineer, A. W. Si , film editor, Richard Currier; art director, !arl Hedrick. Cast: George Bancroft, Frances Fuller, leu Karns, George Barbier, Nella Walker, Crle Sellon, Helena Phillips. "LADIES SHOULD LISTEN." Pro i Douglas MacLean; original by Alfred :■ Guy Bolton ; screenplay, Frank Butler and m Bunyon; director, Frank Tuttle; assistant, ins- sell Mathews; first cameraman, Henry Srp; operative cameraman. Roy Eslick; assistant, at Dugas; stills, Don English; recording eni'eer, Don English; film editor, Eda Warren; art ret tor, Ernst Fegte. Cast: Cary Grant, Frances Drake, Ear Everett Horton, Charles E. Arnt, Nydia est- man, George Barbier, Charlie Ray. "NOW AND FOREVER." Producer, Lo Lighton; original by Jack Kirkland and M Baker; screenplay, Vincent Lawrence and Thalberg; director, Henry Hathaway; ass Clem Beauchamp; first cameraman, Harry beck; operative cameraman, Fred Mayer; ass Neal Becker; stills, Elwood Bredell; film Ellsworth Hoagland; art directors, Hans 1: Robert Usher and Robert O'Dell. Cast: Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, .'; Temple, Sir Guy Standing, Charlotte Gr; Telser Komai, Buster Phelps. "THE NOTORIOUS SOPHIE LANG." Pr ducer, Bayard Veiller; author, Frederick um Anderson; screenplay, Anthony Veiller; di § Ralph Murphy; assistant, Neil Wheeler; fir* cameraman, Al Gilks; operative cameramai L: nel Linden; assistant, Francis Burgess; rei ii engineer, Harry Lindgren; film editor, ime: Smith; art director, Robert Odell. Cast: Gertrude Michael. Paul Cavanaup A: thur Byron, Alison Skipworth, Ben Taggart ^era Errol. "MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PA H Producer, Douglas MacLean; author, Alice :m Rice; screenplay, Williams Stevens McNu ami Jane Storm; director, Norman Taurog: as:tant. Ewing Scott; first cameraman, Charles ang; operative cameraman, Robert Pittack; as taut. Clifford Shirpser ; stills, Eddie Cronenwet re- cording engineer, Eugene Merritt; film ifl Hugh Bennett; art director, Robert Odell. . Cast: Pauline Lord, W. C. Fields, Zasupf Jimmie Butler, George Breakstone, Evelyi \"a able, Keat Taylor. Bert Shipman and Edward Garvin are tlnucl: birds who sailed on the Empress of Brill t' secure sea going shots for the new EddiCac- tor picture. They will stop at Balboa, Cana ionq and return by plane. Karl Struss has been assigned by Parjoild to photograph "Fifty-two Weeks With Fleittt. TINY CAMERA SHOWS SPEED— A « telegram from Leipzig says: The latest dslop-1 raent in photography is a high speed came K able of working by artificial light, which i '<" carried in the vest pocket. Heretofore the cameras capable of catchini '•!'" motion have been un wieldly affairs and brit; sin light was required. The new high speed camera is about tHSS of a cigar lighter and will take sharply ra<| pictures in one-thousandth of a second, or std The unique vest pocket cameras, whi exhibited at the Leipzig Fair, can be open 1 i': ordinary electric light indoors. The Dauntless Three — Hal Rosson. Ray June and Clyde De Vinna, are reported to have put over a cinematographic masterpiece in the pho- tographing of the M-G-M opus, "Treasure Island." MARY PICKFORD SPEAKS— Feelers | by Mary Pickford, for a possible cast that 'i^; be obtained for a picture she has in mini "f ing, convince her that there is a notable a1 in the film industry. The scarcity of talen'va' able impresses Miss Pickford that there i ■" activity in Hollywood now than it has kno ; a long time. j The manv independent producers at work arded as a healthy sign by Miss Pick!. garded as interprets it as the reflection of the "neu into pictures. This is interesting because '" long ago, it was bewailed that the majors 1 business pretty well sewed up. RAQMAM / "The Camera Must Always Come First. That Is the Creed of the Motion Picture Photographer. No Matter What Happens It Must Keep on Turning." DM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 7 M-G-M STUDIOS VRRETTS OF WIMPLE STREET." Di- Sidnej Franklin; from the play by Rudolph ; screenplay by Claudine West and Ernest first cameraman, William Daniels. i: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles ton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Ferdinand Mu- Katherine Alexander, Marion Clayton, Ian HE MERRY WIDOW." Director, Ernest ich ; original by Franz Lehar; dance director, ina Rasch; first cameraman, Oliver Marsh. i: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, i Gomhell, Edward Everett Horton, Una !, Barbara Leonard, Sterling Halloway, fc Barbier, Joan Gale, Shelia Manora, Leona rs. Edna Walde, Barbara Barondess, Shir- oss, etc. iCRED AXD PROFANE LOVE." Direc- larence Brown; original by Edgar Selwyn; play by John l.ee Mahin; first cameraman, : Folsey. i : Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Otto Kru- tuart Erwin, Una O'Connor, Marjorie Gate- \kim Tamaroff, Paul Porcasi. IE STUDENT TOUR." Director, Charles isner; original screenplay by Arthur Bloch 7eorge Seaton; adaptation, Philip Dunne; ameraman, Joseph Valentine. : Charles Buttervvorth, Jimmy Durante, \egan, Maxine Doyle, Florrine McKinney, BJue, Dewey Robinson, Doug Fowley, Mary ,L GOOD AMERICANS." Director, Ed- [arin; original play, S. J. and Laura Perel- screenplay, Wells Root; first cameraman, Krasner. : Robert Young, Una Merkel. Madge Otto Kruger, Ted Healy, Louise Henry, d Brophy, Bert Roach, James Donlan. E HIDE-OUT." Director, W. S. Van screenplay, Albert Hackett and Frances Sch; first cameraman, Ray June. i: Robert Montgomery, Muriel Evans, Ed -, Mickey Rooney, Louise Henry. ver have I seen so many of the smaller busy," says Miss Pickford. "They're mak- ctures everywhere and using big names in It means that the day of mass-production ■ screen is over." irding to Mary Pickford there never was a time for the young player to get his . This makes a lively market for new talent. ays that there is a marked scarcity of • young leading men, who know how to act eak lines. Ming an ambition he has had for years, Freulich, "still" cameraman at Universal i. recently completed a two-reel drama en- 'Prisoner." picture has but two characters, George veil known stage and screen actor, in the role, and Jack Rockwell, veteran character, ; the supporting role. ough the drama has no dialogue, beautiful and appropriate sound effects form an in- ig background. Under the able direction ■ulich, who also wrote and produced the . it was filmed by Cinematographer King in the heart of the desert near Victorville. picture is booked for an early showing at imarte Theater, on Vine Street, Hollywood. SOL LESSER (Pathe) ICK'S BAD BOY." Director, Eddie Cline; George W. Peck; screenplay, Bernard Schu- nd Marguerite Roberts; first cameraman, Good. Jackie Cooper, Jackie Searl, Thomas n, Dorothy Peterson, O. P. Heggie. Fernstrom has returned from his tour of 1, France, Switzerland and Ireland where Seen Technicolor-ing for Fitzpatrick Travel- VVe understand that in a couple of weeks 'rts out again for the same company. • (-LION DOLLAR RANSOM." Associate r'rvEph '^sner: director, Murray Roth; 1 S Damon Runyon; screenplay, William Lip- fl rst cameraman, George Robinson. ■'■ Edward Arnold. Marjorie Gateson, Wini > Robert Gleckler. Bradley Page, Edgar Nor- gnie White, Phillips Holmes, Mary Carlisle. ERIK CHARELL, DIRECTOR OF FOX "CARAVAN" CLAIMS SOMETHING NEW IN CAMERA TECHNIQUE Erik Charell, noted Continental producer of mu- sical spectacles now making his first American offering for Fox Film. "Caravan", believes that the day of the "close-up" is about over, and is film- ing his production accordingly. "Everybody knows that the motion picture camera is supposed to take the place of the spectator's eye and see what he sees," Charell explains. "Yet in many pictures you will look at a scene of two or three people, taken from a distance of perhaps 20 feet, and then the camera jumps into a posi- tion two feet away from one player, then back to the first position, then in front of the other player, and so on. It becomes a series of discon- certing jumps instead of a smoothly-told story. "If. it is absolutely necessary to show a close-up of a player to emphasize a dramatic expression, then the camera should move in slowly, just as if the spectator should walk up to that player and look him in the eye. It should never leap about like a kangaroo. "In 'Caravan' I am using as few 'cuts' as pos- sible, and am trying to tell my story just as a spectator on the actual scene would see it. I be- lieve that this makes the resulting picture much more realistic and plausible than if I made the audience dizzy by rapidly alternating the view- point." Hollywood film experts have been considerably interested in Charell's application of this belief, and in his extensive use of "dolly" and "crane" shots to get his effects. On only two or three oc- casions has the director employed more than one camera at a time, even on the most elaborate scenes, but this camera usually follows an intricate path, carefully rehearsed and timed, through the set. and it has frequently taxed the ingenuity of the Fox Film technicians to arrange tracks and equipment so the instrument can be moved as he wants it. As a result, many of the individual scenes in the picture run as much as 300 to 400 feet in length, with the camera now making a long shot of a huge crowd of gypsies, hussars or Hungarian villagers; now bending to concentrate on a leading player or a significant movement, now wandering among a group of dancers, perhaps singling out one or two for a close shot, then following or pre- ceding a certain character from the set. Most American directors who made such a scene would break it up with at least a dozen "cuts" to close-ups or shots from another angle, but Charell intends to use these scenes in one continuous flow, just as they were made on the set. The favored few Fox Film officials who have been privileged to see a rough assembly of "Caravan" to date are prophesying that the picture will be sensational from a photographic standpoint, as well as in its introduction of a new film star, Charles Boyer, the French screen idol, who has the starring role. WARNER BROS.-FIRST NATIONAL "A LOST LADY." Supervisor. Tames Sey- mour; author, Willa Cather: screenplay bv Gene Markey and Kathryn Scola ; director. Alfred E. Green; assistant. Frank Shaw; first cameraman, Sid Hickox; operative cameraman, Wesley An- derson; assistant, Vernon Larsen; stills, John El- lis; recording engineer, Oliver Garretson; film editor, Owen Marks, art director, Jack Okey; chief electrician. Paul Burnett; chief grip, L. P. Maxmeyer; chief prop, Pat Patterson. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck. Ricardo Cortez, Frank Morgan. Rafaelo Ottiano. Charles Starrett. Philip Reed. Henrv Kolker. Willie Fung. "FLIRTATION WALK." Supervisor. Robert Lord; authors, Delmar Daves and Lou Edelman; screenplay, Delmar Daves; director, Frank Bor- zage; assistant. William Cannon; first cameraman, Sol Polito; operative cameraman, Al. Green; stills. Mac Julian; recording engineer. C. A. Riggs; film editor, William Holms; assistant, William Phelan; art director. Jack Okev; chief electrician, Frank Flanigan ; chief grip, Harold Noyes; chief prop. Orin Haglin. Cast: Dick Powell. Ruby Keeler, Pat O'Brien, John Eldredge, Ross Alexander. Guinn Williams. Henry O'Neill, Glenn Boles. Tohn Arledge. "A LADY SURRENDER'S." Author a n d screenplay, Mary McColl, Jr.; director. Archie Mayo; assistant. William McGann: first camera- man, Ernest Haller; operative cameraman. Al. Roberts; assistant. Stuart Higgs; stills, Cliff King; recording engineer, E. A. Brown; film editor. Tommy Pratt; art director. Charles Hughes; chief electrician. Claude Hutchinson; chief grip. Harry Barnhouse; chief prop. Pinky Weiss. Cast: Jean Muir, George Brent. Veree Teas- dale, Arthur Aylesworth, Joan Wheeler, Pauline True. Charles Starrett. FOX "SERVANTS' ENTRANCE." Producer, Win- field Slieehan; author, Sigrid Boo; screenplay, Samson Raphaelson ; director, Frank Lloyd; as sistant, Booth McCracken; first cameraman, Hal Mohr; stills, Ray Nolan; recording engineer. J. E. Aiken: film editor, Margaret Clancy; art director, William Darling. Cast: Janet Gavnor, Lew Ayres, Ned Sparks. Walter Connolly, Louise Dresser, Siegfried Ru- mann, G. P. Huntley, Jr., Katherine Doucet. "JUDGE PRIEST." Producer. Sol M. Wurt- zel; author, Irvin S. Cobb; screenplay, Dudley Nicholls and Lomar Trotti; director, John Ford; assistant, Edw. O'Fearna; first cameraman, George Schneiderman; stills, William Thomas; film edi- tor, Paul Weatherwax; art director, William Dar- ling. Cast: Will Rogers, Brenda Fowler, Rochelle Hodson, Roger Imhof, Tom Brown. Anita Louise. Stepin Fetchet. "WANTED." Producer Sol M. Wurtzel; screenplay, Lester Cole and Stuart Anthony; di- rector, Louis King; assistant, Sid Bowen; first, cameraman, L. W. O'Connell; stills, Frank Pow- olny; recording engineer, S. C. Chapman; film editor, Al de Gaetano; art director, Duncan Cramer. Cast: Rosemary Ames, Russell Harding, Pert Kelton, Victor Jory, George Irving. SCRATCHES AND DIRT ... My Shovel Boys tell me that Friend Baker is working out a new process printer for the insert department. . . . Fred Dawson was on the sick list for a while this month — but he's back in harness again, so don't send flowers. . . . Rod Tolmie showed up on the lot for a few days; I guess he's finished that serial he was working on. . . . Bill Brad- ford also hove in sight from far-off Pasadena to work on some inserts. Bill lives so far away he must feel like a Pilgrim every time he comes, to work. . . . F. M. Browne disappoints me; he took his Leica to the races at Indianapolis and took only ten pictures. Ennihoo he says he had a grand time at the Chicago Fair. He practically took me through it in a burst of verbal enthusi- asm. . . . Johnny Stumar vows he'll require a parachute as part of his equipment hereafter whenever he shoots from an insert car. Johnny took off from the top of a camera car as it rounded a curve, and made a, three-point landing on the handiest group of boulders. Guic»es wn. show you the spot where small bits of Stumar cling to the underbrush. Charlie is now up and around and able to take a little nourishment out of a bottle, if you haven't a glass handy. . . . Emil Oster has been busy putting the final touches, on the new motorized dollies that Columbia just purchased. Incidentally, I am informed by one of my Shovel Boys that the Camera Department will give out a story next month that will wow 'em — a surprise for the whole industry. Hold vour breath. . . . Andre Barlatier, T.O.B.S. (The Old Background Snatcher) took a little jaunt to Mazatlan. Old Mexico, recently with Roy David- son, the gentleman in charge of Columbia's Spe- cial Effects Department, to photograph backgrounds for the Milestone Production, "The Captain Hates the Sea." (I love to roll that title on my tongue. Maybe it has a special significance for me. I was born twenty miles from Cape Cod and some of my ancestors were sea captains. Tish tash. there I go again.) Anniway, Andre went to- Mazatlan, taking Don Murphy as his grip and Enzo Martinelli as his assistant. Enzo says tnai the sunsets were marvelous, but the cucharachas were bigger and more glorious. They were so big they were terrifying. They used to dash at the company car as it progressed along the road. Enzo claims that if he had stayed another week he'd have had one of the biggest cockroaches trained to carry the camera. Sure, Enzo, bin it takes a chameleon to change focus. ... At the Ambassador Beauty Pageant this month the bathing beauties were so brown I had to use a G filter on 'em to keep 'em from going higher 'aller. And if you've never seen Billie Seward in the fish, drop up s'm'tahm and I'll tell you why she won the contest. ... If I can get out of this straight iacket I'll be seeing you next month. — By Bob Tobev. MAJESTIC "SHE HAD TO CHOOSE." Director, Ralph Ceder; story by Mann Page and Izola Foster r screenplay, Houston Branch; first cameraman, James Brown, Jr. Cast: Isobei Jewell, Buster Crabbe, Regis Toomey. Sally Plane, Huntley Gordon. Wallis Clark. Matt McHugh, Fuzzy Knight. Maidel Tur- ner, Kenneth Howell. Jules Cowles, Arthur Stone.. Twenty-two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 NEW KLIEGLICHT OF REVOLUTIONARY DESIGN PROVES SUCCESSFUL AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT Framing Shutter horizontal By Herbert A. Kliegl* Development Engineer and Vice President of Kliegl Bros. Electric Stage Lighting Co., Inc., New York. Universal ILIEGLIGHTS have always played an import- " ant role in the development of motion pictures. The original "Klieglights" were the first suc- cessful artificial lighting units which made pos- sible the taking of motion pictures, in studios, without de- pendence on sunlight. They were arc lamps, introduced many years ago. Later, with the advent of sound pictures, noiseless incandescent units were evolved. Always in step with the advance of the industry, the Company has stead- ily developed improved units as new requirements have arisen. The present demand for still greater lighting effi- ciency and more flexible units is answered by the presenta- tion of this entirely new Klieglight, which is a radical departure from anything heretofore produced, and of such a decided improvement, it has been prophesized that it will completely change present methods of studio light- ing. It offers the highest efficiency ever achieved in lighting units of its kind — being several times more efficient than arc or conventional incandescent units of the same wat- tage. This distinctively new type of theatre and studio lighting unit, is the result of revolutionary discoveries made while experimenting with different types of reflectors preliminary to the construction of lighting units to meet the extreme conditions and exacting requirements for light- ing the Radio City Theatres, New York, in 1932. Then followed more than two years of intensive research and development work which brought forth this new Klieg- light, decidedly different from its progenitors, based on entirely new principles, now perfected in every detail — and said to be one of the most remarkably advanced units for lighting that has been produced within the past ten years. Its Lighting Efficiency Its working range is any distance up to 250 ft. The light is absolutely uniform throughout the illuminated area — and its intensity may be varied by a simple adjust- ment of the lenses — without affecting its uniformity of distribution, and without the necessity of using dimmers. The shape of the light beam can be instantly adjusted to any desired pattern — round, square, triangular, recti- linear, semi-circular, etc. of innumerable dimensions — from a pin point to full lens opening — by an arrangement of iris and framing shutters with which it is provided. It thus affords a range, variety, and simplicity of controls that have never been so practically provided heretofore. At a demonstration witnessed by Motion Picture Engi- neers at their recent convention at Atlantic City, its re- markable efficiency was shown by comparative tests per- formed at the meeting. The test was made with the present standard Kliegl 8-inch studio spotlight, and the new Klieglight, side by side, both units using 2000-watt biplane filament lamps; for both floodlight and spotlight- ing, with a 20 ft. spread and a 5 ft. spot projecting the light a distance of 55 ft. Measurements of the lighted area were taken with a Weston Footcandle meter, by Mr. Meli of the Westinghouse Company, who is the inventor of the Biplane filament. Average readings indicated that the standard spotlight projected a flood of 11 ft. candles and a spot of 24 ft. candles, whereas the Klieglight projected 32 ft. candles and 70 ft. candles under the same conditions — proving conclusively the new unit to be considerably more efficient in light output than the formerly accepted standard unit — truly a remarkable improvement, offering great economic advantages, as well as the greater flexibility and more per- fectly controlled lighting arrangements it affords. Interesting Details In design, the reflector employs the ellipsoidal principle of light reflection — which assures a maximum pick up of light. It is a G. R. C. rhodium metal reflector, resulting from experimentation and a new discovery in metallurgy. It is formed by an electro chemical process, using certain proportions of gold, rhodium, and copper, to produce a durable, permanent reflector with an exceptionally high reflection factor — and a surface that will not chip, peel, or tarnish under any condition of heat or weather. In their manufacture, absolute accuracy of light con- trol was also obtained, to a far greater extent than is possible by any spinning or casting process — also a first- surface everlastingly brilliant finish that assures continu- ously high efficiency over a long period of time. The sur- face of the reflector has a reflection factor of approxi- mately 74 'y and it will withstand the excessive heat gen- erated by concentrated filament lamps. During the period of development, certain difficulties were experienced in adapting high candle power lamps to the reflector principally because the large filaments apparently were not sufficiently concentrated to permit precise control of the light rays — but it was found that by facing the broad side of the filament toward the sides of the reflector rather than toward the lens — we obtained a pick up of approximately 90 rv of the total output of the filament — and that all the light emitted could be di- rected by the reflector into the lens system. Approximately 40 '( more light was obtained with the filament facing Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHE / wenty-three the sides of the reflector, than by facing the lens. rectilinear spread in a horizontal or vertical direction. Also, the original lamps were such that they had to be The Klieglight is perfectly balanced and adjustablj burned with the base down, and necessitated an additional mounted on swivel bearings, in a yoke, and swings easily hole in the top of the reflector in order to get the lamp in in any direction and sets on a telescopic pedestal stand and out of the socket. This was objectionable and was fitted with ball-bearing rubber-tired casters, permitting it overcome by a decided change in the lamp itself. After experimenting, the General Electric Company developed the bipost base-up-burning biplane filament lamps for use with Klieglights — and they are now available in 1 24 bulb, 1000- and 1 500-watt sizes, and T-30 bulb, 2000- watt size. (200 Hour or 25 Hour life — the latter being recommended for color photography ) . The filament cen- ter of all three lamps is the same. In these new lamps the filament is placed far down in the tip of the bulb, which procures a two-fold advantage. to roll easily over the floor. It is also provided with an auxiliary support so that the projector can be set on the base close to the floor when required. A 25-ampere snap switch, mounted in the hinged back casing of the lamp housing controls the main line. General Advantages It accomplishes results in a simple, direct manner, pro- vides uniform high intensity illumination, and consider- ably lowers lighting cost. It gives over three times the light for the same wattage input than any conventional ( 1 ) minimize the amount of glass inside of the reflecting type Qf unjt procJuced up to the present time, and utilizes system; (2) all the blackening of the bulb takes place near the top of its neck which is outside of the reflector. This arrangement permits the maintenance of the initial effi- ciency for a long period of time. The lamp holder is removable, and specially devised to securely retain the lamp in a fixed prefocused position, at an angle of 45° — rotary adjustments being provided for properly setting the lamp filament in respect to the lens, to procure a maximum output and even distribution of light. The lamps are designed to operate anywhere within a 45 degree tilt either side of the vertical, and by mount- ing it offset at a 45 degree tilt from the vertical in the lamp housing, it permits a full 90 degrees down tilt of the Klieglight unit, so essential for motion picture use. The lamp housing is thoroughly air cooled by an im- proved direct-draft system of ventilation — with vent open- ings top and bottom, which allow a full and continuous passage of air through the hood — thus prolongs the life of the lamp, and insures cool, economical operation. This louvre ventilation system prevents light leakage without interference with the air circulation. The lens system is another new idea which was incor- porated in this model. A double lens arrangement on a movable carrier in the cylindrical front housing, permits both beam adjustment and beam intensity variations. By varying the position of the two lenses in respect to each other both the intensity and the spread of the beam can be varied — without the use of a dimmer. The oper- ation is independent of the framing shutters — which may be changed or remain set, as desired, while the lenses are varied. By using lenses of different focal lengths — differ- ent degrees of maximum beam-spreads can be obtained. The units are furnished equipped with lenses to suit in- dividual requirements, of the correct focal length to give the maximum spread specified, with maximum lighting efficiency. Both square and round (iris) adjustable shutters are a part of this unit. They are located between the lamp and the pick up lens in a focal position directly related to the lens system and its beam control. The iris shutter regulates the circular diameter of the light beam, and a projecting handle controls its operation, opens or closes the shutter from black out to a pin point, and to full sized beam. The framing shutters are for shaping square, rectan- gular, and other angular formations of the light beam, any size desired — and consist of two vertical and two hori- zontal freely-moving independently adjustable blades with protruding handles, permitting any desired arrangement. Slide grooves are provided on front of housing, to receive media frames for color lighting effects ; or a special spread lens can be placed in the slide grooves to procure a wider horizontal or vertical spread of light, if necessary — these are now available in practically any degree spread practical} the entire light output of the lamp under all operating conditions — that is the efficiency or total output remains the same whether the light beam is spread or con- centrated. Beam control is one of its most interesting and valu- able features — that make the unit especially well suited for studio lighting. By means of the adjustable lens sys- tem, in conjunction with the adjustable shutters, both the size of the held illuminated and the intensity can be varied in several ways. For example, by simply changing the shutter opening and leaving the lenses set, the area illum- inated can be altered while maintaining the same degree of intensity as before ; or by moving the lens the spread can be increased or decreased, and by adjusting both the lens system and the shutters, the lighting can be intensi- fied or diminished without increasing or decreasing the size area illuminated — or vice versa — including a number of intermediate adjustments between the two extremes. Thus is provided means for obtaining practically any size or intensity of spot or flood within the wide operating range of the unit — without the necessity of using a dim- mer, and as it has no spill light it also eliminates the use of gobo-lights shields, framing cardboards and the like. The light can be projected through doorways, with- out lighting the sills and adjacent walls ; or sun shadows, can be cast on the walls in any direction required. A great amount of light can be directed on any particular section, or article of a set without spill over. Thus besides pro- viding for general illumination, it also provides complete self-contained forming control — quick acting and certain. These new Klieglights are adaptable to a great variety of applications — and can be used for either spot or flood- lighting, indoors or outdoors, for long or short range work. In addition to the many applications in motion picture studios, already mentioned, they are also well adapted for color lighting of studio sets — now in experimental stages, and here, too, the expense of larger size color mediums is avoided. In the theatre they are ideal for use as proscenium lights; balcony front lights; ceiling floods for illuminating the front of stage and orchestra pit and for general spot- lights on the stage. They may aso be used for indoor or outdoor floodlighting of buildings, fountains, arenas, church lighting of altars, etc cetera. Hotels have used them both as spot and floods, paiticularly for the lighting of runways for fashion shows. In fact, they may be used wherever a sharp cut off light, of high intensity, without any spill is required. The distinctive advantages of these new Klieglights have been quickly recognized, and their use promptly ef- fected in many commercial projects as well as theatres" and motion picture studios. Mr. Powell, supervising engineer of the General Elec- tric Company stated he considered the new Klieglight to be one of the greatest outstanding developments in the lighting units of the last few years. desired, and may be had either with a circular spread or Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. fwenty-four T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Juh, 1934 NEGATIVE OR REVERSAL FILM FOR THE AMATEUR? 16 mm. By Walter Bluemel UN view of the fact that all professional motion pictures are made by the negative-positive sys- tem, it seems rather strange at first that in ama- teur lbmm. photography the entirely different methods of reversal film should be used. But there are many reasons for this departure. First and foremost is the matter of cost. In the reversal process the negative ex- posed in the camera is reversed into a positive, thus doing a\va\ with the expense of an additional film and of print- ing and processing it. With improved processing machines now used for reversal film, the developing and reversing is "For years our work has been the production of pho- tographic effects for the major motion pictures studios of Hollywood and in almost every instance we were com- pelled to utilize double and triple exposures employing both original and duplicate negatives. It is obvious, there- fore, that we should be keenly alive to any method that would reduce grain. "Dr. Sease, of Dupont, was the first to impress upon us the possibility of Paraphenylene Diamine as a base from which to carry on our research work. But aside from the fact that as a chemical it is much more expensive, it seemed to indicate a requirement of greater negative ex- posure. Limitations of this sort are vital. "There were two other factors against it, one the possibility of poisoning if handled without rubber gloves, as well as bad staining of the hands, and, secondly, the practically one operation, and that fully automatic, while excessively long developing time. in the negative-positive system there must necessarily be three distinct processes — developing of the negative ; print- ing of the negative on positive stock ; and developing of the positive. All this raises the cost of the negative-positive system for the amateur, though in professional pictures this additional cost is negligible, especially in view of the fact that any number of prints can be made from a nega- tive, while in reversal film there is only one print. Another important drawback in the negative-positive system for the amateur, but one which is rapidly being overcome, is that it gives more grainy results than reversal film. This does not mean that the reversal film has inher- ently finer grains of silver bromide. The difference is due to the processing, in which the silver bromide which has been exposed to light is changed to little grains of sil- ver. Reversal film, when developed as a negative, under the same conditions as the negative film would be devel- oped, is just as grainy as is negative film. All modern emulsions are originally of sufficiently fine grain to be en- tirely satisfactory, but in the developers used until re- cently the grains tend to clump together and produce larger, objectionable grains. In reversal processing, how- ever, these coarse grains, which have been exposed by the cinematographer, are bleached out and the finer and slower speed grains in the emulsion remaining are exposed to light in the reversal laboratory and developed into a positive. Finer grain, without sacrifice of speed (as faster emulsions have larger grain), is thus obtained. The combination of these two advantages has been sufficient to establish the popularity of the reversal film over the negative. Recently, however, with the development of para- phenylene-diamine base developers, very fine grain results have been obtained in negative which compare most favor- ably with reversal film. Further improvement along this line is imminent. Negative film is gaining in popularity and may soon offer considerable competition to reversal film, if not actually surpass it. At present the more universal use of negative film is curbed by the lack of fine grain processing laboratories and the resulting higher charge for developing and print- ing. I know of only one 16mm. laboratory in the country which uses the paraphenylene diamine developer, regularly and has done sufficient research along the line of fine grain developing to obtain consistent results. That is the Dun- ning Process Company of Hollywood. To quote Mr. Carroll Dunning: "The problem in straight negative developing (not reversal) is to prevent clumping of grains and until recently all known develop- ers seemed to have this fault. "But some six months of testing in our research de- partment has brought us a formula along with other chemicals that make us consider the time well spent. For want of a better name we call it Dunning Grainless. "It produces a pseudo-physical developing, colloidal in character, in which the old bugbear of clumping seems to have disappeared. "We have not been able, of course, to eliminate the danger element in handling the baths except that our operators all wear rubber gloves. We still require about three times as long to develop. Unfortunately it is a characteristic of all developers that a shortening of the developing time increases grain clumping, so if we are to take advantage of the superior qualities of this new devel- oper we must spend the time to get the best results. "'Grainless developing as now practiced in the Dun- ning Hollywood Laboratories does not compel the ama- teur to use any more exposure than he has been using with reversal film." Judging from my own personal experience, however, I would suggest a slight increase in exposure (perhaps one stop, where possible) to obtain the best result. On nega- tive over-exposure is always more desirable than under- exposure, as it can usually be corrected in printing, where- as on reversal film slight underexposure is permissible. Paraphenylene diamine developers produce thin nega- tives, even when properly exposed, but these give very excellent prints, with finer tone gradation than do reversal films. The prints are, generally speaking, not as contrast}-, but are nevertheless sufficiently snappy and very pleasing if properly exposed, processed, and printed. I do not be- lieve, however, that one has quite as great a latitude of exposure as with reversal film. There is more detail in the shadows than on reversal film, and the one gradations are more like those perceived by the eye, that is, there is not as much contrast between them. It must be remem- bered, of course, that the best results can be obtained only with correct exposure. Negative film has another advantage over reversal film, and that is in its use with filters. It is impossible to obtain certain filter effects, such as night effects in daytime, with reversal film because of the automatic character of the processing machines for this film. These machines, after the original development has been completed and the silver grains bleached out, attempt, by means of a photo-electric cell, or "electric eye," to automatically correct the expo- sure of the reversed "print" so that it is always uniform. Scenes which have been over-exposed are printed darker and underexposed scenes lighter. Night filter effects are (Turn to Page 28) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, W34 T h INTERNATIONAL F H O T O G R A I ' 1 1 E R I 'went) ji: Motion Picture Sound Recording Chapter X (The preceding chapter served to introduce the discussion of the main amplifying equipment used in a sound recording utudio. This chapter continues that subject by describing the actual ampli- fying equipment and the usual manner of its arrangement in the amplifier room.) The Amplifier Room I HIS large room, as has been explained, is located near the center of the sound studio, and the connections to practically all of the equipment comprising the several recording channels of the studio are brought here to a common connecting point, known as a main distributing frame (or MDF). This arrangement makes it convenient for the engineer in charge of the recording room to locate trouble in any channel quickly and to make such semi-permanent changes in the line up of the channels as may be necessary. Running across the middle of the amplifier room are the bays supporting the main amplifiers and their asso- ciated speech equipment. A bay is a metal framework made of I-beams about six feet high and wide enough to hold panels nineteen-inches wide. These frameworks are placed in a row, seven bays being required for each two recording channels, and bolted to the floor. The connect- ing lines between the amplifiers and the MDF run down inside the I-beams to a metal gutter sunk in the cement floor of the room. Opposite the amplifier bays are the panels of the bat- tery switchboards. These panels extend across the room for about the same distance as the amplifier bays of two recording channels, but they are not quite as high. It is sufficient to say here that these panels are equipped with a rather large number of knife switches and meters, the arrangement being such that any set of batteries (storage -^WWV""*' — ; ^WV^r— *• [nbu-t- 500 ohms Outjsut 5oo ohms YiQUrc 1- Ttupe Attenuator .ai rijp switcL ^Volta -dividiti<| f«si'sT3>ite Input transf /volume Ind> meter -c To Vol- i-nd'r extension ynoter ■O ormer Ficjure 2. The Volume Indicator batteries of several sizes being used for both filament and plate supply for the tubes in the amplifiers) may be con- nected to the generators for charging or used to supply current for any or all of the recording channels by closing the proper combination of switches. Rheostats in the fields of the charging generators and the ammeters provide the By Charles Felstead, Associate Editor engineer with means for regulating and checking the rate at which the batteries are charged. All battery circuits are fused at the switches. The Main Recording Amplifiers We will consider now only the three bays that com- pose the main amplifier system for a single recording chan- nel; for there is normally no difference between the ampli- fiers of different channels. The center one of the seven bays that make up a two-channel amplifier installation carries only the jack field that was mentioned in the pre- ceding chapter. These jacks will be described more fully later. The right-hand one of the three bays carries the actual recording amplifiers ; the center bay supports the volume indicator panel, a smaller jack field that provides input and output connections for the speech equipment in that channel, and auxiliary equipment ; while the left-hand bay holds only the monitoring amplifiers that supply the two large horns in the monitor room and smaller horns in the recording and amplifier rooms. All panels are of iron, painted black like the supporting frameworks, and fastened in place by machine screws. Spaces on the frames where there is no equipment are filled by blank panels. The back of each piece of equipment on the frames is covered by a metal can cover that serves as both an electrical shield and a dust cover. At the bottom of each bay are terminal blocks, like those on the MDF, to which are connected the lines for all the equipment on that bay. Mounted beside these terminal blocks is a row of "grasshopper" fuses, one fuse for each battery circuit in the bay. These fuses are con- structed and arranged so that when one burns out it raises a little flag to permit it to be found easily, turns on an alarm bell, and lights a bulls-eye signal light on the top of the bay in which it is located. By replacing the fuse these alarms are all automatically reset. There are five recording amplifiers in the standard re- cording channel, all of them mounted in the right-hand bay. The main amplifier has an input impedance of 200 ohms to match the impedance of the transmission line from the monitor room. This is a three-stage affair, the first tube being of the voltage amplifier type and the other tubes being of the power amplifier type, although low grid and plate voltages on the middle tube keep it from operating as a true power amplifier. The three tubes are coupled by means of impedance coupling, but transformer coupling is used at the input and output of the amplifier. A volume control having twenty-two steps, each step being two decibels higher than the preceding one, is provided on the panel. The grid-bias, or C, batteries for this main recording amplifier, and for all other amplifiers in the channel that do not obtain their grid-bias voltages from their filament or plate batteries, are mounted in a small wooden box on the panel where they are handy for checking or replace- ment. These C batteries are flat batteries of the flash light type and make contact with springs in the bottom of the wooden box. Rheostats are provided for regulating the filament cur- rent of the tubes in this, as well as in all the other, ampli- (Tum to Page 30) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 THE IMMORTAL PAL (Continued from Page 3) him "on the lot." One morning he stopped me. It was his birthday and he took from his pocket a button with the number 66 on it and pinned it on my lapel. I told him I was going to keep it until he was 99 and turn it upside-down. He thought that a good joke for he always boasted he would live to be a hundred. He was an inveterate chewer of tobacco — as he said, he couldn't think properly without a chew (he was a good running mate for my dad). But he was always too busy to bother about buying it and had to resort to much "mooching" from Jim, the laboratory janitor. One day Jim became so bold as to complain. "You know, Mr. Edison," he said, "I don't get much pay for this job of mine, and tobacco costs money." Shortly afterward, Jim received an envelope in which was a twenty dollar gold piece and a simple note that ran something like this: Dear Jim : This ought to buy us enough tobacco for a while. One day, during the time he was working on his Diamond machine, he called our department and asked them to send over the long-haired fellow who played the "bull fiddle." He wanted me to listen to a couple of records and compare them and gave me to understand that I must not be afraid to say what I thought. He put a record on his disk machine and sat close to it with his megaphone up against the sound box. He watched my face closely as I listened. It was very fine — a record made by one of the celebrated cellists, beautiful quality, smooth and free from surface noise. Mr. Edison knew of my interest in the 'cello and of my knowledge of the difficulty in recording the instrument by the old mechanical system. He questioned me about all those points, surface noise, volume and quality and was pleased at my enthusiasm. He then turned on a competitor's machine — another 'cello record. I immediately recognized it and became worried. It involved the reputation of another of my idols, an eminent virtuoso. Mr. Edison noticed my uneasiness and demanded that I "speak up!" I told him it was not a good comparison. "Why?" he asked. "Because you happened to pick a poor record." "How do you know?" I explained that the artist who had made the record had expressed great dissatisfaction over it. "H-m-m!" he grunted, as he looked around for a place to expectorate. He gave me a funny look which I couldn't determine to be a rebuke for my impudence or an approval of my sincerity. "Very well," he continued, "you seem to know so much about it, find me a better one." I did, and we both agreed that the Diamond Disk was a beautiful piece of work — and it really was. He was very positive about abandoning anything that didn't show prospects of success. He once said: "There are some things that j-u-s-t w-o-n't w-o-r-k, and the sooner you give 'em up, the sooner you can start on some- thing else." And nothing short of perfection satisfied him. When we showed him the final tests on the Kinetephone he was not satisfied, but generously said : "Well ... I believe you boys have got it as good as How Many Times have you Failed or Spent a Fortune trying to model your Light Beams to these shapes! NOW . . so easily performed . . with these "KLIEGLIGHTS" new i/fRAMING SHUTTER >,UPPER HORIZONTAL IHTENSITT CONTROL .FRAMING SHUTTER LOWER HORIZONTAL FRAMING SHUTTER RIGHT SIDE VERTICAL NO SPILL LIGHT without spending an extra penny Aside from their extraordinary efficiency — the new Klieglights offer several entirely new features, including — variable beam control, of ex- ceptionally wide range and usefulness . . . and intensity control, without using a dimmer — both these controls are an integral part of the unit. These new Klieglights permit remarkable economies in studio lighting. You can do trick lighting, easily, and at no addi- tional expense. They are unmatched for performance, versatility, and low operating cost . . . far in advance of anything you have ever used. Let us acquaint you with the facts — then judge for yourself, and you will be fully convinced of their outstanding merits and practical values. Write today for detailed information. LtEGL BIOS Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co., inc. 321 West 50th Street N EW YORK. NY. California Representative: Mr. R. F. Gretsch, 6521 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Calif. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1934 T h e INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-seven can be done . . . until something new comes along to help you." Those were prophetic words, for since then, a great deal has "come along" — the photo-electric cell, electrical recording, electrical amplification, synchronous motors, the glow-tube and what not. And through it all, sleeps Thomas Alva Edison who started it all . . . The GRAND "old man," the genial pal of all who worked with him . . . not as he slept on that slab of zinc sheeting as I saw him, but among the im- mortals, like him Who ivraps the drapery of his couch About him and lies down . . . with the Patriarchs of the infant world, With king, the powerful of the earth, The wise, the good. MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 11) the room in which the tank is placed is warm, the temper- ature of the solution will be very little affected. When a metal tank is employed, the temperature of the solution contained in it will rise very rapidly when the tank is placed in a warm atmosphere. I have both a metal Reelo tank and a bakelite Correx tank, and on one occasion I found use for both. The para- phenylene-diamine developer I was using had been freshly prepared with warm water and the roll of him had been loaded in the bakelite Correx tank. It was a warm day and no refrigerator was at hand with which to cool the solution. I poured it into the Reelo tank and placed the latter in a pan ; put both under a tap allowing the cool water to flow into the pan. The developer in the metal tank cooled in a surprisingly rapid time. It was then poured into the Correx tank. I have subsequently used this procedure on a few more occasions. Local paper development : At the beginning of this article I explained the use of shading as a means of pro- ducing successful prints from negatives portions of which are relatively dense. On some occasions negatives will be encountered in which there are small dense portions which are so situated in the negative as to render shading impractical. Such dense portions can be brought out in the print by local development. The paper is exposed and then placed in the developer until the print is normally developed — the portion of the print corresponding to the dense part of the negative will not exhibit sufficient detail. The print is rinsed, the excess moisture blotted off and we are ready to apply local de- velopment to the portion in question. The developer should be applied with a camel's hair brush or a tuft of cotton. It would expedite matters if glycerine or syrup is added to the developer to render it more viscous, thereby reducing its tendency to spread, to a minimum. With a sufficient amount of such materials added we can be assured that the developer will staj where it is placed. When the portion to which local development has been applied has been sufficiently brought up, the print is again rinsed and placed in the hypo for fixing. Leitz Illumination Control: Many miniature camera photographers prefer the use of chloride (contact) papers because of the greater amount of illumination they allow in the darkroom, the larger number of degrees of con- trast in which they are obtainable, and also the fact that they are less expensive. With the 50 or 75-watt lamps supplied with most enlargers, their use is out of question because of the in- sufficient amount of light present to give a proper exposure in a reasonable time. Many photographers have inserted photoflood lamps in their enlargers. Such lamps are best used with a rheostat both to prolong the life of the lamp, and to keep the illumination of the lamp down when focus- ing, to prevent the lamphouse from becoming overheated. The Photoflood lamp generates a comparatively large amount of light. E. Leitz offer their Illumination Control for this pur- pose. This device can be used only on a 1 10-120 volt cur- rent, either A.C. or D.C. (alternating or direct current). Seven luminosities are possible and it can be either placed on a table or fastened to the wall. ORDERS ARE COMING FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD The use of Fred Wesrerberg's CINEMATO- CRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES will make your job worth more by saving time and assuring accuracy. $1.00. ANY DEALER or 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood Cables: ArrReeves Francais Deursch Espanol Svenska "ArtReeves rr Automatic Speed Control Motor. Especially designed RICHT SIDE UP focusing tube. Twin-fidelity optical unit. Tachometer. Shuttle SILENCED. SINGLE SYSTEM SOUND Built into your Bell & Howell Camera Write for particulars. Motion PicTure/^ojjipmemT(o. |Tq 6A 5 NORTH MARTEL AVE CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES Phone: WYoming 4501 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, U'SA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 NEGATIVE OR REVERSAL FILM FOR THE AMATEUR (Continued from Pa ye 24) therefore, more or less neutralized, and the scenes which were purposely under-exposed and overcorrected by means of a filter, such as the F-29, are usually printed as daylight scenes. In the negative-positive system, however, where the printing light is controllable according to the density desired, excellent night filter effects can be obtained. With negative, also, it is possible to expose for any portion of the picture, whether it be light or dark, while in reversal processing the photoelectric cell exposes for over-all density, and if there is a great deal of light in the picture, such as sky or snow, darker objects will be considerably underexposed. When using reversal film it is necessary to keep in mind that excessive contrasts are exaggerated on the film, and should, therefore, be avoided. For best results, the object which it is desired to have cor- rectly exposed should have about the same illumination as the majority of the rest of the scene. With negative this is not so important because the desired object, if reason- ably correctly exposed, can be given correct exposure in printing, regardless of the light intensity of its surround- ings. Inherent characteristics, such as speed and color ren- dition, of negative and reversal film (assuming, of course, that both films are of the same general type, i.e., panchro- matic or super-panchromatic), aside from the differences brought about in the processing, are not sufficiently differ- ent to concern the amateur. However, the two firms which manufacture the majority of 16mm. negative in this country — Dupont and Agfa — are undoubtedly able to supply data with which their negative film characteris- tics can be compared to those of reversal film. Where only one print is needed, as is usually the case with the amateur, reversal film is the cheapest and surest to use, but the amateur should not overlook the fact that it is his only record, and once it is damaged in screening it cannot be replaced. It is readily possible, of course, to make duplicate prints of reversal film by first making a negative from the original, but this process is so much more expensive and somewhat less satisfactory than using negative from the start that the amateur would be wise to make all valuable pictures directly on negative. The additional original expense will repay itself in the long run. Pictures of the children as they grow up should, by all means, be made on negative. In later years they will be invaluable, and, if destroyed, cannot be replaced. Rever- sal film, after a certain amount of use, becomes dirty, brit- tle, and so badly scratched that it is practically impossible to make a satisfactory dupe from it. Negative film, how- ever, may be stored away in humidor cans to keep it pliable and used to make good, cheap prints for many years after the original print has worn out. It is worth the slightly added expense, now that fine quality and fine grain is commercially obtainable in negative film, to have good movies of tbe children after they have grown up. The same applies to pictures of important events or of scenes taken in distant lands which cannot readily be revisited, for frequently their value increases with their age. It is unfortunate that reversal film and prints made from negative cannot be used together, for then it would be possible to intercut between the two in the same reel, so that the very valuable scenes could be made on nega- tive and the less valuable ones on reversal, if two cameras are available. This is not possible, partly because the difference in the quality of the two films might be objec- tionable, but chiefly because reversal film must be pro- jected with the emulsion toward the lens (since it is the same film which was exposed in the camera with the emul- sion side toward the lens), while in projecting positive prints the emulsion must be away from the lens. The thickness of the celluloid base is sufficient to throw one out of focus when the lens is focused for the other. To save the expense of making titles on reversal film the amateur may use positive film by making the titles with black letters on a white background and developing the positive as such (not reversing it), thus giving white letters on a black background, which can be projected with the emulsion toward the lens, as is the reversal film. The original cost of positive film is greatly less than that of reversal film, and the developing cost in a commercial laboratory is very reasonable (about one cent per foot), keeping the total cost far below that for reversal film. If developed at home — and this can be easily done in short lengths — the total cost of the titles is practically that of the raw positive. Positive film for titles has the added advantage of being more contrasty than reversal or nega- tive film, thus producing clearer titles, especially when developed in positive developer. It must be remembered, of course, that positive film is much slower than that sold for regular camera use, and the exposure must be in- creased accordingly. A little experimenting will soon tell the amateur what exposure to use. Where the lighting conditions are particularly favor- able out of doors on a bright sunny day, positive film can also be used to photograph many scenes, but it usually re- quires a wide open lens (f:3.5), cannot be used with fil- ters of any kind, and gives an orthochromatic rendering with somewhat contrasty results. It does, however, by virtue of its slow speed (the greater the speed of an emul- sion the larger the grains of silver bromide), give very fine grain results. It can also be reversed to save the ex- pense of having a print made, but that must be done at home, as commercial laboratories usually use solutions and methods which are not suitable for positive film reversing. To the advanced amateur who is able to do his own developing and printing the negative-positive system offers great possibilities. He will find the raw negative consid- erably cheaper than reversal film, and with his own de- veloping and printing the cost should still be less. He need, of course, print only the good scenes of the negative, thus further cutting down expenses. The amateur who does not do his own laboratory work may, in the long run, find negative cheaper for the same reason — if he knows he will have a lot of bad or unnecessary scenes he can readily cut them out of the negative before having it printed. With his own laboratory the ingenious amateur can produce many special effects through special printing pos- sible only with the negative-positive system. This does not necessarily require expensive or elaborate printing equipment, for a printer which will prove quite satisfac- tory and will do many things most 16mm. printers on the market today cannot do, can be built fairly cheaply and easily. In my own case I have built a printer with which I can obtain many effects obtained in 35mm. printing, such as fades, dissolves, wipe-offs, and double exposures. The entire printer was made with five and ten cent store tools, using such odds and ends as anyone might have lying around or be able to get easily, the central unit being an old Q. R. S. DeVry camera. I have also built my own processing racks and tanks at little expense. The mechan- ically inclined amateur should have little trouble in build- ing his own laboratory equipment, especially with the help of the literature available on the subject. Even with crude laboratory equipment it is possible to get some excellent and professional looking results. In handling negative film great care must be taken that it is not scratched or soiled, as this naturally shows up in the print. In the commercial laboratories the film is thor- oughly cleaned before printing so that all dust and dirt is removed, but scratches are permanent. Negative film base Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL P H O T O G R A I ' 1 1 1 1 R Twenty-nine is softer than reversal, and is therefore more easily scratched. The amateur who does his own laboratory work must especially guard against scratches, dirt, and dust, not only in printing but also in processing and drying. Most 16mm. printers can readily be made to serve much the same purpose as an optical printer in a profes- sional laboratory, and its possibilities are worth the ex- pense. Making fades, dissolves, double exposures and trick effects in the printer has its advantage over making them in the camera (if the camera is at all equipped for the purpose) because it is always possible to get them in the right place. If the first attempt is not successful only the cheap positive is spoiled, and the effect can be tried over until just right. When done in the camera, however, expensive film is ruined if the effect is not successful, and one does not know immediately whether or not it is. Should it be unsuccessful it is usually impossible to take it over, and the effect is lost. It is, also, frequently difficult to get a fade or dissolve to come at exactly the right place and a scene may be too long or too short between fades, or some important action is cut out, or unnecessary action included. It is for this reason, as well as that when the camera is interlocked with the sound recording mechanism its shutter must not be closed and locked, that in profes- sional sound pictures all dissolves and special effects are made in the laboratory on an optical printer, which re- photographs the developed film and produces the transi- tions or special effects with a standard camera dissolve mechanism or special attachments. In being able to make mechanical transitions between scenes as desired, the amateur can overcome one of the greatest disadvantages of reversal film — that of being un- able to indicate time lapse without the use of titles, unless, of course, a Cine-Kodak Special is available. A study of professional pictures will reveal the importance and fre- quence of the use of fades and dissolves. Dissolves and double exposures are also very valuable in montage edit- ing, by means of which it is possible to suggest with de- tails what it is impossible to show as whole, and in creat- ing rhythm and tempo, the dissolve tending to slow up and smooth out the picture. It is also less of a shock to the eye than direct cutting, and is, therefore, more pleas- ing. I need not go more fully into the value of dissolves and other mechanical transitions in films — they are per- fectly obvious to any movie-maker. With the increased use of 16mm. negative and the re- sulting research to improve its quality it is logical to pre- dict that the cost will be lowered and negative film will gradually replace reversal film. This is especially true for 16mm. sound on film, for if the sound is not recorded directly on the film on which the picture is taken — and most sound is desirably dubbed in later — a negative must be used. There can be no doubt that negative film, with all due respect to the present advantages of reversal film, has many advantages which in time will make its use as universal as that of reversal film todav. In the interests of screen realism the next thing in added movie equipment will be movies that have to do with smell. Lou Brock, at RKO, is developing the idea and when it is introduced the fans will be able to see an expanse of ocean and at the same time smell the salt air. The same will apply to flower gardens, tropical settings and boudoirs. The various odors in the form of chemicals which dissolve almost immediately upon con- tact with air, are placed in the air conditioning systems of the theaters. The sensitive control of modern air conditioning enables the operator to completely synchro- nize the odors with the film. It is planned to use this in "Down to Their Last Yacht." Charlie Ray is coming back. He is coming back with holes in his shoes, a philosophy, and a big smile. He will no longer be the barefoot boy that once he was in the old Ince pictures, but a character for Paramount in "Ladies Should Listen." Let's not forget the stars who gave the screen so much a few years ago. Paramount has given a number of them a new break in the sound films. These old stars, who are still so young in years, don't want sympathy; but instead a chance to go before the camera. That is their life and they would be satis- fied with just a small part. They deserve that much. We should like to have you meet Florence Lawrence, Florence Turner, Paul W. Panzer and some others, who were on the screen a few vears ago. You'd like them. The Roto-Tank showing Film and Separator 16 and 35 mm. Positions of Rotor The New HOLLYWOOD ROTO-TANK Specially designed for users of Contax, Leica, Military Cameras, 16 mm. and location tests on sound and action record- ing units. A maximum of agitation is produced in this unit, insur- ing shorter developing time with color separations and grada- tions unobtainable by other methods. No pre-soaking, no air bells, no streaks. The entire unit is constructed of heavy bakelite of low conductivity. 25 feet of 35 mm. or 50 feet of 16 mm. For details regarding the Roto-Tank and larger units write ROY DAVIDCE FILM LABORATORIES, Ltd. 6701 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, California Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Jutv.lvM MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING (Continued from Page 25) fiers. Jacks on the amplifier panel permit the plugs on the cords connecting with the ammeters of the meter panel to be plugged into any filament or plate circuit, the one set of meters thus serving to read the filament or plate current drawn by any individual tube in the several ampli- fiers. The Bridging Bus The output of this main amplifier feeds into a branch- ing circuit called the bridging bus. Four of the six branches of this circuit connect to amplifiers known as bridging amplifiers, the fifth branch feeds the volume in- An amplifier of the rack type that is used for sound reproduction — not for recording. Courtesy Bell Telephone Laboratories. Inside view of the amplifier illustrating the manner of wiring. The same construction is used in recording amplifiers. Courtesy Bell Telephone Laboratories. dicator panel, and the sixth branch supplies energy to the monitoring amplifiers and through them to the monitoring horns. It is customary to maintain this bridging bus at zero level in decibels, or reference level, by balancing the amount of gain (in the amplifiers) and loss (in the mon- itoring controls, or attenuators) in the circuit between the microphones and the bridging bus. The volume indi- cator meter aids in keeping this level at the bridging bus more or less constant. The Bridging Amplifiers The bridging amplifiers each have only a single stage of amplification with transformer coupling at the input and output, but the circuit is of the push-pull type with two tubes. These are power tubes operating at a plate potential of 350 volts. The input impedance of a bridg- ing amplifier is quite high ; so it is truly "bridged" across the circuit. As a result, the disconnection of any of the bridging amplifiers have no effect on the impedance match existing between the remaining amplifiers and the bus. Where large power output is required of an amplifier, two tubes are usually used in the last stage. They are connected either in parallel (the two grids being connected together and the two plates connected together) or in push-pull. In the push-pull form of connection, the sec- ondary of the input transformer is tapped. Each end of the secondary winding is connected to a tube grid and the bias battery to the paralleled tube filaments. The primary winding of the output transformer is likewise tapped at the center, the tap connecting to the positive terminal of the plate supply and each end of the primary winding con- necting to the plate of a tube. The push-pull arrangement is more satisfactory than the parallel connection of power tubes, because when oper- ated in push-pull the tubes function alternately, each tube operating on its own half of the alternating speech current cycle. This results in a decided reduction in the harmonic distortion always present in the output of an audio ampli- fier, and the output power is nearly double the power that would be obtained with a single tube. The output circuit of each of the bridging amplifiers connects to one of the recording machines. In the normal installation, there are two wax recording machines and two film recording machines, with a bridging amplifier for each machine. These four recording machines are in- stalled in a recording room located quite close to the am- plifier room. Four pairs of shielded leads connect the bridging amplifiers with the recording machines. A vari- able attenuator is introduced in each line between the out- put of the bridging amplifiers and the recording device. Although these attenuators are installed in the recording room and are really a part of the recording equipment, it would be well to examine their use at this time. The Recording Machine Attenuators The attenuators are of the T-type, which means that they have three "arms", or resistance elements, arranged in the shape of a T, as shown in Figure 1. There are two series arms, A and B, and a shunt arm C. A three- bladed switch is arranged so that it varies the amount of resistance in the three arms simultaneously where it is turned. To increase the amount of attenuation, or loss, presented to an alternating current passing through this attenuator, the resistance of the shunt arm, C, is reduced and the resistances of the series arms, A and B, are in- creased. To decrease the amount of attenuation presented by the attenuator, the resistance of the shunt arm is in- creased and the resistances of the series arms are decreased. The three-bladed switch accomplishes this in steps of one decibel each when it is rotated. The input and output impedance of the attenuator remain constant at 500 ohms regardless of its setting. The recording room attenuators have a range of zero loss to twenty decibels loss. The bridging bus is operated at a level of zero decibels and the bridging amplifiers have a gain of ten decibels, so the output of each bridging am- plifier is normally at a level of plus ten decibels. (Deci- bels represent electrical power: reference level, or zero decibels, is 0.006 watt. Minus ten decibels is one-tenth that power, or 0.0006 watt ; and plus ten decibels is ten times zero decibels, or 0.06 watt. Decibels are logarith- mic quantities, so they may be added or subtracted. For that reason, plus twenty decibels is 100 times — not twenty times — zero decibels, or 0.6 watt.) If the attenuator switch were set at mid-scale, which would cause a loss of ten decibels, the ten decibel gain in the bridging amplifier would be just balanced and the out- put of the attenuator would be at the same level as the bridging bus, or zero decibels. Since he can move the attenuator switch in either direction from this position, the recording machine operator is provided with a wide range of control over the level of the speech current ap- plied to the recording device. By turning the attenuator switch toward the zero loss position the speech current at the recording device may be built up to a level as high as plus ten decibels or by turning the switch toward the 20 decibels loss position the level of the speech current may be reduced to as low as minus ten decibels. A change in the setting of the attenuator is made whenever necessary just before recording commences. center tap of the winding is connected through the grid- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers July;1934 T h INTERNATIONA NIOTOGRAI'll E R Thirty-one The volume indicator, which likewise is connected across the hridging hus, is simply a modified vacuum-tube voltmeter that is equipped with a tapped input transform- er. A simplified circuit is given in Figure 2. The tap switch for the transformer and a key switch that controls a voltage-dividing resistance in the grid circuit of the tube are calibrated to read directly in decibels of gain or loss relative to zero level (0.006 watt) when the pointer of the volume indicator meter is at mid-scale. Because of its calibration in decibels, the volume indicator may be used to measure the electrical level at different points in the recording circuit when not used by the mon- itor man as a volume indicator. The operation of the volume indicator is due to the fact that a speech voltage applied to the primary (P) of the input transformer causes another and greater voltage to be induced in the secondary of the transformer. A por- tion of this secondary voltage, the exact amount being determined by the positions of the tap and key switches, is applied to the grid-filament circuit of the vacuum tube, which is of the voltage amplifier type. In chapter IX it was explained that a three-electrode vacuum tube operates on the principle that the amount of plate current drawn by the tube is controlled (within limits set by the filament and plate voltages and the con- structional features of the tube) by the value and polarity of the voltage applied between the grid and filament. The higher the negative potential of the grid with respect to the filament the lower will be the plate current drawn by the tube. If the grid is made positive, the flow of plate current will increase with an increase in the positive po- tential of the grid. With no a-c. speech voltage applied to the primary of the input transformer the grid-bias voltage, which is ob- tained from the filament battery, is adjusted by means of the potentiometer, P, to a value that causes the meter needle to point to a red mark at about one-tenth full scale. This adjustment must always be made before using the volume indicator if accurate readings are desired. If an a-c. voltage of fixed amplitude is then applied to the primary of the input transformer, the plate current of the volume indicator tube will be increased by a definite amount that will be dictated by the amplitude of the volt- age. Any variation in the a-c. voltage will cause either a further increase or a decrease in the reading of the meter. As long as an a-c. voltage of appreciable amplitude is ap- plied to the volume indicator, the pointer will show a reading above the red index mark, due to the portion of the grid-voltage plate-current characteristic curve on which the tube is operated. When a speech voltage, such as generated by a micro phone during recording, is supplied to the bridging bus, the volume indicator meter pointer deflects, or "kicks", in a degree that is determined by the amplitude of the speech sounds that are causing the generation of the voltage. Since the sounds are continually varying in intensity, the meter registers a continually changing reading. The monitor man watches the meter during recording and varies his mixing controls so that the kicking of the pointer does not pass approximately mid-scale during nor- mal recording. Values higher than that will cause over- loading of the system and the introduction of distortion in the sound record. Very loud sounds like explosions may be permitted to exceed this value, however, because dis- tortion would not be apparent in them. The next chapter will consider the monitoring ampli- fiers and the system of direct and photo-electric cell moni- toring. LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE • the first and only magazine devoted exclusively to the LEICA camera in the United States. • if you own a LEICA, register its serial number with us and receive this magazine regularly each month free of charge. • non-LEICA-owners may secure this magazine at 10c per copy or $1.00 per year, (foreign, $1.50 to all — owners and non-owners.) • edited by famous authorities, crammed with useful and interesting information, LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY sets a new standard in photographic journals. Ask for sample copy. E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th St., New York City In Sound Recording THE NEW PRINCIPLE MINOR QUARTZ OPTICAL UNIT becomes an integral part of your sound recorder— —this unit is cemented into a steel block— it focuses a beam of light of great intensity and actinic value a distance awav and on the film, which PROVIDES CLEARANCE and PREVENTS SCRATCHING of the sound track. The width of the beam of light measures from .0005" to .0008" as it strikes the moving film. Send for fletails and specimen of sound track. c. c. vnsoi Phone GL. 1030 1619 Cherokee Ave., Hollywood THE LARGEST STOCK OF MITCHELL CAMERAS AND CAMERA EQUIPMENT FOR RENTALS IF YOU NEED IT WE HAVE IT CAMERA SUPPLY CO. Cable Address "CAMERAS" 1515 Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood. Calif. GLadstone 2404 RUDDY CERAUS MANAGER Nite Phone CLadstone 6583 CHARLEY BOYLE STUDIO RENTALS Thirty-two T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 Television- CBS OPERATIONS ENGINEER PRAISES PERFORM- ANCE OF DON LEE TELEVISION STATIONS "The television pictures on W6XS and W6XAO to- day were excellent. Congratulations on the fine detail." Such was the signed statement given the Don Lee Television stations by Henry Grossman, eastern divisions operations engineer for the Columbia Broadcasting Sys- tem, New York, after witnessing a portion of the Para- Harry R. Lubcke at the controls of Don Lee television receiver installed in plane of Western Air Express. mount feature, "Tillie and Gus," transmitted over the local television units. Mr. Grossman recently visited Southern California. Grossman's statement carries more than usual weight, according to Harry R. Lubcke, Don Lee television direc- tor, in that he was intimately associated with W2XAB, the television station of the Columbia Broadcasting Sys- tem in New York and has carefully followed eastern tele- vision developments. Grossman expressed himself as surprised at the magni- tude and scope of the Don Lee television activities and the part taken by interested "lookers" in aiding the ad- vancement of the art. Lubcke has advised that the public of California is invited to share in the work. The enthusiast who builds his equipment and watches the pictures sent out nightly, can assist the work being done by sending in reports on how the signal is received, night by night ; how the image appears, and what irregularities are noted, if any. // is not necessary to have a television receiver to par- ticipate in this work. The sound signals of W6XS can be received on 2800 kilocycles (107 meters), on any all- wave receiver or short wave adapter, and those of W6XAO on any ultra-high-frequency receiver of the type used by radio amateurs. Voice announcements, concern- ing the picture being broadcast are made approximately on the hour and half hour. Also, at the close of each sched- ule, a constant intensity tone is sent out to allow a definite check on the transmissions. The signal sent out when a picture is being transmitted changes in intensity as the scene changes from a close-up to a long shot and from dark to light. It is very interesting to view the image and listen to the sound of the signal at the same time. The sound varies in timbre as well as in intensity from a harsh and gutteral to a clean and sharp tone, depending upon the intensity pattern of the particular scene. After a little practice, it is not difficult to determine when the scene changes or when a character or object moves in a fixed scene ; all have their characteristic variation. However, any change in the constant intensity tone shows a change in the radio wave conditions between the transmitter and the receiver. Listeners' reports as to how this tone changes in intensity from minute to minute, from day to day, and from month to month are very helpful to the Don Lee engineers. Lookers' reports on the appearance of the image, whether clear or blurred, and if fading is noted, as well as with regard to changes in those effects from day to day- are invaluable. Standard report forms for recording these data are available upon request to the television depart- ment of the Don Lee Broadcasting System, although any systematically recorded observations are of value. Of particular importance are reports submitted which give the "before and after" effects of a change made at the transmitting stations. Impending changes are an- nounced well in advance over both W6XS and W6XAO at the opening and close of each schedule and are made with the request that listeners and lookers report the re- sults secured both before and after the change. Diagrams and complete instructions for constructing television receiving equipment appeared in the March and April 1934 issues of the International Photographer. WEST COAST BEGINNINGS OF N. R. Here is the beginning of what might be termed "News- reeling on the West Coast." This valuable still is a shot of Harry Gant, the pio- neer cameraman and producer, with his outfit on a journey into the high Sierras where he is going to make a news- reel picture for Thomas A. Edison, his subject being how the Forest Rangers fight fire in the National Forest Re- serve. This was in 1912 and Mr. Gant was accompanied on the trip by Forest Ranger Paul Redington, now chief of the United States Forest Service. The shooting was done in Madera county, California, with an Edison camera. In those days the cameraman had to get 'em when he shot 'em, for there were no retakes. Every inch of film had to go to New York and it is be- lieved that this expedition was the first of its kind in the history of motion pictures. Paul Redington shot this still. PRIZMATIC PRODUCTIONS Prizmatic Productions, Inc., announce the opening of studios and offices, June 28, 1934, in the Cinecolor Build- ing, 201 North Occidenta Boulevard, Hollywood. Mr. Don Graves, vice president, is in charge of sales. The company consists of a number of the old-timers in the color field and they are amply equipped to handle Color Pho- tography for the Cinema. Please mention The Internationa! Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K K Thirty-three Introducing George E. Browne New President of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees and Motion Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada. T the recent convention of the I. A. T. S. E. & M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada, George E. Browne, for many years business representative of Stage Hands Local No. 2, Chicago, was unanimously elected President of the I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. to succeed William Elliott. Mr. Browne was formerly First Vice-President of the I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. during the administration of Former President Canavan. He resigned from that office at the I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. Convention, which met in Los Angeles several years ago, in order to give all his time to the affairs of his own Local. Too much cannot be said in praise of the new Presi- dent. He is a thorough Union man and is a master of the principles of Unionism. He particularly understands the problems of the great organization of which he has the honor to be the head and those who know him will say that he not only understands the problems, but that he has the courage, ability and vision to solve them. He is firm. He is absolutely trustworthy. He is loyal to the body over which he presides and he demands loyalty in return. President Browne, though a man of decision and firm in his judgments, is nevertheless a diplomat and his reputation for fair dealing has done much to bring him the great popularity he enjoys. Moreover, the new executive is a man of action and of ideas and he does not wait for anybody to take the initiative. In brief, he goes and he gets. The latch-string at 659 and at the International Photographer, Presi- dent Browne, will always be hanging out if ever you come to our fair city. And — we hope you'll be a long time President. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 Patterns of Illumination By F. Morris Steadman N my forthcoming book, illumination is classified into: Spherical, Hemispheric and Fractional. (This last, as with suns, flames, openings, etc., when part of the hemispheric field before each illuminated surface molecule is total darkness.) The three types are subdivided into about thirty sub-types or patterns. In the December installment of this series I promised to describe a pattern of illumination in which the in- tensity varies inversely to the distance and not to the square of the distance. This type is the long, narrow light source, the law applying for distances close to the source. The noted scientist, Sylvanus P. Thompson, in his speech of acceptance of the presidency of the first Illumi- nating Engineering Society, in London, unjustly ridi- culed two men because they were making an effort to discover the law of intensity variation for the long luminous tube. This tube is a certain type of light source and functions by its specific law, Thompson and the Point Source theory notwithstanding. To arrive at this law: If we wrap a pure white paper around such a lumi- nous tube, each of its contacting surface molecules will receive an energy influx from the tube in a full hemi- sphere of directions and the white paper will be made as intense as the tube itself. Here both the length and width of the tube occupy 180° relative to each point on the paper. If we now lay a carpenter's square over the tube, the latter will occupy but 90° (by its width) rela- lative to that point of distance where the two sides of the square come together. The length of the tube, being so great, remains practically at its former angle of 180° and the tube therefore now occupies one-half of the hemi- spheric field before the points of a small section of the paper placed at that distance. The paper here is there- fore half as bright as the tube. Now if angles are cut in pieces of card-board with 45, 22^2 and 11/4 degrees and these be laid over the width of the tube, the distances will be located where the tube will function at *4> Y% ar>d 1/16 hemispheric, the alteration in the angle subtented by the length of the tube at these short distances, being negligible. At each increase of distance, only one of the tube's dimensions, its width, varies. Therefore, at each step the tube becomes one-half as large in the hemispheric space field, instead of one-fourth as for a more symmetrically formed light source. And since it is this change in solid angle that alters the intensity, we have the intensity vary- ing also inversely to the distances, and not to the squares of the distances. No matter what type of illuminant is considered and no matter whether the distance is zero or greater, the basic law is: Intensity varies directly with the solid angle of the light pencil which illuminates independent molecules. There is no constancy or variation of light intensity, either in natural, artificial or optical illumination, which does not rest squarely on the above fundamental law. This law has been used and partially understood, since photography was discovered, in marking lens stops: In lenses of one inch and eight feet focal length, the F/8 stop has diameters of l/% of an inch and one foot, respectively. The exposures under otherwise like cir- cumstances, would be the same. Again: We are distant from the sun 108 of the sun's diameters. Shining on a certain surface, the intensity of an image also cast on that surface would be of the same intensity, when the lens functions with a stop F/108 therein. This is because the optical and the natural light pencils would correspond in solid angle convergence. Another observation : A grain of white chalk in the sun will rest at zero distance, will be hemispherically illuminated, (on each of its sides or faces,) and will therefore be as intense as the sun itself. Also: If the sun could be spread out in the form of a hemisphere so as to fill our whole sky extension, and at the same time retain its intrinsic intensity, a grain of white chalk on the earth would also be made as intense as the sun, in spite of the fact that now this spread out sun would rest, not at zero distance, as above, but at its present distance of 93,000,000 miles. The change of distance is simply not a factor of the brightness produced. The unchanged intensity is due to the hemispheric light convergence under both the conditions given. Another phase of these basic laws at work reveals the fact that a pure white surface can not escape from the intensity, or the average intensity of the hemispheric space field which confronts it. To illustrate. The full sky shining at its maximum brightness of 512 Actinos, creates that same brightness on a horizontal white sur- face on the earth. Now if half of the sky extension should be completely darkened, leaving only half of it to function, the white surface would be reduced to half its former value, or to a brightness of 256 Actinos. But we also see that the average brightness of the whole sky expansion is now also 256 Actinos, from the fact that half of it has a brightness of 512 Actinos while the other half is at zero brightness. The brightness there, spread, in the imagination, over double the extension, gives the average brightness of the sky extension, as 256 Actinos, and the white surface has not escaped, therefore, from the average brightness of its confronting field. If this is true for this rather symmetrical, "50-50" condition in the sky, then it is also true for all the complicated conditions of luminosity which exist about us in nature. Hold a pure white surface anywhere you choose and although there may be a thousand different light values confronting it, the surface will be as bright as the average brightness of all of them. From this truth the student can make himself a light measuring tool from a little note book and some slips of tinting paper that will enable the intensity of any sub- ject before the camera to be measured in Actinos of brightness, and the correct exposure found by simple division. Students need this working knowledge of light intensity. More than half the students in our schools have cameras but they are limited to "snap shooting" by their present ignorance of light values. Any reader who is interested in this reform should write the Editor of this magazine of that interest. The photographic lens also works according to a cer- tain light pattern, which is usually spoken of as a "point to point" condition. Each point on the surface of objects before the lens spreads out its light before it in all directions. The lens front catches upon itself some of this wave and turns each ray in a different direction, with the result that these rays all pass through a specific point in space at a pre-determined distance behind the lens. If the light is caught on a ground glass, film or plate, at that precise Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. July, 1934 r i, INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirty-five distance from the lens, an "image" of the outer scene is formed thereon, by means of the "point to point" light pattern which is functioning there. The "pin-hole" camera varies this pattern of light play somewhat. The law of brightness plays only behind the lens, not before it. For example: The sun is about 400 times as far from the earth as the moon, yet in photographing them, the distances are irrelevent and only their respective brightnesses need be considered. The theoretical act of illuminating the molecule, in open nature, becomes practically, in photography, the illu- mination of the silver grains in the film, and what has transpired with the light on the opposite side of the lens is entirely irrelevent to the problem. Mercury is 41 of the sun's diameters distant from the sun. If we focus an image of the sun with stop F/41, that image will be as bright as the natural sun- light on Mercury. Another condition: If in some local spot on the earth a widespread cloud of even density throughout should be suspended, we could carry our grain of white chalk about both in the atmosphere below the cloud and in the cloud itself, without altering its intensity. I would like to hear from some ace who has risen with his plane through two or three miles of fog and come out into the sunlight above. I believe that the intensity within the mass is the same throughout, until arriving very close to the top of the bank. This is the law by which Vail explains the tropical conditions around the poles before the great vapor canopy descended to the earth. This mass carried its light and heat around the world and when the cooling earth reached the right condition, first at the poles, for the precipitation of this mass, the sudden downfall of snow there not only created the ice age but at once caught the tropical animals, burying and freezing them, and today we find them there with the tropical food preserved in their stomachs and the seeds of tropical plants in their hollow teeth. (See Vail's "The Earth's Annular Sys- tem.") Then there is the true light pattern which the scientists have used erroneously for more than 300 years in ex- plaining intensity variations; that of the issue of energy from a single luminous point. Imagine a single molecule of matter being illumined by such a point source. It can receive from it but a single light ray, which single ray can not possibly create visibility. Imagine the absurdity of saying that a fog bank is illuminated by the activity of a single one of its floating particles or that a gas flame was formed by the combus- tion of a single gas molecule. The truth is that the single point in a light source reveals the intrinsic intensity of the mass, while the num- ber of these points in a flame establish its light creating value. For example: The combustion of a molecule of sperm gas, as in the candle flame, sets up a weaker lumi- nosity than does the combustion of the kerosene gas mole- cule, as in a lamp flame, or the gas molecule in a gas flame. The size of the luminous body, or the number of such molecules at work, is what determines the light giving power of a flame. For this reason, to get a standard candle, it was necessary to size it so that it would burn a pre-determined number of grains of sperm per unit of time. Thus, by turning up a gas or a lamp flame we do not increase the intrinsic brightness of the flame but only its size. There are many light problems besides those of light patterns and intensity variations. Problems of eye protection, as against snow blind- ness, etc. The mechanics of the camera optics, to enable things- to be enlarged and copies exact size, etc., on the film. The problem of the art of illumination as in the work of the illuminating engineer and the forester. The problem of the art of illumination as for the artist and the photographer, so as to enable students of the art classes to make portraits with their home window light, in any desired pattern of light and shade effect. The problem of the working value of lenses, or of the solid angle of the light pencils which they cast. With this the student can use grandad's spectacles and with cardboard make a camera that will function by strict known law, and take pictures, if desired, up to life size. The stops in this camera would be evaluated in units as easy to comprehend as units of distance and area, and the student would be able to fix these stops from what they should be able to learn in their study of physics in the schools. The problem of the brightness of subjects in unit terms. The problem of the speed of films and plates. The simple mathematics of exposure by division. And that of using the moving picture camera with precision. C. FRANCIS JENKINS (From the Richmond, Indiana, Item) C. Francis Jenkins, inventor of the motion picture projection machine and holder of more than 400 foreign and domestic patents, is dead at his home in Washington, Wednesday, June 6. Born near Dayton, Ohio, Mr. Jenkins spent his boy- hood near Fountain City and Richmond. He attended Earlham College, accepted a position in Washington, and then became interested in inventions. Upon a visit to Richmond, June 6, 1894, Mr. Jenkins invited members of his family and friends to witness the operation of a motion picture machine. His projection machine was set up in the rear of Jenkins' Jewelry Store, and Richmond gained the distinction of being the first city in the world in which a motion picture exhibition was held. From that time on Mr. Jenkins devoted his genius to the perfection of many devices and instruments which gained him international fame. Radio photography, te'e- vision, radio movies, improvements on airplanes and hun- He recognized no limits in the field of human achieve- ment and believed every barrier in the way of scientific progress could be overcome. Like all geniuses, Mr. Jenk- ins was enthusiastic over the possibility of success in any project that claimed his attention. Equally as interesting was his belief that a great dis- covery usually had been the result of an avocation, a play- thing during rest or leisure time. "Each has been the result of someone's riding a hobby, a kindly soul tinkering around in the woodshed with what the neighbors were pleased to call his 'crazy idea'," he said in an address here a few years ago. "I have always observed that a new thing always originates in a single brain, usually the brain of a poor man. It is not the pro- duct of great wealth and a great laboratory. Money only develops, it never originates. I guess because money does not work in a woodshed." Here is a truism which the boys and girls who are leav- dreds of other practical and technical questions engrossed ing high schools and colleges by the thousands this month his inventive genius. should take to heart and ponder over seriously. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. l'hirty-six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER July, 1934 REORGANIZED DEFENSE FORCE BEGINS SERVICE By George J. Lancaster, Lieut, j. g. C. N. M., Approved by Gene Owen Hagberg, Lieut. C. N. M . in Charge of Recruiting TANDING at attention, their right hands raised as they repeated the words of their oath of service administered by Commander L. F. Brown, California Naval Militia, one hundred and fifty officers and men were sworn into the Naval Militia, June 20, 1934, at the Naval Reserve Head- quarters, 1965 South Los Angeles Street. Grouped into battalion formation, the men, mostly from Hollywood, who were previously trained in the R. O. T. C. regiments, together with their line and staff officers, who are naval veterans of the World War, marched into the headquarters and formed a long line. Commander Brown upon being introduced, declared it to be the first time he ever had had an apportunity of viewing such a number of clean cut youths so well trained. These men were recruited by Lieutenant Gene Owen Hagberg, aided by Lieut, j. g. George J. Lancaster. "Because of his diligent efforts in recruiting such a large number of men at one time and for his facility in re- cruiting," said Commander Brown, "I am placing Lieut. Hagberg on my staff as recruiting officer with the whole of Los Angeles as his base and the whole of California to work in." Toward this end Lieut. Hagberg has made plans to fill the complements in the ranks of the Los Angeles area to their capacity. In addition Lieut. Hagberg has been authorized by Commander Brown to bring the three regiments for the state up to six thousand men. The fourth division, comprising artificers, officers and men is now in course of organization. This will in- clude cinematographers, laboratory technicians from Hol- lywood, and the photographic corps. Having set this division well on its way Lieut. Hagberg has turned the division over to Commander Brown, with Lieut, j. g. James J. Palmer as cinematographer officer. Other branches in the artificers will comprise the engineering forces below decks. The aviation unit is headed by Rov Klaffki. Marlin spike and seamanship instructions has been assigned to Lieut, j. g. Lancaster, navigation officer, of unit. The Militia was organized in 1889, but after being taken into the United States Navy during the World War, remained inactive until recently, when George Hearst, Commodore, C. N. M., started the reorganiza- tion that culminated in the recruiting of such a large personnel. Said Commodore Hearst: "It is a source of grati- fication that patriotic men of California are building a powerful reserve force to supplement a strengthened Navy, keeping ever in mind the words of George Wash- ington, who left us an abiding lesson which is just as true today as the day he uttered it, that the true way to preserve the peace of a nation is always to be prepared for war." Applications and information regarding enlistment may be obtained at the recruiting office, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Room 11. The International Photographer is proud to state that much of Lieut. Hagberg's fine work was done right here in the offices of this magazine. THE CAMERAMAN AS DIRECTOR By Jack Alton (One of our boys ivay Joivn in the Argentine) UITE often it is observed, especially by one who dwells in a steamer trunk, that when in need of something, let us say a pencil, he goes out and buys it ; that done, into the trunk it goes. Now, if instead of buying a pencil one would take the trouble of looking for it in the trunk, most assuredly he would find more than one there. Very similar is the case of the producer looking for a director. He usually takes a trip to Europe, a rubberneck ride around Unter der Linden in Berlin, a peek behind the curtain of the Parisian night life and he returns with a genius. How much simpler it would be to phone for one right under the "Great Wall" of the studio, in a place so near and yet so far from them, the place that is recog- nized as the camera department, a place where there is more directorial talent hidden than any other place in the world. We must admit that many a cameraman would not be attracted by a mere directorial assignment. They have already reached their life ambition ; they have become golf champions or baseball and football specialists. They usu- ally go out for a smoke while the director rehearses. Then there are others who say little, but think a lot; who have accumulated a wealth of motion picture knowledge and that's where the future director will come from. Many of the few cameramen here have been given a megaphone and failed as directors. But why? They failed because they remained cameramen. They kept on worrying about the photography, ordering lights, etc., thereby driving both the cameraman and the gaffer abso- lutely crazy. The result? That the picture was neither photographed nor directed. It is contrary to reason to photograph and direct sim- ultaneously. The new director must forget that he ever was a cameraman. By watching the actor's face through the blue glass, one sees, at least one should see, the light effect desired, whereas looking at it from the director's point of view one receives the dramatic expression. It is for the director to see that the author's mind, spirit and thought are faithfully reflected upon the mind of the audi- ence. This is an extremely difficult task and far from what the cameraman should concentrate upon. Both in Germany and in France one of the best hits of the season was directed by ex-cameramen. I use the expression "ex" because both ceased to be cameramen. They focused the attention upon the direction and left the photography to its proper authorities. The great suc- cess of these two young directors has proven the value of camera training. One of them is entitled "Le Bataile," directed by Nich- olas Farcas, a good friend of mine ivho served for years as the unknown soldier; his picture is a knockout. The other is called "Fugitives", a Chinese story directed by Gustav Usicky, also an ex-cinematographer. At last things are moving. The boys are getting a chance; a chance ivell earned. There are many good boys in Holly- ivood "659" zvho have lost faith. For years they have been waiting for their chance. For years directors got by with their ideas; for years yokels got the credit for the work of cameramen. I do hope that a producer will zuake up and start the ball rolling. It will serve as a safety valve of the over congested camera department. The pres- sure is too high. In Europe a cameraman is considered an important Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. fitly, 1934 r // N T E R NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E K Thirty s "ven factoi A. It' After compiling the questionnaires mailed out by the engi- neer*, pre men and brakemen, plans have been drawn up by a pair of drainers, Messers. Inkspod and Blurr and are herewith submitted for; what? Presenting the ALL COLOR, ALL SOUND, ALL ANGLE. ALL WEATHER, ALL OVER, ALL EVERYTHING CAMERA. The outstanding achieve- ment of the industry for week ending - By the time this is off the press so many changes will he made that it will he useless to pay much attention to it but, as we try to he late with the latest, it is submitted to you for no reason at all. So many new features have been incorporated into the new ALL' EVERYTHING CAMERA that it does everything but talk and take pictures and, with all the data we have on hand, even that might be accomplished in the near future. Some of the features are: — Buckles Naturally, they are to be expected, hut there is so much room on the inside of the camera, that in the event of a buckle, the camera will continue to run and as soon as the scene is finished the fi'm can be packed back on the -pools. Sound A new departure has been installed on this model. The sound enters the matte box at the same time the pic- tures do and is photographed simultaneously. This elim- inates interlocking devices and remote recording units and gives the sound men a chance to rest a few. Nice? Panning and Tilting The general consensus of opinion was: It was sill) in mine the whole camera around for pan and tilt shots. RESOLVED: That the matte box be lined with a series of mirrors and placed on a ball and socket. All that is necessary then is to aim the matte box at the scene and \ nu have it. Film By an ingenious arrangement, either Eastman or DuPont Film can be used without making any adjust- ments. Lenses Certain cameramen and cinematographers prefer cer- tain makes of lenses. This has been simplified by inter- changeable name plates on all lenses. Low Shots So many suggestions for low shots were submitted that we added them all up and divided and came to the con- clusion we would dig a hole for the rear wheels. The lower the shot the lower the hole. Economic Factors The law requires that voters be given time off to reg- ister for voting. The sound department registers the most (kicks) so this has been placed in their hands on the top floor of the ALL EVERYTHING CAMERA and pre- vents employees from leaving the set. As soon as flexible plumbing has been perfected we will add another device which will eliminate "leaving the set." Elevating This is accomplished by a screw. (No intent to he- little operator is meant by this statement.) Refer to plans and this will he readily understood. Operation This is controlled from behind the camera by a man with a sensitive lever and a knurled knob, with the great- est of ease. For additional information refer to Westerberg s Cine- matogi apher's Book of Tables. For sale at main entrance to the ALL EVERYTHING CAMERA, (advt.) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. What have HIGHLIGHTS and CONTRASTS to do with lamp-making f NO CONTRAST GOOD CONTRASTS EXTREME CONTRASTS OIGHLIGHTS and contrasts are important fundamentals of cinematography. Every cinematographer knows the prin- ciples of producing them. He knows that highlights are reflected images of the light source; that the location of a highlight de- pends upon the relative positions of camera, subject and source; that the size of a highlight is governed by the size of the light source, its distance and by the character of the surface it strikes. He knows, too, that by the creation of contrasts with high- lights, shadows and general light, he can not only give form and texture, but can control ex- pression; and practical training has made him familiar with infinite refinements of these principles. General Electric's engineers and research men have had to learn these facts and study them, so that they might be of greater service to the motion picture industry ... in de- veloping new lamps and in guiding you to greater use of the many Edison MAZDAlamps alreadydeveloped. Studios have shown their ap- preciation of the dependable lighting this service helps pro- duce by using Edison Mazda lamps for all their needs from set lighting to special process work. General Electric Co., Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio. New Photoflood lamp No. 4. 1000-watt PS-35. Has about 4 times effectiveness of original Photoflood lamp now known as No. 1. Excellent for close-ups. (10 hour life). General Electric invites you to visit its exhibits in the Electrical Building at the Century of Progress General Electric manufactures lamps for home lighting and decoration, auto- mobiles, flashlights, photography, stores, offices and factories, street lighting and signs . . . Also Sunlight lamps. EDISON MAZDA LAMPS GENERAL $§ ELECTRIC The MITCHELL SOUND CAMERA Meets the Requirements of Today for a Camera Light in Weight Easy to Operate Quiet in Operation Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 ft HOTOGRAPHER HOLLYWOOD (TH YEAR AUGUST, 1934 VOL.6 NO. 7 CENTS A COPY AN OFF-STAGE PHOTOGRAPH BY JUNIUS ESTEP— Director Frank Borzage is talk- ing with Margaret Sullavan who is starred in the picture, "Little Man What Now?" at Universal. At the left is Douglas Montgomery who plays the leading male role. And behind the camera is Chief Cameraman Norbert Brodine and his assistant, William Dodds; at the right is the assistant director, Sergei Petschnikoff. — Exclusive to Interna- tional Photographer. OTION PICTURE ARTSSAND CRAFTS s=sas^s^ ENLARGEMENT FROM LEICA NEGATIVE-DU PONT SUPERIOR NEG ATIVE FILM — EXPOSURE 1/20 SEC. AT F-23 WITHOUT FILTER "EG. U.S.PAT. Off Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45th STREET NEW YORK CITY PLANT PARLIN, N. J. SMITH & ALLER LTD. 6656 --SANTA MONICA BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CAL. THECffiQlPTRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol.6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST, 1934 No. 7 Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Earl Thf.isen and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. THE ONE GREAT WONDER -------- 2 By the Editor TELEVISION ----------- 3 IN THE MOTION PICTURE PROP AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT 4 By Earl Theisen THE ART OF SELLING PICTURES ------ 6 By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. MOTION PICTURE SETS --------- 8 By Paul R. Hartner CINEMACARONI - - 10 By Robert Tobey MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ----- 12 By Augustus IVolfman AN EVENT IN TEKNIK TOWNE - - 14 CAMERAGRAM - - - - - - - - - - 16 and 17 MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING— CHAPTER XI - - 18 By Charles Felstead, Associate Editor COMPOSITION IN PRACTICE -------- 20 By Walter Bluemcl LOOKING DOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD - 26 (The Kinematograph Weekly, London) BAUSCH & LOMB PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT AT CHICAGO - 26 BELL & HOWELL ESTABLISHES 16 mm. SOUND FILM RENTAL LABORATORY 27 NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHOTOGRAPHY - - 28 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING -------- 30 OUT OF FOCUS ---------- 32 By Charles W. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California ^SilgES0 0I SERVICE ENGRAVING CO Announcements for September Fred Westerberg's wonderful little book, "The Cinemaro- grapher's Book of Tables", has made a hit over all the world and they are selling fast. The habitual use of this book will add greatly to your Efficiency, to your Use Value and to your Earning Power. IT COSTS ONLY $1.00 A COPY. Write Any Dealer or 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHE R August, 1934 THE ONE GREAT WONDER By THE EDITOR "* JUDGING by recent issues of the public prints Q 1 in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, \^A* the Western Coast of the United States is tak- ing first steps toward the building of three great expositions to be held at times soon to be definitely announced in the three cities here named. The San Diego Exposition is to be held first — in 1935. The Los Angeles Exposition, with a strong Spanish-American keynote, to follow in 1938 and San Francisco, in celebration of the completion of her great bridges, to bring up the rear slightly later. San Diego already has much of the physical struc- ture of her exposition plant in the site and build- ings of her exposition of 1915 and 1916. All she would have to do is to install certain new attrac- tions and exhibits and institute some novel scheme of pageantry and entertainment. Los Angeles would have to start from scratch, as also San Francisco, notwithstanding the latter's suc- cessful World's Fair of 1915. Notwithstanding present day conditions, it is not out of place to predict three separate successes in these three projects, for the West Coast is due for a few "time-keepers of progress," as President Me- Kinley called expositions, and by the time they can be built, our national economic house can be put in order again. "The Century of Progress" at Chicago was a tremendous success in 1933 and is doing pretty well at this writing. In fact if it had not been that the great Mississippi Valley is one vast conflagration this year, 1934, it would probably be doing as well right now. There is nothing so interesting or intriguing as a World's Fair, nor is there anything so good for the community holding it when the event is put over in a successful way. San Diego and San Francisco are coming back for more, and Los Angeles had a taste of World's Fair spirit in the recent Olympic Games. The International Photographer can see great things for the West Coast in the holding of these three expositions and pledges its best efforts to help make them successful financially, economically, so- cially, artistically and every other way. In this connection, the editor has a plan to pro- pose for the consideration of the builders of the Los Angeles exposition and also of those of the big show at San Francisco, providing the plan should not be accepted by Los Angeles. There would not be time for San Diego to give it consideration. Most expositions would have been financially suc- cessful if it had not been that, after the close of their terms of exhibition, they were forced to spend most of their profits restoring their exhibition sites to their original condition— the wonderful dream cities their promoters had built had to be utterly destroyed at their promoters' expense. The big, central idea, therefore, would be to create something that would be permanent and permanently profitable. Consider, therefore, with the writer, in thoughtful amazement, this plan for an exposition to be per- manently profitable. In the first place the idea must be novel and should be practical. We people of these days know all the wonders of these times. The Chicago Fair has put all these wonders under one roof and gathered them into one place — and they have done well, but we are not amazed, because we live with these wonders every day — they are in every city and in every home. What then is different? THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD! The Hanging Gardens of Rabylon. The Pharos of Alexandria. The Colossus of Rhodes. The Great Pyramid of Egypt. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus. The Temple of Jupiter at Olympia. The Mausoleum of Artemisia. Where are they? Who has seen them? Who would not love to see them? There's the Riggest Show on Earth — profitable — forever ! Could all these world wonders be brought to- gether in Los Angeles? Would they be congruous? Is the idea practical? The first and only other time this idea was given publicity by the author was in the KANSAS CITY STAR, July, 1908. It attracted great attention and architects and builders were of the opinion that there was nothing impossible about the project. It was conceded that the Hanging Gardens of Rabylon could be fashioned into a fairyland of de- light, adorned as they would be with the myriad plants, trees, vines and flowers; fountains, cascades, restaurants, dancing platforms, vari-colored lights etc. These gardens were built for the Empress Semiramis by her husband that she might not long too sadly for her home in the northern hills. They were built of terraces superimposed upon great arches of stone. The Pharos of Alexandria was built by Ptolemy Philadelphus, at Alexandria. It was the daddy of all light houses. It was 600 feet high and contained more than 300 rooms — an exposition within itself. It was colorful and awe-inspiring — verily a volcano on a pedestal. At the exposition it would have mod- ern elevators and would house thousands of exhibits. It would be an astonishingly beautiful object when lighted at night and would constitute the greatest beacon and observation tower in the world. The Colossus of Rhodes was the figure of a gigan- tic man constructed of brass plates which stood at the harbor entrance on the Island of Rhodes. At the exposition a lagoon would be substituted for the harbor entrance. It stood for more than 600 years and was thrown down by an earthquake. The junk dealer who bought it required 900 camels to carry it away. It would be put to novel usage dur- ing the period of our exposition. The Great Pyramid would be built mathematically correct, with the outside casing of polished stone and the interior passages and chambers except that it would, of course, not be built solidly of stone. This replica would be constructed of reinforced con- crete and divided into floors for exhibits. There would be enough floor space in this one unit to accommodate an entire exposition like our smaller ones. It would be equipped with elevators, stair- ways, ramps and an observatory platform near the apex. The Temple of Diana, at Ephesus, one of the most brilliantly beautiful buildings ever erected on earth, would make a glorious Gallery of the Fine Arts, both during and after the Exposition. August, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRA I'll K k Three The Temple of Jupiter, at OJympia, also should he devoted to matters artistic. In itself it would he dazzling like a rare gem — alone worth a trip around the world to see. The Mausoleum of Artemisia was built to be a tomb. It was constructed in memory of her hus- band, Mausolus, Prince of Caria, at Halicarnassus, in Asia Minor, and it was designed to excel all other tombs in beauty and grandeur. Judges of archi- tectural masterpieces agree that the intention of the creators was carried out. In the ensemble suggested, this marvel of architecture, painting and sculpture would strike no note of sadness, but one of pure and unutterable beauty. The great tomb could be utilized as a glorious hall of fame. Such a congregation of wonders, the crowning achievements of peoples of all nations and of all times, grouped together in one place and restored in all their pristine glorv and loveliness would be in itself the ONE GREAT WONDER and would make of Los Angeles the artistic Mecca of all the world. Millions would come to see it during the period of the exposition and millions would pay to see it every year thereafter, at a fair admission fee, so long as Los Angeles and this continent should stand. If it's a dream — it's a grand and glorious one! If its author is crazy — let be — for it is said that it's great to be crazy. And — oh, yes, my hearties — exposition is an out- worn term. If we hold the World's Fair at Los Angeles — with its fine old Spanish flavor — let's call it — EXPO— FIESTA (More — much more — coming! ) TELEVISION For the first time in history, television was used on June 28, 1934, to advertise a forthcoming public event. On that date, the Don Lee television stations W6XS and W6XAO transmitted visual announcements of the National Champion short-track Motorcycle Races, held July 1, 2 and 3, in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The races were sponsored by the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, for the benefit of their Widows and Orphans' Fund. The announcement included several word titles giv- ing information on the event, and shots of the short- track racers in action. This type of motorcycle racing is especially interesting in that the dirt track upon which they are run is flat on the turns, as well as on the straight- away. This requires the racers to "broadside," or skid around the turns at high speed. The winner is usually the one who has mastered this delicate and unusual art to the greatest degree, since all make about the same speed on the straightaway. Light, specially built motor- cycles are used, and although the races are particularly exciting to watch, the danger to the contestants is mini- mized. Special permission to make these broadcasts was granted to the Don Lee station by the Federal Radio Commission. Commenting upon this action, Harry R. Lubcke, Director of Television for the Don Lee Broad- casting System, said: "We are particularly happy to lend the facilities of our non-profit television system to the support of this worthy cause." The announcement was broadcast during the regular W6XS-W6XAO programs of June 28, 29, 30 and July 2 and 3. The Don Lee stations regularly broadcast Paramount features, Paramount shorts and Pathe News- reels daily, except Sunday, from 7:00 to 9:00 p. m., Pacific time, and Monday, Wednesday and Friday morn- ingg from 9:00 to 11:00 a. m. ; W6XS on 2,800 kilo- cycles (107 meters) and W6XAO on 44,500 kilocycles (6^4 meters). Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 In the Motion Picture Prop and Research Department (Associate Editor of International Photographer) studi By Earl Theisen HAT kind of a dress would a baby have worn for christening during the time of Napoleon?" That is just one of the many questions that must be solved by the Research Department of The second question, "Where can such a dress be obtained?" must be solved by the Property Department. During all their hours these professional question an- swerers are bombarded with questions. Who did this and when did that happen ? There is nothing they are not re- quired to answer. It is amazing when it is realized the amount of re- search required in making a picture. What kind of but- tons did a postman wear in England in 1915? Or, what did the police uniform of Vienna look like ten years ago? In each instance, it is the duty of the Research and Prop- erty departments to be accurate, even to the minor details. A slight error would be noticed and immediately scolding letters from fans would arrive. A mistake never gets by; it is always noticed by some- one out of the ten or eleven million persons who see pic- tures each day in the United States. Back in the days when pictures were not taken seri- ously, mistakes were passed off as "license." In the "Black Maria," the first Edison studio, there were no props. The interior of the stage was bare and persons, while being photographed, stood before a black background. Before 1900 it was more or less common practice to do without the elaboration of much furniture or other set dressings. In fact most of the early picture makers, not- ably Biograph and Vitagraph, painted part of the furni- ture on the canvas walls of their sets. It was a common sight to see a piano with a vase of flowers on top painted on a wall. It was the duty of the audience to imagine a beautiful piano in the set. Also, windows, chairs, and other pieces of furniture not in direct use in the picture were often painted on the wall. One early Vitagraph picture which I have seen in a recent screening, by J. Stuart Blackton, of Vitagraph, shows the hero with the heroine sitting on his lap — and the hero was apparently sitting on a chair which was painted on the wall. Another such, shows the heroine play- ing a piano, while the hero leaned against it. The piano, too, was painted on the wall. But that was all right ; love was the theme of the picture and the audience was think- ing about that. Of course, when picture making became established and acquired a box-office, studios were built in which were scenery and prop departments. Even with the established companies as late as 1910, the travelling units which were making "westerns", continued to use "flats" on which was painted much of the furniture. This was done to avoid carrying a lot of furniture and heavy props over poor roads of the sparsely settled western states. Usually these "western units" had enough "flats" which could be set up in a few minutes to make a "cabin set" when the desired location for their picture was found. On these "flats" were painted windows and some furniture. Many of these units however, settled down to definite locations. One such was sent to Hollywood, in October 1911, by the Nestor Films, which had its home offices at Bayonne, New Jersey. That was the company headed by David Horsley. They came to Hollwood looking for a new locality in which to settle to make pictures. Hollywood, then, was not a part of Los Angeles, but a smallish village a long way from Los Angeles. Trans- portation between the two ran every two hours. One of the men to accompany the Nestor Film Com- pany to Hollywood was Joe Murphy, who is called "the Mayor of Cahuenga Boulevard", because of his long resi- dence there. When he, the first prop man in the film capital, came here, the items used in making motion pictures were bor- rowed from the neighbors. A chair, or a dining room table were borrowed easily, but if a more valuable item was needed, Joe Murphy had to cut the lawn or do some odd job in return for the loan. It seems his round and jovial landlady furnished more than her share of the props, but after a time she became irked. As Joe says: "She was tired of having her furniture taken to the studio and of sleeping on the floor while she waited for her bed to be Example of a very early form of transparent glass made by the Romans. Often the studios use such items in the filming of pictures. Roman tools used in the making of Roman ships during the time of Christ. Courtesy Victor Merlo Collection Los Angeles Museum. returned, so she gave orders to her housekeeper, 'don't let that fella have no more things'." One day Joe was given a rush order by Al Christie, maker of comedies for Nestor, for eight pairs of curtains. Joe knew of no other place than his landlady to get them and he also knew better than to ask her for them. So he Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Five went home and hoped she would turn her hack long enough so that the curtains could he borrowed. Joe was in luck; she was going to take a hath, but she had to wait the two hours necessary to heat the water. That was in the days when many Hollywood homes de- pended on the sun and a tank on the roof for heated water. While the landlady waited for warm water Joe waited and cast sidelong glances at the curtains, knowing that Al Christie was not a patient sort. Of course, Joe, like all prop men, got the curtains. Joe Murphy in those days lived to gather props! Everywhere he went his eyes were awatch for possible items for his property department. He carried a horse- blanket with him and each morning when he arrived at the studio, there would be a horse-blanket full of odds and ends slung over his shoulder. On more extended forays, he drove a tired horse and wagon. Through lack of entertainment facilities in Hollywood then, our Joe spent his evenings gathering props. One man was the prop department. He did the re- search, washed the water-color scenery off the "flats" in readiness for the new scenes to be painted, ran errands and did such odd jobs as required. Today, the property departments in each of the studios employ fifty or one hundred persons, and in each studio there is maintained an elaborate research department. Now five to fifteen men in a "swing" gang for each set move the props about while a "set-dresser" and his assistant "do" the set. Besides the Property Chief there is a prop buyer who knows where anything can be located. One prop buyer, Tom Fortune, at Paramount Studios, has been buying for twenty years. Years ago he was a singer for "Ediso-o-n-e Records" when these cylinder records were made of soft wax and when each record was an original recording which sold for as much as five dollars, this being before the days of duplicates or re-recordings. When Tom Fortune started with Paramount Studios the prop department consisted of a pair of green drapes and the first props were kept in a de-horsed stable. Today, the Paramount prop department is housed in a large building, and from it may be had about anything under the sun. If an item needed in pictures can't be located in short enough order it is made on the Paramount lot. A quick call from Cecil de Mille for an asp of the time of Cleopatra in Egypt, Roman glass or tools, old- time buggy autos, or a dog that can bark in the key of C, will be ready pronto. When asked how he locates all the things necessary for picture making, Mr. Fortune showed a large phone book filled with addresses and 'phone numbers of com- panies and persons who can be called on to supply what- ever is needed at a moment's notice. One company, the Western Costume Company, is a museum of costumes and unusual items. They have cos- tumes of all periods from the Chiton of ancient Greece, which resembled a sheet or drape that was thrown over the head, to the bustles of the nineties. In fact, they claim to have over 200,000 costumes, which can be believed when the row after row, hundreds of feet in length, are seen. Among their costumes are those worn in Joan-the- Woman, by Geraldine Farrar ; costumes worn in Voltaire, by George Arliss; Cisco Kid, by Warner Baxter; Kid From Spain, by Eddie Cantor and many, many other notable costumes, including those worn by Douglas Fair- banks, Rudolph Valentino and other popular actors. Besides costumes, they make their own shoes, wigs, ornaments and braids and whatever else is needed, in separate departments maintained for the purpose. They have guns of all descriptions stacked like cord- wood. While there I saw, it seemed, everything from to- bacco cutters to an array of armor. It seemed there were about a ton of different buttons in all shapes and colors. An important feature is the speed and sureness re- quired in accurately furnishing props. If a group of pe- riod costumes are ordered, usually twenty-four hours are allowed, and in that time the costumes must be made ready, complete historically to type of braid, ornaments, shoes, description of manner of wearing and hats and 9 1 PWIIMll l| Ml |J r-QB?7| WmilSii! 5 r "FHf - "Hobby Horse", bicycle which was invented in 1818. This is the first bicycle. Would a prop man be able to locate one of these? "Puffing Billy", a steam engine of 1813, one of the early steam engines. Any day now one of the prop depart- ments will be looking for one of these. Courtesy Ransome Matthews Los Angeles Museum. other accessories. The value and importance of research and correctness is here apparent in that, if a costume is supplied, and when the director with an overhead of perhaps several thousand dollars an hour was ready to shoot, the costume was found incorrect, — well ? Often through an over- sight the studios overlook the ordering of some important item. Then one of the many costume companies save the day. After each time a costume is used, it is disinfected and cleaned in readiness for the next time before the cameras. In making a picture, when the assignment is given the writer to adapt the story for filming, a duplicate assign- ment goes to the prop and to research departments of the studio. They list any unusual items and immediately start out to locate them. When the script is complete a copy goes to these departments, from which a list of the props needed, scene by scene, is made up along with the prob- able expense necessary in supplying same. A trained duck, or an old vintage auto, costs the studio about twenty-five or fifty dollars a day. Connected with the prop departments in each of the studios, are gun departments. At Universal, the gun room is in charge of "Ollie" Emert, who can supply smoke in liquid form or cloth to be burned or cartridge form ; plaster-of-paris guns for actors who are to fall off horses ; swords and bayonets that will telescope so that actors won't be hurt and guns with blank cartridges. It is the duty of the gun department to supervise explosions and (Turn to Page 23) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTO G RAP HER August, 1934 The Art of Selling Pictures By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. IAVING co-authored the book Cash From Your Camera and conducted a department on free- lance photographic journalism for a year in The American Author magazine, I feel more or less well-equipped to discuss the problems of selling pictures to the newspapers and magazines. Actually, the prob- lems involved could fill volumes, hence I can but briefly touch upon a few of the more frequent matters which are brought to my attention by budding Journalistic Photo- graphers. Naturally enough a great many owners of cameras, hearing that real money is paid for pictures, become bitten by the "press photography" bug. It takes a bit more, however, than to be just bitten by the bug. One should first analyze himself before making any investments in equip- ment or attempts in a field for which he may not be en- tirely suited. What are the qualifications? That's a little difficult to answer directly, for as in everything else, more than one quality is necessary. The prime requisite is a thorough knowledge of photography. Unless one knows his camera intimately, how can he be expected to turn out satisfactory work? It is true that a good many newspaper staff photographers know only the rudiments of photography — but they have other vitally necessary qualities which get them by, and all they do is get by — they are not the top-notchers by any means. An artist who has but scanty knowledge of color values doesn't go far as an artist. Just go with the press photographer. As the camera is his canvas, brushes, and paints, he must know it and its principles. Or else — And when I say know the camera, I mean something more than its mechanical operation. As you have prob- ably discovered, photography is more than releasing the shutter. The more one knows about photography the better. A good many youngsters seem to forget this. They think that because they own a camera they can set the world afire with it. Not so, unfortunately. More than the camera is needed. The first important necessary qual- ity, then, is a good knowledge of photography. In fact, as far as camera manipulation is concerned, one must be able to handle the camera without even thinking of it. Learn the operation of the camera so that each movement of the fingers becomes mechanical. The reason for this lies in the fact that news pictures must be caught "on the fly", as it were. The mind should be able to concentrate on the subject. It has plenty to do in order to do that properly. When the thoughts have to drift back to the exposure about to be made, one loses track of the subject — momentarily anyway, and in this work, a moment may be all the photographer gets to secure his picture. Speed, plus accuracy, are demanded. Are you up to it without plenty of study and practise? No one is. Another personal quality that is most important is -hat mown as the "nose for news." What's this? Merely the ability to recognize a news story or idea which has salable possibilities in picture form. Pictures that sell are to be found here, there, everywhere, yes even right in your own back yard — if only you can "see" them. The "art" of sharpening the eyes and mind in this direction, it will be seen, is vital, for without the "nose for news", what are you going to make pictures of ? That is, if you want to sell them. Now this faculty may be cultivated. In most successful press photographers it appears to be an inborn characteristics — it's part of their natures, and they can spot a news story a mile away. But through diligent plugging, anyone should be able to produce enough for all ordinary purposes, to begin with, anyway. One often hears a would-be free-lance wail: "If only I could travel." Or "If I only were in Florida, or Cali- fornia, or New York." It is characteristic of the human race that the other fellow's lawn looks greener and fresher than our own. This is sheer bosh, of course. The fellow in sunny California yearns to be in New York, where "things are always happening." The chap in New York longs to be in California, where "countless interesting picture-subjects are to be found on every street corner." If these two lads were to realize that each is in a picture- productive location and work it, they would be turning out pictures instead of lamenting their misfortune. The secret is to work your own territory, or at least the terri- tory you happen to find yourself in at the time. It is not necessary to travel. It is not necessary to move. The country photographer has just as many interesting things to photograph as the city cameraist — the subjects may be a bit different in type, but nevertheless all are interesting fodder for the presses. As for the camera equipment, no one seems to agree as to what outfit is best, for each photographer's ideas are different. If a camera turns out the quality of work that is expected in press photography, that should be all that is required. There are certain points in camera design and construction which should be noted if one seeks a truly all- purpose press camera. The first thought would be to turn to the newspaper photographers and examine their equip- ment. One finds that the most popular camera in the United States for press work is the Graflex, and its Blocked Kick, winning game for University of Florida vs. University of Maryland. Leica 111629. F. S. Fellows, 813 Grand Central Ave., Tampa, Florida. 90 mm. Medium Telephoto. f-4.5 1/500 second. No filter. Dupont Superior film. Modified d-76. Paper, P.M.C. No. 11. brother the Speed Graphic running a close second. The Zeiss Orix camera may be considered a third. The first thing that qualifies the Graflex and Graphic cameras for press work is their sturdiness. Press photog- raphy demands a rugged camera first, last and always. We used to sit on our Graflex while awaiting a parade, the mayor, or whatever the event was we were assigned Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Any itst, 1934 Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Seven to shoot. Try that with any other camera ! The Graflex is a bit bulky at times, and for that reason the Speed Gra- phic is preferred by a good percentage of "lens hounds." It incorporates the same features of the Graflex but dis- penses with the reflecting mirror, hence lacks the size and bulk of the Graflex. Both cameras are noted for their sturdiness, and have been known to function for over a period of eighteen years. The Zeiss Orix (4x6 in. nega- tives) is used a great deal by New York photographers for it is light in weight, and possesses all the desirable features save a focal plane shutter — which is not, after all, so terribly important except in rare instances. The free-lance may easily overlook the ruggedness in his camera, for his will in all probability be an easier path than the staff newspaper photographer's. Therefore any convenient camera with suitable lens and shutter equip- ment may easily be placed in service. A little-known (un- fortunately) camera which I personally believe a most favorable camera for the purpose under consideration is the Plaubel Makina. The Makina is, admittedly, some- what costly, but in defense of its price I should like to point out that to the photographer who wants the best, it is well worth every penny of its cost. It is small, folds surprisingly compact and small, is equipped with an Anti- comar f:2.9 lens, has an interchange-lens feature, uses plates, cut film, film pack, or roll film. Focus is estab- lished either by ground glass or automatic range finder. In Europe it is a popular press camera. Since the introduction of the miniature camera, many press photographers have turned to it as a "second" cam- era, and it is even being used as the "one and only" in a great many cases. As a second camera it is unrivaled, especially for those hasty, hard-to-get shots. As the can- did camera it is the only thing, as anyone who has fol- lowed the type of news picture of today will recognize. The Leica and Contax are the chief cameras employed for press and candid work. They are so well-known that a description of them would be superfluous. They are par- ticularly valuable when equipped with a speed lens (such as the Hektor 73 mm. f:1.9 or Summar 50 mm. f :2 for the Leica, and the Sonnar 50 mm. f :1.5 for the Contax). Once in a while I am asked if one of these miniature cameras will do for serious free-lance press photography. The answer is obviously in the affirmative. It is true that they require a bit more careful technique, but that is as it should be. The day of the careless hit-or-miss photogra- pher is definitely over. The new school (miniature cam- era photography) has changed all that. So you see that it matters little what camera you use. It is important how you use it, however. That's the big point that one should not overlook — and too many do, much to their regret later. The negative size used to be a matter of importance in press photography. The usual standard in the United States always has been — and still is in a measure — 4x5 inches. The Graflex and Speed Graphic of this size are favored. In Europe, no standard seems to be in effect. They lean towards smaller sizes, however, and a 9x12 cm. (3l/2 x \y2 in.) is considered a big negative for press work. Today, all over the world, thanks to the Leica and Contax cameras, negative sizes run down -as small as 1x1 3/2 inches. Due to the increasnig popularity of fine grain development, negative size is no longer a factor of importance. The feeling is that if the same results can be produced with smaller negatives, why not take advan- tage of the saving thus effected? Surely smaller nega- tives cost less than larger ones, and besides, equipment is smaller and less bulky. Results can be made the same — this has time and again been proven. If one is a bit afraid of the miniature size negative, let him consider the 2^x3^4 and 3j4x4}4 ^ncn s'zes- The Plaubel Makina, previously mentioned, accommodates 2j4x^/4 incn negative areas, and turns out work which is not only comparable, but often superior to that produced with larger negative cameras. I have made, and also seen, pictures from tiny Leica negatives which were in every way comparable to 8x10 contact prints. So negative size need not bother anyone in these days. In the old days, and even today in some laboratories, I guess, developing technique consisted of dumping a hand- ful of metol, sulphite, carbonate, and a few pinches of hydroquinone into a tank of water. That was the "soup" or developer. At any rate, it worked sufficiently accurate for the purpose of the newspaper. Today things are much Coaling at Watsonville, Calif. 99928 Leica D. Henry Washburn, 106 Front St., Santa Cruz, Calif. Hektor 73 mm. f.3. 1/30. Dupont Superior P. Diamine. Eastman New Bromide. different, just as the quality of pictures seen in print are different from what they used to be. Since the introduc- tion of the miniature camera, all eyes have been turned towards fine grain developing. While fine grain formulas were brought forth primarily for users of the miniature camera, owners of larger cameras, too, became interested. Today, then, we might say that everyone uses a fine grain developer, regardless of whether for small or large nega- tives. A new sense of cleanliness prevails. Gone are the sloppy darkroom and careless habits. The "new deal" formulas should in any event be used. They undoubtedly produce better results in the long run if everything is taken into consideration. The free-lance may not be in a position to equip a darkroom to work in, hence finds it decidedly inconvenient to mix chemicals. Again, others may be too lazy to do this (as is yours truly). For occasional developing, and even when it be- comes necessary to do so frequently, the prepared chem- icals will be found most satisfactory. Liquid developers such as Rodinal, Micrograin-85, M.P.G., and others are excellent. If one prefers powder which is simply dissolved in the required amount of water, Boratol, Hauff's Glycin, Perutz Fine Grain, Agfa Fine Grain, Nograin, and D-76 will fill the bill. The Burroughs Wellcome Rytol and Tancol are recommended — little pellets or tablets which are crushed and dissolved in water make splendid devel- oping solutions. News men have always adhered to glass plates, mainly because such a variety of emulsions is available and the glass plate can be enlarged from while still wet. How- ever, film has definite advantages over plates as far as the free-lance is concerned, and he is advised therefore to use it. Contrary to the usual opinion, film negatives may be printed and enlarged wet as easily as glass plates if speed is of importance, which might be considered rare from the free-lance's standpoint. The type of print which meets with approval of edi- tors is one which is needle-sharp with a good deal of snap and contrast. Glossy ferrotyped prints are preferred, and (Turn to Page 23) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 Motion Picture Sets Their Architecture and Characterization By Paul R. Harmer |OTION pictures are produced with careful con- sideration given to proper architecture, to sup- port the characters portrayed. In ancient Greece, the Ionic order of archi- tecture was considered feminine ; the small slender col- umns with the voluted capitals symbolized the slender female figure and the roll of hair on the sides of the head. The cornice and trim were finely carved and decorated. The Doric type of architecture symbolized the masculine ; the columns are larger than the Ionic and are plainer, while the capitals are circular, with rings of moulding thereon, symbolizing the head bands worn by the men of that period. As we pass through other periods, the Egyptian order with its sloping walls reminds one of the strength of their early discoveries which formed the foundation walls of civilization. The Byzantine, with its barbaric splen- dor ; the Gothic which symbolizes the spiritual growth of Europe, the awakening from ignorance of a strong race. The Renaissance, or revival, which swept Europe after the crusades, all the ideas borrowed from earlier periods, yet simplified or enhanced ; and the skyscraper of the Twentieth Century which symbolizes science and education. The Aztec should not be forgotten. His buildings show his strength, yet his superstition and cruelty are everywhere apparent. India with its caste and China with its unnecessary bric-a-brac symbolize the races that put their best efforts into useless ceremony and super- stition. When a story has been accepted by the studio mo- tion picture officials for production, a copy of the script is sent to the art department. Here the story is care- fully read, the characters are studied for their good and bad points of temperament, physical qualities and station in life. The story is reviewed from the standpoint of locale, situation and plot. The settings are then made in keeping with as much as possible of the foregoing. The same is true for wardrobe, make-up and props. Tempo in direction and photography is also very im- portant. Many fine stories have been spoiled by being off in their tempo. Many directors will refuse to start a production unless they can start with the first sequence first, thereby getting themselves into the real feeling of the story, which they accelerate or retard, as a musi- cian does a fine selection of music. Some art directors employ a similar system. Proper characterization is the aim of all actors and artists. That is why a production made by a major studio usually excels the independent production. It costs more to have everything as it should be. To one who is unaware or uneducated in the proper periods and characters, much of the beauty of a fine pro- duction goes unobserved and unappreciated. However, the public is gradually being educated and people are slowly demanding a higher standard of art in their en- tertainment. The predominance of the educated public is in large cities for this is where the best productions have their largest patronage. Many thousands of dollars are spent on settings, yet they seldom exceed ten per cent of the total cost of production. Some studios make a super picture once a year, or once in two years ; they build a group of new sets and then revamp them for the rest of the program that follows, sometimes paying little attention to the finer points of period or character. (These are termed "cheater pictures.") This is especially true since the depression. In picture No. 1, courtesy United Artists, "Looking for Trouble," this cafeteria is modern, the straight lines and the thick walls indicate that it is located in a large building in a fairly large city. The smooth, light col- ored walls, white table ; the plainness and simplicity sug- gest cleanliness. This setting aids the eye in watching the principals and is very well adapted to fast moving comedy. Picture No. 2, a portion of a typical Renaissance living room, is strictly French in character. The for- mal pilasters, arches, drapes, floor and furniture suggest culture and wealth. This is an ideal setting for drama and intrigue, yet there is a suggestion for relief and lighter entertainment. Picture No. 3, courtesy Paramount Studios, from "Many Happy Returns," is a modern radio station par- lor. Formality is very well expressed in the lines, mould- ing and dressing, yet it is versatile enough to lend itself to comedy-drama in a metropolitan city. In Picture No. 4, romance is everywhere. The Ionic columns and Rondo suggest the strong influence of the woman. The stars suggest the dreams and hopes that romance brings to the thought. Glamour, music, enter- tainment and food are all present to satisfy the physical. Romance can be brought to a high point of understand- ing in this setting. If you think back over the picture that you have liked best, you will realize that it was personality plus character plus situation that gave you the thrill and held your interest. Before the advent of sound into motion pictures, we were accustomed to seeing large sets filled with crowds of people. D. W. Griffith's "Intolerance" was the first to employ so much construction. The next was the ball- room scene from "Cinderella," made by Famous Players; a glass stairway with jets of water sprayed up against the treads and risers, which made the stairway appear as a waterfall, with dainty ladies and gallant men walking up and down. The ballroom floor was covered with plate glass laid on black velvet, giving the appearance of a beautiful lake whereon the dancing couples tripped lightly to beautiful music. "Ben Hur," with its beautiful coliseum and arena re- quired seven hundred and fifty carpenters who spent twenty-one days in building. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Kismet," each required four hundred car- penters and plasterers thirty days, besides a small army of scenic artists and set dressers. "The Winning of Barbara Worth" employed more miniature technicians and cameramen than any other pro- duction, while "Hells Angels" ran a very close second; fifteen cameramen were steadily employed on this last production. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 T h e INTERNATIONAL PHOT 0 G R A PH-ER ... . Nine Top— Left No. 1. Right No. 2. The construction of sets is varied. In Picture No. 1, wooden frames were covered with dyed cloth, the tacks concealed inside the joints. This type of set has become popular since the advent of sound ; the cloth allows the sound impulses to pass through and thereby reduces re- verberation. In Picture No. 2, the pilasters are of wood veneer, covered with marbleized paper ; the large opening, drapes and rug help to balance the sound absorption and re- verberation to a natural condition. In Picture No. 3, the set is a veritable sound box, except for the doors and ceiling openings. With this condition it is necessary to use cloth covered frames in order to take care of excessive reverberation. In Picture No. 4, we have almost an outdoor con- dition which is ideal for most types of construction. The Lower— Left No. 3. Right No. 4. columns and rondo are made of wood ; the walls are of plyboard to keep the music alive and the cloth back drop acts as a slight absorbent to reverberation, but passes most of the sound freely. Nearly all the walls and parts of sets are easily moved or put back into place as required. Sets seldom have ceilings, for this opening above is a great help to electricians as well as the sound engi- neers. Nearly all spotlight platforms are hung from the trusses in the roof. This leaves the stage floor clear for action when the walls are moved out of the way. Characterization and construction of motion picture settings require imagination and creative force of the finest art minds in the world. Here, indeed, is a class of studio employees whose great efforts and invention are second to none. ANNOUNCING NEW EXPOSURE METER Photo Utilities, Inc., 152 West 42nd St., New York City, is announcing the new Photoscop exposure meter. 1 he Photoscop is in many respects a radical departure from the type of electric cell meter we have become accus- tomed to. To begin with, a tremendous range of ex- posures is possible so that true readings can Be made in very unfavorable light, even at small diaphragm lens stops. Secondly, it is usable for any type and make of camera, either still or movie. Two sets of lens diaphragm open- ings are had at a twist of a ring, the English system or the Continental. Shutter speeds are calibrated for movie cam- eras, still cameras, and the Leica. In brief, the Photo- scop is a really universal meter. It gives direct readings accurately in an oblong win- dow which faces the user as he holds it at about waist- level. A leather strap is fitted to the meter so that it may be carried suspended from around the neck. It is thus possible to read the meter without even using one hand to hold it. The meter casing is of rugged metal, and offers a dust-proof housing for the interior of the meter. Technical aspects of the Photoscop will be found in the advertisement in this issue. Because of the universal capa- bilities of the Photoscop, it would appear to be destined to become one of the most popular and important meters of its type in a short while. Why not write to Photo Utilities, Inc., 152 West 42nd St., New York City for further details? Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1931 CINEMACARONI (It's better with a little sauce.) By Robert Tobey > So you want to know why this is called CINEMACARONI? Come to think of it, so do 1. Let's sit down and think this thing out. First you frost a 4-ounce glass with ice — pardon me, that's a story we'll work on later in the day. Ennihoo, this blurb is chiefly about motion pictures, which, in some circles, are dispassionately grouped as THE CINEMA. To the initiate, motion pic- ture film is known as SPAGHETTI. So this is called CINEMACARONI, because 1 can't spell SPAGHETTI. 1 can dish it out. but 1 just can't make it. I've never been on a Cook's Tour. I'm warning you now, this bowl of light lunch I'll attempt to serve you will consist of some fact and some fiction. It's your problem to figure out which is which. I'll give you a tip the stuff I make up out of my own head will give off a hollow sound when knocked. (No ad for Ethyl. Hi, Ethyl — let's get Associated.) F'rinstance, there was the ingenious case of the Hollywood gag man and wit who had been out of work for several months — he bought himself a toupe and got a job with the Pacific Electric Railway as a wig-wag. Carry on from there. * * * ADVANCE NOTE Next month this department will com- mence installments of a new and different publication called — ■ HOW TO TAKE PICTURES IN THREE PARTS Part I. How to Shoot Them. Part II. How to Examine Them. Part 111. How to Tear Them Up. t t * DAILY INCONGRUITY. An office boy walked through one of the studio stages the other day soulfully whistling, "Only God Can Make a Tree." He watched three men working industriously on the stage. Out of planks, wire, nails, and gobs of gummy plaster, these three men were fashioning the twining roots beneath an uncannily lifelike oak already constructed. The boy walked on, but wasn't whistling. * * * I note that Nikola Tesla, famous inventor, has worked out a new death ray, terrific in its power. Banks of these rays, Tesla claims, would act as a protective wall around a country in time of war, destroying anything that came within their range— a fleet of enemy planes, for instance. Motion picture producers should buy up this idea. A ray machine could be installed at the door of every sound stage, to keep out snoopers that interrupt and spoil a thousand-dollar scene. Movie stars could wear small ray machines to chastise souvenir snatchers who sometimes go so far in their zeal of collecting as to tear the clothes from their screen favorites — compulsory nudism, as t'were. The idea has innumerable possibili- ties. How much would you charge for one of your machines, Mr. Tesla > I'm bothered by bill-collectors. This destructive ray idea reminds me of the old gag about the farmer who was much puzzled by the erection, on the road to town, of an imposing-looking, barred struc- ture. After some weeks of speculation, the farmer was fortunate enough, on passing the building one day, to find a man on the front steps, out for a smoke. The farmer stopped to inquire what was going on inside. The man on the steps prof- fered the information that he, with a group of fellow scientists, was searching for a universal solvent. "Dew tell," said the farmer. "And what might thet be?" "A universal solvent," explained the scien- tist a bit pompously, "is something that will dissolve everything with which it comes in contact." "Ye don't say," exclaimed the farmer in an awed tone. "And what be ye a-goin' to keep it in?" * * * Not that I'm drawing any parallels. * * * If you are one of those that think John Gilbert is washed up, you should have walked down a certain studio corridor the other day at an opportune moment. Two beautiful, but blase blonde extra girls were supporting one of the corridor walls when Gilbert passed by. Both gals did a double take as they saw him and one raised a hand to her heart and made motions indicating a suddenly excited condition of that vital or- gan. When the hearts of satiated extras go pit-pat, think of the little unsophisticated hearts in Oshkosh. * * * I had to get an insert of a large raw ham, its Sunday go-to-meetin' clothes — all wrapped up in paper and ribbon. When I told the property department what I wanted, they wouldn't order it for me — said that ac- cording to the new NRA rules I had to get it through the casting office. * * * The wardrobe department sent over a fit- ter. * * * And the make-up department wanted to work on it. * * * 1 think I've been victimized. * * * "Boy, oh boy, this new director on the lot certainly is pneumatic!" "I suppose you mean he tires easily." "Naw. He blows up under pressure." * * * One of our very best trick men — par- don you, I don't mean Hollywood boys — was photographing a miniature for a cer- tain picture. The director didn't seem to know just what he wanted and was ex- perimenting. First he wanted our friend to make the shot at four times normal speed. Then he wanted a shot at eight times normal and then one at twelve times normal. Finally when he asked for one at twenty times normal, our cinemato- grapher broke loose and said: "Say, if 1 speed this camera up any more I'll have to put wind-wings on the aperture plate to keep the pictures from blowing off the film!" * * * A movie company had been in Africa for several months making a talkie. The director was walking alone through the woods one day and saw two natives seated at the foot of a palm tree, jabbering ex- citedly at each other and pointing to the top of the tree. The director, upon gazing thereat, was surprised to see two chim- panzees apparently in heated argument. They were jumping up and down on the branches of the tree, screaming and cuffing each other and now and then kicking each other in the shins. The two natives by this time had recognized our director and one of them poked him in the ribs and asked in a jargon that I cannot imitate: "Mista Directa, whicha one is a camera- man and whicha one da sound man?" * * * NOTES COLLECTED (In this depression, too!) ON LOCATION WITH THE MILE- STONE COMPANY, FILMING "THE CAP- TAIN HATES THE SEA" . . . Victor McLag- len wandering around the deck of the "Ruth Alexander," practically iridescent in a bath- robe of blue with orange piping, and a rough cap with tremendous green-and-white checks . . . Milestone shoots all his pic- tures in continuity, as he claims he gets more realistic work out of his actors that way . . . the weather was terrible for the first six days the company was on the boat, and the boat was costing about $25,000 for that length of time. Lucky for the weather man, he's the only guy that can't be sued under the California laws . . . they had a water taxi out hunting for sun spots, and as soon as one was sighted, the big ship headed for it. Goofy pastimes . . . Whitey Schafer, the still man, persuading Florence Rice to get up and sit in a big air vent fifteen feet high, for a picture. And she did . . . Allison Skipworth so bored she was fit to be tied. Had been on the boat seven days and they hadn't shot a scene of her. She had nothing left to do but mend her clothes. She'd stayed so much longer than schedule that her wardrobe was running out . . . most of the extras were whipped down to the point of playing cards . . . Wynne Gibson was so bored she nearly wore her hair out having it dressed and redressed . . . Fred Keating detests the sea anyhow, so imagine HIS predicament . . . John Gil- bert was also under the weather . . . Walter Catlett and Leon Errol weren't looking so rosy . . , Walter Connolly was the only one who went around with a smile on his face. And he plays the part of the Captain who is supposed to Hate the Sea! Such is life . . . murders are in the offing. The publicity department has sent out requests for substitute titles for "The Captain Hates the Sea.''' I'm giving fair warning once more — I'll shoot to kill at anyone who tampers with that grand title . . . Vera Steadman, who used to be a star, playing an extra part in this one . . . "Tomorrow? Why, Tomor- row I may be myself with Yesterday's Sev'n Thousands Years!" . . . Omar Khayyam said it, and he must have envisioned the picture business ... or as Variety puts it, the pic biz . . . Arthur Edeson, chief cine- matographer, who is called "Little Napo- leon" by the crew because of his small stat- ure and dignified mien, nearly met his Wat- erloo on this picture. Every way he turned almost insurmountable technical problems met him with baleful glance. Try photo- graphing below deck on a steamer sometime. You won't gain any weight. . . . KING CHARNEY GOES UP Announcement was made at Binghamton, New York, June 29, by R. H. Woodford, Vice-President of the Agfa Ansco Corporation, of the appointment of C. King Char- ney as distributor of Agfa 35 mm. negative and positive film for the United States. Mr. Charney has long been identified with the film industry. His widespread experience in the field of mo- tion pictures ably qualifies him to undertake this import- ant assignment. Agfa products are made in. Binghamton in the most Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers modern film-manufacturing unit in the world, represent- ing the accumulated experience of the industry. It is un- der the direction of a highly trained staff of technical ex- perts, and was designed and built in such a manner as to provide complete control over every factor which may affect the quality or character of the product. The Agfa Ansco factories comprise 51 distinct buildings, occupying 36 acres of land with ample equipment to produce volume requirements. Mr. Charney will maintain offices and warehouses in Hollywood and New York. August, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH KR Eleven EVERY MONDAY- as a special feature of all the news of all OUTSTANDING CAMERAMEN 15 presented in WHAT'S WHAT BRULATOUR BULLETIN WHO'S WHO published in the spirit of SERVICE Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 Miniature Camera Photography By Augustus Wolfman Converting Roll-Film Cameras to Accommodate Cine Film IECENTLY I received a letter from a reader of this department requesting that I write an article on how to adapt a roll-film miniature camera to accommodate 35 mm. motion picture film, claiming that it would be of interest not only to him, but to many of his fellow miniature camera enthusiasts as well. Before going further let me refer you to an article by Paul R. Harmer in the May International Photogra- pher. Actually, when considering general amateur pho- tography, little advantage is gained in the adoption of cine film in preference to roll-film. The market today offers roll-film of all types, including orthochromatic, panchro- matic, superspeed, extreme fine-grain, etc. The various types of roll-film available were listed in a former issue, but I shall again include them below together with their general characteristics. The photographer will notice that with perhaps one exception (infra-red sensitive film) a suitable type of roll film is available for the work at hand. Roll-Films Agfa Fine-Grain Plenachrome — orthochromatic, extreme fine-grain. Agfa Superpan — superspeed panchromatic. Eastman Verichrome — orthochromatic. Eastman Panatomic — panchromatic, extreme fine-grain. Eastman Supersensitive Panchromatic — superspeed pan- chromatic. Gevaert Orthochromatic — orthochromatic. Gevaert Superchrome Express — superspeed, orthochro- matic, extreme fine-grain. Perutz Orthochromatic — orthochromatic, grain. Perutz Persenso- fine-grain. Voigtlander — superspeed, orthochromatic. Despite the number of roll-films mentioned above, there is no doubt that there is a greater variety of cine films; and also, the latter when purchased in bulk is more economical. In converting a roll-film camera to an efficient cine film type it is best to have film magazines in which to load the film, so that the latter can be inserted into the camera in daylight. Roll-film is provided with a protective paper covering which enables it to be inserted into the camera and removed from the latter in daylight. Since 35 mm. film is not packed in this manner, it is necessary to load it into light proof magazines. Either two magazines are used, the film being rolled from one into the other, or one magazine is provided and the mechanism of the camera altered to allow the film to be rolled back into the maga- zine after it has been completely exposed. The red windows for counting the exposures would be useless due to the absence of the protective paper cover- ing upon which the exposure guide numbers are printed. Some means of guiding the photographer when rolling the film after each exposure will be necessary. This can be simply provided by placing marks on both the winding knob and the body of the camera around the knob, the number of turns of the knob to bring a fresh portion of film in place for exposure being ascertained. Cine film has a tendency to buckle and when the wind- ing knob is turned, instead of moving, the film may merely extreme fine- -superspeed, orthochromatic, extreme tighten in the magazine. To eliminate this a sprocket is installed in the camera. The teeth of the sprocket will engage in the perforations along the edges of the cine film and move the latter along. Few miniature photographers have either the equip- ment or the mechanical skill with which to effect the changes mentioned above. The expense necessary to have a skilled technician alter a roll film camera to accommo- date cine film may equal if not exceed the cost of a cine- film miniature camera, so that even though possible, it doesn't seem advisable to convert a roll-film camera. However, simple means can be devised whereby mo- tion picture film can be used in a roll-film camera without radically changing the mechanism. It will still remain a roll-film miniature. I have experimented with a Foth Derby camera and found a method of successfully using 35 mm. film in it. First of all it is necessary to mask out the aperture to the size of the motion picture film. Stiff cardboard or thin sheet metal will serve the purpose. After cutting the mask it will be necessary to blacken it so that it will not reflect light. The mask can be secured over the camera aperture with small strips of adhesive tape. Use as little of the tape as is necessary and paste the edges down flat, for if there are any upturned corners the tape is liable to catch onto the film while it is being moved in the camera, resulting in the mask shifting or being en- tirely ripped off. The cine film is inserted into the camera in the same manner as roll-film. After you have exposed and devel- oped a roll-film save the black paper covering. Cut a suit- ably sized strip of cine film and attach it to the black paper in the same manner as the roll film was secured using gummed paper instead of adhesive tape, for the lat- New York Skyline. Taken with a Leica camera, Agfa Superpan film; 1/200 sec, at f:6.3 with Leica No. 1 filter. ter is apt to stick to the camera as the film is being moved, and may rip off. At three or four points along the length of the film, strips of gummed paper are applied Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K R Thirteen to keep the film in the center of the paper covering. The cine film with its attached paper covering is wound on a spool and inserted into the camera. We are now assured that the film will move along evenly when the winding knob is turned ; and we can also avail ourselves of the numbers on the paper covering to guide us in winding the film, just as with the regular roll-film. When panchro- matic cine film is used, the same precautions in regard to the red windows should be followed as are recommended with the regular supersensitive panchromatic roll-film. In this manner I have made successful exposures on cine film with the Foth Derby camera. Other miniature roll-film cameras can be used in a similar fashion. Cameras which have an automatic film transport instead of the usual red windows make the matter much simpler. Many miniature camera photographers may have ex- perimented along this line and may have discovered sim- pler methods of using 35 mm. film in the roll-film camera. We would be glad to hear from such photographers and of the work they have accomplished. It would undoubtedly be of great interest to the readers of this department. Kindly write me in care of The International Photogra- pher. Any photographs or diagrams' of alterations per- formed on a roll-film camera to allow it to accommodate 35 mm. cine film will be welcomed. After all, it is through an exchange of ideas and accomplishments that we are able to progress more successfully. H'ratten "A" Filters: Last month it was mentioned that in the case of filters made by cementing colored gela- tine between two pieces of glass, strains were set up by the cement so that the filter would not be plane or parallel, ex- cept when glasses of unusual thickness were used as in the case of the Wratten A filters. These filters are made from glass known as A glass in contrast to the cheaper or B glass. The term A in this case has reference to the type of glass used and not to the color as the 23-A or tricolor-A filters. Parallax: The finder and the lens on the camera oc- cupy different positions and therefore the field of view as seen in the finder may be different from the picture formed by the lens. The difference in the fields produced by these two components of the camera does not become apparent until we get closer than about 15 feet to the object. The nearer we are to the latter, the greater is the difference in the picture seen in the finder as compared to that produced by the lens. To compensate for this paral- lax we must move the center of the subject as seen in the finder slightly towards the lens. If the finder is situated above the lens and we are close to our subject, the latter is first carefully composed in the finder, then the camera is tilted slightly upward to bring the center of the subject downwards towards the bottom of the finder, in this man- ner compensating for the parallax existing between the lens and the finder. When the finder is situated to one side of the lens, the camera is moved to bring the center towards the side of the finder near the lens. The amount of displacement of the center of the subjct necessary is dependent upon the distance of the subject ; the nearer it is, the more correction for parallax being necessary. Some cameras have provisions whereby the parallax can be accurately taken care of, such as the Leica to which can be attached either a universal optical finder, or a di- rect vision wire type finder, both of which can be adjusted for parallax at close distances. In this case the field seen in the finder will be the same as that formed by the lens. In the case of the Rolleiflex, the separation between the finder lens and the taking lens is so small as to practically eliminate parallax. Many photographers have been wondering why por- tions of the subject are cut off in the negative when at the time of exposure the subject was carefully composed in the finder. This happens when the subject is close to the camera and can be eliminated by adjusting it in the (Turn to Page 24) The Toughest Spots on Land, in the Air, under Water EYEMO takes them in its stride Martin Johnson films animal herds on the African veldt from 1,000 feet up; Arthur C. Pillsbury, naturalist, re- cords the domestic affairs of fishes in the ocean deep; Bernard R. Hubbard, the glacier priest, invades the steaming depths of remote Alaskan craters. The Eyemo 35 mm. hand camera is there— catching every movement in these re- mote and difficult places of the world. Small and compact enough to be car- ried anywhere, Eyemo may be operated by spring motor, hand crank, or elec- tric motor. Takes 100-foot daylight loading spools, or may be used with 200- or 400-foot external magazines. Seven film speeds, from 4 to 32 or 8 to 48, including sound speed. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY 18+9 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North LaBrea Ave., Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H\ Co., Ltd.). Established 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 AN-EVEMT-IN-TEKNIK-TOWNE Mole-Richardson Automatic Counter Balanced Microphone Boom I HE advent of sound, as in the introduction of super-sensitive film, necessitated drastic changes in motion picture production and for a time caused floundering and non-plussed technicians to cast about in an effort to find adequate means for meeting modern production demands. Consistent with the progression of motion pictures since their inception, it means the conversion and replacement of out-moded and antiquated equipment. The experimental stages and involved costs during this procedure brought lined-brows and gray hairs to producers and technicians alike. The public waited — while makeshift apparatus gradually was replaced by equipment and facilities that "reproduced sound as sound should sound." As "Inkies" have replaced obsolete modes of stage lighting, meeting the requirements of super-sensitive film, just so does the automatic counter-balance microphone boom occupy a definite and important place on the sound stage. Since the introduction of sound it has established itself as standard and indispensible studio equipment, and through its ability to speed up production has most defi- nitely reduced operating cost. It is the result of inten- sive study by Mole-Richardson, who, in conjunction with our important studio technicians, sought to build a boom that would answer some of the sound problems with which the studios were confronted. The counter-balanced microphone boom provides an equipment for the placement of microphones for motion picture sound recording operations, and for coordinating the movement of the microphone with the picture action. By means of equipment of this type microphones may be placed at various heights, the angle of elevation being changed at the will of the operator. The telescoping position of the boom arm may be extended or retracted to a radius of 19' 0" to a radius of 9' 8", and the boom may be rotated about its vertical axis. A special feature is the automatic counter-balance and arrangement by which the boom arm is extended or re- tracted. The counter-weight automatically moves to a position to maintain the boom arm in equilibrium. Booms of this type supply the need for a convenient microphone placement device, speeding up production and reducing operating costs. The boom arm is mounted upon a pedestal composed of steel tubing members attached with bronze fittings and is mounted on eight-inch ball-bearing rubber-tired casters. Jacks are provided for operating the boom di- rectly from the floor when maximum rapidity is required. The column of the boom is provided with a telescoping member which permits elevation of the boom to the most convenient operating height, and which permits its use under and over such objects as are so often encoun- tered when working in motion picture sets. The tele- scoping column is crank operated. Mounted upon the column, but removable from it, is the boom arm of steel tubing into which is telescoped the extendable and retractable member ; in designing the controlling features of this boom careful attention has been given to provide silent operation. The telescoping member when extended and retracted is carried on a leather lined ball-bearing carrier roller. The rear por- tion of the extension tube is supported in a grease packed leather bearing. The automatically moved counterpoise is supported on a carriage which is also mounted on leather-faced ball-bearing rollers. The movement of the extension tube and the automatic counter-balance is con- trolled by a crank operated at the fulcrum point which may be hand operated as desired, the motion being trans- mitted to the various moving parts by means of flexible steel aeroplane control cable. Elevation of the boom arm and traversing on the vertical axis is accomplished by a conveniently provided grip-rail. The boom may be conveniently operated from either a stepladder or from an adjustable platform which is provided at a small extra charge. Carrier rollers are provided for supporting a microphone cable. When a bullfighter has dispatched his victim, it is cus- tomary for him to toss his chapeau to some lovely senorita. It is a gesture which the recipient values above any other recognition — this old Spanish custom. In a picture just received in Hollywood, there's a slight variation, as Tor- reador Lalanda, one of the greatest living bullfighters, is seen passing up his hat to Douglas Fairbanks, who stands bare-headed in the front row, behind the ropes of the bull- ring. The American film star was in Barcelona recently, making exteriors for his new picture, "The Private Life of Don Juan", for London Film Productions, under the direction of Alexander Korda, who produced "The Priv- ate Life of Henry VIII" and "Catherine the Great." Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen Brilliant PERFORMANCE 1 ^ VERY fine performance on the screen -*-^ depends upon certain earlier perform- ances . . . not by the cast alone, but by the film in the camera. Because of the depend- ability and artistic opportunity it affords . . . because of its unfailingly brilliant per- formance . . . most cameramen and produc- ers prefer Eastman Super-Sensitive Pan- chromatic Negative with gray backing. Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distributors, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. "The cameraman today is a dramatist at heart. His brush is a camera, but he's nevertheless an artist." THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCT^ COLUMBIA CLIPS By BOB TOBEY "AMONG THE MISSING." Directed by AL ROGELL. Joe August drew this photographic assignment. Dave Ragan took care of pointing the camera in the right direction, while Marcel Grand and Jack Russell handled the lens stops and calibrations. Billy Fraker toted around the snapshot equipment. Jimmy Punter was the gaffer, Ed Blaisdell the grip, Jerry Franklin Wright dished out the scene numbers, and Glenn Rominger raked in the sound waves, with the assistance of Earl Snyder as mike man. Completed about two weeks ago, the pictures stars Dick Cromwell and Henrietta Crossman, and gives Billie Seward her first leading role. It was pretty nearly her last leading role, too, as she and Dick had to eat so many doughnuts for sequences in the picture that they both had tummy-aches. They finally took to making hol- low doughnuts for Billie, so that she could go on with her scenes for a while longer. What suffer- ing one must suffer to become an actress ! One must give all for art, so that there will be art for all. If the censors don't ruin it. "THE CAPTAIN HATES THE SEA." Di- rected by LEWIS MILESTONE. Chief Cinema- tographer at the start was Arthur Edeson, but the terrific strain under which he had to work on location on board the "Ruth Alexander" pioveu too much for him, and half way through the pic- ture he asked to be relieved rather than suffer a nervous breakdown. Joe August relieved him. The entire crew worked to the point of exhaus- tion during the four weeks on the boat sequences, shooting all day in sunlight, and then working by artificial light during the evening, with 6:30 calls to which to look forward each morning. Not alone did the Captain hate the sea! F. M. Browne as second cameraman and Al Keller as assistant remained through the picture. Rod Tol- mie twiddled the focus-changing devices for the first half of the picture, but was replaced by Marcel Grand when August took over the helm. Whitey Schafer exhausted the possibilities of the ship for stills. Homer Plannette and Jim Pun- ter were gaffers. Nate Watt was assistant di- rector, with Tommy Flood as second assistant. George Cooper was Big-Ears. Mercy Weireter handled the script, H. B. Hanks and Ed Blais- dell were the hammer-and-nails fellows, and Nor- bert Miles was busy keeping up Max Factor's reputation and his own sylph-like figure. The cast boasts (and well may it boast) of the following: Victor McLaglen, Walter Connolly, Allison Skipworth, Wynne Gibson, Fred Keating, Leon Errol, Walter Catlett, Florence Rice, Jack Gilbert, and The Three Stooges. The role of the Captain who began to follow the sea by acci- dent, and hates everything about it, is played by Connolly ; and although the title roles was actually one of the lesser parts in the script, my Shovel Boys inform me that Walter is mak- ing the part so outstanding and laugh-provoking that he bids fair to steal the picture. Connolly is a hard worker and a good trouper. I saw him on the set the other day, making a scene in which he had to take alternate drinks of soup and wine. Half way through the scene he swal- lowed some soup the wrong way, but strangled his cough and went on, making a noble effort to finish the scene without a breakdown. He got red in the face, however, and finally had to quit, gasping for breath, when it came time to take a swallow of wine. "HOLLYWOOD CINDERELLA." Directed by ARCHIE GOTTLER. You figure out who was Chief Cinematographer on this short. Henry Freuljch started it. The second day of produc- tion had to leave to take over another picture, and Victor S'cheurich was assigned. That lasted for one day, and Vic had to return to the "BROADWAY BILL" set to photograph with Walker. Joe August next took the tiller, but had to leave the next day to replace Edeson on "THE CAPTAIN HATES THE SEA." Al Siegler then took over the situation. That's all, folks, because it was only a four-day schedule. Fred Kaifer panned and tiltled his way through the entire picture, and Jack Andersen and Walter Lackey did the assisting. Arthur Jarrett, Inez Courtney, and Gene Sheldon were in the cast. EXPLORATION PICTURES CORP. "BRIDES OF SULU." Director, John Nel- son ; author, James Ormont ; screenplay, James J. Gilbert; first cameraman, Harry W. Anderson. Cast : Adeline Moreno, Eduardo de Castro, Gregoria Ticman, Armanda Magbitang, Datu Mandi, Felisa Fernandez. "The photography by Harry W. Anderson is stunning." — Hollywood Reporter. WARNER BROS. - FIRST NATIONAL "SIX DAY BIKE RIDER." Director, Lloyd Bacon; original screenplay, Earl Baldwin; first cameraman, Warren Lynch; su- pervisor, Sam Bischoff. Cast: Joe E. Brown, Maxine Doyle, Frank McHugh, Gordon Westcott, Arthur Aylesworth. Lottie Williams, Lloyd Neal, Dorothy Christy, T a m in a n y Young, Charles Sellon, Tom Wil- son, Harry Seymour. MOST INTERESTING STIL "PERFECT WEEK - END." Director, Ray Enright; story, Frederick Haxlitt B r e n n a n ; screenplay, Warren Duff and Seton I. Miller; first cameraman, William Rees; supervisor, Sam Bischoff. "I SELL ANYTHING." Di- rector, Robert Florey; story, Albert J. Cohen and Robert T. Shannon ; screenplay, Brow n Holmes and Sidney Sutherland; first cameraman, Sid Hickox; su- pervisor, Sam Bischoff. Cast: Pat O'Brien, Ann Dvorak, Claire Dodd, Roscoe Karns, Russell Hopton, Hobart Cavanaugh, Harry Tyler, Gus Shy, Leonard Carey, Sam God- frey. "JUST OUT OF COLLEGE." Director, Alfred E. Green; story, Robert Lee Johnson; screenplay, Eugene Solow and Robert Lee Johnson; first cameraman, James Van Trees; supervisor, Edward Chodorov. Cast: Franchot Tone, Jean Muir, Ann Dvorak, Margaret Lindsay. Ross Alexander, Nick Foran, Henry O'Neil, John Eld- redge, Merwin Light. FOX STUDIOS Hal Mohr has been assigned to "CHARLIE CHAN IN LON- DON." His assistants are John Schmitz and Bob Surtees. The picture will be produced at the Fox Western Avenue Studios. "ESCAPADE." Director, Ernst L. Frank; original screen- play, William Hurlbut; first cameraman, Norbert Brodine. Cast: Binnie Barnes, Neil Hamilton, Paul Cavanaugh, Grant Mitchell, Ferdinand Gotts- chalk, Doris Lloyd, Henry Kol- ker. Eugene Pallette, Dick Win- slow. This rare and priceless document of motion picture h<«\ Company made at Albuquerque, New Mexico, en rot /» are: Billy Bitzer (left), Walter Long, Donald Crisp, Ilia Teddy Sampson, Mae Marsh, Mary Alden, Wallace fid, J. Stuart Blackton, extreme right. Photographed byami MONOGRAM "KING KELLY OF THE U. S. A." Super- visor, George Bertholon ; original story, George Bertholon and Howard Higgins; screenplay, Leon- ard Fields and David Silverstein ; director, Leon- ard Fields; assistant, Bill Reinecke ; first camera- man, Robert Planck ; operative cameraman, Reg- gie Lanning; assistant, Russell Harlan; stills, Oliver Sigurdson ; recording engineer, Ralph Shu- gart ; film editor, Carl Pierson ; art director, E. R. Hickson ; chief electrician, Tex Cox; chief grip, Tex Hayes ; chief prop, Bob Landers. Cast: Guy Robertson, Irene Ware, Edgar Ken- nedy, Franklyn Pangborn, Otis Harlan, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Joyce Compton, Bodil Rosing, Lorin Baker. MISCELLANEOUS Ruddy Geraus, that genial manager I Camera Supply Company, has been sin inf little time in the hospital, undergoing tion for appendicitis. Ruddy's many frit- I be glad to learn that he is getting ale I well and indications are that he will at his post by the time this book ct:s the press. Charles P. Boyle is spending a few is Chicago, behind the cameras, for Jack Comedies (Universal release). E. T. is pinch-hitting for him over at the Cam S ply Company. Are you tellin' 'em. about how we gotta have blankets in ' even in mid-summer? Talking picture entertainment is a regular fea- ture in the sub-zero fastness of Admiral Byrd's Little America headquarters in Antarctica. Carl Peterson, Paramount News man of the Paramount Antarctica Bureau writes : "We have run approximately fifteen shows and the equipment has worked perfectly, both sound and pictures. It has been so much pleasure for the members to have a show every Wednesday and Saturday and when we get all set on the barrier we will again continue the shows." The expedition is outfitted with standard West- ern Electric equipment secured from ERPI. Gordon Jennings, head of the special i partment at Paramount, has returned fro a catorial adventure to Rouge River and | If you have a fish story, get it ready * next time you see Gordon. spit ...1 a leaW Paul Eagler has finished his assignment at Re- liance, for Edward Small. Paul had charge of process background work on the "Count of Monte Cristo" and "Trans-Atlantic Show Boat." Our old friends, Roman Freulich and Ki have been much in the limelight, acco newspaper and magazine reviews, for tht did work in "PRISONER." Freulich din Gray was cameraman. The Filmarte which shows so many good and unusual had first showing on this. Congratulati man and King ! Warner Brothers - First National — " WIFE." "William Rees' photography is standing asset to the picture." )USI :i out RAGRAM I "A camera is only as good as the man behind it seems like we have some mighty fine cameras these days." 4- iM THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 8 TION PICTURE HISTORY INDIA IS BECOMING HOLLYWOOD CAMERA MINDED -V Ml* uest. It is a shot of the original D. W . Griffith of the people cannot be identified, but the headliners ty Gish, Henry Walthall, Bobbie Harron, Fay Tincher, \Jack Dillon, James Kirkivood, Flora Finch, Commodore l\ry. Published by request. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS I OF CAB." Director, Karl Freund ; a Jerry Wald and Philip G. Epstein; ajn, Lou Breslow ; screenplay, Rian James; eraman, Harold Wenstrom ; associate pro- lan James. ' Edmund Lowe, Gloria Stuart, Alice -Victor Moore, Phil Baker, Ruth Etting, istin, Gus Arnheim and Orchestra, The >« Sisters, The Beal Street Boys. '1 ATION OF LIFE." Director, John M. the novel by Fannie Hurst; screen- m Hurlbut; additional dialogue, Sarah n and Victor Heerman ; first cameraman, ' KTstad. j Claudette Colbert, Rochelle Hudson, rers, Juanite Quigley, Marilyn Knowl- Ii.dia is becoming conscious of the fact that skilled technicians and caremamen plus modern equipment are of the greatest importance towards the success of motion pictures, according to Dilip Gupta, cameraman from the New Theatres, Ltd., studios at Tollygunge, Calcutta, India. Mr. Gupta has spent over a year at the various studios in New York and Hollywood study- ing and learning the latest de- velopments in the technical fields — especially those of photographic processes and laboratory work. He is leaving for Bombay, In- dia, and after a short survey of film conditions there will con- tinue on to Calcutta where he will go into immediate produc- tion. Mr. Gupta says he intends to greatly increase the photographic quality of the Indian films by applying some of the Hollywood technique which he has learned during his stay here. Ellis D u n g a n, Hollywood cameraman, and Michael Oma- lev, laboratory man, are also leaving for Bombay, India, where they are to take charge of the photography and laboratory work on the productions for Munnay Tandon, producer-director who is at present connected with the Imperial Film Co. Studios of Bombay. Mr. Tandon is well known in Hollywood, having spent several years here acting in the capacity of technical adviser and director, and often taking "extra" roles in many films of an Oriental char- acter. Between productions Tan- don attended the University of Southern California where he did quite a lot of research and study on the fundamental and psychological aspects of the mo- tion picture. He also wrote and directed two productions while on the campus. Mr. Dungan will introduce to the studios of India the new Akers Featherweight professional 35 mm. Motion Picture Camera which he will carry with full equipment. He intends to use it as a supplementary camera on production besides making trave- lugues (for American release), and using it on several photo- graphic expeditions into the re- mote beauty spots of the country before returning to Hollywood. RKO RADIO "THE FOUNTAIN." Producer, Pandro S. Berman ; authors, Charles Morgan and Jane Mur- fin ; screenplay, Jane Murfin and Samuel Hof- ferstein ; director, John Cromwell ; first camera- man, Henry Gerrard ; operative cameraman, Bcb De Grasse ; assistant, George Diskant : stills, Alex. Kahle ; recording engineer, Clem Portman. Cast : Ann Harding, Brian Aherne, Violet Kemble-Cooper, Paul Lukas, Jean Hersholt, Ralph Forbes, Sara Haden. Sparks, Siebe Hendricks, Vashington. Dorothy Black, t UP AND DREAM." Director, Kurt ; original screen]. lay, John Meehan, Tr. ; uss Columbo, Jackie Stern, Bernie Gross- ice \ alentine ; first cameraman, Charles Russ Columbo. June Knight, Roger Pryor, vine, Henry Armetta, Catherine Douchet, >rdon, Spencer Charters. CY RHODES." Director, Al Rayboch ; g \V. C. Tuttle; screenplay, Edward Clyde • Jr.; first cameraman, Ted McCord. tck Jones, Sheila Terry, Walter Mil- StUey Fields, Silver, Akf P. James, lack "AGE OF INNOCENCE." Producer, Pandro S. Berman; author, Edith Wharton; screenplay, Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman ; director, Philip Moeller ; first cameraman, James Van Trees ; operative cameraman, Louis Jennings ; assistant, James Van Trees, Jr.; stills, John Miehle; re- cording engineer, John Cass. Cast: Irene Dunn, John Boles, Julie Hayden, Laura Hope Crews, Helen Westley, Lionel At- will. "THE GAY DIVORCE." Producer, Pandro S. Berman ; author, Dwight Taylor ; screenplay, George Marion, Jr. and Dorothy Yost; director, Mark Sandrich ; first cameraman, David Abel; operative cameraman, Joseph Biroc ; assistant, Wil- lard Barth ; stills, Fred Hendrickson. Cast : Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erice Blore, Eric Rhodes. LONCSHOTS Joe Walker had practically the entire Columbia camera department at his beck and call on the |i cation trip to Tanforan where he photographed sequences ol the Frank Capra production, "BROADWAY BILL." Among the cinemato- graphic gentlemen who were up at one time or another were Andre Barlatier, Jack Young, Al Siegler, Vic Scheurich, George Kelley, Jack An- dersen, Jim Goss, Fred Dawson, Enzo Martinelli, Jack Russell, Marcel Grand, Eddie Kearns, Walter Lackey, Irving Lippman and Marty Crail. . . . It was an eventful location trip, too. . . . The company got a taste of what San Francisco was undergoing because of the strike, when the hotel where they were staying posted notices that no- food would be served except to those living in the hotel, because of impending food shortage. The company left just in time to escape even more serious consequences. . . . Jack Andersen fell down on his job for the first time. He walked right off a six-foot parallel with a camera on his shoulder, staggered a bit, and continued on. Perhaps I should have said he didn't fall down on his job. . . . Jim Goss claims he finally got Joe Walker down to two insults a day. . . . Marty Crail says he had his darkroom set up in one of the stables. Just a dog in a manger — heigh-ho . . . Ted Tetzlaff returns to his old stamping-ground, after an absence of many moons, to take charge of photographing lovely Carole Lombard in "ORCHIDS AND ONIONS," Dave Burton di- recting. The picture will be already in produc- tion by the time this is dry. Ted will find much hospitality on his return, as all his old friends are pleased by the news — especially Jack Ander- sen, who will again be Ted's assistant. Jack is. the happiest man on the lot, and has spent hour-. polishing up the old maestro's camera and equip- ment. . . . Andre Barlatier, the Old Background Snatcher, went with Roy Davidson on board the Milestone boat to spend two days shooting b. g.'s for "The Capt. H8s the C." CS'cuse, please — we must have our variety.) Davidson returned to the studio, but Andre got a wireless telling him to stay on board, as Leon Barsha was com- ing out to shoot inserts. So Andre was tied up on board for a few days more. Then Lusty, in charge of Columbia's trailers, came out to- make a trailer. By that time Milestone had seen Andre's rushes and liked them so much that he made Andre stay several days longer. He began to think he was shanghaied. Reinforcements of laundry arrived in the nick of time. . . . Enzo Martinelli, Andre's assistant, wasn't so fond of the trip. He says running up and down hills making horse-operas is a pipe compared to shin- ning up masts and down holds. The distances on shipboard may be short, but too many of them are perpendicular. . . . Reports come in that George Kelley's work shooting second camera v/*s excellent. . . . Character Note: Watch Emil Oster sometime when he is talking on the telephone. He nods at the transmitter instead of saying yes or no. . . . Jack Russell and his new wife have taken unto themselves a new home in the hills and a new Boston bull pup hight "Wimpy." . . . Columbia has just built a new electrical department, new paint shop, and new garage, so- the camera department has high hopes. . . . Just received a Censorship Elimination Sheet on the latest Screen S'napshots Newsreel. At a swimming pool Esther Ralston did a cute scene in which she gave an imitation of Mae West going off a diving board. The censors deleted' it, because Esther wiggled a little. The situa- tion would be funny, if it weren't so stupid. . . . And by the way, my life is now complete; I've seen Mae West. I was beginning to believe her a myth. (Now please! No puns!) — Bob Tobey. UNITED ARTISTS STUDIOS "WE LIVE AGAIN." Director. Robert Ma- moulian; based on the novel by Leo Tolstoi ;- screenplay. Leonard Praskins ; first cameraman, Gregory Toland. Cast : Anna Sten, Fredric March, Gwendolin Logan. C. Audrey Smith, Jessie Ralph, Jane Bax- ter, Ethel Griffies, Sam JafTee. "KTD MILLIONS." Director. Roy Del Ruth; original screenplay. Nunnally Johnson, Nat Per- rin and Arthur Sheekman ; dance director, Sey- mour Felix; music, Walter Donaldson and Gus; Kahn ; first cameraman, Ray June. B. B. Ray recently has made nine Western- features and shorts, featuring Tom Tyler, Jack Perrin and Ben Corbett. Henry Kruse was first cameraman and Joe Lykins. assistant. Ben Ray is now in New York negotiating for further pic- tures. Reliable Pictures, Inc., is the main corm- pany. Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording By CHARLES FELSTEAD, Associate Editor Chapter XI [HE two preceding chapters discussed audio- frequency amplification as it is applied to mo- tion picture sound recording. The first of those chapters dealt with the theoretical phases of vacuum tube operation and audio amplification ; while the chapter last month described the amplifying equip- ment used in the direct recording circuit. The material presented here deals with the monitoring amplifier and associated equipment and the methods of direct and photo- electric cell monitoring. The chapter last month mentioned that the sixth branch from the bridging bus leads to the monitoring amplifier and through it to the monitoring horns. It is true that for normal monitoring the monitoring ampli- fier is connected directly to the bridging bus in that manner; but there is a relay (No. 1) in the input cir- cuit of this amplifier that permits it to be switched to either of the photo-electric cell amplifiers in the film recording machines when it is desired to check if the sound is reaching the film safely. The position of this relay is apparent in Figure 1. When the relay is not actuated by the passage of a current through its winding, the monitoring amplifier is connected directly to the bridging bus, and the circuit is said to be arranged for direct monitoring. That is the normal line-up for monitoring during recording and re- hearsals ; so we will discuss that arrangement first. The Monitoring Circuit The sixth branch from the bridging bus connects di- rectly to a variable attenuator of the T-type. This at- tenuation network is identical with the recording ma- chine attenuators described last month. Like them, it has a constant input and output impedance of 500 ohms ; and it is variable in ten steps of two decibels each, thus providing a maximum loss of twenty decibels. (Last month it was stated in error that these attenuators pos- sessed twenty steps of one decibel each.) This monitor- ing attenuator is mounted on a panel in the center bay of the main amplifying system of the channel. The attenuator is inserted in the circuit at this point to permit balancing of the three monitoring circuits. Smaller attenuators, which will be discussed in a later chapter, are connected to the outputs of the two photo- electric cell amplifiers. By regulating these three at- tenuators, the transmission engineer is enabled to obtain such a perfect balance of the direct and the two photo- electric cell (PEC) monitoring paths that the monitor man is not aware of a change in the sound volume in the monitor horns when he switches from one to the other of the monitoring circuits. The only noticeable difference when the switch is made from direct monitoring is the mushiness of the sound from the photo-electric cell amplifiers, that distor- tion of the sound quality being produced by the modu- lated light beam passing through the emulsion and the celluloid base of the motion picture film in the record- ing machine. Since the PEC monitoring is used only for a moment during each sound "take" to verify that the speech current is reaching the light valve and operat- ing it, this distortion of sound quality is not objection- able. The Monitoring Amplifier After leaving the direct monitoring attenuator, the circuit passes through the contacts of the No. 1 relay to the input of the monitoring amplifier. Two separate amplifiers that closely resemble the amplifiers in the re- cording circuit are combined to form this monitoring amplifier. The first of these amplifiers is a three-stage affair of exactly the same type as the main recording amplifier, the only variation being that the primary wind- ings of its input transformer are connected to provide a 500-ohm input impedance that matches the impedance of the bridging bus and the monitoring attenuator. It will be remembered that the main recording amplifier has a 200-ohm input impedance. The output of this first monitoring amplifier feeds directly into the input of a single-stage push-pull ampli- fier that is a duplicate of the bridging amplifiers. But this second amplifier has an input impedance that matches the output impedance of the main monitoring amplifier, instead of having the high input impedance that char- acterizes the bridging amplifiers. Otherwise there is no difference between the two amplifiers. This push-pull power amplifier is not equipped with a gain control, all regulation of the level of the speech current at its output being provided by the twenty-two step gain control on the main monitoring amplifier. The tubes used in these two amplifiers that form the moni- toring amplifier are the same as those used in the equiva- lent recording amplifiers. Alternative Alain Amplifiers It must be mentioned at this point that there is some- what of a variation in the type of main recording ampli- fier and first monitoring amplifier used in different in- stallations. There is an alternative type of amplifier that is frequently substituted for the three-stage amplifier pre- viously described. This alternative amplifier has only two stages of amplification. The first tube is of the voltage amplifier type ; and the second tube is of the power amplifier type, but it is operated at lower power output, just as is the second tube in the three-stage ampli- fier. These two tubes are the same type as the tubes used in the three-stage amplifier ; and the circuit employed closely resembles the circuit of the first two stages of the larger amplifier. The input and output coupling devices of this two- stage amplifier are transformers; and coupling between the tubes is provided by impedance coupling. A tapped potentiometer in the grid circuit of the second tube fur- nishes a means of regulating the amount of gain in the amplifier. Tap switches of four and six points each con- nected to this potentiometer provide rough and fine regu- lation of gain. A filament rheostat and jacks that per- mit measurement of the filament and plate current drawn by the tubes are included. Substitution of Amplifiers A single one of these two-stage amplifiers is fre- quently used in place of the three-stage amplifier as the main recording amplifier. It provides ample gain for the normal recording installation ; and its tubes are not Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAl'HKK Nineteen Monitor room kW; ^0^, » Souno STAClt AMPLIFIER POOM RECORDING BRiDginl- "«'*«r light _ d,,,„. i , , s AMP^iritBS IATTCNUATORS VALVE ^® P ' ' C Pl«.*o- e I <•< trii. C«ll ) 1 f W film'i fl A ■H Kt Pf*T COILS © -4tH h* JaUS^fj PiSl »J B A T7f— S 4-# pFCOKDINC, ftj«~^ ROOM ^1 iwax HtCO« fl-_ 1 l«4 DEVill P . »f p£c c5> PfC AT T EQUATORS PEC AMPLIFIER (MO 1 tj> A < PEC No Z V A » >( i > o .o- : t *a -• RfL -K • RFLAY No. 2 y% RELAY NO I Jack Arrangement , AMP 4- - > N« I H* *- ou+rut; 'lhp.» »1 Amp | PANEL - -» PULL AMP R TWO-ST«„£ AMftir/pR - - Ap-IPU- F I F.R RCOM Fig. 2. Alternative Monitoring Amplifier Arrangement. records — which damages the record so that it is worth- less for processing — to provide the musical director with an opportunity to check the quality of the music and the recording. The volume of sound from each individual horn is adjusted by the proper tap switch to suit the comfort of the person working in the room in which the horn is installed. The large horns in the monitor theatre are set at the sound level that the monitor man on duty has found to be most satisfactory for his hearing. But in order that too low an impedance will not be presented to the output of the monitoring amplifier, a condition which would cause distortion and loss of sound quality, the combined impedances of all the horns connected to the horn panel should be made equal to the impedance that would exist if only one horn were used with its switch turned up to full volume. Horn Impedance Matching When a tap switch is on the tap marked zero, it pro- vides full sound volume for the horn associated with that switch. The tap marked twenty disconnects the horn from the circuit in so far as impedance matching is con- cerned, but the horn will still produce sufficient sound volume for a small room. Using the figures given in the following table, the total indices of the switch set- tings for all the horns that are in use should add up to 1.00 (within plus or minus 0.10) to preserve the proper impedance match. Tap Switch Setting 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Impedance Matching Index 1.00 0.63 0.40 0.25 0.16 0.10 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.00 From an examination of the table it will be evident that one horn with the tap switch set at zero will pro- vide a perfect impedance match. Since the sum of the indices should be between 0.90 and 1.10, if two horns were used one could be set on point two and the other on point four, making the total 1.03. If several other (Turn to Page 25) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 Composition In Practice By Walter Bluemel PART I. UCH has been written about pictorial composi- tion. The art departments of all public libraries are full of books on the subject. Henry Poore, ^S3 Jay Hambidge, Arthur Hammond, E. C. Lutz, Arthur Dow, Henry Baily, and many other authorities have written on it at length. Photographic magazines con- tain many articles on this interesting subject which, if gathered together, would make a very valuable volume for every amateur. The amateur has no excuse for lack of knowledge and application of the principles of composi- tion— of balance, transition, opposition, repetition, empha- sis, subordination, harmony, rhythm, dynamic symmetry, line, tone, and so on. Each plays an important part in photographic composition. It is not my intention to repeat these principles, for the amateur is concerned not so much with a theoretical discussion of them as with practical hints as to their appli- cation. I believe that artists are born, not made, and if the amateur or professional cinematographer does not have an inborn sense of good composition (which education will, naturally, bring out) there is little chance for him to become a great pictorial artist. He may follow all the principles of composition outlined by the best art authori- ties, but the chances are that his pictures will lack natural- ness and feeling and be unimpressive. Art is not a sub- ject that can be treated by rules alone, like commercial and mechanical design, but requires a certain amount of inspiration and a natural sense of composition. Eugene Cour, in his article on "Cinematic Composition" in the June and July, 1933, issues of the International Photog- rapher, states that "Rules may be said to be the guide of the workmen and the discipline of genius." Although many cameramen have become artists without having studied the theories of composition, it is a great advantage to know them — to understand why one composition is good and another is bad and be able to point out the good and bad points. Composition is based on natural laws, and everyone has, to a greater or less degree, a natural sense of com- position. This is evidenced in architectural design, in the arrangement of furniture, in landscaping, and in many other common ways. Few people are conscious of it, yet when something is out of place and makes a bad compo- sition they immediately feel that something is wrong and seek to correct it. Good composition, therefore, is very im- portant to the success of a picture, whether it have a plot or be merely a scenic picture. It makes a picture pleasing to look at and holds the attention ; a lack of it is imme- diately felt, even though not consciously. Composition must not be too obvious or it will draw attention to it and detract from the story. This is not al- ways true of purely scenic pictures, for they depend on striking pictorial effects for their interest, but in other pictures art is art only when it is not obviously so, — when it contributes to the whole effect without attracting at- tention td itself. Its purpose is to present the subject at its best advantage. The successful cinematographer is one who can strike a happy medium — one who knows when to emphasize the dramatic, when the subject matter, and when the purely pictorial and who can make his compo- sitions natural, effective, and in keeping with the mood of the scene. The purpose of this article is to suggest ways in which this is done. The accompanying still from the Fox picture "Sere- nade" is a good example of natural composition. The cen- ter of interest lies at the point of strongest contrast, in this case the shepherd, who, by the direction of his gaze and his flute, points to the secondary point of interest, the herd of sheep. Both stand out against the light, plain background of the field, and balance each other so that one side of the picture does not outweigh the other. If the shepherd, with his dark clothes, had been placed against the dark tree trunk he would not stand out nearly as well. The tree in the foreground serves the double purpose of framing the scene and of breaking up the blank expanse of the sky. Without it the light and shade would not be as well distributed, and on the screen the white sky would produce a glare which would make the picture harder to look at. Too much sky in a picture is not good, unless it is properly filtered, has interesting cloud forma- tions, or is used for special dramatic effect, such as to suggest the heat and glare of the desert by showing a vast expanse of bright sky. A good rule to follow, also, is never to divide the screen in two with the horizon line, always placing it above or below the center, depending on whether the greatest interest is in the sky or in the land. The same applies in the vertical plane. Except in close shots the composition is usually more interesting when the dividing line and center of interest are not in the center of the picture, as in the illustration. The center of inter- est, however, should in that case attract the attention to- No. 1 — A sample of good composition. A scene from the Fox pro- duction, "Serenade"; tentative title. No. 2 — A low angle shot. Cinematographer Dan Clarke shooting "Smoky", in Will ]ames big hoss picture. No. 3 — Sample of a crazy angle shot. Mickey Marigold of the M-C-M staff makes a still of Robert Montgomery. ward the center of the picture, otherwise the eyes will tend to travel out of the picture. Two things must be kept in mind — the motion picture is essentially a pictorial medium, and it must move. Be- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-one cause it is a pictorial medium it naturally embodies all the principles of pictorial composition, and because it must move, movement must be part of the composition. It is just as important that moving objects in the picture make a pleasing composition with the rest of the picture as it is to have the rest of the picture well composed. The moving object is generally the center of interest in the picture because of the natural instinct of the eye to be attracted to a movement. No matter how small the moving object may- be on the screen the eye will single it out and follow it, even though there may be larger and more interesting stationary objects in the picture. Any movement on the part of the sheep in the scene from "Serenade" would im- mediately attract attention from the shepherd, even though he is closer, larger, and more interesting. Unimportant movements should therefore be avoided, while important ones should be enhanced by compositions which will aid the eye to follow them. The line that moving objects follow should be gov- erned by the same rule of composition that governs sta- tionary lines. Movements, like lines, create psychological effects depending on their direction and type. Horizontal movements are inclined to be more calm and quiet than diagonal movements, which in themselves are dynamic and suggest power, energy, and action. Commercial artists are aware of this fact when thev show speeding automo- biles or trains in a diagonal position in advertisements. A diagonally ascending or descending airplane seems to pos- sess much more power than one flying on a horizontal plane. Violent actions, such as in a battle, are best shown with diagonal compositions. Ascending vertical move- ments, as fireworks, balloons, smoke, etc., express exhalta- tion, freedom, aspiration, and courage, while descending motions express heaviness, danger, and crushing power, as a falling airplane, an avalance, or any falling body. Curved movements are the most graceful, while zig-zag motion, like a lightning Hash, suggests violence, treachery, unrest, and uncertainty. Pendulum motion produces a monoton- ous effect, like the pacing of a caged animal, and circular motion is cheerful, and suggestive of mechanical energy. It is the duty of the cameraman to choose his angle so that the line of movement in the scene photographed accentu- ates the feeling the movement is to create. Too many ama- teurs disregard this, with the result that the movements in their pictures lack interest and contradict each other. Each movement should be interesting in itself, yet must contribute to the whole effect of the picture. The panning and moving camera also plays an import- ant part in composition, but it requires considerable skill to maintain composition while the camera is moving. Jos- eph von Sternberg's pictures are excellent examples of composition (for he is essentially a pictorial director) maintained throughout a complicated camera movement, as in some of the crane and trucking shots of "The Scar- let Empress." Charles Lang and Lee Garmes, both of whom received awards for outstanding cinematography, also make excellent use of the moving camera, as witness the former's "Farewell to Arms," and the latter's "Shang- hai Express" and "Zoo in Budapest," as well as more re- cent pictures by the same men. Most of the outstanding professional pictures contain examples of the effective use of moving and panning camera, and the amateur can learn more from studying them than he could learn from any explanation of them. As I stated in a previous article, the professional picture should be the textbook for the amateur who wishes to make more than just common snapshots. I do not advocate the use of panning or moving camera to the amateur unless it is thoroughly understood and used with discretion and skill. Camera movement can easily be overdone. Most amateurs when photographing a land- scape which has little or no movement try to create move- ment by panning the camera. They think, perhaps, that this will make the scene more interesting. Motion pictures should move, yes, but not without reason. Like everything else, every movement, whether it be of the material or of the camera, should have a purpose in the picture. If panning is continued throughout several scenes without any purpose other than to create movement or to take in as much territory as possible it becomes so monotonous and irritating (especially when, as is often the case, the panning is too fast and jerky) that it makes the spectator want to scream. To avoid monotony of camera move- ment any angle successive shots should be varied as much as is reasonable. The chief disadvantage of panning, however, is that it usually kills all possibilities of good composition. Land- scapes are much better when taken with a stationary cam- era, for then the composition can be carefully chosen, while it is difficult to maintain good composition through- out a panning shot. Furthermore, panning does not per- mit the eye to rest long enough on one spot to leave a suffi- cient impression, and the whole scene is sometimes lost. Panning shots should be used only to follow some action or to show the relation of one object or view to another, or at times when the whole scene desired cannot be ob- tained in a stationary shot. A series of stationary scenes which are properly composed will give a much more pleas- ing effect than a panning scene, and, when properly cut, will suggest just as much movement, as, for example, in the quick rhythmical cutting of stationary scenes in Rus- EXTENDED MIXING PANEL With Intercommunicating Telephone System and Volume Indicator /°'"ArtReeves" PORTABLE SOUND EQUIPMENT DEPENDABLE LABORATORY AND SOUND EQUIPMENT Francais Deutsch Espanol Svenska }-[oiryvvood Motion PicTure/^qljipmemT(o. |Td. 64 5 NORTH MARTEL AVE- CABLEADDPESS ARTREEVES Phone: WYoming 4501 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA. U'SA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 sian pictures to produce a feeling of excitement. The same applies to trucking shots (where the camera is mounted on wheels and moves), but since in this case the movement usually is not so fast and does not cover such a large territory, it is not as objectionable if used wisely. The angle from which a picture is taken naturally has an important bearing on its composition. A picture which may be ugly and uninteresting from one angle may pro- duce a striking composition from another. Art is not what you photograph, but how you photograph it. The most commonplace subjects can be made beautiful and interest- ing if photographed from the right angle and properly arranged and lighted, as any photographic exhibit will bear out. The most effective camera angle will at once suggest itself to the camera artist — there are few rules governing its choice, and those essentially concerning the psychological effect, or mood, created by the angle. Low angle shots invariably make the subject loom above in a threatening manner — they suggest power. Thus, when a man is to be pictured as a giant, a man of power, or a tyrant, a low angle setup is best. The Rus- sians use this effect very excellently in their propaganda films, for their story material is especially suited to radical camera angles. Many American directors and cameramen also employ this angle in mystery, crime, and war pictures. Noteworthy recent examples can be found in "Viva Villa" and "The Scarlet Empress." The illustration shows the making of a very low angle shot for Will James' "Smoky" the angle producing the view of a person being trampled under the hoofs of the horse, which naturally makes the horse seem very threatening. Cavalry charges, stampedes, speeding vehicles and trains, angry or panicky crowds, and the like are usually best taken from a very low angle to give them a more threatening appearance. High angles, on the other hand, have just the opposite effect — they make the subject seem small and insignificant, and are therefore used by the Russians to show the sub- ordination of the peasants before the revolution. High angles, are likewise effective in creating a dejected mood. They are, however, somewhat more difficult to compose than low angle shots, for they usually include more small objects in the background, while the background for low angle shots may be the sky, a wall, a building, or trees, which are all comparatively simple. If movement is shown from a high angle it is best to have it diagonally across the screen so that it does not divide the screen too evenly. Crazy angles, in which the camera is tilted on a hori- zontal plane (so that the picture is not level), or shoots from directly above or below, also have many interesting uses in pictures, such as depicting drunkenness, or insanity, for showing the viewpoint of the characters in the picture, for creating unusual designs — as is so often done with choruses in musical pictures — , and to increase the feeling of turmoil and panic in battle and riot scenes, as in the battle sequences of "Farewell to Arms" and "Operator 13." The still of Robert Montgomery illustrates the off- balance and unstable effect produced by a crazy angle, the effect being as if the entire set is about to collapse on the sitter. This suggests the use of the angle in earthquake, flood, and tornado scenes. Crazy angle shots must, because of their unnaturalness, be used sparingly and preferable in short cuts, otherwise they will become too obvious and lose their effectiveness. The angle chosen has much to do with the composition of the picture. It can produce a predominence of horizon- tal, vertical, or diagonal lines, each of which, as explained before, has its own psychological significance. The choice of angle permits exclusion of undesired objects or the in- clusion of desired ones. The background is an important factor in determining the camera angle, for it should not only form good composition with the principle object, but should make it stand out clearly, that is, it should be in contrast to the principle object or character — a light back- ground for a dark object (as in the pastoral scene) and vice versa. Simplicity of background, when the foreground is the center of interest, is also desirable. Amateurs, I believe, are inclined to be too conserva- tive in their camera placement. Not only do they seem to fear unusual angles, but even their normal angles (eye level angles) usually show little initiative in obtaining the best effects and compositions. The type of shot used, de- pends, of course, on the nature of the action. If the action of a crowd is what we are interested in a full shot of the crowd must be used, while if it is the effect of the crowd on an individual in the crowd a closeup of that individual is necessary. Too often amateurs disregard the importance of camera distance in properly putting a scene across to the audience — in making the audience associate itself with that scene and feel a part of it. Longshots are important in establishing a locale, but too many of them make the picture uninteresting because the audience does not feel closely enough connected with what is going on. The natural instinct of the spectator is to want to get up closer and notice the details. Closeups bring the details to the spectator ; they are a powerful aid to dramatic expression when used properly, but must not be overworked. Too much use of closeups certainly does not seem to be the case with the average amateur. Very often titles are used where a good closeup would serve just as well, and many of the longshots would be better if taken as closeups, or at least had closeups cut into them. Notice how every long shot in professional pictures is intercut with closer shots. If the camera angle were not changed throughout a long scene it would become mighty monotonous. Close- ups further serve to eliminate undesirable parts of scenery or action and concentrating on the center of interest. After the scene has once been established in long shot it is usually better to work in closer shots, showing the de- tails of the scene. The importance of details should not be overlooked. Not only do they usually lend themselves well to good pictorial composition because they can be easily arranged and lighted, but they also serve to give dramatic emphasis, if intelligently used. This is especially true in 16mm. pictures, for the screen is so much smaller than in theatres showing 35mm. films that details tend to be lost in long shots. It is a well known fact that a larger picture is more impressive than the same one in smaller size, which is due partly to the fact that larger pictures more nearly fill the natural angle of vision than do smaller ones, and one is less inclined to be conscious of its borders. The chief reason for the impressiveness of larger pictures, however, is that they bring out the details better and necessitate less eye strain to perceive them. In 16mm. pic- tures, where the screen size is limited, it is best, therefore, to move the camera up closer to the object to be photo- graphed, and the details naturally become more evident. In interiors the amateur should especially welcome details, for it is naturally much easier, with limited equipment, to light closeups than long shots. Details are an indispensable aid to all travel pictures. No matter how many beautiful pictorial shots a travel pic- ture mav contain, it will soon lose the interest of the audi- ence if these are not interspersed with well chosen close- ups of native life — whether it be human, animal ,or plant — and its various aspects. Japan, for instance, offers many beautiful scenic possibilities, but the chances are that the audience will be more interested in the play of some Jap- anese children, or in a shot of a street beggar, or in details of the market place and the waterfront, or other human interest scenes. The two — the scenic and the common- place— should always be blended together to produce con- trasts which add interest, realism, and punch to the pic- ture. The beauty of one scene can be enhanced by con- trast with the ugliness of another. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 The INTERNATION A L PHOTOGRAPH E R Twenty-three IN THE MOTION PICTURE PROP AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENTS (Continued from Page 5) gun-fire so that persons won't be injured, and still make the "effects" convincing. Also connected with the Universal prop department, headed by Russ Gausman, is an artificially heated aqua- rium in which is kept tropical fish. Each of the studios have plaster shops and wood working departments for manufacturing such items as can not be bought reason- ably. Too, not to be overlooked is the plant nurseries. Hand in hand with the prop department is the research department. Maud Bowman, head of the Warner Brothers research department, like other members of re- search departments, is supposed to know everything. Questions like, "Who were the kings of England for the last nine hundred years?" "What kind of a beard did Napoleon's third assistant wear?" or, "What horse won at the Pimlico Race Track in Maryland a number of years ago?" When they are right they never hear about it ; but, when they are wrong! Old John W. Fan never over- looks an opportunity to find a rift in the lute! THE ART OF SELLING PICTURES (Continued from Page 7) the size usually submitted is 5x7 or 8x10 inches. In view of these sizes, enlarging has to be resorted to no matter what type or negative size camera is used, unless we con- sider the 5x7 or 8x10 camera, which we don't. Enlarg- ing should not deter the beginner, for it is not as difficult as it may appear. It is, on the contrary, easy, and besides offers considerable latitude such as dodging, trimming, and shading without touching the negative. The amateur photographer who finds himself bitten by the free-lance bug should avail himself of the informa- tion which is plentiful enough these days. For example, the Universal Photographers, Inc., 10 West 33rd St., New York City offer a most complete course in free-lance photographic journalism. The H. Rossiter Snyder Pub. Co., 30 West 18th St., New York City has a series of books on the subject. Be warned, however, that the road is not a rose-strewn one. It is hard and rough going at times, and takes a good deal of patience and persistence. One cannot become a millionaire at this business, but many have made com- fortable livings from it alone. Most prefer to undertake it as a spare-time hobby, accepting whatever checks are brought forth as payment for new or additional equip- ment. Once in a great while the free-lance will accidently come upon a really important "scoop", in which event he can usually buy a brand new outfit with the money he gets for it. Such cases are rare, and purely accidental, so don't bank on them. It's a grand game, though, even for fun. BELL & HOWELL ANNOUNCES FILMO 8 mm. PROJECTOR An 8 mm. motion picture projector, the Filmo 8, that will throw steady, flickerless, and beautifully brilliant pic- tures on a screen five or six feet wide, has just been an- nounced by the Bell & Howell Company. The new projector employs a 300-watt lamp in a most efficient direct lighting system, and operates on 110 volts, A.C. or D.C. Except that it is smaller, it looks like the very finest Filmo 16 mm. projector, the Model J; and it is built just as precisely and is just as rugged as its 16 mm. big brother. Film sizes considered, it performs just as efficiently — and so simply that anyone can learn to oper- ate it in a few minutes. It is gear driven — there are no chains or belts inside or outside. Among many other superlative features, it has an automatic power rewind, pilot light, convenient tilt, manual framer, provision for still picture projection, Cooke l-inch F 1.6 (unusually fast) projection lens, and adequate cooling for efficient, economical use of the high- powered lamp. Its capacity is 200 feet of 8 mm. film. The film is fully protected at every point of contact. This new Filmo 8 is a genuinely efficient projector for 8 mm. film. The size of the pictures is as large as is neces- sary for almost any home showing, and the quality of the projection is a source of real delight for those who have gone in for 8 mm. movie making and want to get the ulti- mate out of their films. Director George Stevens who has scored heavily staged shorts for Universal, Hal Roach and others, has signed with R. K. O. for a series of features. Our pro- phecy for Director George is that he will write his name high in the M. P. Hall of Fame. Len Powers, champion welterweight of the Interna- tional Photographers is the proud recipient of a beautiful white overcoat. Why white, Len? THE LARGEST STOCK OF MITCHELL CAMERAS AND CAMERA EQUIPMENT FOR RENTALS IF YOU NEED IT WE HAVE IT CAMERA SUPPLY CO. Cable Address "CAMERAS" 1515 Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. CLadstone 2404 RUDDY CERAUS MANAGER Nite Phone CLadstone 6583 CHARLEY BOYLE STUDIO RENTALS Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY (Continued from Page 13) finder, for parallax. raphers who use Panatomic film in the 35 mm. motion Leica Single Exposure Camera: E. Leitz now offers picture size and wish to buy it in bulk, should know that a new precision miniature photographic apparatus in the this film is known to the motion picture industry as East- form of a single exposure camera. It consists of a round man Background Negative. Its extreme fine grain quali- metal body into which a standard Leica lens is screwed. ties make it ideally suited for motion pictures of subjects An Ibsor shutter is provided. Focusing is accomplished which will be used in the transparency projection process, by means of a ground glass which slides in and out of the When ordering Panatomic film in bulk, you can therefore, camera interchangeably with metal film holders which refer to it as Eastman Background Negative. accommodate 35 mm. motion picture film in strips 1}4 Another Fine-Grain Developing Formula: It will be inches long. If desired a finder can be attached to the noticed in this formula that acetone is used as an alkali, camera. This new apparatus is really a miniature view „ . camera. Literature describing this camera can be obtained „ ,. .. ° u lon . „, by writing to E. Leitz, 60 E. 10th St., New York, N. Y. Oxalic acid. 0.4 Gms. 18 grs. New Contax Accessories: Carl Zeiss, Inc. announce Metol (Johnson)... 4 Gms. 175 grs. the addition of new accessories for the Contax Camera ?Y™&}^ add ... .... 12 Gms. 1 oz., 88 grs. including apparatus for taking instantaneous exposures of Potassium metab.sulphite... . 1 Gm. 44 grs. close objects (20, 13 and 8 inches), copy attachments, a Water 2UU cc. 20 oz. plate adapter, apparatus for photomicrography, projec- c ... , . ° u l0n „ c . tion, etc. An interesting booklet describing these new ac- Sodium sulphite (cryst.)... 48 Gms. 5^ oz. cessories can be obtained by writing to Carl Zeiss, 485 Water - 168 cc. 20 oz. Fifth Ave., New York City, N. Y. Solution C The Nikor Tank: A new developing tank is being Acetone 40 cc. 4 oz. offered by Burleigh Brooks which is called the Nikor Water- -U(J cc- ^ oz- Tank. It is made entirely of stainless steel which does A working solution is made up by taking 15 parts of not contaminate the developing solution as other metal each solution and adding 80 parts of water, alloys are apt to. The tank can be cleaned with strong Reticulation: The usual cause of this detriment to our nitric acid without being injured. It can also, according negatives is the use of processing solutions which vary to the investigations of Dr. Franz Baur and Dr. Gottlieb widely in temperature. If the negative is transferred from Imhof on stainless steel, be used for physical development. a warm hypo solution to cold wash water, etc., a strain This tank is offered at a reasonable price and should prove will be set up in the gelatin causing reticulation. Some popular with miniature photographers. workers have also discovered that the use of a strong hypo A Method of Printing Grainy Negatives : In a grainy solution is prone to cause reticulation. The strong solu- negative there exist relatively large clumps of silver grains tion acts too quickly and violently upon the emulsion and similarly large interstices between these clumps. If thereby straining the gelatine. Photographers who have the grains were enlarged so that the interstices were re- been experiencing reticulation despite careful guarding ducd in size, graininess would be reduced. At the same against differences in temperature of the processing solu- time, however, detail would suffer and there would also tions should try the use of a weaker hypo solution to over- be a loss in definition. come this evil. By treating the negative according to the method Alcohol for Drying : Many miniature camera workers described below, the grains of silver will be converted into use alcohol to hasten the drying of their films, for fast a silver compound that will occupy a larger space. The drying favors fine grain. They may be advised that al- expanded grains will fill up some of the interstices previ- cohol also has a very slight reducing effect on the nega- ously present thereby giving a more even deposit. tive. No doubt, in the average well exposed negative this A 10%. solution of potassium iodide is made up and in reducing effect of alcohol will not cause deleterious effects it is dissolved enough iodine to make a 0.5 % solution. in regards to subsequent printing. The negative is treated with this solution until it bleaches Care of Cases: Practically all miniature camera own- completely, the silver image being converted into silver ers take good care of their cameras, but many are prone iodide, after which the negative is dyed with Rhodamine to neglect their cases. The ideal treatment for leather B to give the opacity necessary for printing. The negative camera and lens cases is the application of neetsfoot oil is then rinsed to free it from excess dye and when dried it about twice a year. This substance is obtained from the is ready for printing. feet of cattle and keeps leather in a soft and pliable con- Many experienced workers use a diffusion filter over dition. It can be obtained at any drug store, the enlarging lens when making big enlargements to help The oil is applied to the leather with a piece of absorb- eliminate graininess. A very light diffuser such as the ent cotton or a soft cloth and the case is laid aside to allow Scheibe 1/64 Diffusion Filter will work well for this the oil to soak into the leather. During cold weather a purpose. precipitate will form in the oil. This is easily re-dissolved Panatomic Film in Bulk: Miniature camera photog- by the application of heat. L A. AMATEUR CINE CLUB A unique and unusual meeting of 16 mm. amateurs is planned for August 7th when members of the Los Angeles Amateur Cine Club meet in the Auditorium of the Holly- wood Citizen-News. This will be "Title" night, when every member who has found short-cuts or unique meth- ods of making titles, either with apparatus built by him- self or through experimentation, will demonstrate his findings. According to Wm. J. Seeman, chairman of the program committeee, it is planned to take movies of actual titles of varied kinds and to do the development and color- ing at the meeting. This is a part of the Club's monthly program to use every other meeting for demonstration or talks by profes- sional cameramen, with alternate meetings devoted to contests among members. Included among the interesting films done by the mem- bers is a composite 1600 foot film of the Olympic Games. Taken by some 30 cameras, the best of 8,000 feet is used to include the major events of those fourteen days. At present a progressive picture is being made of the Hoover Dam. Started in 1928 it shows the construction and development of the world's greatest engineering feat. August, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Tiventy-five MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING (Continued from Page 19) horns were also turned on and their switches set on tap twenty, they would not disturb the impedance match. For three horns, possihle combinations would be taps two, six and eight ; or taps four, six and six. The exact combination used in any particular case depends on the comparative volumes of sound required of the several horns. Photo-Electric Cell Monitoring The two relays that are shown in the diagrams are known as relays No. 1 and No. 2. Their windings are energized by current from the twelve-volt storage bat- tery that supplies power to the signal system. Two key switches mounted on the mixer panel in the monitor room control the relays. Another set of key switches installed in the middle amplifier bay permits the transmission engi- neer to operate the relays when making gain runs or other tests on the recording system. When relay No. 1 is in its normal position, the cir- cuit is connected for direct monitoring. When relay No. 2 is normal, its blades are connected to the photo-electric cell amplifier in film recording machine No. 1. If the monitor man closes the key switch controlling relay No. 1, that relay is energized and connects the monitoring amplifier to the photo-electric cell monitoring circuit. Since the No. 2 relay is normal to PEC amplifier No. 1, the monitoring amplifier is connected in the above case to that PEC amplifier. But if the key switch associated with relay No. 2 is also closed, the energizing of that relay transfers the monitoring amplifier to the output of PEC amplifier No. 2. This arrangement provides the monitor man with means for checking at any time on the continuity of the film recording circuits. No means is available for him to check on the wax (or disc) recording machines; but that is not necessary because the recording engineer keeps the cutting of the wax record under constant observa- tion during recording to determine if there is any cutting over between grooves. The photo-electric cell amplifiers will be described in the chapters on film recording, which will be the sub- ject that will be begun in next month's issue. ftu0 j Ampro U^REGULAfc$l50°=° GUARANTEE "I personally guarantee money back. I guarantee the 400 watt Biplane Filament Mazda equal to '■en watt in illumi. Best 16MM Value Bass . . . value Under- . . . offers Precision Made Ampro . . .New guarantied — at a saving of S50.50 — Powerful — Brilliant — Plastic projection — Long-life— Smoothness — Quietness assured. 400 wait Biplane Mazda light is equal to 500 watt. Kodacolor may be used. Instrument complete with cord and plug — instructions — tarrying case. fully guaranteed for one year. Regular $150 00; Bass price $99.50. full details and Ban Bargaingram No. 212 ii free on request. DEALERS: WRITE FOR DETAILS BASS CAMERA CO. 179 W.Madison St. Chicago DR. G. FLOYD JACKMAN. Dentist Member Local No. 659 706 Houn Hollywood : 9 to 5 First INat'l Bldg., Hollywood Blvd. CLadstone 7507 And by at Highland Appointment MOVING PICTURE MONTHLY All About The CINEMA WORLD IN INDIA Annual Subscription — Inland — Rs. 3-8-0 Outside of India— 7 Shillings or $2.50 Send to Motion Picture Monthly, Khatav Bldg., Ciegaum, Bombay, 4, India The Roto-Tank showing Film and Separator 16 and 35 mm. Positions of Rotor The New HOLLYWOOD ROTO-TANK Specially designed for users of Contax, Leica, Military Cameras, 16 mm. and location tests on sound and action record- ing units. A maximum of agitation is produced in this unit, insur- ing shorter developing time with color separations and grada- tions unobtainable by other methods. No pre-soaking, no air bells, no streaks. The entire unit is constructed of heavy bakelite of low conductivity. 25 feet of 35 mm. or 50 feet of 16 mm. Price— Postpaid in United States - - - $25.00 For details regarding the Roto-Tank and larger units write ROY DAVIDCE FILM LABORATORIES, Ltd. 6701 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, California Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 LOOKING DOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD (From Kinematograph Weekly, London) MOST interesting description of the Houston WffiOld Mount Everest Expedition was given by Lt.- tSSlli Col. L. V. Stewart Blacker, O.B.E., at a Royal Photographic Society meeting. Col. Blacker's lecture was illustrated by slides of outstanding pictorial quality, several of which had been enlarged from the kine- matograph films taken by the G.-B. cameramen, Bonnet and Fisher. Col. Blacker explained that the expedition had three objects — vertical photography for mapping purposes, oblique photography, and kinematography. He paid trib- ute to the patriotism of Lady Houston, through whom the expedition had been rendered possible. Frozen Celluloid He proceeded to outline some of the difficulties which had to be overcome, owing to the intense cold and rarefied air. Celluloid, for example, froze and became brittle at such low temperatures, and it was necessary to have inter- nal heating elements in all the photographic apparatus, and also to surround it by heated blankets. Owing to the fierce winds encountered at high alti- tudes, there was considerable difficulty in allowing for drift, and the method of setting the camera in the reverse direction to the angle of drift was explained. The Williamson Eagle camera used gave 140 expos- ures each 5 in. x 5 in., and included also records of time, compass bearing, altitude and serial number ; the camera was entirely automatic in operation, and made exposures at pre-determined intervals, a red light appearing on the pilot's instrument board as a signal to hold the plane steady while the exposure was made. The hand camera used was also a Williamson, while for kinematography a Newman-Sinclair was chosen. Air-Driven Generator All the equipment, including camera motors and heat- ing gear, and energized from a 1,000-watt air-driven gen- erator, the voltage of which had to be kept constant at be- tween 13 and 14 volts by means of a sliding resistance. Col. Blacker created some amusement by describing the complicated heated flying clothing which was necessary for both pilot and observer (although the latter's cockpit was enclosed), about 20 different connections having to be made to various parts of the aeroplane for electricity sup- ply, telephone, oxygen, etc. Another difficulty encountered was that at high alti- tudes the light was found to be so actinic that it pene- trated the close-fitting dark slides, which had to be care- fully wrapped up when not in use. On one occasion Mr. Bonnett while using the kine. camera accidentally broke his oxygen pipe, and rapidly became unconscious. Fortunately, he fell in the cockpit near the broken end of the oxygen pipe, and recovered sufficiently to make a temporary repair. Some of the views taken at distances of 100 miles by means of infra-red photography gave a remarkable insight into the possibilities of this medium, objects which had been invisible to the naked eye appearing perfectly sharp and clear. Col. Blacker completed his most thrilling account of the expedition with interesting views of the Nepalese territory. B & L PHOTOGRAPHIC LENS EXHIBIT AT CHICAGO FAIR | HE professional photographer, or the amateur, who visits the Hall of Photography at the Cen- tury of Progress will find the Bausch & Lomb Photographic Lens Exhibit an extremely inter- esting contribution to the science of photography with which Bausch & Lomb has been identified since its begin- ning. Since 1887, when D. Edward Bausch invented the iris diaphragm shutter which made it possible, for the first time, to take snapshots, a continuous series of patents has been granted on photographic lenses and mountings. One particularly interesting lens in the group on display is the Convertible Protar type, f :6.3 which Captain A. W. Stevens of the Army Air Corps selected for use in the camera that he invented for photographing the earth automatically at regular intervals. Every minute and a half an exposure is made. Through these photographs, checked with the barometric readings, an accurate chart of altitude will be obtained. The camera, focused straight down, will show the curvature of the earth, thus permit- ting comparatively accurate mathematical measurements of altitude. The Convertible Protar Lens is ideal for this purpose, experiments have proven. Another lens which has won high praise from the Army Air Corps is Aero-Tessar f :6, 24 inch focus. Be- cause of its high correction and its speed this lens has been found exceptionally useful in making precise air maps, a vital phase of national defense. In the movies the Raytar Lenses are being used in the Hollywood studios to make finer pictures, while the Cine- phor lenses are equally popular in theatres for the bril- liance and clarity of their projection. The news cameraman, driven to secure his snaps hur- riedly, uses the Bausch Sc Lomb Tessar Series Ic. and the many excellent newspaper illustrations seen today are made with the B. & L. Process Anastigmat. Such work, in order to obtain orthoscopic effect, requires very accur- ate glass prisms for the reversing of the image. In industrial photography where correct records are essential, and in police work where they are equally neces- sary, the Tessar Series lib and the convertible Protar Series Vila lenses are widely used. The portrait photographer used the Bausch & Lomb Sigmar where fine details are desired without harsh con- trast. These lenses furnish ample speed in order to record the characteristics of the human face so essential in true portraiture. The Plastigmat is also liked by the profes- sional photographer because of the pleasing softness with which it renders natural likenesses. The increasing popularity of home movies has brought increasing calls for the B. & L. Biophor projection lenses, designed to meet the need for pictures of varied sizes in rooms of many dimensions. The Bausch & Lomb Photographic Lens Exhibit will also show the Compound Shutter, the precise construction of which makes it absolutely dependable at the various speeds indicated. A new and interesting folder on the Convertible Pro- tar Lens is now being prepared by Bausch & Lomb which may be had on request. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Aiiniist, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Tzventy-seven BELL & HOWELL ESTABLISHES 16 mm. SOUND FILM RENTAL LIBRARY Bell & Howell Company announces the establishment of a 16 mm. sound-on-film rental library with branches already opened in various key cities of the country. A prime aim of the library management is that the subjects shall be both interesting and absolutely clean. Each picture, before being chosen for the library, is viewed by a screening committee which requires that it must first of all be genuinely high grade. It has been found that the rental market includes lodges, luncheon clubs, women's clubs, schools, parent-teacher associations, churches, and home gatherings ; and the requirements of such groups are kept definitely in mind by the committee in making their selections. Fully a hundred 400-foot reels from Educational Film Corporation and other producers are now available in the library. In addition to such popular informative pic- tures as "Krakatoa", spectacular submarine volcano three- reeler, is the Erpi educational series with subjects on acoustics, energy, etc. ; also beautiful presentations of out- standing operas, including "Carmen", "Faust", and "Martha"; a fine array of travel subjects; rollicking comedies ; and a large variety of well-selected miscel- lanies. Prominent in the library listings will be what is called a series of Feature Lecture Films, including five subjects in which the voice of the well-known explorer, Rev. Ber- nard Hubbard, will be heard describing his Popular Alaskan pictures. In this same series the voice of A. M. Bailey, director of The Chicago Academy of Sciences, will be heard in an interesting running commentary of his movies of "Wild Life Over the Gulf of Mexico" ; also in a similar manner, Richard Finnic, the dashing young Arc- tic adventurer, will describe his popular picture "Among the Igloo Dwellers." Major Sawders will likewise be heard accompanying his "Republics in the Clouds" — a really remarkable motion picture of the little known coun- tries of Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. "This Is America", a six-reel feature, has just been added to the library. "This Is America" is a stirring sound picture dealing with events in America from the days of the World War and President Wilson in 1917 to the inauguration of President Roosevelt in 1933. Much of the sound consists of a commentary on the pictured events written by Gilbert Seldes and spoken by Alois Hav- rilla. Among the many interesting personal shots in "This Is America" are striking pictures of Woodrow Wilson in Paris and Franklin Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy; also there are characteristic shots of Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, and William Jennings Bryan, to mention only a few of a host of outstanding personalities. Battlefield scenes, the crash on the stock exchange, even the era of "pole sitters", are all depicted and commented upon most interestingly. The whole story of the tremendous years of 1917-33 is presented in a vivid, unforgettable record. The Bell & Howell Company is to be congratulated on its constructive efforts to make available such a large number of high-grade, interesting 16 mm. sound-on-film subjects. The exact name of the library is the Bell & Howell Filmosound Rental Library. H. A. Spanuth, who helped build up the company's silent film library, is in active charge. Already branch libraries have been established in Altoona, Pa.; Denver; Washington, D. C. ; Wilmington, Delaware; Baltimore; New York; Philadelphia; Provi- dence, Rhode Island ; Chicago ; San Francisco ; and Holly- wood. HERE ARE FACTS ABOUT ABOUT The UNIVERSAL Automatic Exposure Meter PHOTOSCOP U. S. MODEL The PHOTOSCOP is truly a UNIVERSAL exposure meter, for it gives direct readings for EVERY TYPE AND MAKE of camera, either still, Leica or motion picture. The PHOTO- SCOP is an exposure meter which employs a delicate measur- ing instrument in conjunction with the well-known, photo- sensitive electric cell, and therefore works accurately. Errors due to variations in individual eyesight are entirely eliminated. The design of the meter makes for the greatest ease in using and taking readings. ADVANTAGES OF THE PHOTOSCOP ■ The instrument works with uniform accuracy in any lati- tude, any time of the day or year, and can be used equally well indoors or in brilliant sunlight. The PHOTOSCOP can be pointed directly at the object to be photographed without shading the instrument with a hood or other means. I Exposures are indicated without the aid of separate tables, slide- rules, gadgets or computations, ■ Pre-setting to any film or plate speed from 8 to 30 degrees Scheiner. ■ You may choose the English diaphragm stop series: f/1. 4-2-2.8-4-5. 6-8-11-11.3-16-22-32-45-64 or, by switching the stop scale over a half circle, you may select the Continental diaphragm stop series: //. 9-1. 2-1. 5-1.8-2.5-3. 5-4.5-6. 3-9-12.5-18-25-36-48 B Exposure time readings: On the main scale, from 1/1000 to 100 seconds; On the auxiliary interpolation section of the scale, down to 2500 seconds at stop //64 for 26 degree Scheiner film. ■ The same scale gives you cine camera taking speeds of: 8-12-16-24-32-48-64-96-128 frames a second and the same scale contains specific Leica camera shutter speeds. ■ The dust-proof, circular, metal housing is 2% inches in diameter, 1 inch high, has no protruding or loose attach- ments— just the lens in front and an unbreakable window slit on the side. Robust, expert construction and extreme sensitiveness. ■ The PHOTOSCOP is pointed or aimed like a camera. The scale is read in proper reading position, just as when you look into the "brilliant" reflecting viewfinder of a camera. ■ The instrument solves swiftly and automatically any pho- tographic exposure problem without changing the aim or lifting the meter. ■ The PHOTOSCOP is furnished with a substantial, leather neck-strap which keeps it upright and in an ever-ready position. You just lift and read instantly. ■ The light is collected from the subject by the lens which is placed symmetrically about the cell axis, and the angle is further effectively limited by means of baffles or grids, situated between the lens and the cell surface. Over 45 percent of all the light comes from an angle of 10 degrees either side of the axis, and altogether 85 percent from an angle of 20 degrees on either side. Any other light beyond the total of 40 degrees at the light cone apex is of no practical influence upon the photographic exposure results. ■ Temperature is of no practical influence upon meter accuracy. The PHOTOSCOP has been checked for use in tropical and polar regions as against temperate zone read- ings. Certain effect does take place, of course, from 32 degrees F. to 120 degrees F., but the percentages are of no photographic importance. ■ This Universal U. S. Model is made only for Photo Utilities and distributed in the United States by Photo Utilities, Neiv York. ■ The Price, including leather neck-strap, is $27.50 PHOTO UTILITIES, INC. 152 West 42nd St. New York New York, U. S. A. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHOTOGRAPHY PARIS, JULY 7-13, 1935 By Walter Clark Secretary, American National Committee, International Congresses of Photography. HE first International Congress of Photography was held in Paris in 1889. Since that time meet- ings have been held at intervals of three to five years, excluding the four-year war period, in Liege, Brussels, London, and Dresden, in addition to Paris. The next Congress, the Ninth, will be held again in Paris next year, 1935, from Sunday, July 7, to Saturday, July 13. The meetings will be held in the rooms of the Societe Franchise de Photographie et de Cinematographic, 51 ruede Clichy, Paris (IXe). The Ninth Congress will be organized on lines sim- ilar to those of previous congresses. The active organiza- tion will be in the hands of a French Committee consist- ing of representatives of many of the scientific, photogra- phic, and allied societies of France, and headed by the French Photographic Society. The arrangements in other countries are made by the local National Committees. These committees have been established in many countries to deal with the proposals and recommendations of the congresses, to present material to the congresses for inter- national consideration, to arrange for a series of first-class papers on appropriate photographic subjects to be submit- ted to the congresses, and so on. The Secretary of the American Committee is Dr. Walter Clark, Research Laboratories, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N. Y. There are two Sub-committees in this country, dealing respectively with Sensitometric Standardization and Motion Picture Standards. SECTIONS: The Ninth Congress will be divided into several Sec- tions, concerned with: la. Latent Image. Sensitive materials and their manipulation. Sensitometry and photographic photometry. Cinematography; general considerations, sound on film, stand- ardization. Scientific and technical applications of photography and cinema- tography. History of photography, documentation and bibliography; pho- tographic instruction; pictorial photography. Among the subjects about which there will undoubtedly be lively discus- sion will be the standardization of methods for the determination of speeds of negative materials, and the standardization of the dimensions of sub-standard motion picture film for sound-on-film purposes. MEMBERSHIP: The Congress will include the following classes of Member: Founder Members (minimum subscription 1000 French francs); Subscribing Members (minimum 300 frs.); Active Members (125 frs.); Associate Members (25 frs.). With the exception of the Associate Members, all the members attending the Congress will receive, at the Congress Secretary's office, the texts of all Communications and Reports, as well as resumes of these texts in various languages. They will eventually receive the vol- ume of Proceedings. lb. lc. 3. 4. You can do Trick Lighting with these new KLIECLICHTS at no extra cost WITH their extraordinary efficiency, and freedom from spill light the new Klieg- lights also offer several entirely new fea- tures, including: variable beam control, of exceptionally wide range; and intensity control, without using a dimmer — both be- ing an integral part of the unit . . . per- mitting unusual trick lighting without ad- ditional expense. They are unmatched for performance, versatility, and low operating cost. Let us acquaint you with the facts, and you will be convinced of their out- standing practical values. Write for full details All of these various beam shapes can easily be ob- tained by manipulating the shutters. Studio Model with shutter and lens controls. Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co.,imc 321 West 50th Street NEW YORK. NY. California \ MR. R. F. GRETSCH, Representative ( 6521 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Calif. PAPERS: Reports and papers submitted to the Congress from the United States should be sent in duplicate to the Secretary of the Amer- ican National Committee by February 1, 1935, so that he can have them in the hands of the General Secretary by March 1, 1935. Only in these circumstances can they be translated and distributed. Reports and resumes can only be given to Members attending the Congress if their subscriptions have reached the Societe Francaise de Photographie at de Cinematographic by June 1, 1935. LANGUAGES: Discussions will be held in one of the following languages: English, French, German. Authors should write their texts where possible in one of these languages. ENTERTAINMENTS: Entertainments, visits to factories, and scientific institutions, excursions, and a banquet will be organized, and all Members of the Congress will be able to attend. For Associate Members, a Committee of Ladies will organize tours in Paris and the surroundings, and visits to buildings of interest, during the Sessions of the Congress. INFORMATION: For further information about the Congress, application should be made to the Secretary of the American National Committee, Dr. Walter Clark. Research Laboratory, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York. CORKSCREW CAMERA EFFECT The accompanying photograph discloses just how a coikscrew camera effect was achieved at Warner Brothers- First National Studios during the filming of the "Tunnel of Pulchritude" sequence in one of the Busby Berkeley ensembles in the musical production, "Dames." The steel framework, which supports the platform on which is the camera, was suspended from above, and moved in two directions with power transmitted through a series of trolley tracks high on the rafters. George Barnes, the cameraman, is seen crouched over the revolving shaft which led back from the camera, at the right, to a wheel at the other end of the platform operated by Warren Lynch, first assistant cameraman. As the platform moved forward through the tunnel, lined on four sides with beautiful girls, Lynch rotated the wheel, the shaft turning the camera in like fashion as it moved forward through the bewildering set. When seen on the screen this scene will cause con- jecture no end among photographers and camera-wise workers of the cinema, as to the mechanics of the filming, but the major difference in this shot, compared to others, is a very obvious one. Instead of moving the photographed objects before the camera, the camera moved instead. Still by Bert Long-worth. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHF.R Twenty-nine WHY "HENRY VIM" WENT OVER IN LONDON AND LOUISVILLE (Written for International Photographer) By ALFRED C. MOORE, Journalist, London LEXANDER KORDA'S "Private Lives of Henry the Eighth" has been one of the most over-rated pictures in recent years, and prob- ably nobody knows this better than Mr. Korda. If you had read the London press reports of this pic- ture's preview you would — if you paid serious attention to Fleet Street "film critics" — have been led to believe that some kind of Messiah had arrived in the person of Mr. Korda, and that the beginning of the end was in sight for Hollywood, California. But when you saw the picture you recognized that what you were looking at would have been "just another movie" had it emanated from Hollywood — which it certainly would not have done in the form in which it went through the projector. Here was a number of sequences strung together in a manner which showed you plainly that the person respon- sible for the stringing had learned a whole lot of useful tricks by the simple process of intelligently watching Hol- lywood movies, but which, as a production, fell short of the standard of cohesion that the major studios on the coast regard as routinal. You saw Charles Laughton who made you feel that a king could be a man and a man a king. You saw Lady Tree who made you realize that a woman could have a title and still be a motion picture actress. You saw a lot of good shots and a lot that were not so good. You saw promise of minor climaxes that did not materialize. You saw the picture really get moving then miss on a couple of cylinders and threaten to go stone dead on you. There were scenes powerful in emotional appeal, others charged with drama as good as the best from Hollywood. And there were other scenes as dull as English studios ever turned out. So why did "Henry VIII" go over as good entertain- ment and as a fair revenue propostion in places as far apart as Chelsea, Capetown and Kansas City? Well, you don't have to be a front office wizard to find the answer. It's just this. Korda was smart enough to make, not an historical picture with a kingly king playing the heavy and a lot of footage taken up with the medieval pomp that classbooks, even in English schools, can't "sell" to the kids any more, but a human story of a man with the kind of weaknesses and idiosyncrasies still common to all men. In fact "Henry the Eighth" as conceived by Korda and as played by Charles Laughton was none other than our old friend George F. Babbitt, six times married and conveniently flashed back from Main Street, Zenith, U. S. A. to Hamp- ton Court Palace, Middlesex, England. In lots of places the resemblance stuck out a mile. Too comfortably married to the first Mrs. Henry VIII (Catherine of Aragon to you), this sixteenth cen- tury Babbitt wanted romance just like George F. did. Both of them adipose and fifty; the realtor of Zenith sought it in his "dream child, who, when others saw George Babbitt, she discerned gallant youth." Once he thought he'd found it in Ida Putiak, the silly, smiling, black-haired manicure girl. The wife butcher of Hamp- ton Court sought it in Katherine Howard, court lady-in- waiting. Both Miss Putiak and Miss Howard gave their men the run-around. Fundamentally Henry and George's slant on life was identical — "Boosters, Pep!" And Cranmer, Henry's archbishop, and old Matt Penniman, George's "general utility man, collector of rents and salesman of insurance — broken, silent, gray," were blood brothers. The barber shoo scene in "Private Lives of Henry the Eighth," with dialogue to fit, might easily have taken (Concluded on Page 30) G O E R Z £ enses The confidence and pleasure fell 1>\ the purchaser of a Goerz Lens is due to our insistence on accuracy in manufacture and accuracy in performance. Jilters Pan-Ortho Green Filters provide requisite absorption of excess blue-violet and red sensitiveness of modern panchromatic emulsions. Supplementary blue filter for additional red absorp- tion, also red filter for night effects. Literature on request. C. P. Goerz American Optical Co. 317 East 34th Street New York riiBira-i ^"t'-'i'ii'iiiiMliiiiiiiiiiiiii'iliiillliliiiliiiiMiiiillliiiiiiiiiiniuiramM In Sound Recording THE NEW PRINCIPLE MINOR QUARTZ OPTICAL UNIT becomes an integral part of your sound recorder "this unit is cemented into a steel blocks— it focuses a beam of light of great intensity and actinic value a distance away and on the film, which PROVIDES CLEARANCE and PREVENTS SCRATCHING of the sound track. The width of the beam of light measures from .0005" to .0008" as it strikes the moving film. Send for details and specimen of sound track. C. C. MINOR Phone GL. 1030 1619 Cherokee Ave., Hollywood Motion Picture Settings and Equipment Special or Standard Any place — any time. Phone or write PAUL R. HARMER 1630 Redcliff St. Morningside 11921 Hollywood, Calif. CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone GRanite 9707 Hollywood, California Alvin Wyckoff Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALE OR RENT — Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free heaa, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — 40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. ienses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT FOR SALE — Motor-driven DeBrie, 50, 75 mm. Zeiss, 6 magazines, Tri- pod, Battery case and batteries, carrying case, runs 24 speed, $400.00. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. FOR SALE — Pathe cameras late numbers, excellent shape, complete from $90 up, including beautiful outfit with built-in shutter dissolve, Veeder counter, ground-glass focusing. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. FOR SALE — Silent Mitchell Camera, very late number, in perfect con- dition, complete with all equipment, lowest priced Silent Mitchell in town. Will not be here long. Write Air Mail or cable for price. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies— fine grain nnishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all' popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS MITCHELL MOTOR— 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange Snreet, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St.. Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device. Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. Tamrs T. Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St.. New York. WANTED TO BUY WANTED — Motion Picture and Still Cameras, all types, Lenses, Finders, Tripod Heads, Leica or Contax Cameras. Cash for bargains. Camera Supply Company, 1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. WANTED TO BUY— Used Leica or Contax cameras and any kind of accessories for above cameras. Must be cheap. Box XYZ, International Photographer, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave.. Hollvwond. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction : or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly wood. The Cinematographer's BOOK of TABLES IS ON SALE AT ALL DEALERS Price $loo MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING — If interested in aviation, see Roy Klaflfki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Earl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY. Exclusive agency for three leading Holly- wood makers of trick lenses. Apply for prices and demonstration, sale or rentals. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. QUIET COUPLE WANT COTTAGE— mountains or beach — second or third week in August, or second week September — must be reasonable. Address, P. O. Box 313, Hollywood, Calif. WHY "HENRY VIII' WENT OVER IN LONDON AND LOUISVILLE (Continued from Page 29) place in the barber shop of the Reeves Building down on Third Street, Zenith. And the short falconry sequences in "Henry VIII" were merely sixteenth century transpo- sitions of Babbitt's fishing trip in the Maine woods. Realizing that the "prythee faire ladye" kind of Eng- lish was definitely out, Korda even modernized his dia- logue and made such a sound job of it that the illusion held and, had the picture got away to a quicker start, been ruthlessly revised and speeded up in spots, and if it had not flopped to a static climax, the boys who are paid to blow their trumpets in the London newspapers would not have had to get themselves so hot and panting. And Alex- ander Korda's reputation as a movie maker would have been twice the size it is now. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. August, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirty-one WHAT'LL WE FILM NEXT? Many people are wondering what the screen is going to do for vital stories, in view of the fuss that has been kicked up by church organizations and women's clubs over certain offending aspects of recent motion pictures. They fear that the fumigating process will result in taking all the life out of future film-fare. But there is no cause to become unduly exercised on that account. For the resourceful writer, there is no end of interesting material all around us. Fact of the matter, is the recent craze to glorify gangsters and sordid sexi- ness, life's negative aspects, a lot of wholesome, cheerful activities have been entirely overlooked. Right here in California, men and women are con- structively busy with some of nature's most fascinating forces and processes — any one of which would make a most picturesque background — a veritable cameraman's heaven — for many engaging screen productions. The rank and rile of people are always interested in what their fel- lows are doing. Take the vineyards of California, for instance, which have taken a new lease on life since repeal. More than 400 of them, covering an extensive acreage, are now being worked as never before, to produce grapes for the wine industry. It requires no violent stretch of the imagination to vision a story written around California's vineyards, which would readily charm picture-goers. Only recently the vineyardists of France subsidized a motion picture, built around their industry. It has been acclaimed as one of the most lilting productions to be seen in Paris, in a long time. Other scenes in California's social and industrial life are equally potential for uplifting motion pictures. For instance, there is the story of the hydro-electrics — an epic of modern engineering — which has never been adequately screened. And what a whale of a picture might have been done around the building of the Boulder Dam — the biggest engineering project since the Panama Canal was dug. Then there's a great motion-picture in every one of President Roosevelt's remedial activities, for the re- sourceful writer and producer who can see beyond the front-page of scandal sheets and so-called mystery or mur- der stories. If the world is ever to get back on the main highway of social and moral recovery, the upward watch must be held before the people. Instead of picturing most tendencies and people as being hell-bent, they must be shown in their more aspiring moments. There is no lack of them. The serious efforts of the Federal Government to re- habilitate the homeless, wayward youth of the land pro- vides material for as gripping a picture as ever came out of realistic Russia. There is also gorgeous material in the studies which Sherwood Anderson has been presenting in "Today," about the wandering women of America. For the first time in our history, unsettled economic conditions have made "female hoboes." No sadder picture can be imagined than that of a homeless woman or a homeless cat or dog. They are all essentially creatures of the hearth- stone. Also there is California Institute of Technology, in whose laboratories, earnest men are trying to figure out the riddle of the universe as it relates to the everyday life of every man, woman and child. Several of the experi- menters there have stories up their sleeves which would be as fascinating on the screen as anything that Conan Doyle, H. G. Welis or any other thinker has ever brought to the printed page. While up on Mount Wilson, over- looking Los Angeles, conners of the stars can tell romantic tales of Martians, moon-folk and such, which make the puny imaginings of Hollywood studio "hacks" pale into insignificance. Dr. E. D. Starbuck, of the philosophy DOUBLE MATTING <3 PATENTS. 1932) ▼▼SHOTS 3 Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE • the first and only magazine devoted exclusively to the LEICA camera in the United States. • if you own a LEICA, register its serial number with us and receive this magazine regularly each month free of charge. • non-LEICA-owners may secure this magazine at 10c per copy or $1.00 per year, (foreign, $1.50 to all — owners and non-owners.) • edited by famous authorities, crammed with useful and interesting information, LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY sets a new standard in photographic journals. Ask for sample copy. E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th St., New York City AMATEURS ! ! PROFESSIONALS ! ! Fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film Supplied at .02^4 per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS KOMPANY 6510 Selma Ave., Hollywood, Calif. GL. 0276 Phone CLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue ,uc7 OO^enli^br anA NujnV usvA F*7cxjs.and many cmer wffsds With any Camera " In any Ulimafe Gcorcje H. ScHeibe ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS 1927 WEST 78™ ST. LOS ANGELES. CAL. department at U. S. C, might also contribute cogent material from his studies. These are all subjects which relate themselves natur- ally to life "as is", in its contemporary idiom. And the screen, will never achieve its highest destiny until it takes itself a bit more seriously. That does not mean that all pictures should be pedantic. The entertain per se pro- duction will always have its place and audience; but there is also a public looking for something a bit more thought- ful. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. 1 hirty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1934 Qt IOC US BE A BUG PHOTOGRAPHER We were fortunate this month in securing a one-half tone cut (that has been used before) of Mr. Layton Imidge, the original inventor of the three legged tripod. Mr. Imidge used a "Watkind" exposure meter and a ground glassless ground glass on his camera. In the background is the famous Imidge Deep Sea Tripod. This is mounted in a boat and can be low- ered by letting water into the boat, and raised by hading the water out. Mr. Imidge is the author of "Make Money With Your Camera" (and has been trying to, for years), and in between "makes" has bent his fragile pen on the following article. Thanks! Mr. Imidge. We owe you "something." |HY not make some extra money during August, September and the first two weeks in October? It can be done and all you need is a camera and some film. Then get "dressed up" to go fox hunting, like the gent in the above picture, and take your camera out in the garden. Opportunity lies in both direc- tions. We can have our choice of flowers, beautiful vista's trees or bugs. So, let's go bugs. This is very interesting work and if enough time and effort are given to this subject one may become an expert. Bug experts are in demand at the present time and the mere fact of admitting you are "buggy" will do no good. It is necessary that you prove it, and with the aid of your pictures you will be able to convince the most skeptical. Now we are in the garden. We look about and see if we can catch an insect of the suborder Heteroptera or of the order Hemiptera. A Trilobita, Pycnogonida, Ento- mostraca or a Malacostraca will do. We might even find a Bufonadae which is of the suborder Phaneroglossa. These can be easily identified as they have procoelous vertebrae without ribs and no teeth which is something these days. If this is going to cause too much arguing we can take a small crustacean. Their bodies are covered with a chi- tinous integument with calcareous matter. If you don't care for some of this, and still want a crustacean, try hit- ting it with a hammer. If it cracks — that's it. Now we have a bug. Then go get yourself a board. Take a nail in the right hand, a hammer in the left, and have some one hold the bug while you drive the nail through it. This is just a minor detail, but the idea is to keep the bug from moving away when you are ready to make your exposure. After the bug has been nailed, go sit on a rock until the bug stops wiggling. Of course you could hit the bug on the head with a hammer to stop the wiggling, but this might change its appearance. Now the bug has stopped wiggling. Start to set up the camera and go back to the house for the set screw for the tripod, that you left on the table. You are back again and the camera and tripod are ready. The next thing is to hang the board where the light will be good and this is on a tree. Nail the board to the tree and as soon as this is done you will discover the bug has fallen off the board and is lost in the grass. You should have one nail left and this should be used in making the board on the tree secure. Drive the nails all the way in and then look for another bug. Time flys. You have another bug, and when you go to nail it on the board you discover the light has changed and the board is in the shadow. This is something that can not be prevented as the sun moves from east to west, so do not become discouraged. Try and remove the board from the tree and you will notice that it splits easilv. A crustacean on a split board would not be considered good composition so a new board must be procured. Oak is a hard wood and does not split if holes have been drilled for the nails. The dining room table is generally made of oak, and after you have sawed the center out of the table and drilled the holes for the nails, we go back to the gar- den and discover the ground glass was left off the back of the camera and some cute little cuckoos have built a n?st in the bellows. This brings us to — Bird Life. This is a very interesting subject and if we can borrow the dictionary again and find some more trick words, we will do something about it. YES, INDEED By A. Kamera Mann It's a heluva a lot of comfort To a feller when he's dead, To have hi-falutin speeches Over his carcass said. It must be a lot of comfort To a sucker in his grave, To be all deckerayted With the flowers some one gave. It must be a lot consolin' The nice things people say, When he's lost his sense of hearin' Bein' just a chunk of clay. Yes, the. flowers and the speeches And the tears that's fur him shed. Are a heluva a lot of comfort To a feller when he's dead. Take a tip from me, my comrade, If you have a rose to give; Hand it to me when I need it — Let me have it while I live. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. CARBON ARCS , for sound pictures s\W NATIONAL . . . New standards of photographic speed and quality, as well as new sensations of comfort for the actors on the sound stage, are being created by the NEW Carbon Arc Studio Light. MOTION PICTURE STUDIO CARBONS w ft-sT/ i LESS HEAT • MORE PHOTOGRAPHICALLY EFFECTIVE LIGHT Silent, steady burning lamps . . . side arcs, scoops and spots . . . haw proved their adaptability to the sound stage. • A better light for black and white photography. • A necessity for color photography. NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INC Carbon Sales Division; Cleveland, Ohio £?^ Unit of Union Carbide |im and) Carbon Corporation Branch Sales Offices: New York ♦ Pittsburgh ♦ Chicago * MR. ART REEVES. 645 NORTH KARTEL AVENUE. LOS AN1ELES, CALIFORNIA. The CAMERA of TODAY The Studios recognize in the new MITCHELL Sound Camera those essential features necessary in making present day pictures* The demands for this camera guarantees it to be the camera of today Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO' Phone OXford 1051 I HOTOGRAEHER HOLLYWOOD TH YEAR SEPTEMBERJ934 VOL. 6 NO. 8 5 CENTS A COPY DELVING INTO THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY — A welcome relief from our regular style of front cover is this marvelous shot of the world renowned main set of "Intolerance", directed by David Wark Griffith more than eighteen years ago. This still was shot by James E. Woodbury, official stillman of the entire production. This set was a quarter of a mile long and there were four thousand people on it. A story of this wonderful production will appear in the October International Photographer. OTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Photo by Ole M. Hovgaard "CG U.S.PAT Off Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45™ STREET NEW YORK CITY PLANT • • • PARLIN, N. J. SMITH & ALLER LTD. 6656 -SANTA MONICA BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CAL. THE €Pp> TRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER, 1934 No. 8 Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Earl Theisen and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. CONTENTS Front Cover. Still by James E. Woodbury APPLICATION OF SOUND EFFECTS TO RADIO BROADCASTING .......... 2 By R. W. Murray, Don Lee Broadcasting Station THE JUNIOR NEWSREEL IS HERE ------ 4 By Ray Fernstrorn (Something Everhody Will Be Glad to Hear About.) EARL THEISEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTEBOOK - 6 ELEMENTARY PHOTOMICROGRAPHY ----- 7 By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ----- 10 By Augustus Wolf man THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A DIRECTOR - 12 By Richard Bare TELEVISION INTERFERENCE ------- 14 By Harry R. Lubcke THE CAMERAGRAM - - - 16 and 17 CINEMACARONI - ... 17 By Robert Tobey COMPOSITION IN PRACTICE— PART II. - - - - - 18 By Walter Bluemel MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING - - - - 20 By Charles Felstead MOVING PICTURE PERSONNEL AND PRODUCTION EXPENSE 22 By Paul R. Harmcr CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING -------- 30 OUT OF FOCUS ---------- 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering 3 field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California SERVICE ENGRAVING CO Announcements for FOR OCTOBER Fred Westerberg, author of that most helpful little book, "The Cine- matographer's Book of Tables", announces that in October he will begin another series of tables to run indefinitely in The Interna- tional Photographer. The title of the table for Octo- ber is "CAMERA SPEEDS", and the table will be so printed in the magazine as to be easily removed for filing in your little red book, "The Cinematographer's Book of Tables" — if you have one. If you have not a copy you'd better call on your dealer right away so that you may not fail to have one in your pocket when you need it. This wonderful little book has become over night a necessity to the cameraman and is as much a part of his equipment as the cam- era itself. It is an amazing time saver. IT COSTS ONLY $1.00 A COPY. Write Any Dealer or 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. TlL'O T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 Application of Sound Effects To Radio Broadcasting By R. W. Murray, Broadcast Engineer, Radio Station KHJ [The author of this article has been connected with KH) as spective and volume of sound effects for radio dramatic shows. He a broadcast engineer for six years and, as a mixer in their studios, has handled successfully such shows as "Omar Khayyam," "Chandu. ' , , ... , , ., . , , "Globe Headlines," "Calling All Cars," "Snug Harbor," "Detectives has come in close contact with production of synthetic sound tor „. , , Dl ,, „- , ..' c, ,, , ., . Black and Blue, Conquerors of the Sky, and many other dra- radio programs. It has been his job to pass on the quality per- matic shows too numerous to mention.— Editor's Note.] §!§^!I3 SLIGHT technical explanation of broadcast slashing, body falling, sound of fist blows, machinery and receiving equipment is necessary before noise of every description, airplanes, automobiles, trucks, proceeding with our story. Certain sounds motorcycles, machine guns, horse and wagon effects, when listened to in their natural state — that squeaking brakes, ocean breakers, rain effects, dishes rat- is to say before microphone reproduction, have a certain tling, pouring liquid. quality of tone which may be termed the true or natural tone. This true or natural tone, such as a door slam, is made up of many component frequencies. In order to recreate this tone or sound at the radio receiver in our homes, the last point of reception, it is Now for a description of how sound effects are put into a radio show. Let's take a play such as "Calling All Cars." Here we have a story that is filled with sound effects. The automobile and airplane effects are usually done necessary that each piece of equipment from the micro- with records. One company in the east has a complete phone in the broadcast studios to the loud speaker in our library on the market and for sale of practically every homes, reproduce each frequency with the same amount sound effect known, of volume present at the point of pick-up. The only disadvantage of recorded sound effect is Up to the point where the sound leaves the broad- the difficulty of cueing it in at the proper time on a cast transmitter this is done very well, but due to the show. low average frequency response of radio sets in the Let us say that we have a play with three crooks homes of the listening public, certain frequencies of the in a room, looking over their loot. They pour the original sound are either lost or over-emphasized. swag out of a bag on to the table. On a word cue to A condition such as poor frequency response in the fit the situation the sound effect man pours a bag of radio receiver leaves but one thing to do at the broad- nails, washers, etc., on his sound effect table which, casting station, without changing its high fidelity ampli- when picked up by the microphone at the proper volume, fier equipment and that is to produce sound effect un- this sounds like a bag of jewelry in the process of being naturally. This really means they are deliberately un- poured on the table. balanced with regard to their frequency content and vol- It sometimes requires a lot of imagination on the ume and are sent out on the air that way (because of part of the production department to get effects that the faithful reproduction of transmitting equipment) but they have never really listened to in real life. Suppose when picked up and amplified in the average receiving now that the three yeggs are being surrounded by cops set, become more or less natural again. and in the course of the conversation, one of them e\- If the receiving set were as good as the broadcast claims, "The Cops!" equipment the sound effect would again sound unnatural, The listener-in hears a motor car approaching. Its so the reader will see it's a sort of merry-go-round and a phonograph record of an automobile being faded in causes the broadcast engineers much trouble. by the mixer to1 give the desired effect. The mixer drags Even though our whole system of equipment, from the turntable to a stop to give the impression of a car the microphone to the receiving set loudspeaker, were stopping, and, at the same time, he gives a cue to the a hundred per cent perfect, there are certain effects we sound effect man in the studio to give a brake squeak, cannot produce naturally. Some of these are as fol- He does this by sliding a piece of plate glass over some lows: A railroad train, a storm at sea, thunder storm, gravel. galloping horses, airplanes, automobiles, explosions, ef- Three cars of cops are brought into the scene in the feet of an earthquake shaking a building down, man same manner. diving in water, and many other effects too numerous One of the yeggs may yell: "They're breaking in!" to mention. Obviously, it would be disconcerting to run and a little ahead of the cue word the sound effect man a locomotive through the studio. is pounding furiously on a prop door. This gives the Following is a list of the most commonly used sound effect of the door being forced by the cops. The sound effects in producing everyday dramatic radio shows: effect man then jumps on a light pine box; you hear Doorbell, phone bell, fire engine bell, railway crossing a crash and the cops come running in — more synthetic bell, sirens of several varieties, stop signal bell, auto sound of footsteps is produced by three or four men run- horns of all makes, whistles of all varieties, footsteps, ning on boards. door knocks, door opening and closing, breaking in door, Sometimes it takes four or five sound effect men to rattle of paper of every variety, effect of fire of every produce a show where there is a lot of action and at description, water effect of every description, cannon times part of the cast in the play are drafted as sound shots, gun shots, explosions of all varieties, horse hoofs, effect men. wagon wheels, battle effects, armor rattling, swords Let us say that our three criminals protest at the Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Three rude action of the cops in breaking into their private quarters and a free-for-all fight takes place. Then we have all the sound effect men bus\ and part of the cast is ad-libbing with cries and shouts. One man is busy doing nothing but smacking his fist into the palm of his hand, while another falls on a board to the floor to give the effect of men being knocked down. Still another is busy firing real guns with blank cartridges, or he may be hitting a leather covered cush- ion with a stick to produce sounds like shots — this is known as the shot pad. The remaining man is busy upsetting chairs (real chairs are used for this) and when all five men are go- ing full blast it sounds very much like a free-for-all fight to the radio listener. And here it may be said that these effects are rehearsed many times before go- ing on the air ; the average play of half an hour is usually rehearsed with sound five or six hours before presentation. Let's imagine a storm at sea on an old sailing boat. The listener hears the wind howling. This is produced with a clever effect machine — a large cylinder of wood — with a dozen or so ribs about one inch high with a piece of canvas dragging over it. When turned rapidly the cylinder emits quite a howl of wind. The effect of rain is produced by a special rain ma- chine. It is about three feet in diameter, one inch deep and round. It is mounted about ten degrees off level. A handful of shot placed in the bottom produces the effect of rain when the device is slowly turned. The effect of sloshing water is accomplished by the use of a hot water bag half full of water and sloshed in front of the microphone. Next we may require a good squeak in the old boat. A bit of the studio furniture is utilized for this. A straight backed studio chair was found to have a de- lightful squeak when swayed slowly by the back from side to side. To get the effect of canvas sail flapping, several pieces of canvas were mounted on a wooden frame ; when shaken vigorously in synchronism with the bursts of wind it sounded very much like the real thing. A few squeaky pulley blocks hung on the frame added much to this effect. One script in the production, "Calling All Cars,'' called for the bombing of the Los Angeles Times Build- ing. After many hours of trying different stunts for the explosion and wreckage of the building we finally hit upon a combination of effects that sounded real. First to get the effect of a terrific explosion of an infernal machine such as was used in the Los Angeles Times Building bombing, a board about five feet wide and twelve feet long was dropped on the studio floor. When picked up by the microphone this sounded very much like our own studio had blown up. To get the effect of the walls caving in, we used about two dozen folding chairs piled high ; then at the top of a board that formed an incline were placed five or six dozen piano rolls. Immediately following the syn- thetic explosion, the chairs were pushed over along with the player piano rolls, and then a large box of debris was dumped on the floor in a pouring fashion. To produce the effect of the fire that followed the explosion and wreckage of the building a large piece of celophane was crushed in a rotating fashion in the palm of the hands. When all of these individual effects were put together in one scene, the effect was tremendous. The usual method of producing any sound effect scene such as the Los Angeles Times bombing case, where there are several varieties of sound to be com- bined, is to try each individual sound for its natural tone, and then balance all sound effects together and listen to the overall effect. All sound effects have to be balanced by the sound effect man and mixer in order to get the proper perspective. A serious sound effect often becomes comedy when not done properly. The production of shows with sound has also many points of humor. In one dramatic show the hero was supposed to kill a cobra by firing two shots. On cue the sound effect man fired one shot and the next was a fluke. The actor kept waiting for his cue; the second shot, which never came. He couldn't read the lines in the script: "Well, it took two shots, but I got him," so he ad-libbed the next line to meet the situation and saved the day by saying, "Well, I got him!" In closing let's say that the production of natural sound effects calls for plenty of hard work, time, pa- tience and ingenuity. THE ONE GREAT WONDER" [In the October issue of International Photographer additional information will be published as a follow-up to "THE ONE GREAT WONDER", the editorial printed in our August issue, proposing a permanent world's fair for Los Angeles or San Francisco by the reproduction here or there of the "SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD." Watch for it.— The Editor.] Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 THE JUNIOR NEWSREEL IS HERE! (Thinking Back and Looking Ahead) By Ray Fernstrom [The International Photographer enthusiastically congratulates and the latter feels that our genial and brilliant Scandinavian friend the author, Mr. Fernstrom, upon the big idea offered in the con- haf, "* upon an idea that will delight the entire movie world and will also make motion picture history. Mr. Fernstrom authorizes ception of this Junior Newsreel. For more rhar. a year Mr. Fern- the Editor f(J announce tnat he has financed his proposition and strom has from time to time discussed this subject with the Editor, will quickly pre-empt the field by active operation. — Editor's Note.] UDGING by some of the unjust criticism of in pictures. Novelty, that element of surprise — that is fpjjjjfj newsreels, one would think that we who con- so rare these days. The stuff our boss, E. Cohen, used tribute to them never have given a thought to to drum into our skulls back in the good old Paramount our work — past, present or future. So many News days. "Every scene should be a surprise to your people in other branches of picture making are con- audience," he'd say, and we've been trying to do that stantly telling us how we should make our reels that, ever since. Of course, novelty is difficult to get, but I for one, am inclined to talk back and offer a few sug- look to your newsreel for novelty and, sooner than you gestions in return. expect, you will rind it and perhaps it will give you Returning last week from a few months shooting in something that is "news" among picture ideas, if that Europe, I found the local picture makers trembling with is what you seek. If not, you might as well fold up fear at the coals heaped on the heads of producers who the tent and travel — which gives me an idea, make objectionable films, with the result that the future "Get the Children Back into the Movie Houses!" health of the industry looks aenemic indeed, unless fresh seems to be the hue and cry of picture people today, blood is transfused. This has already happened from Children have been rather neglected in the past as far time to time in the newsreel and, from now on, the life as drawing them into the theatres with pictures "turned of any picture program may be almost entirely in the out." As for getting them back, that calls for a corn- head of the show, the leader — the pace setter — the plete about-face, not just a collection of syrup shows. NEWSREEL. Kids are too smart today for sugar sweet stuff. These There should be one factor in the theatre, whether young people from five up are so much more intelligent it appears on the screen or on the boards, seen or heard, than we were at their ages that we have a job ahead color or black and white — and THAT is — as it always catching up with them. We cannot try to make stuff should have been — ENTERTAINMENT. that we would have enjoyed at that age for they do Everyone finds interesting details in whatever is go- not like the same stuff now that we did then, ing on in the world about us and it is the function Kids want NOVELTY — SURPRISE — NEW — and of the newsreel to bring these DETAILS to the screen NEWS — ask them and see if I'm not correct in this in an entertaining manner. THIS the newsreels have conviction. And if you get the kids you draiv the always done and are doing so that each issue of a news- grown-ups, for they too are trying to keep up with this reel will be better than its predecessors. With them it new generation. is an everlasting struggle for improvement, and they To understand these youngsters of today you have ARE improving, setting a precedent, a course, that to raise a few of your own and learn from them how others might follow to their own betterment and that they and their little playmates think, before you can of their product. make pictures for them. The infancy of the film industry has been passed, We may not be able to do it — it may not come be- so far as the newsreels are concerned and I venture to fore a few of them have grown up and replaced us, a say, your newsreels of the immediate future will pack few who are of their generation and of their advanced more good movie than ANY feature, unless someone intellect. The only course ahead is for all of us to wakes up and catches up. work together, study our children arid try to find what The handwriting on the wall reads one word — — just what — will entertain them. We cannot go back COLOR — and, believe me, real natural color is HERE too much to the stories of the past, for even these will and here to stay, but do we hear of any features to be not hold this coming generation for long. These young- made entirely in natural color? At least ONE news- sters are looking ahead, while most of us oldsters are reel — with typical newsreel far-sightedness, is about to thinking back. be made entirely in color. With this in mind — is there One sterling example has been set so far that seems any question as to where we are heading? to hold the youngsters — the Silly Symphonies, by Walt Shorts, other than news, are also the vanguard of Disney, the guiding light of the industry. His pictures picture progress contracting the fever from newsreel en- have novelty, surprise, color; is it any surprise they are thusiasm. More and more will soon be in natural color, NATURALS? the same beautiful photography seen in all Silly Sym- If all of us knew modern child psychology as Dis- phonies, Technicolor, brought out of the cartoon rooms ney and his staff do, there would be a real future for us into the great outdoors for the first time — stepping out and the kiddies would line up outside the picture houses toward the future with bold strides of cheerful optimism. with parallel lines of mothers and daddies. So far these shorts are being carried ahead by the novelty The Great American Family has too often been for- of the lovely color, but the light ahead is getting brighter. gotten when pictures have been planned. NOVELTY — brings us to the one word that covers The idea referred to above pertains to the drawing almost everything in the show business. There is more power of novelty, and to children, and pictures for them. DRAW to novelty than to anything else one could put It keeps in mind the American Family, from mother to Flease mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 I 1 1 I N T E K N A T 1 O K A I. PHOTOG K A P H E R / he babe, uses a little of Disney's child psychology and a little of the kids' love of make-believe, but without artificiality. Kids love color, so all my ideas are in- tended for color photography. They enjoy funny sheets, especially Sunday color sections. A large measure of success of Disney's Symphonies undoubtedly came from his good judgment in using color, in addition to the novelty appeal to both eye and ear. Kids love to travel, go places and do things. As a next best thing they make believe ; if they can't go to sea they make toy boats, but different boats, better ones, with motors ; better by far than when we were kids not so long ago. They cannot fly YET, but they build mighty good models, many of them perfect, that DO fly. Can we ? And so — back to the IDEA. We take four words: TRAVEL — which means action, far places, novelty, comed\. CHILDREN — children all over the world — and take a couple of American kids with us on a tour of the globe — that can serve as a make-believe trip for the kids in our audience. COLOR — children visualize everything in color, so how can we do other than take their tip and that of Walt Disney? SOUND — little French children speaking in French in answer to our little Americans speaking English, for example. Put them all together and you start a series of Travelogues that should please any child, adult of any age and any language, anywhere. No one knows how the other folks live, on the other side of the world. We have seen plenty of travel pictures, streets, people, the same old stereotype stuff, but have we seen how they LIVE, PLAY, go to SCHOOL, EAT, SLEEP, AMUSE themselves? By carrying our two little American characters we contrast and compare ourselves with children of other lands and open opportunities for unusual action, that is ever natural. All we have to worry about is the story continuity. If you agree that Color Travelogues for children are a drawing card, why can't we go into this further? Why not a children's NEWSREEL— A JUNIOR NEWSREEL? This idea came to me several years ago as I watched a group of young Scandinavians play football in a Stock- holm schoolyard. If only our young Americans could see those boys kicking the ball around, never touching it with their hands! Football is played in schoolyards the world over, but never quite the same. The contrast lends novelty to the interest in boys of other countries. The more I traveled and observed, carrying the idea in mind, the more I became convinced that here was another NATURAL. There are enough interesting events taking place in the world — things of especial interest to youngsters, and those who stay young, to keep a series of this sort roll- ing for years — material that the senior newsreels never cover because of the lack of spot news flavor to such happenings. The novelty, the action, the human inter- est, the ENTERTAINMENT is there in heavy por- tions. If there was not such an impregnable wall against a major theatre chain release by an independent I should make these myself, but since the wall cannot be climbed by one of my short stature, I can only toss this note to those who live within the hope that it may help to bring such pictures to the youngsters whom I know will love them. As for full length features, look to such as "Little Women," although they are hard to rind. A few such as the stories by Selma Lagerlof and, by the way, did you hear "Robin Hood" on the air the other night? Imagine that in Technicolor ! In closing may I point out a startling example that carries its own moral? Sometime ago my friend, John W. Boyle, made a feature length travelogue in Europe, entirely in color. It contained novelty from start to finish, in addition to the novelty of color. No major distributor could see the entertainment value of such a film, because it was DIFFERENT. Now that John has road shown it, this one picture has received finer press and church notices than any film ever produced. Here is such a feature as might well follow a program of Silly Symphonies and give audiences, children and grown- ups alike a really different entertainment experience, but we run smack up against "block booking" — and there my story ends. EASTMAN SCORES WITH THE NEWEST FOREIGN TYPE MINIATURE KODAK The newest foreign-type miniature Kodak, which takes sixteen pictures, \% by 2T4 inches in size, on an eight- exposure roll of 620 film, has just been put on the mar- ket by the Eastman Kodak Company. The sixteen prints from a roll of film exposed in the Kodak Duo Six-20, as the new camera is called, are large enough for an album, a letter or a pocket. The availability of Panatomic Film, with its fine-grain char- acteristics, in the 620 size for use in the Duo Six-20 will accommodate also photographers who wish to make sizeable enlargements from their negatives. The Kodak Duo Six-20 is extraordinarily compact for a camera taking pictures of the size described, its longest dimension being actually less than that of a Vest ranging from 1 second to 1/300 of a second, with bulb Pocket Kodak. Like the Kodak Vollenda and the Ko- and time. daks Six-20 and Six-16, the front of the Duo Six-20 The red windows have a slide cover for light pro- springs into rigid picture-taking position at the touch tection when panchromatic film is used. There is a or a button. collapsible direct-view optical finder, beside a depth-of- The Duo Six-20 is equipped with a Kodak Anastig- f°cus scale, mat f :3.5 lens and a Compur shutter, which are set in In appearance, the Duo Six-20 has the popular beveled a spiral focusing mount controlled by a lever. The lens ends and etched metal side panels of the present mod- is of 7 cm. focal length. The shutter has eight speeds, ernistic trend. Price, $52.50. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 By Earl Theisen ^ALKING about fan letters, the letters pour into Hollywood from all over the world, from persons in all walks of life. These letter writers, not content to write letters of appre- ciation, instead look upon the film star as an outlet for their pent-up yearnings. All their frustrations that are not exhausted in a vicarious dream in the theatre itself are spent on the star in a letter. They lavish their inner- most wishes, their confidences, their disappointments — every conceivable request comes to the film star. These letters usually start with praises and sugary admiration and end with a request for a free photograph or perhaps discarded clothing. The request is not always for the discarded clothing; they ask for autos, for new saxophones, for an autographed rib from Mae West's corset or for the hand of the stars in matrimony. And that is not all. One player was besieged with requests from a fan in Atlanta, Georgia, for a button from his vest. The letters came so persistently that finally in despair the player sent the button. A Bing Crosby fan recently wrote to Evelyn Ven- able asking her for a photograph of herself autographed to Bing Crosby : Reason : The fan was making up a scrap book for his "Bing" and wanted the Hollywood tribe to contribute. Another celebrity sometime ago was besieged with letters from a woman to please come home to his chil- dren. They were hungry ; they were crying for their father. The letters kept coming, so, of course the thing was investigated. The woman was found to be a poor old demented colored lady. The crying children were delusions. This same star received a number of letters from another fan, a crank, demanding $25,000. The letter stipulated that the star must bring the money in per- son and be on the corner of Eighth and Main Streets, in some little town in Maine, on such-and-such a date. If he did not show up the fan was going to be mad at him. Some of the letters are pathetic. There was one that John Lodge, at Paramount Studios, could not re- sist. It was from an old man. The oldster had dreamed all his life of having a silk hat ; but never could afford one. His money had gone for other things — raising a family who needed little shoes. His heart wanted a silk hat and he didn't mind if it was a little battered. John Lodge and Claudette Colbert, who was shown the let- ter and insisted on helping, went in together and sent a spanking new topper for the old man to show at his lodge. Usually the requests for clothing are never answered Please mention The International Photogra because, if one request were granted, a deluge of such requests would follow. Another letter recently sent Sylvia Sidney was from a young man who had many virtues which he enumer- ated in detail. He requested that Sylvia Sidney find him a beautiful wife who could support him. In fact, he added, he would even consider Sylvia herself. Still another female star who is not to be mentioned received a letter full of male salesmanship. He ended the letter with a caution not to throw the letter in the waste basket because it would cause a fire. Recently Carl Bronson's hat was stolen. It was re- turned cut into innumerable pieces with the request that he autograph each piece and return them. Claudette Colbert received a dubious compliment when a Mid-Western farmer wrote to tell her that his pet cow, which had been named "Claudette" in her honor, had just given birth to a pair of calves. Would she please name them ? These film folk are asked to christen babies, horses, boats, and what have you. Every day these requests come, most of which, for obvious reasons, cannot be granted. They cannot fur- nish every request ranging from a shoe buckle to life companionship. Sometimes they are funny, often pathetic, and a star is tempted to comply ; but the fear of a deluge of such requests keep the letters from being answered. How many persons are involved in making a motion picture? Believe it or not, as that fellow would say, in the making of Columbia "Broadway Bill" some patient person figured it out and the figures say 16,461 persons and a rooster and a horse. Fifteen thousand were ex- tras, but that still leaves quite a few people. Do you realize the number of persons that must add their touch to the picture after it leaves the studio's production de- partments? There is first the laboratory, with its large staff, the exchanges, railroad expressmen and delivery boys, theatre operators, inspectors and censors. Look at the number of censors alone. Headlines say Robert Woolsey is nursing birds. Ac- cording to R. K. O. publicity department Woolsey can be seen each morning with a ladder outside the publicity building, climbing to a tree branch with a medicine dropper, some sugared water, a hard boiled egg and a toothpick in his hand. He uses the toothpick to hand the egg to a nestful of fledgling mocking birds whose home is in the tree. Woolsey says he will watch over the birds until they start mocking him. Receiving a hurry call from Director Philip Moeller for a certain type, Mickey Owen, an assistant casting director, hurried to the set to get the details. The director, at sight of him, decided he was just the type, so regardless of objections Mickey Owen isn't "casting" now. Joan Crawford has her sixteenth known namesake ! The sixteenth one is the daughter of Katherine Albert, a magazine writer. Joan did the honors with a com- plete layette that she knitted herself between scenes in "Chained," her latest picture. How pleased the persons must be who ask Gene Raymond for an autograph. Gene Raymond always asks for an autograph in return. pher when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH E R Sevt u ELEMENTARY PHOTOMICROGRAPHY By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. Ill) you know that any camera can easily be used to make photomicrographs? Yes indeed, all you need is a camera and a microscope — plus a little common sense — and photographs through the microscope become an accomplished fact. All you have to do is to set the lens of the camera for infinity- focus, place the camera directly over the microscope, the camera lens close to the eye-piece of the microscope, and there you are. Photomicrography is rare among amateur photograph- ers, possibly because it all seems so tremendously technical and complicated. It is when considered from the labora- tory or research standpoint, but the amateur seeking a bit of diversion with his camera need not fear compli- cations, for as far as he is concerned, the work is de- lightful and simple. Assuming a camera is available, the first considera- tion is naturally a microscope. There are numerous models, types and makes available, and it is a pity that more Americans don't take up microscopy as a hobby, for it has a certain fascination all its own. In Europe a microscope in the home is almost as common as a camera — but we started out to discuss photomicrography. Any microscope will do for amateur purposes, but ob- viously the better its objectives the more can be done in photography. Simple compound microscopes which may be had within a price range of ten to twenty-five dol- lars are to be seen in various optical and department stores and come from the factories of well-known firms such as Bausch and Lomb and Wollensak. Jumping up the price scale a bit we come to standard laboratory and routine outfits like Bausch and Lomb, Leitz, Spencer, and Zeiss. These may be had for from approximately some- what more than one hundred dollars on to what you may be able to afford. Less expensive standard micro- scopes may be had for considerably less, but these do not possess the refinements of the more expensive outfits. For example, Leitz offers several models of precision micro- scopes equipped with the standard "society thread" which accommodates standard objectives. These 'scopes cost be- tween fifteen and twenty-five dollars and are a worthy investment because of their standardized features. Now as to the camera. As has already been men- tioned, any camera may be used. True, there are special and expensive cameras for this sort of work available — - but these are for the laboratories and the amateur need not think that he must have similar equipment in order to produce good photomicrographs. Two methods are open to the amateur photographer. He can remove the lens from his camera and the eye-piece of the microscope and make his exposures with the limited optical equip- ment, or, if his camera does not permit the removal of its lens, he can set the latter at the infinity mark and place it directly over the eye-piece of the microscope. In both cases, results can be expected. It is interesting to note that in several instances there is special equipment available to facilitate the work and broaden the scope. Owners of the Leica and Contax cameras, for example, can purchase special equipment which makes a definite connection between camera and 'scope. With these accessories, the camera lens and microscope eye-piece are dispensed with, the accessories taking their place. Beam-splitters, focusing tubes, and special shutters are incorporated in the accessories so that not only can the owner photograph inanimate specimens, but living ones as well, for the focus can be carefully adjusted as occasion demands by means of the focusing tube and beam-splitter. At the precise moment the focus and position of the living specimen is favorable, the shut- ter is released — this is done at the same time the beam- splitter is automatically moved aside for the full intensity of light to pass through onto the film (or plate) in the camera. A few examples of photomicrographs made with the Leica camera and Micro Ibso attachment. Leitz microscope used. Photos Courtesy E. Leitz, Inc. Barleben. Only recently the Bausch and Lomb Company an- nounced a simple, effective, yet inexpensive outfit com- plete, including camera and microscope. The microscope is their new model R, and the camera, a special box- device which is entirely practical for amateur purposes. In short, this new outfit can be purchased complete, ready to use, as all the necessary connections are either built in the instruments or included with the outfit. I pre- dict that this outfit is going to make a good many young amateur photographers and microscopists happy, for its price is well within the reach of all. When using the simple camera and microscope, the hook-up will depend upon the type of instruments used. The principle involved consists of supporting the camera directly over the microscope. This must be done sub- stantially, for vibration should not be permitted to exist at any part of the unit. Some workers who do not indulge sufficiently in photomicography to make the pur- chase of special devices practical use an ordinary "ring- stand" such as is used by chemists. It is a metal plat- form from which stands a metal rod. A clamp is easily- made that will screw into the tripod-socket of the camera and also clamp firmly to the upright of the "ring-stand," thus supporting the camera at the proper height over the 'scope. A temporary stand for the camera — yet one that is not at all recommended — can be produced by piling books, one upon the other until the front of the camera can be laid upon the uppermost in such a fash- ion that the lens contacts the draw-tube of the scope. Such an arrangement is decidedly unsteady, and hence Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eight T he IXTERNATI O X A L PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 is not recommended. However, in this matter each amateur must work out his solution, for every make and type of camera presents a different problem. Naturally, light must be excluded at the connection where the camera lens and 'scope eye-piece meet. In temporary cases this is easily accomplished by wrapping black cloth around the connection several times so that no light is permitted to enter except that which is in- tended to traverse through the microscope from below. Or a tube can be rolled from stiff cardboard which snug- ly fits over both lens and eye-piece. A special "adapter ring" is available for the Leica camera which is placed over the eye-piece of the 'scope and fastens to the lens by means of a set-screw. This makes a perfect connec- tion and should be considered by all who own a Leica. Illumination we must have for our exposures. Just what type and how much is again a matter for the indi- vidual worker to decide, for conditions will vary greatly in each case. The most satisfactory type of light is of course the carbon arc. A number of excellent micro- scope arc lamps are on the market, should the amateur care to go into this work sufficiently to make their cost worth while. An arc lamp can be made, using small "pencil" carbons and drawing only a few amperes, but the beginner had best pass this type of illumination up to begin with, anyway. The tungsten type of light seems to have every desirable feature — intensity, safety, and low cost. A lamp of about 100 watts will work nicely. It should of course be contained in a well ventilated lamp house to insure a concentrated light source at the micro- scope mirror. Lamps of less intensity are likely to cause the exposure to be unnecessarily long. It is necessary to see that the light is striking the microscope mirror squarely, and that the mirror is ad- justed so that the utmost illumination is secured on the specimen. In the vast majority ot cases, the microscope must be focused visually, then after focus has been care- fully established, the camera is placed over the 'scope for the exposure. Because of this, inanimate specimens only can be attempted (except in the case of the special Leica and Contax attachments referred to previously). The choice of sensitive material (film or plate) should be given careful consideration. For simple subjects, a fine-grain orthochromatic film is suggested. If it is fast, all the better, for exposures can then be shortened con- siderably. If the specimen is stained — and most micro- scope slides are — a panchromatic emulsion is indicated. Two factors should be kept in mind as far as the emul- sion choice is concerned: speed and grain. Speed is highly desirable to cut down exposures, and fine grain is neces- sary for small negatives, which are usually used for photomicrography, because enlargements will subsequently be made. Contrast is another desirable feature if it can be had in combination with the other requirements, for it assists splendidly to bring out the tiny details in the enlargement. Amateurs who possess miniature cameras which use standard 35 mm. cinema film will find in DuPont Micropan and Eastman Panatomic two ideally suited films for their purpose. Roll film camera owners can use the Eastman Panatomic without hesitancy. Agfa Plenachrome or Superpan cinema and roll film are like- wise excellent. So are Perutz Neo-Persenso and Perom- nia, Selochrome, Gevaert Panchromosa, Voigtlander — -but why go on? Each amateur has his pet films to work with, and all are good. As for exposures — ah, that is a mystery. It can readily be understood how impossible it is for anyone to expect to guess the exposure — or expect anyone else to. As each condition is different — light source, type of light source, microscope, type of objectives and eye-pieces, magnification, specimen, color of specimen, and type and speed of emulsion — it can be seen that there is but one accurate method of learning the correct exposure to give — make a test strip of a series of exposures, each at a different exposure. On developing this test strip it be- comes easy to note which exposure is the properly ex- posed one. This one, then, is the guide, and on referring Micro-lbso attachment for coupling Leica camera to microscope. to the notes made while the test strip was being exposed, we know just how long to expose for. Once a few such tests have been run off, the amateur can readily judge for himself the correct exposure in future work. There is such a thing as using an exposure meter but the results are not always reliable nor constant, hence the test method is by far the most satisfactory, if a bit round-about. These few words are written merely in an attempt to interest the amateur photographer in coupling his camera to a microscope. For further suggestions, the reader is referred to various books and pamphlets on the subject. The Eastman Kodak Company has a dandy for fifty cents. Be sure to get a copy. No one should hesitate in these days of enlighten- ment to make bold explorations with his camera, large or small. The camera can be used for so many fascinat- ing activities that it seems strange that ninety per cent of the camera owners confine their photographic activities to the usual run of snap-shooting. The camera as an instrument is capable of far more, and it would appear that the amateur is cheating himself by not using his camera to its utmost capabilities. SPECIAL MODEL LEICA CAMERA The new model FF Leica is being announced by E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th Street, New York City. The model FF Leica is basically the same as the famous model F excepting that the film capacity is 33 feet (enough for 250 exposures instead of a little more than five feet in the regular Leica, giving up to 36 exposures). Aerial photographers will welcome this new model, for it eliminates the need for reloading after every 36 ex- posures. Natural color photographers will find it of great value in their work, for it permits a greater range of pictures to be made without opening the camera. It shorter lengths. For copy work, the model FF is with- out a peer, for its film capacity permits the copying of many pages successively without interruptions. In short, the model FF Leica is ideal for all photographers who have need for making more than 36 exposures per load- ing. The new Leica model possesses all the features of the model F Leica, slow shutter speeds, magnified range finder, etc. Two film magazines are used, thus mak- ing it unnecessary to rewind the film back after ex- posure. Any of the Leica lenses are interchangeable on this model. Accessories include an Eveready case, special is likewise useful to press and candid photographers, for ^m trimming guide, and spare magazine. often they are required to make a complete series of Circular 7454 describes the new model FF Leica. pictures in rapid succession without time to re-load A copy will be gladly sent to all those requesting it. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 T h e I N T E R X A T I (") X A L PHOTOGRAI'll E R Sine EVERY MONDAY- as a special feature of uporteii all the news of all OUTSTANDING CAMERAMEN is presented in WHAT'S WHAT BRULATOUR BULLETIN published in the spirit of WHO'S WHO SERVICE Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 "CITY OF NEW YORK". Photo by E. T. Howell. Leica Camera. Stop: f:9. Shutter: 1/60 sec. Filter: No. 2. Film: Eastman Supersensitive Panchromatic. Developer: Buffered Borax. Paper: Eastman Portrait Proofing. Gl' A COLOR 35 mm. Lenticular-Base Film: This film was first available to the European photographer, but has recently been introduced to the American miniature camera enthusiast. It does not usher in a new method of making colored photographs, the principle involved being the same as that employed by the familiar Kodacolor system of 16 mm. motion picture photography. This process is of the additive type, the film itself containing no color but a black and white record of the various hues of the subject. On projection through a suitable filter the subject appears in full color. The entire process is dependent upon a unique film whose base side has been embossed with thousands of minute cylindrical lenses. This film is loaded into the camera in the opposite fashion to normal — with its base side towards the lens. It is supplied in the usual Agfa container obviating the necessity of loading it into a magazine. About eight inches at the start are blackened as a light protection, and it is necessary before taking any picture to make three blank exposures to take up this blackened portion of the film. The second item necessary to this system is a special color filter on which the three primary colors of light are represented in bands. The Kodacolor filter contains but three bands, each of which is composed of one of the primary colors of light — red, green and blue-violet. The Agfacolor filter is divided into five or more bands, to balance the coloration, and to obtain a more even diffusion of the colors. The filter is mounted on the lens so that these bands are in a horizontal position, and this position must not be altered. In order to focus it is therefore necessary for the lens to be provided with a mount in which the front ring does not rotate when focusing. Another ob- vious characteristic the lens must possess is correction for chromatic aberration. MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY Owners of the Leica camera can avail themselves of this color system by the acquisition of either the Hektor f:1.9, or the Summar f:2 lenses, and the necessary filter. The Summar possesses an extreme degree of correction for color. Carl Zeiss offers the Color Tessar f :2, or the Sonnar f :2, and Agfacolor filters to fit these lenses, for use with the Contax camera. The lens diaphragm remains wide open, exposure ad- justment being accomplished by varying the shutter speed. If the diaphragm is closed down it will cut off the bands of the filter unevenly, interfering with the cor- rect reproduction of the colors. A lens of the Leitz Summar type is an exception, for it is provided with an octagonal shaped diaphragm which cuts off the bands of the filter evenly. The diaphragm of this objective may be closed down when used with the Agfacolor process. The exposure required is about 15 times greater than that necessary for an ordinary orthochromatic film. As was mentioned before, the filter is mounted on the lens with the color bands in a horizontal position, this being necessary so that the bands are in the same position relatively to the minute lenses on the film. In order to simply explain the method in which this process works let us assume we are photographing an object having a single color — green. A filter allows light of its own color to pass through it, and retards the other colors, therefore light reflected from the green object passes through the green portion of the filter, but is held back by the bands of the other colors. The film as you remember is placed with the base side containing the minute lenses towards the lens, so that each minute lens on the film will form an image of the bands of the filter on the emulsion directly behind it. On development of the exposed film the minute band behind each cylin- drical lens representing the green band of the filter will be dense, whereas the portions of the emulsion repre- senting the other color bands of the filter will not con- tain any developed silver, since they have not been af- fected by light. The film is reversed, that is the developed metallic silver is dissolved away, the film exposed to light and again developed, the result being a positive. In this positive all the minute bands representing green will be clear and the rest of the film will contain dense de- posits of silver. In order to view Agfacolor pictures it is necessary to project the films through a similar filter as was used in taking the pictures, with the exception that this filter is corrected for the artificial light of the projector. As the light passes through the film to the lens of the pro- jector, each minute cylindrical lens on the film will project the image behind it so that each small band will pass through its corresponding band on the filter. In our case only the small band on the film representing green will be clear, so that light will pass only through Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Eleven the green portion of the filter, with the result that the picture on the screen is green. The unique feature which the Agfacolor film pos- sesses precludes the necessity of extremely careful pro- cessing. Formulas are supplied by Agfa and these should be carefully compounded. It is advisable to use apparatus such as the Leitz developing drum, which is a cylindrical glass drum around which the him is wound and attached with clips. The drum is set upon two metal uprights and placed over a tray containing the solution. A small handle is provided for rotating the drum. Carl Zeiss also supplies developing apparatus for the color film in the form of a special developing frame. The formulas for processing Agfacolor film are as follows: Developer tor Agfacolor Film Metol --------- 200 grs. Sodium sulphite (anhydrous) - - 3*^2 ozs. Potassium bromide - - - - - 85 grs. Water (85° to 95°) ----- 31^ ozs. The chemicals are dissolved in the order given. After cooling add: Ammonia (sp.gr. 0.91) - - - - 1 oz. Hydroquinone -- 62 grs. Dissolve in 3l/2 ounces of water. For use mix one part of the above solution with 5 parts of water. Development in the above developer is 4 minutes. The film is then rinsed for one minute in running water and placed in the following reversing bath : Reversing Bath Potassium bichromate - - - - 1^4 ozs- Sulphuric acid (concentrated) - - 2>y2 ozs. Water --------- 35^4 ozs. Add the sulphuric acid slowdy to the solution of the bichromate which should be quite cold. For use mix one part of stock solution with 10 parts of water. The film is placed in the reversing bath until all the silver has been bleached out, which will take about 2 minutes. It is then washed for 1 minute in run- ning water. After being in the reversing bath for about 1 minute the film can be exposed to bright light. The film is now placed in the developer used before for its final development, which will take place in about 3 minutes. This operation is carried out in bright light. The film is washed for about 2 minutes and then hung up to dry, all excess moisture being removed with a moist chamois skin, viscose sponge, etc. All the above processing solutions are used at a tem- perature of 65° F. It is recommended that the film be treated with Agfa- color varnish after it has dried. It can then be cut up into the individual pictures, and the latter mounted between the regular 50 mm. cover glasses, the mattes being mounted on the outer surface of either of the glasses. D-76 Fine-Grain Developer: Despite the fact that paraphenylene-diamine formulas are greatly in vogue many photographers still prefer to use the D-76 formula for general work in which extreme enlargements are not re- quired. Such photographers will be pleased to know that this formula is now packed in a ready-to-mix form containing the various chemicals in the required quan- tities, merely necessitating their solution in water. It is offered in different sizes of cans making 1 quart, ^ gallon, and 1 gallon of developer, respectively. Eastman has also recently announced a new alkalai called Kodalk, possessing the following characteristics and advantages: By Augustus WOLFMAN 1. It is more alkaline than borax and slightly less than carbonate. 2. It does not contain carbonate, does not evolve a gas in contact with acid, and therefore cannot pro- duce blisters. 3. The degree of development and the time required to obtain a desired contrast may be modified by varying the amount of Kodalk in the developer. 4. The life of the average potassium-alum fixing bath is extended because Kodalk developers have much less tendency than carbonate developers to precipitate an aluminum sulphite sludge in the fixing bath. 5. Kodalk dissolves readily and does not tend to cake when added to the water. 6. It keeps satisfactorily in a well covered container. The modified D-76 formula in which Kodalk is sub- stituted for borax is known as the DK-76 formula and is as follows : Developing Formula DK-76 Water (125° F. or 52° C.) - 16 ozs. Elon --------- 29 grs. Sodium sulphite (dessicated) - 3 ozs. 135 grs. Hydrochinone ------ 73 grs. Kodalk -------- 29 grs. Water to make ----- 32 ozs. Dissolve the chemicals in the order given. Over-exposure and Sharpness : Many photographers follow the old reliable rules, "Expose for the shadows and let the highlights take care of themselves," and "When in doubt over-expose." These golden rules have on many occasions aided the photographer in obtaining a suitable negative of the subject. The modern emul- sion has considerable latitude and can stand quite a bit of over-exposure and still yield a negative replete with detail. However, we still insist that there is no sub- stitute for a reliable exposure meter, and one should always be employed, for slight over-exposure may aid in obtaining detail in the shadows, but considerable over- exposure has its evils. One of the things it is detri- mental to is sharpness. The emulsion contains many layers of silver grains which can be reduced to metallic silver, the amount of reduction being dependent upon the exposure the film receives. Let us assume that to produce detail in a shadow it requires but one layer of silver grains. In- stead the film is given an amount of over-exposure which will cause five layers to be deposited. The effect is the same as if one were to look through a fine mesh mate- rial. As successive layers of the material are added the greater is the diffusion of the light. Definition also suf- fers due to diffraction. It is always best to emplov an exposure meter, and if in doubt over-expose but slightly. The Eastman Interval Timer Model B : Miniature (Turn to Page 29) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Tzvclve T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 The Importance of Being a Director By Richard L. Bare [Mr. Bare, Supervising Director, Department of Cinematography, University of Southern California, has just completed producing and directing the two-reel 35 mm. picture of Edgar Aller. Poe's story, "The Oval Portrait," for which he was awarded the Paul Muni Plaque of 1934.— Editor's Note. I fWcv^j 1SREGARDING the unsurmountable barrier IftffO which lies between the making of a profes- P'fgPJ sional picture and the making of a non-pre- k— — ^« fessional one, the director is, or should be, the supreme mainspring which motivates the clock-work of production, no matter whether he is hired to guide the destinies of the stars of Magnanimous Pictures Corpora- tion, or whether he, for the pure and simple fun of it all, undertakes to masterfully dominate the personnel of the Backyard Players Productions. Accordingly, no matter whether it was filmed by the professional studio or by the backyard crank-turners, if the picture turns out to be another "lemon," it is the director who inevitably takes the blame. But if, on the other hand, for some unevident reason the picture is a howling success, everyone from the prop boy to the pro- ducer steps out and takes his bow. As for the director, well, he was paid to direct the story and he did it. But this is not a weeping towel for abused directors. Nor is it an expose of the cruel, unjust methods of the art of producing pictures, as a warning to amateurs. It is a symposium on The Importance of Being a Director ... if any. To begin with, let us venture to set forth that the smaller the picture and the less pretentious the produc- tion methods employed, the more important the director becomes, relatively, of course. This is laid to the fact that more duties are placed upon his shoulder, and not, as might be expected, to the fact that he receives more glory or salary. When a director becomes important (I mean to the success of the picture) it is usually accounted to the fact that there has been a decided unification of ideas, together with a distinct centralization of direc- torial control, and a strict adherence thereto. This may sound a little strong, but I am convinced that it is the sane and logical approach to the method which results in the intelligent and congruous motion picture. Briefly, it is the understanding of the author's idea by the direc- tor, the imparting of this original unadulterated idea to the actors by the director, and the recording of this same unified thought by the cameraman as the director sees them. The contribution of the film editor will be dis- cussed later. The camera should be as much the tool of the direc- tor as it is of the photographer. The director and the cameraman should co-ordinate their functions almost as one. The futility of the separation of director and cameraman is evident when the director strives for a certain idea to be brought out by camera treatment, which is lost simply because the director's ideas were not made plain to the cameraman. Not only that, but many times because the director is not familiar with the technicalities of camera work, he does not realize that the camera is recording the scene in a manner different from the way he sees it. After all, the camera is the supreme medium by which the inherent thought of the author and director are transferred to the audience, and if the director doesn't understand his medium, naturally a poor picture will result. A thorough background of cinema- tography is necessary for the director who desires to become a good director. And more than ever does this apply to the amateur director. For he is the "important" director, as usually he is practically the whole staff. The person who knows most about picture making is almost invariably chosen to be the director on an amateur production. Many- times he is the cameraman also, and here is where he has a splendid chance to unify the directorial and camera departments. But the more the amateur film director knows about camera work, the better his story will be directed. Know your medium with which you work. A carpenter would not begin to build a house before he discovered what his hammer and saw were for. Let us suppose that the members of the Backyard Players Productions are assembled for their weekly meet- ing and the call for new business takes them into the discussion of their forthcoming production. By way of getting started immediately, the group selects the presi- dent as director because it was he who wrote the script, and didn't he know more about the whole business of movie making anyway? Right here is where the group makes its wisest selection ; that of choosing the author of the story to be the director. The first obstacle is removed before the picture starts. At least the writer and director will co-ordinate and the ideas will be unified. Next, there must be the camera staff and, for the sake of convenience, we will not have the director be the cameraman also. From here on the director takes immediate super- vision over the picture. If the director hadn't happened to be the author of the story, his first duty would be to spend plenty of time reading the script and becoming thoroughly familiar with it. But, since he wrote it, he has the story clearly in his mind and so he turns to other duties. Perhaps the cast has already been selected by the executive body of Backyard Players Productions, but if not, the director arranges for try-out and even a screen test, if the players' photographic possibilities are in doubt. Whatever the director does, he should not cast the story until he is positive. And there are three things to bear in mind at try-outs: How the actor photographs, his or her natural acting ability and what The production staff of the U. S. C. picture, "The Oval Portrait" during filming of interior sequences at Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. Left to right: Boris V. Morko- vin, Sam Wood, on looking. Ray Greenhill, at camera; Richard L. Bare, directing; Dick Towle, assistant; Cath- erine McBride, script clerk; Maxine Adams, Evan Shaw and Richard Salisian, actors. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 T 1 1 1XTKRNATIOXAI. PHOTOGRA I'll E R Thirteen natural type he or she is. Always cast for types, de- pend very little on the actor's ability to transform his appearance or characterization to fit the part. When the cast is assembled (trusting that there had been many applicants for the parts and that every part is correctly filled) the director proceeds to rehearse in the most difficult or dramatic scenes, or if this is not considered necessary, a reading is arranged, at which the story is read to all the cast by the director, who explains it scene by scene. This initial get-together of actors and director also is important in other ways. It serves to break the ice, as it were, to get acquainted and to stay acquainted. It allows the director to become familiar with the persons with whom he must work. It allows the actors to become acquainted with the direc- tor's personality, that personality which is to be instru- mental in exposing their personality. At this first meet- ing, it is well for the director to make his first impres- sion favorable by assuring the cast that he knows what he wants and that he is going to get it. The greatest mistake amateur directors make is not securing the cast's confidence and respect, for unless this confidence and respect is obtained, there will be arguments, delays, and even perhaps complete disbandment. The director must be a good judge of human nature, and above all, a diplo- mat. His business of working with human nature de- mands that he know human nature. A director who has the ability to speak well and express himself clearly will find that the battle is half won. The other half of the battle, the basic prerequisites of direction, is merely the ability to understand a thing correctly, and to be able to make some one else understand it. Originality, lead- ership, persistence, experience, and dozens of other vir- tues are necessary to the successful director, but they all center around the fundamentals of understanding and explanation. It doesn't necessarily stand to reason that to tell one to do a thing, one must be able to do it himself, but it certainly helps. There is nothing so provocative as after trying to explain to an actor how a scene should be done, she flares up (it's usually a she) indifferently walks off the set and announces that she would like to see you do it. Provocative . . . and embarrassing, unless you can do it. Explanation by demonstration is a very handy accomplishment to have tucked away at one's beck and call. Perhaps this question presents itself. Just what should a director know? To begin gently, a director should know everything. He should know exactly the procedure of the dramatic motion picture from the very beginning of the embryonic idea in the writer's cerebrum, right down to the re-scrapping of the silver from dis- carded prints. This doesn't mean that one must be a mental wizard to be able to tell Aunt Minnie to register fear, but if one is to take this directing business serious- ly he must know what to expect of his technical mediums and of his co-workers. Tempo, that old bugbear whose name frightens even the amateur, is perhaps the greatest single factor of im- portance. To bad tempo is attributed the defeat and downfall of many a film, which in other ways would be quite commendable. And this, mind you, is nobody's fault but the director's. His duty as a director com- mands that he regulate the tempo of a scene in accord- ance with the dramatic demands. Many people think that bad tempo means that the action is slow and that the picture drags, causing a loss of interest. This situa- tion is quite possible, but not quite characteristic of what tempo means. Poor tempo might mean that there is a distinct lack of smoothness from one scene to an- other ; that in a scene of uniform dramatic intensity the tempo of the various shots is un-uniform. It might mean the speed that a player walked across the room was too fast to suit the dramatic mood. It might mean that the cutting of adjacent scenes and splicing thereto (Turn to Page 26) THE lens that brings great ideas to life Special effects which baffle photographic tech- nique— and are therefore shelved as "impractical" — are brought to life with the B & H Cooke Varo lens. Because of its almost miraculous ability to "zoom", it accomplishes subtleties and ingenious dramatic transitions not hitherto possible. At F 3.5 the range is from 40 mm. to 50 mm. ; at F 4.5 from 40 mm. to 85 mm., and at F 5.6 and F 8 the full "zoom", from 40 mm. to 120 mm., is obtainable. Adjustable stops provide for limit- ing the "zoom" as desired. One crank controls all moving parts. The iris is varied automatic- ally with the focal length to keep the f/ value BELL & HOWELL COMPANY constant. Close focusing is done with auxiliary lenses. Write for full details. Sometimes avail- able on rental to responsible studios. The B & H Cooke Speed Panchro Lenses B & H Cooke F 2 Speed Panchro Lenses are corrected for the blue and red rather than blue and yellow rays. They give the most critical definition under the most difficult of modern lighting conditions. Made in eleven focal lengths, from 24 to 108 mm. B & H Cooke F 2.5 Panchro Lenses, at considerably lower prices, meet many needs where their speed is adequate. Seven focal lengths from 32 to 162 mm. Write for details and prices. 