A condensed course in motion picture photography ([1920])

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Chapter IV THE MOTION PICTURE CAMERA LONG before motion pictures were dreamed of, philosophers and medical men were conscious of persistency of vision. They knew from their experiences and the experiences of others, if they looked at a bright object, such as the sun or a lighted lamp and turned their eyes to a dark corner the image, or at least a bright spot, would remain before their eyes for a few moments. The brain retained the illumination that the eye had sent to it for a few moments. Experiments proved that this persistency of vision did not occur in the retina of the eye. Close inspection of the retina showed that the picture projected thereon by the lens of the eye vanished the instant the entering ray was cut off. Therefore scientists stated definitely that the illusion was centered in the brain. No further explanation has been made. No human being or animal has ever been known to be without this peculiar trait. No human being or animal has been known to lose this persistency of vision. If a mortal could be found who did not possess it, when looking at moving pictures, he would see not pictures in motion, but a number of "still" or inanimate pictures following one another very rapidly, each one perfectly still for about a sixteenth of a second. Motion pictures are simply a number of snapshots run before a strong illuminating light and projected, by means of a powerful lens, upon a white screen or surface. Each picture is arranged so that it will stop for a fraction of a second and then move on, succeeded by another slightly different in appearance. The brain retains the image of the first picture and when the image of the second is telegraphed to it, by the sense of sight, the two blend and overlap and the spectator imagines he has seen but one image. The camera in which the pictures are taken is similar to the projecting apparatus but instead of the light rays being emitted from the machine, as in the case of the projecting machine, they are gathered in or admitted through the lens. The rays fall