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August, 1937 



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August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 313 


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314 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


AMERICAN 

CINEMATOGRAPHER 


A Technical and Educational publication 
on motion picture photography. 

Published monthly by the 
AMERICAN SOCIETY 
OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS, INC. 

1782 N. Orange Drive 
Hollywood, California 

Telephone GRanite 2135 

JOHN ARNOLD, President, A.S.C. 

FRED W. JACKMAN, Treasurer, A.S.C. 

Vol. 18 August, 1937 No. 8 

Contents 

Write Your Own Head 315 

By George Blaisdell 

Color Student Will Find Best Guidance 


in Nature 317 

By Gilbert Betancourt 

New Film Editing Aid Gives Larger 
Picture 318 

Recent Developments in Motion Picture 
Lighting 319 


By Elmer C. Richardson, A.S.C. 

Gordon Pollock Builds Test Lab 320 

Television Will Supplement but Won’t 

Supplant 322 

By R. R. Beal 

Eastman Announces Production of Qual- 
ity Dupe Positive and Negative. .. .323 

Sound Recording Quality Improves .... 324 
By H. C. Silent 

Rolling Camera Locker Guards Cameras 


on Set 325 

A. S. C. Members on Parade 326 

How One Cinematographer Secures 
Variable Diffusion 328 


By Theodor Sparkuhl, A.S.C. 




ESTABLISHED 1920. Advertising Rates on applica- 
tion. Subscription: U. S., $2.50 a year; Canada, $3.50 
a year; Foreign $3.50 a year. Single copies, 25c; 
back numbers, 30c. Foreign single copies, 35c ; back 
numbers, -tOc. COPYRIGHT, 1937, by American 
Society of Cinematographers, Inc. 



The Staff 

EDITOR 
George Blaisdell 

TECHNICAL EDITOR 
Emery Huse, A. S. C. 

ADVISORY 
EDITORIAL BOARD 
Victor Milner, A. S. C. 

James Van Trees, A. S. C. 

Fred W. Jackman, A. S. C. 

Farciot Edouart, A. S. C. 

Fred Gage, A. S. C. 

Dr. J. S. Watson, A. S. C. 

Dr. L. A. Jones, A. S. C. 

Dr. C. E. K. Mees, A. S. C. 

Dr. W. B. Rayton, A. S. C. 

Dr. Herbert Meyer, A. S. C. 

Dr. V. B. Sease, A. S. C. 

CIRCULATION MANAGER 
L. F. Graham 

NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE 
S. R. Cowan, 19 East 47th St., New York 
City. Phone Plaza 3-0483. 

FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVE 
Georges Benoit, 100 Alice Franklin, 
Pavillions-sous-Bois, Seine, France. Tele- 
phone LeRaincy 13-19. 

AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE 
McGill’s, 179 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, 
Australian and New Zealand agents. 

Neither the American Cinematographer nor 
the American Society of Cinematographers 
is responsible for statements made by au- 
thors. This magazine wdll not be respon- 
sible for unsolicited manuscripts. 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 315 


WRITE YOUR OWN HEAD 

By GEORGE BLAISDELL 


GO SEE KITTY CLANCY 

yA BOVE the horizon soars a new 

/A player. It’s Kitty Clancy, four 
years old, and if she remains 
as free of affectation, of consciousness 
of the vicinity of a camera; if she 
retains so notably the knack of estab- 
lishing herself as one of the princi- 
pals in any scene in which she is 
appointed — as she establishes herself 
in “Midnight Madonna” — then indeed 
we are going to hear much of Kitty 
and her work in the months and 
years to come. 

Her debut in dialogue in this stir- 
ring Paramount production seems to 
be about perfect. Her only previous 
experience was as an extra at the Hal 
Roach studio. Kitty will entertain 
and completely enchain that uncount- 
ed number of old curmudgeons who 
look upon the average child perform- 
er as an abomination. 

That the little lady in a physical 
way reminds us of Shii’ley Temple as 
Shirley was at the same age undoubt- 
edly will prove a handicap rather 
than any possible help to the new- 
comer. Her parents incidentally are 
non-professionals, her father being a 
railroad travel bureau manager on 
the east coast. 

▼ 

PUTTING US STRAIGHT 

O UR compliments and thanks to 
Johnny Mescall, A.S.C., whose 
memory of an incident in 1921 topped 
ours. It was Henry King and not 
Charles Brabin who directed “ToTable 
David,” and it was made by and for 
First National and not independently 
and afterward sold to Universal. 
“Driven” was made in 1922 by Charles 
Brabin and sold to Universal. 

We were right when we said Ernest 
Torrence played in “Tol’able David.” 
We might so have continued to be 
right had we not attempted to take 
in too much territory — and talked 
too much. 

Here enters Jim Shackelford, A.S.C., 
explorer in the realms of photography 
and that Asian spot sometimes known 
as the cradle of the world, who calls 
attention on Page 275 (July issue) 
to a caption under a picture of a man 
at a typewriter set up in a desert. 
Now we know why in the original 
still we were interested in the linea- 
ments of the man standing alongside 
the typist rather than the man at 
the machine. 

To us the latter passed as Charles 
W. Herbert, A.S.C., without any 
question. Really it was Tay Garnett, 


with Jim Shackleford as the rear seat 
driver. In this instance several mor- 
als apply: Don’t file photos without 
captions. Don’t accept photos filed 
without captions. 

So, with thanks to the discoverers 
of the muffs and apologies to the in- 
jured, a couple of guilty muggs ask to 
be absolved (for the present) of fur- 
ther application of sackcloth and 
ashes. 

On our side of the fence, however, 
are two distinct bits of evidence the 
book is being read. That’s something. 

▼ 

And now comes a letter from 
“Herb,” taking it on the loaf from 
his camera but putting in some tough 
licks around his Montana cabin, who 
“is wondering what the guy in the 
picture in Egypt will think when he 
sees his picture with Charles Herbert 
under it. It surely is funny, though 
there is a sort of a family resem- 
blance, but I swear by all that’s holy 
it’s not me.” 

Walter Strenge, A.S.C., hearing the 
controversy, declared he was a long- 
time friend of “Herb,” and the pic- 
ture passed him with his okeh. 

And the editor bumps into Jim 
Shackelford, and Shack greets him as 
if nothing had happened. And a salu- 
tation comes from Tay Garnett at 
the UA with an invitation to drop in 
and say hello. It sounded cordial, 
too, but of course a guy can’t always 
be exactly sure. 

▼ 

SCHOOLMA’AM IN FILMS 

T hat was a real civic function, 
that educational conference on 
July 16 and 17 of the Holl>’w’’ood Mo- 
tion Picture Forum. It was the third 
annual, and was by far and away the 
outstanding of the three. There is 
every reason to believe next year the 
first session will be called for a large 
auditorium. 

The conference demonstrated that 
the schoolma’am is a fighter for the 
use of the film in schools — that many 
of them are spending their own money 


Battling Through 

He who would highly win bold moun- 
tain top 

Must first to lowly floor of valley 
drop. 

The few who lightly gain the spread- 
ing view 

Know not the pounding thrill of bat- 
tling through. 


in the effort to see first the children 
get the films and in the second place 
doing their utmost to convince slug- 
gish school authorities of the need 
for the films — authorities who too 
often happen to be better versed in 
the arts of politics than in the neces- 
sities of the schools. 

These schoolma’ams are as mili- 
tant as they are intelligent — and the 
self-sacrificing men who are fighting 
the same battle give these women full 
acknowledgement and support. 

T 

THIRTEEN LINES 

T he make-up tells us we are thir- 
teen lines shy of filling this 
column. If it were permissible to 
record an exceedingly interesting re- 
cent heart-to-heart talk between 
three top-flight cameramen in which 
they got down to brass tacks in their 
discussion of some of the handicaps 
they encountered on rare occasions in 
their efforts to surmount tempera- 
mental hurdles there would be more 
than thirteen lines. M-m-m! 

T 

ERIC BLORE, COMEDIAN 

D id you ever stick a pin in a 
thought If you think you can, 
try it on the thought that Eric Blore 
is a candidate for the award to be 
handed that actor doing the greatest 
bit of character work during the year. 
We give you his jail scene in “Shall 
We Dance?” 

Of course, up to this writing we 
have only seen this subject three 
times — due partly to the fact that this 
dual program thing does make strange 
bedfellows — ^but this particular scene 
grows in its pull on the risibilities. 
Then here’s another thought: 

Any man who can take a scene from 
Eddie Horton is entitled anyway to 
a special award, for 1937 or any 
other year. 

T 

RARE DUAL PROGRAM 

A nd speaking about dual pro- 
grams it is not unusual to col- 
lide with one exceptionally good sub- 
ject and a second one not quite — ^well, 
you may get what we have in mind. 
On the Fourth or maybe the 5th of 
July the Hollywood Theater showed 
“Romeo and Juliet” and “Shall We 
Dance?” 

There is a pair to draw to! Three 
and a third centuries divide the re- 
spective literary origins and double 
that of the periods. In time they are 
as the poles. So, too, are they in all 


316 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


the characteristics that go to make 
up high-class entertainment. 

Yet so susceptible is the human 
mind to the influence of theatricalism, 
to the illusion of the spoken word 
and its related action, that all too 
quickly we slip from under the spell 
of the undying lines of this centuries 
old tale of whirlwind courtship and 
marriage and most tragic sudden 
death to the gayety of a story of 
today in which our attention is con- 
centrated and our interest held by a 
pair of fleet-footed lovers and a bat- 
tery of nimble-witted comedians. 

We wonder sometimes here in the 
geographical West as to the singular 
seclusion of women by stage authori- 
ties in Oriental countries, yet the 
writer of “Romeo and Juliet” had 
been in his grave over forty years 
before any woman publicly interpret- 
ed a role in one of his plays. 

So Shakespeare never could have 
known the lustre that would have 
been added to the words of Juliet by 
the personality, the rare charm, of 
the Norma Shearer of his day. 

T 

RKO WINS HONORS 

O N THEIR list of pictures to see 
lovers of stirring drama may 
put “The Toast of New York,” which 
RKO-Radio exchanges already have 
released. It is strong meat — and 
clean as a hound’s tooth. It will 
strengthen several well-established 
reputations, greatly strengthen in the 
instances of Edward Arnold and Cary 
Grant. As to the work of both of 
these much may be said in the way 
of high praise. Jack Oakie again 
proves he may be either serious or 
funny or both without being silly if 
given a Chinaman’s chance so to do. 

To this reporter Frances F'armer, 
who sustains the role of the heroine, 
is a revelation. About her is none of 
the atmosphere of the theater. Per- 
haps no such unworldly, almost ethe- 
real, personality ever has been pro- 
jected from the screen. It is the 
face of an idyllic Joan of Arc, with 
eyes that radiate rare intelligence 
and wholesomeness, bespeaking un- 
acquaintance with the ways of a 
sordid world. 

That Miss Farmer is not the Josie 
Mansfield known to the New Yorkers 
of two generations ago is beside the 
point. Neither do other characters 
in the story parallel the facts. Jim 
Fisk meets his death at the hands of 
one of a mob, not from Ed Stokes, 
who by the way is unmentioned in 
the story. The Stokes family was and 
probably is powerful and wealthy. 

We do have Commodore Vanderbilt, 
credited with inventing and uttering 
that famous “The Public be damned,” 
of which also incidentally mention is 
not made; and Daniel Drew. 

The production is one of all-around 
size. Peverell Marley, A.S.C., photo- 


grapher, and Vernon L. Walker, 
A.S.C., responsible for the special 
effects, outdid themselves in their re- 
spective departments. The foregoing 
is no idle bit of speech. Every one 
photographically minded is certain 
especially to enjoy this phase of the 
picture. 

Director Rowland V. Lee and all 
his actors; the adapters, the producer 
and all the members of the produc- 
tion staff have delivered rarely well. 

T 

VICTOR MILNER, A.S.C. 

I N PARAMOUNT’S pressbook on 
“Artists and Models” there is 
space devoted to “Who’s Who Behind 
the Cameras.” The representative of 
the cameramen among the trinity 
which includes also producer and 
director is Victor Milner, first vice 
president of the American Society of 
Cinematographers. Incidentally he 
also was chairman of the entertain- 
ment committee at the last open 
house night of the A.S.C., June 28, 
but that’s another story. 

The v.p. of today was born in little 
old N. Y., and is the son of a physi- 
cian coming from South Africa. He 
was one of the original quartet of 
Pathe Weekly cameramen in this 
country. In 1913 when the industry 
was just emerging from the one and 
two reel phase into the three and 
even the feature length film he trav- 
eled the world around as the official 
Pathe recorder of the Giant-White 
Sox baseball tour of that year. 

Milner’s apprenticeship was served 
under Eberhard Schneider, one of the 
pioneers of the industrial side of the 
industry. Under him he studied pho- 
tography and photographic chemistry 
and also was taught the manufacture 
of cameras, projection machines, per- 
forators and printers. 

In 1916 Milner came to Hollywood 
— or more probably to California — 
on his honeymoon. He or rather they 
— his bride was the daughter of his 
preceptor — remained. Among the later 
productions on which the A.S.C. v. p. 
has supervised the camera work have 
been “Cleopatra,” for which he was 
given the Academy award; “The Cru- 
sades” and “The Plainsman,” all 
directed by Cecil De Mille. 

T 

CECIL DE MILLE, 
AMUSEMENTEER 

R everting to that open house 
A.S.C. night, the highlights of 
the evening were the introduction by 
Chairman Milner of Cecil De Mille 
as the guest of honor and the follow- 
ing response by the man who has been 
guiding the making of major pictures 
for a quarter century. 

It was a delightful chat, for chat 
it was. It opened with a tribute to 
the cameraman as the staff on which 


a director leaned, opened in serious 
vein and almost instantly and with 
sureness of touch glided into the 
lighter suggestion that probably not 
any of the many present but what 
personally had been a witness to one 
of his major blunders. 

There was drama of the sternest 
variety in the director’s recital of the 
sequence of events that followed the 
shooting of the initial scene of “The 
Squaw Man,” the first Lasky picture, 
right up to the lending of a very 
much needed helping hand by the late 
“Pop” Lubin at his studio in Phila- 
delphia. 

The major trouble had been due to 
the absence of standards in the me- 
chanical equipment entering into the 
production — and exhibition — of pic- 
tures. It was just a simple matter 
of a difference in sprocket holes be- 
tween a camera and a projector — but 
that seemingly infinitesimal margin 
came near meaning the temporary 
ruin of several men. 

Comes Up the Line 

In an easy, conversational way the 
director talked as he strolled back and 
forth in front of the mantel in the 
spacious lounge. And in the manner 
as well as the content of his extem- 
poraneous chat there was a blending 
of camaraderie and fellowship. 

The speaker traced his experiences 
through the earlier years of his con- 
nection with the film industry and 
then came smack into the things of 
today — of television and of radio. He 
referred to the enormous sums being 
expended by sponsors just for one 
hour’s air entertainment. 

When we come to think of it, Cecil 
DeMille has had a broad experience 
in the amusement field — one that has 
fallen to few men active today. In 
1913 he came to the screen a young 
man already widely versed in the 
ways of the stage — and incidentally, 
as the son of a stage father and 
mother, one who had absorbed stage 
atmosphere all his life. 

And now matured in these older 
fields he has taken on radio in a large 
and responsible way. In his talk to 
the A.S.C. members some things were 
said indicatins: he is quite abreast of 
the situation in television, too. 

Ralph Farnum. representing Gen- 
eral Electric on the West Coast, tech- 
nically and interestingly as well as 
extemporaneously told of 1937 trends 
in artificial lighting. 

Then there was the first public 
exhibition of the new Hessercolor. 
Hanging in the main lobby were 
twelve 11 by 14 photographs in the 
four-color system. The exhibit aroused 
marked interest among the A.S.C. 
members and guests. 

The occasion proved to be a mark 
for coming chairmen of A.S.C. club 
nights to shoot at. ! T’ 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 317 


PRESENT COLOR TREND IS 
TOWARD SUBDUED HUES 

So Declares Former Designer and 
Color Coordinator in Talk to ASC 


H istory tells us that man first 
used color some one hundred 
and sixty centuries B. C. Dur- 
ing these many centuries he has gone 
from the savage’s bright hues and 
contrasting color combinations to the 
present trend toward true color har- 
mony in a refined form and subdued 
or pastel hues. 

Man has also made a vast science 
of the study of color, with thousands 
of books on the subject; but once 
the few fundamentals and the color- 
man’s vocabulary have been learned, 
the student can begin acquiring his 
own experience and also interpreting 
lessons from nature, the oldest and 
best colorist of all. 

The units of measure of color are 
as follows: Chroma is the measure 
of purity, and it indicates either the 
absence of gray or the amount of it 
mixed into the color. Value measures 
the lightness or darkness of the 
color, a light value often being called 
a “tint” and a dark one a “shade.” 

Hue the Third Unit 

The I. E. Du Pont De Nemours 
Company calibrates its “Duco” lac- 
quers in some twenty different val- 
ues. Finally, hue is the third unit 
of measure and indicates the position 
the color occupies in the spectrum, 
also referring to that which makes 
one color differ from another. 

Munsell has taken ten distinct hues 
from the spectrum and produced 
some four hundred different color 
units by varying their value and 
their chroma; sufficient material for 
any conceivable problem involving 
color. 

If we take the solar spectrum and 
wrap it around a circle so that the 
hue bands lie radially, we obtain a 
most convenient arrangement or 
chart called the hue cycle or circuit. 

If the three primary colors — red, 
yellow and blue — are placed equi- 
distantly about this circle, and their 
three half-and-half combinations — 
orange, green and purple — or second- 
ary colors, half-way between the com- 
ponent primaries, filling the six spac- 
es then left with intermediate hues, 
we obtain eighteen different bands 


By GILBERT BETANCOURT 

as a basis for all color combinations. 
The longest wave infra-red, be- 
yond the red; and the shortest w^ave 
ultra-violet, beyond the violet, do not 
appear in this hue circle, both being 
invisible. The latter is very impor- 
tant, however, to the outdoor photog- 
rapher on account of its great ac- 
tinism, making the use of filters nec- 
essary. The infra-red is also coming 
to the front in ultra long distance 
aerial photography and in motion 
picture night effects. 