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.) Established 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1^34 TELEVISION INTERFERENCE By Harry R. Lubcke Director of Television, Don Lee Broadcasting System EVERYONE has heard sta- tic and inter- ference over the radio, but few have seen these troublemakers on television. A discus- sion of their antics in the latter case is inter- esting. In the first place, static sounds worse than it looks. A crash of static makes itself known on the television screen as an instantaneous "snow" storm of small white flakes. The eye is more tolerant of the snowstorm, than is the ear of the crackles and crashes of which it is composed. The slight in- terruption is often pleas- ing, giving the looker a momentarv intermission, An ultra-high frequency receiver installation in a La Salle sedan, used to make signal strength meas- urements on the Don Lee ultra- high frequency transmitter W6XAO. The antenna is the vertical rod on the rear of the car. This car was equipped with auto radio sup- pressors and is practically noise- less. which rests his eye for a brief second. Instead of being distracted by the inter- mission, the looker's natural curiosity to "see what he has missed" is likely to heighten his interest in the scene. Only when the crashes of static are repeated sufficiently often and with sufficient intensity to cause an almost continuous interruption, does their presence become ob- jectionable. When this is the case, a sound program would be unintelligible. Should the looker be so unfortunately situated that a powerful local sound station would "ride over" into the television channel, the image takes on an "under- water appearance" with horizontal ripples. These may be pleasing if they are not too pronounced nor too long continued. The scene appears as though it were being viewed from a diving bell where gentle, but ever chang- ing ripples play over the field of view. Both natural and man-made static is found on short wave television. On ultra-short wave television, it is largely absent, but is replaced, unfortunately, by auto- mobile ignition interference. It is becoming more and more important that this needless source of interference be eliminated. There are several ways in which this can be done. One of the easiest is to equip the car with suppressors and condensers as are used in the usual auto radio installation. Ultra-short wave signals can be re- ceived in a suppressed auto with no more interference than is produced by an ordinary car 200 feet away, while if it is driven past the ordinary residence receiving loca- tion it produces no interference at all. An unsuppressed automobile gives considerable interference under the above conditions, and presents a problem which should be considered by every automobile owner and manufac- turer. This problem will receive attention because auto- mobile owners will soon become television lookers, and as such will not tolerate anything that will mar their own enjoyment. If the television receiver is located close to the trans- mitting station, clear images will be received in spite of interference. In the Don Lee television work, inter- ference-free cathode-ray images have been received from the W6XAO ultra-high frequency transmitter at a loca- tion on West Seventh Street, one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles, on the ground floor of a building, and less than 50 feet from a constant stream of automobiles and street cars. On the other hand, in a residential dis- trict where one automobile per hour passes the house, each one is "seen and heard" for a distance of 200 feet on either side thereof, although the receiver is located in the second story and the house was set back from the street by 50 feet. In this instance the house was on a hill on the side away from the television transmit- ting station and therefore in an area of unusually low field strength, which required the receiver to be operated with the volume control full on. It is interesting to note the intensity of the inter- ference created by the various makes of cars. All sound the same, giving a succession of sharp, intense clicks, but Model T Fords and certain other cars, not necessarily the large and heavy ones, give the most interference. It depends on the design of the ignition system, and whether or not the automobile is an old car, which may have become "weak" in its ignition, or "strong though weak" because of supplementary leaks and poor connections in the ignition system. It is, of course, desirable to reduce automotive inter- ference by proper design at the factory, and certain manu- facturers are conducting research in this direction at the present time. The public should encourage such activity by favoring such makes and thereby solve the automobile interference problem before it becomes acute. SINGLE-EXPOSURE LEICA CAMERA Many miniature camera enthusiasts often wish to make one exposure and develop it immediately. With the usual camera today this may not be so convenient. With this idea in mind, E. Leitz, Inc., offers the Oligo Single Exposure Leica camera. The Oligo is a most interesting little device. It consists of a metal housing, the front of which is threaded to accommodate any of the Leica lenses, and the rear is fitted to accommodate a special ground glass focusing screen and special film holders interchangeably. A special Ibsor shutter which fits over the lens and provides the exposure-speeds com- pletes the outfit. The film holders are sturdily constructed of metal, and hold a single lxl V2 inch film which may be cut from a 35 mm. film roll. Sharp focus is established by the ground glass back. The Oligo camera is excellent for making test shots, for copy work, and for all other uses where but one ex- posure is necessary. See the Single Exposure Leica camera at your deal- er's or write for additional information to E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th Street, New York City. COERZ NEW BOOKLET The C. P. Goerz American Optical Company has issued a charming little booklet, entitled "Goerz Lenses for Pho- tographic Accuracy," which will be read with interest by all users of photographic lenses. This little book is a silent salesman for the fine old house of Goerz and it will be mailed to all who send for it at C. P. Goerz American Optical Company, 317 E. 34th Street, New York City. Goerz lenses may be obtained through all dealers in photographic supplies and a free trial of any stock size may be arranged for through these dealers. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen OBLIGATION /4 NY manufacturer who has won his way u/TjL into the confidence of a great in- dustry is under obligation to maintain the standards that have given his product pref- erence. Eastman Super-Sensitive "Pan' is continually discharging such an obligation. On the lot . . . in the laboratory. . . on the screen ... it is unfailingly delivering the same qualities that first made it a sensation in the motion-picture world. Eastman Kodak Co. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distributor's, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative Flease mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. When the Cameraman Fin- ishes His Work, Ages Hence, There Will Be Noth- ing Else to Say About the History of the World. THE CAM Vol. I. MONTHLY NEWS OF PRODUCT^ STILL MEN ARE NEVER STILL By BOB HUSSEY An outstanding paradox in tile jargon peculiar to the movie studio is the fact that those workers known as "still men" are usually the most active on the lot. Their work of hurry and bustle perforce requires that they be the least still of any in the vast army of studio employees. And — further in the vein of the paradoxical — the pictures they take constitute the only studio photography in which it isn't necessary for everyone to keep still! Si- lence may be golden, but it isn't in the life of the "still man." The job is one of the most thankless and one of the most important in the business. Still pic- tures assist, in major fashion, in the actual sell- ing of motion pictures, for they become lobby displays, billboard advertising, magazine material and newspaper art. Still pictures do more than contribute to the selling of motion pictures, they form a vital part in the making of productions. Every set used in a production is photographed by the still man in the normal course of his duties, just as he photographs scenes of each se- quence. These "production stills" are invaluable in later checking on details pertaining to in- numerable factors, how certain clothes were worn, how a particular piece of furniture was placed, how the set itself appeared when barren of players. Discussions or arguments based on these points are immediately and definitely settled by refer- ence to the still pictures. Nor does it end there. Questions relating to make-up or lighting effects are similarly settled by the accurate still photo- graphs. The Photographic or Still Department at the Warner Brothers-First National Studios numbers about thirty employees under the supervision of "Gene" O'Brien. Among these workers are por- trait photographers, still men. retouchers, develop- ers, printers and laboratory technicians. A still man is assigned to each motion picture unit and works with it throughout the duration of the filming of the picture. The still man, despite the acknowledged useful- ness of his work, nevertheless has a thankless job. The director, assistant directors, cameramen, everyone working on the set, players included, all think in terms of moving pictures and not still pictures. To have production halted, wait while lighting is changed and focus adjusted, then pose for pic- tures, seems an imposition to tired actors. To all such objection and criticism, however, the still man is deaf. He has certain pictures to get and, come what may, he gets them! How well these still men succeed at the Warner Brothers-First National Studios is best reflected in the fact that approximately three hundred still pictures are taken each day during the course of average production. This is exclusive, of course, of those photographs taken in gallery or portrait sittings. Then the burden of work shifts to the laboratory workers who, from this number of negatives, turn out about fourteen hundred prints daily, not in- cluding the enlargements required by some periodi- cals. During the filming of special productions, an almost unbelievable number of offstage and infor- mal art is necessary to properly publicize the film. On the recently completed special musical "Dames," for example, more than a thousand such photographs were taken. The colorful production "Madame DuBarry," which stars Dolores Del Rio in the title role, required more than seven hun- dred still pictures. "Flirtation Walk," which is now being filmed under the direction of Frank Borzage with Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and Pat O'Brien heading the strong cast, has already supplied more than four hundred still pictures with the filming sched- ule only half completed. The still man is a past master at the art of diplomacy and tact. In approaching a tired star with the request that the player pose for a cer- tain picture the photographer has in mind, he employs finesse indeed in order to gain complete co-operation. Invariably he succeeds. The play- MISCELLANEOUS Peter Mole of the firm of Mole-Richardson, Inc. is in New York on business. Cliff Thomas, president of the Hollywood Camera Exchange, is home after a protracted so- journ in New York, Rochester and many other points east. Lieutenant Reggie Lyons has returned from a sojourn of several weeks in New York. Re- cently Lieut. Lyons was honored by being se- lected to arrange a glossary of motion picture terms for one of the leading dictionaries and he did a fine piece of work at it. Congratulations, Lieut. Ralph Farnham. engineer of the General Elec- tric Company, at Nela Park, Cleveland, and who has been in Hollywood for some time working in connection with Technicolor, has returned to Cleveland for a brief sojourn, after which he will return here to complete his work. Robert C. Bruce has just returned from a two months' trip through Europe where he pho- tographed for Audio Productions, Inc., five new "Musical Moods" subjects in Ireland and Italy. These films will be ready for early fall release and will be a part of the series of musical sub- jects which are recorded musical entertainment with visual accompaniment. Norman Foster heaved a sigh of relief the other day which he'd been waiting three months to heave. The opportunity came when he left the Fox projection room after viewing 20,000 feet of underwater scenes he made during his long vacation at Taihiti. With a portable undersea camera of his own invention, and doing his own photography while wearing a diver's helmet 50 feet below the sur- face, Foster spent more than $15,000, represent- ing most of his savings, and then was called back to Hollywood by the Fox Film studio to take his place with Claire Trevor and others in Mary Roberts Rinehart's "The State Versus Elinor Norton." With the exception of tests he made on the spot, Foster didn't know until the day afore- mentioned whether he really had something or had merely tossed $15,000 overboard. Despite the obvious handicaps under which he worked, the recent screening proves that he has obtained some unusual dramatic scenes and as soon as studio schedules permit he will return to the South Seas to complete the production. ers may be tired and weary, the crew of workers on the set may be anxious to move on to the ensuing scene, but these things mean nothing tc a still man except to urge him on to greater efforts. The "away from the movie studio" photographer usually has considerable time to arrange his sub- jects, the lighting and the composition, but a still man with a movie troupe must work with dis- patch and alacrity wdienever an opportunity pre- sents itself. Any lull or pause in production is pounced upon by the still man for off-stage and informal pic- tures of the players. A mere moment is all he needs, between scenes, while sets are being re- arranged, while lighting is being changed, while the camera crew changes position, and in those brief moments the still man works at furious pace to get his pictures. It is then that the cry of "Hold it for a still!" or "Set still!" resounds through the set. Everyone must wait, poised ready to hasten into action on their respective tasks, while the still man quickly adjusts his camera, instructs the players on what he wants, has the lights changed to suit Ins purposes, fixes the camera focus and gets his picture. All this he does while the various workers rest- lessly await the chance to get at their jobs. The still man. quite unaware of any tenseness about him. nonchalantly goes about his business of tak- ing pictures. Exceptionally fine photography results, too. de- spite the confusion of the_ surroundings, the urgent need for speed, the anxiety of those about him for the still man to get out of the way. And that's the story of the still man. He's the fellow who is one of the busiest workers m a movie studio — and they have nerve enough to call him a still man! The still man is really anything but still. COLUMBIA CLIPS By BOB TOBEY "ORCHIDS AND ONIONS." directed vid Burton. Teddy Tetzlaff returns to ( to take charge of the camera artistry epic with the esthetic title. Dave I< operative cameraman, and Jack Anders Walter Lackey are the assistants. Bill takes care of the lobby displays. Homt nette is guardian of the lumens; Glenn h twiddles the dials; Al Becker is grip: Gerr; lin handles the script and Art Black is director. The players are Mav Robson. Carole I Walter Connolly and Roger Pryor. "I'LL FIX IT," directed by Ro> Nei I Kline handles the cinematographic < this one with Jack Young as his second me man. Fred Dawson and Jack Russell j assistants and Charles Thomas pops the s| tures. Lambert Day is mixer; Walter Roy Neill's chief dolly-pusher and II ertson lights the gaffs — er, gaffs the light The picture is a Jack Holt starring veil other mummers are Mona Barrie, Winnie I James Butler, and Eddie Brophy. The whole crew has been moved to tli Ma Sennett lot to make this, Columbia's mail tudi being too crowded with sets for the Ca an Milestone specials, which are being produ,' m currently. Ben Kline has a new Weston light mt ai now Jack Russell and Fred Dawson I over to the new toy, leaving operatn man Brownie to peace with his Leica. "THAT'S GRATITUDE," directed bj Craven. This was a Bryan Foy product Columbia release, written and directed by and in which the versatile chap also had the leading roles. Others in the cast we( Carlisle, Arthur Byron. Helen Ware, Shei iters, and Charles Sabin. Henry Freulich photographed, with H. I sey as his assistant. Freulich deserves mi ordinary credit for his excellent photogr; this picture. It was his first feature-len; duction and. besides having to be his ow tive cameraman, Henry was handicapped typically inadequate, albeit willing, crew independent production. In addition, sterli and stage director as is Frank (raven. nevertheless his first directorial attempt tures and Freulich had to help guide t tograph continuity of the picture to an tomed degree. The screen credit line « cate but a small part of the credit that ' belongs to Henry. :..i^ ie i M,- LONCSHOTS Emil Oster has moved up a step in the^M bia camera department. He now has ai ssisl ant. and a much-needed one, according ' industrious Emil. The new man is Boh iss man. . . . Sam Nelson, Columbia's St udi< Jan: ger, does not have a birthday next monft nevertheless he is anticipating a present f ■ j wife. The first present is now two Columbia is branching out, ton. W have taken over the Mack Sennett Stui the Roy Neill company is working then they've rented most of the office spacf California Studio for the Short Subji merit . . . Andre Barlatier has worked with the n3C' the camera so long that nothing stop^ hi bought an acre in North Hollywood and he !:' a house on it. but he couldn't build tl ™ he wanted for the right price. So hi two-story frame house, knocked the rool top story off it, moved the remainder outj North Hollywood lot, put a cellar undi flat roof on top of it, knocked out partitiott and put in stairways there — and to he's going to stucco the whole thing. Br< it to Andre, he'll never get stuccoed . • • Assistant cameramen at Columbia are ing required to handle as their equipme pounds of battery boxes. All the boys do now is grow tails and bigger ears be full-fledged truck horses. . . . Charlie*0) is still in Chicago making shorts for the tfflF I don't mean the Thalians have run out oi l( wear. They are making a series of pictur * the World's Fair as a background. . Bohny was back there at the Fair i The Cameramen of the Mo- tion Picture Industry Have Long Since Borne the Hall- mark of the World's Best Photography. M THE CAMERAMAN'S ANCLE No. 9 CINEMACARONI (It's better with a little sauce.) By Robert Tobey >)' on to your hats, kids, here we go Hollywood exhibitors have fun booking i their double features. Here are a potted on recent marquees: * * * THREE ON A HONEYMOON ONE IS GUILTY * * * i SPRINGTIME FOR HENRY MANY HAPPY RETURNS * * * LITTLE WOMEN BOTTOMS UP I once asked why an office boy is like gpile of old, worn out tennis shoes. teem to remember the correct answer. one would make a good framed en- ■J/w your hallway. of the same litter and they could g heir owners. Harriet spent most of tin valiantly defending the merits of her ppch. One dog arrived in a specially iffij;d private car. My dogs aren't pedi- d, 'ut they take me around . . . an Dressier was one of the grandest ex- le3»f a real trouper in the show business. U • I made the last movie of her ever L The scenes, for Screen Snapshots, ; ii de at famous La Quinta, near Palm ng the same day she was stricken and Santa Barbara, where she later was At that time she was in great pain : cancers that were eating her life t she smiled for my camera as if her a grand bed of roses. We all knew nnt that she had but a few more weeks 1 believe that she, too, knew . . . cies garnered at Gene Raymond's Sur- rthday Party at the Russian Eagle ieni Gene being really surprised and won- ist what was the proper thing to do ', it — should he do a scream, a moan * cj.ple of nip-ups. ... A waiter intro- ng^lary Brian to his mother and brother. Alf.hree wearing grand-canyon grins. . . . y EJ=in wearing a new coiffure that changes aepnality tremendously. . . . Helen Fer- >n, felene's manager, frantically attending asthinute details and looking cuter than t o the movie stars. . . . Me trying to tog bh practically in the dark, the palm v|'e so thick. . . . Frank Morgan tell- out of school, about how he has a f|: when he is loaned out than when rt on his home lot. He can tell peo- to go without affecting his contract. ara Kent looking prettier and younger n I last worked with her four years - Telegrams and fan birthday let- *ene coming in by the bushel. . . . v happy . . . h Ba i w c A U now play a little game -NTANCE, using movie terms. illed r is the Chief Electrician on a movie 'e a sentence with the word GAFFER * * * se of you who are busy evenings a simple- answer is, "1 don't GAFFER any sugar, thank you." * * * Or if you have nothing to do for a while, you could even make up a little song about it, like this: (provide your own music) I don't GAFFER you; You don't GAFFER me. We don't GAFFER for each other; It's simple as A, B, C. You don't GAFFER candy, I don't GAFFER clothes. You make funny noises When I'm in repose. 1 know a little red-head That ELECTRIFIES. She could GAFFER for me; I can read it in her eyes. I must JUICE between you, That's all that 1 can see. For 1 don't GAFFER you, dear, (Tremulo) And you don't GAFFER me. * * * If you still have some time and some of your faculties left, you can write me and tell me what else you devised. Note to new writers: Be original at any cost, even if you have to buy three books and copy the best parts of each. POT SHOTS AT HOLLYWOOD FIRED AT RANDOM : Charlie Chaplin rarely shows up any more at places where he is scheduled to appear. . . . The usual summer rush of auto- graph collectors is on and driving the stars crazy. Groups of forty to a hundred, com- posed chiefly of school children on vacation, hang around the popular eateries. . . . The day after the appearance of a blatant fan mag article stating that Marlene Dietrich's run of appearances in masculine garb was a publicity stunt (to invite comment, and that Marlene was now commencing an orgy of frilly clothes) I saw her at a polo match with Von Sternberg. In slacks. . . . Auto- graph collectors, gathered at the arrival of the "Chief," mistook Vivian Tobin for her sister Genevieve. It's easy to do. And were thej surprised at her signature. ... A certain famous screen Romeo, who keeps himself pretty well saturated all the time, is the object of a very funny tale. It seems he has made a habit of proposing to the Hollywood gals, about one or two a week. But the gals were wise and nothing came of it. He made the mistake of pulling the stunt on a little gal fresh from the New York stage. And that is the why of a Hollywood marriage that few people couldn't understand. The gentleman was THAT disconcerted. ... At a recent event news photographers put their heads together and tore up all negatives of Irene Dunne. It seems her father got snooty with them. It Pays to Please the Press . . . Thought for the stars of tomorrow: Uneasy lies the head that wears a marcel. * * * Especially when you can't do henna thing with it. TODAY'S LITTLE PARADOX Newspaper headline : MARIAN NIXON WEDS DIRECTOR BILL SEITER It would seem that the Nixon-Seiter affair vas not a Nix-On-Seiter affair. i FROM PRINCESS KROPOTKIN'S CURRENT COLUMN: Some of the loveliest screen clothes are ab- solute torture to wear. Jeannette MacDonald has been a martyr to such artistic creations. Constance Bennett achieves her slinky sil- houette by loading her legs with lead. Under her gown she wears a tight silk sheath with lead weights sewn on it from hip to hem. Lead undies are also worn by several other stars. Time for the Old Mariner to pop up with his phrase: "Get out the lead, girls, we're going to take a sounding." Some VITAL STATISTICS, by BEVERLY HILLS, from a current LIBERTY: Jean Harlow was born Harlean Carpenter — is strictly unvampirish in real life but is generous, beautifully molded, unstinted in showing her all to the camera . . . * * * The censors will fix that. FLIP CLIPS If ceauties Are beauties They've practically No arduous deauties. * * * I prefer movies To anchovies. * * * A gal that's like a doll from Dresden Can marry the executive vice-presden. * * * Movie magnates Get out dragnates For salient Talient. * * * are's vour hat, sir! WARNER-FIRST NATIONAL "FLIRTATION WALK." Director, Frank Bor- zage; story, Delmar Daves and Lou Edelniau. screenplay. Delmar Daves; dance director, Bobby Connelly; musical numbers, Mort Dixon and At- lie Wrubel; first cameraman, Sol Polito; super- visor, Robert Lord. Cast: Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Pat O'Brien, John Eldredge, Ross Alexander, Guinn Williams, Henry O'Neill, Glen Boles, John Arledge, Fred- erick Burton, John Darrow. "SINGER OF NAPLES" (Spanish). Director, Howard Bretherton; dialogue director, Moreno Cuyer; story, Manuel Reachi; first cameraman, William Rees; supervisor, Manuel Reachi. Cast: Enrico Caruso, Jr.. Carmen Rio, Mona Maris, Terry La Franconi. Alfonzo Pedroza, An- tonio Vidal, Emilia Leovalli, Enrique Acostar Francesco Maran. UNIVERSAL "GREAT EXPECTATIONS." Director, Stuart Walker; story. Charles Dickens; screenplay,. Gladys L'nger; first cameraman, George Robinson; producer, Stanley Bergerman. Cast: Henry' Hull, Jane Wyatt, Alan Hale. Phillips Holmes, Florence Reed, Francis L. Sulli- van, Harry Cording, Douglas Wood, George Breakstone, Jackie Searl. George Barraud, Rafae- ka Otiano, Anne Howard. •NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS." Directoi. Lowell Sherman; story. Thorne Smith; screen- play. Barry Trivers; first cameraman, John Mes- call; sound, Gilbert Kurland; producer, CarE Laemmle. Ir. Eighteen T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 Composition In Practice PART II. By Walter Bluemel SIMPLICITY is the keynote of effective com- position. When a scene is cluttered up with many objects the eye wanders from one to another and is distracted from the object in- tended to be the center of interest. Every scene should have its center of interest, to which all other parts of the picture naturally lead the eye. Most amateurs make the mistake of trying to in- clude as much as possible into each scene, perhaps as an economy measure, with the result that it is merely a jumble of lines and forms which is anything but pleas- ing. There is no definite composition — no place for the eye to come to rest. The object for which the picture was taken is gen- erally insignificant. If a person is to be the center of interest the surroundings and background should be sim- ple and unobtrusive, so as not to distract attention from the person. Highly pictorial backgrounds are undesirable in por- trait studies. If the background is important but it is desired to include a person in the scene the person can be so placed as to form part of the composition with the background, while if the person is the important thing he can be so placed and lighted as to form the center of interest to which the background is subordi- nated. In professional pictures the background of some action is usually kept unobtrusive by throwing it out of focus — a trick which the amateur would do well to use. This room was kept dim, suggesting the vagueness that comes before death and, when she died, the light coming through a window brightened and outlined above her the shadow of a cross — a very simple and natural com- position, yet highly symbolic and in keeping with the mood of the scene. In "Queen Christina" shadow was again used powerfully, especially in the scene where the mob storms the Queen's palace and she comes to the head of the stairs to meet the angry men. The light is placed low, throwing the enlarged shadow of the mob on the wall before the Queen. This gives much more of a feeling of impending danger than would a shot of the mob alone. Shadows can frequently be used to suggest scenes which would otherwise be prohibitive. In "Viva Villa" shadows showed the hanging of peons and other grue- some scenes which it would be bad taste to show direct. This should suggest to the amateur many possibilities of showing scenes which he could otherwise not film. In a picture that I made several years ago I was faced with the problem of showing a motion picture set at night in which the director and leading lady — the principal characters of the picture — were working. Natu- rally I could not secure a lot of equipment to use as atmosphere, so I simply painted a silhouette of a camera, microphone boom, and some lights on a piece of glass and placed it in front of a little arc-spot, which cast an enlarged shadow on the white wall behind the char- acters and created a perfect illusion. In the daytime the sun could have been used to cast the shadow, though this would naturally have required a larger silhouette because the sun's rays are parallel in- stead of spreading like those from a spotlight. It is obvious that shadows have unlimited possibilities for the amateur. Like composition, much has been written on lighting, and in order to avoid unnecessary repetition of a much discussed subject I will merely touch upon it. The im- portance of lighting cannot be over-emphasized, for it determines the difference between good and bad photog- raphy. Composition and lighting run hand in hand, and is a natural effect, for the eye also tends to throw the are, in fact, interdependent, background out of focus when looking at a nearby object, The primary purpose of lighting is, of course, to ob- or at least is not conscious of the background. In a tain enough illumination to photograph a subject, but plot picture, where both character and background are this alone is not enough to photograph it at its best ad- important, it is best to show an in-focus longshot of vantage. The lighting must be arranged not only to both character and background and then emphasize the effect complete naturalness, but also to help the corn- character by means of a close-up in which the background position, to create roundness and depth by making the is out of focus. The spectator is vaguely conscious of subject stand out from the background instead of to ap- the background, just as he would be in a real scene, yet pear on the same plane. Direct front lighting with no is not distracted from the character. litjht from the side and rear is always flat lighting. Cross A study of professional pictures will reveal the ef- lighting and back lighting, with only enough front light fectiveness of simplicity in composition. Simplicity avoids to permit proper exposure, will give much better results. confusion and concentrates the attention where it is de- Cross lighting lights the objects and characters from one sired, as for instance, in the silhouette from "Frontier side, giving them relief and roundness, while backlighting Marshal," which is certainly the height of simplicity. throws a halo around them which makes them stand Sets are becoming more and more simple (note the pre- out from the background, producing depth. This is a dominance of modernistic sets, themselves the acme of well known and obvious effect. The backlighting must, -implicit}') and lighting is more and more becoming the generally speaking, be brighter than the other light to chief means of composition. get the best effect. No better recent example of this can be found than In lighting interiors with artificial light every source "Men in White." The plain white walls of the hos- pital certainly did not offer good composition material, yet George Folsey, the cinematographer, obtained some very striking compositions merely by a skillful use of of light should have a reason, with the chief source ap- parently coming either from a window, a lamp or other lighting fixture, or a fireplace, whether in or out of the picture. The lighting from the natural source or light and shadow. Shadows in themselves are simplicity, sources should then be re-inforced with other lights of for they lack details, but they can be used most ef- less intensity to avoid excessive contrasts and effect the fectively. In one scene, for instance, Jean Hersholt, as necessary roundness and depth. a great physician, is shown talking to Clark Gable, The composition should be built up first and lighted while on the blank wall in the background was a large to enhance it, and the rest of the lighting necessary for shadow of a microscope — an excellent symbol of medical proper exposure of the shadows filled in afterwards, science. This helps to obtain perfect composition and natural- In another scene in which the nurse was dying the ness. A monotone viewing glass is a great aid in de- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nineteen Upper — Left: A scene from "Frontier Marshal," Fox production, the keynote of which is simplicity, obtained with the use of proper filters. Right: Screencraft Productions still. Done in high key; creating a mood appropriate to a love scene. Lower — Left: Scene from "Foreign Legion;" light in medium key with no contrasts — flat lighting. Right: Contrasty lighting, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;" creating weird, mysterious effect. termining the placement of the light as the film will record it, and in indicating undesired contrasts which might otherwise escape the eye. Exterior lighting is somewhat more difficult to con- trol than artificial light, but much can be done with reflectors, which can be easily and cheaply constructed. Reflectors make it possible to light up shadows, so that the direct sun can be used for backlighting, while the reflectors furnish the less intense front light, which de- termines the exposure. In exterior lighting, as in in- terior, depth is obtained by contrasting the planes of light — having the foreground fairly dark and contrasty, while the background is lighter and decreases in contrast with the distance, as is the case in reality. In addition to being natural and aiding composition the lighting should always be in keeping with the mood of the scene. A gay, joyful mood could hardly be ex- pected in a dimly lit, sombre setting, and deeply dra- matic, tragic, or mysterious action would seem out of place in brightly lighted surroundings, though sometimes such contrast may be desired. The "key" of lighting is always an important con- sideration— high key, in which highlights predominate, for joy, happiness, gaiety, airiness, and delicacy ; low key, in which dark shadows and somber grays predominate, for somberness, tragedy, severity, and death ; medium key, containing only gray with no extreme highlights and shadows, for fogginess, vagueness, dejection, and impend- ing danger or tragedy ; and contrasty key, containing ex- tremes of highlights and shadows, for the weird, mys- terious, horrible, and uncertain. The accompanying stills illustrate these effects. The ship scene is done in high key, creating a mood fitting to a scene with two lovers. There are no heavy shadows, but a predominance of highlights. In the desert scene the lighting is in medium key, with no contrasts — flat lighting. This creates a depressive mood, one of vague- ness, such as one would experience on the desert in a sandstorm. A weird, mysterious, and threatening mood is expressed by the contrasty lighting of the scene from "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Note also the depth and backlighting, and the effect of the hard source light from below. The degree of diffusion of the light has an im- portant bearing on the mood of the scene. In exteriors the contrast and diffusion of light is controlled by color and neutral density filters, and by diffusion discs and gauzes, as well as by reflectors. Fil- ters change the photographic value of certain colors and thus bring out some parts of a scene and subdue others. Color filters usually increase the contrast, due chiefly to- the necessary underexposure of the shadows, as well as change the color values, while neutral density filters merely cut down the exposure without effecting the color rendition. Filters make clouds stand out by subduing the blue of the sky, and give the sky texture, which is much more pleasing and natural than the excessive con- trast of a blank white sky. White objects can also be made to stand out boldly against the sky. Interesting and effective silhouettes, such as the one from "Frontier Marshal" are obtainable with the proper biters, which cut down the exposure and leave the fore- ground dark, and which, therefore, make possible moon- light scenes taken in the daytime. Filters thus are a means of controlling the tone of exteriors, while further control is secured by manipulation of exposure, develop- ment and printing. The purpose of diffusion is obvious — it irons out un- naturally sharp lines and contrasts and gives the entire scene a pleasing and natural softness. It furthermore smoothes out imperfections of the skin and make-up in close-ups. It plays an important part in inducing the proper emotional response in scenes in which the mood is soft and tender, as in love scenes. The use of diffusion, of course, should be governed by the nature of the scene photographed, and must at no time be obvious, so as to attract the spectators to the mechanics of the pho- tography. To avoid obviousness it is necessary to keep in mind the proper diffusion continuity — if one scene is heavily ( Turn to Page 28) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty 1 I, I N TERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING Chapter XII By CHARLES FELSTEAD, Associate Editor HE main recording and monitoring amplifier system in the motion picture sound recording studio that employs Western Electric record- ing equipment was described in the three pre- ceding chapters of this series. The first of those chap- ters dealt with the theoretical phases of audio-frequency amplification, the second of those chapters discussed the direct recording amplifiers that are installed in the ampli- fier room, and the chapter just preceding this one con- sidered the monitoring amplifiers and the monitoring cir- cuit arrangement. The discussion has advanced to the point where we are prepared to consider the actual recording device. This is the apparatus that converts the electrical energy in the speech current to mechanical energy so that an impression may be made by it on a sensitive medium. In recording systems that employ the AEOlight, or some equivalent form of flickering light, including the Fox Movietone recording system, the electrical energy in the speech current is converted directly to variations in in- tensity of the brilliancy of a light source without the intervention of mechanical motion. Development of Film Recording Great advances were made in the development of the microphone and of audio-frequency amplifiers long before motion picture sound recording was made pos- sible. But after the development of those two pieces of apparatus, the engineers who were working on the problem of finding a method for recording sound to accompany the motion picture were faced only by the difficulty of creating a device that would transform the electrical copy of the sound waves into some other form of energy that could be recorded on a suitable sensitive medium. The amount of audio amplification they had avail- able assured the engineers that the electric speech cur- rent would be of sufficient magnitude to operate the device after it had been perfected. They knew, too, that the fidelity of amplification of the equipment at their disposal was high enough to produce an electric current having practically the same wave form and proportion- ate amplitudes as the sound-pressure waves they wished to record. This development work progressed along several lines, as is demonstrated by the fact that there are a number of distinctly different sound recording systems in use in motion picture production work at the present time. In some of these recording systems, the electrical energy in the speech current is caused to operate a device that modulates a beam of light, either at the source of cur- rent that lights the lamp or after the light has been generated. In another method of recording, the elec- trical energy is transformed directly into suitable me- chanical energy. In the first case, the modulated beam of light from the lamp is permitted to fall on a moving strip of un- exposed motion picture film, thereby creating a photo- graphic image of its variations as a narrow sound track near one edge of the film. In the other method of re- cording, the mechanical energy derived from the elec- trical energy in the speech current records itself as a varying trace on a soft wax record. These are rather round about methods of recording sound, but they are the best that is available as yet. It is logical to assume that eventually the speech cur- rent, as this varying electric current that represents the sound wave is called, will be recorded directly on some medium without recourse to the expedient of first changing it into some other form of energy that is more easily recorded. But that development cannot be evolved until some practical method for recording electrical energy directly has been devised. The Two Methods of Film Recording The two methods that are generally employed for re- cording sound on motion picture film are known as the variable area-fixed density and the variable density-fixed area methods. Since the space is not available to per- mit entering into a detailed discussion of these two types and systems of film recording, and since this series is concerned primarily with the Western Electric record- ing system, we will consider only the variable density- fixed area method of film recording in this chapter. There are two distinctly different recording systems that employ this method of recording sound on film. In the Fox Movietone recording system, this type of sound track (the variable density-fixed area) is produced by the flickering light from a lamp that is connected di- rectly to the output of the recording amplifiers. In the Western Electric system of recording, the modulation of the light beam is accomplished by a device called a "light valve," which is a slit of variable width interposed be- tween a light source of constant intensity and the mov- ing film. Only the latter system will be discussed here. In order to avoid reviewing the complicated elec- trical equipment that is connected between the micro- phones on the sound stage and the recording machine in which the film is exposed to the modulated light beam (all of which has been described in preceding chapters), we will assume that we have at the recording machine a speech current that is of the proper amplitude and Left — The main amplifying equipment at Universal Pictures Studios. Charles Felstead, author of this series, illustrates how "patching" is done. Right — A film recording machine. Courtesy Paramount Productions. September, 1^.:4 T 1 1 I X T E R N A T I ( ) X A I. I' H 0 T OCR A I' II E R Twenty-one that it is a faithful copy of the sound waves that we wish to record. We must also assume that in addition to the speech circuit that brings in this speech current there are the necessary battery and power circuits enter- ing the recording room. The Film Recording Machine The machine in which the motion picture film is exposed to this varying light beam is known as the film recording machine; and it is comparable to the motion picture camera, in which other film is exposed to the light reflected from a scene that is being photographed. Both the film recording machine in the recording room and the motion picture camera on the sound stage are driven by special "interlocking" electric motors that start to revolve and stop at exactly the same time and that run at precisely the same speed. The speed of these motors is regulated so that they never vary by more than one-tenth of one per cent from a fixed speed of exactly 1200 r.p.m. when they are running. The use of interlocked motors makes it possible to place start marks on the film in both the camera and the recording machine, and then to print the two pieces of film together on one positive film after they have been exposed with the assurance that they will match perfectly. Because the two start marks are made at identical points on the pieces of film in both machines and the machines started and run at precisely the same speed, the picture and sound track on the two pieces of film naturally must coincide exactly. Another point of similarity in the camera and re- cording machine is in the light-tight construction of the box in which the film is exposed to light shining through a lens system in one end. However, the two machines differ in that the film moves uniformly and continu- ously past the lens system in the recording machine, whereas in the camera the film is drawn down inter- mittently a frame at a time past the one lens. The same type of film magazine is generally employed now on both types of machine ; and the machines are both equipped with footage counters that indicate the number of feet of film run through the machine. Film Recording Machine Construction The mechanical construction of a film recording ma- chine is evident from the accompanying photograph. The rectangular metal box is the chamber in which the film is exposed; and the two drum-shaped containers are the magazines in which the film is held before and after exposure. The film travels down from the loaded maga- zine on the top of the chamber through the recording chamber and on into the lower magazine. On the end of the exposure chamber opposite the driving motor is the lens system and the light valve as- sembly. Farther out on this same end of the machine is the lamp house in which is mounted the electric lamp that furnishes the light of constant intensity. The foot- age indicators are the two knob and pointer arrange- ments on the front of the exposure chamber. The whole recording machine and motor assembly is built on a special concrete foundation. Just beneath the center of the machine is suspended a square metal box carrying the PEC amplifier (PEC represents photo-electric cell, a light sensitive vacuum tube), the functioning of which will be discussed in suc- ceeding chapters. The large panel on the wall back of each recording machine is the control board on which are mounted the battery and speech circuit controls, the meters, and the other equipment associated with the recording machine. The large control knob on the box mounted beneath the meter on the left-hand wall in the photograph func- tions as a control element in the motor circuit, as will be described in a later chapter. The meter likewise is in the motor circuit. It serves to indicate when normal recording motor speed has been attained. The row of switches in the metal box on the extreme left is the starting and stopping control for the motor system. There are usually two film recording machines at- tached to each recording channel. The film magazines are removable to permit loading and unloading the film ; and the door on the front of the exposure chamber is easily opened to allow the threading of the machine and the punching of the film with the start mark. The upper magazine from which the film is drawn is known as the feed magazine and the other one is termed the take-up magazine. Uniform Film Motion Necessary It is necessary that the angular velocity with which the film is carried past the lens system that focuses the image of the light valve onto the film be as uniform as it is physically possible to make it. In the recording machine there are two large wheels around which the film is carried inside of the exposure chamber. These wheels are known as the sprockets; and it is while pass- ing over the sprocket just in front of the lens in the exposure chamber that the film is exposed to the light passing through the light valve. This sprocket engages just twenty of the sprocket holes in the edge of the film; so there is almost no possibility that the film will slip while passing under the light beam. These sprockets are both driven by the motor shaft through a worm and worm-wheel; but whereas the upper of the large sprockets, the one that draws the film from the upper magazine, is driven directly by the (Turn to Page 24) EXTENDED MIXING PANEL With Intercommunicating Telephone System and Volume Indicator for "ArtReeves" PORTABLE SOUND EQUIPMENT DEPENDABLE LABORATORY AND SOUND EQUIPMENT Francais Deutsch Espanol Svenska Hollywood Motion PicTure/cquipmemT (p |Td 645 NORTH MARTEL AVE- CABLE ADDRESS ARTREEVES Phone: WYoming 4501 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, USA Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 193-i MOTION PICTURE PERSONNEL AND PRODUCTION EXPENSE By Paul R. Harmer UITE often we hear the query, "Who gets all the money the motion picture producers spend in Hollywood? Do the stars, or is it the studio officials, or the director ; or, is it the The truth is, the money is paid out to a very large group of people whom the public do not know and sel- dom ever hear about. However, these people are all important to the work of getting the pictures completed and are usually specialists in some particular line. Major studio productions and large independent pro- ductions cost about the same ; the only difference is in the itemized accounts which show that the major studios have a high overhead, but the independent studios, to offset this, have a high rental cost. An occasional picture is made where the costs are extra heavy for transportation and hotel bills, while an- other picture would show extra heavy expense for stars, cast and extra talent ; while still another would show great expense in story rights. When you see the head- lines on a billboard announcing a million dollar produc- tion, do not be deceived that the picture cost that much ; such figures probably are based on what the exhibitors hope the picture will gross in sales. The actual cash spent on a picture in production is less than most people imagine and considerably less than that claimed by the usual ballyhoo. So if "Sophie Glutz's Last Stand," or some other picture didn't make you wish you'd seen it billed as a million dollar spectacle, just realize that the publicity department had to earn a living, too. For example of costs, the most popular picture made is the society comedy-drama, which if well done, is a fair average of costs for the rest of the program. The following headings are in their order in rela- tion to their cost ; the most expensive items come first and the least expensive last : Overhead, Laboratory and Film, Stars, Cast and Extra Talent, Staff, Settings, Story and Adaptation, Di- rection, Electrical, Sound, Editing, Transportation, Mu- sic, Wardrobe, Miscellaneous. The first item, termed overhead, covers a vast amount of expense with which every major production is charged directly and almost every independent production is charged indirectly through rentals, etc., all of which is itemized as follows: Executive Salaries, Executive Supplies and Expense, Production Salaries, Production Supplies and Expense, Casting Salaries, Casting Supplies and Expense, Casting Tests, Accounting Salaries, Accounting Salaries Time- keepers, Accounting Stationery and Expense, Purchasing Salaries, Purchasing Supplies and Expense, General Stores Salaries, General Supplies and Expense, Telephone Operators — Salaries, Telephone Expense, Telephone Tolls, Telegraph Expense, Information Salaries, Gate- man, Watchman, Watchman and Information Expense, Janitors' Salaries, Gardeners' Salaries, Firemen's Sal- aries, Janitor Supplies, Light Globes, Handling Office Equipment, Maintenance Grounds Expense, Special Maintenance, Donations, Dues, Freight, Express, Haul- ing Freight and Express, Legal Fees and Expense, Elec- tric Current, Gas, Water, Postage, Executive Traveling and Hotel, Interest and Discount, Insurance on Fire, In- surance on Earthquake, Insurance on Compensation, In- surance on Public Liability, Insurance on Autos and Trucks, Insurance — Miscellaneous, Taxes, Repairs and Upkeep on Buildings, Fire Equipment, Projection Equip- ment, Camera Equipment, Trucks and Cars, Cutting Rooms and Equipment, Machine Shops, Music Equip- ment, Sound Recording Equipment, New Construction, Lighting Equipment, Generators, Property Department, Dressing Rooms, Furniture and Fixtures, Auditing Fees, Inventory, General Printing and Stationery, Firm Alarm Service, Miscellaneous Unclassified, Alterations of Build- ings, Drinking Water and Cups, Publicity, Personnel and Employment, Personnel and Employment Expense, First Aid Salaries, First Aid Expense, Special Production Expense, Abandoned Productions, Additional Charges, Stories, Continuities, Non-collectible Debts, Fan Mail Salaries, Fan Mail Expense, Library Expense, Experi- mental Expense, Prints Rented, Inventory Adjustments, General Depreciation, Depreciation on Standing Sets, Income Credits, Stage Space Rentals, Miscellaneous Equipment Rental, Profit on Material, Profit on Labor, Miscellaneous Income, Scrap Film Sales, Fan Photo Sales, Standing Set Rentals, Salvage. Laboratory and film are divided about equally ; raw negative, positive and sound track cost about the same as the processing labor and materials. Stars, supporting cast and extra talent (the male and female stars usually take half of this sum) and the bal- ance goes to other players. The staff is divided into three groups as follows: The camera crew consists of a supervising cameraman, an operative cameraman, process cameraman, a still pho- tographer, two assistant cameramen, two grips and some- times an electrician. The sound department group consists of a recording engineer and two assistants. The third group consists of the assistant director, property man and script clerk. Settings are next in order, with an art director in charge, a superintendent of construction, carpenter fore- man, paint foreman, scenic artists, set dressers and dra- pery experts, also a number of laborers and trucks. Most of the work done by the process cameraman is done in co-operation with the art department. Story and adaptation is next in order. Two or three writers usually collaborate on an original story or adapt an old one which has proved popular. A director is one of the most important positions in the studio and he earns approximately the same salary as the star. Electrical is divided into equipment rental, setting up and striking the equipment and the operation of same. Sound expense is divided into rental, maintenance and royalties ; the latter taking nearly all of this item. Editing of pictures and sound positive is usually done by a head cutter and one assistant, while negative is handled by a negative cutter. Transportation includes passenger cars and trucks necessary to the production. Music is taken care of by the musical director. He is usually assisted by song writers, composers, an orches- tra and necessary soloists. Wardrobe is handled by a wardrobe designer with necessary assistants. Miscellaneous covers petty cash. An itemized production cost sheet is as follows: Production Supervisor, Story, Continuity Writers, Typing and Supplies, Director, Stars, Supporting Cast, (Turn to Page 24) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER / wenty-three cM 35mm NEGATIVE cud POSITIVE FILM pc tlie UNITED STATES HOLLYWOOD NEW YORK MADE IN AMERICA BY AGFA ANSCO CORPORATION FACTORIES AT BINGHAMTON, N.Y Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING (Continued from Page 21) shaft of the worm wheel, the large sprocket that carries the film past the light beam is driven through a special mechanical filter. This mechanical filter is to iron out any variations that may occur in the speed of the driving motor and to compensate for any imperfections in the driving gears. The heavy flywheel built directly on the motor shaft like- wise helps to steady the speed of the motor. All of this mechanical filtering has for its object the elimination of "flutter" in the sound track, which is produced b\ any intermittent variations in the angular velocity of the film as it is carried past the point of exposure. Film Speed Must Be Constant The speed at which the film is pulled through the recording machine is precisely ninety feet a minute, cor- responding to a driving motor speed of 1200 revolutions per minute ; and in an ideal recording machine, the film would pass the exposing light beam at this speed with absolute uniformity and steadiness in rate of travel. The uniform rotation of the sprocket that carries the film past the light beam is not affected by variations in the rotation of the other, the feed sprocket, due to the two loops that are left in the film between the two sprockets, because any variations in the rotation of the feed sprocket from normal will be absorbed by these two film loops and have no effect on the angular velocity of the sprocket carrying the film past the light beam. The feed sprocket not only draws the film from the upper magazine, but it feeds it down to the lower, or take-up, magazine. If a steady sine wave representing any audio frequency, such as 1000 cycles per second, is recorded and there is any flutter present in the recording machine, the recorded sound when it is projected will vary up and down in tone. The same thing happens to any sound that is recorded in a machine in which there is flutter present; but it is more noticeable with a steady tone because of the pureness of the note. The next chapter will continue with the discussion of film recording, going on through a description of the constant light source and the light valve assembly. MOTION PICTURE PERSONNEL AND PRODUCTION EXPENSE (Continued from Page 22) Extra Talent, Music Director, Musicians, Copyist and Supplies, License Fees, Production Staff, Cameramen's Salaries, Rentals, Sound Recorder and Assistants, Mis- cellaneous Sound Expense, Art Supervisor, Set Design- ing, Set Operation, Set Striking, Wardrobe Designing, Wardrobe Purchased, Wardrobe Manufactured, Ward- robe Rentals, Wardrobe Lost and Damaged, Make-up Salaries, Make-up Material, Properties Rented, Proper- ties Manufactured, Properties Purchased, Lighting La- bor, Lighting Current, Lighting Supplies, Lighting Equipment Rentals, Laboratory, Picture Negative Raw Stock, Picture Negative Developing, Picture Positive, Developing and Printing. Still Negative and Prints, Sound Track, Positive Raw Stock, Sound Track, De- veloping, Sound Track, Printing, Still Negative and Prints, Check-up and Master Print, Titles, Editing Sal- aries, Preview Expense, Projectionists' Salaries, Sound Effects Salaries, Material, Rentals, Photographic Effects Salaries, Material, Contract Work, Stock Shots, Still Prints, Miscellaneous, Transportation for Art Depart- ment, Property Department, Wardrobe, Electrical, Lo- cation, General Transportation, Location Rentals, Rail- road Fares, Hotels and Meals, Miscellaneous, Miscella- neous Meals, Tests, Unclassified Expense, Royalties. Special Insurance. The above items vary in cost according to the nature of the Production. After the production is made and previewed there is still a very large expense wrhich must be charged against it before the picture is released to the public. Release prints, sometimes as many as two hundred, are made for American distribution ; eleven are made for foreign distribution and several lavenders to be used as duplicate negatives. In all two hundred and fifteen prints ; then to this sum is added exploitation and sales expense. Making a successful feature motion picture requires a highly specialized group of people and complete har- monious co-operation from all concerned. The Roto-Tank showing Film and Separator 16 and 35 mm. Positions of Rotor The New HOLLYWOOD ROTO-TANK Specially designed for users of Contax, Leica, Military Cameras, 16 mm. and location tests on sound and action record- ing units. A maximum of agitation is produced in this unit, insur- ing shorter developing time with color separations and grada- tions unobtainable by other methods. No pre-soaking, no air bells, no streaks. The entire unit is constructed of heavy bakelite of low conductivity. 25 feet of 35 mm. or 50 feet of 16 mm. 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Twenty-six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A DIRECTOR (Continued from Page 13) was done incorrectly, or that the camera speed was too fast or too slow, or that the rhythm with which the characters carried on a conversation was not altogether smooth. Tempo simply means the speed at which almost anything is done during the filming of a picture. And it is just as difficult to watch the speed with which all these factors move as it sounds . . . and even more important. If there is anything that will ruin a comedy it is slow tempo. Comedies are the hardest kind of stories to film anyway, so if your preview audience doesn't laugh at your comedy, it doesn't necessarily mean that the tempo is wrong. Of course to be an exponent of tempo, one must be able to distinguish and recognize good and bad tempo and, when a picture is condemned as having displayed bad tempo, it is best to be able to analyze just what agent was out of accordance. Tempo is often hard to criticize when viewing a picture for the first time, but after projecting the film several times, and with a little practice, good or bad tempo can easily be analyzed. Getting back to the subject of close co-ordination of a film group's working parts, perhaps the department most easily to get out of adjustment or tune with the rest is the editorial. You know as well as I do what the cutter means to a production ; what he can do to save a poorly shot picture, and how he can tear down (just by a simple twist of the wrist) everything the director and cameraman did to make the picture good. The director and the editor work as closely, if not closer, than the director and the scenarist. The editor should be on the set during the shooting to absorb clearly the full significance of the idea that the director is attempt- ing to put over. Many times when an editor cuts a film "blind" without having watched the taking of the film, he will interpret the thought and mood much differently than did the director, and the result will be the loss of the central idea, which the writer, the director, and the cameraman have so closely collaborated to achieve. It also goes without saying that the cutter will often save a mediocre picture from utter ruin simply by skillful editing. Some directors cut their pictures as they shoot. That is, they take into consideration while they shoot the prob- lems that the cutter will encounter when he edits the film. This method of shooting is exceptionally good for the amateur film director. Here again brings the point of unification to the front. If the story to be filmed is one of extreme dramatic and emotional character, the wise amateur director will shoot his story as nearly as possible in chronological se- quence form. This method will be found to enable the characters to get into the mood of the story and, to feel their portrayals more, thus helping them to grow in characterization as the story grows. This system of shoot- ing is not always practical depending entirely on the construction of the story. For instance, in a story which contains an over-abundance of "cut-backs" from the action in one locale to the action in another locale, it is more practical to shoot all the scenes on one set at the same time, thus eliminating the returning to that set to finish after shooting intermediate scenes on some other set. The flexible camera (meaning the use of the camera on a perambulator) is one of the greatest expressive tools of the director, if he will only realize this. True, the overdoing of this defeats its own purpose, but after all, everything can be overdone. The true artist senses when a thing is overdone. For smooth flow of action, there is perhaps nothing quite like a moving camera ; follow- ing the characters through the set, or wandering from the center of interest over to a small table gently affixing itself onto a close-up of a clock, to indicate the passing of time. The proper use of the mobile camera will accentuate any given mood, and in many cases, is the only effective way to photograph a scene. The camera must not be moved unless there is a definite dramatic reason for do- ing so. One of the valuable uses of the traveling camera is in the presentation of an abstract thought to be con- veyed subtly or merely by suggestion. A very good example of this from a current pic- ture, Paramount's "The Scarlet Empress," in which the camera travels down a torture chamber disclosing one by one several executioners placing their victim's heads on the chopping blocks. At the end of the chamber the camera comes to a stop and then proceeds to retrace its course, but this time as it passes the executioners, only the upper halves of the men are shown, the blocks and the kneeling victims out of sight. As the camera slowly passes by, each executioner chops his victim's head off. The camera doesn't see the chopping blocks nor the heads falling off, yet we hear the axes, one by one, hit the blocks and we see the blood-thirsty grins on the faces of the executioners. There is no doubt in the observer's mind as to what has happened, yet it has merely been suggested to us that heads have been chopped off. This power of expressive suggestion is one of the greatest characteristics of the motion picture drama. Speaking of the characteristics of the motion picture, THE LARGEST STOCK OF MITCHELL CAMERAS AND CAMERA EQUIPMENT FOR RENTALS IF YOU NEED IT WE HAVE IT CAMERA SUPPLY CO. Cable Address "CAMERAS" RUDDY CERAUS MANAGER 1515 Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. Nite Phone GLadsrone 6583 GLadstone 2404 ED ESTABROOK STUDIO RENTALS September, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Tiveitiy-seven one may or may not be aware that there are several definite mediums of expression which are solely confined to the screen art. One of these is now being analyzed as to the logicality of its use by a director in one of our big studios. Yet it is the very thing which made the motion picture what it is today . . . the thing which so definitely divided it from the other medium of dra- matic expression, the legitimate stage. It is the distinctive ability to alter the audience's perspective on the subject instantly, by simply cutting from long shots to close- ups, etc. In other words, the simultaneous presentation of thought material without regard for the limitations of time or space. The director to whom I have referred claims that this is an entirely illogical procedure, and that when the angle of view is to be altered, the camera must travel from the long shot slowly dollying into the close-up, just as if the audience got up out of their seats and walked up onto the stage to get a better look at the actors. This man would have motion pictures presented as they were stage dramas. He would rob the motion picture of the feature which makes the screen art an art. He would take from it the medium of expression which is found in no other form of dramatic presentation. It h the very heart and soul of cinematic art. Tempo, l)oth in shooting and in cutting, centers around the direct cutting from shot to shot. To be illustrative, suppose that a group of people ^re shown talking in a room, and the story calls for a strange girl to be shown screaming suddenly in the next room. What would happen to the tempo of the scene, if the camera had to dolly all the way through the set, go through the door into the next room, and then focus itself on the frightened face of a girl who by that time begins her scream ? All shock or dramatic punch would be lost. How much better it is to instantly cut to a close- up of the girl's terrified face as she starts to scream. Then cut back to the reaction of the group, and in this way the story is kept moving, which is so important in situations such as these. A drag here would mean the complete ruination of the scene dramatically. I can hardly see how the motion picture will ever separate itself from this technique. Just as there are no rules for art, there can be no definite rules for the directing of a motion picture. What one director does wrong, another will get away with. That is mainly why this article has dealt with generalities, rather than attempting to set down a set of rules to be faithfully abided by. One thing is sure, and I hope my readers will agree with me, that there is a definite, confirmed Importance of Being a Director. Charlie Boyle, otherwise known as Otto Phocus, has just returned from Chicago where he has been shooting for Jack Townley comedies. For further information read his column "Out of Focus" in this issue. HAIL INDIA! The Moving Picture Monthly Annual for 1934 pub- lished in Bombay, India, has reached this office and we not only hasten to acknowledge receipt of it but also to compliment the publishers, Jaishanker K. Deviredi, and the editor, R. K. Rele, B.A., upon their enterprise in producing such a beautiful and artistically excellent magazine. The book is immensely interesting and its pages con- stitute a liberal education in the cinema as it exists in India. Commercially, also, the magazine appears to be pros- perous and to the average reader in America its pages are amazing — most of us had no adequate idea of the wonderful development of the cinema art in India. At this rate of growth India bids fair to outstrip the world, some day, and it may not be long before she comes knocking at our doors with pictures that will be most welcome additions to our American cinema bill of fare. Hail, India! She is on the way! Elmer Dyer, who claims that the sky is a nice, safe place, has recently signed a year's contract with Warner Bros. He had barely recovered from injuries sustained in his recent motorcycle spill when he grabbed his plane and beat it to San Diego to start shooting 'Air Devils." S.M.P.E. BOARD NOMINATES Homer G. Tasker of the United Research Corpora- tion, Long Island City, New York, was nominated for the office of President of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers for the year 1935 at the recent meeting of the Board of Governors of the Society. Since Tasker was the only nominee for President, his election, to be held soon by mail ballot, is assured. This is also true of nominees for other executive offices since only one nomi- nee each was chosen for the offices of Executive Vice- President, Editorial Vice-President, Convention Vice- President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The nominees for these offices were, respectively, Emery Huse, J. I. Crab- tree, W. C. Kunzmann, J. H. Kurlander and T. E. Shea. Nominees for the Board of Governors were as fol- lows: Max C. Batzel, R. C. A. Victor; Sidney K. Wolf, Electrical Research Products ; Terry Ramsaye, Quigley Publications, and Harry Rubin, Paramount Publix Cor- poration. Election of all officers will be announced at the Fall Meeting of the Society to be held at the Penn- sylvania Hotel, October 29th. They will assume their duties on January 1, 1935. Max Factor's MAKE-UP A. Easy to Apply - - - - - Easy to Remove ^ Stays on All Day - - - Photographically Correct MAX FACTOR'S MAKE-UP STUDIO • HOLLYWOOD Twenty-eight T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER .September, 1934 COMPOSITION IN PRACTICE (Continued from Page 19) diffused and the following one is not the difference will naturally be noticeable. This is, however, permissible where the contrast is desired, as, for example, a diffused scene of a group of children at play followed immediate- ly by a harsh scene on a battlefield. A combination of diffusion and fog filters may be used advantageously to produce fog effects when there is no fog and to diffuse and subdue backgrounds, as in the desert scene. The importance of the lens is often overlooked in pictorial composition, not only in connection with the softness or sharpness of the different types of lenses but especially with the difference in perspective produced by lenses of different focal lengths, and with the depth of focus of the various lenses. The most useful all-round lens in 16 mm. photography is, of course, the one inch lens, which gives normal perspective and a considerable depth of focus, in some cases being universal even when wide open. A focusing mount lens is desirable in very close shots, however. Shorter focus lenses, such as the common 15 mm. lenses, produce a wider angle of view, thus dis- torting the perspective to the point where they cannot be used for normal close-ups because the parts of a per- son which are closer to the lens become too large in proportion to the other parts. For normal close-ups it is best to use lenses of longer focal length, preferably the two inch lens, for this lens gives the best perspective in close-ups, cuts down the angle of view so that the background becomes minimum, and has small depth of focus so that the background can readily be thrown out of focus. These three lenses — 15 mm. one inch, and two inch — are the best for amateur use, and should be part of every serious amateur's equipment. Longer focus lenses are difficult to handle, and are useful only in travel and sport pictures. The depth of focus of telescopic lenses is lim- ited and special care must be taken in focusing. It is not advisable to pan with a long focus lens, unless the panning is very slow and steady, for, because it brings objects closer, the movement produced is much greater than with short focal length lenses. The 15 mm. lens, because of its wide angle, its uni- versal focus (the shorter the focal length the greater the depth of field) and its greater speed has as many uses as the one inch lens. Its wide angle and speed make it especially indispensible in filming interiors, while in exteriors it is valuable because it gives a feeling of space, again due to its wide angle. Since the size of objects diminishes rapidly with the distance, the distance seems to be increased. It is, therefore, useful in photographing exteriors in which it is desired to include a lot of terri- tory without panning, or to give the feeling of great space and loneliness. Its depth of focus permits objects in the immediate foreground to be in focus without throwing the back- ground out of focus. This was desired in close-ups of Wallace Beery in "Viva Villa" so that the background of the people, of which Villa was an inseparable part, would always be clear. The wide angle lens further per- mitted a wide expanse of background. Telescopic lenses, from the two inch up, produce an opposite effect from the wide angle lens — they give a feeling of closeness and confinement by limiting the angle of view much as do binoculars. For this reason they were used in "Viva Villa" for the full shots of the battles in order to mass the mob more closely together and make the fighting seem more intense. I he dependence of composition on exposure, focus, camera movement, lighting, filters, and lenses indicates the importance of an understanding of the use of these optical and mechanical factors to the camera artist. The yV^KLIEGUGHTS CUT Studio Lighting COSTS versatility and exceptionally high ef- ficiency provided by these new Klieg- lights, permit substantial reductions in your studio lighting costs, and enable \ou to do all kinds of trick, spot, and floodlighting . . . without spill light, auxiliary equipment, or any additional expense. They are complete self-con- tained units . . . unsurpassed for per- fect performance and low operating cost. I us acquaint you with the facts write for *A full inform a- lion. Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co., inc. 321 West 50th Street N EW YORK. NY. California \ MR. R. F. GRETSCH, Representative I 6521 Sunset Rlvd., Hollywood, Calif. cameraman may be a great pictorial artist, but unless he is also a good technician and understands his camera and its accessories he will be unable to properly transfer a scene onto the screen as he wishes. The amateur should remember, therefore, that an understanding of his equip- ment is of first importance, then the understanding and practice of the principles of composition, which will en- able him to make pictures of lasting beauty and appeal. PARAMOUNT "READY FOR LOVE." Director, Marion Gering; original. Roy Flannagan and Eulalie Spence ; screenplay, J. P. McAvoy, Virginia Van Upp and William Slavens McNutt; first camera- man, Leo Tover ; sound, Jack Goodrich; producer, Albert Lewis. "LEMON DROP KID." Director, Marshall Neilan ; story, Damon Runyon; screenplay, Howard Green; first cameraman, Henry Sharp; sound, Earl S. Hayman; producer, William Le Baron. "ENTER MADAME." Director, Elliott Nugent; story, Gilda Varesi and Dolly Byrne; screenplay, Jacques Deval, Gladys Lehman and Charles Brackett; first cameraman, Theo- dor Sparkuhl; sound, H. D. Mills; producer, Benjamin Glazer. FOX "MARIE GALANTE." Director, Henry King; novel, Jacques Deval; screenplay, Reginald Berkeley; first cameraman, John Seitz ; producer, Winfield Sheehan. "THE STATE VS. ELINOR NORTON." Director, Ham- ilton MacFadden; novel, Mary Roberts Rinehart; screenplay, Rose Franken and Philip Klein; photography, George Schneider- mann; producer, Sol Wurtzel. FOR SALE Inspected and Guaranteed Negative Short Ends All Kinds CONTINENTAL FILMCRAFT INC. 1611 Cosmo Street Hollywood Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 I I, I N T E R N A T I O N A PHOTOGRAPH E R Twenty-nine MINIATURE CAM (Continued camera workers know the importance of correct timing of development of the negative. The new timer is quite simplified. When the indicator is set to the number of minutes required the mechanism is automatically wound and the timing is started. It is equipped with an ad- justable stop so that repeated settings may be made in the dark, permitting repeated timings of the same length while working in the dark without taking the timer out to the light. Prepared Fine-Grain Developers : Many new pre- pared developers have appeared lately so that the minia- ture camera photographer now has at his disposal quite a number of dependable fine-grain developers which are either ready for use, or require simple dilution, or the solution of ready mixed chemicals in water. The R. J. Fitzsimons Company have introduced their M. P. G. developer which is composed of paraphenh lene- ERA PHOTOGRAPHY from Page 11 ) diamine, glycin, and metpl, the latter being added to bring out the shadow detail. Edwal also has recently an- nounced their prepared Diamine-Glvcin developer. Dia- mine is pure paraphenylene-diamine manufactured by the Edwal Laboratories. Glycomine is a fine-grain prepared developer produced by the Stone Laboratories. The old reliable Boratol fine-grain developer is now offered in a new form by Burleigh Brooks, and the Morgan Camera Shop of Hollywood has chosen a name appropriate with the modern photographic terminology for their new fine-grain developer — Supersoup. We must not forget the number of prepared fine- grain developers which have been on the market for some time, and which are still performing commendable service, amongst which are Agfa Fine-Grain Developer, Perutz Developer, Hauff Glycin Tubes, Rodinol, Gly- cinol, Rytol, Microgram 85, Nograin, etc. PRESIDENT WYCKOFF RESIGNS E. LEITZ, INC. Dept. 576 60 East 10th Street, New York W est em Representatives : SPINDLER & SAUPPE Los Angeles and San Francisco, Cal Every important improvement in Miniature Cameras has been pioneered by LEICA. Built-in Range-Finder coupled with lens for Automatic Focusing. Fo- cal-plane Shutter with all speeds from 1 to 1 /500th sec- ond. 11 Precision Lenses, in- cluding speed lenses, wide angle lenses, tele lenses, and others. A Complete Line of Developing, Printing, Enlarg- ing and Projecting Equipment for Miniature Pictures. LEICA uses cinema film, giv- ing you a wide choice of emul- sions for every photographic purpose. The negatives yield sharp enlargements up to 12 by inches and more. Buy a LEICA and the whole field of photography is within your reach — with greatest economy. Write for free illustrated booklet describing LEICA Camera, Lenses and Accessories. Alvin Wyckoff, for nearly six: vears president of Local 659, I.A.T. S.E. & M.P.M.O. has resigned. Air. Wyckoff enjoys the distinc- tion of being the only man to hold the presidency of this organization, to which he was always unanimously elected. He is internationally known as a cameraman and has always been in the front ranks of the pioneer cine- matographers of the industry. He was a member of the old Static Club and the A. S. C. and was for twelve years at the head of both the camera and laboratory de- partments of the famous old Lasky Studios. Many successful cameramen of this day were his pupils and he photo- graphed many of the world renowned stars. He will engage in production on his own account. As a new wrinkle to beauty aid, Fay Wray had installed a small elec- tric refrigerator in her boudoir in order to maintain a supply of ice packs. She has one also in her studio dressing room. Among the many followers in the Frank Capra lineup- is a pet rooster who thinks Frank is all right. The rooster came to like the director be- cause Frank fed him ears of corn. This all happened during the filming of "Broadway Bill" at Columbia. Flease mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Rates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOR SALK OK KENT— Mitchell and Bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free head, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargain catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — 40 — -50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. ienses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. LIKE NEW SOUND MOVIOLA, Model VC, Price $450; also new H. C. E. Ereehead Tripod and legs for Bell & Howell, Eyemo or DeVry cameras — $75 complete. Hollywood Camera Exchange, 1600 North Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras— sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — fine grain nnishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Proj'ect-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all' popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. MITCHELL — Late model silenced camera, fully equipped. Reason- able. Continental Filmcraft, Inc., 1611 Cosmo Street, Hollywood. WANTED— Tmi Bell & Howell 120° or 170° shutter cameras im- mediately, for cash. Continental Filmcraft, Inc., 1611 Cosmo Street, Hollywood. CAMERA REPAIRING BELL & HOWELL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS MITCHELL MOTOR — 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange 9treet, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow focus device, Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2 ; foreign countries, $2.50. lames T, Finn Publishing Corp., 1 West 47th St., New York. WANTED TO BUY WANTED — Motion Picture and Still Cameras, all types, Lenses, Finders, Tripod Heads, Leica or Contax Cameras. Cash for bargains. Camera Supply Company, 1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction ; or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly wood. MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING — If interested in aviation, see Roy Klaffki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Earl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. M ir^nnml Is JHEtiEB 0 Best 16MM Value J Bass . . . value leader . . . offers Precision Made Ampro . . .New guaranteed — at a saving of $50.50— Powerful- Brilliant— Plastic projection — Long-life— Smoothness — *99L° 1 Quietness assured. 