American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1926)

Six AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER October, 1926 Director Advocates Panchromatic Stock ® Desirability of panchromatic film for general production usage is stressed by Henry King, who, a pioneer among directors in adopting this form of stock, has just completed the direction of "The Winning of Barbara Worth," on which George Barnes, A.S.C., was chief cinematographer. As in "The Son of the Shiek," which, the last picture starring Valentino, likewise was photographed by Barnes, the "Barbara Worth" film, which is being produced by Samuel Goldwyn, was shot entirely on panchromatic. Popular "Panchromatic," King states in discussing the now popular stock, "is, to describe it in a lay way, a highly sensitive negative which enables the camera to register all colors in their true relationship with black and white. It is more sensitive than the ordinary negative and carries more gradation, permitting all shades between extreme white and black together with almost perfect detail. Prospects "I believe that the efforts of leading cinematographers to improve motion photography, as indicated in numerous big productions of 1925, were made possible in no small degree by the use of panchromatic film. I believe also that the higher development in the use of this film, together with the experiments now in progress, will make the 1927 big picture at least twenty per cent better photographically." Pioneer Commenting on his early adoption of panchromatic, King said : "I hardly wish to pose as a Columbus in this matter. It is true, however, that I made the first big picture in which panchromatic was used for the entire production. That was in 1923-24 when we filmed "Romola" in Italy. Up to that time panchromatic had been used for exteriors, but never generally for interiors. Proof "While I was making pictures in New York I became associated with Gustave Deitz, who is now in Hollywood and who is an experimentor in panchromatic lines. At that time I was very interested in this type of negative and had used it in various scenes in my productions. Deitz was enthusiastic and told me Henry King, Pioneer in Use of Stock, Urges Wide Application of Panchromatic Film that a photoplay filmed entirely with panchromatic would be a sensation. We began at that time a series of tests, using negative in all sorts of difficult interior shots and the excellent results obtained proved to us that the new negative could be used successfully under conditions where the common stock of negative had formerly been used exclusively. With Roy Overbaugh, the chief cinematographer, Deitz went with us to Italy where we worked eleven months on 'Romola.' We were surprised at the little light needed, for while it was generally supposed that panchromatic was slower than common stock, it proved a great deal faster. Peculiar "I believe," King continued, "that panchromatic has a great future. It is proving an interesting field for experimentation in the use of the effects presented by the Nevada desert while we were making 'Barbara Worth.' The peculiar lighting of the desert presented varied problems, which were solved on 'the field of battle' and which gave us some new views on the use of panchromatic. The results were unusually excellent. "The popularity of panchromatic is shown by the recent drop in price quotations by the Eastman people. When I first used it for an entire production, it was expensive because it was not in general use. The signs seem to point to its eventual use throughout the industry and this general use will lead to the greater perfection of negative, and, it follows, to more photographically excellent results." President of A. S. G. Operated On at Hospital in Hollywood Daniel B. Clark, president of the American Society of Cinematographers and chief cinematographer for Tom Mix, is confined to the Hollywood Hospital, where he underwent a minor operation last month. This is the first time in more than five years that Clark has been absent from his regular post. During this period he has photographed Mix in 46 features, for a total of almost five million feet of negative, without missing a dav's work.