Color Harmony 

Color harmony means the art of 
arranging colors for pleasing ef- 
fects. It is simple enough to define, 
yet in practice calls for genius simi- 
lar to that of the musical composer, 

ci=\ki •»! t. ■ 'Mr; 1 vt M *sy ^ 



The Hue Cycle 

for there are no hard and fast rules. 
One must consider the mood or feel- 
ing to be expressed or interpreted, 
as well as the environment in which 
the color scheme is to appear. 

There are at least five basic kinds 
of color harmony: 

(A) Monochromatic harmony, 
which simply arranges different values 
and chroma of the same color. 

(B) Complementary harmony, 
which places colors diametrically op- 
posite in the hue-cycle together, also 
in their various values and chroma. 


(C) Triadic harmony, which ar- 
ranges the three colors at the cor- 
ners of any equilateral triangle with- 
in the hue cycle. 

(D) Analogous harmony, which 
groups colors that are closely relat- 
ed to one another; for example, red, 
purple-red and orange-red. 

(E) Split-complementary har- 
mony, which uses not the exact com- 
plementary of any color but its ad- 
joining relatives. 

The paint masters, in portraying 
life on canvas, fixed and arranged 
their colors without fear or thought 
of anyone shifting them around aft- 
erward. But when we paint our pic- 
tures with a motion picture camera 
this is not the case; actors, setting 
and the camera itself can and do 
move, and each move can change 
the compositional color relationships. 

Color Movie Problems 

Thus the cameramaster has the 
new problem of having to avoid 
clashing color combinations at any 
time during a scene — a problem 
which requires thorough study and 
careful color designing before the 
scene can be recorded. 

Since the color sensation received 
from any object depends upon the 
nature of the light illuminating the 
scene, set lighting becomes doubly 
important, particularly when the 
same set or players are to be photo- 
graphed under natural and then 
again under artificial lighting which, 
in the case of standard incandescent 
lighting, is generally rich in yellow. 

On the other hand the color-movie 
artist has at his disposal greater re- 
sources than the painting master. He 
can vary the color components of his 
lights and, to a certain degree, vary 
his exposures in order to change the 
effects of a set or a scene to har- 
monize with the atmosphere of the 
story. It has been demonstrated that 
by changing the color components of 
lighting one can change the color 
mood of a scene completely. 

Color Reactions 

The most important individual 
characteristic of the various colors 

(Continued on Page 352) 


318 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


NEW FILM EDITING AID 
GIVES LARGER PIGTURE 


S INCE its introduction more than 
fifteen years ago the Moviola 
has become an indispensable film 
editing tool. The advantages of being 
able to view either individual scenes 
or complete reels of picture film, run- 
ning either forward or reverse, at 
any desired speed, slow or fast, have 
made the Moviola a standard cutting 
room accessory in major studios the 
world over. 

As sound was introduced these de- 
vices expanded to afford the same 
facilities to cutters of both composite 
and separate sound track and picture. 
Since talking pictures brought the 
problem of accurately synchronizing 
pictured lip movements with a sep- 
arate sound track, however, many 
cutters have expressed a wish for a 
machine capable of giving a larger 
picture image than that normally seen 
through the viewing magnifier. 

Making its debut coincidentally 
with the recent convention of the 
Society of Motion Picture Engineers 
a new Moviola of this type is an- 
nounced. In addition to the familiar 
features, it projects an enlarged 
image of the picture, right side up 
and correct as to right and left, on 
a 514 by 6% inch ground glass screen 
placed conveniently beside the reg- 
ular viewing aperture. 

This is achieved without rethread- 
ing the machine in any way and with 
no special manipulation other than 
swinging a small, hinged lamphouse 
into place over the regular viewing 
lens. 

It’s the Preview Model 

The new model is officially termed 
the Preview Model. In appearance it 
is not unlike conventional types. There 
are two film moving heads — one for 
picture and composite sound-track, the 
other for separate sound track. 

Each head has its own driving mo- 
tor, either of which is capable of 
driving the entire assembly. A flexible 
coupling joins the two units. 

These film moving assemblies are 
mounted on a rigid metal stand, 
equipped with casters. Beneath the 
stand is the AC-operated amplifier 
for the sound system. Above it is the 
loudspeaker. 

The projecting feature of the Pre- 
view Moviola is made possible by a 
cast aluminum shadow box which ex- 
tends downward and to the rear be- 
neath the picture head. The ground 
glass viewing screen is located at the 
upper end of this shadow box, care- 


fully shielded from room light by a 
deep metal shade. 

When it is desired to project rather 
than to view the picture through the 
magnifier in the usual way, an auxil- 
iary lamphouse is swung into place 
above the viewing lens. This lens then 
acts as a condenser, while an object- 
ive lens below the film plane, per- 
manently focused, projects the picture 
downward on to a spherical mirror 
from which it is reflected upward on 
to the ground glass screen. 

Light Source 50 Candles 

A convenient handle on the right 
hand side of the shadow box provides 
a framing adjustment in addition to 
the usual method of sliding the view- 
ing aperture and magnifying lens. A 
secondary adjustment, placed beneath 
the shadow box, provides a lateral 
adjustment of the projected image 
when this is necessary. 

The light source used in projecting 
this enlarged image is a 50 candle- 
power automobile headlight globe 
identical with those used as exciter 
lamps in the sound pick-ups and as 



Pre\iew Moviola, showing new viewing screen 
on which large picture is projected. 


an illuminant in conventional view- 
ing. 

A single master switch controls 
both the picture viewing lights. When 
it is desired to view the picture con- 
ventionally rather than on the larger 
screen all that is necessary is to 
swing the projecting lamp house to 
one side. This operates a mercury 
switch, which automatically turns off 
the projecting lamp and turns on the 
lower viewing lamp. 

The same movement slides an opal 
glass diffusing screen into place im- 
mediately below the film plane, and 
at the same time unfolds a diagon- 
ally inclined matte white reflecting 
blade which reflects the light through 
the film from the viewing lamp which 
is necessarily placed at one side. 

Equipped With Shutter 

When, either in ordinary viewing 
of projecting, it is desired to mark 
a given frame of film, the viewing 
lens pivots upward, leaving the film 
viewing aperture clear without un- 
threading the movement. 

While most types have no shutter, 
the Preview model is equipped with 
a barrel type shutter for use when 
projecting. This is of considerable 
advantage when projecting at nor- 
mal speeds, but in case the flicker 
proves objectionable when projecting 
the large image at extremely slow 
film speeds it is possible to disconnect 
the shutter at any time and to re- 
connect it as easily. It is impossible 
to reconnect the shutter out of time 
with the intermittent. 

As has been stated, there are two 
independent driving motors on this 
model. The one fitted to the left hand 
head is a constant speed motor for 
driving both sound and picture heads 
at a fixed rate of 24 frames a sec- 
ond (90 feet a minute.) 

Can Handle Short Lengths 

This is fitted with both a hand- 
operated switch control and a foot 
operated treadle control. The motor 
fitted to the right-hand component is 
a variable speed motor. A hand oper- 
ated switch operates this without 
further attention at a film speed 
of 90 feet a minute, while a foot op- 
erated treadle permits variable speed 
operation at any speed below this. 
Both motors are reversible. 

Both the conventional magnifier 
viewing and projecting features of 
the Preview may be used either with 
a short length of film held in the 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 319 


hand or with greater lengths spooled 
on 1000 or 2000 foot reels. 

For the former utilization special 
non-scratching film channels are pro- 
vided, while the inclined back of the 
stand makes an excellent runway 
through which the film may be fed 
into a basket on the floor. For the 
latter use, with longer lengths of 


film on reels, double-acting spindles 
are fitted, both to sound and picture 
heads. These will take up the film 
in either direction. 

A representative of this magazine 
was privileged to be the first to edit 
a reel of film with the new model. 
The projecting feature quickly proved 
its worth for studying detailed action. 


as in matching close-up and long shot 
cuts and synchronizing lip move- 
ments to sound-track, while the in- 
stant change from the large picture 
to the smaller image seen through 
the magnifier, or to the clear aper- 
ture for marking a selected frame, 
was invaluable. 


RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN 

MOTION PICTURE LIGHTING 

Abridged from a paper presented at the spring convention of 
the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, in Hollywood, 1937 

By ELMER C. RICHARDSON, A.S.C. 


I N PREVIOUS discussions of this 
subject it has been pointed out 
that modern lighting technique 
evolved, bit by bit, from the very 
early necessity of sufficient illumina- 
tion to permit an exposure. It was 
soon found that projecting beams of 
light on to set and actors from a 
variety of angles gave improved ef- 
fects of depth and roundness. 

The development of lighting from 
that time on has been closely inter- 
locked with the development of light 
projectors which afford a more pre- 
cise control of these beams. 

This is well illustrated by compar- 
ing the custom of only a few years 
ago with current practice, especially 
as concerns “general” lighting. 

This phase of lighting, as its name 
implies, deals with maintaining a 
definite overall exposure level of 
illumination throughout the set. The 
necessary intermediate tones and 
highlights are built up from this by 
the more intense beams from spot- 
lighting units. 

Within the past year this rather 
characterless overall lighting has been 
definitely on the wane. New materials 
and equipment make a more specific 
lighting of sets both desirable and 
possible. 

There is, moreover, a new concep- 
tion of set lighting. For several 
years after the inhibiting introduc- 
tion of sound a set seemed regarded 
more nearly as something to be 
illuminated than as something to be 
lighted. 

Key Lighting Gains 

Today, in addition to lighting the 
set to give some illusion of depth, 
and to keeping it in accord with the 
mood of the action, many of our best 
cinematographers hold that the light- 
ing of a set must make it a decora- 
tive part of the composition. 

Over and above the familiar tech- 
nique of making the set a lighting 


composition of contrasted highlights, 
halftones and shadows, cinematog- 
raphers are more and more fre- 
quently employing the artifice of 
casting decorative shadow patterns 
on otherwise flat wall areas. 

The technique of “key lighting,” 
while it cannot be said wholly to 
have come into use only during the 
last few years, has certainly gained 
in importance. Fundamentally, it 
refers to the logical practice of light- 
ing a set directionally. That is, key- 
ing the lighting to some logical 
angle of lighting, usually suggested 
by the design of the set. 

This does not mean that all the 
lighting should come from this direc- 
tion, but that the predominating 
highlights should appear to come 
from some source established within 
the scene. Beneath this key lighting 



Elmer C. Richardson 


will come the still vitally necessary 
modeling lighting, fill-in lighting, etc. 

The lighting of people is too in- 
tricate to discuss here. It is an in- 
tensely individualized matter, varying 
not only with the technique of the 
individual cinematographer but with 
the requirements of each individual 
star. 

Strides in Color 

Due to various limitations, natural 
color cinematography was felt to re- 
quire flatter lightings. Within the 
past very few months color cinema- 
tography has made immense strides 
toward parity with monochrome. The 
process itself has been improved to 
give the cinematographer more lati- 
tude, and newer and more efficient 
arc spotlighting equipment has been 
made available. 

At present, these units are used 
exactly the way the incandescent 
Solarspots are used in black-and- 
white. The arrangement of modern 
lightings in color cinematography is 
virtually identical with black-and- 
white practice. 

The formerly dominant general 
lighting units have virtually vanished 
save from unusually large sets. 
Speaking conservatively, over 90 per 
cent of the lighting of a Technicolor 
scene is now effected by spotlighting 
equipment. The methods and effects 
are identical with the best mono- 
chrome practice. 

In some respects, it may even be 
said that color lighting methods and 
equipment are in advance of those 
commonly used in black-and-white. 
This, however, is more for economic 
reasons than technical ones. For 
color it was necessary to obtain new 
lighting equipment throughout, as 
the older types were deficient in such 
qualities as color, uniformity of burn- 
ing, silence, and controllability. 

In black-and-white this procure- 
ment has not been spurred by abso- 
lute necessity, and is of course slower, 
since there exists a vast supply of 
passable though obsolescent equip- 
ment. 

However, as the newer concept of 
set lighting is becoming more univer- 
sal, this procurement is accelerating, 
and it will not be unduly long until 
we will find the old-time concept of 
set-lighting as largely floodlighting 
extinct and replaced by precision 
lighting of set as well as players 
with the more exact tools of today’s 
most modern spotlights. 


320 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 

GORDON POLLOCK 
BUILDS TEST LAB 


A PORTABLE test laboratory 
which delivers enlarged prints 
of test shots a dozen minutes 
after the negative is exposed is the 
latest production aid put into service 
by Hollywood camera experts. 

The new device, introduced within 
the last month at the Twentieth Cen- 
tury-Fox Studio, is the creation of 
Gordon Pollock, A.S.C., and is jointly 
used by his special process staff and 
the studio’s directors of photography. 

It consists of a small, light-tight 
rooom, about half the size of a port- 
able sound mixing booth, mounted on 
rubber-tired wheels so it can be trun- 
dled on to any set, and fully equipped 
to develop short test strips of motion 
picture negative and to make single- 
frame enlargements from these tests. 

An 8 by 10 inch paper print of the 
test is delivered to the director of 
photography within eleven minutes 
of the time his assistant hands the 
exposed magazine to the test lab’s 
attendant. Already it has proved it- 
self invaluable for difficult scenes in 
the studio and on location. 

The rolling laboratory is a rectan- 
gular box of plywood, constructed on 
a sturdy steel frame. Four penu- 
matic-tired wheels permit it to be 
moved easily about the studio and 
rolled into a corner of the stage. Its 
compact dimensions permit it to be 
loaded on to any truck for transpor- 
tation to locations. In the studio its 
electrical needs are met by plugging 
its ables into any convenient electric 
circuit; on location, it may be fed 
from the power supply of the sound 
truck. The water supply is self-con- 
tained. 

What’s In It 

The interior of the little laboratory 
is lined on three sides by work 
benches. To the right of the entrance 
are the trays and tanks for develop- 
ing negative and prints. The nega- 
tive-developing unit is concealed 
under a light-tight trapdoor in this 
bench. It consists of a deep metal 
tank which either may be heated or 
filled with iced water to keep the 
solutions at the desired temperature. 

Within this are fixed three glass 
test tubes of the right size to accom- 
modate slightly over a foot of film, 
which is held straight and with the 
edges bent slightly inward, much as 
film is loaded into a miniature camera 
developing reel. Due to this construc- 
tion no supporting reels or clips are 
needed to hold the film. It is simply 
slid into the tube. 


Two of these tubes hold developer, 
the third hypo. Since this develop- 
ing compartment is closed by a light- 
tight cover, the room lights may be 
turned on for printing or the door 
opened to receive or hand out loaded 
magazines while the test negative is 
developing. 

Beyond this inset tank are three 
trays, held in place by wooden frames, 
for developer, fixing-bath and rinse 
for the enlarged prints. 

At the far end of the compartment 
is mounted the enlarger, which is a 
special type designed by Pollock, and 
which is now understood to be com- 
mercially marketed. A 40-watt globe 
furnishes the enlarging plate light, 
and the wet negative is placed in a 
special metal pressure aperture while 
the enlarged print is made. The en- 
larging lens is a standard 50mm. ob- 
jective in a standard focusing mount. 

Conveniences a-Plenty 

In order to secure consistently ac- 
curate printing exposures, an auto- 
matic, electrically driven self-timer 
is used. This may be set to give a 
range of printing exposures closely 
comparable to the printing light ad- 
justments in the studio’s printers. 

Beneath this enlarger are two 
light-tight drawers with spring-oper- 
ated doors, to contain supplies of 
bromide paper. 

On the left side of the darkroom 



Portable test-developing darkroom designed by- 
Gordon Pollock, A. S. C., in use at Twentieth 
Century-Fox Studio. 


is a generous worktable which can be 
used for loading and unloading mag- 
agines, etc. 

Beneath the benches are compart- 
ments for bottles of solution, blotters, 
chemicals, and other necessary spares. 

The water supply is from an ordi- 
nary water cooler carrying a five- 
gallon bottle of distilled water. 

The ventilating air intake is 
through a light-tight vent in the floor 
at the far end, while the exhaust, 
impelled by a ventilating fan, is just 
above the door. The air inlet may be 
fitted with moistened felt pads for 
humidifying and cooling the room. 

In actual use, the portable labora- 
tory makes use of solutions and print- 
ing papers as closely comparable as 
possible to the characteristics of the 
solutions and positive film used in the 
studio laboratory. The negative de- 
veloper, while actually different as 
must necessarily be the case with a 
super-speed solution requiring but 
three minutes’ development, neverthe- 
less gives a negative of character- 
istics which are fundamentally sim- 
ilar to those the same negative would 
have if processed by the studio. 

In the same way, the paper upon 
which the enlarged print is made — 
Agfa “Brovira” — and the developer 
used give print characteristics close- 
ly comparable to those of motion pic- 
ture positive film printed in the studio 
plant. To minimize the effect of nega- 
tive grain a crystal stipple surfaced 
paper is used. 

Test Lab Popular 

Since its introduction in June, the 
new test lab has become highly popu- 
lar with the Twentieth Century-Fox 
camera staff. It has been used by 
Arthur Miller, A.S.C.; Ernest Palmer, 
A.S.C., and others who consider it a 
truly practical aid to solving unusual 
photographic problems in the studio 
and on location. It is noticeable 
when the lab is on a studio stage 
directors of photography working on 
other sets constantly patronize it. 

It has been used on distant loca- 
tions such as one unit recently en- 
countered at Sonora, Cal., where it 
did double duty as testing laboratory 
and loading room. In this case, the 
location was nearly 40 miles from the 
hotel which served as the company’s 
base, and to meet studio schedules 
the company shipped exposed film to 
the studio laboratory in the middle 
of each afternoon. Without this port- 
able darkroom there would have been 
considerable delay in these ship- 
ments, while the director of photog- 
raphy would admittedly have missed 
the security afforded by frequent 
photographic tests under the varying 
light conditions encountered. The 
value of this instantly available proc- 
essing for tests of intricate special- 
effects shots will be obvious. 



August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 321 


FIDELITY 


EXPERIENCE shows that Eastman Fine- 
Grain Duplicating Films are capable of 
giving duplicates which are actual facsim- 
iles of the originals. Completely solving 
a major photographic problem, these new 
high-fidelity films are among the most 
important safeguards of motion pietnre 
quality. Eastman Kodak Company, Roeh- 
ester, N. Y. (J. E. Brnlatour, Inc., Dis- 
tributors, Fort Lee, Chicago, Hollywood.) 