400 watt Biplane Mazda light is equal to 500 watt. Kodacolor may be used. Instrument complete with cord and plug — instructions — carrying case. Fully guaranteed for one year. Regular $150.00; Bass price S99.50. GUARANTEE "I personally guaraniee 1 money back 1 guarantee 1 (he 400 win Biplane Full details and Baa Bargaingram No. 212 is free on request. DEALERS: WRITE FOR DETAILS 1 FiUmeaf Mazda equal I to 500 wan in ilium. - BASS CAMERA CO. p"uJ"' 179 W.Madison St.Chicaao i _ TRICK PHOTOGRAPHY. Exclusive agency for three leading Holly- wood makers of trick lenses. Apply for prices and demonstration, sale or rentals. Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 Cahuenga Ave., Holly- wood. COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY With the Miniature Camera By Luis Marden This is positively the latest available data on color photography published. Mr. Marden has spent a great amount of time in compiling this valuable material which includes information on Agfa Color Photography, Finlav Color Photography, the Tri-Chrome Carbro process, Du- pont Dupac, Lumiere (Filmcolor and Lumicolor), Bel- color print film and others. 108 pages with many charts, diagrams, formulas and processes. Attractive flexible binding. A thoroughly practical book written in a sim- ple, easy-to-understand manner. Price 50 cents. PORTRAITURE With Miniature Camera By George W. Hesse In this latest book on Miniature Camera Photog- raphy Mr. Hesse has brought out a great amount of in- teresting material on the possbilities of portraiture with the diminutive camera. You are told in this new book, just what should be done to produce portraits of pro- fessional quality in jour own home, with a minimum of effort and expense. Hints as to composition, lighting, Him, lenses, make-up, developing formulas and other sub- jects are given. A book of valuable suggestions and in- formation that should be in the hands of every miniature camera owner. 64 pages, illustrated. Price 50 cents. FOMO PUBLISHING CO. Canton, Ohio CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone GRanite 9707 Hollywood, California DOUBLE MATTING (3 PATENTS. 1932) mW/ILLlAMC! TT SHOTS » Phone OXford 1611 8111 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. September, 1934 T h INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH KK Thirty-one THE KODAK MINIATURE ENLARCER A paper-cabinet ha^e, sold separately, is another im- portant accessor). This compact cabinet affords a port- able but firm base to which to clamp the enlarger stand- ard, allowing the user to put the enlarger in any con- venient working position. For the benefit of owners of Kodak Auto-Focus En- larges, Model B, or the earlier models adapted for the use of a Photoflood Lamp, the enlarging assembly of the Kodak Miniature Enlarger is available alone to con- vert the previous equipment into a miniature-type en- larger. This includes the lens and mount, the negative carrier, and the reflector. This converter, enlarging to 8 diameters, slides on the face plate in place of the regular enlarging unit. Prices Kodak Miniature Enlarger, including the mask- ing paper holder but not the paper-cabinet base ------------- $67.50 Kodak Miniature Enlarger, complete except for the paper holder or the paper-cabinet base - $52.50 Paper-cabinet base --------- $10.00 Assembly to equip Kodak Auto-Focus Enlarger to take miniature negatives ------- $35.00 Masking paper holder alone ------ $17.50 The Kodak Miniature Enlarger, designed for the pur- pose its name indicates, is currently announced by the Eastman Kodak Company. The new enlarger permits full advantage to be taken of the fine-grain characteristics of Panatomic Film. It gives enlargements up to 11 by 14 inches from the nega- tives of the half Vest Pocket size (1 3/16 by 1 9/16 inches). It enlarges from 2^ to 10 diameters, and takes negative areas up to 2*4 by 2^2 inches. The Kodak Miniature Enlarger is one of few en- largers that permit a wide range of small-sized nega- tives to be used, even including the popular snapshot size of 2^4 by 3^4) provided the length is masked down to 2}/2 inches. The operation of the Kodak Miniature Enlarger is simplicity itself. Sliding the enlarger head up or down adjusts for picture size. Critical focus is obtained by turning the lens mount in which a brilliant Kodak Anastigmat f :4.5 lens, espe- cially designed for enlarging, is set. The lens is perma- nently installed, obviating any need for the user to put his camera out of commission by removing its lens for use in the enlarger, with possible damage to the lens an additional disadvantage. Rheostat control gives two degrees of illumination from an inexpensive Mazda Photoflood Lamp. Dimmed, the light is about one-fifth the full power. This two- degree illumination provides a sufficient variation in light strength, making a lens diaphragm unnecessary and thus simplifying correct timing of exposures. The lamp house is amply ventilated, and a special heat-absorbent glass disc affords further protection to the negative. A detachable safelight disc permits in- serting and adjusting bromide paper while the printing light is on. The safelight disc is also useful in doing such combination work as printing in skies. A new type of masking paper holder is an essential part of the outfit. The masking arms are attached to a metal frame, which by means of an ingenious catch is held up out of the way while both hands are adjust- ing the paper. Please mention The International Photogra Phone CLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue AMATEURS ! ! PROFESSIONALS ! ! Fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film Supplied at .02J/^ per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS KOMPANY 6510 Selma Ave.. Hollywood. Calif. GL. 0276 r*Bir9-i-''(' By Otto Phocus Chicago, 111. Dear Editor — Will have to send you a letter for the "page" this issue as I will not be back in time to complete the article on "birds" as promised in the last issue. I obtained a lot of valuable data on this subject and feel sure you will not mind waiting several months or longer, as it will take that much time to make contact with the "birds" I met, and have them O. K. the data before releasing it. 1 decided to take a couple of weeks off and go to work, and went east to photograph a picture at the Worlds Fair. Of course, you knew they were having a Fair at Chicago, but Fll bet you didn't know the Sky Ride was 628 feet high. If you refer to Westerberg's Book of Tables, page 13, it will tell you how far away you will have to go to shoot it with a two inch lens. You'll be surprised. They can handle 5,000 visitors an hour, if they have 5,000 visitors an hour. It is so high, you can see Mich- igan on a clear day. I asked the man that expained this if he had ever heard of Catalina Island. He smiled and said, "on a clear day." I have always wanted to take a course in "Show card writing in six easy lessons" and went over to the Hall of Signs to look around. There was a slight mistake some- where as the only thing I could find was the Hall of Science. It was very nice tho and it contained the Hall of Photography. I met a girl there and call her the Kodak Girl. She was always saying, "Stop! Down!" She had been a fan dancer, but the weather was so hot they had to give the fans to the customers. Some of the other fan dancers had to give their fans to the costumers. El foldo uppo, as we say in the Spanish. I met a fellow that read the International Photogra- pher and he said he got a few laughs out of it. "I am glad you like my page," I informed him. "Glad to know you, Mr. Tobey," he replied. This had me stopped for an instant and then I asked bim if he ever read "Out of Focus." "No" he said, "As soon as my eyes bother me I stop reading." — Always clowning (?) those Chicago boys. Met one of the men that shot Dillinger. He shot him after the police were all through. His name is Rich- ardson and is with a news reel. Later, I saw him doing a "hand stand" on top of a sedan, photographing a parade. I asked him if he wasn't afraid of falling, and he said he didn't mind if it happened in the morning, as that would enable him to get home early. Saw Harry Birch and asked him how his business was. He said "slipping". He photographs slide films and expects to enter the three color field shortly. Max Markmann, (two n's) was my assistant, and when not "assistanting," manufactures racing motors. After a few days on the job he had a new idea of speed as we galloped from one end of the Fair to one end of the Fair. Called on Tony Caputo at the R. K. O. Exchange and he was waiting for something to happen. He is on their news reel. We waited about 30 minutes and nothing happened, but I guess things are slow all over the east. MOVIE STATISTICS If all the money spent for motion pictures in 1933 were changed into pennies and piled up in one stack, one penny upon another, the pile would fall over. If it were changed into one dollar bills and laid end to end it would reach quite a ways. And if it were changed into two dollar bills and laid end to end it wouldn't do any good so far as we can see at this writing. If it were changed into certified checks of 50c de- nomination and placed end to end it would reach to some star away out in the solar system but we don't know which one. If all the usherettes who worked in motion pictures in 1933 would all quit working there wouldn't be any- body to show the people to their seats. He had a nice office and a desk and can look out on Wa- bash Ave. and watch the trucks go by, while waiting. Fred (Whitey) Hafferkamp was the operative camera- man and is one of the best known commercial cameramen in the east. He lost a few pounds of weight, on account of the heat, but never lost his temper. That's something! This can be credited to his living in Oak Park. By the time you leave Oak Park and arrive in Chicago, you have no temper left. Go ahead and sue ! Gene Cour motored in from Wisconsin and has just completed a comedy. His next venture will be some shorts about flowers. You would not think this after meeting him, but didn't they put poetry on my page last month ? Oscar Abbe invited me to go out to the Essanay Studios to look at the old relics, but it is not necessary to travel that far in Chicago to see "old" relics. Bill Strafford, Business Mgr. of Local 666, lives in Wheaton. I would not tell this, but he did not intro- duce me to his Secretary. Fred Wagner arrived without the checkered flag and had more equipment on his back than you can get in the back of a Ford. He shot stills in all directions with the greatest of ease. "Smiling" Charlie, of the House of David, is in the East for M. G. M. making talent tests and what a job for Charlie. He always did get the breaks. I guess I have missed a few of the gang but it was so hot, Si. that you couldn't get a hi-ball for fifteen cents; and that is pretty hot. I visited most of the shows at the fair, but don't see how I can write about them for a Photographic Maga- zine. Still, the exposure and composition at the Streets of Paris might be interesting. You would appreciate the new bridge across the River at Michigan Ave., but I still think New York has the best Bridges. Well so-long for now — keep your focus sharp and don't forget to stop down. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. What has silk to do with LAMP BULBS? The camera tells General Electric's scientists how silk'controls light SILK, as cinematographers well know, is the most commonly used material for spreading the light to soften shadows, and for diffusing light to eliminate "hot spots". It helps you con- trol light quality and intensity. It transmits from 65 to 75% of the light and effectively con- ceals the bright filament. The photo above shows how it dis- tributes the light. Very similar characteristics are shown by- ground glass and pebbled glass. In white opal glass, as the companion photograph indicates, much better diffusion is secured but light transmission is reduced. This material transmits about 50% of the light directed at it. Directly, these facts about translucent materials bear little relation to lamp making. But White opal glass diffuses more but transmits less light New bi-post 2,000-watt G-tS. Used in 18"sun spots and studio condenser spot lamps. Also available in 1 ,000-watt size. they play a very important part in light control, a fundamental of illumination in cinematogra- phy as in home, factory or office. Hence G-E engineers and scien- tists study the characteristics of all translucent materials. Thus by being able to under- stand your language, we may be able to serve you better — in designing new lamps and in assisting you to benefit fully from the many types of General Electric Mazda lamps availa- ble. General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio. General Electric manufactures lamps for home lighting and deco- ration, automobiles, flashlights, photography, stores, offices, and factories, street lighting and signs . . . also Sunlight lamps. General Electric invites you to visit its exhibit in the Electrical Building at the Century of Progress GENERAL A ELECTRIC MAZDA LAMPS MR. ART REEVES. 645 NORTH MARTEL AVENUE, LOS AN1ELES. CALTrDR.NIA. LEADERSHIP The MITCHELL Sound Camera is recognized as the leading camera for sound pictures the world over. HOLLYWOOD ENGLAND JAPAN INDIA Use the New MITCHELL The World's Leading Camera Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "M1TCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 I HOTOGRAPHER TH YEAR HOLLYWOOD OCTOBER, 1934 VOL.6 NO. 9 ir CENTS Ij A COPY "Flirtation Walk," Warner Bros.-First National. Left to right: Harold Noyes, chief grip; Frank Flannagan, chief electrician; Lew Borzage, asssitant director; Frank Evans, assistant cameraman; Al Greene, operative cameraman; Sol Polito, chief cameraman; Frank Borzage, director; Ruby Keeler, star; Richard Powell, leading man. Dance numbers by Bobby Connolly; Still Photographers, John Ellis and Mickey Marigold; Special Photographer, Bert Longworth. OTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS "EG. U.S.PAT. OfF. Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45™ STREET NEW YORK CITY PLANT • • • PARLIN, N. J. SMITH & ALLER LTD. 6656 --SANTA MONICA BLVD. HOLLYWOOD, CAL. THE €p> TRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTO GRAPHE R MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER, 1934 No. 9 Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Earl Theisen and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen Boyce, Advertising Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. CONTENTS Front Cover Still by Bert Longworth MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING— Chapter XIII - 2 By Charles Felstead, Associate Editor KODAK LOSES A SHINING LIGHT - - 5 MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ------ 6 By Augustus Wolf man EARL THEISEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTE BOOK - - - - 8 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTINUITY AND CUTTING— Part I 10 By Paul E. Boivles. ESTIMATING THE COST OF A MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION— THE WORK SHEET - - 12 By Paul R. Harmer ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ARC LAMPS 14 By Walter Strohm IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW AKERS 35mm. HAND CAMERA 16 By Walter Bluemel A FEW WORDS ABOUT SUN SHADES AND FILTERS - - 18 By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. CINEMACARONI ------------ 20 By Robert Tobey INTOLERANCE— "THE SUN PLAY OF THE AGES" - - - 22 By Billy Bitzer, the Grand Old Cameramaster WHO AND WHY IS THE GAFFER? (THE MAN WHO HAS THE LIGHTEST JOB) 24 By Bob Hussey CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING - - 30 OUT OF FOCUS ----- 32 By Charles P. Boyle Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles. California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California HEmpstead 1128 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California fjg*m. 8o-s3>£Bs> ^Sstllse?0 8I SERVICE ENGRAVING CO ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR NOVEMBER Karl Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. will delight his special followers by submitting an article on "Thoughts on Projection Printing." Because of lack of time to complete Fred Westerberg's second series of CINEMATOC- RAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES, the event has been set back to November. Associate Editor Charles Felstead will offer to his readers the fourteenth chapter of his scholarly treatise on Motion Picture Sound Recording. Charles P. Boyle, clever editor of "Out of Focus," will appear as usual in one of his delightful fantasies. Get the habit of read- ing his stuff. Paul E. Bowles, pinch hitting for Walter Bluemel in this issue, will present Part II of the "Relationship Between Continuity and Cutting." Augustus Wolfman, Walter Bluemel, Paul Harmer, Bob Hussey, Robert Tobey, Lewis W. Physioc and others of our staff and contribu- tors will be represented with offerings of unusual interest to their readers. "The Mechanism of Vision," by the noted English author, lecturer and philosopher, Geoffrey Hodson, will appear without fail and every one interested in the occult should be sure to read it . Cinematographers, espe- cially, will have an opportunity to consider vision from a standpoint opposed to the pure- ly mechanical side. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. livo The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING Chapter XIII the bulk Electric HE chapter last month introduced the subject of recording sound on motion picture film. The several film recording systems were mentioned ; but, as in all the preceding chapters of this series, of the material presented concerned the Western sound recording system. The two film recording machines that constitute one recording channel. The switchboard and the spare loaded magazines may be seen. A film numbering punch is on the floor between the machines. Class light valve dessicators are back of it. — Courtesy Universal Pictures Corporation. The discussion last month was about the film record- ing machine, that ingenious machine in which unexposed motion picture film is drawn at a steady rate of speed past a lens system through which it is exposed to a modulated light beam. Most of the external construc- tional features were described, as well as the sprocket sys- tem that moves the film at a constant rate of speed. This chapter continues that discussion by describing the lens system, the recording lamp, and the light valve mounting. The photo-electric cell amplifiers that are used for PEC monitoring will also be described. The Optical Portion Directly ahead of the objective lens system attached to the front end of the exposure chamber, and through which the modulated light beam shines on the film and exposes it, is the magnetizing winding and the light valve assembly. Still farther out on this end of the recording machine is the metal lamp house in which is mounted the electric lamp that provides the light for exposing the moving film. Between the lamp and the light valve is a condensing lens system that serves to concentrate the light from the lamp onto the opening in the frame of the light valve. The mounting of the lamp is adjustable so that it can be moved around to the position that permits the condensing lens to focus the light most sharply onto the light valve opening. This is one of the adjustments that must be made every morning by the men who oper- ate the film recording machines. It is done after the glass envelope of the lamp has been polished with a soft cloth to remove any dust or grease that may have accu- mulated on it overnight. It used to be that an eighteen-ampere projection lamp with a heavy flat ribbon filament less than an inch long was used for the recording lamp. But now smaller lamps that require less current to heat the filament are used almost exclusively. The filament in this smaller lamp is formed of a closely-wound spiral of fine wire. The diameter of the spiral filament is about the same as the width of the flat ribbon filament, and the two filaments are of practically the same length. The lamp is lighted from a twelve-volt storage battery, and the current flow is regulated by an adjustable wire-wound rheostat in the line. The lamp and light valve mountings are arranged so that the plane of the ribbon filament of the lamp is focused on the plane of the slot between the ribbons in the light valve. The metal housing that may be seen over this lamp is for the purpose of shielding the record- ing operator's eyes from the very bright light of the lamp. The chimney provides ventilation for cooling. Adjustment of Lamp Current Since the speed at which the film moves past the lens system in the recording machine) is constant and un- alterable, the average degree of exposure of the sound track may be regulated only by varying the intensity of the light from the recording lamp. So in order that a sound track of the correct average density will be obtained, it is necessary that just the right amount of current from the battery be supplied to the lamp to provide light of the proper intensity. To permit the fine regulation of current that is re- quired, a vernier rheostat is connected across the main rheostat that controls the current flow through the lamp filament. These two rheostats and an ammeter that in- dicates the amount of current flow are mounted on the To Litnp bit'tei-V TomA V, battery f .M&onctizing WindUnj —*~CL r a=z* ToPEC •objective leni sister?} Liql»+ Valve riHon C«U Fig. 1. ^R«-P»dtcoil ^SwBch. Film recording machine battery and speech circuits. large control panel on the wall back of the recording machine. The arrangement of the recording battery circuits is shown schematically in Figure 1. The proper current for each lamp is determined by exposure tests with the light valve in place but discon- nected from the recording circuit, the strings of the light valve remaining stationary during the tests. With the film running steadily at normal speed through the ma- chine, the lamp current is varied in quarter-ampere steps between wide limits. A shutter blocks off the light while the current changes are being made. After de- velopment of the film, the most satisfactory current for that particular lamp is selected and the lamp marked with that figure. It is the duty of the recording engi- neers to maintain the lamp current at exactly the indi- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Three By CHARLES FELSTEAD, Associate Editoi cated value at all times during the making of sound takes. The Electromagnet The assembly of electromagnet and light valve — the combination which constitutes the light beam modulat- ing device — is mounted between the lamp house and the objective lens system attached to the end of the exposure chamber. Incidentally, it must be explained that this objective lens system serves to focus the light beam onto the sound track strip of the film after the beam has passed through the light valve. In other words, the objective lens sys- tem functions in much the same manner as the con- densing lens system. But whereas the condensing lenses focus the light from the lamp onto the slit between the ribbons of the light valve, the objective lenses focus the modulated light from the light valve onto the film. The field winding of the electromagnet, commonly known as the magnetizing winding, is a large multi- layer coil of wire wound around the center leg of an E- shaped core. The open part of the E faces toward the lamp house. The end of this center leg of the core, which is shorter than the other two legs, is wedge-shaped, with the long way of the wedge on the same plane as the plane of the light valve ribbon. There is an opening in the face of this wedge that is eight mils wide by 256 mils long; and this opening is part of a slot that expands toward the back of the E to form an opening 204 mils wide by 256 mils long facing the objective lens system in the end of the ex- posure chamber. After the electromagnet assembly has been lined up at the factory in exactly the right posi- tion, it is fastened securely in place and the screw heads covered with sealing wax. This is to prevent any shift- ing in the alignment of the slot through which the light beam shines. The two lens assemblies are likewise se- MOINITOR ROOM To output or MONITOQUMO CQUIPMFMT AMPLIFIER poor"! recording iattcnuator; magnetizing winding at the beginning of a take results in sound not being recorded on the film ; so a signal light is often connected across this circuit to serve as an indicator when the key switch is in the on position. If the lamp is not burning during recording, it behooves the operator to check the magnetizing winding circuit and the signal lamp. The PEC Monitoring Circuit The locations of the two PEC {photo-electric cell) amplifiers in the monitoring circuit will be evident from an examination of Figure 2. One of these amplifiers is provided for each recording machine ; and it is mounted directly on the frame of the machine in a metal box sup- ported below the exposure chamber. Inside of each film recording machine, a photo- electric cell is mounted behind the moving film in line with the light beam that shines through the light valve and exposes the sound track on the film. Through the action of the light valve, as we shall see in a later chapter, the beam of light is modulated by the amplified speech current supplied to the light valve by the bridging amplifier. After exposing the sound track on the film in a degree directly proportional to the frequency and volume of the sound being picked up by the microphones, a por- tion of the light (in the order of four per cent) passes through the film and impinges on the sensitive surface of the photo-electric cell. Only those variations in the recording light that have passed through the film, and so have been recorded on it, the photo- [>o^'; » (§, P£C<,Phoh>-el— & pECORDINfa Roor-i * *-*- DISC* B A -X- fej D' PA* EL -X X— Q o * SOUND STACt c -DO Pf LAY NO 1 ' 1 1 " 'Iff 7fc -J X— ps British- American Continental Relative Exposure f:l 1/64 f:1.4 1/32 f:2 1/16 f:2.8 H f:3.2 1/6 f:4 Va f:4.5 Vz f:5.6 H f:6.3 5/8 f:8 l f:9 m f:11.3 2 f :12.5 2/2 f:16 4 f:18 5 f:22.6 8 f:25 10 f:32 16 f:36 20 Chamois Skin: I have reached that stage where I regard chamois skin as an indispensable part of my equipment. My first use for it was to clean the dust from my camera. One day I noticed that the hand- some chrome finish on the latter was acquiring some scratches despite the fact that I have a fine leather case for it. Being one of those finicky individuals who cannot bear to see his camera acquiring any marring factors, I had a small bag made from a piece of chamois skin which easily slips into the case with the camera. This bag has proved quite a handy adjunct, for when- ever I wish to slip the camera into my pocket and leave all cases, etc., home, I am assured that the miniature will not become scratched by other objects in my pocket, nor will any dirt particles fall into spots where they will cause considerable trouble. Small bags have also been made for filters, so on occasions when even an eveready case may be too bulky, the necessary photo- graphic equipment can be slipped into pockets with the assurance that no marring factors will be acquired. A small piece of clean, soft chamois kept in the camera case serves to clean the lens, view finder, etc., and there are many times when, for some unaccountable reason, these optical parts have become smudged. Japanese lens tissue is undoubtedly one of the finest expedients to employ for cleaning optical glass, but a soft chamois skin is an ideal substitute. During the processing of the miniature film, I usually employ a chamois to remove the excess moisture from the film when it has been removed from the wash water. For this purpose the chamois is constantly kept in a jar of water to guard against the formation of hard sur- faces. Before it is applied to the film, the chamois is washed in fresh water, wrung out and then run down both sides of the film, care being taken not to apply it too firmly to the emulsion surface It readily absorbs the droplets of moisture on the film without causing any scratches. During enlarging, dust particles and small hairs seem to be so prevalent and numerous at times as to rob the photographer of all the joy which he anticipates in the making of his prints. Before inserting the film in the enlarger, it is best to examine it and remove all dirt By Augustus Wolfman and dust particles, and a chamois skin is quite handy for this purpose. Before a new portion of film is placed in the negative carrier, I usually wipe it with the chamois and after every two or three prints have been made, both the film and the glass negative carrier are removed from the enlarger and the carrier is wiped with the chamois. Such procedure may not be necessary on all occasions, but there are times when the air seems to be charged with dust particles. Some workers will claim that when the film is wiped static electricity is formed which creates a magnetic atraction for the dust in the air. This may be true, but none the less, as long as dust particles are present on the film they must be re- moved and the chamois is an ideal expedient for this purpose. There may be many other possible uses for chamois skin and from personal experience I have deemed it wise always to keep a fresh piece around. A Fine-Grain Tip: There are many occasions where the photographer cannot use his pet fine-grain formula, such as in traveling and if it is necessary to develop the film on the spot, a few precautions should be kept in mind. Before proceeding, the prepared fine-grain for- mulas on the market should be kept in mind ; there are many which are quite reliable, producing excellent fine- grain results and one or more packages of such developers taken along on a trip will be found quite helpful. An occasion may arise in which we must accept what- ever developing solution there is at hand and in such an instance a few facts should be borne in mind. The first is to employ a good fine-grain film such as Perutz, Agfa Fine-Grain Plenachrome, Panatomic, DuPont Micropan, etc. The film should receive a correct exposure but should not be over-exposed. Over-exposure will cause development to proceed at a fast rate with the grains in the emulsion rupturing their gelatin coating and unit- ing with other grains to form clumps of silver grains, resulting in coarse grain. The negative should be developed on the thin side. The longer the negative remains in the developer and the more the density increases, the more will graini- ness be augmented. It is a fact that if a print of con- stant density is made from negatives of increasing den- sity, the graininess of the print increases as the density of the negative increases. If these precautions are ob- served, it will be surprising to see to what degree the negative can be enlarged without any objectionable grain being observed. In subsequently enlarging the negative, the choice of the printing paper will also help. Rough matte papers have the ability to conceal the grain to some extent, whereas glossy papers readily reveal it. Soft papers also tend to keep graininess down while hard papers seem to reveal it to a great extent. By exercising a little care, it will be surprising to find what can be done in a pinch where an extreme fine-grain developer is not available. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 loll/worn But you You By Earl Theisen Over at Paramount in Harry Cottrell's Still Depart- ment is a new photographic device for glossy prints. It consists of a large drum of highly polished chromium. As the drum revolves the prints are automatically pressed in contact and, before the drum has made a complete revo- lution, the prints are dried with a high gloss. In order to get this speed of dryin the drum has an internal steam jacket, the steam being maintained constantly by a con- trolled gas jet. The device which is operated by one man can turn out two hundred and eighty prints an hour which is four times the number by the old method of ferrotype tins. And, of course, there is no bother of polishing and laying the prints to dry as is necessary by the old method. The great demand of newspapers (I believe Paramount Studios send photographs to about three hundred news- papers daily), necessitates a speedy method of turning out glossy prints. I just read a seven page account of the research work that went into "Cleopatra." With all the research those researchers had accumulated, the fine technical staff and the good cast, one would expect a masterpiece — a film to go down in history among the great pictures. "Cleopatra" should have been the biggest picture yet. It should have been a "spectacle" with a soul, but was it? Speaking of directors. The list of Hollywood's best directors includes Lubitsch, Von Sternberg and De Mille. Personally I include Van Dyke and Capra in that list. These two directors are accurate and true to the social codes, yet they add life and zest to their films. Van Dyke's "Eskimo" never grossed big money, of course, yet a finer picture of the Eskimo has never been made, and the studio did not lose by making it. Every person who saw the pic- ture will never forget the thing and will always under- stand a little the problems of the Eskimo and his customs. Frank Capra who made "It Happened One Night," along with miles and miles of other good films, needs no fur- ther praise. Victor Schertzinger, the director of "One Night of Love," is convinced that the ways of radio are indeed strange. Recently he appeared on the air waves and, being a composer, he played several of his own numbers. One of the numbers he wanted to play was the theme song of his picture, "One Night of Love" which he com- posed himself. "Sorry," said the radio production manager can't use that song." "But I . . I wrote it," stuttered Schertzinger. mean-mean I can't play a number I wrote myself?" "It's a restricted number and you can't play it with- out the permission of the Composer's Society," insisted the radio fellow. "However, if you will wait until after your own program, Rudy Vallee will be on the air and he's going to play it." Mr. Schertzinger asked for a glass of ice water. A camera that will bounce has been invented ! Two Bell & Howell Eyemo Cameras fell from about 60,000 feet and are only little damaged. In the recent ascension by the National Geographic Army Air Corps Strato- sphere expedition which began at Rapid City, South Da- kota, and ended, as a result of a forced descent at Hold- rege, Nebraska, the two cameras fell with the gondola a distance of eleven and one-half miles. Captain A. W. Stevens, U. S. Army, together with Major W. E. Kepner, and Captain O. A. Anderson, of the flight personnel, had intended to take movies of the stratosphere. No movies were taken. The Eyemo, a light camera, was chosen. One camera was equipped with a 6-inch lens and the other with Sc- inch lens, so either large or small pictures of whatever happened to be found could be taken. The photographing was to be done through a porthole in the gondola. The porthole was fitted with pieces of optical flat glass through which the cameras could photograph. The cameras were automatic so the pictures could be taken without the at- tention of an operator. The film taken along was sen- sitized to infra-red to be used in conjunction with deep red filters. This was necessitated because the atmosphere at that altitude could not be penetrated photographically. In fact, the eye can't see through the depth of atmosphere to observe the earth from that altitude. By infra-red rays it was the hope to penetrate the atmosphere and photograph the earth from different alti- tudes. Regarding the condition of the cameras, one was prac- tically undamaged, while the other had a number of dents and is minus a lens. It is thought the lens penetrated the ground on striking the earth. When a cartoon Silly Symphony is photographed in color, three negatives are taken. One for each of the three colors, red, yellow, and blue-green. From these three negatives, the color cartoons are made. Walt Dis- ney and his staff paint the cartoons in the color desired and then the three negatives are taken which photogra- phically record the color values. The three negatives each record the amount and extent of its particular color. On the yellow negative are all the yellow objects ; on the red are the red ones and so forth. From the three negatives are made three prints on a special stock which is called a "matrix." This matrix is then dyed to represent the color of which it is a record. The yellow matrix is dyed yellow and bears a record of all the yellow objects, etc. The three matrices are then individually printed on a master positive. One after the other of the three is printed in register on the same film which when com- pleted represents a combination of the three colors in the originally painted cartoon. The International Photographer is the best magazine buy in the motion picture industry at $2.00 per year. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nine WORDS jail.' but the picture convinces! EASTMAN SUPERSENSITIVE PANCHROMATIC NEGATIVE J. E. BRULATOUR. INC Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 ■ THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTINUITY AND CUTTING Part I (Paul E. Bowles is a former student of the Department of Cinematography at the University of Southern California, and is now actively engaged in the industry in which he is so intensely interested. — Editor's Note.) 16 mm i. ii. OR the amateur it is doubly necessary to stress the relationship between cutting and continuity. Cutting too often inspires needless fear in the amateur. If you will learn to regard cutting same thought with continuity, and see the two in this relationship you will iron out much of your trouble : Continuity in the correct scenario is the cutting plan on paper — a precon- ceived cinematic arrangement of shots. Cutting, actual cutting, is really only a mechanical process through which you blend the film strips one into another so that the conjunction does not greatly disturb the eye, nor above all, disrupt the attention of the spectator. You will find that if you thoughtfully plan a story's continuity, using the artistic resources of the cinema in presenting an idea, that there is basically only one ex- pressive cutting plan that will do justice to your idea. There is only one build-up of shots that will clearly and powerfully put over your characters and story, that will really interpret your conception of the drama. Conse- quently if you thoughtfully lay the ideas in a scene one upon another, continuity will become merely the in- evitable outcome of a well ordered train of thought. After you have systematically laid out your story with regard for the value of its parts and their positions relative to one another, you must have had some vision of the actors' moves and the various camera set-ups. However, in proceeding with the shot by shot continuity, you must remember that the camera and actors are only the resources of the motion picture ; like the oils on a pallette they await the artist with an idea to express. From the continuity standpoint, to most clearly ex- press yourself with the resources of the cinema, you must understand and account for their inherent value in rela- tion to cinematic construction. Camera as a Resource of the Cine-Continuity In art and in drama we must select from passive ex- istence moments of great intensity which epitomize the trend of the times, or contain the essence of some great drama. Just as the man using oils must express himself within the limits of the frame, and must select from life a por- tion which will make up a meaningful "idea unit," so must the cine-artist select "idea units" for he also has the frame as a limitation. The space within the frame is the most important element that the camera, as a resource to the continuity man, has to offer ; for it con- centrates the spectator's attention on the "idea unit" — the most expressive portion of a scene at a particular time. In the cinema the spectator accepts a new world, a new space boundary, the limitation of the frame. This new world is the world of filmic space, a world in which essentials alone are seen, in which all movement and all objects have special meaning — a world in which the spectator is conscious of the movement of thought and the inevitability of circumstances, because he has con- centrated before him both the action and the result of action, the experience and the development. It stands to reason that the space within the frame should never be filled with objects or action which detract from the dramatic "idea unit" within it. The spectator can only be affected by what he sees on the screen, and that must be clear and precise. It is only through the medium of the projected frame that you can gain his attention and interest, and later his belief in the situations of the story. Other attributes of the camera as a resource of the continuity man are : I. Its ability to change focus. For in- stance, to pull into focus a character hitherto in the background, bringing him to the special attention of the spec- tator. II. Its ability to pan and tilt when on a freehead. Important in this connection too are the possibilities offered the camera mounted on the crane or dolly; these offering the chance to stay on the point of intensity when it is expressive of your conception of a scene to use extended movements. Movement of the Material in Relation to Filmic Time as Resource of the Cine-Continuity Added to the limitation of the frame, we also have in the cinema the limitation on time in telling a story — generally about sixty minutes. This limitation is actual- ly a resource of the cinema, and the pillar of continuity construction. The necessity for condensation of time makes it possible to set the "idea units" next to one another. Because of compression and intensification of time, situations occurring days apart or miles apart must be shown next to one another. It is because what we see we believe that we accept these peculiar demands of the cine-continuity. The spectator is not perturbed if a con- tinuity of shots discloses a blossoming tree superimposed by a naked autumnal tree and again by a snow-packed tree, and then proceeds with winter scenes only a mo- ment after the characters have been romping in some blossomed dell. Minute changes from day to night, the spanning of a continent or an ocean to see another an- swer a long distance call do not challenge our distrust. If the movement is continuous and progressive within the frame, and blended from one shot to another, we accept the compression of time. We have grown accus- tomed to regarding only the space within the frame lim- its, and are more intent on the area and movement there- Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Eleven in than of the area and movements within the room or location in which the film is shot. We do not think of the actual time it would take to look at and walk to a person so that we could see him in close-up, if we suddenly see before us on the screen a close-up reaction of someone a little way across a room. Though seconds are clipped off the time for a crossing by moving a character out of one frame, paus- ing, and bringing him into another, we accept the com- pression because the movements fall next to one an- other smoothly and progressively. We accept Filmic time! Far too often it is the adherence to real time and space that makes the cine-drama lose its power. The cinema is an essence — a compression of time and space, in its whole as well as its part! Far too often in the development of pictures real time and real space are covered religiously, accounting for all the movements, and all the space and time covered within a scene. The action is shot from many angles and covered in long- shot, medium-shot and close-up positions. This may be a protective method of shooting, but, at best, it becomes a cold recording of the scenes. Consequently, the mass of film dumped on a cutter to be compressed and set into a filmic unit becomes only a technically perfect rendition of a recorded sequence. The build-up of shots which are a result of the pro- tective method of shooting shows a lack of systematic vision in the continuity man, and a lack of understand- ing of the powerful resources at hand. The design of shot juxtaposition which should interpret an interesting cinematic conception of the scenes is not present as the outcome of this type continuity development. Under these conditions of profligate over-shooting the cutter becomes more than a technician who blends a continuity of shots joining each at the right frame; he becomes, strangely enough, the continuity man and the cutter at the same time. This dual role exists because it is necessary for him to select out of the many set-ups and angles, and de- velop the succession of shots which will most efficiently put over the movement in, and the thought behind a scene. This "fixing it up after it's shot" method does not put the cutter in his proper relation to the film's development. If the cutter is deluged with film and there's no thoughtful filmic presentation of the scene, then some- one on the planning side is falling down on his job. This situation is both expensive and non-filmic, and is, therefore, not an advantageous procedure for the ama- teur. In November issue will follow an article dealing spe- cifically with "plotting out" a scene for shot by shot continuity. THE JUNIOR NEWSREEL Ray Fernstrom reports that his Junior Newsreel is off to a signal success. The first showing of the News- reel was made at the Mirror Theatre early in September and the only criticism from any source was that the pre- view was too short. Six hundred members of the Parent- Teacher Association were present and they unanimously agreed that the footage shown was of the sort of material desirable for such a newsreel. It was an Eyemo, anchored to a motor- cycle, that took the moving race track shots in Warner Bros.' "Six Day Bike Rider," starring Joe E. Brown. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY The World is opening up for EYEMO Owners With the technical advance which has been made in applying sound to silent films, and with the world crying for short subjects, the Eyemo cameraman stands on the threshold of big things for himself. The stage is set, ready for "Camera!" and the mar- ket is waiting for the finished product. Portability, versatility, and technically perfect re- sults are what you buy in Eyemo — the finest 35 mm. hand camera ever made. Small and compact, the Eyemo maybe operated by spring motor, hand crank, or electric motor. 100-foot daylight loading spools may be used. 200- or 400-foot magazines may be attached. Eyemo has seven film speeds, from 4 to 32 frames, or from 8 to 48 frames, including sound speed. Our Eyemo booklet will tell you what you want to know about portable 35 mm. equipment. Write for it. 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 West 42nd St., New York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.) Established 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twelve The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 Estimating the Cost of a Motion Picture Production - The Work Sheet O much interest was shown in my article in last month's magazine, regarding production expense, that our editor has prevailed upon me to give full particulars of "estimating the cost of a production." It is not fair to the producers to give the cost of pictures already made, but in place of this information I can show exactly where the money goes and if you are contemplating production with your own money, you will at least know before you start how much money to have on hand, before you spend all of it and then find out you didn't have half enough. This will save you embarrassment and perhaps serious difficulties. It is surprising to look back over the long list of aspiring producers who have tried to make pictures but have been only partly successful or a complete failure. Some of these should have been able to realize the chances they took when they laid down their cash or that of somebody else. In the first place a producer generally decides to screen a story written by someone else, directed by, pho- tographed by, edited by, and sold by people he scarcely knows. The modern miracle is to take a thought and pro- duce this thought in two dimensions (psychologically three dimensions) on a screen before your eyes, preserving all the life, emotion and entertainment that the thought generates. All people are not blessed with the power of visualization and the patience required to perform this miracle ; many are called, but few are chosen. On the other hand I have seen a fair story made into fine entertainment, just because the producer was wise in selecting the right people to do the work and supplied sufficient funds to carry everything through to a satis- factory finish. If a re-take or added scene will benefit the produc- tion, certainly it should be made. However, deliberately overshooting a production is wasted time and money. I know one director who covers a sequence in long shots, then in medium shots, then in close-ups and then in in- serts. This runs up the film and laboratory expense, and if he would just stop and realize "no matter how many shots he takes of a certain action, he can use only one of them, or at least a certain part of each one." The usual script runs 300 to 400 script scenes, some of which are master scenes and need to be broken up with two or three shots. A 21 -day schedule production will average 20 script scenes and 10 or more added scenes each day, with the customary two or more takes on each scene. The proper procedure in making an estimate of a pro- duction is, first, to break down the script into its many parts, itemizing the characters, what sets they work in, wardrobe they wear, working props they should have and whether it is a day or night sequence. The best way to keep track of this is by making a production schedule on a large sheet of cardboard, marked off in squares, with the set names across the top of the sheet and the actors' names down the left side of the sheet; a small cross in the square where the actor works keeps an accurate record. Wardrobe changes can be num- bered and just the number marked down keeps track of this item. By this production schedule you can group your sets and actors in the most economical way. Keeping in mind to use your expensive players and expensive crowds, these shots should be made in the short- est possible time. Close shots and inserts can be made later. If your story has many exterior scenes, it is wise to have an interior cover set always ready in case of in- clement weather. If you have exteriors and interiors to do on the same day, do your exteriors first, then if the hour becomes late before your day's work is over, your lights will carry you through without delay. If this procedure is reversed you can readily see how your afternoon sunlight might leave you without the day's work being completed, thereby causing the company to come back the next day. Some of the items I have listed on the work sheet can be grouped together under a single heading, yet if they were not segregated something would be overlooked and the estimate would be short, which is a serious matter when the budget is closely figured. Some of these items can be further itemized, such as set construction and unless the estimator understands construction, he had better consult some art director be- fore giving final figures. The same is true of the camera and the electrical departments. In large studios each department is furnished with a copy of the script and estimates are made by the de- partment head. These figures are later checked and totaled by the production office. Contract and special process refers to Williams or Dunning or other process, which are protected by rigid patents. There are some items listed that might not be used very often, but if the reader is making a series of pictures he is sure to need reminding about them. It will be seen, therefore, that the greatest service a work sheet can be is to remind one about no end of little things which probably would be forgotten in the rush of work. WORK SHEET Office rental. Office equipment rental. Office lighting. Office heating and cooling. Office telephone rental and tolls. Office telephone and stenographic salaries. Office accounting salaries. Office supplies. Office transportation. Office meals. Office miscellaneous expense. Studio rental. Production supervisor salary. Story cost. Continuity writer salaries. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Thirteen By Paul R. Harmer Typing and supplies. Research expense. Experimental expense. Film and screen tests expense. Director salary. Stars' salary. Supporting cast salary. Extra talent salary. Musical director salary. C >pvist and supplies — salary. Music license fees. First assistant director. Second assistant director. Script clerk. First property man. Assistant property man— salary. First grip. Second grip. First cameraman. Second cameraman. Extra cameraman (process and seconds). Still man. Motion picture camera equipment rental. Still picture camera equipment rental. Blimps, perambulators, cranes, reflectors, diffusers, parallels, centuries, etc. — rental. Process projection machine rental. Process projection machine operator's salary. Process screen rental. Contract work, special process. Sound recording engineer's salary. Assistant sound recording engineer's salarv. Sound recording equipment rentals. Sound equipment — miscellaneous expense. Sound recording royalties . Art director's salary. Draftsmen's salaries. Set designing material and blue prints expense. Set rentals and location fees. Set construction labor. Set construction material. Set construction in miniatures. Set construction — scenic and painting. Spot light platform's labor. Spot light platform's material. Set dressing rentals. Set dressing — labor. Set dressing — manufactured. Set dressing — lost and damaged. Set watchman. Set striking labor. Transportation for men and materials. ***** Set lighting generators. Set lighting current. Set lighting equipment rentals. Set lighting setting up labor. Set lighting operation labor. Set lighting striking labor. Set lighting globes, carbons, replacements and purchase. Set lighting transportation for men and equipment. ***** Diving equipment, tanks, wind machines, lightning ma- chines, rain, snow, fog, airplane and special effects — rental. Extra labor for operating special effects. Material for special effects purchased. ***** Wardrobe designer — salary. Wardrobe tailors. Wardrobe checkers. Wardrobe material purchased. Wardrobe rentals. Wardrobe — lost and damaged. Wardrobe purchased. ***** Hair dresser — salary. Make-up artist — salary. Make-up material rented. Make-up material purchased. ***** Working props — rentals. Working props — manufactured. Working props — purchased. Working props — lost and damaged. Horses or animals rented. Saddles, vehicles, harness, etc. — rented. Feed for animals. Caretakers' salaries. Transportation for caretakers and animals. ***** Picture negative — raw stock. Picture negative — developing. Picture positive — raw stock. Picture positive — printing and developing. Sound track negative — raw stock. Sound track negative — developing. Sound track positive — raw stock. Sound track positive — printing and developing. Composite print — raw stock and developing. Still negatives. Still prints. Titles painted, made up and photographed. Stock shots purchased. Optical printing and wipe-offs, salaries and expense. Sound dubbing salaries and expense. ***** Editing salaries. Editing equipment — rented. Editing — miscellaneous expense. ***** General transportation for company on location. Standby cars and trucks. Special cars and hauling. Steamship, railroad and airplane fares. Hotel expense. Meals at studio for overtime work. Lunches for location. ***** City license. Negative fire insurance. Compensation insurance. Special insurance. Petty cash. Unclassified expense. Preview expense. Release prints. Duplicate negatives. Shipping expense. Exploitation expense. Added expense throughout production because of overtime. Sales expense. METROTONE ON ITS OWN The Hearst Metrotome News announces that on Oc- tober 1, it will begin to operate under direction of its own staff and with up-to-date, specially made equipment, the chief feature of which will be Ford V-8 sound trucks. During the past five years Hearst Metrotone News has been photographed by Fox Movietone News and ninety percent of the new staff will be made up of mem- bers of the original staff who operated Metrotone before Fox took it over. Among these men are Joseph Hubbell, Ray Fernstrom, Roddie Green, Herman Stockhoff, U. K. Whipple, Ariel Varges, "Newsreel" Wong, George Lyng, Sam Green- wald, Norman Alley, Teddy Rickman and K. C. Brown. Mr. Hubbell will take up the task of Western Editor and M-G-M will release as before. Hearst Metrotone News has already scored a scoop by engaging the popular Edwin C. Hill of radio fame to handle its business at the microphone. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 One Hundred Percent Arc Lamps By Walter Strohm Batteries of the newly developed silent arc lamps were necessary to film the Ice Cream color fantasy of "Kid Millions," Eddie Cantor's fifth annual screen musical comedy for Samuel Coldwyn. The new three-tone Technicolor process was used for this novel sequence. [F the executives of the United Artists Studios were to ask: "Is it practical to use arc lamps exclusively in the production of a major fea- ture," the answer would be positively in the affirmative. Large quantities of arc lamps were used in the Technicolor sequences of the "House of Roths- child" and also in Eddie Cantor's picture, "Kid Mil- lions." In most of the scenes the sound and pictures were taken together. Where the sound was added later it was because of the humming of hundreds of youngsters — in the Ice Cream Counter scene in "Kid Millions" — and not due to fear of humming of arc lamps. If proper precautions are taken it is practical to utilize the present arc lamp equipment in large quantities ; how- ever, a reasonable appropriation for bringing the equip- ment up to date will cut the cost of operation con- siderably. For the past several months there has been a grow- ing demand on the part of cameramen for 80 ampere rotary arc spots and for sun arcs, but it was not until Darryl Zanuck, of Twentieth Century Pictures, decided to photograph a part of the "House of Rothschild" in Technicolor, that we had the opportunity of using all types of arcs in large quantities. The Reception Hall set in the "House of Roths- child" contained 16,000 square feet of floor space and the lighting plan called for the following equipment : 99 80 ampere rotary arc spots, 42 24" sun arcs, 16 36" sun arcs, 40 arc broadsides, 25 arc scoops, and 28 effect lamps. For this particular set it Avas necessary to rent considerable outside equipment which also had to be adapted to sound requirements. The preparation work included a thorough inspection of the studio's arc lamps. Each lamp was fitted with a snap switch so the operator could cut off the arc con- trol motor during the actual "take" if he found it neces- sary to do so. The arc control motors were equipped with special carbon brushes to eliminate the possibility of squeaking from that source. The contact brushes were well cleaned and graph ited. Electrolytic condensers were connected across the line in the generator room, and a number of choke coils secured for use on the set. The new type broadsides and scoops were obtained because of their silent features and increase light output. The key electricians were picked for their previous experience with arcs. Robert Comer, set electrician, on the "House of Rothschild," and James Portevin on "Kid Millions," took the responsibility of seeing that the equip- ment not in perfect condition, or equipped with cutout switches, was kept in the background or removed from the set. It was a reasonably simple matter to meet the light- ing requirements of Ray Rennehan, in charge of Techni- color photography, because of their accurate methods of light measurements. The problem of the sound depart- ment, however, promised to offer some difficulties. To bring this under control choke coils were connected to the lamps located near the microphones, some lamps were shifted around and the operators graphited the carbons (Turn to Page 25) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen Completely DEPENDABLE THE dependability of Eastman Super- Sensitive Panchromatic Negative is not based entirely upon its well-known uni- formity. It is the original, inherent quality of the emulsion. ..its constant ability to help producers and cameramen make the most of every picture... that completes its depend- ability... that seals the acceptance which this famous film enjoys. Eastman Kodak Company. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distribu- tors, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Sixteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 Impressions of the New Akers 35mm Hand Camera By Walter Bluemel NQUIRING into new mechanisms of any kind has always had an almost irresistable allure for Y me and all the more so if they happen to be of a photographic nature. So the opportunity to dig into a new camera afforded me all the mental pleasures of a mechanically inclined "little Jack Hor- ner" and I only hope that I can, within the capabilities of my limitations, pass them on the reader in the form of printed words. In the first place the New Akers Camera is not very impressionistic from all exterior appearances. It is only a small cubical black case measuring A1/) inches by 5 inches by 7 inches tall. The magazines, which are of the exterior type, are attached to the back of the camera. Three lenses on a rotary turret are mounted on the The versatility of the Akers camera is a joy to the cinematographer who has to move rapidly in difficult places or take desperate hazards in the air. front and a tiny electric motor on the side and that completes the picture. It is only when you open the door to further explore its "innards" that anything noteworthy is noticeable. Then it is immediately apparent that this is a professional camera. Its gleaming, exquisitely finished machine work denotes that it is made with the same fine precision that one sees in the larger studio cameras. However, here the semblance changes because there are several vital variances between this camera and any of the large cameras that I have handled. Quickly noticeable is its light weight (approximately 16 pounds) with everything on it, magazines, motor and all. Closer inspection reveals that the "works" or the mechanism is built entirely in a self-contained unit which is not in any way connected with the case. Four sepa- rate and entirely insulated screws hold the mechanism firmly in its bedding of sound deadening, insulating mate- rial. No shaft, bearing or moving part is attached to the case, thus preventing any possibility of "telegraphed" sound from the interior of the camera to the case out- side. In fact the only thing that protrudes to the out- side from the mechanism is the main driving shaft and even the bearing containing this is not fastened to the case but extends into its little silencing gear box from its suspension from the internal mechanism. While there is no exceptional claim as to the silent running of the camera, nevertheless it is surprising how silent it does run. It can be shot without any covering at all on the majority of exterior scenes where extra- neous sound is present. If real quiet operation is de- sired while close to the "mike" a covering device is re- sorted to that might be described as a sort of "barney" but in truth it is a little quilted slip-over covering closely resembling what I remember my grandmother called a "tea caddy" which she used to slip over the tea pot to keep it warm. This arrangement still allows it to be used as a hand camera and yet gives the user flexibility of operation heretofore unobtainable. I might mention here that while it is being used in connection with the synchronous sound motors that the wild motor (which is instantly discon- nectable) is replaced with a silenced flexible cable which in turn is connected to the synchronous sound motor. The sound motor is contained in a padded aluminum tube and when being used as a hand camera is slung on the photographer's back, the flexible cable thus allows the cameraman the full freedom of a hand held camera while still connected in synchronization with the sound motor. This is quite a novel arrangement but entirely practical inasmuch as the undesirable and restrictive weight of the sound motor is slung on the back where it is not noticed at all and the flexible cable allows full freedom of operation. Under the same conditions when being used on a tripod the sound motor is slung underneath the tripod and the cable again allows almost unlimited freedom in freehanding. So, much for its operation. Delving further into its mechanism, we find that it has something that no other hand camera has, namely, registration pins. These pins engage the exposing frame or picture at the next sprocket hole below the picture and operate through the front of the aperture plate. Inasmuch as these pins are made to the highest stand- ard of precision, this camera should prove very popular with the globe-trotting cameramen as a background camera if for no other reason than its extremely light weight, and as to the "screen ride" of its pictures it is as rock steady as any other large camera made. In fact I was shooting the Akers Camera on a production where the location called for a herd of cattle stamped- ing through a stream of water in a narrow ravine and with it was able to get into positions that would have been extremely difficult if not impossible for the two large production cameras which were used on the pic- ture. On this same picture I used the camera to get a shot of a stunt man descending a rope suspended over a high cliff, from a position that would have been im- possible to reach with the big cameras requiring a stand- ard tripod. As it was, much valuable time was spent in lowering cameras and equipment to the most advan- tageous point possible while I easily and quickly carried the little Akers camera down the narrow steep trail and still had one hand free to aid me in climbing over fallen (Turn to Page 28) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K R •iilrcu A K E R S Featherweight Hand Camera Silenced for Synchronous Sound Made in Hollywood The World's Lightest and Best All Purpose 35mm. Motion Picture Camera AN INNOVATION FOR NEWS-REEL MEN EXPEDITIONS EXPLORERS AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS SPORTSMEN AND NATURALISTS MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS BOTH THEATRICAL AND COMMERCIAL The only electrically motor driven hand camera that . . . 1. Weighs less than 15 lbs., complete. 2. Has precision registration pins — insuring absolutely steady screen ride of picture. 3. Is silenced for sound work. 4. Has a brilliant, prismatic, highly magnifying focusing device — wherein the image is read correctly left to right and right side up. Thus enabling the operator to instantly check the actual focus against the reading on the micrometer fosusing lens mounts. 5. Enables the purchaser to use the world recognized "Leica" lenses and mounts. The rotary turret is threaded to receive standard "Leica" lenses. This also allows the use of "Leica" sun shades or mattboxes and filters. SPECIFICATIONS Size — 4J4" x 5" x 7". Weight, complete with maga- zines and lbs., 5 oz. 'wild" motor — 14 Magazine Capacity — 200 feet. Magazines — Exterior type, rub- ber insulated. Case — Cast aluminum, machined, black crackle finish. Three lens turret, threaded to receive "Leica" mounts. Shutter fixed at 165 degrees. Registration pins, ground and hardened to fit standard B & H perforations. Aperture Gate — Ground and *^ lapped to film channel, then chromium plated. There are no pressure plates or pres- sure upon the film at any time. IRVING W. AKERS, one of Hollywood's best known freelance first cameramen, has spent over two years designing, developing, and proving this new camera under all conditions. This camera represents the greatest advance, to date, in motion picture camera equipment. In step with the industry. Post Office Box 1815 AKERS CAMERA COMPANY HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA CL-3742 — NO-5460 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 A FEW WORDS ABOUT SUNSHADES AND FILTERS SUNSHADES AND FILTERS. Such simple little devices, yet how often they are com- pletely ignored or misunderstood by the ama- teur photographer ! Trust the professional cameraman, however, to appreciate and make good use of these gadgets. If you happen to be one of the clan who use these devices with success, you may go now, and skip the rest of this article, for it is aimed definitely at those workers who have so far thought their use superfluous, and for tyros (beginners, to you). Let us first consider the sunshade because it is of greatest importance — I mean to say that no exposure should ever be made without one, whereas there are times when a filter is not favorably indicated. The sunshade physically is any device which protects the lens from stray light-rays and permits only the image-forming rays to pass through the lens and thence onto the emulsion. A sunshade which is one hundred per cent efficient is an impossibility, but one which may be considered as be- ing eighty per cent efficient is easily possible. It must be remembered that when a lens is pointed at an object, the light reflected by that object travels through the lens, thus forming the image on the emulsion. But, aside from the image-forming light, we must always contend with extraneous light such as is reflected by various other objects in the vicinity. This light, while serving no purpose for the making of the picture, finds its way to the lens and is in most cases carried to the emulsion along with the image-forming light. Needless to say, this unwanted light has its effect upon the emulsion, causing a usually faint fog, and hence dulling the picture image. With an abundance of such extraneous light, it can readily be appreciated that no little fog is present in the developed negative. The fog itself may not be readily noticeable, but it certainly does take its toll in flat, dull- looking negatives. The average developer produces a sufficiently high fog-value by itself — why increase it wantonly ? At the seashore, on sandy beaches, on the water, and in the mountains, non-image-forming light abounds in tremendous amounts, hence a sunshade is all the more important at such places. Light may be regarded as streaming in from all directions, and it is the function of a practical sunshade to prevent its entrance into the lens as much as possible, hence no exposure should be made without a generous shade over the camera lens. The sunshade likewise permits the camera lens to be more nearly pointed towards light-sources (such as the sun, for example) which usually results in better round- ness and depth in the picture. Without a shade, the lens must be carefully protected, and back-lighted scenes are impossible. In short, there is no earthly reason why a shade should not be used, and a hundred why it should. I have alluded to the fact that stray light fogs the emulsion somewhat. In other words, the picture itself is dulled and lacks contrast. A picture which was made with the lens properly protected, however, has snap, brilliance, and sparkle. If you doubt this, just refer to "Factors Which Affect the Contrast of a Lens Image in the Motion Picture Camera," by Clifton Tuttle and H. E. White (Communication No. 329, Eastman Kodak Research Labs.). You will find good reason to use a sunshade on your lens, proved to you in figures and for- mulas. If you are still unconvinced — then better give up photography altogether. Now the problem presents itself — providing I have so far gotten you to the point of admitting that you should have a sunshade — as to what kind of a shade to get. There are two easy ways out ; either buy a manu- factured shade or make one yourself. Of the former there are many makes and varieties. Usually a sun- shade is made to fit a particular lens, so that if you have a number of lenses of varying outside diameter you may find yourself in difficulties in trying to get one sunshade to fit them all. However, even that is pos- sible, for one enterprising manufacturer offers a device which can be placed in front of different lenses of various sizes. This device may be obtained from the Camera Supply Co., Ltd., 1515 N. Cahuenga Avenue, Holly- wood, Calif. Another sunshade which has adjustable characteristics is the Rhaco. By means of a spring-clamp, lenses of various diameters may be accommodated. This shade is distributed by Photo Utilities, Inc., 152 West 42nd St., New York City. A third manufactured prod- uct is known as the H. C. E., and may be obtained in numerous styles and sizes to fit any lens. This one is a product of the Hollywood Camera Exchange, Ltd., 1600 N. Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, Calif. (Why are most of these useful accessories made in sunny Cali- fornia?) A fourth sunshade with universal appeal is the Woershing, handled by the Hugo Meyer Co. A fifth is the Willo, made and distributed by Willoughby's, Inc. But why go on ? There are a number of excellent sun- shades available, ready made. All you have to do is to know where to go for them. And of course most lens manufacturers offer special shades for their particular lenses. A most desirable combination is one which consists of both a sunshade and a filter holder in one, and thus we find the H. C. E., Rhaco, and Willo, among others, of this type. The H. C. E. combination for the smaller sizes is a two-part proposition which unscrews. The filter is placed within the cup or receptacles made for it, and fastened in place by screwing back the other half of the unit. This idea is most practical, for it elimi- nates any possibility of the dropping out. In the larger sizes, the H. C. E. shade provides accommodation for the standard two-inch square filter in a metal frame- holder which slides in or out of the shade proper. The Willo, too, accommodates two-inch square filters. These are merely inserted in a slot provided for them. The Rhaco outfit is designed on different principles. The shade part snaps securely into the filter-holder unit, which is a circular holder, to which the fastening springs are attached. The shade in other words holds the filter in place. This equipment accommodates round filters in the several sizes in which the shade is avai'able. Sunshades are inexpensive enough. However, if you care to make your own, you can do it easily by securing some solid, yet fairly flexible cardboard and making a Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. Nineteen Left — Like all good newspaper cameramen, Kip Ross constantly seeks picture material. The H. C. E. sunshade on his Plaubel Makina is plainly seen. You'll never catch Kip Ross without a sunshade on his camera. — Photography by Karl A. Barleben, Jr. Upper — How the picture of Ross was made, showing how low Barleben will stoop to get a picture. — Leica photo by Rosa Ross. Center — But newspapermen get their revenge — Ross shoots right back at Barleben. — Leica photo by Rosa Ross. tube out of it — a tube which, when completed, fits snugly around the front of your lens. The roll is then fastened securely by means of lantern slide binding tape, Scotch tape, or similar material, so that the cardboard won't unwind. A simpler method is to get a pill-box, the mouth of which just fits over the lens. It is then necessary only to cut out the bottom of the box, and there is a sunshade. Or again, if you are handy with metal, a serviceable sunshade may be made from thin brass or tin. But wait — it is not as simple as all that, after all. In making a shade, it is necessary to see that the bell or tube is not made so long that it will cut into the angle o f the lens, thus vignetting the corners — or more. The exact length of the tube can be determined by set- ting the camera up and focusing upon an object upon the ground glass. Note carefully, when you place the home- made sunshade on the lens if the corners of the ground glass darken. If they do, it's a cinch that the tube is too long and is cutting off the corners of the picture. It must be shortened. Naturally the tube-length is de- termined by the focal length of the lens, and the style and shape of the sunshade. A shade with a flare to it towards the end can stand a greater length than one which is straight, or the same diameter throughout. These details must be worked out by each individual. Not being particularly handy, but being fussy, I pre- fer to buy my shades ready-made. In that way I get a shade of durable metal, which is shaped properly and designed for the proper length in accordance with the focal length of my lens. Well, if you must know, my weaknesses in this matter are the H. C. E. and the Rhaco — but this does not by any means disparage the others, for all of those mentioned are conspicuously popular, and besides, I have my personal likes and dislikes, just as you have. They may not at all agree with yours, hence I do not tell you what you should use — I only mention what I personally use. You can, and should, please your- self in this matter — a la Tristram Shandy. Now that the question of sunshades is settled — I hope — let's for a few moments dwell on the subject of fil- ters, and before we begin I might just as well confess that I shall not divulge anything really new, only a bit of common sense. My primary plea in this matter is in regard to the kind of filter to use. Again, if you are interested in my personal preference I would un- hesitatingly say that I'll take solid glass filters every time, thank you. And I'll tell you why. To begin with, gelatine absorbs more light than does glass, hence we get a little more light through the glass kind — maybe not enough to make any difference, but still. Secondly, the filters which consist of gelatine cemented between two pieces of optically flat glass are not especially stable, especially in the tropics. The heat and dampness, once they get a toe-hold on the interior of the filter between the outer pieces of glass, play havoc. This is an un- questioned fact, nevertheless a British photographic maga- zine on reviewing one of my books in which I made a similar statement criticised me in no uncertain terms for the remark. The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOG- RAPHER has in the past published numerous accounts, one of which I distinctly recall, in which a professional cameraman related his difficulties in the tropics with (Turn to Page 26) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 CINEMACARONI (It's better with a little sauce.) Sorry, son, you're on the wrong train. Newspapers state that the late Speaker Henry T. Rainey kept himself physically fit by his untiring work with dumb-bells. * * * He should have been a movie director. That sort of thing pays big. The police department was frantic last month because a nine-ton load of stolen dynamite was hidden somewhere in Hollywood. They were afraid it might explode any minute. * * * Probably figured Jean Harlow might -walk by A lot of people would get right up and go home. * * * And somebody would rush up to San Quen- tin to see if Mooney had escaped. * * * Studio officials couldn't be expected to turn a hair. A blow-up is all in the day's work to them. * * * But there'd be an epidemic of blasting pic- tures. They'd be censor-proof. Who ever saw a stick of dynamite with sex- appeal> (_ ome to think of it, so have I. Where Eadie Adams, blonde radio blues singer, got this 1 don't know; and maybe it's just as well. Tzvinkle twinkle little star Who the hell do you think you are Shining up there so doggone bright Just like an electric light Bulb. All of which leads to the following tech- nical problem: If a man who rents a room is a roomer, is a man in a tomb a tumor? And should a blues singer be known as a that is, should a blues singer be known? TRUTH DEPARTMENT * * * Don't miss seeing "The Thin Man." It is the most scintillating, fast-moving piece of sophisticated comedy I have seen in a long time. Bill Powell and Myrna Loy team it to perfection. I'm as happy as Myrna is to see that she is staying out of Oriental parts * * * Polo is becoming more and more the sport of cinema satellites. There's always a big turnout of celebs at any good match * * * Johnny Mack Brown had a birthday while he was working on "Police Ambulance," his first of a series of pictures for Columbia, and Mrs. Johnny brought him a birthday cake on the set. Johnny was so busy working that everyone on the set got a piece of cake before he did * * * Everybody and his brother had a birthday last month. The cleverest party for a child I have ever seen was the one for Barbara Bebe Lyon, three year old daughter of Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon. It was a Mother Goose costume party, held in the garden of the Beverly Hills home of Louella Parsons and Dr. Harry Martin. A big table was decorated with Nursery Rhyme favorites; the trees and hedges were all hung with hundreds of gaily colored balloons and fruit and lollipops and popcorn, while three tremendous birthday cakes were a la mode and I don't entirely mean with ice cream. There was a pony for the kids to ride and a grab bag and a puppet show and even a real merry-go-round. Barbara Bebe herself was Bo-Peep, complete with crook and sheep; and most of the famous children of filmdom, decked out in Mother Goosery Rhyme costumes, were there to do her honor * * * Cute Jean Muir was as fussed as a novice when I photographed her recently at a popu- lar cafe. She was worried about the people standing around watching * * * Milestone's picture, "The Captain Hates the Sea" — finally wound up forty-four days over schedule — enough time to make two extra productions. But all reports say it is to be a wow * * * Malibu is no longer the same old beach The recent storms have changed the contou )( the beach front, and some of the stars e nearer the water than they used to be * * A magician Doesn't have to go around wician. FIERCE AMBITION DEPARTMENT See what the postman just brought: Dear Sir: Do you think 1 could be a movie star. \\\ you send me three of my best Stares if )U could, 1 am trying to get Charles Rugles, C er Rogers, and Goerge Raft, will you pleas § to get then. Will you wright every wunc S a wile and tell me if I would be a Movie u or not. I could act pretty good. I wa 1 be a star so bad sometimes I bite m'lf. Send as soon as you can. Your Frien' C. Latest quip, translated from the Hindu, , i reason : "Mahatma! Mahatma! Mahatma!" "Here's your hat, you little fool. An< m NOT your mother!" An interview with Kay Francis quote as saying: "1 shan't marry again so lo __ I am acting in the films. Marriage in ch circumstances doesn't give either pai i chance." * * * Right. It keeps you acting every minute, h that's not fair under NRA. ADD ALTERED PROVERBS: The sins of the fathers are often even unto the fourth generation. POT SHOTS AT HOLLYWOOD FIRBM RANDOM t t t t Not to mention any but it tickles my funny-bone to note thai of the gals that sponsor a certain fatnou as indispensable to a lovely smooth skin, c tk ones with the wo-rst complexions f t t ^ name I can't shake loose. It sticks in mi I like a burr in a blanket. Yakima Canutt f f ; -- ^ n SLOW SPEED EXPOSURE DEVICE FOR THE LEICA A new attachment which gives shutter speeds from 1 to J/8th second exposures on the previous models of the Leica has just been announced by W. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th Street, New York City. The new slow speed device is especially useful to owners of Leica cameras other than the model F, which has these slow speeds built into its mechanism, as it makes possible slower automatic speeds by simply attaching the device to the camera over the shutter release button. Owners of Leica models A, C, D, and E will welcome this device because the slowest speed their shutters are capable of, automatically, is l/20th second. Many have had their cameras converted into the model F because of these slower speeds. With this device now avail- able, conversion is not necessary. The slow speed shutter device is small, compact, and dur- able. It gives the speeds of 1, l/z, %, and % second. The regular shutter speed dial is set for "time," after which the device accurately gives the slower speeds. Provision is made on the device so that a Leica cable release may be used in conjunction with the release button. Leica camera owners who desire the slower speeds, yet cannot afford the model F camera, should see this new attach- ment at their local dealer's. The price is $17.40. B. & H. LIBRARY The Bell & Howell Company announces the opening of additional branches of its 16mm. sound-on-film rental library — The Bell & Howell Filmosound Library — as follows: Michigan Film Library, Detroit; Metropolitan Film Ex- change, Seattle; J. G. Kretschmer & Co., Omaha; Hall Sta- tionery Co., Topeka. The activities of this library are steadily increasing, especially with the opening of schools. Many schools are inaugurating a series of entertainment and educational 16mm. talkie programs. HE OLD MUST MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW t, m ■ BASS ANNOUNCES Bass Camera Company announce a new 64 page 16 mm. Film Rental Catalog. This catalog is unique in its fine offer- ings of rental films at low prices. Also a full library of sound on disc and sound on film subjects. Catalog will be mailed to anyone interested within ai radius of 1000 miles of Chicago which is the extent of their film rental service. Also Bass Bargaingram No. 214 of 16 mm. apparatus is now ready. Copy cheerfully mailed upon request to the Bass Company. tv*r THEATRE ^iV/o/rJECTORs _ /ur Sound />„ St«rt to F: ■ . r °m ° finish feri «£-*« .„< v> ".■..•,/•,- '. Herman A. DeVry inc. Illl Center St. Chicaqo Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October. 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-one By Robert Tobey lie West huys tickets to just about every pub- It function and promises to appear. But she 11 cr Joes. The only way the star-gazers can (/■ipse her is by spotting the super-special black i 'iliac town car she park-s her upholstery in ■ A dilapidated petunia to Katherinc Hcp- ■.