American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1940)

Overcoming Difficulties in Putting on Amateur Shows By DUNCAN MAC D. LITTLE THE Eleventh Annual Show of Amateur Motion Pictures went "On the Road!" True, it was for only a weekend, but the first engagement was in Hanover, N. H., for Sunday afternoon, two shows and a "conference" in the evening, and the second was in Durham, clear across the state, for one show on Monday evening. It does not sound like much of a proposition, but we found possibilities for trouble lurking everywhere and every moment. Our equipment consists of a folding screen, 8 feet wide, a 1200 watt projector supplemented by a special electric phonograph, speakers and amplifier, besides which we carry speaker cords and electrical connections (a hundred feet of both of these), etc., in another case, with naturally the necessary cases for films and records. This makes considerable to transport and to keep checked at each handling. However, we have become accustomed to doing this, for times without number we have carried it all, hither and yon, for single shows, or for, say, three or four in a ten day or two week trip, to be arranged at our own convenience. But working on a definite schedule and such a close one is completely difi'erent. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong or to miscarry. Sifting Figures We made inquiry and learned that our theatre in Hanover had alternating current, but that the college building (in one of which the "conference" was to be) had direct. The "throw" in Hanover's Nugget Theatre was 125 feet to a 22 foot screen. This was bad! At Durham we found alternating current, but word of this did not come before starting on our "Road Tour," so to our equipment was added a "rotary converter" in case of need. All we knew about Durham was that there was a screen — we did not even know how good. With that information we went earnestly to work, for we had, once before, projected at a distance of 105 feet. True, it was on a poor and homemade screen, but the results had not been such as to make one proud of his job. As usual, an appeal was made to Messrs. Bell and Howell, and as usual, they responded manfully. Without their cooperation the show m the Nugget Theatre, at Hanover, would have been. Informal sitot of Mrs. Little, surrounded hy and swathed in bearskins in a sleigh in Northern Quebec. at very best, poor. As it was, the results even on that large screen at 125 feet, were excellent. Through their cordial cooperation we were able to carry with us the new Filmo-Arc projector. This added four sizable and very heavy cases to our already bulky equipment. This equipment was carried in a station wagon, which was well filled with it all, and the three of us comprising the "staff" traveled in our own car. For the occasion, the "staff" consisted of Dorothy R. (Mrs. Duncan MacD.) Little, business manager; Frank Tanham, projectionist; and your (not too) humble scribe as director and "entrepreneur." It was too bad, but at the last moment our director of music, Elfriede Boerner, found herself unable to make the trip. This put an extra duty upon the director, who had both to make the announcements and "run the music," which under normal conditions means addressing the audience from the platform and then a quick dash to the turntable and work. We left New York after luncheon on Saturday and took our time on the road, stopping at Greenfield, Mass., when night was beginning to overtake us and continued our journey on Sunday morning. Thinking that we had plenty of time before us, and understanding that the show was to begin at 2:30 P. M., we rolled into Hanover at about 11, to find that the time had been changed to 1:30, so as to run the two shows and clear the theatre in order that it could be ready at 6 for "Gone with the Wind." Amateurs on Spot That meant getting right to work, for we were to project from the booth and must not only set up the as yet untried arc machine, but also we must" find a way to set up our phonograph among the regulation projectors, in order that we might, through one of the "ports," watch the screen for music cues and yet not be too much in the way of those projectors. For they also would be used, for the day's program was to include, for a starter, Donald Duck, followed by the March of Time, "Finland," and then our amateur films. These made another big hazard, right across the fairway, and "Gone with the Wind" to follow. It surely was putting the amateurs on the spot. The arc machine went together very simply, after a few mistries, and we plugged in to a socket that was indicated for us. Bang! — It went dead. Another socket was tried with the same result; and a third—! It began to look extremely bad. Finally after some telephoning the local electrician (who services the theatre) was located and he came to the rescue. He re-fused the lines— the main fuse box having been locked and he apparently having the only key— and he showed American Cinkmatographer • June, 1940