EASTMAN Fine-Grain 


DLPLICATINC FILMS 


322 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


TELEVISION WILL 
SUPPLEMENT BUT 
WONT SUPPLANT 

Abridged from a paper presented at the Spring 
Convention of the Society of Motion Picture 
Engineers, held in Hollywood, May, 1937. 


NOTE — One of the conclusions of Mr. Beal is that, 
although some pa7'ts of television’ s program technique may 
parallel the technique of the stage, of motion pictures and 
of sound by'o ad casting, it will be distinctive from any of 
these. Another conclusion is that television will supple- 
ment and not supplant existing services or agencies which 
rejrresent the older arts. 


By R. R. BEAL 

Research Supervisor, Radio Corporation of America 
In Two Parts — Part I 


I N MOTION pictures the reflected 
light from the subject is con- 
verted into a film record and 
transmission from the film record to 
the viewing screen is effected by 
means of light. In television, trans- 
mission is effected through the agency 
of electricity. 

Reflected light from the subject is 
converted into electrical impulses 
which may be transmitted by radio or 
by special cables from the point at 
which the subject is situated to a 
point far removed from that locality, 
and then reconverted into light im- 
ages on the viewing screen. The re- 
produced image may originate from 
a subject or from a film record of a 
subject. 

Picture Pickup 

In the RCA high definition televi- 
sion system the first step in this proc- 
ess occurs in the “Iconoscope,” 
which converts the light image into 
electrical impulses, and the final step 
takes place in the “Kinescope,” which 
transforms the electrical impulses 
into a light image on the viewing 
screen. 

The Iconoscope consists of an elec- 
tron gun and a photosensitive mosaic 
in a highly evacuated glass envelope. 
The electron gun produces a fine 
pencil of electrons which is moved 
horizontally and vertically and so 
caused to scan the photosensitive 
mosaic. This motion of the scanning 
beam is produced by appropriately 
applied electromagnetic or electro- 
static fields. 


The mosaic in the Iconoscope con- 
sists of a vast number of tiny photo- 
sensitized silver globules covering one 
side of a thin sheet of mica. The 
other side of the mica is covered with 
a conducting film. The mosaic is 
mounted in such a position that the 
electron beam strikes the photosensi- 
tized plate at an angle of 30 degrees. 
The optical image is focused directly 
on the mosaic. 


each shunted by an electrical con- 
denser which couples it to a common 
signal lead. When the mosaic is illu- 
minated these condensers are charged 
positive with respect to their equilib- 
rium potential, due to the emission 
of photo-electrons. 

This positive charge is proportional 
to the quantity of light received. The 
electron beam, as it scans the mosaic 
from left to right, drives to equilib- 
rium the elements over which it 
passes and thus releases the charges 
and induces current impulses in the 
signal lead. The train of impulses 
thus generated constitutes the picture 
signal output of the Iconoscope. 

It is apparent that these impulses 
will appear in an orderly sequence as 
the electron beam scans the area of 
the mosaic one horizontal line at a 
time from top to bottom. It is in this 
order that the current impulses are 
transmitted as television signals. 

In the Iconoscope the charging proc- 
ess in any specific element of the 
mosaic continues until the beam in 
the process of scanning returns to that 
element. The greater the electrical 
charge of the element, the greater 
will be the current impulse induced in 
the signal lead. This storage prin- 
ciple makes the Iconoscope a very 
effective pick-up for television. 

Sensitivity Like Film 

The sensitivity of the Iconoscope 
at the present stage of development 
is about the same as that of ordinary 
negative film. Research in progress 
is disclosing methods by which it may 
be possible greatly to increase the 
sensitivity. 

The color response of an Iconoscope 
depends upon the activation schedule 
used in producing the mosaic and 
upon the composition of the photosen- 
sitive material. The color response 


The mosaic may be thought of as 
a vast number of minute photocells, 



Interior of NBC “Iconoscope” television camera. The large globe-shaped tube corresponds to 

the film in a motion picture camera. 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 323 



Television stage at NBC television studio. Radio City, N. Y. As in, early talkie technique, 
two television cameras are used to secure long-shot and close-up angles. “Cutting” from one 
angle to the other is done by picture mixer in the monitor room in the background. 


characteristic may be varied over a 
range comparable with that covered 
by photographic emulsions available 
for motion picture work. 

The Iconoscope and its associated 
optical parts correspond in the RCA 
television system to the camera in 
motion pictures. This unit of equip- 
ment is called the “Iconoscope Cam- 
era.” 

Like a motion picture camera, the 
Iconoscope camera may be moved 
about the studio during a perform- 
ance; it is raised and lowered by a 
motor driven mechanism; the usual 
provisions are made for following the 
motion and action of a scene; it is 
silent in operation. 

The Iconoscope mosaic is about 4 
by 5 inches, or about six times larger 
than one 35mm. motion picture frame. 
Therefore the Iconoscope camera 
lenses are of greater focal length than 
those employed in motion picture 
cameras. Present studio cameras for 
television are equipped with lenses 
of 6 V 2 to 18 inch focal length. 

A wide band preamplifier for 
amplifying the picture signal from 
the Iconoscope is included in the 
camera. The picture signals and the 
necessary power supply currents are 
carried by a cable which connects the 
camera to the system. 

The picture signals generated by 
the Iconoscope in the camera which 
picks up the scenes are amplified and 
delivered to a radio transmitter. 
These picture signals are caused to 
modulate the carrier wave of the 
transmitter in a manner analogous to 
that employed in sound broadcasting. 

The radio signal at the distant point 
is picked up by the receiving antenna 
and delivered to the television re- 
ceiver in which the picture signal is 
restored to its original form as a 
train of impulses. These are fed 
through amplifiers to the Kinescope, 
which transforms them into a light 
image on the viewing screen. 

Synchronizing Receiver 

The Kinescope is an evacuated glass 
tube which contains an electron gun 
and a luminescent screen. The elec- 
tron gun produces an electron beam 
which will carry greater current than 
the gun in the Iconoscope. The elec- 
tron beam is caused to scan the view- 
ing screen by appropriately applied 
electromagnetic fields. Light is pro- 
duced when the electron beam bom- 
bards the luminescent screen and the 
amount of light thus produced is pro- 
portional to the current in the elec- 
tron beam. 

The scanning beams of the Icono- 
scope and the Kinescope are accurate- 
ly synchronized so that the two beams 
are on corresponding points of the 
mosaic and the luminescent screen at 
any instant. The brightness of a 


point on the luminescent screen is 
proportional to the current in the 
bombarding beam and this current is 
produced by voltages related to the 
picture signal impulses generated by 
the Iconoscope. 

Since the electron beams of the 
Iconoscope and Kinescope are in exact 
synchronism, the brightness of any 
point on the Kinescope screen will 
be a function of the brightness of the 
corresponding point on the mosaic of 
the Iconoscope. In this manner the 
image projected on the mosaic of the 
Iconoscope will be reproduced with 


T he Eastman Kodak Company 
formally announces during the 
final week of July a raw stock 
development described by an expert 
in that field of manufacturing as one 
of the most important in the last ten 
years, one the advantages of which 
cannot at this time be calculated, as 
eventually it will mean the saving of 
thousands of dollars to each studio. 

Eastman states its efforts for years 
to obtain a raw stock which would 
enable the industry to make duplicate 
negatives comparable in quality to the 
original have culminated in success. 
The two duplicating stocks are de- 
scribed as fine grain duplicating posi- 
tive and fine grain duplicating nega- 
tive. 

These films are considerably slower 
in speed than the duplicating films 


exactness on the viewing screen of 
the Kinescope. 

The electron beams of the Icono- 
scope and Kinescope are synchronized 
by transmitting synchronizing im- 
pulses at the end of each scanning 
line and at the end of each picture or 
frame. A synchronizing amplifier in 
the receiver separates the synchron- 
izing signals from the composite sig- 
nal by amplitude selection, separates 
horizontal and vertical synchronizing 
signals from each other by frequency 
selection and delivers the impulses to 
the respective deflecting oscillators in 
proper amplitude and polarity for 
synchronization. 


current in use. It is necessary to 
make a printer adjustment in order 
that sufficient exposure is available to 
print these stocks. After this adjust- 
ment has been made the same pro- 
cedure as is now being used to make 
duplicate negatives can be followed. 

Practically all major studios in 
Hollywood have carried on experi- 
mental work with these new type 
films and are especially pleased with 
the results obtained. 

It is now possible to make as many 
duplicate negatives as is desired which 
will give a print equal in all respects 
to that produced by the original nega- 
tive. This enables the studios to re- 
tain the original negative, delivering 
the “dupe” negative to foreign coun- 
tries for release. 


EASTMAN ANNOUNCES PRODUCTION OF 
QUALITY DUPE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE 



324 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


SOUND RECORDING 
QUALITY IMPROVES 

Just Around Corner Is Possibility 
of High Grade Reproduction on 16mm 
Film by Those of Limited Experience 

Resume of address by H. C. Silent, Electrical Research 
Products, Inc., delivered at conference of Hollywood 
Motion Picture Forum Saturday, July 17, 1937 


S INCE the introduction of sound 
into the motion picture field 
there has been a very steady 
improvement in the sound quality and 
a continuous evolution in the equip- 
ment employed. Much of the charac- 
teristic mechanical noise which once 
created a distracting background has 
been eliminated. 

The brass-throated quality of the 
screen’s favorite stars has been toned 
down to a pleasing naturalness. The 
quality has been improved so that the 
screen sets a standard for intelligi- 
of the sound this film motion measur- 
ing equipment is known as a flutter 
measuring set. 

Engineers have worked for over 
two years to produce a flutter meas- 
uring set which will indicate irregu- 
larities in film velocity as small as 
2 per cent and not only indicate the 
amount but also give a written rec- 
ord which is of such a nature that 
the engineers skilled in its use can 
determine quickly and easily exactly 
what sprocket or cog wheel in the 
machine under test may be at fault 
and how much it must be corrected. 

It is through the use of many aux- 
iliary tools, which the laboratories 
working on the problem have de- 
veloped especially for the purpose, 
that these improvements in sound 
quality have been made possible. 

Stereophonic Coming 

This work is going steadily for- 
ward today in the laboratories of 
Electrical Research Products, Inc., in 
Hollywood and New York. While it 
is not possible to predict the exact 
date on which new developments can 
be made available, it is certain that 
bility which cannot be realized from 
the spoken drama of the legitimate 
stage. 


staffs of the Bell Telephone Labora- 
tories, Western Electric, Inc., and 
Electrical Research Products, Inc., 
organizations developing equipment 
for talking motion picture, have 
painstakingly and steadily brought 
these things to pass. The number of 
improvements and the diversity of 
fields into which exploration had to 
be made has been considerable. 

Reducing Equipment 

Amplifiers have been constructed 
which contain all of the delicate con- 
trols to effect the fine shadings of 
sound required in the most complex 
dramatic production and which weigh 
less than one tenth as much as the 


amplifiers employed but a few short 
years ago. 

Recording equipment once occupy- 
ing considerable space in the studios 
has been redesigned until today the 
most complete recording channel is 
contained in a half dozen small boxes 
that can be carried and operated in 
a light truck. In spite of these re- 
ductions in weight, improvements in 
performance have been obtained 
which have given greater clarity to 
the sound. 

The portable recorder which goes 
with this lightweight sound recording- 
system causes the film to move with 
a steadiness never before possible in 
a lightweight unit. This has effec- 
tively eliminated the quavering qual- 
ity frequently noticed in sound re- 
corded on the older machines. 

Since most films are rerecorded in 
order to add the desired sound effects 
and make adjustments in the charac- 
teristics of the sound, before release 
to the theatres, new rerecording ma- 
chines have been developed especially 
for this purpose. 

Nicety of Error Detectors 

Here again the absolute uniformity 
with which the film travels in the 
machine is of paramount importance. 
In order to study this uniformity of 
film movement and to obtain the re- 
quired degree of steadiness it has 
been necessary to develop special ap- 
paratus to measure the film motion. 

Since irregularity in film motion 
gives rise to quavering or fluttering 



The progress made has not been 
sporadic nor of revolutionary sudden- 
ness. The research and engineering 


Western Electric (Q) Type Recorder (Portable) — Apparatus on upper row, reading from left 
^ right, includes: First Unit, Control Cabinet (upper), D. C. Motor (lower). Second Unit, 
Recorder (top). Recorder Control (lower). Third Unit, Noise Reduction Unit (top). Amplifier 
(lower). Fourth Unit, Pick-up Unit. Apparatus in lower right and left, power units. 



August, 1937 


American Cinematographer 325 




many improvements in sound quality 
and in naturalness and devices to fa- 
cilitate showmanship in sound pic- 
tures will be made available just as 
rapidly as the industry finds itself 
financially able to absorb them. 

Thus the stereophonic system which 
gives to sound the illusion of greater 
roundness and a sense of position, 
while now in the laboratory stage, 
has been demonstrated and is uni- 


versally acclaimed to be a tremendous 
improvement over the present 
methods. 

The apparatus for accomplishing 
this is rather complex and too ex- 
pensive at the present time for gen- 
eral use, but the laboratories are 
actively working to reduce its com- 
plexities so that the method may be 
within the reach of commercial ap- 
plication. 


Methods have been worked out for 
giving improved results from sound 
recorded on 16mm film. Much of 
this progress is already available in 
films made in the educational field. 
It is to be expected that compara- 
tively soon recordings of the highest 
grade can be made on 16mm film by 
even those of limited experience in 
this field. 


ROLLING CAMERA LOCKER 
GUARDS CAMERAS ON SET 


K eeping camera equipment 
safely and accessibly on the set 
is simplified by a new rolling equip- 
ment locker used at the Twentieth 
Century-Fox Studio. It carries two 
complete camera outfits, with tripods, 
magazines, and all accessories, replac- 
ing the fixed camera lockers in the 
camera department, and keeping un- 
used equipment safely under lock and 
key yet instantly available on the set. 

The rolling locker is a metal cab- 
inet mounted on small rubber tired 
wheels. At one end is an open recess 
in which tripods may be carried. The 
rest of the device is completely en- 
closed. 

Large Cupboards 

Next to the tripod compartment is 
a large cupboard extending the full 
depth and width of the unit for carry- 
ing accessory cases and the like. Next 
to this are two somewhat smaller 
closed compartments, one above the 
other. The upper of these accommo- 
dates two complete camera heads, with 
their motors, on a removable wooden 
tray which holds the cameras firmly 
in position yet allows them to be 


International 
Cinema. Ine. 


FILM LABORATORY 


• Experienced staff 

• Newest equipment 

• Cinematographers are invited to 
use the services of our technical 
personnel and up-to-date facilities 
— under the operative direction of 
Jack Guerin 

6823 Santa Monica Boulevard 
Hollywood, California 
Telephone — Hollywood 3961 
Cable Address: Incinema 


removed or inserted quickly and eas- 
ily. Below this is a second compart- 
ment for magazine cases. 

Plenty of Locks 

The doors to these locker compart- 
ments all open upward, so that it is 
virtually impossible to leave them 
open by accident. All are fitted with 
catches which hold them wide open 
so that the assistant may have both 
hands free for removing or replacing 
equipment, and all are fitted with 
locks. 

The new device, which has become 
a standard part of the studio’s meth- 
ods of handling camera equipment, 
is the brain child of Godfrey Fischer, 
head of the Twentieth Century-Fox 


Camera Department. He points out 
the advantages of being able always 
to keep all parts of a given camera 
outfit together, with spare lenses and 
other parts not in immediate use none 
the less available and yet safely 
guarded. 

A notable saving in time has re- 
sulted, he says, from eliminating the 
need for sending cameramen from 
distant stages or sets to the camera 
office for unexpectedly needed lenses 
or accessories. 

Similarly, when a company works 
unusually late, and is to continue the 
next day on the same stage, it is per- 
fectly safe to leave the equipment, 
locked in this rolling locker, on the 
stage rather than having to return 
it to the camera office locker room. 
The new units have, in the short time 
they have been in service, proved 
themselves well worth while from the 
standpoints of both convenience and 
efficiency. 



Rolling camera locker used at Twentieth Century-Fox Studio carries two compiete camera 

equipments with all accessories. 


326 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


A. S. C. MEMBERS 
ON PARADE 


• Elmer Dyer, A.S.C., reporting from 
London, suggests the first days of 
July were like old home week in that 
metropolis of the world. The flying 
cinematographer declares New York 
no longer is the thundering herd to 
him — London outthunders it. Missing 
are the sun and the family cars — “this 
place is so big,” he explains. Inci- 
dentally also are the monthly get- 
togethers at the clubhouse. 

Among the Hollywoodians who 
fraternized at a gathering were Mr. 
and Mrs. John W. Boyle, Mr. and Mrs. 
Lloyd Knechtel, Mr. and Mrs. Joe 
Rock, Mr. and Mrs. Ned Mann, Harry 
Perry and Otto Dyer. Joe Dubray and 
Hatto Tappenbeck in Holland sent a 
wire of greeting. 


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Mitchell, Bell & Howell, Eyemo, 
DeBrie, Akeley and other makes. 
Also all camera accessories, tripods, 
lenses, motors, laboratory and cutting 
room equipment. 

We Pay Highest Cash Prices 
Set in touch with us at once. 

CAMERA EQUIPMENT, INC. 
1600 Broadway New York City 

Tel. Circle 6-5080 Cable: Cinequip 


(Our thanks to Mrs. Dyer for the 
reporting. — Ed. ) 

• Gordon Jennings, A.S.C., is recov- 
ering excellently from his recent seri- 
ous back injury. Brother Dev reports 
Gordon, now getting about on crutches, 
visits the Paramount special-effects 
department almost daily to see that 
his staff is keeping up to snuff. 

▼ 

• Dewey Wrigley, A.S.C., presumably 
wishes Louisiana w’asps wuuld declare 
a closed season on studio workers. 
Newspaper reports say a wasp stung 
Bill Pine, De Mille unit business man- 
ager, while he was driving Dewey and 
other members of their location unit 
in a car. Result, one ditched car and 
three slightly but not seriously in- 
jured filmsters, not least of whom is 
D. Wrigley. But if there’s to be any 
closed season, why not one on special 
process cinematographers, what with 
Wrigley, Gordon Jennings, and Fred 
Jackman, Jr., all on the injured list? 

