,
Camera Knowledge
for
The Photoplaywright
By HUGH C. McCLUNG
: California
((Regional
y]?acility
Camera Knowledge
for
The Photoplaywright
HUGH C. MCCLUNG
One of a Series of Lectures Especially
Prepared for Student-Members
of The Calmer 'Plan
PALMER PHOTOPLAY CORPORATION
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Cffright)T<)2O,Palmtr Photoplay Cerforutien, Lti slngtltf, Califtrnia
Ml Right, R,,,rv,d
HUGH C. MCCLUNG
HUGH C. McCLUNG is one of the more thoughtful and
progressive class of cinematographers. In early life an
enthusiastic amateur photographer, Mr. McClung became
a newspaper expert 'with the camera and finally took up motion
photography, starting with the old Melies Company, one of the
pioneer organizations in the making of motion pictures. Mr.
McClung later became identified with the St. Louis Motion Pic-
ture Company, Fine Arts, William Fox, Triangle, Douglas Fair-
banks, Famous Players-Lasky, D. N. Schwab Productions, Inc.,
and other well-known companies. He photographed "The Won-
derful Schools of Los Angeles" and exhibited the film at the
Panama Pacific Exposition at San Francisco, winning first prize.
Mr. McClung has not been satisfied merely to accupy himself
with the daily routine of turning the crank of a motion picture
camera, but has experimented and studied, and several important
discoveries and inventions are credited to him as a result.
SRLF
1 . Intimate knowledge of the camera is not essential
to the progress and success of the photoplaywright as far
as the actual craft of evolving situations, plots and com-
pleted stories is concerned, yet every screen writer should
be sufficiently familiar with the work of the camera man
to talk and think intelligently on the subject.
2. The camera is at one and the same time a mechan-
ical and an artistic utility; it is to the director of photo-
plays what the brushes, paint and palette are to the painter.
In the Handbook, Mr. Palmer has explained that the
photoplay is .screen drama. In the case of the speaking
stage, the audience witnesses the action of the play as it
is presented by the living actors. While a play is running
in one city, the rest of the world must needs wait. The
photoplay is a product of modernity, and unlimited dupli-
cation of positive prints derived from the original negative
permits the simultaneous presentation of a screen drama
in innumerable places. The camera and the cinema-
tographer form the unit that makes it possible to record
and duplicate the dramatic or comedic action that is em-
bodied in a screen production.
Camera and Printing Press.
3. Looking upon the camera purely as a mechanical
device, it may be regarded in relation to the production of
photoplays much as the printing press is in the publication
of books and magazines. The novelist need never even
see a printing press nor know anything of its mechanical
construction. After shaping the story in his mind he may
dictate it to a stenographer, and when the final draft is
complete, give it no further thought until the finished
volume is placed in his hands.
3
4. Following this line of reasoning, the photoplay-
wright need not be concerned with his story from the time
he submits the manuscript until he sees the screen pre-
sentation. The cases are not quite parallel, however,
The novelist tells his story in words and phrases, and the
printing press is merely a means of duplication, for the
finished volume still consists of words and phrases. The
photoplaywright sets his story down in words, descriptive
of action, and the camera translates the action into pic-
tures. It is obvious, therefore, that the photoplaywright
must constantly think in pictures. And for this reason,
familiarity with the camera is exceedingly useful.
5. It is an excellent idea for each sincere student of
photoplaywriting to possess a camera, even though it be
of the smallest pocket variety. Its use will materialfy
assist in developing the habit of visualization, which is
indispensable to the screen writer.
6. In his lecture dealing with picture values from
an artist's viewpoint, Mr. Wagner deftly dealt with the
limitations and possibilities of motion photography, and I
shall confine myself to intimate details of the cinema-
tographer's daily work.
Importance of the Camera Man.
7. Many who are not acquainted with studio details
seem to assume that the camera man needs only to be
equipped with the ability to focus and turn the little
crank that winds the film past the lens. It is true that
these requirements have sufficed many times in the past,
but the photoplay of today and tomorrow must be con-
sidered as an artistic entity, and the camera man must be
collaborator with the director in translating the original
ideas of the author to the screen. That the producer has
fully realized this fact is proven by the increasing custom
of giving the cinematographer full screen credit for his
work.
