Movie Makers (Jan-May 1928)

venient. The basis of construction is the same, the only difference being that the camera is placed at one end of a base board and the stand to hold the drawings parallel to it at the other end. The size of the stand and distance of drawings from the cam era are governed by the type of camera the amateur uses and the distance he must place the lens from the drawings to insure proper size and focus on the film. With reference to the plan of his drawings, Mr. Sullivan says, that, first of all, the characters must be determined upon. He has found after years of experiment that a small, doll-like figure is best for an animal character. He should have a head about the size of a nickel, a pearshaped body about the size of a dime, legs and feet that resemble rubber hose, squatty, thick, and stubby. He should be black in color for black gives solidity, other characters will vary. Having figured out a character, it is now necessary to plan a story for him. Felix is motivated always by his desire for food and comfort. He is the most ingenious cat in the world when it comes to finding means to these ends. He can make a black-jack out of his tail, or a fiddle, or an airplane. He can pull lanterns, sealingwax or kettles out of his pockets, but never food; for this he must always forage. It is better, according to Mr. Sullivan, to use an animal as a central character or hero, for this gives him the power to do things people can't do. and to burlesque the human race, generally. Such a hero can go to Mars in the twinkling of an eye, or tunnel through the earth to China, at the drop of a hat. If mechanical type of animation is to be made, such as the inside of an engine or a piston, there is no story, of course. Drawings need simply to l»e made of each movement of the mechanism. Now comes the actual work of making the drawings. The amateur must decide first which portions are to be stationary, that is, to be used for backgrounds, or scenery, and which are to be straight action drawings. Of course, the action drawings will always be those in which movement is shown, which means generally, the action of the central figure across the screen. The stationary drawings, making up the backgrounds, must be drawn on celluloid. They should also be drawn high on the screen so that the central character can pass below or above them. For instance, when Felix walks over a bridge in front of a schoolhouse, the schoolhouse is drawn on a celluloid screen, and is drawn high on the screen, leaving the lower portions of it empty, unless a few scattered objects are put at the extreme lower edge, such ac stones or a bit of shrubbery. In this case Felix will pass between the schoolhouse and the shrubbery as he walks over the bridge. The straight action drawings, that is the movements of the central figure, are always made on paper, and for each movement a separate drawing is made. Therefore Felix walking across the bridge will mean a set of drawings, each showing progress in his movement, and all made on paper. All drawings should be made in black ink, and it is better, as was noted before, to make the central character in solid black. \^ hen other figures are used (this will make the picture more complicated for the amateur) the same rule will be followed as that already laid down : stationary figures, or objects, must be made on celluloid, and moving figures must be made on paper. In the illustration showing Felix reading about card tricks, the head is drawn on paper and the eyes, hands and book on celluloid, because in this closeup his head remains in the same position throughout the scene while his eyes rove up and down the pages and the book changes positions. Much labor in drawing is saved in this way. Sometimes two celluloids need to be used in making up backgrounds. Two may be used, but never three 01 four because of the difference in the density between the celluloids and the paper drawing when the two are being photographed on the title stand. Mr. Sullivan estimates that an interesting animated story could be told in about 75 feet of 16 mm. film. This footage should be divided into approximately twenty scenes, which means the average scene would be about three and one half feet. To give an idea of the amount of work which this will involve it should be (Continued on page 49) Thirty