T 

• John W. Boyle, A.S.C., will be 
headed for Hollywood during the fall. 
He has just finished his final picture 
at the A. T. and P. studios in Eng- 
land and is away on a holiday. His 
family accompanies him, and in the 
family car the party will cover Ire- 
land and Scotland and the Continent. 


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Going along, too, is the trusty cam- 
era equipment, which will be brought 
into use whenever the unusual is 
spotted, anything that in the camera- 
man’s opinion might prove useful to 
a production department. 

Before faring forth and north a 
small party was staged — small in 
numbers, we beg to amend. Present 
with the past A.S.C. prexy were 
Harry Perry, A.S.C., and Elmer Dyer, 
A.S.C., recent arrivals from Holly- 
wood. You’ll have to fill in your own 
details, which probably without any 
difficulty you will be able to do. We 
just haven’t got ’em. 

It may be worth remarking, how- 
ever, in passing that Elmer is a 
member of the society’s entertainment 
committee. And there are those who 
know who will assure you that to be 
elevated to that spot a man must 
have what it takes. 

V 

• Charles Herbert, A.S.C., is making 
the most of his stay at his cabin in 
Montana following his return from 
the Orient, where he was for a long 
session translating happenings of im- 
portance into March of Time. Plain- 
ly “Herb” is a true son of the soil, 
as he is proving by his attack on 
things with a pick and shovel, with 
his cementing efforts, his rock quar- 
rying, his carpentering, his gardening 
and plumbing and what have you. 

He admits that he and the Mrs. 
are enjoying the wild flowers, which 
are everywhere in abundance, and the 
glorious weather. Who better is 
equipped to enjoy such a return to old 
home scenes than those who have been 
in foreign lands and among strange 
men and strange scenes ? “We’re sure- 
ly lucky,” comments the returned re- 
corder of things important. His 
friends will agree, and will wish him 
all of it and a bit more. 

V 

• Joseph A. Dubray, A.S.C., post- 
cards from Noordwijk Aan Zee, Kur- 
haus Huis ter Duin, zeeterras. which 
ought to mean and probably does. 
Somewhere in Holland — and under 
date of the last Sunday in June — a 
remembrance and good wishes. Join- 


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August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 327 


ing with him is Hatto Tappenbeck, a 
fellow-craftsman sojourning in Hol- 
land. 

T 

• Lawrence Dallin (“Del”) Clawson, 
A.S.C. incorporator, passed on in New 
York July 19. He survived his mother, 
who died in Salt Lake City, but four 
hours. He was fifty-one years old. 
He entered the photographic field over 
thirty years ago, and was more than 
a pioneer. He is credited with many 
innovations in the refinement of pho- 
tographic apparatus. 

Del Clawson is the fourth to pass 
of the fifteen men who on January 8, 
1919, formally were granted letters of 
incorporation. The organization had 
formed nearly a year earlier, but the 
movement to incorporate resulted 
from the wish on the part of the 
membership to secure the benefit of 
legal protection. 

The list of names appearing in the 
framed engrossed parchment hang- 
ing on the wall of the executive busi- 
ness manager’s office in the A.S.C. 
home are Philip E. Rosen, the first 
president; Homer A. Scott, William C. 
Foster (deceased), L. D. Clawson (de- 
ceased), Eugene Gaudio (deceased), 
Walter L. Griffin, Roy H. Klaffki, 
Charles G. Rosher, Victor Milner, Joe 
August, Arthur Edeson, Fred Le Roy 
Granville (deceased), J. D. Jennings, 
Robert S. Newhard and L. Guy Wilkie. 

▼ 

• Philip M. Chancellor, A.S.C., A.R. 
P.S.,F.R.G.S., missed the June getto- 
gether of the bunch at the A.S.C. 
clubhouse due to his physical inca- 
pacity and quite contrary to his pre- 
ceding intentions. It seems there is a 
boat in the case, a new one; that on 
the Sunday prior to the Monday stag 
the new master of the ship chose to 
have a trial run; that the water was 
in a calm — and also reflective — mood; 
and the sun, searingly warm, did its 
well-known stuff. 

A credible witness deposeth and 
says the victim of Old Sol, admittedly 
an expert on color, probably never in 
his life has encountered anything ap- 
proximating what he himself dis- 
played on “the morning after,” char- 
acterized by the aforesaid witness as 
approximating a futurist conception 
of a sunrise. 

T 

Hunter with Paramount 

C. Roy Hunter is now the head of 
Paramount’s camera department, suc- 
ceeding James B. Wilkinson, promoted 
last week to be the boss of the stu- 
dio’s laboratory. Hunter for many 
years was head of Universal’s labora- 
tory, his duties including charge of 
the camera department. A couple of 
years ago he went to the Consolidated 
laboratory as plant superintendent, 
but recently retired following a con- 
troversy over a transfer to Republic 
to which Hunter took exception. 



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328 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


HOW ONE CINEMATOGRAPHER 
SECURES VARIABLE DIFFUSION 


I N all of the recent discussions of 
methods for producing diffusion 
which may be varied during the 
making of a scene, the diffusing me- 
dium has been planned merely as an 
accessory to the camera. The de- 
vices most generally used have taken 
the form of a supplementary attach- 
ment placed on the matte box, or in 
some cases built semi-permanently 
into the blimp. 


By THEODOR SPARKUHL, 

A. S. C. 

To the writer this seems an unnec- 
essarily roundabout approach to the 
problem. 

Diffusion is definitely an integral 
part of modern dramatic cinema- 
tography. Practically every scene 
employs it to some extent. Moreover, 


while a cinematographer may change 
the degree of diffusion from scene to 
scene, in order to satisfy the artistic 
and technical requirements of the in- 
dividual scenes, he will as a rule hold 
generally to one given diffusion me- 
dium. If he prefers the one type of 
diffuser, he will make relatively little 
use of other types. 

The problem is therefore essential- 
ly one of permitting a quick and easy 
change in the degree of diffusion se- 
cured by some established means, and 
of making that change possible 
within a scene. 

Plan Is Practicable 

We have often heard cinematog- 
raphers express a wish that camera 
designers would incorporate such a 
variable diffusion element in the basic 
design of a camera. Quite as fre- 
quently, we have heard this wish 
negatived by the statement that it 
would require too extensive alteration 
of camera design to prove commerci- 
ally practical. 

This is not the case. It is thor- 
oughly practical to apply such a de- 
vice to virtually any existing studio- 
type camera. The winter’s own cam- 
era is so equipped, and has for some 
time been used with complete success. 

It is simply a matter of replacing 
the dissolving blade of the camera 
shutter with the desired diffusing me- 
dium and using it then as an infinite- 
ly variable diffusing element. 

It will be remembered that for a 
number of years the built-in shutter 
dissolve on studio cameras has not 
been used. Moreover, under modern 
conditions in which the cinematogra- 
pher is able to control exterior light- 
ing almost as accurately as he con- 
trols interior lighting, the practice 
of using reduced shutter apertures 
to control exposure and related fac- 
tors has also been used less and less, 
except in panning shots, where there 
is a considerabe variation in light; 
but even so my method can be applied. 

It may seem repetitious to outline 
the fundamental principle of this 
mechanism, but it will be well to have 
it clearly in mind. Such a shutter 
consists of two blades. One of these 
is fixed. The other is movable. Both 
revolve together, but one may be 
moved in relation to the other. 

When the movable blade is turned 
to its maximum in one direction it is 
practically hidden by the fixed blade 
and the shutter opening is at its 


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maximum — generally in the neighbor- 
hood of 170 or 180 degrees. As the 
movable blade is moved in the oppo- 
site direction it reduces the open area 
of the shutter’s circle, ultimately 
closing the shutter-disc completely. 

Uses a Scheibe 

When a fadeout is made the mov- 
able blade is closed, either manually 
or automatically, so that each suc- 
cessive frame is made through a 
smaller sector of the shutter than 
the frace preceding, until finally the 
shutter is completely closed and no 
exposure is possible. 

In the writer’s camera the movable 
shutter blade has been removed and 
replaced by a blade of identical shape, 
but consisting of the desired diffus- 
ing medium, in this case, a relatively 
heavy Scheibe diffusing screen. 

When the shutter blades are in the 
maximum-opening positions none of 
the diffusing element is visible. As 
the movable blade is closed, more and 
more of this diffusing element comes 
into view. 

When the camera is running, with 
the diffusing blade partly “closed,” a 
part of the exposure is made without 
diffusion and part of it with diffusion. 

This naturally gives considerably 
less diffusion than would be obtained 
if the entire expousre were made 
through a fixed diffuser of the same 
strength. But as the proportion of 
the exposure made through the diffus- 
ing element increases, the degree of 



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August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 329 


diffusion obtained increases corre- 
spondingly. 

It is therefore possible to govern 
the degree of diffusion obtained by a 
simple adjustment of what would 
normally be the shutter opening. In 
the same way, it is possible to in- 
crease or decrease the degree of dif- 
fusion by altering this opening as the 
scene is photographed. 

In practice, the writer recommends 
the use of a rather heavy diffusion 
element — say a Scheibe No. 2 or 3 
or its equivalent — as this gives the 
maximum range of variable diffusion. 
With the diffusing blade adjusted to 


cut the clear aperture a scant degree 
or so, the result is a very light dif- 
fusion such as might be used for long 
shots. 

When more diffusion is desired, the 
shutter is simply “cut” more. Where 
maximum diffusion is needed, it is 
only necessary to “close” the shutter 
completely. 

Easy and Smooth 
These adjustments may of course 
be made while the camera is running, 
adjusting the shutter either automat- 
ically or manually. The result is a 
far easier and smoother change in 



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330 American Cinematocrapher • August, 1937 


diffusion than is possible by any 
other method. Even when the change 
is made quickly, as when, for in- 
stance, an actor walks into a previ- 
ously vacant set, or in a swift zoom 
shot the change is not obviously per- 
ceptible as such on the screen. 

The device is most perfectly adapt- 
able to cameras in which the action 
can be rehearsed through the revolv- 
ing shutter, like the Bell & Howell 
and Debrie; but in other types, like 
the Mitchell, where this is not possi- 
ble, a few tests will show the proper 
settings for and desired degree of 
diffusion. 

It should be entirely possible to 
extend this idea still further. For 
instance, in some cases it may be de- 
sirable to vary the amount of filter 


correction within a scene, or to con- 
trol varying light and contrasts in 
outdoor trucking shots by varying 
densities of neutral density filters. 

The device naturally lends itself 
ideally to this. An infinitely variable 
neutral density filter, for example, 
could be produced by fitting a dis- 
solving blade made of a 100 per cent 
neutral density filter. 

By changing the shutter aperture 
adjustment this could give a complete 
range from its maximum down to a 
far lighter minimum than any neu- 
tral thus far available. 

Naturally, it would give invaluable 
intermediate steps between the pres- 
ent fixed densities. The same would 
naturally be true with any color fil- 
ters as well. The possibilities of 



Theodor Sparkuhl, A. S. C. 


varied filter effects seem practically 
limitness, for instance, in outdoor 
scenes where the camera pans or 
trucks from an exterior to an inte- 
rior, or the reverse. 


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August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 335 


AMATEUR MOVIE 

SECTION 



SOCIETY 

OF AMATEUR 

CINEMATOGRAPHERS 


BOARD OF REVIEW 

John Arnold, President, A.S.C., Executive 
Director of Photography, M.G.M. Studios. 

Karl Struss, A.S.C., Director of Photog- 
raphy, Paramount Studios, Academy Award 
Winner, 1928 

Fred W. Jackman, Treasurer, American So- 
ciety of Cinematographers 

Dan Clark, A.S.C., Director of Photog- 
raphy, 20th Century-Fox 

David Abel, A.S.C., Director of Photog- 
raphy of Fred Astaire Productions, R.K.O. 
Studios 


Contents.... 


Going Places Is This 8MM Club of 


Los Angeles 336 

By M. R. Armstrong 

How Suggestion Aids Production 338 

International Meet Set for April 6 at 
Columbia 340 

Flying Filmer Tells of Making Air 

Shots 341 

By E. L. Remelin 

Hollywood Forum Has Successful Con- 
ference 342 


Labs Make Advances in Their Handling 


of Film 344 

By H. W. Remerscheid 

Mac-Gurrin Paintings on View 345 

16MM Ideal Medium for Educational 

Pictures 346 

By William Stull 

Hortons Give Trophy to Los Angeles 
8MM 348 


Roper Creates Unit to Push Film Sales. 349 



336 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


GOING PLAGES IS 
THIS 8 M M GLUB 
OF LOS ANGELES 

Story of What Has Been Achieved 
in Three Years by Band of Enthu- 
siastic and Harmonious Workers 

By M. R. ARMSTRONG 


I T was on a summer evening in 
August in the year 1934 that two 
men, Randolph B. Clardy and C. 
W. A. Cadarette, sat in a car parked on 
a city street and first talked of form- 
ing a motion picture club to be devoted 
to the miniature motion picture cam- 
era field — 8 millimeter. These selfsame 
two men worked night after night 
advancing ideas and getting material 
together to put their ideas across. 

It was in the preceding December 
of 1933 that Clardy had first won the 
international prize in the contest spon- 
sored by the American Cinematogra- 
pher. Again in the following Decem- 
ber he won the same laurels. 

It was not long after the August 
evening first mentioned when the two 
enthusiastic young men consulted 
some of their friends relative to the 
proposed enterprise, among whom 
were Dr. Henry A. Linek, Courtney 
L. Dow, and myself. A business meet- 
ing finally was held at the residence 
of Mr. Cadarette, where it was de- 
cided to form what proved to be per- 
haps the most unique club of its kind 
in the world, to be devoted to the use 
of the smallest film made — with a 
frame so small that a picture can 
scarcely be seen with the naked eye. 

Mr. Clardy next set to work and de- 
signed the club insignia as it stands 
today. After some advertising the 
first meeting of the Los Angeles 8mm 
Club was held on January 10, 1935, in 
the auditorium of Bell & Howell in 
Hollywood. E. F. Carlson of that 
company, Mr. Winters and Mr. Burns 
of the Eastman Kodak Company at 
that time promised their full co-oper- 


ation, which we have always enjoyed 
and greatly appreciate. 

Fourteen Charter Members 

It was with much trepidation on the 
part of the organizers that memora- 
ble first meeting was awaited, but to 
our great joy we had a “full house.” 
Ten paid their dues and became char- 
ter members, making a total of four- 
teen members at the end of that first 
meeting. 

Mr. Cadarette was made acting 
chairman, Mr. Clardy vice president, 
Courtney L. Dow secretary-treasurer 
and myself social chairman. There 
was much tedious work to be done 
that first year and Mr. Cadarette and 


Mr. Dow spent endless working hours, 
as each letter had to be separately 
typed — funds being very low. 

However, this first year progressed 
rapidly and many very interesting 
and educational meetings were held. 
At this time we would like to men- 
tion the inspirational help we re- 
ceived from the then editor of Ameri- 
can Cinematographer, C. J. VerHalen. 

The final meeting of the year was 
held in the form of a banquet at the 
Cafe de Paree, in West Seventh street, 
Los Angeles, where over a hundred 
members and guests jammed the ban- 
quet room. The total membership at 
this time had risen to thirty-seven. 
Mr. Cadarette turned the meeting 
over to the incoming president. Dr. 
Henry A. Linek, who in turn pre- 
sented his coworkers Earl Janda, vice 
president; Dr. Barnes G. Ward, sec- 
retary-treasurer, and Arthur Svenson, 
social chairman. 

Three in a Row 

At this banquet meeting it was an- 
nounced that Dr. F. R. Loscher, one 
of our charter members, had won the 
Grand International Prize Contest 
sponsored yearly by The American 
Cinematographer for his most out- 
standing film “Red Cloud Lives 
Again.” This made the third consecu- 
tive year members of our little group 
had been honored by being proclaimed 
“world champions , 

The 1936 club year started off with 
much enthusiasm and many most in- 
teresting speakers wei*e obtained 
throughout the year to enlighten us 
on the intricacies of making better 
pictures. Among these were Belmar 
Hall, Harry Burdick and Count Von 
Schoenfeldt. Several contests were 
held during the year, and a number of 
noteworthy pictures were made by the 
various members. 

The year ended with a banquet held 





August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 337 


ton, thus making it easier to become 
acquainted with fellow-members. 

At the February meeting the “scoop” 
announcement was made that the sec- 
retary suggested and offered to get 
out a club publication to be printed 
at frequent intervals throughout the 
year. This suggestion was put before 
the meeting and the plan was unani- 
mously adopted. 


Club Journal a Hit 


The secretary -was appointed editor 
of this new magazine, which was titled 
Thru the Filter, and which is to be 
devoted to club activities and impor- 
tant announcements. The first issue 
was ready for distribution at the 
March meeting and was received en- 
thusiastically. The four page paper 
has since been published every two 
months. A special Year Book is 
planned for the end of the year. 

In order to facilitate the work in- 
volved in the secretarial and editorial 
positions the secretary was authorized 
to purchase a mimeoscope for the 
club. This has proved itself most use- 
ful in the art work necessary in the 
line of club duties. 

Among the interesting meetings 
held during the past few months was 
one devoted to the principles of screen 
make-up. Max Factor’s of Hollywood 
kindly sent us a young man who is 
regularly employed in the major stu- 
dios as a make-up artist. The first 
demonstration given was the ageing 
of a young man by many years and 
also changing his type entirely by the 
addition of most “lifelike” whiskers. 

This meeting proved so popular that 


Another popular committee appoint- 
ed was the “News Items Committee,” 
headed by C. G. Cornell, and the duty 
of which is to report on any interest- 
ing or outstanding news which may 
be published in the various amateur 
magazines. 

Due to the great amount of work 
involved in the growing organization 
the secretary was authorized to pur- 
chase for the club a mimeograph ma- 
chine to assist in running announce- 
ment letters, etc. This machine has 
proved invaluable. 

President Loscher made the sugges- 


M. R. Armstrong, Secretary 8mm Club. 


Dr. F. R. Loscher, President 8mm Club of Los Angeles. 


at the famed Victor Hugo in Beverly 
Hills, when, due to the illness of Pres- 
ident Linek the meeting was in charge 
of Vice President Earl Janda. There 
were forty-three members at the end 
of the second year. 

The new officers who had been elect- 
ed for the coming year were intro- 
duced at the meeting: Dr. F. R. 

Loscher, president, John E. Walter 
vice president, myself secretary-treas- 
urer, and Alexander Leitch, chairman 
of the social committee. 