8. As an example of the lack of information on the
part of the laity regarding the requirements of a camera
man, may I be excused for relating a personal incident?
Not long ago we were engaged in making a series of
scenes in an interior on an open stage and our work was
followed with interest by several spectators. When we
had finished one sequence and were waiting for a change
of costume, one of the spectators stepped over in front of
me. The following conversation ensued:
"What do they pay in your line of work?"
"Oh, from $75 to $300 a week."
"You mean per month."
"No, I mean per week."
"Gee, I'd like to get a job here taking pictures. Any
chance?"
"What experience have you had?"
"Oh, lots."
"On the camera?"
"N n no."
"Been an assistant to a camera man?"
n no."
"Have you had any laboratory experience?"
"I I can't say I have."
"Have you a kodak and do you do your own work?"
"Not yet. Do you have to know all these things just
to stand there and turn that handle?"
9. Had time permitted I fear I should have related
to him the famous story of Whistler and a similar pest
who, on asking the great painter with what he mixed
his paints to get such beautiful results, was answered
brusquely, "With brains!"
Some Interesting Details.
10. In viewing a picture replete with thrills, you
have swayed to one side to avoid an automobile or given
an exclamation at the near approach of an express train
rushing head on, or you have "ducked" to escape the aero-
plane which apparently swept right out into the audience.
During all this you were sitting in a comfortable chair
where do you think the camera man was? True, this is
the spice and not the regular diet of a cinematographer's
5
life, but, notwithstanding, there is hardly a day that passes
in our lives in which there is not more or less risk.
11. What is the first requisite of a good camera
man? Technical ability, for without this he could not
accomplish anything. It seems hardly necessary to speak
of concentration, for in this business, more than in almost
any other, it is a most important qualification. The lack
of it sometimes leads to amusing incidents.
12. Such a one occurred during the filming of the
blowing up of a cabin. A big charge of powder had been
placed and beams run in every direction, so that when
the charge was exploded it would completely demolish
the house. Two cameras were used to photograph this
to forestall any failure. One was placed on a large
covered 'truck about 75 feet from the cabin, the other on
the ground about 35 feet away, the latter working for a
closer view. The *Graflex man was on hand, too, and
when the word was given, the cameras started, then the
signal was given to the powder-monkey, who exerted all
his strength with an old-fashioned friction battery, but to
no avail, owing, no doubt, to faulty contact. After six
fruitless attempts, the seventh was conspicuously success-
ful, but the suspense had affected everybody's nerves to
such an extent that the Graflex man, who had withdrawn
his slides the first six times, failed to do so on the seventh,
"and so lost the shot, while the camera man on the truck,
who had been wrought up to a painful pitch by the sus--
pense, stopped his camera as the explosion occurred.
13. Are technical skill and concentration all the
qualities that are needful? No; the came/a man must
have speed, judgment, diplomacy, patience, ingenuity,
resourcefulness and courage. This seems a formidable
list, but let us take each. quality by itself and see if the
following incidents will not bear out my assertion.
Speed.
14. The greatest necessity for speed is illustrated in
the gathering of events of importance for the pictorial
*Operator of a Graflex, or speed camera, who makes "still" pictures of
important scenes.
news weeklies fires, accidents, etc., but speed is equally
as necessary in dramatic work.
15. A great dramatic star who had been before the
camera for years once said to a friend, indicating a very
capable and efficient cinematographer who had only re-
cently joined his forces: "There is the best camera man
I have ever met in the business. Do you know why?
Because, when we have finally rehearsed a dramatic scene
and the director says, Go, we go! Naturally, we do better
work while the spell of the emotion is on us, but if we
are compelled to wait until the camera man gets his
focus, or attends to a dozen other things which should
have been done during rehearsal, the spell is broken and
we go on the scene cold. We went down town yesterday
for an important street scene, and that fellow casually
looked over his set-up. While the director was quietly
giving us instructions as to the scene, so as not to attract
attention, the camera man had set up his camera in a
little alley, hidden by an automobile, focused it, set his
exposure, and, when the director gave the signal, picked
up his outfit, came rushing out to the corner, set up and
began operating at once, enabling us to get this scene
before any one on the street realized what we were doing.
That's what I call speed!"
16. Instances of speed, although along different
lines, occurred at a world's championship prize fight
several years ago. The film had been shipped on ahead,
but was delayed in transit, arriving just IS minutes before
the beginning of the fight.