>,- ducking the news photographers at the She zcent dressed in blue denim trousers a shirt, with huge dark glasses, and a black sich hat pulled low. The few kids that sus- p'ed her identity and sought autographs she d "Tied with a guttural "Ged ai-ay! Ged avay!" Jo-foreign accents t t t t he strike situation in this country is g wing. , « * ,ut it's not growing anything we can eat. * * * ven my Grandfather's Clock is striking. Bih hands have quit. * * * ;'s time somebody called for baseball rules. Tee strikes and you're out. S'h on a Glendale building: QUIET, PLEASE! DOLL HOSPITAL. ERSONAL NOTE TO OTTO PHOCVS: I got into your department in the last issue oi.the International Photographer. In return V presenting you with a "bird" — for your next .ill lecture. I found it in my raspberry (N. B. Lcti's start a scrap, yau' n' me , Otto. My publicity agent says I need a good scrap to push me over.) n studio daily schedule sheets, made up rucily, parenthetical comments appended to stjy titles often produce whimsical results. ' itO : (!lE NIGHT OF LOVE (Don't Call It Love) v. baby! * * * 'ART TIME LADY (Orchids and Onions) if ch for wliich part? * * * Tt CRIMINAL WITHIN (Produce the Body) B care of your own dirty work. * * " * ILL FIX IT (Temp.) FINGER NAIL REVIEW (No space left on my thumb nails.) "DAMES," ladled out by the Related War- ner Boys, is their latest extravical musiganza, in which Busby Berkeley opens the old Won- der Box again and out fly 350 pairs of aggra- vatin' ankles, a myriad melting melodies, hun- dreds of horse-car horse laughs, and most of the Warner Boys' gelt. Or they've been hoard- ing, the rascals. Ennihoo, in the main it's an amusing yarn, about an eccentric million- aire whose antics make the story. You'll like the picture, which does its best to star all of the following: Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Uy Sally thinks a censorship is an empty sang vessel. ANNOUNCEMENT EXTRAORDI NARY ! Are you troubled with Athlete's Foot? Do you have House-Maid's Knee? Are you Mouth-Unhappy? Do you have In- somnia? Psittacosis'' Osteomyelitis? Spots before the eyes? Do you have the Heaves or the Botts? Then read . . . HOLLYWOOD HONEYMOON the new SUPER-SERIAL starting next month on this page. It is a tale of glam- our, of love in Hollywood and all over the world, including the Stratosphere. It is full of vitality. It is full of baloney. It is full of prunes. A little something for everybody. Whip Out Your Binoculars! It's on the Horizon! Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Zasu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert. Kidded all over the place, much to my delight, is the typical censor, played by Hugh Herbert, who, in the char- acter of Ezra Ounce, won't touch a drop of liquor, but acquires a nervous stomach that can be soothed only by the potent ministrations of a certain elixir — which is about half alco- hol. Ezra also thinks girl-shows a cardinal sin — so goes to them to see how bad they are. 1 wish Warners would stop their habit of lugging in songs without benefit of clergy, rhyme, or reason. It is thoroughly discon- certing to me, when observing a sequence showing a young couple making love by a limpid pool, with civilization apparently miles away, to have a band suddenly strike up out of nowhere and have the young couple break smoothly into an obviously rehearsed duet. Maybe it is done merely to prove it's only a picture. It certainly dispenses with all realism as far as I am concerned. Busby Berkeley is an even greater genius than he is accredited. The theatre stage shown in the picture is a small one, as any- one can see, but the massive machinery and mess of feminine pulchritude that Berkeley whips together couldn't be crowded with a shoehorn into anything less than a combina- tion of the Winter Garden and the Hippo- drome. But I won't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. It's a swell picture, even if you can't believe half you see. Ray Enright mega- phoned well, wringing an ocean of laughs out of his situations. The camera wo^k by Sid Hickox and George Barnes, was excellent, but not outstanding, except in the case of the Berkeley ensembles, which were so massive and complicated that they must have been night- mares to photograph. Remarkable studies in black and white, they are a great credit to the photographers and to Berkeley. I'm for more "Dames." S. M. P. E. REACHES TOP Membership in the Society of Motion Plture Engineers has reached an all-time Ih with a total of 850 members, accord- in to announcement made by O. M. iint, Financial Vice-President of the So- I y. The large increase in membership diing the past year, amounting to more thi 300 new members, is due in large insure to the widened scope of the So- cin's activities and to a reduction in fees. Hvever, it is felt that the gain is due come extent to better business conditions ■pin the industry. Plans for the semi-annual meeting of I Society to be held at the Pennsylvania Wei, October 29 to November 1, are ib it completed. "The semi-annual ban- ■ falls on Hallowe'en night," reports W, C. Kunzmann, Vice-President in -Irge of Conventions, "so we'll observe Hi he conventions and have all the trim- mi ;s from roast turkey to pumpkin pie." WE SELL Sound Accessories J^ • CLOW LAMPS • MOTORS Jl f^^k e OPTICAL UNITS • AMPLIFIERS ^B • RECORDERS Iri M DEPENDABLE LABORATORY AND SOUND *y EQUIPMENT Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co. Ltd. 645 North Martel Ave. Cable Address — Artreeves HOLLYWOOD. CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 What and Why Is a Gaffer? (The Man Who Has the Lightest Job) By Bob Hussey It's really time that someone turned the spotlight on the fellow who always holds the spotlight on someone else. He's another of the unsung heroes of the Hollywood studios — the gaffer. Webster's Dictionary defines a gaffer as "an old man; an aged rustic ; a master." The gaffer of the studio is neither an old man nor a rustic, but he is, indeed, a mas- ter. He's a master at the irt of lighting. The Chief Electrician on the movie set is he, the gaffer. Why he is called a gaffer no one seems to know. Some say that gaffer is defined in some dictionaries as a foreman, but why he isn't called a foreman isn't known. From the time of the first motion picture he has been the gaffer, and it's likely he'll always be that. The gaffer is the cameraman's right hand man, his lieutenant. Back in the old days the gaffer was consid- ered important enough to rate screen credit, but these days he isn't given the honor. His work, strangely enough, is much more important now than ever before, but — that's Hollywood. The gaffer is the fellow who "lights" the set. He directs the placing of lights, the direction of them, the intensity, the diffusion. He knows photographic lighting. He knows how to fix lighting for this purpose and that purpose. He knows how to get this effect or that effect. He knows make-up, shadows, angles. Too, he knows the secrets of the stars. He knows why one star is never photographed from one angle or why another can't be photographed in certain poses. He knows these secrets of the stars and helps them keep them. Directors, cameramen, actors and actresses all rely on gaffers, for their aid is invaluable in properly photograph- ing a picture. When a cameraman finds a gaffer who works with ability, speed and artistic effectiveness it is likely that the two will remain associated over a long period of years. Much time on production can be saved when the set is lighted quickly and properly. Some gaffers know so well the type of lighting sought by their cameramen and directors that they can go about making ready a set long before either of them are on hand. Then, when all is in readiness for the scene, a quick glance about to check last minute details is all that is needed. Some gaffers win the undying gratitude of screen players by knowing how to get best lighting effects with- out using too many lights. The minimum of lights saves those beneath them from the sweltering rays usually found on movie sets. Gaffers at the Warner Brothers-First National Studios have found that less lighting on sets makes for more nat- ural lighting, for the subjects seem more natural to the eye when see on the screen. Just as cetrain stars ask for certain directors, so do cameramen request certain gaffers. Larry Kennedy, Fank Flannigan and Claude Hutchinson have long been working at Warner Brothers-First National and each possesses a long list of pictures to his credit. On the movie set the gaffer is the one who directs the electricians who walk above on narrow catwalks and handle the huge lights, just as he supervises the fellows who handle the "floor lights" on the set. The gaffer sees the "rushes" on the picture each day during filming and with the cameraman works out proper details of lighting. It is no secret in Hollywood that many moving picture photographers who have gained fame for their artistic endeavors attribute most of their success to the aid of efficient gaffers. Just as every scene in a picture requires a different type of photography, so does each scene have its individual type of lighting. Long shots, medium shots, close-ups, day shots, night shots, storm scenes — each must have its in- dividual treatment. The gaffer has his own language, too. A "baby" isn't an infant in the language of the gaffer. A "baby" is a small spotlight used for high-lighting purposes. An elec- trician is termed a "juicer" and a "spider" isn't a spider at all. It's a certain type portable electric switch. "Jack" and "Jenny" refer to no people in the vocabulary of the gaffer. A "jack" is just a hole at the end of an electric circuit into which a plug may be inserted to continue the circuit and "jenny" is an abbreviated way of saying gen- erator. It is applied to a small portable generator fre- quently used on sound stages. The large multiple arc lamp which hangs high over the set is termed an "ash can" and "twins" refers to double arc lamps when the gaffer uses the word. "Inkies" refers to incandescent lamps and "butterfly" is a silk-covered frame fitted over lamps to soften the light beams. There is much more, of course, to the "slanguage" of the gaffer, just as there is much more to his job than can be told in these few words. He is, take it from those who know, a very important fellow in the making of motion pictures even if he is hidden among the unsung heroes of the studios. The bridgeroom with his best man has nothing on the gaffer, either. The gaffer's assistant is known as the "best boy" wherever gaffers are found, and gaffers are found wherever pictures are filmed. Fred Westerberg is beginning a new series of The Cinematographer's Book of Tables in November. The first book is now on sale by dealers throughout the world. Only $1.00 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-three NEWS! 4fa> THE NEW cz^mvtaveJi 7 SUPERPAN NEGATIVE FILM • We invite the film industry to investigate, open-mindedly and critically, the new Agfa Ansco SUPERPAN NEGATIVE FILM. You will find in this new film a super- sensitive speed with a finer grain Practical use of this new, improved film reveals a wider latitude in both exposure and development. A non-abrasion over coating protects the emulsion physically. The anti-halation coating underlying the emulsion preserves the photographic definition. High, evenly balanced color sensitivity simplifies the problem of correct regis- tration under any lighting conditions, permitting any desired color emphasis with a relatively low multiplying factor for the filter used. C. KING CHARNEY, Distributor for AGFA 35mm NEGATIVE and POSITIVE FILM the UNITED STATES HOLLYWOOD 6372 Santa Monica Blvd. Tel. Hollywood 2918-2919 Made in America by A G F A AN FACTORIES SCO AT BIN NEW YORK 245 West 55th Stree, Tel. Circle 7-4635 CORPORATION GHAMTON, N. Y. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 Intolerance: The Sun Play of the Ages By Billy Bitzer, The Grand Old Camera-master . . ^^INTOLERANCE" was made in Hollywood 11111 in 1915-'16 on Fine Arts lot, Sunset and jilrBi|] Hollywood Boulevard, excepting the scenes -*±z-*&&i taken of Cyrus' Army, which were taken at Nigger Slough, down toward Culver City. Every bit of this photography was taken in sunlight, except the night fire scenes of the Babylon towers and walls. These were taken at dusk and with flares. No 24s, 36s, sun arcs or electric lights of any kind were used and, if you remember the picture, you can imagine the original figuring in the placing of sets, all of which had to be shot in sunlight. An Amazing Dolly One set, the Feast of Belshazzar in the Baby- lon period, was set three- eights of a mile long and, in this scene, was used an amazing dolly that even at this time (and I do not want to belittle our pres- ent day marvelous pho- tography and angles) has never been equalled for its effects and smoothness of operation. This dolly was one hundred and forty feet high, about six feet square at the top and some sixty feet wide at the bottom. It was mounted upon six sets of four-wheel railroad car trucks and had an ele- vator in the center. It ran upon tracks starting away back taking in the full The biggest dolly ever builr- 140 feet high. scene, or entire set, upon which there were five thousand extras. Walls 140 Feet High This scene, or set, had walls one hundred and forty feet high all around it, upon which were huge elephants, many in number. Some of the walls were braced with telegraph poles and there were horses and chariots upon them. Ishtar, a figure of the Goddess of Love, which looked puny in the full set, was thirty feet tall. This great dolly was moved backward and forward by some twenty-five men, while another staff operated the elevator until from full set it ended in a close-up of large figures of the Prince and Princess seated at the throne, a pair of doves harnessed to a little golden chariot, carrying love missives between them, and the whole moving so smooth as to be delightful. In fact, ten years later about this scene Richard Watts said in the New York Herald Tribune: "In this episode there occurs one of the most effective uses of the mov- ing camera I have ever encountered — the scene where the camera moves slowly up the steps of the Babylon Pal- ace." You see the effect was quite the reverse of the method in which it was photographed. The Intolerance Way In some of the pictures I see today, when I learn of the methods used, I wonder why, instead of the appar- ently roundabout way which looks so mechanical, they are not done in the simpler and more real and effective "Intolerance" way. For instance in a scene showing ap- parently hundreds of chariots (Cyrus' army) rushing to war, we simply hooked our Cyrus' chariot to the side of our automobile, jiggled the shafts up and down (no horses on that one) and rode like hell in amongst all the other chariots. But more about this sort of stuff later. While I am at it this same writer said, when "Intolerance" was revived TEN YEARS LATER: "Here is photoplay pageantry that for richness of fine composition and general beauty is so impressive that it should make the producers of the expensive 'Ben Hur' to feel just a bit ashamed of themselves." Hoiv It Was Shot This whole scene was made on only one hand cranked Pathe camera. Karl Brown did the cranking, seated underneath the Pathe, through a flexible shaft, and I did the handling of the tilt and pan cranks, looking di- rectly through the Pathe eye-piece focusing glass in the back door of the Pathe on to the film, with a special eye-piece of rubber which fitted around my eye to keep the light from fogging the film. The highest number of cameras used on the biggest spectacular scenes of the different periods were never more than four — all Pathes and, at no time in the ordi- nary scenes made in this picture, which took one and one-half years to photograph, was more than one camera used. Karl Brown Enters And right here I want to tell you about the won- derful assistant I had in Karl Brown, who was more than an assistant — an inspiration, a practical dreamer, as he later proved in his works in the photographic con- tinuity of lighting in "The Covered Wagon" ; that most admirable Tennessee mountain story, "Stark Love" — an intelligent cameraman. Pleasant memories come to me as I recall our working together. His constructive mind helped me greatly in securing effects photographic in "In- tolerance." There was one and one-quarter million (1,250,000) feet of lumber used in "Intolerance." The carpenters received two and two and one-half dollars a day, worked each day until finished — no overtime. Extras received five dollars a day and, as I said before, no electricians were ever used. We called the picture "THE SUN PLAY OF THE AGES." (Turn to Page 27 ) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL P H O T O (i R A P H !• R Twenty-five ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ARC LAMPS (Continued from Page 14) in some cases. The only difficult interference credited to arcs was caused by the public address system. The entire Technicolor portion of the "House of Rothschild" was taken with arc lamps and the sound and pictures were made together. A viewing of this picture will satisfy any skeptic that arc lamps, even in their present condition, can be successfully used with sound.. The preparation work necessary on the "House of Rothschild" can be greatly reduced by the expenditure of a reasonable amount of money to modernize existing arc lamp equipment. When this work has once been done it will pay for itself many times over by the saving in time on the set. Considerable work has been done in the past few years by the studio electrical departments to quiet arc lamps. The electrolytic condenser and the choke coil for the elimination of commutator ripple were developed in the studios. Some of the spotlamps and sun arcs are already equipped with cutout motors. It is quite possible with the aid of fibre gears, graphite brushes and built-in choke coils, to make these lamps meet any requirement of the sound department Due to the recent demand for arc lamps, manufac- turers have produced improved arc lamps and carbons. The new type broadsides and scoops used in the "House of Rothschild" and "Kid Millions" delivered 210 foot candles at 15 feet as against 55 foot candles with the old type equipment. They are silent and one operator can handle a large number of them. On a recent picture, "Nana," Gregg Toland used a new model carbon arc spotlamp within two feet of the microphone. [If the new photographic technique calls for mixed lighting, or even for 100 '/'< arc lights, the electrical department is prepared to supply the equipment.] PAUL PERRY LEAVES US Mrs. Paul Perry, wife of one of the pioneer camera- men ace9 of the motion picture industry of America, and for years operating in Hollywood, a brother of Harry Perry and popular among his fellows, departed September 11, for San Francisco whence she will sail for Manila. She goes to join her husband in Manila, where he G O E R Z | For every particular requirement of the discrimin- ating photographer, there is one Coerz line that will yield inimitably superior results. FU P P — a new 24 page catalog of IX L L Coerr lenses for Cinematography and Photography of Yellow and Pan-Ortho Green Filters, Various Cinematic Devices, etc. SEND FOR YOUR COPY OF THIS CATAL0C NOW C. P. COERZ AMERICAN OPTICAL CO. 317 EAST 34th STREET NEW YORK L E N S E D SOUND The most approved recording slit is the New Principle MINOR QUARTZ OPTICAL UNIT Unsurpassed for fidelity to original sound. Acclaimed by independent producers. Send for details and sound track samples. C. C. MINOR Phone GL -1030 1619 Cherokee Ave., Holly wo :,d CINEX TESTINC MACHINES CINEX POLISHING MACHINES BARSAM-TOLLAR MECHANICAL WKS. 7239 Santa Monica Blvd. Phone CRanite 9707 Hollywood, California has opened a color laboratory for the processing of film shot in the Oriental countries. Paul Perry is; by no means a stranger in the Orient, where he has been on location many times for Hollywood studios, shooting stuff from India to China and Japan. Paul, here's good luck to you and your new venture. We shall miss you here at the old homestead. BAUSCH & LOMB FOLDER A new six-page folder on Bausch & Lomb Tessar Lenses has just been issued at Rochester. This folder is illustrated with examples of photography from this series of lenses and carries schematic drawings showing the arrangement of the elements in the barrel. A series of magazine advertisements is being released on these lenses. ROY DAVIDGE FILM LABORATORIES ••• An Exclusive "Daily" Laboratory Quality and Service 6701-6715 SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD GRanite 3108 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-six Th, INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 A FEW WORDS ABOUT SUN SHADES AND FILTERS (Continued from Page 19) gelatine type filters. I still stick to my guns, or rather statements, for a little reflection will show how true it is that the Canada balsam with which these filters are cemented easily becomes soft and "gooey" in heat. It is likewise easily understandable that the thin gelatine from which filters are made easily wTrinkles, cracks, crumbles, and what-not. Even the colors are not stable, some of them fading or changing color gradually ! However, I have no quarrel with gelatine filters. I again only state my preference — take it or leave it. The solid glass filter, of which type more and more are being made and used right along, is a most practical affair. The good, ones — for which you may have to pay quite a bit — are of excellent optical glass in which the color is inherent. The two surfaces are plane-parallel finished and ground true, hence the minimum of resistance is offered light-rays as they pass through them. The use of filters, or at least the use of a variety of filters, is in my humble opinion greatly over-estimated. I own over a dozen different kinds, yet actually I find use for not more than three for a wide variety of activi- ties. The beginner is likely to sell himself on the idea that a whole battery of filters is necessary before good work can be produced. I believe in simplicity of equip- ment, for it is remarkable what can be done with lim- ited equipment if it is used properly. A great many gadgets which are on the market today may be desir- able, but not necessarily vital. Remember, it is not the equipment you own, it's how you use it that counts. The most useful filter for all general purposes is, of course, a pale or medium density yellow filter. It produces excellent results on either orthochromatic or panchromatic film, and brings in cloud effects as good as anyone could desire. It is the first filter the begin- ner should consider. As a substitute, a new pale-green filter, known as the panortho (Goerz) has during the past few years be- come popular. As far as its characteristics go, it approxi- mates the yellow filter. Another type which has made a big hit is the U. V., or ultra-violet protection filter. This one is almost clear glass, but if you look real close you can detect the slightest trace of a greenish hue in it. It is much like the esculin filter. It differs from the yellow filter in that it retards only ultra-violet light. The yellow, as you know, holds back not only ultra-violet, but blue as well. The U. V. is very good for clouds on both orthochromatic or panchromatic film, and a real feature of it is that it does not require prolongation of exposure. This may sound rather off-balance, but let us in- vestigate the matter. There are various makes of U. V. filters. Some require an increase in exposure, while others do not. The Rhaco U. V. filter, for example, is made, not with pigment dye as are most filters, but with a certain chemical compound which must be very accurately made. And because the color is is due to a chemical and not a dye, the light is not retarded to any appreciable degree. Of course it is wrong to say that a filter requires no increase in exposure when used — even a plain piece of glass placed before the camera lens will absorb a certain amount of light — but because the retardation factor is so slight that it would be un- noticed, it can be said, within the limits of truth, that it requires no increase in exposure. Thus the U. V. filter can be placed before the lens without a thought of increasing the exposure. Of course these filters so far mentioned will not pro- duce the effects many amateurs desire, hence additional filters must be brought — into the picture. There seems to be a mania among miniature camera devotees to pro- duce "night effects," almost black skies, etc. For this — if you are interested — a light red filter like the A or F is required. I don't as a general thing, go in for black skies, but once in a while I like a somewhat darker sky than the yellow series gives me. In such cases I like the 23-A, which is even lighter than the A, but still gives pronounced cloud effects and darkens the sky ap- preciably. If more exaggerated effects are wanted, special filters such as Scheibe offers should be used. He will make up the most amazing combinations on order — if he hasn't what you want in stock. From here on I must leave you to your own devices, for the more common and popular filters are all I really have occasion to use — and I prefer to adhere to them. As a final word, the filter, like the lens, should be carefully protected and kept spotlessly clean. My filters for the Leica are unmounted 32 mm. discs, which are used in the H. C. E. combination sunshade and filter holder. Each one is wrapped in lens-tissue and stacked in a small tin can. These same filters fit the Rhaco combination for the Leica, too. I find it an ideal way of keeping and using filters. You may prefer yours mounted in metal slip-on mounts. For cleaning and THE LARGEST STOCK OF MITCHELL CAMERAS AND CAMERA EQUIPMENT FOR RENTALS IF YOU NEED IT WE HAVE IT CAMERA SUPPLY CO. Cable Address "CAMERAS" RUDDY CERAUS MANAGER 1515 Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, Calif. Nite Phone GLadstone 6583 GLadstone 2404 ED ESTABROOK STUDIO RENTALS Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-seven wiping filters, Japanese lens cleaning tissue can't be beat- en. It is obtainable in most photographic and optical good stores, and is extremely inexpensive. All in all, then, it would appear the logical thing to own a good sunshade and a few good filters. If you don't as yet own such equipment, I'd suggest you start saving at once, for new avenues will open to your camera. You will secure more brilliant and snappy negatives from the sunshade, and more pleasing results in general from the filters. "INTOLERANCE "—THE SUN PLAY OF THE ACES (Continued from Page 24) A $15,000,000 Picture I have calculated roughly, that at the present scale of wages this picture would have cost over fifteen mil- lion dollars ($15,000,000). We were assisted by some of the best scientists in the world. Also in this pic- ture made way back there you see flame throwing ma- chines, poison gas, etc. You won't believe this, but it's there and, too, molten lead was used. Some of the moving fighting towers were as tall as the walls and were pushed toward the walls by elephants. There were seven hundred and fifty (750) horses used; sixty (60) of the persons used became great; six- teen (16) became stars — and some who had the lead- ing parts were never heard of in a big way again. Costumes In the four stories — The Babylon of Belshazzar ; The France of Catherine de Medici (French Huguenot period) ; The Jerusalem of Christ, and America before the World War, there were more than one thousand different kinds of costumes used. When the fire throwing scenes were in full blast (fire being thrown from the moving fighting towers and from the walls) the neighbors living in little bungalows on streets adjoining the sets summoned the fire depart- ment and the big red ladder trucks and apparatus rushed past the gate guards into the scene upon which there were thousands of extras in action and spoiled nine or ten feet of film. No Casualties Remember we had only one camera running. Maybe Karl was grinding, too. I don't recall, despite the fact that one saw apparently hundreds of soldiers falling from one hundred and forty foot walls. In the closer views we used professional jumpers and nets. There were no casualties. We had an ambulance and corps of doc- tors and nurses, but only minor cuts and headaches hap- pened. "Intolerance" had in it the whole of civilized history combined. "CRIME WITHOUT PASSION" Audio Productions, Inc., recently completed some very un- usual trick photography for Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur's Paramount feature entitled "Crime Without Passion," which was produced at the Eastern Service Studios. They are now busily engaged on the new Martin Johnson picture. The trick photography for "Crime Without Passion" was especially designed and devised by Mr. Borkopitch, noted authority on this subject in Hollywood, and the work was carried out under the general supervision of Leo Lipp. H^/zed LIGHTS 'pHE new Klieglights with their exceptionally high efficiency and extraordinary beam and intensity controls — permitting all kinds of trick lighting at no extra cost — are but one of the many new types of lighting units that can be furnished for motion picture and still photogra- phy. We also offer several improved designs in flood- lights, spotlights, overhead lights, side lights, etc., for different purposes and per- fected to best meet your needs. In addition, various forms of wiring devices — portable plugging boxes, pin- plug connectors, floor pockets, wall pockets, etc — and special apparatus made to order. Neu> BULLETIN No. 106 Now ready for distribution — describes and pictures these vari- ous studio lighting units. You will find it helpful. Write for a copy. Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co., inc. 321 West 50th Street N EW YORK. N.Y. dlltllh CONNECTORS Audio Productions has been expanding its organization for this type of work and is believed to be the foremost com- pany handling trick photography in the East. Lee Garms was cameraman and co-director of this pic- ture. Joe Kain was sound technician and Art Rosson, pro- duction manager. LONG SHOT BY BOB TOBEY Recently I caught a preview of "What, No Men?" starring El Brendel and done in two reels and three colors. The color rendition was excellent, the process used being the same Technicolor three-image process that has been so well received in Walt Disney's Silly Sym- phonies. This is the first musical I have seen turned out by Ralph Staub under his new contract with Warner Brothers, and I was very favorably impressed. In the cast with El Brendel are Wini Shaw, Phil Regan, and Rosalie Roy. Photography was by that Technicolor veteran, Ray Rennahan. Staub tells me that he has a big year ahead, with al- most a hundred short subjects to produce ; fifteen of these are musicals, and nine are in color. Max Factor's MAKE-UP A, Easy to Apply Easy to Remove ^ Stays on All Day - - - Photographically Correct MAX FACTOR'S MAKE-UP STUDIO • HOLLYWOOD Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty-eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 IMPRESSIONS OF THE NEW AKERS 35mm. (Continued from Page 16) trees and dodging cactus, etc., which beset the path, and once ensconced on my tiny ledge from which I was shoot- ing a power line was dropped over the cliff to me from the sound truck and I was ready to "turn 'em over." The final results were some excellent close-ups of the stampeding cattle in the water and rope stunt shots which added tremendously to the dramatic value of the pic- ture. Every shot made with the little camera was used in the finished picture and, when screened simultaneously with the shots by the big cameras there was not the slightest distinguishable difference even though the camera had been held in the hand for every shot made. On another production I used the same camera on the small tripod that is especially made for it by the Akers Company, and found it almost as versatile on the tripod as off. Incidentally, this ingeniously designed tripod, while fully freehead with all the modern refine- ments, only weighs fifteen pounds and yet it is strong enough to be used with a full sized camera if need be and is noticeably steady and vibrationless. Because of its instant interchangeability from a hand camera to a tripod held camera, I should think that it will be found especially valuable to newsreel men, ex- plorers, naturalists, etc., where the weight of the com- bined outfit is an important item. To get back to technical details, I stated that the camera carries three lenses on a rotary turret. These lenses are mounted in the popular Leica (noncollapsible) micrometer focusing mounts and the camera is standardly equipped with lenses manufactured by the Hugo Meyer Company. The camera I was using carried the Meyer Plasmats working at f .2.7 and I found the screen result to be exceptionally pleasing with just a hint of the pseudo-stero effect which is noticeable in these lenses. Fast glass may be obtained in these lenses working up to the speed of f.1.5 which, in combination with the 180 degree shutter obtainable in this camera, gives one all the speed of light required in almost any imaginable pho- tographic circumstance. The regular focal lengths of 40 millimeter, 55 mm. and 75 mm. are used and telephoto lenses are easily pro- vided for. Furthermore, if desired, the wide angle lenses of short focal length, i. e., 35 mm. and 25 mm., are adaptable when arrangements are made for factory installation. Being equipped with the Leica lens mounts, the fil- ters and effects are carried in the standard Leica filter holder and sunshade, in fact almost all the Leica "gadgets" are applicable to this camera and may be at- tached as desired. An optical focusing device is provided in two styles, embodying two distinctly different principles and either is obtainable at the option of the user. One device focuses through the film and presents the image to the eye magnified about four times and corrected as to left to right and uprightness of image. The other device drops in front of the film and transmits the image in its full brilliance through a series of cleverly designed prisms and is viewed in the same magnifications and correctness as the image obtained through the other device. The finder is of the conventional direct type and attaches to the side of the camera in the same manner of all finders and is provided with parralax correction in the ordinary way. The film rollers and their roller guides are of con- ventional design. However, the method of loading is rather new and is decidedly foolproof inasmuch as only one set of rollers move out to allow loading. There The roller guides are moved by a small knurled knob which actuates a positive cam thereby locking the film on the rollers when once threaded ; this prevents any possibility of mechanical jamming. The rear gate is operated in much the same manner and is positively locked when threaded ready for use. There are no springs or spring pressure plates riding against the film to cause possibility of scratching. The possibility of emulsion adherence with its resultant "snowballing" action is prevented by the aperture gate which is of the finest quality tool steel milled, ground and polished, then heavily chromium plated and buffed to a mirror finish. An interesting phase of the design is the fact that all moving parts which require lubrication are kept out of the chamber in which the film is exposed, thereby pre- cluding all possibility of oil ever getting on the film from an over-indulgence in lubrication on the part of the operator. While on the matter of lubrication the bearings are of a rather new type from a metallurgical standpoint. They are composed of material which contains a heavy amount of impregnated oil and graphite and the camera could (with the exception of the movement) be run in its regular course of production for about six months with- out lubrication attention. The movement, however, be- ing of extreme precision, must receive the same careful attention that any precision movement requires to insure its perfect operation. Easy accessibility for oiling and care is made through designed soundproof apertures for this purpose. In fact the whole works can be taken from the case, inspected, checked completely and replaced ready for action within two hours' time. Registration pins can be removed without taking the mechanism from the case, checked, cleaned, and replaced within a few moments. This feature is especially desirable when the camera is being used for background purposes and where the pins and registration must be absolutely perfect to insure steadiness. The magazines are of a very simple design utilizing the principle of compensation in the film roll to con- serve size and weight. In this respect they somewhat resemble the magazines used in the famous Akeley and like the Akeley they also are of two hundred foot capacity. They are firmly attached and detached by means of a conventional long screw and knurled knob arrangement, such as is employed on almost all exterior magazines. The magazines are made of aluminum but are covered on the outside with rubber of a very durable quality and on the inside they are lined with a thin layer of insulat- ing cork and velvet although the Akers Company have a new interior magazine lining which will prove popular I am sure. It is a black cellulose composition that has the finished surface of glass, the advantage of which is its lack of side friction on the rotating film roll and also its extreme ease in cleaning as a damp cloth quickly removes any possible dust or dirt that may have accumu- lated in the magazine. The magazine light traps are of the roller type but when the magazine is attached to the camera there are little pressure buttons that lift all pressure of the rollers from the film and allow it to run through an unrestricted trap. This eliminates fur- ther the possibility of scratching from dirt in the traps. The full weight of a magazine without film is about two pounds. A tiny, though accurate, Veeder type film meter is entirely enclosed within the case and the numbers are easily read through a small window. A reset knob on the outside of the case provides for resetting the num- bers whenever desired. For special purposes an exterior counter that measures every frame can be installed if the operator wishes. The small "wild" (not synchronous) motor with which the camera comes equipped can be powered from is no other way to thread the film except the right way. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL I'HOTOGR A I'H KK 7 wenty-nine either an ordinary house electric line or in the case of distant locations power is derived from three small "B" batteries. It is possible to run it on either direct or alternating 110-volt current. The motor weighs only two and three-quarter pounds but furnishes an abund- ance of power and is very steady in its operation. Speed control from eight frames per second to thirty frames per second is obtained from a calibrated rheostat with which the camera comes equipped. In the case of difficult location work and power is being used from battery source it will be found con- venient to sling the small "B" batteries in a light fiber case from shoulder straps, their weight of about seven or eight pounds is then practically unnoticeable. Sling- ing the complete camera from another shoulder strap divides the total weight of about twenty-five pounds into an evenly distributed load, leaving both hands free for progress through the woods or jungle as the case might be, yet at a moment's notice the operator has instant accessibility and the flexibility desired. When it is won- dered why batteries and electric motor are provided in- stead of a spring motor it must be remembered that with the electric motor one is not limited to the short length of scene that is the known limitation of the spring motor type of camera. It is always when the most inter- esting part of the desired action is taking place that the spring motor camera takes it into its head to run down and stop, leaving the photographer with that all gone feeling that comes over him when he realizes the good shot he missed. With the electric motor he has not only the full two hundred foot roll to depend upon while shooting but he is also assured of complete steadi- ness of operation from the first foot to the last. The ease of holding the camera as a hand camera is something that has to be experienced to be appreciated. The entire weight of the camera while in shooting posi- tion is carried upon the shoulder where it is least no- (Concluded on Page 31 J Fred Westerberg, author of that most helpful little book, "The Cine- matographer's Book of Tables", announces that in November he will begin another series of tables to run indefinitely in The Inter- national Photographer. The title of the table for Nov- ember is "CAMERA SPEEDS," and the table will be so printed in the magazine as to be easily removed for filing in your little red book, "The Cinematographer's Book of Tables" — if you have one. If you have not a copy you'd better call on your dealer right away so that you may not fail to have one in your pocket when you need it. This wonderful little book has become over night a necessity to the cameraman and is as much a part of his equipment as the cam- era itself. It is an amazing time saver. And it's just as valuable for the 16mm. cameraman as it is for the professional. IT COSTS ONLY $1.00 A COPY. Write or Call on Any Dealer or 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood FREE BOOKLET from E. LEITZ, InC. Dept. 594, 60 E. 10th St., New York. Western Agent: Spindler and Sauppe, Los Angeles & San Francisco Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Thirty The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER September, 1934 INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Brings results — Kates 45 cents per line — minimum charge one dollar per insertion. For Rent — For Sale — Wanted — For Exchange, etc. FOR SALE AND RENT— CAMERAS FOK SALE OK KENT — Mitchell and bell & Howell silenced cameras, follow focus. Pan lenses, free head, corrected new aperture. Akeley, Da Brie, Pathe, Universal, Prevost, Willart, De Vry, Eyemo, Sept, Leica. Motors, printers lighting equipment. Also every variety of 16 mm. and still cameras and projectors. B & H Cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Everything photographic bought, sold, rented and repaired. Send for our bargam catalogue. Hollywood Camera Ex- change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd. Phone HO. 3651. Cable, Hocamex. BELL & HOWELL Professional Motion Picture Camera complete with 35 — 40 — 50 — 75 mm. lenses and Mitchell tripod legs. Also Akeley Cam- era complete with 2 in., 6 in., 17 in. ienses. Mervyn Freeman, 1960 South Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone: REpublic 3171. LIKE NEW SOUND MOVIOLA, Model UC, Price $450; also new H. C. E. Freehead Tripod and legs for Bell & Howell, Eyemo or DeVry cameras — $75 complete. Hollywood Camera Exchange, 1600 North Cahuenga Blvd.. Hollywood. FOR SALE— CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT NEW AND USED HOME MOVIE CAMERAS— DeVry Motion Pic- ture Cameras — sound on film portable projectors with operators for rent. Photographic supplies — fine grain nnishing — courteous service. Educa- tional Project-O Film Co., 1611 North Cahuenga, Hollywood. REAL BARGAINS in 16 and 35 mm. movie equipment and still cameras. Newest types cameras and projectors in all popular makes. Save money on film, lights, lenses and all essential accessories. Our 36 years of experience stands back of every sale. Before you buy, send for our new bargain booklet. Burke & James, Inc., 223 W. Madison St., Chicago. MITCHELL — Late model silenced camera, fully equipped. Reason- able. Continental Filmcraft, Inc., 1611 Cosmo Street. Hollywood. CAMERA REPAIRING bal-L & HOwtiLL cameras with old type shuttles silenced, $150. Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co., 645 No. Martel Ave., Hollywood. FOR SALE OR RENT— MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE— Bell & Howell 1000 ft. Magazines. Good as new, priced right for quick sale. Box 99, International Photographer, Hollywood. FOR SALE — Mitchell Camera in Al condition. Astro Lenses, Slip Head Tripod, Upright Finder, Silenced. Box 90, International Photographer, Hollywood. FOR SALE — Mitchell Tripod Friction Head in new condition. Box 95, International Photographer, Hollywood. FOR SALE — Inspected and Guaranteed Negative Short Ends — All Kinds. Continental Filmcraft Inc., 1611 Cosmo Street, Hollywood, Calif. MITCHELL MOTOR — 1000 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. FOR SALE — 75 mm. Cooke Lens. F.2 in Mitchell mount complete. 50 and 75 mm. Astro lenses, mounted and unmounted. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange Street, Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. BUYERS READ these classified advertisements as you are now doing. If you have something for sale or exchange — advertise it in these col- umns. THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. FOR RENT — 25 and 35 mm. lenses, motor adapters, Mitchell Standard tripod head, baby tripod, 400 ft. Mitchell magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 North Orange St., Glendale, Douglas 3361-W. FOR RENT— CAMERAS TWO THOROUGHLY silenced Mitchell cameras. Follow tocus device. Pan Astro lenses, Freehead — 1000 ft. magazines. J. R. Lockwood, 523 No. Orange St., Glendale. Douglas 3361-W. THE INTERNATIONAL PRO|ECTIONIST THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST, a monthly magazine published in the interests of the projectionist. Interesting, instructive. Yearly subscription U. S. and possessions, $2; foreign countries, $2.50. Tame- T Finn Publishing Corp.. 1 West 47th St.. New York. WANTED TO BUY WANTED — Motion Picture and Still Cameras, all types, Lenses, Finders, Tripod Heads, Leica or Contax Cameras. Cash for hargains. Camera Supply Company, 1515 No. Cahuenga Blvd.. Hollywood. WANTED— Two Bell & Howell 120° or 170° shutter cameras im- mediately, for cash. Continental Filmcraft, Inc., 1611 Cosmo Street, Hollywood. WANTED— NEW OR USED 35mm. SOUND ON FILM RECORD- ING EQUIPMENT, SINGLE OR DOUBLE SYSTEM. GIVE ALL PARTICULARS IN FIRST LETTER. BIRD FILMS LIMITED, REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN. CANADA. WANTED — New or used 35mm. sound on film recording equipment, single or double system. Give all particulars in first letter. BIRD FILMS LIMITED, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. POSITION WANTED DO YOU WANT A CAMERAMAN who is an expert on studio pro- duction : or an expedition cameraman who knows every corner of the world ; or a cameraman who thoroughly understands the making of indus- trial pictures ; or an expert newsreel photographer ; or an expert color cameraman? A limited number of cameramen, backed by years of experi- ence, are available. Write stating your requirements and we shall be glad to assist you in choosing the kind of cameraman you want. INTER- NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Holly wood. MISCELLANEOUS COMPLETE COURSE IN FLYING — If interested in aviation, see Roy Klaffki, 1605 North Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. WANTED — To know of the whereabouts of motion picture relics, docu- ments, or equipment of a historical nature for Museum purposes. Write Earl Theisen, care of International Photographer, 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood. DEVELOPING IN DAYLIGHT! The Optochrom Developing Tank a Miracle Photographic Process As per circular received, this is the greatest step for- ward in this important photographic process made in years. It seems almost unbelievable that it has actually been accom- plished and we were also somewhat dubious, until Dr. Brooks on his recent visit to Germany personally investigated this item and talked with a number of dealers who had been sell- ing it with success and enthusiasm for some time. The factory is forced to work day and night in three shifts to keep up with the demand. While it has been on the Ger- man market for nearly one year, we preferred not to an- nounce it until deliveries were actually in sight, which is now the case. It is made as yet only for the 2J4x3J4" ar>d 2J4x2*4" roll film, which news will be of particular interest to the many Rolleirlex devotees. Other sizes will be announced later. As indicated in the circular, its use is comparatively sim- ple. One takes the roll film jus*| as it comes from the camera, inserts it in the inner part of the tank in very much the same manner as it is inserted in the camera, unrolling about five inches of the cover paper. This inner part is then loaded in the tank proper with the cover paper extending out through a slot in one side of the tank. The cover of the tank is then put in place, and one simply pulls the end of the cover paper, until it is completely out of the tank. The slot in the side of the tank is then closed by means of a simple seal. The processing of the film is now begun by pouring the developer through the funnel-like opening in the top of the tank. A rub- ber hose may be attached to the top and the film can be effi- ciently washed in the same tank. Rinsing and, fixing are pro- ceeded in the same manner. The secret of this remarkable tank is that when the cover paper is pulled through, the loading end of the film, which is not fastened to the cover paper, is cleverly separated by a metal device and forced through a spiral groove in the inner part of the tank which keeps it well separated and allows a good circulation of the solution. When the end of the film is reached, which is fastened to the cover paper, it is cut loose by the ingenious metal device which is mentioned above, and the cover paper may then be removed entirely. The tank is constructed of Thesite, a form of bakelite, beautifully molded and impervious to the various chemicals used in photography. Write Burleigh Brooks, 127 West 42nd Street, New York City, for illustrated circulars, and arrange for a free trial. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. October, 1934 Tin INTERNATIONAL PHOTOCRAl'HKR Thirty-one IMPRESSIONS OF NEW AKERS 35mm. (Continued from Page 29) ticed. The magazine which is resting on the shoulder fits snug alongside the right side of the operator's head and the finder is then directly in position in front of the eye. Even if one is wearing glasses or goggles (as in air work) it will he found that the vision is not crowded in any respect. One hand holds the camera in perfect security and control, leaving the other free for any other purpose, such as supporting the operator himself while in difficult positions. The fact of the magazine resting against the side of the head assures one of ease of finder alignment inasmuch as the head is the most stable part of the body and any difference in vertical picture alignment is almost automatically cor- rected for this reason. This about summarizes all of the technical detail that I think would be interesting at the present writing and I hope that I have satisfied to some degree any ques- tions of a major feature regarding this camera. While I have stated that this is a new camera it is new to the trade but it has been under steady use and trial here in Hollywood for almost two years before being offered to the world at large and it has been en- thusiastically approved by all the leading cameramen and directors who have seen and used it and I am sure that the industry will welcome this camera as a perma- nent addition to its equipment. Also I feel safe in predicting that the Akers Camera will prove to be as popular a general utility camera now in the present era of sound as were the old reliable Uni- versal camera and the famous Akeley during the time of the silent pictures. I know that I was well satisfied with its general performance and I hope that whenever you get the chance to get your hands on one you will have as much fun in shooting it as I have had. A NEW MINIATURE PROJECTOR ANNOUNCED As an addition to the famous series of Udimo projectors, E. Leitz, Inc., 60 East 10th Street, New York City, is an- nouncing the new miniature projector known as the UMINO. The small projector is unique in that it accommodates not only film slides (both single frame ^4x1 inch and double frame lxV/2 inch), but also 2x2 inch glass slides. The versatility is not approached by any other projector of this type and size. The miniature projector measures 2J/2xSx7 inches, and weighs only 2l/2 pounds. A highly-corrected projection lens is supplied in focusing mount, and the illumination is supplied by either 50 or 100 wat, 110 volt lamp. For special require- ments, an adapter may be installed whereby the illumination is furnished by a standard automobile storage battery, using a low-voltage lamp. This new projector is manufactured in the United States. Made of light-weight, but sturdy metal throughout, this new projector will appeal not only to salesmen, educators, lec- turers, and demonstrators, but also to amateur photographers. A still picture projector in the home is an increasingly popular fad, and is rapidly taking its place along side of the home movie projector as a means for amusement and instruction. Why not see the new Leica miniature projector at your local dealer's? The price of $45.00 is extremely low, especially when the compactness, design, construction, and versatility are considered. If your local dealer cannot show you this new equipment, write to E. Leitz, Inc., for complete information. £ff*cls in Daytime -F^ Scen^s- Lwfusea. F^ccjs.arcd many ?rber sFfscts Wrtb any Uamera - In any Ulirnar-^ Georcje H. ScKeibe ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS t o| J Am pro 1 REGULAR ^150 = Km Best 16MM Value Bass . . . value leader , . . offers Precision Made Ampro . . .New guaranteed — at a saving of $50.50— Powerful- Brilliant — Plastic projection — Long- life — Smoothness — Quietness assured. 400 watt Biplane Mazda light is equal to 500 watt. Kodacolor may be used. Instrument complete with cord and plug — instructions — carrying case. Fully guaranteed for one year. Regular $150.00; Bass price $99.50. Full details and Baa Bargaingram So. 212 is free on request. DEALERS: WRITE FOR DETAILS GUARANTEE I "1 personally guarantee 1 H nn nn back. I guarantee 1 1 the 400 wan B, plane 1 I Filament Maida equal 1 I to 900 wan in illumi- 1 Pnudtml 1 BASS CAMERA CO. 179 W.Madison St.Chicacjo AMATEURS ! ! PROFESSIONALS ! ! Fresh 35 mm. Eastman or Dupont Gray Backed Negative Film Supplied at .02J^ per foot. KINEMA KRAFTS KOMPANY 6510 Selma Ave., Hollywood, Calif. GL. 0276 Phone GLadstone 4151 HOLLYWOOD STATE BANK The only Bank in the Industrial District of Hollywood under State Supervision Santa Monica Boulevard at Highland Avenue TREATISE ON ASTRONOMY AND THE TELESCOPE FREE A nine page booklet prepared by E. S. Bissell, titled "Teaching With the Telescope," is being offered without cost by Bausch & Lomb to those interested in astronomy and the telescope. Although written for the use of science teachers, the book- let deals with the subject in simple language and is easily understood by the amateur astronomer or telescopist. Since even the larger observatories cannot watch all of the sky at the same time, observations and reports from ama- teurs on novae, comets, meteors and variables receive serious attention when forwarded to the nearest observatory. The booklet discusses briefly Planets, Sun Spots, Double Stars, Star Clusters, Nebulae and Lunar Topography, and sug- gests the method and the equipment for their study. Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N. Y. BELL & HOWELL ACTIVITIES The Bell & Howell Filmosound Rental Library announces the establishment of the following branch libraries: Auditorium Supply Co., Minneapolis; Burgert Bros., Tampa; Photoart House, Milwaukee. This library specializes in rentals of high grade 16 mm. sound on film subjects and now has over twenty branches in various cities of the country. 1927 WEST 78th ST. LOS ANGELES. CAL Bell & Howell have received the following radiogram from Little America from Commander Noville of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition : "The Eyemo and two Filmo Cameras are functioning as perfectly at 70 below as they did in tropics STOP have excellent pictures for you. Regards. Commander Noville." Thirty-two Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER October, 1934 Ql IGCWS so-enJEJ^- By Otto Phocus SENSE OR CENSOR? }{ /> A {prf&S^ pny \\irr. r '■$) hit C -.1 his i r\ A Z/7^ present this issue a near likeness of Air, Ale- William Fitzwhistle , President of the Sons and Daugh- ters of the Society for the Presentation of Clean, Im- maculate, Unpolluted , Unadulterated, Spotless Pictures for Twenty-five Cents. Heil! Mr. Fitzwhistle At last the cameramen have a champion. For years they had been working silently to get clean pictures, but it had been an "up stairs" battle. Since the advent of sound pictures, more has been heard, but it is still an "up stairs" battle because most of the offices are on the second floor. Every precaution known has been used to keep pic- tures clean from the cameramen's angle, and we wel- come Mr. Fitzwhistle, like a 1 :00 P. M. call, after working all night. It might interest Mr. Fitzwhistle to know that a speck of dust is as welcome in the manufacturing of film as a buckle when photographing a train wreck. That the film is wrapped in cellophane, sealed in tin cans, packed in cartons and handled with care until it is delivered at the dark room door. In fact it is a shame to have to open it and expose it to the world, the way things are these days. Magazines have been known to be cleaned up by the assistant cameramen and aperture plates have been pol- ished so much that they have been worn thin and had to be resurfaced again to get proper registration. In the laboratories they start the day by cleaning the air. The water has been purified, pasteurized and sterilized. The chemicals are so pure it seems a shame to have to mix them. Men with flashlights go around looking for dirt and inspectors with large ears go around listening for it. At certain studios they change the administration regularly and as soon as the new administrators arrive on the scene they proceed to clean out all the heads of departments. As soon as the new heads of the departments arrive they continue the cleaning process. Most of the camera departments have little rooms nearby where the cameramen can be cleaned. Especially on pay days. At some of the larger studios they list the units working on blackboards ; the blackboards have been almost clean for some time. In handling the film, the workers wear white gloves and in most of the scenario departments they have been cleaned out of ideas for some time. This is the situation, Mr. Fitzwhistle, and any sug- gestions you can give us will be appreciated provided they are sent prepaid and in addition, we have no ap- propriation to pay salaries for additional help at the present time. So-o-o our hands are clean and most of our thoughts, except when we read the demand for "cleaner" pictures when we are doing everything possible to make them clean. Hell! Mr. Fitzivhistle. JUDGE PRIEST Irvin S. Cobb's stories of Judge Priest are woven into N. Walthall shows fine restraint in the part of Rev. a story that will entertain and enthuse from start to fin- ish. The locale is the good old south after the Civil War and Will Rogers is so superlatively Judge Priest that one forgets he is Will Rogers. And that's saying a lot. Henry Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers Ashby Brand, while Stepin Fetchit provides much of the humor. It's one of those stories which prove that a pic- ture which will pass the censors a hundred percent can be even more entertaining than the other kind. It is a Fox masterpiece. THESE PHOTOGRAPHS REFLECT OUR INTEREST IN LIGHT CONTROL 1. A polished metal or mirrored glass surface gives accurate light control .TTlLTHOUGH an incandescent lamp can be used bare for photograph)-, its light is made infinitely more effec- tive by properly designed reflectors. As these photographs suggest, the nature of reflecting surfaces plays an important part in determining the light control provided by reflectors. Notice what happens, as illustrated in photograph No. 1, when light strikes a polished metal or mirrored glass reflector. Such a surface provides most accurate control of light as it reflects the light in a definite direction. On the other hand, a surface that is practically matte, such as porcelain enamel, as photograph No. 2 shows, diffuses the light in all directions and permits little control. While, as photograph No. 3 shows, a semi- matte surface, such as treated aluminum, gives a spread of light, in a definite direction with controlled diffusion. These facts about light control, fundamental in illumina- tion and in cinematography, have been keenly studied by General Electric's engineers and scientists. Along with a basic knowledge of how to produce the lighting effects cinematographers use so successfully, these facts aid in developing new Edison Mazda lamps to meet motion pic- ture requirements. They also guide us in improving exist- ing types of Edison Mazda lamps and in helping you obtain full effectiveness from these lamps. Coupled with the hundreds of tests, checks and inspections which Edison Mazda lamps undergo, this study provides another reason why studios from coast to coast use Edison Mazda lamps for every lighting need — from set lighting to process work. General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio. EDISON MAZDA LAMPS GENERAL H ELECTRIC 2 . A matte surface permits little light control 3. A semi-matte surface gives controlled diffusion, plus direction 1,500 and 1,000-watt PS-52. Used in rifle lamps, side lamps and strip units. Also for floodlightint. General Electric invites you to visit its exhibit in the Electrical Building at the Century of Progress, Quiet IN OPERATION Because it is properly engineered, having less moving parts, less gears, the Mitchell Sound Camera meets today's demands for silence, ease of operation, light weight* Mitchell Camera Corporation 665 N. ROBERTSON BOULEVARD WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. Cable Address "MITCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 HOTOGRAPHER H YEAR HOLLYWOOD NOVEMBER, 1934 ENTS COPY Numa — A noble veteran of the movies. VOL.6 No. 10 STILL BY SHIRLEY VANCE MARTIN fOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS "EG. U.S.PAT. Off. Du Pont Film Manufacturing Corporation 35 WEST 45™ STREET NEW YORK CITY PLANT PARLIN, N. J. SMITH & ALLER LTD. 6656 --SANTA MONICA BLVD HOLLYWOOD, CAL. THE <5gp> TRADE MARK HAS NEVER BEEN PLACED ON AN INFERIOR PRODUCT INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND CRAFTS Vol. 6 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, NOVEMBER, 1934 No. 10 Silas Edgar Snyder, Editor-in-Chief Earl Theisen and Charles Felstead, Associate Editors Lewis W. Physioc, Fred Westerberg, Technical Editors John Corydon Hill, Art Editor Helen' Boyce, Business Manager A Monthly Publication Dedicated to the Advancement of Cinematography in All Its Branches; Professional and Amateur; Photography; Laboratory and Processing, Film Editing, Sound Recording, Projection, Pictorialists. CONTENTS Front Cover Still by Shirley Vance Martin MONTAGE ----------- 2 By M. L. Tandon MOTION PICTURE SOUND RECORDING 4 By Charles Felstead DETERMINING THE SPEED OF LENSES 6 By E. W. Melson and S. Laivrence PUBLIC WORKS MONEY FOR SCHOOL FILMS 8 Contributed MECHANISM OF VISION -------- 10 By Geoffrey Hodson GLASS, MINIATURE AND PROJECTION - 12 By Paul R. Harmer HAS INFRA RED PHOTOGRAPHY A PLACE IN COMMERCIAL WORK 14 By Fred S. Tobey BE YOUR OWN PRODUCER, ETC. - - - - - 15 Contributed THOUGHTS ON PROJECTION PRINTING - 16 By Karl A. Barleben, Jr., F.R.P.S. THE CINEMATOGRAPHER'S BOOK OF TABLES - 18 By Fred W esterberg MINIATURE CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY ----- 20 By Augustus Wolfman CINEMACARONI - - - - 24 By Robert Tobey THIESEN'S HOLLYWOOD NOTE BOOK ----- 32 By Earl Theisen Entered as second class matter Sept. 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright 1934 by Local 659, I. A. T. S. E. and M. P. M. O. of the United States and Canada Office of publication, 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, California GLadstone 3235 James J. Finn, 1 West 47th St., New York, Eastern Representative McGill's, 179 and 218 Elizabeth St., Melbourne, Australian and New Zealand agents. Subscription Rates — United States and Canada, $2 a year. Single copies, 25 cents. This Magazine represents the entire personnel ot photographers now engaged in professional production of motion pictures in the United States and Canada. Thus THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER becomes the voice of the Entire Craft, covering a field that reaches from coast to coast across North America. Printed in the U. S. A. at Hollywood, California ti^gSggjSD 8 1 SERVICE ENGRAVING CO A^ ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR DECEMBER • NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE Will be the biggest year in the life of THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTO- GRAPHER and people interested in Motion Picture Arts and Crafts will get more for their money in subscrib- ing for it at $2.00 a year than they can get anywhere else in America or Europe. Features for publication in 1935 will be announced in our magazine for January. As a Christmas present it is ideal and worth many times the small price of its subscription. NUMA Our front cover this month is graced with the noble lineaments of Numa. internationally famous lion, recently deceased. This lion, a product of the great Cay Lion Farm, was brought under the influence of gentle treat- ment and Mrs. Cay, who personally looked after him, said that he and his friend and playmate, Slats, were the two lions of all she ever saw that had no hatred in them. Numa was the best known and beloved of all lions who worked in the movies. Shirley Vance Martin, who shot this still and who photographed Numa many times, said that this lion was always shot in the open with no bars between himself and the still man. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 Monta By M. L. TAXDOX, Cawnpore, India We have great pleasure in printing this article by Mr. Tandon. He has worked in Hollywood. Unlike some other Indians, who just have a pleasure trip round, he hates personal publicity. He is very unassuming in his behavior and very sincere in talk. Of all the "foreign returned" Indians, he has impressed us as the most capable. — Editor of the Motion Picture Monthly, of Bombay, India. ^||URING the last few years the word Montage has caused more hewilderment than anything WA e'se since the days when Griffith introduced the close-ups. I shall try to explain as clearly and as simply as possible what is Montage. Montage is a French word meaning to mount or to assemble. It was first used by the Russians and is, in fact, the nerve of the Cinema. The commonest and the most mis-used definition of Montage is that it is quick cutting and building up on the mounting line of excitement. According to Pudovkin Montage is "the logic," the structural principle of film language — Film-grammar. According to Eisenstein, Montage is the mathematics of film-construction, the dia- betical principles governing the dynamics of film-form — Film Dialectic. I have emphasized again and again that Montage does not mean and is not of necessity intrinsically identified with quick short-cut flashes of scenes pieced together in rapid succession. It is, rather, the forming principle that conditions and governs the final unity of the film "invest- ing the whole structure of the picture with the logic of image association that the multiplicity of Montage-de- vices makes possible." But how does this work in parts and consequently in whole? Let us take an example. Dog -f Mouth = Bark. Heart -+- Dagger = Suicide. Mouth -\- Food = Eat. and so on. Here two independent shots placed in juxtaposition explode a new concept. Or to take another example : 1. A person looking at something. 2. A plate of food. 3. The same person holding his stomach. If these three shots are mounted together, they convey to us some meaning that the person ate the food and it did not agree with him. But these shots if taken isolated do not give us any meaning. This is Montage in its epic principle. But does it work this way in pictures? Only partially, because Montage of a film refers to its whole structure and not to parts only. The complete scenario has to be written with regard to the relation and inter- relation of its parts. In other words, the whole stuff has to be reduced to a symphony, where everything runs in a logical order. Each shot has to fit perfectly into the scene, the scene into sequences, the sequences into episodes, cre- ating a rhythmical unity. Why? Because image, shot and scene is only a word without a meaning. It conveys Please mention The International Photogra some meaning only by a series of shots preceding or fol- lowing. Each sequence has thus a thought combination linked together in bigger sequences expressing ideas. How to put the shots together and where to empha- size by means of contrast, dissolves, cuts, suggestions, etc., is the task faced by the director. He may start the pic- ture slowly and gradually work up to a bang, e.g., "Heir to Jengiz Khan," "Soil," etc. In a recent Soviet picture, "Shame," the action was gradually built up to such a stupefying climax that the whole screen seemed to shiver, so tremendous was the reaction of the machine being tested. The talkies have retarded the progress of Montage. It becomes impossible to cut in the middle of a dialogue. Moreover, no sooner the characters start their babel of dialogue the movement is stopped. Specially in our won- derful Indian pictures where songs take precedence over action. Moving camera is another drawback in Montage. Recently I have seen that our directors are very fond of using, rather mis-using, the dolly shots. They forget that no sooner they move the camera, they make us aware of its presence and the whole illusion is gone. No doubt, such a great director as Pabst uses it ; but in every one of his films down from the "Joyless Street" to the "Don Quixote," Pabst has never used the moving camera just for sheer pleasure or novelty. He has either used it on movement as in "Der Drei Groschenoeper" or only when it was necessary to bring out the mood of the scene as in "Kamaradschaft." Ekk has used Montage to a tremendous perfection in that brilliant film, "Road to Life." In one of the se- quences he had to show the death of the hero. How did Ekk suggest it ? He showed the hero being attacked by his enemy in the dusk. He inter-cut a flash of a knife and cut back to the fighting scene. Here he added a groaning sound to the scene and faded out. We were in suspense and were never to know who of the two has been killed. In the next fade-in Ekk showed a groat of the hero's friend waiting for him to start the locomotive. They wait and wait. Suspense. Finally they themselves drive the locomotive and discover the body of the hero lying on the railroad. They pick him up and place it on the cow-catcher and the locomotive speeds on. Ekk's camera now shoots down on the body. On the other side are the friends and workers waiting for the arrival of the first locomotive in that region. The band is playing and they are rejoicing. Then the locomotive is seen and the band plays faster and louder. As the locomotive draws closer, throwing that sad escaping steam which makes a suppressed sad tone, all of them stop. Slowly they take their hats off one by one. They don't cry or go in hysterics. They solemnly watch the approaching locomotive, and the locomotive does all the sorrowing through its steam. I have written this at length because I believe that the indirect method of suggestion is the most effective in Cinema. The effect of this over-possess- ing film cannot be felt in describing. It has to be seen. This was Montage in its advanced form. Of course, there are many kinds of Montage. Timo- pher when corresponding with advertisers. November, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K K 7 lire,- (Reprinted from The Motion Picture Monthly, of Bombay, India, leading motion picture periodical of the Orient. It is by far the most learned article on Montage offered east or west, and we are not sorry to go to Mother India for it. If this editor may be permitted a guess in one word as to the real meaning of Montage, he would say that it is the spirit of a picture plus its rhythm. — Editor's Note.) spenko, one of the professors at Moscow University, has divided Montage into 15 parts. ( 1 ) Change of Place, as in "The Soil is Thirsty," where the scene changes from Amen Derbey's garden to the dry land. (2) Change of camera angle as in the shooting se- quence of "Storm Over Asia," wherein Pudovkin shot the action from various angles not for the purpose of pic- torial effect but to make sure that the bullet won't miss. (3) Change of the position of Camera as in most pic- tures, where a change brings out something hidden that affects the story at the spot, e.g., "Mysterious Lady" and "Diary of a Lost Girl" and "Ghost That Never Re- turns." (4) Stressing of details as in "End of St. Petersburg," where a close-up of a boot gives the whole idea in one shot. (5) Analytical Montage as in "Men and Jobs," when the crane is cut in constantly with the new mechanics and the close-ups of the machine's handles. (6) Past time as in various films when a cut back to some past event signifies a change in action, e.g., "China Express," where the guns and artillery are superimposed on the capitalist's hands. (7) Future Time, the prophetic vision of Eisenstein on the Mexico of tomorrow, "Que Viva Mexico." (8) Parallel events as in "Heir to Gengiz Khan," the preparation of Lamas and the preparation of the white traders. (9) Contrast as in "Cavalcade," the noisy servants and the dignified family. (10) Concentration. As in many films starting from a long shot and concentrating on a close up of something. (11) Association. As in "Jennie Gerhard" or "Storm Over Asia," wherein the sequences are matched in the form and action is similar but opposite in effect in the latter. (12) Enlargement, e.g., "Blue Angel," starting with a close-up and revealing the whole shot afterwards. (13) Monodramatic Montage, same action carried through repeatedly, as in "Cavalcade." the repetition of New Year's eve. (14) Refrain or Leit motif, stressing of certain de- tails at intervals as the bottle in "Dawn on the Horizon." (15) Montage. General term applied to the cutting of shots and sequences according to the mood and rhythm. Besides these, there are other types of "Montage," such as used by Pudovkin in "Mother" and "St. Peters- burg," known as symbolic intercuts, which have nothing to do with the action of the story, but which are mounted psychologically to convey an impressionistic effect, e.g., famous explosion scene in "St. Petersburg" and the joy of the prisoner in "Mother," or the gradual change of mood through static shots, as in the films of Douzhenko, "Arsenal," "Ivan." Herr Arnheim does not agree with Pudovkin's sym- bolic intercuts on the ground that the ideal symbolic con- nection of smile, brook, sunbeams and the laughing child cannot be given an optical coherence because the unity of the scene is interrupted by something totally different. But Herr Arnheim forgets that when the audience sees the brooks, and the laughing child, the audience does not feel that he is seeing the brook and the "laughing child." The audience only sees the "joy," in other words, the essence of the shots, which is the "happiness" felt by the prisoner. Likewise, in "St. Petersburg," the shot of a magnesium were cut into the shot of a river conveyed on the senses, not the water in the river, but the light and shade contrast, which in turn reacted psycho- logically for the explosion. Such a scene as described above has to be mounted very perfectly. The director has to know how many frames to a shot should be put. There a frame less or more will unbalance the effect and the impression desired will be lost. In the massacre sequence in "Potemkin," Eisenstein had to show the death of a young mother in the confusion and tumult of the shooting. Eisenstein took a medium shot of the mother standing against her perambulator try- ing to shield her baby from the down coming Cossacks. But they shoot her in the stomach. The close-ups of her hands clutching at the abdomen, of her face rolling in agony, of her tottering form, of her sudden fall, and death, and finally as a consequence of her fall the acci- dental releasing of the brakes on the perambulator, which starts bouncing down the steps, are separated in the Mon- tage— continuity of this sequence by long shots of the Cossacks and by the close-ups of groups and faces in the fleeing masses. The girl is the structural point of the analysis. The intercut images of the masses are the func- tional point of the entire image analysis. The girl's death movement is not mounted as a constant, unvaried unit, but each cut-back to the girl's sinking body shows another section of the body. This is also an example of the diversion of movement according to time-cutting in which each cut-back to the girl reveals her nearer to the death, nearer to her sinking completely on the stone steps. The last cut, following flash long shots of the Cossacks, shows her just as she has fallen to the ground. But this is not all. Eisenstein crosscuts the downward movement of the perambulator with the downward march of the Cossacks, giving the sequence a rhythmic flow. We see from the above example that in Montage not only the image alone, but the combination of them all, governs the Montage of the sequence. The image-idea underlies the image structure and gov- erns it. It is as much the mathematical resultant of overtonal cumulations arising out of the conflict between the single images themselves (which collectively form the image idea) as it is the product of these images in a purely Montage sense. In the highest type of films, the majority of images operate simultaneously in both a descriptive and a sym- bolical capacity, e.g., Pudovkin's symbolic intercuts and Eisenstein's famous "Que Viva Mexico," where in the triumph of the revolution is intercut with the birth of a child. This is the richest, fullest and the most intellectual method of expression now at the disposal of the director. This article may be meaningless to our Indian Direc- tors, who think of cinema in terms of Songs and Dances. But if the methods enunciated here are used by even one director, I would think myself amply repaid for this short article. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November. 1934 Motion Picture Sound Recording CHAPTER XIV By CHARLES FELSTEAD, Associate Editor HE Mrcond of this series of chapters on Him re- cording, published last month, completed the de- ^ scription of the constructional detail of the film recording machine employed in the Western Electric sound recording system. That chapter also dis- cussed the constant light source, the two lens systems, and the electromagnet assembly on which the light valve is mounted. The photo-electric cell amplifiers used for PEC monitoring were also described. In this chapter, the construction of the light valve, which is the light modulating device used in the W. E. film recording system, will be examined in considerable detail ; but the theory of the functioning of the light valve will not be discussed until next month in the final chapter on film recording. The related operations of stringing and tuning the light valve will also be described in the present chapter. Mounting of the Light J alve The frame of the light valve is formed of a flat slab of metal that just fits across the two end arms of the £-shaped core of the electromagnet. Two screws with knurled knobs hold it firmly and exactly in position when it is placed on the core. This flat slab of metal thus forms the armature of the electromagnet described in the chapter last month ; and it is equipped with a central projecting wedge of metal that is identical in size and shape with the wedge-shaped end of the center leg of the electromagnet. Like the wedge-shaped projection on the electromag- net, this central projecting wedge on the light valve frame has a slot cut through it. On the front face of the wedge-like elevation on the light valve frame, the opening is eight mils wide by 256 mils long, and it ex- pands to an opening 204 mils wide by 256 mils long in the outside face of the armature. This exactly corre- sponds to the dimensions of the tapered slot in the electro- magnet core. The narrow portions of the two slots face each other when the light valve is mounted in position on the electro- magnet. The flaring of the slots is to provide space for the converging and diverging light beam on the two sides of the ribbons of the light valve. The light beam is focused by the condensing lens mounted next to the re- cording lamp and converges through the wedge-shaped opening in the center leg of the electromagnet onto the ribbons of the light valve. The light beam then passes between the ribbons and is permitted to diverge in the flare of the slot through the wedge-like elevation on the light valve frame. This divergent beam of light is col- lected by the objective lens system and focused on the moving film in the exposure chamber of the recording machine. Thus we see that when the light valve is fastened in place on the core of the electromagnet, the wedge-shaped elevation in the center of the frame of the light valve is precisely opposite the similar wedge-shaped end of the center leg of the E-shaped core ; and the small openings of both slots are facing each other and are exactly paral- lel. With the light valve thus in operating position, the two elevations are spaced eight mils apart when there is no current flowing through the winding of the electro- magnet ; but when the electromagnet is energized by a current from the battery, this air gap is reduced to seven mils. This is crudely illustrated in the accompanying diagram. Construction of the Light Valve On the face of the light valve frame, which is the side that has the central elevation, there are two screw- like arrangements called windlasses mounted near one end. These windlasses are slotted to hold the two ends of a loop of duralumin ribbon ; and they fit their mount- ings tightly enough so that they cannot turn of their own accord and permit the ends of the ribbon to come loose. One windlass is insulated from the light valve frame, but the other one is grounded directly to the frame ; and they are connected to the two binding posts on the back of the frame that form the two terminals of the light valve. The center of the loop of duralumin ribbon is drawn tight by a miniature pulley mounted on an arm at the other end of the light valve frame. This pulley is insu- lated from the frame ; and it is arranged so that a spring makes it keep a constant tension on the loop of ribbon. The strength of the pull of the spring on the ribbon can be regulated by means of a screw that projects through to the back of the light valve frame. Insulated bridges are mounted on each side of the wedge-like central elevation on the face of the frame. The windlasses and the pulley are arranged so that the two sides of the loop of ribbon are supported by the bridges just three mils above the face of the projecting metal wedge. These bridges are comparable to the bridge that supports the strings of a violin, only in the case of the light valve the bridges are smooth on the top instead of notched. The positions of these bridges should be evident from the accompanying photograph. Position of the Ribbon Loop Four adjustable insulated pincers confine the two sides of the loop of ribbon to the center portions of the insulating brdiges, which serves to place the sides of the loop directly along the longitudinal edges of the slot in the face of the projecting wedge. When the two ribbons are properly centered over the slot and spaced exactly one mil apart (one mil is one-thousandths of an inch) by adjusting the four pincers, they shut off most of the width of the opening; and if the light valve is inter- Face of the light valve of the Western Electric recording sys- tem. A and A1 are the windlasses. B is the insulated pulley. C and C1 are the pincers; the insulated bridge is just below them. D is the slot in the wedge-shaped elevation through which the beam of light shines. Courtesy Bell Telephone Laboratories. Chapter XIV. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November. 