Keeping Posted 

One of the first undertakings of 
the new officers was the membership 
drive which was inaugurated and 
w^hich has brought very fine results. 

Several committees were appointed 
for the year, among which was the 
popular technical committee, the duty 
of which is to answer all queries of 
members regarding problems they en- 
counter in taking pictures. This com- 
mittee is composed of Messrs. Cadar- 
ette, Clardy, and Bion Vogel. The com- 
mittee also acts in the capacity of 
critics, using the “Film Analysis 
Chart” which was introduced by the 
secretary. 

News Committee Popular 


tion that the club’s monthly announce- 
ment letters might be “pepped” up a 
bit, and thus the idea of novel de- 
signs pertaining to the principal fea- 
ture of each meeting done in color as 
a background for the letters was de- 
vised. Club Artist R. B. Clardy is 
responsible for the clever drawings 
which have been used. 

Print Bulletin 

Celluloid membership buttons were 
purchased by the club to be worn by 
the members during meetings. Each 
member’s name is printed on his but- 


338 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


by popular request the following meet- 
ing was again devoted to make-up, but 
this time the demonstration was for 
“straight” studio make-up as used pro- 
fessionally. 

Co-operation from Trade 

The June meeting was also a popu- 
lar one when the 8mm version of the 
famous picture of the silent era “The 
Covered Wagon” was procured for 
presentation that it might be used as 
a study for titling, editing, etc. 

During the months gone by of this 


year the officers have endeavored to 
give the members interesting as well 
as educational meetings, and the pres- 
ent success of the club we believe is 
wholly due to the co-operation be- 
tween the officers. We have many 
things planned for the remaining 
months of the club year which wc 
hope will be enjoyed and will prove 
beneficial to all members. 

We cannot end this little story of 
our club without giving a great deal 
of credit to the many Los Angeles 
firms which have backed us so whole- 
heartedly since the inception of the 


club and who have so generously of- 
fered us fine prizes for our contests. 
Also, much credit must go to those 
men who have been responsible for 
the co-operation we have received 
through publicity in the way of com- 
plimentary write-ups in the various 
amateur moving picture magazines. 

Since the first of the year we are 
very happy to report thirty-three 
new members, of which number five 
are women, making a total to date 
of 70. 

The Los Angeles Eight Millimeter 
Club is going places! 


HOW SUGGESTION 
AIDS PRODUGTION 


Amateurs Like Professionals Sometimes 
Feel Compelled to Multiply 'Em — Just 
How the boys Big and Little Work It 


T he other day a cinefilming 
friend of mine remarked that 
he would like to tackle a cer- 
tain subject, but didn’t dare to be- 
cause he lacked the necessary “pro- 
duction facilities.” 

Unfortunately, he was not a friend 
of sufficiently long standing to war- 
rant my using the unrefined (but de- 
scriptive) retort his plaint deserved. 
Besides, he takes his filming seriously. 
Instead, I took him to see Robert 



Since the camera doesn’t show either the 
befrinninK or the end of this marching: column, 
imag:ination can make a regriment out of a few 
men. From “All Quiet” (Universal). 


Flaherty’s production, “Elephant 
Boy.” In that picture is a first-class 
object lesson for every amateur film- 
er who feels that to get “production 
values” on the screen he must have 
bounteous “production facilities.” 

As that production was made large- 
ly in India, by a British company, I 
have no direct information as to the 
circumstances of its making; but on 
the screen I saw evidence that more 
than hinted Director Flaherty and 
Cinematographer Borrodaile were not 
at all times wallowing in production 
luxury. 

Their problem was a story that 
required elephants in wholesale quan- 
tities. And while in certain quarters 
the impression exists that Hathi is 
the flivver of India, people who 
actually have been there report that 
elephants are neither too plentiful 
nor too cheaply available. 

So the problem of showing Kip- 
ling’s “ten, and ten, and many times 
ten” elephants could not be solved 
by merely telephoning the Mysore 
equivalent of Central Casting and 
saying you wanted three hundred 
elephants on the set at 9 a.m. 

When 12 Equals 100 

The production was too interesting 
to give me time to tally the maxi- 
mum number of elephants shown in 
any one shot; but I would estimate 
the number at not more than a dozen 
or possibly fifteen. Yet they contrive 
to suggest two large herds — one of a 
couple of score used by the hunters. 


and a wild herd numbering a hundred 
or more. 

This was achieved by simple cine- 
matic methods which can be followed 
just as successfully by non-profes- 
sionals of the sixteen-and-eight bri- 
gade. They are simple matters of 
camera-angles and cutting. 

First of all, in scenes where there 
were supposed to be a great number 
of elephants, almost invariably the 
angle was such that the camera 
neither looked down past the elephants 
nor had a chance to peer under their 
bellies. And the elephants are shown 
in close enough shots so that on 
either side there is usually an ele- 
phant partly in the frame and partly 
out. 

By what the psychologists would 
call subjective association the audi- 
ence will naturally expect that beyond 
these partly-shown elephants there 
are yet more which could not be in- 
cluded in the shot. In the same way, 
where the camera shows one or per- 
haps two ranks of the beasts, one 
beyond the other in a side view, but 
cannot apparently include anything 
more distant, imagination will sug- 
gest rank after rank of elephants 
extending into the distance. 

Angle Shots 

In other shots, the elephants are 
seen moving more or less in single 
file along a jungle trail. If there were 
actually several hundred pachyderms 
any of us would break the monotony 
of an endless succession of marching 



American Cinematographer 339 


August, 1937 • 


elephants by shooting a variety of 
angles — long-shots, medium shots, 
close-ups; head-on, three-quarter and 
side angles; looking up and looking 
down; close shots of feet, and so on. 

Well, you could use the same treat- 
ment and get the same effect mak- 
ing these same shots of the same few 
elephants — and on the screen the 
effect would be that of a vast herd. 

This is especially so if you take 
pains always to cut from one angle to 
the next before the last elephant in 
line had fully entered the frame. 

In the same way it would be — ^and 
probably was — possible for the same 
few pachyderms to “double” as the 
hunters and the hunted. I believe this 
was done, for I cannot recall a single 
shot in which both groups of ele- 
phants were shown together. After 
all, unless you are personally ac- 
quainted with the beast, an elephant 
with a man on his back looks tame, 
while the same elephant minus man, 
howdah, etc., can, in the right sur- 
roundings, look wild! 

To forestall criticism, I will admit 
there were several extreme long-shots 
which apparently show a vast herd 
of elephants at their “dance”: but 
these were night-effects with little if 
any movement. While I do not know 
that they were produced by minia- 
tures or other forms of special-effects 
cinematography, it is likely; any of 
several processes could have done so 
without the need of any elephants 
at all. 

It Works in 16 and 8 

Of course filming herds of ele- 
phants is rather out of the ordinary 
for most filmers, amateur or profes- 
sional. But the principles involved 
work just as well for many other 
subjects, and with 16 mm. or 8mm. 
film running through the camera. 

Just by way of proving this, let me 
cite the case of Dr. F. R. Loscher, 
president of the Los Angeles 8mm. 
Club, and his Grand Prize winner in 
the American Cinematographer 1935 
Contest. He felt the urge to tackle 
a “Covered Wagon” type of story. 
To do this, he had to show a wagon 
train, a band of Indians, and their 
attack on the pioneers. 

His “production resources” consist- 
ed of a cast of four women and five 
men; three horses, two mules and 
one wagon; one bow and arrow, a 
couple of rifles and a revolver. He 
was able to borrow some authentic 
Indian costumes and to improvise 
some pioneer style men’s outfits; the 
four women had to share two cos- 
tumes between them. 

On the screen you see a convincing- 
ly large wagon train; a natural num- 
ber of emigrants; and quite enough 
redskins to massacre them in ap- 
proved style. 

These effects were not produced by 
any black magic, but by simple under- 


standing of what can be done with the 
camera. 

The wagon train was presented in 
this fashion: First, a long shot of a 
wagon crossing the picture made with 
the camera pointing slightly down- 
ward (to conceal a too modern back- 
ground); then a close shot of the 
trail with a ridden horse following 
the wagon-tracks; next another down- 
ward close-up of horses’ feet and 
wagon wheels as “another” wagon 
passed; an upward shot of a wagon; 
another downward-slanted medium 
shot of wagon wheels (cutting at 
about the top of the wheels) rolling 
through the picture while in the fore- 
ground a ridden horse passes by, and 
so on. 

Though the same wagon and the 
same ridden horses figured every 
time, on the screen they seem differ- 
ent ones in each shot — and the result 
is a wagon train almost as big as 
the one James Cruze used in “The 
Covered Wagon.” 

Double-Exposed Indians 

After the first few shots in which 
a single Indian is shown sighting the 
wagon train, signaling others, and 
groups of two or three braves ride to 
a rallying point, double exposure is 
called on to suggest a numerous tribe. 
As they prepare for the attack with 
a war dance, a conventional shot of 
two or three redskins commencing the 
dance is reinforced with a second ex- 
posure, apparently of other braves, 
also dancing. 

With a variety of angles and ex- 
posures in this sequence, the three or 
four men actually available for these 
parts are multiplied to a large en- 
campment of howling warriors. 

As they steal silently off to the 
attack another bit of simple camera 
trickery is used. A downward angle 
reveals the side of a little gully, upon 
which may be seen the shadows of 
three Indians moving in single file. 
A second later, the feet and legs of 
three more braves cross the picture 
at the top. Obviously, two columns 
of warriors! 


Double and even triple exposures 
are used generously to show the at- 
tack. In the first exposure, perhaps, 
we may see the white men under their 
wagons, firing at the Indians; in the 
second exposure, the redskins, played 
actually by the same individuals, ride 
or run past, shooting arrows at the 
white men; a third exposure may con- 
sist only of close-ups of the feet of 
the Indians’ horses galloping by. 

In another scene, the galloping feet, 
the pioneer with his rifle, and a long 
shot of a woman and child with a 
burning wagon tell the story graph- 
ically. 

Fooling ’Em 

This is all well enough for direct 
action scenes, but in the more placid 
sequence, before the attack, there is 
the problem of showing the wagon 
train encamped for the night — with 
but one wagon. This is solved by art- 
ful composition. 

In several shots we see the end of 
a wagon at one side of the middle 
distance. 

In another shot, we are apparently 
looking through one wagon at an- 
other. In the distance is one very 
genuine wagon; the foreground is 
framed in a curve of canvas which 
we imagine is the covered top of a 
second wagon, with a musket sil- 
houetted across its opening. Both in 
composition and action, interest is 
deliberately centered here not on the 
veritable wagon in the distance, but 
on the suggested one in the fore- 
ground. In other words, the sugges- 
tion proved more compelling than 
the elaborate actual “prop”! 

In a word, thanks to knowing how 
to use his camera to suggest as well 
as actually to show. Dr. Loscher made 
a prize picture with virtually no “pro- 
duction facilities” in either cast, 
properties, or suitable locations. And 
it had more real “production value” 
than many an elaborately produced 
sub-standard spectacle the makers of 
which had every imaginable physical 
asset but lacked the priceless cine- 
matic ingredient of ingenuity. 



340 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


INTERNATIONAL MEET SET 
FOR APRIL 6 AT COLUMBIA 

Ninth Annual Movie Party Will Be Held 
March 24 — Duncan Little to Guide Both 


D ates for the international 
Amateur Movie Show for 1938 
and Duncan Little’s Ninth An- 
nual Movie Party have been set by 
their respective sponsors. 

The Ninth Annual will take place 
Wednesday evening, March 23 next, 
in McMillin Academic Theater, Broad- 
way at One Hundred and Sixteenth 
street. New York. 

The International Movie Show will 
be given at Columbia University, in 
McMillin Theater, Wednesday eve- 
ning, April 6 — or a fortnight later 
than the Ninth Annual. 

As a part of its series. Motion Pic- 
ture Parade, Film Study, a division 
of Columbia University Extension, 
will sponsor the Ninth Annual Party. 
Selection of films for showing on 
this occasion as in the past will be 
left to a responsible jury. All pro- 
gram arrangements will be under the 
personal direction of Mr. Little. 

There will be no prizes and no 
awards of any kind. F'ilm Study will 
furnish a leader for each film selected 
for showing, to read “Selected for 
Exhibition at Duncan Little’s Ninth 


Annual Movie Party, under the Aus- 
pices of Film Study of Columbia Uni- 
versity, March 24, 1938.” 

All Amateurs Invited 

All amateurs are cordially invited 
to submit films. There are no fees 
or dues. Further details may be had 
by writing Mr. Little, 33 West Sixty- 
seventh street. New York, or to Film 
Study, Columbia University, Univer- 
sity Extension, New York. 

The program for the International 
Show will be under the personal 
supervision of Duncan Little, member 
of the Amateur Cinema League, In- 
stitute of Amateur Cinematographers 
of England, Society of Amateur Cin- 
ematographers of Hollywood and the 
Metropolitan Motion Picture Club of 
New York. 

Mr. Little is an amateur photog- 
rapher of distinction. One of his 
films, “The Making of Canadian 
Homespun,” has won honorable men- 
tion in England and Canada as well 
as in the United States. The Ameri- 
can Society of Cinematographers 
cited for honorable mention two other 


films, “The Circus Is in Town” and 
“The St. Maurice River Canoe Race.” 

At this First International Show 
films of outstanding merit and un- 
usual interest will be screened. They 
will be selected from the prize win- 
ners in England, Scotland, Czecho- 
slovakia, Austria, Australia, Holland, 
France, Japan, Canada and the United 
States. 

No prizes will be aw'arded, but 
Film Study will award a Certificate 
of Merit to each film selected for 
screening and a leader to read 
“Selected for Exhibition at the Inter- 
national Amateur Movie Show', 
Columbia University, April 6, 1938.” 
There are no fees for entry. 

International Rules 

Film Study has prepared the fol- 
lowing memoranda pertaining to the 
International Show: 

1. Films submitted should portray 
some aspect or aspects of life in the 
country of origin. 

2. Only amateur films will be 
screened. They may be either 16mm. 
or 8mm. (No reduction prints from 
35mm. originals will be accepted.) 
They may be silent or sound (sound 
on film or scored with records). They 
may be black and white or color. 

400-Foot Length Set 

3. It is requested that films sub- 
mitted approximate 400 feet in length. 
Exceptions to this will be made only 
for films which in the estimation of 
the appropriate national or local ama- 
teur organization are of unusual 
merit. 

4. Films should be submitted 
through a local or national amateur 
organization. Generally speaking. 
Film Study cannot undertake to 
solicit films from individuals. 

5. Since this is not a contest or 
prize competition, Flim Study will 
not presume to dictate standards or 
to indicate judgments. In the event 
that a jury is needed, the Advisory 
Group of Film Study will be asked 
to serve. 

6. Further information (as to clos- 
ing date, insurance, date of return, 
customs clearance, etc.) may be had 
by addressing Film Study. 



La Salle County, Texas, grades its roads with Caterpillar equipment, and in this installation 
the makers of this machinery saw a grand opportunity to make some compelling sales movies. 
The Caterpillar camera car takes Fred R. Jolly of the company’s advertising department and 
his Bell and Howell standard camera all over the country to film equipment actually at work 
in the field. The Caterpillar Tractor Company has long used motion pictures in its sales cam- 
paigns, and the company makes a goodly percentage of the sequences itself. Sixteen mm. prints 
are made from the 35 mm. negative and are used by salesmen and dealers. Hundreds of Filmo 
silent and sound projectors are constantly at work making these sales contacts. 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 341 


FLYING FILMER TELLS 
OF MAKING AIR SHOTS 

Always Uses Color But Never Filters 
with His 8mm Camera When Off Ground 

By E. L. REMELIN, United Air Lines Pilot 


I F YOU plan to go places by air- 
line this summer don’t forget to 
bring your cinebox along! No 
matter where you may be going 
you’ll find new and different picture 
possibilities surrounding you when 
you travel in a modern airliner. 

In this I speak from experience. 
Like most of the airline pilots I know, 
I’m a flying moviemaker. My little 
Filmo “double 8” flies with me on 
every trip as I skipper the big Main- 
liners back and forth between Los 
Angeles and San Francisco. Of course, 
I can’t say I use it on every trip — 
but when I want it it is always there 
to catch the unusual shot. 

Although I’m flying back and forth 
over the same route day in and day 
out, it doesn’t in the least follow that 
if I’ve filmed the scenes along the 
run once I’ll have exhausted their 
picture possibilities. Quite the reverse! 
Each trip offers something just a little 
different — changes in lighting, weather 
and season each can give me a slightly 
different picture. 

And there is always the chance of 
picking up some absolutely new shot 
on each trip. Some of the boys have 
caught scenes of railroad wrecks and 
highway smashes that make you 
really appreciate being up above it 
all in a comfortable airliner. I’ve 
filmed a few forest fires and the like 
myself. 

Color Makes Best Air Shots 

I do all my filming in Kodachrome. 
Black-and-white is all right, but once 
you’ve seen a roll of color shot from 
the air you’ll agree that, for aerial 
photography, color is the real thing. 

Unless you hit just the right com- 
bination of lighting and filtering, 
black-and-white is likely to look 
rather flat. Color, on the other hand, 
really gives you a sense of being 
actually in the air. And since color 
— especially in 8mm. — costs so little 
more than black-and-white it is by 
long odds the best thing to use for 
air shots. 

Aerial filming isn’t greatly different 
from making movies on the ground. 
The really important thing is expo- 


sure. For my own shots I always use 
a photoelectric exposure meter and 
follow its readings to the letter. I’ve 
found them the only real guide to 
good aerial exposing. 

It is a peculiar thing that in using 
a meter, as I do, you will get the best 
results by taking your reading with 
the “normal exposure” arrow rather 
than the “distant views” arrow. I’ve 
tried it both ways, and the normal 
exposure readings always gave me 
the best shots. 

No Filters for Color- 

Shooting black-and-white on Pan- 
chromatic film it may at times be 
advisable to use a filter which will 
cut through any slight atmospheric 
haze and perhaps increase your tonal 
contrasts. But in shooting color I 



Pilot E. L. Remelin 


have never found it worth while to 
use any type of filter. 

Theoretically, I suppose one might 
expect that in shooting Kodachrome 
from a plane 11,000 feet in the air 
the haze filter would be helpful, but 
I haven’t found it so, and I’ve noticed 
my unfiltered aerial shots looked 
much more natural than shots other 
people have made under similar con- 
ditions with filters. 