J 7. The quarters were several .miles from the station,
and, with three cameras set up and only one magazine
loaded with all the film we had (400 feet) , things looked
desperate. They looked even more so when the referee
was giving the fighters their final instructions. The gong
sounded and the fight began, with still no sign of the
racing car which had been sent to receive the film as the
train rolled in.
18. Round one ended. One hundred and eighty
feet gone! Round two began and the tension had reached
breaking point, when the racing car rolled up in a cloud
of dust. The boxes of film were literally thrown to the
second camera man, who dived into the tent darkroom,
where the empty magazines had been opened ready for
reloading.
19. Round two ended. Three hundred and sixty
feet gone ! This finished camera number one. The second
camera man rushed madly up the steps of the camera
platform with a loaded magazine, and by the time the
gong rang for round three camera number two was in
operation and the day was saved.
Judgment.
20. Hand in hand with the quality of speed must go
good judgment, for often the question of life or death
hangs on the turn of a second.. For the purpose of getting
a scene of a passenger train a camera man set up on the
railroad track, after ascertaining that the local would pass
that point in twenty minutes. Unknown to him, the local
was delayed and was sidetracked several stations above to
let the limited through. At the rumble of the approaching
train he started operating his camera. As the train
swung into view around the curve, he got a thrilling scene
of the onrushing train, sidestepping it with his outfit just
in time. Had he depended on the information that this
was the local, instead of using his good judgment as to
the speed of the train, he would have lost his life. Equally
exact calculations must be made in the cases of bucking
horses, racing automobiles and aeroplanes in action.
Diplomacy.
21. An incident in a somewhat lighter vein will
illustrate the value of diplomacy to the cinematographer.
An educational institution wished a film made illustrat-
ing the entire scope of its activities. A certain amount of
money had been set aside and each department was alotted
equal footage. When the picture was near completion a
difficulty was encountered in the person of a determined
lady who insisted that not a single detail of her department
should be left out. In figuring out footage for what she
wanted taken, it amounted to over three-fourths of the
entire production, and was, of course, out of the question.
22. After trying to reason with her, and explaining
the matter fully, the director appealed to the principal.
No amount of argument would convince her, and the prin-
cipal ended by reminding her that no more money was
available for all this extra footage. Both director and
principal walked away in disgust, leaving the camera man
to be the goat. He smilingly asked her to arrange the three
things which, in his mind, best illustrated the work of her
department. These were properly photographed, then a
new magazine was placed on the camera without the film
being threaded up. After getting, as she supposed, all
she had asked for (the footage dial showing 2,700 feet
when her entire allotment was 300), she was profuse in
her thanks, and what she said about the others I will
refrain from mentioning.
Patience.
"Patience is a virtue,
Catch it if you can ;
It is seldom in a woman,
And never in a man."
23. To disprove the assertion contained in the above-
quoted "pome" it is only necessary to mention the many
occasions on which the camera man is required to handle
children and animals. The director usually delegates
this character of work to him, and it sometimes takes hours
of patient work and waiting to secure a three-foot scene
which is absolutely essential to the story.
24. After a trying day, a library set was finished at
10:30 that evening, and, as the order to dismiss was given,
the director said to the camera man, "This set is finished,
there will be only one other scene needed here that of
the little dog barking. Get it tonight, it will take you only
a few minutes, and then we'll be through with the set."
25. The dog in question was a Japanese poodle,
whose lack of gray matter was appalling. Property man,
grips, electrician, assistant and camera man tried every
plan they could think of to induce this mutt to bark.
After a time the bunch warmed to the work, and every
conceivable sound was tried, but to no purpose. One man
even brought in a stray dog, another a cat he had rounded
up, and, last of all, one of the property men produced
something on wheels, all covered up. He brought it up
very close to the poodle, with a grand flourish and a wild
roar pulled the covering off, exposing a stuffed lion. The
poodle's eyes nearly came out of his head but nary a
bark.
26. About 3 a. m., some one suggested getting a
piece of meat but where? A hasty search revealed a
small piece left in the electrician's lunch box, and, after
dangling it in front of the poodle, it was finally rubbed
on his nose with the result that he opened his mouth.