1934 The INTERNATIONAL P H ( ) T ( ) ( i R A 1 ' 1 1 I k Five Left — C. Roy Hunter I left i, head of the sound department of Universal Studios, explaining to Robert Sibley, U. S. delegate to the World Power Conference, at BerJin, the intricacies of the new sound-on film device for motion pictures, compared with the old disc method of sound reproduction as seen in the background. This photograph gives an idea of the size and delicate- ness of the light valve. A wax recording machine is in the background. Courtesy Universal Pictures Corporation. Chapter XIV. Center — The light valve tuning panel on which the natural period of vibration of the ribbons on a light valve is raised to 8500 cycles per second. Courtesy Universal Pictures Corporation. Both Chapters XIV and XV. Right — Mechanical and Ornamental. Jean Arthur, who plays the leading feminine role, enjoys the cool seclusion of the sound truck while on location during the filming of Universal's comedy, "Bad Boy." The film recording machine mounted in a sound truck. Both feed and take-up magazines are at the top. The footage counters and the large PEC amplifier box, just below the exposure chamber, may be located easily. Courtesy Universal Pictures Corporation. Chapter XIV. sposed between the eye and a source of light, the slot appears to be only one mil wide and 256 mils long. The flat side of the portion of the ribbon that passes over the slot is parallel with the face of the light valve frame ; but the remainder of the ribbon that forms the loop around the pulley is turned so that the flat side of the ribbon is perpendicular to the frame. This necessi- tates a quarter turn being made in the ribbon in each leg of the loop between the bridge and the pulley, be- cause the ribbon must rest flat against the surface of the pulley at the end of the loop. When the light valve is mounted on the core of the electromagnet in position for recording, the ribbon of the loop is approximately centered in the air gap between the wedge-shaped elevations on the electromagnet core and on the light valve frame. And, as has been explained, when the light valve is strung with the ribbon loop, the sides of the loop contract the width of the aperture through which the light beam from the lamp can pass to a width of just one mil. Size of the Optical Image The objective lens in the end of the exposure chamber has a two-to-one ratio, and so it reduces the optical image of the slit at the point where it is focused on the film to one-half the actual slit dimensions. This means that the image of the slit on the film is one-half mil wide and 128 mils long when the light valve strings are in their normal positions of rest. In making a print from the film after it has been developed, a part of the sound track is matted off in the print, however, leaving a track just 100 mils wide on the final positive print that is released to theatres. (In- £■ Shape o elec tgomagmet core Light val ve frame jhe insulatep brloges Pecoboino La ip IN THIS DIRECTION Slot LlGHT VAL VE &IBBO/V /Cnualeokhob A1A6NETIZ//VG WI/V0IIVG A — Side view of light valve mounted on the electromagnet. cidentally, positive motion picture film stock is used as the negative in film recording machines, principally as an economy measure.) It is necessary to limit the width of the sound track in this manner in order to prevent it crowding into the picture portion of the print. Stringing the Light Valve The stringing of a light valve, which is the term used WfOGE-SHAPEO ELEVATIONS O/v CORE^^ ON LIGHT VALVE Light Valve frame. T*per//vg slot LlCHT VALVE RIBBON Protecting Sioe wall KagNETiZINIG WINDING B — End view of light valve mounted on the electromagnet. for the operation of placing the loop of ribbon in posi- tion on the valve frame and adjusting it over the slot, is a very delicate operation that requires extreme care on the part of the recording engineer. The duralumin rib- bon comes already cut in strips of the proper length, which are fastened to a sheet of aluminum for support. The ribbon must be handled very delicately with tweez- ers, because any kinks or twists or nicks in it will make it unsuitable for use. The strip of ribbon is placed carefully in position on the light valve frame with the center of the strip looped around the insulated pulley. Then the two ends are threaded through the slots in the windlasses; and the windlasses are turned slowly by means of screwdrivers. This serves to twist the ends of the ribbon around the windlasses, securing the ribbon in place and drawing the loop up tight. After the ribbon has been pulled firmly into position, the light valve is placed in a special frame under the lens of a microscope and the four pincers adjusted until the two sides of the ribbon loop are exactly centered over the sides of the slot in the projecting wedge on the light valve frame and are spaced precisely one mil apart over the entire length of the slot. From the above description, light valve stringing may (Turn to Page 22) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Six The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 DETERMINING THE SPEED OF LENSES By E. W. MELSOX and S. LAWREXCE of Bausch & Lomb PART I. I HE term speed, or rapidity, as applied to a pho- tographic lens, refers to the energy or intensity of light action on the sensitive plate. The stronger, or more energetic that action is, the more rapidly it produces the desired effect on the sensi- tive silver salts, and the greater is the speed of the lens. It is needless to say that the volume of light here plays an important part. It is quite evident that the greater the volume of light acting on the plate, the more rapidly must the result be obtained ; consequently, the more light the lens transmits to the plate — other conditions being equal — the greater is its speed. The volume of light therefore is one of the factors which determines the speed of lenses. Another factor is the concentration of the light, or its intensity when it reaches the plate. Other condi- tions, such as quality of materials, perfection of workman- ship and rigid inspection, being equal, those two factors determine the relative speed in all lenses, regardless of type or make. The volume of light is regulated by the aperture of the lens — the diaphragm through which it must pass in order to reach the plate. The larger the area of this opening, the more light it will admit. Thus, if we have two circular openings of different size, it is evident that the larger one will let through more light than the smaller one, in proportion as its area is larger — in other words, the volume of light is directly proportionate to the area of the opening. If we know how much larger in area one opening is than the other, we also know how much more light it admits. From geometry we know that circular areas compare as the squares of their diameters ; consequently the volume of light transmitted through the two openings respectively must be directly proportionate to the squares of their diameters. Fig. 20 In Fig. 20 we have two circles in which, for easier comparison, the larger is twice the area of the smaller. Inspection shows the square of the larger diameter to be equal to four times that of the smaller. Since the areas of the two circles are proportional to these squares, it follows that the larger has four times the area of the smaller and consequently transmits four times as much light. If the diameters are one inch and two inches respectively, the proportion of light is as 1 x 1 and 2 x 2, or as 1 and 4. In the same manner diameters of two inches and three inches give us the proportion of light as 2x2 and 3 x 3, or as 4 and 9. If the distance between lens and plate is the same the intensity of the same volume of light is also the same ; there is no variation in intensity, and speed depends on the volume of light alone. Thus, in one and the same lens, or in several lenses of the same focal length, but different types, when used under the same conditions, speed is proportionate to the square of the diameter of the aperture. If we have one lens with, say four stops, 1, 2, 3, and 4 inches in diameter respectively, the relative speed of the lens with those stops will be as 1, 4, 9, 16. If we have several lenses, all of the same focal length and with stops as just mentioned, their speed will be the same with the same diameter stops, and different with different diameter stops. In short, with the same focal length and the same diameter of aperture in any two or more lenses, their speed is the same ; with the same focal length but with different diameter of aperture, the speed is propor- tionate to the square of the diameter. If the focal length — the distance of the plate from the lens — is different, the volume of light alone does not determine the speed, for the intensity, or the concentra- tion, of the light varies with the distance between lens and plate. As the light travels farther away from the lens, its intensitv is diminished. Fig. 21 Fig. 21 will help to understand this. A cone of light emanating from a source (a) — in this case the diaphragm opening in a lens — forms a disc of light of a certain size on a screen placed at (b) and a larger disc on a more distant screen (c). The areas of these discs, as we already know, compare as the squares of their diameters. Their diameters are proportionate to their distances from the source of light ; consequently, the areas of the two discs must be proportionate to the squares of those distances. The total amount of light falling on the two screens is the same, but on the more distant screen it is distributed over a larger area, and its concentration, or intensity, is necessarily less. In Fig. 21 the distance of the screen fc) from the source of light is twice the distance of the screen (b). Area being proportionate to square of dis- tance, the area of the larger disc is consequently four times the area of the smaller one. Each corresponding part, or one-fourth, of the larger disc can therefore only receive one-fourth of the total amount of light intensity. Thus we find that the intensity of the light is inversely propor- tionate to the area. As the area is proportionate to the square of the distance, and as the distance here means the focal length of the lens, we conclude that the intensitv of the light — and the speed of the lens, so far as it depends on that intensity — is inversely propor- tionate to the square of the focus. If the volume of light remains constant, variation in speed is determined by variation in focal length only. In two or more lenses of the same aperture, the volume of light transmitted is the same, and speed is inversely pro- portionate to square of focus. The speed of a 3 inch and 6 inch focus lens of the same aperture will compare inversely as 9 and 36, that is, directly as 36 and 9. In other words the 3 inch focus lens will be four times as quick as the 6 inch focus lens. So far we have presumed that when one of the factors, either the diameter of aperture or the focal length, Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November. 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH K R Seven varied, the other remained constant, and the variation of the one factor alone then governed the variation of speed. We should bear in mind however, that with a variation in distance of the object there is also a corresponding variation in distance between lens and plate, with a consequent variation in intensity of light, even though the aperture remains constant. This variation is of little importance when the lens is used at or near its equivalent focal dis- tance from the plate, as for general landscape work. But when we photograph near by objects requiring the plate at a greater distance than the equivalent focus, the varia- tion requires consideration. Using a 12 inch focus lens, take a distant landscape requiring the plate at the equiva- lent focal distance, and a near object requiring a distance of 15 inches between lens and plate. With the same aper- ture giving the same volume of light, the intensity of light — the speed of the lens — would be vastl) different in the two instances. Being in inverse proportion to square of distance, it would be inversely as 12 x 12 and 15 \ 15, that is, as 15 x 15 and 12 x 12, or as 225 and 144, or as 25 and 16. Exposure time being in inverse proportion to intensity and speed it would be directly pro- portionate to square of distance between lens and plate, that is, as 12 x 12 and 15 x 15, or as 16 and 25. The near object would therefore require fully one-half again the exposure required for the landscape. (To be concluded in December ) The Photographer In Hollywood Doesn't Photograph By Bob Hussey N the "credit sheet" at the start of every motion picture is listed the name of the photographer, but he isn't the one who really photographs the production. The chap who actually operates the camera never gets his name on the screen. The photographer of a motion picture is the fellow who supervises the photography, but it's the Second Cameraman who handles the camera. He is the "Opera- tive Photographer" of the picture, the one who manipu- lates the camera. One has to be a Second Cameraman before becom- ing the photographer and, before that, one has to be an assistant cameraman. The Second Cameraman has fin- ished his apprenticeship and is gaining finesse and polish in his vocation before moving on to the top standing. On any movie set it is the photographer who "paints the picture." With the director he plots the action and camera movement, then proceeds to frame the scene as it will appear on the screen. It's up to the Second Camera- man to see that it gets on the screen in just that manner. Having been given instructions on what is to be photographed, the Second Cameraman makes ready to photograph the scene. (Turn to Page 25) The JL>CriS that brought the Mountain Mahomet to B Gf H Cooke faro Lens in photographing position on the Bell & Hoivell Camera. BELL & HOWELL n\L,7tr ^xew"^; Company 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.). Established 1907. /^T/^ith admirable logic, Mahomet decided to rr go to the mountain when it declined to come to him. But in motion pictures it's costly, and often impossible, to move close to the subject at will. So Bell & Howell produced the Cooke Varo Lens, which "zooms" at the cameraman's wish — and the camera doesn't leave the spot. At F 3.5 the range is from 40 mm. to 50 mm. ; at F 4.5 from 40 mm. to 85 mm., and at F 5.6 and F 8 the full "zoom," from 40 mm. to 120 mm., is obtain- able. Adjustable stops limit the "zoom" as desired. One crank controls all moving parts. The iris is varied automatically with the focal length to keep the f/ value constant. Gives critical sharpness and full anastigmat correction at all points of the "zoom." Close focusing is done with auxiliary lenses. Write for full details. Sometimes available on rental to res- ponsible studios. B &. H Cooke F 2 Speed Panchro Lenses The theater audience may register only vague dissatisfac- tion, wondering perhaps why an obviously good story affected them so little. But a camera man will unerringly put his ringer upon the cause, a camera lens that was inade- quate. B & H F 2 Speed Panchro Lenses, corrected for the blue and red rather than blue and yellow rays, are in use wherever successful photography is turned out. Eleven focal lengths, 24 to 108 mm. B & H Cooke F 2.5 Panchro Lenses, at lower cost, meet many needs where such speed is adequate. Seven focal lengths, 35 to 162 mm. Write for prices. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eight Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 PUBLIC WORKS MONEY FOR SCHOOL FILM United States Government Producing Series of Talking Pictures to Be Distributed to Schools by E. R. P. I. (Special to International Photographer from Its Own Bureau — at Washington ) The "New Deal" has gone "teacher" in a big way, Under allotments of money from Public Works Funds, by Secretary of the Interior Ickes, and funds appropriated for Emergency Conservation Work — a series of Talking Instructional Films is being produced by the Depart- ment of Interior. Production crews have been working in the field since last June. It is estimated that one \ear will be necessary to complete the first series of ten sub- jects, especially written by the University of Chicago teaching staff. The first series will demonstrate geologic phenomena and will be released by Erpi Picture Consult- ants Inc., of New York City, a subsidiary of Electrical Research Products Inc. Field Photography is being done by veteran Camera- man Walter Scott, of New York Local, International Photographer, and Paul Wilkerson, of the same local. It is estimated that it will be necessary for them to travel over 10,000 miles to cover assignments on the first series. Emergency Funds Used The National Parks Service, Interior Department, has been allotted funds by the Public Works Administra- tion, of which Secretary of the Interior Harold C. Ickes is Director, and Robert N. Feckner, Director of Emer- gency Conservation Works, for production of the series, which it is estimated will, when completed, cost $50,000. The films will be scored with lectures written by the University of Chicago faculty and distributed in 16mm. size. Professor Carey Croenis, of the department of geolo- gy, of the University of Chicago, has written the sce- narios, which have been checked by Erpi Picture Con- sultant experts. Such titles as these have been selected for the first series of teaching film subjects: "Running Water," "Ground Water," "Atmospheric Gradation," "Mountain Building," "Volcanoes," "Snow and Ice," "Formation of Soil," "Fossils," "Life of the Past," "Weather and Climate," etc. The addition of sound-lectures will be supervised by Richard F. Chapman and James A. Brill, of the Erpi Picture Consultants Inc. Directing of productions will be done by geologists furnished by the Department of Interior, who have already spent six months in the field on the work. Field work will be continued throughout the winter in order to get the necessary scenes without having to make them in the laboratory. Such scenes as geysers, gla- ciers, etc., will be made in National Parks. The Grand Canyon of Arizona will represent the outstanding ex- ample of erosion, while such scenes as the latest "cave-in" at Niagara Falls will be brought right into the classroom for students by means of the talking picture film. This represents probably the greatest advance that has been made in the production of educational talking picture films and is characteristic of the attitude of the New Deal to go ahead and do something instead of talk- ing about it. Leading educators will add their voices to the films at the ERPI Studios, in New York City. The ver- satility of the talking picture as a medium of expression brings to the classroom the personalities of outstanding leaders in the educational field as well as difficult experi- ments, illustrations from life situations, and will be a tremendous enrichment of the school curriculum. C. C. C. Help Boys from the Civilian Conservation Corps have been assigned to help on this work by Robert N. Feckner, Di- rector of Emergency Conservation Works. A corps of the C. C. C. boys have been assigned from Fort Hunt, near Washington, D. C, to work in the laboratory of the Interior Department at Washington, while other C. C. C. workers will assist in the field operations. A very complete system of editing and scoring has been organized by Herford Tynes Cowling, at the Wash- ington, D. C, office of the Interior Department, for the government. Cowling has been on this work since last March, when he was called to Washington to install facilities for motion picture production in the National Parks Service. It will be remembered that for seven years Cowling was in charge of production and editing of Eastman Classroom films for the Eastman Kodak Company, at Rochester, prior to Mr. Eastman's death. He has probably had more experience in this class of work than any other man, and is recognized as an out- standing expert in educational film production. The value of these educational talking pictures in classroom teaching has been established by careful experi- mentation. The U. S. Bureau of Education has from time to time made surveys of the requirements of schools throughout the country to determine their needs in the line of visual-instruction; films. Mr. Elworth C. Dent, Visual Instruction Expert, and member of the staff of Educational Screen, a Chicago publication, has been en- gaged to assist in the work. Mr. Dent was for many years in charge of distribution of films for the University of Kansas, and has taught classes in visual-instruction. Radio Tie-Up No doubt this innovation by the U. S. Government will serve to promote the use of sound picture films in more public schools systems throughout the country. It has been suggested that the presentation of these films might be tied-in with nation wide radio-broadcasts on the same subjects to be picked up by the classroom radio. Slow motion photography, microphotography, animated drawings and reproduction of relevant sounds will be added. It is realized that it will be impossible to record the sounds of running water, geysers, rainfall, storms, etc., in the field operations — these sounds, as usual, will have to be incorporated by dubbing in the studio — in fact, very little use has been found for sound recording during field operations. While these films are intended primarily for class- room uses, they will also be of interest to adult groups in the University Extension courses. The films will be both sold direct to schools and rented through rental libraries and Extension Film Services of universities. The University of Chicago is sponsoring the series from an academic point of view. COMING IN DECEMBER In his interesting article "The Relationship Between Continuity and Cutting," by Paul E. Bowles, in the Oc- tober International Photographer, it was announced that he would conclude it in this issue, but because of his absence on location. Part II of his article, will not appear until December. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nine Brulatour Service advances another important step by providing now (ready for immediate delivery in Hollywood) especially constructed and finished metal container for Tropical packing of all Eastman Motion Picture Films Details are bound to be vitally interesting to every expedition photographer and executive J. E. Brulatour, Inc. Ten The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 The Mechanism of Vision In an article entitled, "The Cinematography of Nature," which appeared in the June, 1933, issue of this magazine, the author made the following statement: "As a result of following the practices enjoined" (upon students of occult science) "he (the author) has succeeded in developing within certain limits, powers of extended vision and hearing. These have enabled him to test for himself the truth or otherwise of many of the teachings of occult science, among them, those concerning the existence of the Akashic Records. "At the risk of straining the credulity of the practical minded readers of this magazine, he ventures to state that he has succeeded in seeing clairvoyantly events both of the near and distant past and in hearing the sounds which accompanied them. He has even demon- strated this power under the strictest scientific tests." |JJS an example of the scientific possibilities of A clairvoyance, some results of its employment in archeological research followed the statement quoted above. In this article the author, with some hesitation, because of the limitations of his power and the incompleteness of his researches, offers the result of attempted clairvoyant investigation into the mechanism of physical vision. Be- fore presenting them, however, he desires to make it clear that the clairvoyance of the occult investigator has little or no relation to the passive and sporadic psychism of the medium, crystal gazer or fortune teller. True clairvoy- ance is a positive power of seeing on superphysical wave lengths ; it implies an extended range of vibratory response to light waves, for it enables its possessor to see not only on those physical light vibrations beyond the visible spec- trum, but also on octave after octave of superphysical wave frequencies. Professor Hans Dreisch, philosopher and embryologist, proclaims his belief in clairvoyance in his "Crisis in Psy- chology", from which is quoted his definition of this fac- ulty: "By clairvoyance we understand the abnormal ac- quisition of knowledge and facts other than another per- son's knowledge, i.e., about material states or conditions. Clairvoyance may relate to the past, the present and prob- ably also to the future. There are two theories before the scientific world con- cerning the nature of light, known as the corpuscular and the vibratory theories. There has been a tendency to com- bine them in the word "wavicle" applied to electrically charged particles moving on varying frequencies. As readers of this magazine are doubtless well aware, white light received direct from the sun consists of the small portion of the energy radiated by the sun to which our eyes are sensitive. When passed through a prism this white light is divided into the seven colors of the spec- trum ; the proportionate strength of the red and blue rays depends upon the temperature at the source of the light radiations. This radiated energy is thought by physicists to be due to collisions between the bodies — electrons — within the atom. Such collisions may cause the electron to follow a new path, and on this change surplus energy of the elec- tron is released ; this surplus is called "aquantum", and the color of the resultant light depends upon the amount of energy emitted. If relatively small, then the vibra- tions of the "ray" will be slow and the color red ; if great, with high wave frequency, then the color will be blue or violet. Attempted clairvoyant investigation of the nature of light and the sense of sight would seem to suggest hitherto unrecognized phenomena complementary to those already known, which are admittedly insufficient to explain the operation of the sense of physical vision. In addition to this vibration, the light energy also moves forward at the supposed known speed of 186,000 miles per second. The forward progress made in one complete vibration in its turn depends upon the speed of that vibration ; thus, in the relatively slow vibration of red the forward motion is considerable ; in blue and violet it is less. Thus the scientist speaks of color in terms of wave length, giving three one hundred thousandths part of an inch for red and half that for violet. When the author attempted to study light rays clair- voyantly, they appeared to consist of particles of electro- magnetic energy continually emitted from and returning to the source of light. The outflowing power seemed to form the sheath, and the returning the core, of the light ray. This "pulse" of power from the sun would seem to be a manifestation of the continuous triple process of the creation, preservation and transformation of the universe. Sir James Jeans, in his recent book, "The Mysterious Universe," shows that this conclusion is not scientifically inacceptable concerning the origin of the nebulae, from which the suns and planets rise. He says: "The type of conjecture which presents itself somewhat consistently is that the centers of the nebulae are of the nature of 'sing- ular points' at which matter is passed into one universe from some other and entirely extraneous spatial dimension, so that to a denizen of our universe they appear as points at which matter is being continually created." In this "guess" he comes very near to the occult doctrine of con- tinuous creation. Sir James Jeans elsewhere says: "The tendency of modern physics is to resolve the whole mate- rial universe into waves and nothing but waves. These waves are of two kinds : Bottled up waves, which we call matter, and unbottled waves, which we call radiation or light." Occult investigation would seem to agree with the modern physicist that the material universe and all it con- tains is built of light. Both of the scientific theories — the corpuscular and the vibratory — are apparently necessary in order fully to explain the phenomenon of vision. The psysiologist is not yet able to give a complete explanation of the mechan- ism of vision. The breaking up of the light ray into colors and its perception as color by the consciousness are not yet understood. The secret of the "cones" and "rods" of the retina has not yet been revealed, though an electro- chemical process is suspected ; the rods being thought to function chiefly as receivers of the intensity of light, whilst the cones make possible differentiation between the colors of the spectrum. Clairvoyantly, the light which impinges upon the retina, and particularly upon the macula or sensitive spot, is seen to consist of a continuous series of particles of electro-magnetic energy, flowing between the seer and the object seen at differing frequencies. The retina appears Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November. 1934 Th INTERNAT1DX A L P H () T O GRAPH E R Eleven By Geoffrey Hodson Author of "Science of Seership" , "Some Experiments in Fourth Dimensional Vision", etc. to act somewhat as an electrical rheostat, transforming the light energy reflected from the object in terms of voltage. This energy is also specialized or attuned to the vibratory rate of the individual, after which two changes it flows across the intervening space into the optic disc. From the optic disc the current is conducted along the optic nerves of each eye to meet at the optic chiasma, where a further change of "voltage" occurs. Here the two sets of nerves, one from each eye, meet and some of the fibers cross over, whilst others do not. From the chiasma they convey the transformed light ray to the vis- ual areas in the occipital region of the head. In these areas of the brain, the electro-magnetic ener- gies of the light ray are again transformed, their voltage being further changed, so that they can be "picked up" by the intelligence using the brain. Clairvoyance is part of the sixth sense, as yet latent in the human organism, though becoming active in certain people. In later races it may become fully developed and used as a normal means of cognition. It is capable of be- ing brought into activity in advance of the normal period by the application of known principles. One function of the etheric double is to bridge the gap between the physical and the superphysical. In its densest state it impinges directly upon the gaseous level of the physical world and in its rarest upon the lowest level of the emotional world, the superphysical light of which is one octave of vibration above the physical spectrum in terms of frequency. The absence of the etheric double, as in anasthesia when it is extruded, produces unconscious- ness, the connection between the ego or higher conscious- ness and the brain being temporarily severed at the etheric level. Since we have now traced the passage of light rays from the physical to the superphysical, we must next con- sider the superphysical processes in physical vision. This demands some knowledge of the method by which the ego is incarnated in his physical vehicle. Searching for the seat of egoic consciousness as in the brain, the author finds it to be situated within the third ventricle — a cavity in the middle of the head, filled during life with cerebro- spinal fluid. Here it is seen clairvoyantly as an intensely brilliant superphysical light, the central glow of which in- cludes the pituitary and pineal glands. This light spreads out over the whole brain, but diminishes in intensity in proportion to its distance from the third ventricle. The ego* is the true seer and knower, the brain is but an in- strument. Only a fragment of egoic consciousness is in- carnated in the physical body, which constitutes the ego's sole means of contact with the physical world. The ego obtains its visual contact with the physical world through the mechanism of vision and its other con- tacts through the other senses, each with its appropriate external organs, internal areas in the brain and connect- ing nerves. One important function of the ego is to syn- thesize the many different experiences which it gains through the physical body. It collects all these impressions from the physical world, combines them and decodes them from their vibratory state into terms of knowledge, which are then projected into the appropriate area of the brain, via the third ventricle and the pituitary and pineal glands, these latter appearing to serve somewhat as amplifiers or tubes in a radio set. In the case of vision, the ego also fuses into one the two separate visual impressions received, one through each eye. Most of this work of synthesizing, fusing and decod- ing is done by that aspect or fragment of egoic conscious- ness which, as stated above, is established in the third ventricle of the brain. A third factor must now be considered in the study of the superphysical aspect of physical vision. While making clairvoyant observations of the operation of the sense of sight, it became clear that a force ims flowing out from the seer to the object seen. This outflowing energy is an aspect of the life-force of the individual, and is the complementary spiritual energy without which vision by the physical light ray alone would apparently be impossible. It would appear that man can only see those objects to which he can res- pond in terms of life force. Our visual range is limited to objects which are on, or reasonably near to, the vibra- tory rate of the life-force manifested in earth humanity. We probably have our own sidereal system, which may be quite invisible to those dwelling in a solar system, uni- verse or cosmos manifesting on a different fundamental note or rate of vibration ; whilst their sidereal system, and indeed their solar systems, will be invisible to us. In short, we can only see the things with which we can vibrate synchronously, as far as the inner life-essence of our being is concerned. Plotinus in his "Essay on the Beautiful" voices the same idea: "For it is here neces- sary that the perceiver and the thing perceived should be similar to each other before the vision can exist. Thus the sensitive eye can never be able to survey the orb of the sun, unless strongly endowed with fire, and participat- ing largely of the vivid ray." While it seems impossible for a person to see objects to which he cannot achieve vibrational response in terms of life, there are cases where a blind person has perceived physical objects. The possibility of seeing without eyes is not entirely remote, for whilst most ants are able to see the ultra violet rays, the Anommas, i.e., "without eyes", behave as if they saw; although blind they have been known to react to the shadow of a cloud. They have very highly developed senses of smell and touch and there is evidence of a "photodermic sen^e", that is to say, a sen- sitiveness to light through nerve endings in the skin. It has also been found that blindfolded sensitives under hyp- nosis can distinguish light and shade and even objects held near the breast or abdomen. Of the two factors in phy- sical vision, ocular response to the light ray and synchroni- zation of life-force, the latter alone appears to be indis- pensable. The author himself has found it possible to see clair- voyantly physical objects, with the eyes shut, using wave lengths beyond the visible spectrum. This opens up an- other aspect of the subject of vision, one which demands a separate study. At this point, therefore, the subject is left, perchance to be pursued in later articles. * Vide "The Causal Bod-," by Maj. A. E. Powell. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twelve Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 Glass, Miniature and Projection Combined By Paul R. Harmer Notre Dame — Daylight Notre Dame — Night NE of the finest process shots made in recent months was engineered by the R.K.O. Process department, headed by Vernon Walker. He was assisted by Don Jahraus, Billy Williams and Maurice Larringa, in a recent production entitled "Be- hold, We Live," starring Clive Brook and Irene Dunne. This process shot is outstanding for two reasons: first, because of the various combinations and mechanics ; second, because the job was excellently done. The script called for a long shot of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a section of a bridge over the River Seine in the foreground and a light change from night to full daylight illumination, all in 100 feet of film. Offhand, one might say "just another trick shot, but if one will only stop and consider the intricacies of match- ing a glass, a miniature set and a projected background in addition to a light change, all in one shot with no cutaway, and all of this used again as a projected back- ground for another shot, with people in the foreground, the real difficulties become apparent to the initiate. The roof of the cathedral was painted with trans- lucent paint, which gave the slate shingles a sheen. The clouds in the background overlapped each other and were blended just enough to give them a natural roundness with perspective. A little back light on the water gave it the necessary life to make it sparkle. The automobiles traveling over the distant bridges were lighted with the small wires which pulled them along. In Fig. 1 and 2 we have the plan and elevation of the set-up. In Fig. 3 and 4 we have the lens view of the glass and miniature, showing distinctly the matte line. The background is projected clouds, so is not shown separately. Numeral 1 is a 35 mm. lens; 2 is an 8 by 10 foot optical plate glass in a rigid frame ; 3 is water ; 4 is the miniature set shown in Fig. 4 ; 5 is 36-inch carbon spot- lights, spread to a wide angle and throwing their light on the back drop ; 6 is a transparent cellophane sheet fastened on a rigid wooden frame. This cellophane is painted with clouds. Number 7 is an electric motor geared to move the cellophane screen along horizontally at steady speed ; 8 is a transparent cellophane roller curtain, the paint fading from transparent to opaque. This dimmer curtain is geared to motor 9 ; the lights used for illum- SPLICER FOR 8 MM. MOVIE FILMS, ALSO 16 MM. SOUND AND SILENT FILMS Bell & Howell announces a new splicer that handles all sub-standard motion picture film — 16 mm. silent, 16 mm. sound, and 8 mm. — with equally good results and no alteration of mechanism. This splicer, which is called the B Si H Triple-Pur- pose Splicer, is unusually easy to operate efficiently. It will certainly be a good friend of the home film editor, as well as being ideal for doctors, schools, industrial con- cerns and other large users of sub-standard films. A major feature is the arrangement for convenient application of the cement without the bother of lifting the non-scraped film end. Cement is applied merely to the upper film surface. Then a touch of the new auto- matic film shifter quickly flips the films to correct splicing position as the clamp is closed. The pilot pins are retractible, allowing instant and easy removal of the film without possibility of injury to the perforations. The splicer has an attractive metal base which main- tains the pilot pins in especially accurate register, even under conditions of extremely hard usage or rough hand- ling. The glass of the cement bottles is completely en- closed and protected. CATALOC OF FREE LOAN FILMS The Bell Si Howell Company has just compiled a very valuable catalog telling where 16 mm. silent films dealing with geography, travel, and natural resources can be secured on a free loan basis. The catalog consists of 40 mimeographed pages, %l/2 by 1 1 inches in size, and these pages are crowded with the names and descriptions of films of excellent interest value. Also listed are the names of firms and other or- ganizations furnishing the films. Here are some of the subjects taken at random : Cairo to Capetown, Roving the Mediterranean, Through the Norway of America, Communing with the Heavens, Policing the Arctic, Seeing London Town, The High- lights of Scotland, Our Daily Bread, Girdling the Globe, Romantic Mexico, Sulphur, Oxygen the Wonder Work- er, Wings of the Fleet. Owners of 16 mm. movie projectors will find this catalog of great service. Copies will be mailed on request by Bell Si Howell Company, 1801 Larchmont Avenue, Chicago. SHORTS NEEDED Jayant Desai, director of Ranjit Film Company, Bom- bay, India, is urging that shorter films are needed in India. At present, says Mr. Desai, the average foot- age for pictures in India is fourteen to sixteen reels and sometimes twenty to twenty-five songs are included in the working script. MITCHELL IN INDIA Cables from Bombay, India, announce that Mr. Charles H. Christie, vice-president of the Mitchell Camera Corporation, recently addressed a large audience of Indian producers on the subject, "Film Production in America and the Orient." The meeting was held under the auspices of the Motion Picture Society of India. The distinguished Mitchell representative created a most favorable impression upon the Indian producers. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November, 1934 T li c r N T E RN'ATIONAL PHOTOCRAPHER Thirteen "FIG "XV" JMINIATUKE ination and projection are operated through rheostat 10. The hack drop, 11 is a plain white sheet whereon the clouds are projected. Another small rheostat not shown here regulates the lights in the cathedral, the street lamps and the headlights on the moving cars. This Him was made into a print and used for a projec- tion back for the scene where Irene Dunne stood on the bridge overlooking the river, where she seriously contem- plated suicide. This shot was made with a 75 mm. lens and a small section of the bridge in the foreground and about six feet back of this was an 11 by 14 foot projec- tion screen. R.K.O. can well be proud of the men who have done so much to improve process photography. Everyone has marveled at "King Kong," "Son of Kong," and many- others just as cleverly done. NEW 1000-WATT 16 MM. PROJECTOR THROWS BRILLIANT 15 BY 20 FOOT MOVIES The New Filmo 16 mm. 1000-watt Projector threw 15.\20-foot pictures of absolutely theater brilliance in a recent showing in a big Chicago theater auditorium, ac- cording to R. Fawn Mitchell, Manager of the Technical Service Department of Bell & Howell. The theater, which has no balconies, seats 1400 peo- ple, and the finest details of the pictures were perfectly clear from the rear seats. The throw was 100 feet, and a 2-inch lens (regular equipment with the projector) was used. The brilliant quality of screen result was unani- mously conceded by all observers, it is stated. The films used were of average photographic quality, and the prints were fairly well worn. They were as- suredly not "hand picked," reports Mr. Mitchell, but were selected at random in order to arrive at an absolutely fair appraisal of the projector's performance. The manager of the theater, who was present, stated that he could see little if am difference between the 16 mm. projection and that which he ordinarily secures from a 35 mm. arc projector run from the same booth where the Filmo 1000-watt Projector was temporarily ensconced. The projector excited considerable comment from the observers due to its most unusual and advanced design. The machine has radically different "lines" from any existing projectors, either 35 mm. or sub-standard. It is said to embody features never before incorporated in any projection machine. According to the Bell & Howell Company, the new 1000-watt Filmo, because of a tremendously efficient optical system, provides at least 80% more brilliance than the 750-watt Filmo models which have already established a reputation for extreme brilliance. Obviously, the performance of this new machine is remarkable indeed. It opens up an entirely new field in auditorium projection of 16 mm. film. "THE OVAL PORTRAIT" Richard Bare, student director of "The Oval Por- trait," the U. S. C. silent film previewed at the Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, last month, has been honored by appointment to be assistant to Dr. Boris V. Morkovin, head of the Department of Cinematography of that Uni- versity. Only recently Mr. Bare told in detail the story of the filming of this picture in THE INTERNATION- AL PHOTOGRAPHER and his elevation to the new job is an honor worthy of his achievements. His pic- ture, the Paul Muni award for 1934, promises a fine directorial future for the student director. LEE CARMS IS BUSY Lee Garms writes from New York that from all indications the picture on which he is now working is sure to be a knock-out. The title is "Traveling Clown," a Hecht-McArthur Production, in process of filming at Eastern Service Studios, Long Island. ICTER^ prvdtace rO^^nli^bt- and Ni^br Effects in Daytime "Fvy Scenes- bif fused. F^cus.arcd many vttrer «f feels With any Camera " In any Ulimare Georcjo H. Schoibo ORIGINATOR OF EFFECT FILTERS 1927 WEST 78th ST. LOS ANGELES, CAL. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Fourteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 Has Infra-Red Photography a Place In Commercial Work? By Fred S. Tobey (Feature Writer and Photographer of the Boston Tran- script and a Brother of Our Own Bob Tobey.) |T is somewhat astonishing that the perpetual search for new instruments with which to stir public attention from its lethargy has not fosused more attention upon infra-red photography. From the scientists' quarter there has been no lack of interest ; on the contrary, much effort has been directed to research on the theory that discoveries important to warfare lie not far away. As to the commercial photo- graphers, however, it seems to have escaped all but an isolated few that there is a commercial market today for infra-red pictures. To be sure, the public has no exclu- sive right to lethargy. A striking appearance makes the infra-red photography valuable commercially. Still life by the "light" of a warm flatiron. Infra-red photography by Fred S. Tobey and Donald M. Came. Specifically, the implication is this: If a degree of quality and a measure of novelty are characteristics that practically assure the success of any product, then by virtue of having more than a share of the latter attribute, infra-red photographs get off to an excellent start by themselves. As to the quality, that is, the photographer's hunt, of course, and quite possibly the stumbling block that has led him to drop the thing after spoiling a dozen plates or so. For it is true that to acquire anything re- sembling an adequate technique in this type of work, the photographer must be possessed of a zeal reminiscent of those sturdy pioneers who used to tramp over the country- side with a light-proof tent and a couple of bird-baths in the interest of the wet collodion process. Since the development of emulsions sensitive in a practical degree to infra-red "light" — the invisible radia- tion so low in the spectrum that it may be characterized as a heat ray — two angles of this type of photography have been exploited in the press: First, the spectacular angle, with illustrations to show how the infra-red ray will carry a true image over a distance of hundreds of miles, while visual radiations bring only a confused mass of light; and second, the supposed future usefulness of the ray in warfare, when the production of speedier emul- sions will have made possible the accurate photography of enemy fortifications over long distances and through atmospheric haze. The slow speed of emulsions prohibits this in present practice. Only under ideal conditions may aerial photographs be made by infra-red light, because of the relatively long exposures necessary. To return to our theme, the third application of infra- red photography, and the one that has been neglected, is its practical use in every-day commercial work, taking advantage of the ultra-sharp definition obtained, and even more of the striking characteristics which draw attention to the infra-red picture wherever it is shown. As for those whose sensibilities are offended by the thought of making an appeal purely on the ground of the unnatural qualities of these pictures, let them open any of the more expensive magazines and note the growing tendency toward the use of heavy black areas and high contrasts to gain effectiveness in the advertising pages. These are the major characteristics of the infra-red pic- ture: Great clarity and definition; complete elimination of detail in shadow areas, which print totally black ; high contrast between these areas and the subject. Properly composed, therefore, the infra-red photograph may achieve a striking effect while losing nothing from the artistic viewpoint. During the past year and a half Donald M. Came, of Brookline, and I have devoted some time to securing a series of pictures for the Boston Evening Transcript, to show the various applications and effects of infra-red light. With the cooperation of Joseph Garside, of E. W. Wiggins Airways, we have made altitude flights to test a new Eastman emulsion, getting fair results with expo- sures cut down to one-fiftieth of a second. We have taken distance shots and close-ups on the ground, and have made laboratory exposures by the irradiation from hot objects. While the intent of this series of pictures has not been a commercial one in the sense that the word is used above, the variety of pictures obtained has been great, and some of them have been of a type readily adapted to commer- cial uses. None of the usual salesmanship was necessary in disposing of the latter outside the newspaper field. One photograph, for example, was used as a cover picture by a trade magazine, and although the subject, a new Federal building, was one that had been prospected until it hurt, the cover presented a striking appearance that resulted in an extra call for that issue of the maga- zine. The above point is cited as a slight relief from theo- rizing. Looking at it from the commercial photographer's viewpoint, there is an important difference between infra- red photography and the usual sort. While it is gener- ally thought advisable to have an order for a picture before you take it, this hardly holds true in infra-red work. It is much safer to take the picture first and then seek a market. The reason for this is that you never know until you take the plate out of the fixing solution just what your infra-red picture will turn out to be. It is a source of constant amazement to view the widely varying results obtained under conditions which, to the eye, appear almost identical. This is due, of course, to the fact that although the camera is focused and the picture composed by visual light, only the invisible infra-red rays act upon the plate. The photographer can no more than conjecture as to the power and distribution of the infra-red radiation present at the time the plate is exposed. In general, areas subjected to direct sunlight will register strongly, while other surfaces, though they may appear very bright, show scarcely at all. Objects in shadow, even though it be not a deep shadow, will not appear on the plate, how- ever well it may be exposed. Grass and foliage repro- duce as pure white, appearing snow-covered, while a bright blue sky turns out dead black, in effective contrast to marble-white clouds. Evergreens, unlike the leafy foliage, photograph normally. These are generalizations, however. It is perfectly Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November, 1934 Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH KK Fifteen possible to achieve a black tree if you try long enough, or a white sky, instead of a black sky, from a blue one. This inclines to be discouraging at times, as in the case of the writer, who made eight trips through the East Boston traffic tunnel on as many different days, trying to get a picture of the Boston skyline that would be something better than a Daguerreotype. To the eye, con- ditions were ideal. To the camera, with its opaque infra- red filter over the lens, they were anything but that. Some odd diffusion of the infra-red rays over the city made it impossible to get the desired result. From South Boston, on the other hand, the result was exactly what experience had indicated it would be. That is why the safest policy is to take the picture first, and find the market afterward. It sounds a little silly to hand in a report that a peculiar diffusion of invisible rays in a certain spot makes it impossible to fulfill your contract. One can even conceive of a pain- fully involved situation arising, dependent entirely on the legal status of an invisible ray. It would be premature to claim that infra-red pho- tography will ever make any serious inroads on the field of orthodox commercial photography. It is a reasonable prediction, however, that whatever may be its future in warfare, it will find a definite place for itself in com- mercial work, and in news photography as well. BE YOUR OWN PRODUCER AND NEWSREEL CAMERAMAN Why not adapt your Bell & Howell or your Mitchell camera to the single system picture and recording. Be your own producer and newsreel cameraman ? Art Reeves, president of the Hollywood Motion Pic- ture Equipment Company, has a complete stock of the necessary parts, made especially for this purpose. Some machine work is necessary on the camera, but the parts are all ready to put in place and will work perfectly. The tachometer and bracket come separately or to- gether. This tachometer reads in frames per second or feet per minute. The motor is the new automatic speed control type and when properly set will come up to 90 feet per minute and remain there through the entire change in load of a thousand feet of film running through the camera. The motor is rated 1/12 horse power, but will actually deliver about 1/8 horse power if this were The recording lamp is a specially built short tube glow lamp which fits into and locks in position. Pulling on the cable will not disturb the position of the filament with the optical system, which is the famous "Art Reeves" dual optical system. It is ground to pass two beams of light of different widths simultaneously on to the film. The wider beam of light responds to frequencies of 25 to 5,000 cycles and the narrower beam of light responds to frequencies from 4,000 to 16,000, except that the narrow line of light is recording all the time, adding to the exposure of the wider line of light, although not changing the quality of the lower register. ever found necessary. This reserve power is very useful in cold climates. On the rear of the motor is a 3-pound flywheel and the belt pulley which connects with the pulley on the crankshaft. The belt connecting these two pulleys is of rubberized fabric. The bracket which holds the motor in place also holds the 10-pound flywheel which is connected with the main sprocket. The motor control switch is located on the right hand side of the motor in a most convenient place. The focusing microscope has full ground glass image, right side up. All of the parts are precision built, with ruggedness and portability full} considered. Statement of the Ownership, Management, Circulation, Etc., Required by the Act of Congress of August 24, 1912 Of International Photographer, published monthly at Los Angeles, State of California, County of Los Angeles, for October, 1934. Before me, a notary public in and for the State and County afore- said, personally appeared Silas E. Snyder, who, having been duly sworn according to law. deposes and says that he is the editor of The International Photographer and that the following is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, man- agement (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24. 1912, embodied in Section 537, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to-wit: 1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, man- aging editor, and business managers are: Publisher INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, Los Angeles, California; Editor, Silas E. Snyder, Los Angeles, California; Managing Editor, Silas E. Snyder, Los An- geles, California. 2. That the owner is (If owned by a corporation, its name and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of stock. If not owned by a corporation the names and addresses of the individual owners must be given. If owned by a firm, company or other unincorporated concern, its name and ad- dress, as well as those of each individual member, must be given.) International Photographers, Local 659, International Alliance of The- atrical Stage Employes and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada, 1605 No. Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood, Cali- fornia. First Vice President, Roy H. Klaffki; Second Vice President, Hal Mohr; Third Vice President, Jack Mackenzie; Treasurer and Fin- ancial Secretary, J. O. Taylor; Recording Secretary, H. Lyman Broen- ing; Sergeant-at-Arms, Len Powers. 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of the total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are (If there are none, so state): None. 4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders, and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company but also, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is given; also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing amiant's full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which the stock- holders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than that of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds or other securities than as so stated by him. SILAS E. SNYDER, Editor. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 15th day of October, 1934. HAROLD W. SMITH, Notary Public. In and for the County of Los Angeles, State of California. I My Commission expires March 7, 1937.) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Sixteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 Thoughts On Projection Printing |HE average American amateur photographer has been accused of being strictly a negative maker. As a print maker, he seems to fall far behind European amateurs. If this is true, and no doubt there is some truth to the charge, it is a pity, for it means that we have progressed only up to a certain point, and there have quit cold. It is interesting to note how Europeans work. They have not, as a general thing, the money to spend on their hobby as has the average American amateur, and as a consequence, have to guard carefully their exposures. They are not spendthrifts, each negative exposed must yield a good print, and this in itself produces better work, for it can be seen that where pennies must be accounted for, the amateur is going to study his hobby in order to make the most of it within the limits of his purse. The miniature camera has helped us to be careless, for with it, a dozen to thirty-six nega- tives can be made at a loading, and we feel that a number of exposures wasted are of no importance. The Euro- pean, however, even with a miniature camera, is forced to make each shot count. In short, he makes fewer pic- tures than we, but on the other hand, his pictures are, in most cases, superior. It is a case of quality rather than quantity. We Americans have the production of a negative down pat. We have tamed the great evil "grain" with intricate formulas which perform miracles. We produce technically perfect negatives by the hundreds. But after that — what? Our prints are ordinary reproductions of the negatives, nothing more. We do not seem to be able to include the little niceties in prints which characterize the European prints. It is a known fact that printing paper has not the ability to reproduce everything in the negative, and so a certain amount of skillful art work is necessary in order to produce a full, rich print. I happen to be by nature a "purist," that is to say, I believe that when certain art work is necessary on a print it no longer is photography, and I feel that if it is necessary to go into art work in order to produce satisfactory prints, I might just as well go in for painting and produce genuine works of art. Nevertheless, I am aware of the necessity of a certain amount of hand work on a print, this including dodging, trimming, spotting, etc. These are common expressions, yet it is surprising how few workers make use of them. Projection printing is the accepted method of making prints today. As negative sizes have been reduced, the need for enlarging becomes greater. I can safely say that in these modern times very few amateurs work with negatives larger than 4x5 inches. Indeed, the miniature camera might be considered almost standard, although sizes up to 3^4x4j4 are exceedingly popular. The need for enlarging these small negatives is apparent, hence the amateur should pay some attention to the producing of satisfactory prints and not be too easily satisfied with the first print which develops in the developing tray. The careful worker, as has been mentioned, makes compara- tively few negatives, but each one is usually perfect. He may work on a single negative for a long time before he the print. He may use dozens of sheets of enlarging paper, trying this kind, that surface, etc. In the end, he will have only one print — but what a print it will be. One such print is worth a dozen which have been printed in the usual careless fashion. All too many amateurs are satisfied with their efforts if they can get a recognizable print of Aunt Tillie or Uncle Henry — but photography is more than this. So it would seem that with a little more care we could all make real photographic prints of which we would be proud. But more attention will have to be given the technique of projection printing. Enlargers available are perfect from every standpoint these days. One can hardly blame equipment, still many cannot seem to turn out decent prints. A great deal of discourage- ment comes from home-made enlargers which are fash- ioned from odds and ends — and without any true under- standing of the principles involved. While good manu- factured enlargers are costly, they often prove to be the most satisfactory and economical in the long run. Of enlargers as equipment, little need be said. They abound and flourish in great numbers. There is no ques- tion but that the vertical ty pe is most popular because of its ease of operation and compactness. Recent investiga- tions have shown the desirability of using Photoflood lamps as the illumination source. They reduce the expo- sure time considerably, but they are best used with a rheostat control device by means of which the intensity of the lamp can be increased or reduced at will, thus affording greater control in enlarging. This idea applies particularly to miniature camera enlargers. Another idea recently brought forth calls for the use of regular chloride (contact) printing paper, such as Velox, Azo, Noko, etc. The speed of such papers is naturally much slower than that of the regular bromide and bromo-chloride enlarg- ing papers ; hence, the use of a Photoflood lamp is strongly suggested in cases where these papers are used. A filter is often used on the enlarger to permit focus- ing and placing of the image directly upon the sensitive paper. Such filters are usually of an orange-red color. Some advanced workers, however, use a green filter, claiming that some of the modern enlarging papers fog under the usual orange-red filter. For average papers, however, the orange-red filter will be found sufficiently safe. Miniature camera devotees should be cautioned about contrast enlarging papers. As a general thing, contrast papers have a tendency to produce more grain than the normal or soft grades. Possibly the amateur becomes in- volved by making his negatives too thin, thus demanding the use of contrast papers. The better method, then, is to produce rich, meaty negatives which can be reproduced to best advantage on normal or even soft papers. Negatives with the minimum of grain of this nature can be secured by a slight over-exposure and slight under- development. The proper grade of paper can then be selected to suit the negative without the necessity of de- pending upon a contrast paper to show what little there is in a thin, weak negative. gets just the right quality and tonal values he seeks in Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November, 1934 Th I N T E K X A T 1 O N A L 1' II 0 T () G R A 1' II E ... nteen By Karl A. Barleben, Ik., F.R.P.S. The question which every beginner invariablj asks sooner or later is "What kind of enlarging paper should 1 use?" Now there is a question! Miniature camera enthusiasts have a notion that their tiny negatives require a particular kind of paper, but this is obviously poppy- cock. The paper to be used for any given negative, re- gardless of size, is a matter for the individual to decide. First, the grade of paper must match the physical char- acteristics of the negative — that is to say, contrast papers Enlarging papers, like negative lilms, require develop- ment, and here things become quite simple. There are several fine all-purpose formulas for developing enlarge- ments in, such as the Eastman D-72, Nepera, Amidol, and a few others which have stood the test of time, but for maximum print quality, the amateur is advised to prepare his paper formula according to the directions which are found in every package of paper. The manu- facturers of the paper have made exhaustive experiments Dupont Superior; Open Air Exhibit, 1/60 to 9. Dupont Superior; beach scene. should be used for printing thin, flat negatives; normal papers for normal negatives, and soft papers for heavy, dense negatives. After the grade of paper has been selected, the sur- face is a good thing to consider. There are glossy, semi- matte, matte, smooth, crystal stipple, linen, coarse, rough, etc., surfaces to choose from. Here again, the type of negative decides the surface of paper to use. Commercial prints, prints for newspaper or magazine reproduction, and prints in which every bit of detail must stand out clearly defined, are best made on a glossy sur- faced paper, which is later ferrotyped in order to create a hard, glassy finish. Glossy papers are not indicated for many other types of work, although snapshooters usually order glossy prints from the corner drug store finisher, for their snapshots. Serious workers, however, never consider the glossy paper except for cases such as those mentioned previously. For all general photographs, a smooth-matte surface is about the best. The fancy surfaces such as linen, etc., are used chiefly as novelties, although in some cases they have their purpose. Pictorial photographs are usually printed on a matte-surfaced paper, while portraits of men, for example, where masculine ruggedness is depicted, usu- ally call for a rough surface. Good taste, it will be seen, governs greatly the selection of enlarging paper. Glossy papers, incidentally, are to be ignored by the miniature camera worker as a rule, for the hard, glossy finish is not kind to grain, whereas the matte surfaces do a good deal to hide it. When it comes to brands of papers — that is some- thing that no one would dare suggest, for there are dozens — it seems — enlarging paper manufacturers, and each of- fers an amazing array of grades, surfaces, and tones. The worker must be left pretty much to himself on this score, but he soon comes to find one or two papers which seem to satisfy him in every respect. Of course, a certain amount of experimenting is necessary to begin with, in order to give a number of papers a fair trial, but after that, the worker should adhere to several papers which most nearly cover the range of his average negatives. In this way, complete satisfaction can always be counted upon. and tests, and the formula they give for developing their paper is the result of their efforts — in short, it has been found to produce the best results with the particular paper in the package. It would be foolish, therefore, to use any other. After all is said and done, manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money taking the uncertainty out of photography for the amateur. The trouble is, very few workers deem it necessary to follow the simple di- rections which are given. If the amateur were to only read carefully and follow the directions furnished by each manufacturer, and this means of not only enlarging papers, but cameras, films, and all other photographic equipment, there would not be half the grief there usually seems to be. A most interesting and important matter in connec- tion with enlarging might well be mentioned at this point. In the old days, a rising and falling front and swing-back were thought to be absolute necessities. Cameras of mod- ern origin and design lack these movements almost ex- clusively, excepting conventional view cameras and out- fits of similar design. All miniature cameras lack this "refinement," and yet small cameras are exceedingly popu- lar today. One might well ask how it is possible, then, to correct faulty perspective. The answer is in the mod- ern enlarger. It is well known that if the paper easel is tilted under the enlarger lens, true perspective can be ob- tained in the print. But this is only half the story, be- cause tilting the easel only requires that the enlarger lens diaphragm be closed all the way in order to have suffi- cient depth to accommodate the entire surface of the paper. Faulty perspective can be corrected without stop- ping the lens down, not even one stop, by tilting the negative and the enlarging easel. In this way they are equalled, and compensate one another. It is predicted that in the future, enlargers will be equipped for both negative and easel tilts. In Europe there is one particular machine called the Correctograph, which just happens to come to mind at the moment. It permits both the nega- tive and the easel to tilt. This enlarger may be the fore- runner of a new type of machine. It is naturally necessary that the enlarging lens be focused as sharph upon the paper as possible. As an aid Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Eighteen Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 in this, various adjustable magnifiers are on the market which attach to the baseboard of the easel. A novel de- vice is known as the Focusing Microscope, and is actu- ally a tiny microscope, below the lens of which is mounted a tiny reflecting mirror. The unit is mounted upon a stand, and the whole unit, in use, is placed upon the easel. The negative in the enlarger is projected upon the easel as if it were about to be focused, and the microscope placed in a suitable position so that a portion of the pro- jected image is caught by the reflecting mirror of the microscope unit. The enlarger lens is then focused until the grain of the negative is brought into sharp focus in the microscope. Greater sharpness cannot possibly be ob- tained ! The lens is now sharply focused, and the micro- scope is removed, a sheet of enlarging paper placed in the easel, and the print made. A valuable piece of equip- ment for the amateur who does any amount of enlarging, and wants to get the sharpest possible results in his prints ! WESTERBERC IS BACK The Author of The Cinematographer's Book of Tables Is At It Again Here is another table to bind into your Cinematog- rapher's ring book and others are to follow in the Decem- ber and January International Photographer. This one is entitled, "Camera Speed Increased." Mr. Westerberg's first book has met with great suc- cess and, if you haven't secured your copy, better lose no time calling on or writing your dealer. It costs only $1.00 and will help you make better pictures. A dandy Christmas gift for your pal on the job. CAMERA SPEEDS CAMERA SPEED INCREASED < on < »/i < UJ U < o Uj < t- O < > < > z < LLI Qi l/> o X ^ •- =3 < O LU a. c* X > Q — UJ I— I/O <■ 1/1 _J "J UJ C£ ~ X Cear-Box Ratio Required When Cranked at 16 « CM OS) CO ^f -' « vo QO on o r^ LO VO Relative Camera Speed ~ " -;' CM CM - - « m O 00 =■ ° Q U.I ,/! >■ —J < u < < > u. o psi 00 r>i o vo iri o 00 a UJ LU Q. < a 51- <7- U< (- l/> KTt Zi'Z. oo Q. 3* tt -1 z < > a UJ - vo 00 o CM CM CM vo CM oo CM „ CM ro ^1- VJ3 CO o u, VO O CO CM vO CM X CM CM - vO o -1- T VO ON CM VO LO VO •O 30 C I CM vo o vO a\ CM vo vo vO co 1^. o 00 O CM " vO -\ vo ON ^O Ps. o 00 o ON CM On 00 O CO VO CM - vo O. o 00 CM On OO On - - CM o\ VO o vo o 00 o C i ~ - CO On VO -f- o o O 00 ..'■ ON vO o vo evj CM CO CM CM vo VO o a 00 vo ON vO o CV] vo CM CM ro CM CM vO CM oo CM CM On CM o CM CO o ro O CO m - ro Relative Exposure Shutter Opening Constant ° in o vo - oo CO CO - - i O CM ON tv. 2 CM - ON Camera Speed in Pictures Per Second s to ° y. -r vo CM o oo vO ON CD CM JC CM O O CM CM vO Exposure is always a troublesome business in enlarg- ing, for the exposure varies not only with different papers, but also with each new adjustment of the lens diaphragm and magnification of the image. The old reliable method of determining the correct exposure for any given nega- tive without wasting an entire sheet of paper is to cut one sheet of paper in narrow strips, saving them for test- ing purposes. When a doubtful negative is about to be enlarged, one of these strips is placed on the easel and the image projected upon it, and the approximate time guessed by the worker. On developing the test strip, one quickly sees whether his guess was correct or not, and the next time makes the necessary allowances. As in critical focusing, there is a special device avail- able which eliminates the test strip method completely. The device is known as the Largodrem, and is an elec- trical gadiet which tells at a glance the correct exposure for any given enlarging paper. And by the way, a table giving the relative speeds of the most popular printing papers may be obtained by writing to Photo Utilities, Inc., 152 West 42nd St., New York City. Such a table has a multitude of uses, and this one is one of the very few published and made available. Once the correct exposure has been determined, it becomes necessary to count out the seconds during the exposure. One of the Timing Clocks, such as offered by Eastman and others, will be found useful in order to measure the correct timing of the print. If the worker likes automatic devices, there is one for even this task — an electrical device on which a pointer is set to any num- ber of seconds for which the correct exposure calls. A button is pressed, and automatically the enlarger lamp is lighted, and shut off after the exact time interval indi- cated. For serious projection printing, a foot peddle is by all means recommended, for by means of it the light is turned on or shut off without the use of the hands. The hands are often needed for careful dodging and manipulation during the exposure, and it is a positive nuisance to have to snap or twist a button to turn the light on or off. Foot peddles are often made to suit the user at home, but they may also be purchased, ready made. En'arging, or projection printing, if you will, is a de- lightful pastime. Equipment can be as simple or elabor- ate as the worker desires. The manner in which the avail- able equipment is used is what counts, of course, and in this sense, the human element is very much in evidence. Don't envy the maker of salon prints — you can do the same kind of printing if you apply the few simple rules that are suggested. By careful dodging, trimming, shad- ing, etc., masterpieces can be made for form right before your every eyes under the enlarger. But you must be master of your equipment. In this article only a few of the important considera- tions have been touched upon. Further details are to be found in books such as "How to Make Good Pic- tures," "How to Make Enlargements," by Fraprie and Hammond, etc. General hints and suggestions have been scattered through this article, and the keen reader will have picked them up readily enough. I might mention that a number of points mentioned are but little known to average amateurs, and it is hoped that they will he the means of producing better results with the enlarger. WYCKOFF TO MEXICO Alvin Wyckoff, ex-president of the International Pro- tographers, Local 659, has gone to the City of Mexico for a sojourn of several months, during which time he will act as chief cinematographer for a Mexican motion picture production corporation. Both Mr. Wyckoff and his employers are to be congratulated upon the new con- nection. November, 1934 The 1 N T E RNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPH I R Nineteen Proof of PREEMINENCE THE claims made for Eastman Super- Sensitive "Pan" have been borne out again and again by its contributions to the greatest motion-picture successes. It is ac- tual performance that proves the preemi- nence of this Eastman film, and that gives it its unrivalled acceptance among camera- men everywhere. Eastman Kodak Com- pany. (J. E. Brulatour, Inc., Distributors, New York, Chicago, Hollywood.) EASTMAN Super-Sensitive Panchromatic Negative Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. Twenty The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER November, 1934 Miniature Camera Photography By Augustus Wolfman Converting Roll-Til in Cameras to Cine-Film Cameras |N the August installment of this department a concise description of how to convert a roll-film camera to accommodate cine-film was included, in response to the request of a reader who wished some enlightenment on the subject. I also solicit- ed the aid of readers who have experimented along this line and have received some extremely interesting letters. Miniature camera photography still offers many fields for experimentation and it is safe to say that a great many miniature workers do quite a bit of experimenting when- ever time affords, thereby obtaining some interesting material. As years of progress in science have proven, by ex- changing ideas and knowledge gained through experi- mentation, much more can be realized. This is precisely one of the purposes of this department. Letters from readers, whether containing long stories of successful work, or experimentation in miniature camera photo- graphy, or some helpful hints, will always be welcome, and such information will be published in the Interna- tional Photographer to be passed along to other miniature workers. To get back to the conversion of cameras, I am in- cluding below a letter from Mr. Louis A. Inserra, who has ingeniously converted a ten cent camera into a credit- able cine-film miniature, as can be seen from the photo- graphs which he has sent along. To quote Mr. Inserra: "Photograph No. 1 shows the ten cent camera. It is a No. 3 daylight loading roll-film camera manufactured by Rocamco Products, Inc., Boonton, New Jersey, and can be found in almost any dime store. Being a plastic- product, a material similar to bakelite, it is easy to work with. A drill, pen knife, file, or saw, etc., will trans- form this box to suit your needs. The cheap lens and rubber band shutter can be easily removed, and the re- quired size of lens hole can be cut with a knife. In my case, I attached the whole works on a lathe and turned the opening. "Various sharp corners and the film gate will need filing. The ruby window can be dispensed with. Photo- graph No. 3 illustrates the possibilities of converting this camera into a neat little cine-film camera. The film spool is a trifle larger than 35mm., and of course the winding of the film on it and loading it into the camera will necessitate a dark room. The winding knob has a check-pawl action, that is, it turns in one direction only ; therefore preventing backward slipping of the film. The film aperture can be masked to suit one's needs. I did not mask mine, for I discovered later that seven per- forations would exactly fill the opening; therefore, for each new exposure I turned that many perforations. "Photograph No. 5 illustrates the method by which I counted the perforations. The device consists of boy's Erector set gear-wheel (12 teeth, each tooth filed down), and the shaft, pointer, and dial face of the alarm time- set of a clock. The hole for the shaft was easily drilled with a 1/16 inch bit. Since the dial face has twelve marked units, every seven numbers turned up a new pic- ture area. "I constructed the shutter, mount, and optical unit with what material I found in my miscellaneous parts drawer. They are as follows: A Kodak shutter, the shell from a radio earphone, part of a flashlight casing, a por- tion of a light socket casing, a few bits of flat metal, and a couple of spare lenses. "Photographs Nos. 2 and 4 illustrate the finished camera. Notice the professional looking lens. I mounted the shutter onto the camera proper. The earphone shell, containing the threaded section of the cap end of a flash- light permanently fixed with liquid solder, I mounted on the shutter. "The lenses I mounted permanently in a portion of the rear end (1^-inch length) of the flashlight case; therefore affording me a spiral mount for focusing the lenses. The lens hood consists of a portion of a light socket shell backed up by a ring of bakelite on which I put a white mark at every quarter turn of the lens mount. A piece of metal soldered on the earphone shell and ex- tending forward over the ring of bakelite enabled me to record the focus at different distances. Each mark on this extension constituted a complete rotation of the lens mount. "As additional improvements, I rigged up a shutter cable release, fixed a finder, and drilled a tripod hole on the bottom of the camera case. This little camera has served me efficiently thus far, and I hope the illustrations clear up any of my descriptions which may seem vague." I am including below another letter from one of our readers, Mr. Leon Miller, who has experimented with the method I had suggested in the August Interna- tional Photographer, in which the cine-film is wound around a spool together with a black paper covering taken from a regular roll-film. Mr. Miller informs us as follows : "I have a Foth-Derby camera and have had access to a supply of short ends. For some time I have been experimenting to discover a practical and convenient method of using this film (cine film) in my camera. "I first tried the method you have suggested, namely, using the black paper covering to protect the film. After experiencing some difficulty in winding a fresh piece of film on the black paper, I constructed a jig from odds and ends in the shop. I am enclosing a photograph (il- lustration No. 6) which will show the simple principle involved. "The winder is made from a portion of a toy mechano or erector set. It is about twelve inches long and is punch- ed at intervals of about half an inch. A crank, from the same source, about four inches long, is filed to fit the slot on one end of the spool. I must call attention to the fact that it is important to align the spool accurately. If this is not done, the black paper will roll up with a No. 6 Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers. November, 1934 The N T E R N A T I 0 N A L I" II () T OGRAPHER Twenty one series of small tears, which is the result of running too close to one side of the spool. "Here is a point that is important. When a strip of film is put on the black paper only the end of the film that is wound on the spool first is attached to the paper. If this is not done (if one edge of the film is attached to the paper at a time as described above instead of both at the same time. Ed.) it will be found that the film will buckle and the end will have to be loosened and re-glued. "Another method I have tried is to fill up both sides of a couple of spools with either strips of paper tape, or blocks of wood. (The width of the regular No. 127 roll-film spool, which fits into the Foth-Derby, is 1% inches. It is necessary to place paper tape strips, or blocks of wood, etc., of equal size on either end of the spool so that the width of the space left for the film is 35mm. Ed.) Then a length of cine film is wound on the spool (without the black paper). To determine how far to wind the film for each exposure, a small piece of piano wire is attached at the bottom of the spool with a drop of sealing wax. This is bent so that it will hit the perforations on the film and click each time one passes. On the Foth-Derby it takes seven clicks to advance an unexposed section of film. "In your article you mentioned putting marking lines on both the winding knob and on the body of the camera, for use in winding the film when the black paper is not used. It is obvious that as the spool fills up the circum- ference becomes greater, therefore fewer turns would be necessary to advance a new portion of film into position. Consequently the system of marks will not work. "Another thing. If anything but the thinnest sheet of metal is used for a mask on the camera opening, it will put the film farther away from the lens, resulting in each picture being out of focus." The hints in the above two letters will no doubt be of great help to many miniature camera workers. Any further advice on this subject which readers have to offer will be warmly welcomed. Good News. An interesting bit of news for the small camera enthusiast is the fact that the RolleiHex and Rolleicord cameras have been reduced in price. These line cameras can now be at the disposal of many photo- graphers who have always cherished the idea of possessing one of them, but whose finances have kept them from purchasing either. The Rolleicord, because of its slower lens and cheaper price, should not be belittled. It is equipped with a Zeiss Triotar f:4.5 lens, a speed which is sufficient for most amateur work, and extremely sharp results are produced. The construction is of the same high quality as the Rolleiflex, with the exception that such conveniences as the automatic film transport, the window showing the lens and shutter speeds from above, etc., are omitted. Good Negative for Enlarging. The title for this discussion is a bit misleading. It should rather be "Good Negatives," for the miniature negative in practically all cases is made with the thought that it is to be subse- quently enlarged. A suitable negative for general enlarging has density in the shadows, detail is discernible, whereas even the strongest highlights do not contain very heavy densities, which appear almost opaque. Such negatives are made by giving an exposure on the full side, and then slightly underdeveloping. This also results in a finer grain. The longer the film remains in the developer the coarser is the grain produced. No doubt you have noticed in the past that very dense negatives have the tendency to exhibit grain when enlarged, whereas thinner negatives can stand greater enlarging without incurring this detriment. Many successful miniature camera workers recommend this pro- cedure— giving a full exposure and then slightly under- developing. Leica Photography: This interesting little maga- zine is published by E. Leitz, Inc., and is offered free to all owners of the Leica camera. Though a comparatively recent addition to the ranks of the photographic periodi- cals, it owes its prominence chiefly to the fact that it deals solely with miniature photography. Thousands of (Turn to Page 28) Fred Westerberg, author of that most helpful little book, "The Cine- matographer's Book of Tables", announces that in December he will continue the new series of tables to run indefinitely in The International Photographer. The title of the table for Nov- ember is "CAMERA SPEEDS," and the table is so printed in the magazine as to be easily removed for filing in your little red book, "The Cinematographer's Book of Tables" — if you have one. If you have not a copy you'd better call on your dealer right away so that you may not fail to have one in your pocket when you need it. IT COSTS ONLY $1.00 A COPY. Write or Call on Any Dealer or 1605 Cahuenga Ave., Hollywood WE SELL Sound Accessories • ^ • CLOW LAMPS • MOTORS J [^^ • OPTICAL UNITS • AMPLIFIERS T * 'M • RECORDERS M DEPENDABLE LABORATORY AND SOUND ^J EQUIPMENT "ArtReeves" Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Co. Ltd. 645 North Martel Ave. Cable Address — Artreeves HOLLYWOOD. CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. Please mention The International Photographer