Shooting from inside the cabins of 
the big new Mainliners you will be 
working anyway through a window 
of a special glass which minimizes 
the excess of ultra-violet w-hich might 
otherwise make your color picture too 
strongly blue. This glass is clear and 
colorless, and the windows are amply 
large to give you plenty of freedom 
in picking camera angles. 

Good Camera Positions 

In some of the earlier airliners not 
all of the seats were well situated for 
picture making; the forward ones 
especially were often obstructed to 
some extent by wings, landing gear, 
motors and so on. But in these ships 
every seat will give you a good cam- 
era position. The rear seats, which 
are well behind the wing, still give 
the most completely unobstructed 
view, but you can get satisfactory 
pictures even from the ones farthest 
forward. 

The cabins of the Mainliners are 
large, well illuminated, and decorated 
in light colors, so if you wish you can 
get good shots of your fellow passen- 
gers inside the plane. Just the other 
day the stewardess on my ship told 
me after one run that one of our 
moviemaking passengers, in addition 
to making longshots of the scenery, 
had made several longshots of the 
cabin as a whole and then wandered 
up and down the aisle making close- 
ups of each fellow-traveler. 

Filming Story of Trip 

If you want to make a really com- 
plete record of your air trip I would 
suggest getting to the airport about 
half an hour before your ship is 
scheduled to leave. This way you can 
have plenty of time to film the neces- 
(Continued on Page 351) 


342 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


HOLLYWOOD FORUM HAS 
SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE 

Educators and Community Leaders Join Efforts to Further 
Work of Teaching Through Added Use of Motion Pictures 


F or two days last month, July 16 
and 17, the amateur photographer 
came into his own in Hollywood. 
The occasion was the 1937 educational 
conference, the third annual gather- 
ing, of the Hollywood Motion Picture 
Forum, in attendance at which on at 
least one occasion more than 300 
were present. 

The amateur came into his own be- 
cause of the large number of films 
shown in the two days many of them 
were exposed by amateurs — that is, 
they were amateurs once. Some of 
them easily might qualify as pros, 
and very likely do. 

The sessions opened at the audito- 
rium of Bell and Howell, in La Brea 
at Melrose. The crowd was so pro- 
nounced the subsequent sessions were 
held at the Melrose School, but a 
block away. 

The only exception to these was 
the showing Friday evening of Harry 
C. Pearson’s “African Holiday,” which 
due to an arrangement between Bell 
and Howell and RCA was projected 
in the recording stage of the latter 
company. All of the sessions were 
well attended. 

The persons behind the forum are 
educators and other community lead- 
ers interested in films of educational 
value. Shown to those who attended 
the sessions were some remarkable 
examples of the type of pictures cited 
by the leaders of the forum as desir- 
able. Several of these were furnished 
by major companies. 

Two Great Shorts 

Two outstanding shorts were from 
Warner Brothers. These were “Give 
Me Liberty” and “Under Southern 
Skies.” Both were in Technicolor. 
The former was the story of Patrick 
Henry, most movingly interpreted, 
especially in the delivery of his fa- 
mous speech to his fellow-Virginians. 
Some of the best of the screen’s 
character actors were to be seen in 
the cast. 

“Under Southern Skies” was the 
story of the death of Stonewall Jack- 
son, following his conference with 
General Lee. In its preparation and 
execution it fully matched its com- 
panion. 


M-G-M sent “Servant of the Peo- 
ple,” the story of the creation of the 
Constitution. Paramount, through 
Ralph Jester of the company’s Educa- 
tional Short Subjects Department, 
sent “Spirit of the Plains” and “See- 
ing Salem,” respectively pertaining to 
although not descriptive of “The 
Plainsman” and “Maid of Salem.” 

“Face of Britain,” produced by Paul 
Rotha, attracted much attention. It 
told the story of four eras of Britain 
in a way to impress the adult as well 
as the minor. 

Dr. Roy Gerstenkorn of Los Ange- 
les showed “The People of Japan,” 
or 400 feet of 16mm he had exposed 
in out-of-the-way places in the coun- 
try named. He had gone into the 
homes and houses of worship and pic- 
tured the people in their daily tasks 
and in the performance of their re- 
ligious rites. The county authorities 
asked the privilege of making a dupli- 
cate of the film for the local schools 
and it was granted. 

Evans a Good Skipper 

J. Farrell McDonald, director-actor, 
member faculty University of South- 
ern California, presented “My F'riend 
John Rogers,” acted, photographed 
and recorded by students. It was the 
first effort of the group, but during 
the year to come it was expected six 
of these subjects would be produced. 

One of the features of the confer- 
ence was the showing of “African 
Holiday,” photographed in Africa by 
Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Pearson. Pre- 
ceding the showing, Mrs. Leo B. 
Hedges, chairman State Motion Pic- 
tures, California Congress of Parents 
and Teachers, introduced Hal Hall, 
editor of the film, who in the illness 
of the producer described some of 
the work on the picture and in turn 
introduced Mrs. Pearson. The latter 
responded briefly and effectively. 

The sessions were under the gen- 
eral guidance of Walter Evans of the 
Bell and Howell Company, which or- 
ganization from the first has fos- 
tered and encouraged the officers of 
the conference in their work of pro- 
motion and distribution of educational 
films. 

The 1937 theme of the conference 


was “Utilizing Scientific and Artistic 
Developments in Education.” Bruce 
Findlay, president of the forum, 
gave the address of welcome Friday 
morning. 

The first speaker on the program 
was William Stull of The American 
Cinematographer, who spoke on “Re- 
cent Developments in Photography.” 
An extract of the address will be 
found an another page. Earl Theisen 
talked on “The Motion Picture In- 
dustry Today.” Miss Marian Evans, 
director Visual Education Depart- 
ment, San Diego City Schools, told 
of “Advances in Audio-Visual Educa- 
tion.” 

Work Saturday Afternoon 

In the afternoon the speakers were 
Mrs. Alice Evans Field, public serv- 
ice department Association Motion 
Picture Producers and Distributors ; 
Ralph Jester, Paramount, and Dr. 
Metfessel, Department of Psychology, 

use. 

Saturday morning brought two of 
the more notable addresses of the con- 
ference, the speakers being H. C. Si- 
lent of Erpi, whose subject was “Ad- 
vances in Recording and Amplifica- 
tion,” and Fred Orth, Faculty UCLA, 
who talked on “The Essentials of Ed- 
ucational Production.” Mr. Orth fol- 
lowing his talk showed a film on “The 
Silk Worm,” which attracted much at- 
tention because of its evident pains- 
taking effort in the making. 

The program for Saturday after- 
noon also was of unusual interest. It 
may be taken for granted it would 
have to be — to be able to hold until 
5 o’clock a good sized audience on a 
perfect Saturday afternoon in July. 

The speakers and subjects were 
Mary Clint-Irion, assistant director 
Los Angeles County Audio-Visual De- 
partment, “Advances in Educational 
Film Distribution”; H. W. Remer- 
scheid, western district manager Bell 
and Howell, “Laboratory Advances 
in Developing and Printing Motion 
Pictures,” and Barrett C. Kiesling, 
public relations department M-G-M, 
who described his contacts with edu- 

(Continued on Page 348) 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 343 



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344 American Cinematographer • Aug-ust, 1937 


LABS MAKE ADVANCES IN 
THEIR HANDLING OF FILM 

Bell and Howell Executive Describes 
Printing and Developing to Educators 


W ITHIN the past two or three 
years considerable advance- 
ment has been made in the 
technique of printing and developing 
motion picture film. To eliminate any 
possibility of confusion I shall first 
discuss motion picture printing, which 
operation, in the handling of film, 
comes prior to developing. 

It is assumed that everyone under- 
stands that the original negative is 
exposed in the camera and that this 
same negative is used in the making 
of what is termed “release prints” 
which are shown, or projected, in the 
various theatres throughout the coun- 
try. 

In any printing machine there is 
one major requisite, and that is that 
it is essential the film must be pro- 
pelled past the printing aperture with 
as uniform motion as is possible to 
obtain. 

Because of the sensitivity of the 
film any irregularity of the film mo- 
tion would produce an uneven ex- 
posure of the print, which would be 
entirely objectionable, as this varia- 
tion in density would be very much 
apparent on the screen. Consequently, 
every effort must be made to secure 
uniform film motion, and it has been 
in this direction that much refinement 
has been incorporated in the modern 
printing machine. 

Filter Out Irregularities 

In a continuous film printer of the 
type commonly in use a large heavy 
fij-wheel is provided which insures a 
continuous, uninterrupted motion of 
the film, once sufficient momentum 
has been obtained to rotate the heavy 
flywheel at a definite speed. 

In addition to the flywheel a mech- 
anical filtering arrangement has been 
provided for filtering out all irregu- 
larities which might be created by 
the numerous gears and movable 
parts in the printer. The combination 
filter and flywheel has done much in 
the way of producing prints of uni- 
form density. 

The refinement in this direction was 
brought about due, in many respects. 


By H. W. REMERSCHEID 

Summary of Address to Motion Picture 
Forum at Recent Hollyivood Conference 

to the stringent requirements of print- 
ing the sound track, but at the same 
time the laboratory technicians and 
cinema machinery manufacturers were 
also making every endeavor to im- 
prove the picture quality. 

By the addition, therefore, of the 
precise filter arrangement and the 
heavy flywheel we have made it pos- 
sible to secure perfectly even prints 
which were heretofore difficult to ob- 
tain, and while the result might not 
be apparent to the average audience 
one might easily select a modern 
print in preference to one three or 
four yars old were you to have the 
opportunity to view them side by side 
on the same screen. 

Each Scene Has Best 

During this meeting you may have 
had an opportunity of seeing some 
old prints, and if you have you will 
have noticed the uneven density which 
will be quite apparent to even the 
casual observer. 

Another interesting angle and im- 
provement on 5-printing procedure has 
been in the method of changing the 
intensity of light for the various 
scenes. Each scene must necessarily 
be photographed under various and 
different lighting conditions, and be- 
cause thereof it is necessary the 
printing machine be equipped with a 
variation of light intensity so that 
each scene may be printed to its very 
best advantage, insofar as density is 
concerned. 

In the modern printing machine we 
have 30 light steps as compared to 
the 22 in the older type machines. 
This means that we have a much 
finer gradation of light and can secure 
on our final prints a quality which 
had heretofore been impossible. 

The method of light change, and 
the additional light change steps com- 
bined with the fiyw’heel and the filter 
arrangement for producing uniform 
film motion, have, in our estimation, 
aided immeasurably in securing the 
very beautiful results which you can 
now' see on almost any theatre screen. 

Another refinement has been in the 


printing sprocket, which proples the 
film. Before the advent of sound it 
w'as not necessary that the film mo- 
tion be as critical as it is today, and 
for that reason the mechanism of the 
printing machine and the sprocket 
w'hich conveys the film w'ere neces- 
sarily made only with reasonable pre- 
cision and not to the extreme accu- 
racy which is now necessary. 

Nearly Perfect Results 

In the printing machine which you 
now see the sprocket teeth which 
convey the film are manufactured to 
a tolerance of .0002, which represents 
an accuracy many times less than the 
thickness of a cigarette paper. By 
this comparison you may well im- 
agine the accuracy and the precision 
of the sprocket on this machine which 
conveys the film. 

In sunrmary, the foremost refine- 
ments in printing, in our estimation, 
have been the development of a means 
for manufacturing a sprocket having 
the characteristic of precision such as 
previously mentioned. Also the ap- 
plication of a well knowTi principle 
such as the flywheel and the mechan- 
ical filtering arrnagement to insure 
uniform film motion. 

These two refinements combined 
with the traveling mpttes for creat- 
ing the variable light changes have 
done much for the technicians in the 
studios to enable them to produce the 
nearly perfect results as w'e see them 
today. 

In the developnrent of motion pic- 
ture film there has been considerable 
advancenrent made to secure clean, 
positive prints from the developing 
tank. Several years ago the devel- 
opment of motion picture film w'as 
done on what is known as a “rack” 
developing machine. 

In WTapping the film around the 
rack it w'as inevitable that the film 
contacted it in many places w'hich 
produced what were known as “rack 
marks”. Rack marks were entirely 
too prevalent, and to anyone with a 
reasonably critical eye they w'ere eas- 
ily apparent on the screen. Many old 


August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 345 


MAC-GURRIN PAINTINGS ON VIEW IN 
CINEMATOGRAPHERS' MAIN LOUNGE 


firms which are still projected today 
show evidence of having been devel- 
oped on a machine of this type. 

Film Travels Slowly 

For the past few years machines 
have been used to develop film which 
convey the film on rollers through 
the various baths. Film is propelled 
uniformly, but because of the time 
required for developing the film is 
naturally conveyed through the ma- 
chine quite slowly. 

Because the film travels so slowly 
and always in one direction there is 
a backwash of the developing solu- 
tion which trails over from one frame 
to the other. In the case of one scene 
having a heavy density and the next 
scene being very light there might 
be a tendency for the heavy density to 
wash back into the light scene. 

You will observe this condition on 
some films which are shown on the 
screen today, and it is because of this 
back trailing already mentioned that 
the light scene might show trailing 
effect. This is quite apparent on out- 
door scenes where the dark building 
would appear against a light back- 
ground and the densities of the build- 
ing would trail off into the sky, or 
background, creating a very undesir- 
able effect. 

This trailing from one frame to an- 
other has been termed “directional 
effect”, and the name implies to the 
direction in which the film was travel- 
ing through the solution. 

Back Trailing Stopped 

Consequently, and because of the 
greater economy and more satisfac- 
tory results obtained by machine de- 
velopment the average laboratory tol- 
erated “directional effect”, because it 
had not means for overcoming it. 

During the past year or two a 
method has been developed to over- 
come the condition of directional ef- 
fect, and it has been accomplished 
by means of installing a high turbu- 
lation or agitation in the developer 
solution which is of such violence that 
the by-products of the developer are 
not given the opportunity to trail 
back along the film, but are taken 
away from the film back into the 
solution proper. 

In other words, the turbulation or 
agitation created a condition in the 
developing machine whereby fresh de- 
veloper contacted the film at all times 
and the by-products of developing 
were not permitted to trail back over 
the film as had been its action in the 
past. 

One of the greatest advancements, 
therefore, in the development of mo- 
tion picture film has been in the elim- 
ination of directional effect, and while 
it presented many obstacles it was 
finally eliminated. 


T he three large paintings hang- 
ing in the American Society of 
Cinematographers’ main lounge are 
the work of Buckley Mac-Gurrin, in- 
ternationally known California artist. 
They are painted in oils on three-ply 
Philippine mahogany, and were exe- 
cuted in Paris about 1930. 

Mac-Gurrin received his early art 
training in California. Upon being 
graduated in 1922 from the Univer- 
sity of California he came to Holly- 
wood and worked for Famous Players- 
Lasky, where he designed and su- 
pervised the construction of the seven- 
teenth-century sailing ship used in the 
silent picture “To Have and to Hold.” 
In September of that year he went to 
Paris, to study with Richard Miller, 
Bernard Naudin, Henri Morisset, 
Charles Guerin and Gino Severini. 

Most of the following eleven years 
he spent in Paris, with frequent trips 
to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Bel- 
gium and Austria. From 1926 to 1933 
he exhibited a great deal in Paris, 
notably at the Salon des Tuilleries and 
the Salon d’Automne. One of his 
paintings was acquired by the French 
Ministry of Fine Arts. He received a 
great deal of notice from French 
critics. 

Mac-Gurrin returned to the United 
States in 1933. Fifteen of his paint- 


Focusing . . 

On the Nose 

D r. ROY E. GERSTEN- 
KORN was entertaining a 
half dozen friends in his Los 
Angeles home. During the eve- 
ning he had screened pictures 
he had exposed during a recent 
world tour, among them medium 
and close-up shots of the Afri- 
can lion on his own ground. 

The conversation turned to 
focusing, of the importance 
among other photographic fac- 
tors of a keen eye for estimat- 
ing distance, and the practice 
so long followed by profession- 
als of using a tape measure in 
order to secure exact results. 

“Hit em right on the rose — 
that’s focusing!” exclaimed a 
member of the group. 

“This focusing on the nose 
really is great stuff — in a stu- 
dio,” quietly commented the 
doctor. “But there are times 
when a man might be a bit 
slow in planting the end of a 
tape measure right on the nose 
— of a lion!” 


ings, including a portrait of Miriam 
Hopkins, were used by Ernest Lu- 
bitsch in “Design for Living.” His 
paintings subsequently have been used 
in fifteen Paramount Class A produc- 
tions. 

He was in charge of designing ac- 
cessories for Paramount’s set dress- 
ing department for De Mille’s “Cru- 
sades.” His paintings have been shown 
locally at the Stendahl Galleries, Con- 
tempo, the Hollywood Gallery of 
Modern Art, the Los Angeles Mu- 
seum, the San Diego Museum, etc. 
Eight of his paintings are being 
shown by invitation during the month 
of August at the San Francisco Palace 
of the Legion of Honor. He was also 
invited to the Second Annual Exhi- 
bition of American Art at Rockefeller 
Plaza in New York and the Fine Arts 
Section of the Olympic Games in Ber- 
lin. He is an exhibiting member of 
the Foundation of Western Art. 

The three paintings at present on 
view were obtained as a loan to the 
Society through Alfred Gilks. 


Mescall in Champ Try 

John Mescall, A.S.C., champion 
cameraman golfer and also incident- 
ally champion in any company, has 
been named on the Los Angeles team 
of four men to compete in the national 
links championship to be staged in 
San Francisco August 9 to 14. On 
Sunday, August 1, the team, composed 
of Bruce McCormick, Robert Snyder, 
John Mescall and George Lance, will 
play an exhibition game at Sunset 
Fields, teeing off at 1 p.m. 

The men named will play as indi- 
vidual competitiors for the national 
championship as well as for the team 
championship of the United States. 


New Willoughby Bulletin 

Willoughby’s 110 West Thirty- 
second street. New York, announces 
as just off the press its Bargain List 
No. 737. It features many new items 
as well as second hand examples of 
equipment the company states are 
offered at greatly reduced prices. A 
half dozen of the twenty-eight pages 
are devoted to lenses alone, while 
other pages are devoted to still cam- 
eras, film pack and plates, photo ma- 
terials, amateur movie equipment, tri- 
pods, etc. 