The camera man hastened to get it; everybody agreed that
it looked just like a bark and decided that their day's
work was finished. All were sworn to secrecy until it
was viewed on the screen. The director, after seeing it
run, pronounced it just what he wanted, and it was not
until some time afterward that he was told the truth
about it.
27. Then there is the stop-motion work, where each
picture is taken separately with a single turn of the crank
and then the article or subject moved to the next position
for the following picture, and so on down the line. When
you consider that from 12,000 to 13,000 pictures are re-
quired to complete a one-reel subject, you will get some
idea of what patience means in a cinematographer's life.
Ingenuity.
28. Several years ago, when equipment was not as
easy to get as it is now, one company had several releases
to meet, with only one camera in their equipment. Every
effort was made to purchase others, but without results.
A well-known camera man, in applying to this firm for a
position, was told that if he could supply his own camera,
or tell them where one could be purchased, they would
take him on at once. When the discovery was made that
10
no camera was to be had, this camera man built a box in
in which he placed an old projection machine head for
the mechanism, and mounting his own lens in this home-
made contraption, he photographed ^two very beautiful
pictures.
29. Another example: While on location, another
camera man was called upon to photograph the closing
scenes of the picture with a beautiful sunset effect as a
background. With no ray filter available, he improvised
one by removing the amber glass from a pair of auto-
mobile goggles, and the results obtained left nothing to be
desired.
Resourcefulness.
30. What does it mean to be resourceful? It means
to be full of resources, expedients or contrivances ; clever
in finding out resources. It means searching the inner-
most recesses of your mind to find a way out. During the
filming of a feature picture, in which a number of scenes
were laid on a Chinese junk (which had to be built at
great expense), an accident occurred which came near
spoiling the entire production. After securing all the
scenes on the deck of the junk, the camera man took up a
location on the breakwater to photograph the sinking of
the vessel. As had been planned, the vessel was to be
scuttled, entrapping a number of Chinese who were sup-
posedly locked in the hold. Contrary to all plans of the
boat builders, she didn't scuttle, but turned over on her
side, exposing the superstructure or shell, but just as she
began to turn the center portion of the false bottom opened
up and the scene was absolutely a total failure.
31. To have retaken this one scene alone would have
cost thousands of dollars, and the gloom that settled on
the crowd was repeatedly punctured by the sulphuric ex-
plosions of the director. On the return home the camera
man, who had been cudgeling his brains for a way out,
made the suggestion that when the interior of the junk was
to be made (which had to be done at the studio in an
enormous tank of water), the villain, instead of boring
the holes to scuttle the ship, be made to place dynamite
11
underneath the floor, as this explosive blows down instead
of up, and the cut could be made on the junk just as the
false bottom was shown leaving the ship. By the slow,
relieved smile that overspread the director's face it was
easy to see that the suggestion had saved the situation, and
his words of appreciation were, "By ginger, old top, you're
almost human!"
Courage.
32. How would you like to put on a life belt and be
lowered down the side of a cliff to get a scene? Or with
tripod and camera lashed on the hood of an automobile
driven at 60 miles an hour by an inexperienced driver?
Or, with hardly foot-room in which to balance yourself,
climb around a sky-scraper for special scenes? Or "ride
the rods under a box car, photographing the "tramp" on
the brakebeam with the train doing 40 miles an hour?
Or be strapped in an aeroplane with the pilot executing
every fancy stunt he knows? These, and many other risks,
are among the things a camera man may be called upon
any day to do.
33. Granted, now, that your camera man has tech-
nical skill, concentration, speed, judgment, diplomacy,
patience, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and courage. Are
these all the qualities he needs? No, and this last require-
ment of all is one which is beyond mere knowledge and
skill. It is the power to give expression in his work to the
imagination and emotion that is in him it is a creative
faculty which is the spontaneous outpouring of his inner,
spiritual self. This is what it means to be an artist.
34. You mav take exception to the word artist used
in connection with cinematography. I say emphatically
that this is the right term to use. The painter with his can-
vas, brushes and oils, creates a picture, using every color
of the spectrum to" heighten the effect, the outcome being
great or mediocre, according to the soul of the artist. The
sculptor with his tools, chiseling out the block of marble,
creates his figure or figures in graceful proportions and
poses, giving us a finished result that is a lasting joy to
lovers of beauty.