Camera, photographic monthly of 
Lucerne, Switzerland, announces the 
First International Competition of 
Artistic Photography Pictures 1937. 


346 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


16 M M IDEAL MEDIUM FOR 
EDUCATIONAL PICTURES 

From Paper Read Before Hollywood Motion 
Picture Forum Friday, July 16, 1937 


O NE of the most truly significant 
recent developments in motion 
pictures is to be found right 
here in this auditorium. It is not any 
technical device or process, but the 
fact that here — and all over America 
— educators are not only thinking and 
talking, but actively working to put 
the motion picture to constructive use 
in the vast field of education. 

To achieve this end with complete 
success demands, as you probably 
realize even better than I, that the 
pedagogue must in a majority of in- 
stances learn something of practical 
motion picture making. Of course, 
there always will be some subjects 
which can be filmed better or more 
completely by established professional 
agencies, but in many more instances 
the individual teacher can far better 
make his own films to suit his spe- 
cialized needs. 

And if these individually-made films 
are to be worthwhile, they must be 
photographically as well as pedagogi- 
cally good. For that reason it may be 
well to digress momentarily from the 
purely educational aspects of the prob- 
lem to discuss the photo-technical 
phases. 

Comparing 16mm and 35mm 

To begin with, let’s rule out the 
idea of wasting itme over the purely 
profpsional problems and advances of 
studio cinematography. Sixteen mil- 
limeter is economically far better 
suited to the needs of the individual 
maker of educational films: and one 
can do practically anything in 16mm. 
that can be done in 35 mm. — ^and do it 
in almost every case as well, and in 
some instances much better. 

Recently a field instructor in a large 
university’s agricultural department 
asked me what advantages would be 
gained by equipping his projected mo- 
tion picture laboratory on a 35mm. 
basis rather than on 16mm. After 
considering his problem, the only dif- 
ference I could find would be that if 
he made his plant a professional 
35mm. studio he could spend more 
money and get less picture than he 
could with 16mm. Aside from that, 
the advantage lay definitely with the 
smaller film. 

Modern 16mm. sound lecording and 


By WILLIAM STULL, A.S.C. 

reproduction, while not nearly on a 
par with the latest 35mm. sound 
heard in the privacy of studio projec- 
tion rooms and engineering labora- 
tories, is certainly the equal of what 
we hear in the average theatre. Six- 
teen millimeter color, as exemplified 
by Kodachrome, is definitely better 
than any but the very rarest exam- 
ples of theatrical colorfilming. 

Composition Important 

And in ordinary black - and - white 
camerawork almost the only thing 
that 35mm. can do which 16mm. can- 
not as a rule accomplish as well is 
in the field of special-effects camera- 
work — which is rarely if ever needed 
in instructional filming. 

I think the main point of difference 
between professionally made 35mm. 
and non-professional 16mm. is in the 
fact that a professional cameraman 
has a surer grasp of the two great 
fundamentals of photography: light- 
ing and composition. 

Both of these in their higher de- 
velopments require a certain inborn 
instinct; but for practical purposes 
both can, like a taste for oysters, to 
a certain extent be cultivated. 

Most instructional films do not re- 
quire composition in the artist’s sense, 
but they require composition none the 
less. The student’s attention must 
be centered on some definite object 
or action in every scene. Composi- 
tion in its most practical form is 
basically a matter of directing atten- 
tion where you want it to go. 

Disregarding the several involved 
systems of composition which have 


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been offered by analytically minded 
artists, the simplest key to effective 
composition is to remember that in 
viewing a picture the eye normally 
enters at the lower left-hand corner 
and travels diagonally upward to the 
upper right. Any strong lines or 
masses — ^and I include in this strong 
highlights or shadows — crossing this 
imaginary diagonal will tend to divert 
the eye along the plane made by the 
conflicting line. 

In general, the object of maximum 
interest should lie fairly centrally 
along this left-to-right diagonal. If 
it cannot, little compositional guide- 
posts should lead to it from that line; 
they need not be obvious, but they 
should be there. It is always a good 
idea before shooting a scene to study 
it in the finder to see how your eye 
travels; to see if it is kept in the de- 
sired path, and prevented also from 
slipping aimlessly out of the picture 
entirely. 

Tonal Contrasts 

Another point relating to practical 
composition is the matter of tonal 
contrasts. Large dark masses can 
help concentrate attention on more 
important and perhaps smaller lighter 
areas or objects. F’or the same rea- 
son many of us have found our pet 
scenes weakened because some large, 
light - toned mass — possibly in the 
background or to one side — -drew the 
audience’s eyes away from what was 
actually the most important part of 
our scene. 

Just notice the next time you look 
at a snapshot of a man in a white 
shirt and another one in a dark suit 
how your attention jumps to the 
white-shirted figure almost regardless 
of his position in the picture! 

Movement does the same thing. An 
object that is moving will almost in- 
variably steal the scene from a mo- 
tionless object, regardless of relative 
sizes or positions. A man or an auto 
moving away back across the back- 
ground can often divert attention 
from the objects in the foreground 
you really want seen. 

Where there are several people in 
a scene their positions relative to the 
camera are important. All other 
things being equal, the person nearer 


August, 1937 


• American Cinematographer 347 


the camera is likeliest to command 
the scene. This is especially so if 
the nearer one moves more positively. 

Lighting is equally important. 

No matter what you are photo- 
graphing, it is vital to remember that 
there should be two sides to every- 
thing — a highlight side and a shadow 
side. Normally speaking, the shadow 
side should receive about half as much 
light as the highlight side. 

Lighting Important 

Working indoors, under artificial 
lights, this is easy, for you can place 
the lights on one side of your subject 
nearer than those on the other. This, 
rather than an absolutely symmetri- 
cal, and therefore flat, lighting is 
what is professionally known as a 
“balanced” lighting. 

Working outdoors, with the sun as 
our light source, this matter of bal- 
ancing light is not so easy. In non- 
theatrical work we cannot as a rule 
use the professional’s elaborate means 
of diffusing sunlight with overhead 
scrims and the like, but we can very 
often use reflectors. Placing our sub- 
ject so the light strikes crosswise, in- 
stead of full face, we can use reflec- 
tors on the shadow side to throw a 
soft illumination back into the shadow 
side and give the luminous shadows 
we want. 

Another professional trick which 
can well be used in serious sub-stand- 
ard filming is the use of “booster” 
light. This can be done outdoors 
where one is near an electric power 
supply which can power ordinary in- 
door lighting units. One or more of 
our regular indoor lighting units can 
be used to take the place of reflectors 
in exterior scenes. 

Boosters an Advantage 

These boosters can be used very ad- 
vantageously when photographing 
people on shady porches and the like, 
where the background is strongly sun- 
lit, and where we want to balance our 
foreground illumination somewhere 
near our more brilliant background. 

In either interiors or exteriors the 
professional cameraman strives al- 
ways to light the different planes of 
his picture in different intensities. 
These contrasted planes help to add 
an illusion of depth to our actually 
flat picture. 

Tontal contrast is always helpful, 
too, in making people or objects stand 
out from their backgrounds. We all 
remember the childhood joke of say- 
ing a sheet of black paper represented 
a photograph of a sleeping negro in 
a coal-mine at midnight, or a sheet of 
white paper a polar bear sleeping in 
a snowdrift. You would lose the 
point if you put the negro in the snow- 
drift or the polar bear in the coal- 
mine — but you would get a better pic- 
ture, for each would stand out vividly 


Our Thanks 

I ENJOY your magazine im- 
mensely, as it covers the 
16mm field better than any 
magazine I have found. 

TOM MOORE. 
Knoxville, July 7, 1937. 


against its contrasting background. 

The same principle can be applied 
very practically to every-day movie- 
making. A person in a light costume 
will be more evident against a darker 
— not necessarily black — background, 
while dark-clad persons, who might 
merge into a background of dark walls 
or foliage will stand out if photo- 
graphed in front of a lighter-toned 
background. 


About Filters 

If you cannot control this situa- 
tion, back-lighting — either with arti- 
ficial lights indoors or reflectors or 
direct sunlight outside — will help by 
outlining the figure and thereby sepa- 
rating it from the background. 

Another aid in this connection can 
sometimes be the use of color filters. 
Suppose we have the problem of a 
red object or a red-clad person in 
front of a green hedge. Presuppos- 
ing the use of a panchromatic film, a 
green filter will usually tend to lighten 
the tone of the green foliage and 
darken the red object, while a red 


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filter would do the opposite, tending 
to darken the green and to lighten the 
red. 

In general, there is one great axiom 
in using filters: to lighten any color, 
use a filter of the same color; to 
darken it, use a filter of a comple- 
mentary color. These effects are rough- 
ly proportional to the density of the 
filter. 

Filter Factors 

And here might be a good place to 
say a few words about the often mis- 
understood subject of filter factors. 
I have known more than one experi- 
enced non-professional filmer who was 
quite at home with filtering on his 
regular type of film but who encoun- 
tered trouble (usually in exposure) 
using the same filters on a different 
type. 

This is due to the fact that the filter 
factor is simply a numerical expres- 
sion of the filter’s relationship to one 
particular type of film. Suppose we 
have a filter that cuts out all of the 
blue light. On a film wherein the 
major part of the emulsion’s light 
sensitivity lies in this blue-light re- 
gion we will be eliminating most of 
the light capable of exposing the film 
if we use that filter; accordingly, we 
must compensate by greatly increas- 
ing the exposure — and we say that 
filter has a high factor. 

Lighting Children 

On the other hand, suppose we have 
a film with a greater proportion of 
its overall sensitivity spread through 
the other colors. Here, the blue plays 
a relatively minor part. If we use 
this same blue-eliminating filter we 
are removing only a minor portion of 
the useful light, we need to increase 
the total exposure far less, and we 
say that on that film the filter has 
only a low factor. It is entirely pos- 
sible for a filter to have a factor of 
40 on one type of film and of but 1.5 
or 2 on another type. 

This very indirectly recalls a trick 
of lighting which is used profession- 
ally when photographing such valued 
child-stars as Shirley Temple and the 
Dionne quintuplets. It can be fully as 
useful in filming any other children. 

Children’s eyes are highly sensitive 
to light. They cannot be fully natu- 
ral when dazzled by bright lights, 
especially if they have to be looking 
into them. 

My friend Arthur Miller, A. S. C., 
who photographs Shirley Temple, takes 
great pains always to light Shirley 
with the smallest possible amount of 
light. Instead of using big 5,000 watt 
units he uses baby spotlights almost 
exclusively. And so that Shirley need 
not look directly into the lamps he 
places them high up, so that in look- 
ing in their general direction, as the 
(Continued on Page 360) 



348 American Cinematographer • August, 1937 


HORTONS GIVE TROPHY 
TO LOS ANGELES 8 MM 


S WEEPING aside all meetings held 
in the past, the regular meeting 
of the Los Angeles 8mm. Club held 
in the Auditorium of Eastman Kodak 
Company, 6706 Santa Monica Boule- 
vard, July 13, was a great success. 

Following the reading of the min- 
utes Vice President John E. Walter 
introduced these new members: W. H. 
Kirby, Francis J. McEntee and Dr. 
Don Rush. 

The editor distributed the July issue 
of Thru the Filter, Vol. 1, No. 3, to 
the members. 

Due to absence from the city on ac- 
count of vacations of several of our 
members the semi-annual contest that 
was to be held was postponed, and by 
unanimous vote it was decided to post- 
pone any further contests until our 



T . 


Perpetual trophy given to 8mm Club of Los 
Angeles by Mr. and Mrs. William L. Horton. 
Each year the member making the best vaca- 
tion travel picture will have his name en- 
graved on the column and for the coming year 
will be the custodian of the trophy. 


final one held in December of each 
year. 

In quest for information in regards 
to the picnic that had been discussed, 
A1 Leitch was called upon and having 
met with the governing officers, it was 
decided to postpone a picnic until a 
later date. 

Leaders in the publication of The 



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American Cinematographer, George 
Blaisdell, editor, and William A. Stull, 
A. S. C., were handed honorary mem- 
bership cards, on mutual consent of 
the board of governors. 

John E. Walter was called upon, 
and on behalf of one of our members 
and his wife, presented to the club a 
permanent trophy in the form of a 
bronze column with a bronze motion 
picture camera placed on the top. Mr. 
Walter said the presentation is made 
in order to promote better vacation 
pictures and to make all wish for bet- 
ter pictures. The member each year 
who makes the most outstanding va- 
cation travel picture is to have his 
name and date of presentation en- 
graved upon the trophy, and is to 
have possession of the trophy for the 
en.suing year. 

William L. Horton and wife are the 
donors of this trophy. Mr. Horton 
says they will get a great deal of en- 
joyment if their idea will ci’eate more 
interest in vacation reels. 

The usual technical committee ses- 
sion in answering problems of the 
members was next in order, following 
which the ten minute intermission re- 
cess took place. 

A member of the Los Angeles 
Cinema Club. Dr. Roy E. Gersterkorn, 
paid us a visit and was so kind as to 
show us his late travel picture en- 
titled, “The People of Japan," and 
promised at a later date to show us 
pictures he has taken in Africa. We 
all will look forward to seeing the.se. 

Member Ben Ray sent in some pic- 
tures which were taken by his brother 
whilp on location with Paramount dur- 
ing the filming of the popular produc- 
tion “I Met Him in Paris”. The clever 
title used on the picture was “53 Daze 
in a FVigidaire,” the scenes having 
been laid in heavy snow in Sun Valley, 
Idaho. 

Mr. Cadarette topped off the eve- 
ning by showing his recent film en- 
titled, “The Magician,” and some Type 
A Kodachrome interior shots. 

M. R. ARMSTRONG, 
Secretary-Treasurer, 


HoDvwood Forum 

f Continued from Page 342) 

cators in the course of his travels 
around the country. 

Walter Evans, in summarizing the 
educational phase of the films that 
had been shown during the two days’ 
conference, cited the fact that pic- 
tures had been projected demonstrat- 
ing life as it is lived in Hawaii, Eng- 
land, Africa, Japan and Mexico, and 
recreating in most dramatic enter- 
tainment some of the more impor- 
tant factors in the history of the 
United States from 1776 to the pres- 
ent day. 

Incidentally in the formal 280 reg- 
istrations 15 states were represented. 



Augxist, 1937 


• American Cinematographer 349 


ROPER CREATES UNIT 

TO' PUSH FILM SALES 


S ECRETARY ROPER has ap- 
proved the recommendation of 
the Bureau of Foreign and Do- 
mestic Commerce for the creation of 
a motion picture division in that unit 
of the Department of Commerce de- 
signed more intensively to assist in 
the foreign sale of American-made 
motion pictures, unexposed film, mo- 
tion picture equipment and photo- 
graphic goods. 

Nathan D. Golden, motion picture 
marketing specialist who directed the 
work previously performed in this 
field as a function of the electrical 
division of the bureau, has been 
named chief of the new unit. 

The economic importance to the 
United States of foreign sales of 
motion pictures is evidenced by trade 
estimates showing that approximately 
40 percent of the total annual income 
to American producers in this great 
industry results from the rental of 
films for exhibition in foreign coun- 
tries. 

The direct export trade of the 
United States in photographic and 
projection goods was valued at ap- 
proximately $21,000,000 in 1936, offi- 
cial statistics show. 

When announcing the creation of 
the new unit in the Bureau of F oreign 
and Domestic Commerce, Secretary 
Roper stated the increasing popular- 
ity of American films in foreign coun- 
tries has prompted the enlargement 
of the activities which the bureau pre- 
viously performed in this field of 
trade promotion. 

While the direct returns to the 
United States from foreign sales of 
motion pictures and motion picture 
equipment is of great importance, 
the indirect benefits accruing to the 
United States from the exhibition of 
American films in foreign countries is 
of still greater importance to the 
general export trade of the country, 
it was stated. 

It is definitely known the utiliza- 
tion in this country of household ar- 
ticles, automobiles, industrial machin- 
ery, clothing and numerous other 
items as depicted in our motion pic- 
tures has been very influential in 
popularizing such products in foreign 
countries. 

The good will and understanding 
engendered by the constant exhibi- 
tion of our motion pictures before the 
peoples of other countries is of great 
value to the foreign trade of this 
country, he stated. 

Because of the advantages result- 


ing from the sales and exhibition of 
our motion pictures abroad, it was 
stated every effort will be made to 
extend the foreign sales of such prod- 
ucts. 

Mr. Golden, who is a member of the 
bar of the District of Columbia, has 
been associated with the motion pic- 
ture industry for approximately 



P 

I — The infinite ca- 
pacity for taking 
pains was never 
more manifest than in the work of Oskar 
Barnack, inventor of the Leica. 

So carefully did he work, so intelligently 
did he plan, so great was his craftsman- 
ship that his original camera— the first 
Leica — embodied all the fundamental 
principles that have revolutionized mod- 
ern photography. The original Leica is 
still, even by today's standards, a great 
camera. 

Today's Leica, Model G with the Rapid 
Winder and the Leitz Xenon f:1.5 lens, is 
the miniature candid camera at perfec- 
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all the essentials of the ideal all-purpose 
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action in ordinary artificial light, takes 
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Nathan D. Golden 


twenty-five years. He is a member 
of the Society of Motion Picture En- 
gineers, American Projection Society 
and the Projection Advisory Council. 
In 1930 he was the recipient of the 
first annual gold plaque merit award 
offered by the Projection Advisory 
Council for contributions in the field 
of motion picture projection. 

He is a World War veteran and 
was injured in action while with the 
American Expeditionary forces in 
France. 


Agfa Rings the Bell 

The Agfa Ansco Corporation has 
collated plates representing the com- 
pany’s magazine advertising for the 
current year and printed them in a 
portfolio of thirty-two pages and 
cover 12 by 15 inches over all. The 
plates range in size from 7 by 7 to as 
large as 9 by 11 inches. 

It is a craftsmanlike job. And that 
goes for all the departments contrib- 
uting to the result — to the quality of 
the film which serves as the founda- 
tion, to the skill of the photographer 
who makes the exposure, and to the 
engravers and printers who have 
given of the best of their crafts to 
preserve and to reproduce the artistic 
efforts of those who preceded them 
in the making of the book. 


Erpi President Looks In 

Whitford Drake, president of Elec- 
trical Research Products, Inc., was in 
Hollywood during July on his first 
trip to the West Coast since assum- 
ing office. 