35. For centuries multitudes have gathered about the
works of these masters, uplifted and inspired. We of
today are modeling with lights and shadows, giving you
not only beautiful composition, perspective, atmosphere
and settings, but we make each picture a living, breathing
example of the cinematographer's art.
Debts to Photography.
36. Hardly a branch of art or science but owes a
debt to photography. Drawing and painting have been
greatly influenced by it, astronomy has been enriched by
it, the meteorologist, the physiologist, the pathologist, the
scholar, the traveler, not to mention the Army and Navy,
find it indispensable. Every day its importance as a
spreader of valuable knowledge is emphasized and as a
means of entertainment it has no rival, as can be proved by
the unexampled growth of moving picture theaters
throughout the country.
37. The study of the history of photography, from
its very beginning to the present time, is one of such great
interest that it should be the pleasure of every one with a
liking for the subject, be he amateur, professional portrait-
ist or cinematographer, to trace its development through
the last four or five centuries to the point where it has
become one of the greatest factors in modern education.
38. Not alone should the study be taken up for the
pleasure of learning of each successive step in the investi-
gations of those earlier workers, but for the inspiration
which thrills one in reading of the patient plodding, day
after day, of those earnest men who were constantly experi-
menting, faithful always to the one great work through
deep discouragement and apparent failure and then
success. Surely the old adage, "If you don't at first suc-
ceed, try, try again," never had a more apt illustration.
39. Let us touch here on a few of the most important
discoveries and mention some of the names of those to
whom the whole world owes it gratitude. The idea which
led to the development of the camera was known at the
beginning of the fourteenth century. This was that it was
possible on a sunny day to project the image of outside
13
objects through a small hole in to a darkened room. This
idea was used as the basis for the camera obscura (Latin,
dark chamber) , which was a box from which all light was
excluded except that entering though a small hole in the
front, an inverted image of the object appearing on a
movable semi-transparent screen.
Origin of Camera Obscura.
40. The origin of the camera obscura has not been
fixed with any certainty, some attributing it to Leonardo
da Vinci, others to Baptista Porta. What seems probable
is that the principles governing this instrument, which had
been understood for more than a century, were applied to
its construction by Da Vinci in the sixteenth century, and
about 1558 Porta effected a considerable improvement on
its orginal form.
41. It was found that by placing a piece of glass in
the hole in front a sharper and more brilliant image was
produced, though still inverted. To show the image right
side up, an inclined mirror was built into the box. This
simple mirror attachment was developed in more recent
years into the Graflex camera, which is indispensable to
press photography. This same principle is used in the
periscope, an instrument the great importance of which is
well known today. The first simple contrivance was used
solely by painters in their work, and by placing a thin
piece of paper over the screen it was easy to trace the out-
lines of the picture. Most people, however, regarded the
camera obscura as a mere toy.
42. Nothing of any great value to photography was
discovered for nearly three hundred years. Then, in the
early part of the nineteenth century, Niepce, a French-
man, carried on extensive experiments with the object of
finding a sensitive preparation which would enable him
to catch the picture and hold it. He used a solution of
asphalt, or the bitumen of Judea, poured on a metallic
plate, and succeeded in getting some imperfect results,
but could not make them permanent.
14
Early Discoveries.
43. Daguerre, also a Frenchman and a scene painter
in Paris, had become interested in trying to fix the image
of the camera obscura in order to make use of it in his
profession. He became so enthusiastic in his search that
he spent nearly all his time in his laboratory, and his wife
asked herself if her husband were going mad. Through
an optician in Paris who was aware of Daguerre's experi-
ments, the latter and Niepce were brought together and a
partnership was formed which continued until Niepce's
death in 1833.
44. Daguerre persisted in his search, and about five
years later made the discovery that by sensitizing a silver
plate with iodine and exposing it for hours he could get a
faint sort of image of bright objects. Being dissatisfied
one day with the result of too short an exposure, he con-
signed the silver plate to his closet to be cleaned the next
day and prepared for another exposure. Next morning
he found a perfect picture upon the silver plate! We can
imagine his astonishment and delight. At last, when suc-
cess had seemed so far away, the magic thing ha^d come to
pass. He investigated very carefully and found that the
development had been effected by the vapor of mercury,
a small dish of which had been left uncovered in the closet.
45. Soon after, that is, in January, 1839, Daguerre's
great discovery was announced. In that day, as in this,
and, in fact, all other times, there were people who ridi-
culed and scoffed at the new idea, saying that such a thing
was impossible, but Daguerre made good his claims and
thue French government pensioned him, with the proviso
that this discovery should be given to the world.
46. In England, Fox Talbot had been conducting
experiments with the object of capturing the image in the
camera obscura. He was greatly disappointed at not being
the first to give this new art to the world ; but let us not
forget that he succeeded in reaching a point not attained
by Daguerre, for the latter's efforts had produced a pic-
ture, with the light and shade correctly rendered, but
IS
which could not be copied. Fox Talbot's Calotype proc-
ess produced for the first time negatives instead of posi-
tives, from which any number of copies could be made.
This came to be called talbotype, in honor of the inventor.
Chemistry of Photography
47. The chemistry of photography had not kept
pace with the mechanical part. It had been found that the
image could be made permanent after development by
washing the plates in a solution of common salt. Sir John
Herschel, the great astronomer, suggested that hyposul-
phite of soda was a better substance than salt, and so it
proved. No better "fixer" has been discovered and "hypo"
is in common use at the present time.
48. Something unexpected "happened" to Talbot.
He found, when one of his exposures fell into a solution
of gallic acid, that the detail was very much improved.
Thus, step by step, more and more beautiful effects were
being secured. Special photographic lenses, greatly re-
ducing the time of exposure, were now introduced.
Niepce's nephew was the first to use glass plates as a foun-
dation for the sensitive coating; Frederick Scott Archer,
a sculptor of London, sponsored the wet collodion process ;
Dr. Taupenot, in France, gave to the world the first dry
plates, and so on through various steps to the achievement
of instantaneous photography and the sensitized film. We
take all these things as a matter of course; how little
thought we give to the romance of the thing!
49. Let us go back to the "accidental" discoveries of
Daguerre and Fox Talbot. Do you think these were acci-
dents? Indeed, no. There is an Oriental saying some-
thing like this : "When the pupil is ready, the teacher ap-
pears." The minds of these men, filled to overflowing
with the joy of giving something of benefit to the world,
and aflame with enthusiasm in their work, acted as power-
ful magnets and attracted to themselves the knowledge
they needed, even though that knowledge seemed to come
as an accident.
16
Color Photography.
50. The next in the development of photography
would seem to be the color work. The day is not far dis-
tant when you will see real natural color photography. By
this I do not mean the horrible examples which have been
shown in recent years under this designation. The pro-
cess has reached a stage where the result is no longer in
doubt.
5 1 . One of the greatest apparent obstacles to the suc-
cess of this extremely important advance has been the lack
of speed in the emulsion of both film and plates. It should
be remembered that this work in which the exposure is
made through color filters, requires a much longer time
than when exposing without a filter, but it remained for
the man who has done more than any other one man to
further the advancement of photography in the United
States to overcome this great difficulty and he is now pre-
paring stock with an emulsion which works from 20 to
30 times as fast as the ordinary stock today. With the pan-
chromatic qualities in this film, both negative and posi-
tive, we will have natural color photography the equal of
which has never been seen before.
52. Did you ever stop to consider what photography
really is? Your answer, I know, will be "Yes" and in all
good faith, but do you realize that there are some photo-
graphers who, if they were asked this question, would no
doubt give the same answej* as you do, and that is that
photography is the image of the object impressed upon the
sensitive emulsion of the photographic film or plate,
whereas in reality it is the reflected light from that object
which makes the picture. That is why dark green, red,
orange, yellow, etc., photograph black, for they absorb^
so much of the light that there is little or none to reflect.
For example, if an object is placed in a room that is
totally dark, it will be impossible for the eye to distinguish
its form, but throw a light on this same object from behind
and you will get the outline but no detail. Bring your
17
light around to one side and you get the reflected light of
part of that object, giving you proportionate detail. By
bringing the light farther around in front, a full impres-
sion is gained by the reflection of light.
An Amusing Incident.
53. An amusing incident occurred on one of the
writer's trips, emphasizing the fact that it is light reflected
from the object which we see, and not the object itself.