“This is just a routine trip,” stated 
Drake, “prompted perhaps by an urge 
to see the new buildings which we are 
erecting at Romaine and Seward 
Streets, where all our activity will be 
centered after September 1.” 


350 American Cinematographe2i • 


August, 1937 


16 mm Ideal Medium 

(Continued from Page 347) 

action may require, she can look actu- 
ally under their beams. 

This can obviously be used in 16mm. 
filming quite as well. In fact, it can 
be done even more effectively, for the 
fastest 16mm. emulsions are very 
much faster than the fastest 35mm. 
emulsions, and many 16mm. cameras 
have larger shutter openings and let 
in more light per exposure than do 
35mm. cameras, so one can actually 
use less light in sub-standard filming 
than would be needed in 16mm. 

Filming the Dionnes 

I like to use a diffused light for 
front light on children, with possibly 
an undiffused beam crossed from side 
or back for a modeling highlight. 
This diffusion can be achieved with a 
simple sheet of tracing cloth hung in 
front of your lamp — not stretched 
tightly unless you have a frame that 
holds it a bit away from the lamp’s 
shell, to allow ventilation. 

Filming the Dionnes, Daniel B. 
Clark, A. S. C., used diffusers made of 
daylight blue gelatin. By experiment 
he found this gave a perfect photo- 


graphic light but did not noticeably 
bother even a young and very sensi- 
tive infant. So successful was this 
that after Clark made the first Dionne 
feature film Dr. Dafoe insisted that 
the newsreel cameramen duplicate 
Clark’s lighting installation and 
methods. 

T 

Release 'Pledge My Heart' 

A new 4-H club film, entitled “I 
Pledge My Heart,” has been released 
for distribution by the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. It depicts the 
activities of the National 4-H club 
camp in Washington. The picture 
weaves the activities of the national 
4-H camp into a background of Wash- 
ington’s historical shrines. 

Each year outstanding club mem- 
bers, two boys and two girls from 
each state, are selected as delegates 
to the National Camp on the basis of 
achievements in regular farm and 
household projects carried out in 
their respective clubs. The 4-H clubs 
— head, heart, health and hands — are 
sponsored by the Extension Division, 
Department of Agriculture. 



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38 Tons Equipment Used 
on One Universal Scene 

HIRTY-eight tons of camera 
equipment was employed to film 
one scene in Universal’s “100 Men 
and a Girl.” 

The scene represented the hall and 
stairway of the home of Leopold Sto- 
kowski, leader of the Philadelphia 
Symphony orchestra, who stars with 
Deanna Durbin in the production. It 
consisted of a semi-spiral stairway 
which wound around four sides of a 
set, and upon which stood a full sym- 
phony orchestra as it played Liszt’s 
Second Hungarian Rhapsody under 
Stokowski’s direction. 

The weighty apparatus included the 
eighteen-ton camera crane built for 
Universal’s “King of Jazz” some 
years ago, a ten-ton crane, and a 
“baby” eight-ton crane; four cameras 
with solid metal “blimps” and per- 
ambulators. 

The monster crane was used to 
swing camera and director above the 
set while photographing. The smaller 
ones were used inside the set as close- 
ups of groups and individuals were 
recorded. Camera work was under 
the supervision of Joseph Valentine, 
A.S.C. 

T 

J. Kinney Moore Captures 
Another Big Time Prize 

J. Kinney Moore, S.A.C. member 
and maker of “Nite Life,” which was 
awarded a special prize for outstand- 
ing special effects photography in 
The American Cinematographer’s 1936 
contest, has received notice another 
of his films has carried off top hon- 
ors in a national contest sponsored 
jointly by Liberty and Pete Smith’s 
MGM short subject department. 

His one-reel 16 mm. production 
“Prize Winner” has been awarded 
premier honors in Liberty’s contest 
and a cash prize of $500. It is under- 
stood the Liberty contest was to se- 
cure material suitable for professional 
remaking as a Pete Smith short. 

V 

Argentine Sono Film 

An Argentine production company, 
Argentine Sono Film, has announced 
it will make twenty feature pictures 
during the 1938 season, which is the 
most ambitious schedule yet attempted 
by a local producer. 

The company is now arranging for 
two new studios, which will bring its 
total to seven. Trade papers also re- 
port negotiations are under way 
whereby Argentine Sono Film wdll 
control the production of another local 
company, Rio de la Plata. 



August, 1937 • American Cinematographer 351 


FLYING FILMER TELLS OF MAKING AIR SHOTS 

(Continued from Page 341) 


sary atmospheric shots showing what 
happens before your ship takes off. 

In all probability you will be able 
to get scenes of some other ship of 
the same type and the same airline as 
the one you will use. Letting it 
“double” for your ship, you can begin 
by showing it taxiing from the serv- 
ice hangars to the passenger loading 
gate and then film the preparations 
for the trip — the air-conditioning 
truck which pumps refrigerated air 
into the cabin to keep it cool until 
the take-off; loading express and 
mail; pilot, co-pilot and stewardess 
coming from the field office to take 
command; the passengers boarding 
the plane; the field attaches deliver- 
ing the running orders; the okeh sig- 
nal from the field’s control tower; 
and finally the take-off. 

. Shooting the Take-Ofif 

In filming the take-off, a follow- 
shot made with a telephoto lens is 
very effective. It always interests 
the layman to see a close shot of a 
big plane getting into the air and 
then retracting the landing wheels 
one after the other. 

All of these shots will fit perfectly 
into the scenes you actually make on 
your trip. Once they are in the box 
you can find out which way your ship 
will be heading when in the air and 
plan accordingly to get a seat on 
the shady side, so you will not be 
troubled by reflections or flare on the 
window. 

After that you can forget photog- 
raphy till you are in your seat. Then 
be ready to film the take-off. Shoot- 
ing at a three-quarter forward angle, 
with the camera pointed slightly 
downward, is probably the best for 
take-offs, as it gives an impression 
of the plane’s forward and upward 
movement. 

Two Miles Up 

On most modern American airline 
runs the ships fly high — at an alti- 
tude of 10,000 feet or more. None the 
less, you can still get plenty of inter- 
esting shots of the country over 
which you are flying. Color shots 
flying high over thin, broken clouds 
are very effective, especially if you 
can show the plane’s shadow racing 
along over the clouds far below. 

On some runs, like Western Air 
Express Los Angeles-Salt Lake City 
run, for instance, you will fly over 
notable places such as Boulder Dam. 
Here the pilot almost always will 
drop down closer and circle about a 
bit so the passengers on both sides 
of the ship can get a good view' — 
and incidentally good pictures — of the 
huge dam and of Mead Lake behind 
it. Other runs passing over the 
Grand Canyon and similar scenic 


features give you an equally good 
break. 

Shots of your fellow passengers 
during the flight make interesting 
scenes, and there’s plenty of room and 
light for them on most modern planes. 
Incidentally, don’t forget that airline 
stewardesses will lend a decorative 
touch to anyone’s picture! 

Intimate Interiors 

Cloud effects and sunsets — partic- 
ularly in color — are a never-ending 
source of fascinating scenes. One of 
my best shots is built up of successive 
short flashes of a sunset over San 
Francisco Bay. The plane was flying 
level, headed north, just as the sun 
set. As I flew along I held the camera 
handy, and every few moments I 
would expose a foot or so. 

On the screen the effect is like a 
stop-motion shot of the sun sinking 
lower and lower, finally dropping into 
the Pacific behind the Golden Gate. 
The individual shots w'ere made prob- 
ably ten or a dozen miles apart; but 
between the two-mile altitude and the 
camera’s angle this was not notice- 
able. 


Incidentally, just because our mod- 
ern airliners cruise at speeds of about 
200 miles an hour, don’t imagine you 
will race past interesting scenes too 
fast to get a good picture. Two 
miles up, your movement isn’t nearly 
so noticeable as it might seem. And 
if the ship is actually moving too fast 
for picture purposes you can do much 
to counteract this speed by panning 
against the plane’s movement. 

To complete the picture, as you ap- 
proach the end of the plane’s run, get 
aerial shots of your destination city 
and its airport, climaxing with the 
actual landing and the unloading of 
the passengers. When these scenes 
are properly cut and titled you will 
have a picture that is both pictorially 
effective and interesting enough to 
please any audience — even one of 
moviemaking professional pilots. 

T 

Show New Sub-Titles 

Assistant Trade Commissioner Joe 
D. Walstrom at Btienos Aires reports 
one American film distributor will 
soon offer its pictures with a new 
form of sub-title presentation. 

Under the new system the words 
will appear on the screen just below 
the picture. 


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352 American Cinematographer 


August, 1937 


Present Color Trend 

(Continued from Page 317) 

is their association with heat or cold. 
Long wave length colors such as 
reds, oranges and yellows ai'e stim- 
ulating colors and through associa- 
tion give us the effect of warmth. 
At the other end of the spectrum 
we have the short wave length colors 
which seem to recede from us, ac- 
tually rest the eye, and give the 
effect of coolness. These are greens, 
blues and purples. 

Certain hues of dull or bilish 
greens, and certain blends of green 
and brown, as well as some browns, 
often produce reactions of sea and 
air sickness. Their use should there- 
fore be avoided in ships or aircraft. 

There is one more important as- 
sociation: that pertaining to either 
femininity or masculinity. The deli- 
cate hues of pink, violet, orchid and 
related colors are considered decid- 
edly as feminine, while chromati- 
cally rich primaries such as red, blue 
and yellow are more masculine. 

Finally one may speak of certain 
very neutral hues of browns and 
other mixtures as being indifferent 
and even “muddy” colors. Their use 
is not safe and often indicates bad 
taste. 

Trends in Color Harmony 

While contrasting or complemen- 
tary color combinations will continue 
being used for adveitising, traffic 
signs and posters, the trend of good 
taste is toward the more subdued 
types of harmony such as the anal- 
ogous, the split-complementary or 
even the monochromatic. 

Pastel shades are, of course, less 
tiring and therefore preferable for 
the home and public rooms. For 
apparel one can resort to brighter 
colors and color-schemes since one 
changes frequently. 

Here one may lay emphasis on 
the very important element of time. 
Generally speaking the color contrast 
in any arrangement of hues should 
vary as an inverse function of time. 
In other words, if a particular color 
scheme is to be viewed for a long 
period of time it should be more sub- 
dued than if intended for only a 
short period. 

Color Hints from Nature 

The lessons derived from nature 
are numerous, and they support all 
good theory on color. The most ap- 
parent are: 

(A) Simplicity. The predominat- 
ing color scheme in nature is of 
course greens and blues. Both are 
cool and restful hues. They would 
not constitute good color harmony, 
however, if they adjoined too sharp- 
ly: but very definite transition mix- 
tures of blue-greens and green-blues 
as the landscape recedes toward the 
horizon give us perfect analogous 


harmony. Often when one is close to 
a green hill or mountain these tran- 
sition bands are not visible, but the 
sky or blue mountains in the back- 
ground are so far removed that the 
picture becomes a double landscape, 
destroying the clash. 

(B) Moderate use of warm colors. 
Nature brings into the landscape 
bright reds, oranges, yellows, purple- 
reds, etc., only in very small areas, 
such as flowers, fruits, birds and 
other incidentals, scattering them 
all over the picture, thus brighten- 
ing the scene without a general 
clashing effect. When man wants to 
reproduce this ensemble he should 
maintain similar proportioning. 

(C) Water. This element has the 


well known property of reflecting 
and blending the colors above, thus 
providing somewhat of a carpet and 
a mirror to complete the perfect 
landscape. 

(D) Twilight. W'^hen a display of 
warm colors appears in nature over 
a very large area, such as a field 
of deseit flowers in the spring, fall 
foliage, etc., it is of comparatively 
short duration and has the effect 
of cheering us up. Thus also a warm 
sunrise wakes us up and gives us 
new energy and hope for the prob- 
lems ahead, while a red and gold 
sunset spread out over most of the 
heavens above closes with a warm 
farewell and acts as a mild tonic 
at the end of a tiring day. 


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RUBY CAMERA EXCHANGE, 729 Seventh 
Ave., New York City. Established since 1910. 


BELL-HOWELL CAMERA SILENCED, adapt- 
ed for color, variable area, single system 
sound. Complete outfit, like new, ready 
to shoot. $2750.00. Hollywood Camera Ex- 
change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, 
California. Cable Hocamex. 


BELL & HOWELL 5-WAY SOUND PRINTER. 
Generators. Panel Control Boards, Duplex 
Printers, Sound Moviolas. Developing Ma- 
chines, Blimps. Dolly, B & H splicers, Mit- 
chell and B & H Silent Cameras, Motors, 
High-Speed Gear Boxes, Light Testers, 
Projection and Lighting Equipment. Guar- 
anteed optically and mechanically perfect. 
Send for 1937 Bargain Catalogue. Holly- 
wood Camera E.xchange. 1600 Cahuenga 
Blvd., Hollywood, California. Cable Ho- 
camex. 


WANTED 


USED incandescent studio lighting equipment 
in good condition. McLarty Motion Picture 
Service. Station "B.” Buffalo. New York. 


WE WANT TO BUY 


All Types of Cameras 

We pay the highest cash prices for Mitchell, 
B & H, Akeley, DeBrie, Eyemo and other 
makes of cameras and camera accessories. 
We also want tripods, motors, magazines, cut- 
ting room and laboratory equipment. Tell us 
what you have ! Get our price offer ! ! 

CAMERA EQUIPMENT, INC. 

1600 Broadway New York City 


WE PAY CASH FOR YOUR USED CAMERA. 
LABORATORY AND STUDIO EQUIPMENT. 
Write, wire or cable 


MOTION PICTURE CAMERA SUPPLY, INC. 
723 Seventh Avenue, New York City 
Cable Address : Cinecamera 


WANTED: We pay cash for everything pho- 

tographic. Send full information and low- 
est cash prices. Hollywood Camera Ex- 
change, 1600 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, 
Calif. 


WANTED — Minimum size developing machine 
second hand ; also second hand throw over 
Wall camera or Mitchell. Address Chas. 
Herbert, American Society of Cinematog- 
rstphers, Hollywood. 



AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER 
1937 AMATEUR COMPETITION 
FOR 8mm AND 16mm SUBJECTS 

$1000 IN PRIZES 

$500 CASH $500 EQUIPMENT 

VICTOR ANIMATOCRAPH CORPORATION 


sends word it will give a Prize to be awarded for the most unusual and interest- 
ing lighting* effect, regardless of subject or length of film (only 16 mm film to be 

used) : 


One Model I I 

VICTOR MASTER SILENT PROJECTOR 

(complete with carrying case) 

List Price After August I, $147 
Optional credit will be issued in sum of $147 
against purchase of 


Models 4 or 5 VICTOR Camera 
Any model Victor Sound-on-Film Animatophone 
Model 22 Silent VICTOR Master Projector 
Credit can be applied against purchase only of 
equipment mentioned and not on purchase of 

accessories 


BELL & HOWELL WILL AWARD SlOO 

in merchandise to be selected by contestant adjudged maker of film best in photographic technique and made 

entirely with Bell & Howell Cameras, either 8MM or I6MM. 

WESTON ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENT CORPORATION 


contributes without reservation as to the character of the film submitted one 

WESTON CINE EXPOSURE METER 

Model 819 


FURTHER DETAILS OF EQUIPMENT TO BE ANNOUNCED. NO ENTRANCE FEE. ORIGINAL 

FILMS ONLY— NO DUPES— NO REDUCTION FROM 35MM 


THE RULES 


The contest is world wide and open only to genuine 
8mm or 16mm amateurs or amateur clubs. 

The contest ends at midnight November 30, 1937. 
Entries, mailed or expressed, later than that time will 
not be eligible. 

Pictures submitted will be judged by photography, en- 
tertainment and/or story value, direction, acting, cut- 
ting and composition. 

The decision of the judges, among whom there will 
be prominent cameramen, will be final. Announcement 
of the awards will be made as soon after the close of 
the contest as possible and checks and prizes sent to 
the winners. 

Pictures may be submitted either by individual ama- 
teur movie makers or they may be submitted by ama- 
teur movie clubs. Each entrant must have his entrv 


A.MERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER 
1782 No. Orange Drive 
Hollywood, California 

Please send me one of your olficial entry blanks. 
I intend to enter a (16mm 8mm) picture in your 
1937 contest. I understand mv entry must be in 
your office not later than November 30, 1937. 

Nam.e 


Street. . 
Address 


or entries accompanied by a sworn statement, the blank 
for which will be forwarded to him to fill in. 

Contestants may enter as many subjects as they 
desire. One entry blank will cover all subjects. 

The American Cinematographer reserves the right 
not to declare a prize for any classification if in the 
opinion of the judges there is not a picture submitted 
sufficiently good to be classed as a prize-winner. 

The American Cinematographer also retains the 
right to make duplicates of such prize-winning pictures 
as it may indicate for free distribution to clubs and 
amateur organizations throughout the world. 

If you intend to enter the contest please send coupon 
on this page for official entry blank. 


Special — The American Cinematographer has 
been requested by Film Study of Columbia Uni- 
versity to present for showing in Film Study’s 
International Movie Show on April 6, 1938, that 
subject which the contest committee of The Cine- 
matographer shall consider the outstanding film 
submitted in its competition. 

Film Study of Columbia University desires to 
make it clear that its 1938 showing is an exhibit 
rather than a contest. It is anxious it be under- 
stood by all interested it is not conducting a 
prize competition. It aims to present an even- 
ing’s entertainment of worthwhile outstanding 
amateur films from all over the world. That the 
individual moviemaker may have something to 
show for his pains it is planned to award a cer- 
tificate of merit and a leader setting forth the fact 
of the honor conferred, but no prize. 


For simplicity of operation 
and unfailing resu Its 
cameramen prefer 

THE 

MITCHELL 

Mitchell Camera Corporation 

6 6 5 NORTH ROBERTSON BOULEVARD 
WEST HOLLYWOOD. CALIF. 

Cable Address "MITCAMCO" Phone OXford 1051 

AGENCIES 


BELL & HOWELL CO., LTD., London, England 
CLAUD C. CARTER, Sydney, Australia 
D. NAGASE & CO., LTD., Osaka, Japan 


MOTION PICTURE CAMERA SUPPLY, INC., New York City 
BOMBAY RADIO CO., LTD., Bombay, India 
H. NASSIBIAN, Cairo, Egypt 


I