While seated on the hotel veranda at D'Angkor, Cam-
bodia, one evening, a Hindu interpreter, as black as the
ace of spades, who always wore a white duck suit, straw
hat and white canvas shoes, presented a weird appearance
as he walked across the lawn, about 60 feet away. All that
could be seen was the white duck suit, white shoes and a
hat raised about twelve inches above the suit. His hands
and face were not perceptible. To the superstitious or
nervous observer he presented a spectral appearance and
the consternation he caused to the timid was the source
of much amusement to the others. Thus is exploded the
old saying, "Seeing is believing."
54. Have you ever speculated on the reason actors
and actresses put on make-up? No! It is because some
skins absorb so much of the light that the little left that is
reflected causes them to photograph very dark, while
others reflect all of the light and photograph as white as
chalk. The first mentioned use a fairly light make-up
unless they are playing character parts, such as Indian,
Mexican, Chinaman, etc., while the others use a darker
make-up than their flesh.
55. A great mistake that is constantly made, I am
sorry to say, by the "female of the species" is the wrong use
of the carmine lip stick and the powder puff, the most
awful things we have to contend with in getting correct
flesh values. I will admit that some lips require a alight
application of lip rouge, but it is a crime against art that
so much is applied as to make the mouth look like a black
slit in the face.
18
"Make-Up Hints."
56. I have never yet in all my experience had the
pleasure of seeing an ingenue or a leading woman come
into a scene without first using (or abusing) the powder
puff. Powder, to be properly applied, is only meant to
soften down the shiny appearance that the grease paint
gives, and by constant application the flesh tones are lost
and resultant effect on the screen is a skin of dull, lifeless
appearance.
57. The correct method of applying powder, from
the cameraman's standpoint, is to use just enough to over-
come the shine of the grease paint, then use a soft brush to
remove the surplus, and it is almost impossible, granting
a correct exposure, to get anything but beautiful results.
This I know from actual experience for I have made ex-
periments along these lines.
58. In days gone by, so many amateur writers have
depended entirely too much upon the mechanical effects
possible with the camera to "get over" what should have
been made clear by better construction. To such I would
say, Don't be a slacker and depend on us to put over some-
thing you have only partially completed yourself.
59. The three greatest essentials in successful pic-
ture making are, first, the story; second, the direc-
tion, and third, the photography. It is as true today as
ever before that you cannot get something for nothing and
I feel safe in saying that you cannot write too good a
story, for it will bring just what it is actually worth, be it
a hundred dollars or a hundred thousand. (The last
named sum is the reported price recently paid for a screen
story.)
60. Perhaps a few words about the inner workings
of the laboratory may not come amiss. The negative film
which has been exposed in the camera is turned in each
evening to the laboratory after having been removed from
the mazazines, wrapped in black paper and transferred
to cans. These cans are sealed with tape and a label pasted
on, giving such information as will enable the developer
19
to get best results, markings reading somewhat as follows :
Exterior beach scene: Exterior aeroplane; Exterior
desert, long range, develop for scenic effect; Exterior
camp fire, night scene, develop for faces only; Interior
ball room, develop for full set; Interior bedroom, light
effect, develop for faces only, etc.
61. The cans are collected by the negative devel-
oper's assistants, taken into negative room (which is, of
course, dark) , and the film wound on racks. These racks
hold from 190 to 210 feet. They are then placed in the
developing tanks. After development is complete, the
racks are then transferred to the fixing bath and from that
to the washing tank. The next step is the winding of the
film on the large drying drums. After the process of dry-
ing is complete the film is taken off in cloth-lined carriers,
re-wound from these in rolls, transferred to the polishing
room, wound again on solid drums, face down, polished,
re-wound in rolls, inspected, and turned over to the print-
ing room.
62. Negatives are examined and timed according to
density and sample prints made therefrom for what is
termed "the daily run." This brief outline will give you
an idea of the many delicate operations through which the
film must pass before even the working print is seen. There
is a feeling of great optimism prevading the ranks of the
cinematographers. Wonderful strides have been made in
the last few years for at last photography in the hands of
artists is coming into its own.
/
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
A 001 379416 9
University of California Library
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
Phone Renewals
310/8;
SEP I 2002
5-9188
UCIAYRLW
i
acne 1 " 8
\UI_-
.,.;..,
UCLA ACCESS 5fWS
1 1630
cox951 ; 5 T ffi
! os
