Home Movies (1954)

posure. Over or under-exposure beyond the recommended latitude will only result in incorrect color reproduction, unless otherwise compensated for in creating special art effects. Your particular laboratory should be taken into your confidence before exposing your film. The laboratory often deserves more credit for "wellexposed"' films than many cameramen would like to admit. In the early silent days of hand-cranked cameras, the old saying used to go: "Stop down to F/ll and blame the rest on the lab!" Since those early pioneer days of motion pictures in Hollywood, there's been quite some changes made. Your lab is your friend and it is up to you to work out your problems with them in order that your product will be of the highest quality, and you as well as the lab will be proud of it. Every laboratory will not develop your negative in exactly the same way. Standards differ to some extent and you should therefore acquaint yourself with the procedure of your particular lab to get the most out of your negative. Your exposure index may be recommended at 25 by the film manufacturer, but after making lab tests you may find that your film speed should be set at 32, or even 40. It is advisable to shoot an extra ten feet of film especially on interiors — at the end of a roll ; mark your film can and have the lab run a developing test. After inspecting this test, the lab will develop accordingly. An under or overexposed film can be saved by taking this precaution. Of course, this procedure doesn't include colorfilm, which is only handled by a standard process. In the case of colorfilm, you better make sure you read your exposure meter right. FILM • Continued from Page 26 ing for a negative and one positive, since more dupes would be needed later on. We had called the lab that leave the film that night, together with a description of the kind of film we were using and the quality we wanted to get. Wednesday 10:00 a.m. We checked with the lab and they said the negative and positive would be ready by noon. We called Telefilm on Hollywood Blvd. and told them that we would come down with the film and that we wanted them to do the editing. Our appointment was made for 1:00 p.m. 12:00 noon — We picked up the films at Acme Lab. and filed the negative for future use. 1:00 p.m. — We discussed the film with the editors at Telefilm and told them what we wanted. At this point we had 370 feet of film and this had to be cut down to 224 in order to stay within the limit set by ourselves when we planned the film. The man who directed the film participated in the cutting and advised the editor where the cuts were to be made. In some instances the advice of the editor was taken so that a few long sequences could be cut to step up the tempo. This job took two hours and cost $12.00 (at the rate of $6.00 per hour). Did someone say two hours? Yes indeed, and both the director and the editor were very busy for the entire two hours. Reason for this is that the film must be perfectly tailored to fit the script and all sequences must be placed in order. Then the bad shots had to be cut and the best retake chosen. After this was done the general tempo of the film was examined and more cutting was in order so that the film could flow along swiftly with no tiresome sequences. 3:00 p.m. — With the film cut and edited, we were ready to get it striped. We chose this method of sound recording because the film was to be shown in schools and colleges, most of which had a 202 Projector (Bell & Howell) which is used with soundstriped film. We were told by Bell & Howell who striped the film that the job took 24 hours and that it would be ready the next day. Thursday 5:00 p.m. We picked up our film at this time, and officials at the Bell & Howell lab. said that it would be advisable to wait overnight so that the striping would get a chance to set. (Cost 2I/3C per foot ) . They advised against recording right away. So we called our friends at Telefilm and arranged to come down the next day so that we could record the narration. In the meantime the narrator was told to rehearse his material and to get down to Telefilm the next morning. Friday 10:00 a.m. Bell & Howell delivered a 202 Projector to Telefilm, in Hollywood and it was there waiting for us when we arrived. We explained that the film would require opening music which faded into the narration. (Music was chosen from the library, and since the film was not to be shown to a paying audiences, there was no music charge) . The narration carried along all through the film, and then a few bars of end music was superimposed over the narration until the fade-out. This phase of dubing the music and narration took one hour. We used the 202 Bell & Howell projector to record the sound, but the actual dubbing was done in a sound-proof room provided by Telefilm and using their own microphone and mixer. The narrator had rehearsed his stuff the previous night and he had made minor changes in a few phrases. Actual cost, per reel, for narration is $50.00 usually. Our narrator, being a member of the editorial staff, and having had radio broadcasting experience previously, completed the job with few mistakes. After Tuning through the script a few times, the dubbing was made and the film was complete. Perhaps we should mention a few aspects about the script which are important to the narrator. A movie script with narration should be written in such a way that the phrasing is simple and direct. Sentences should be short and to the point. Words used should be "talking" words and not "reading" words. We mean that the narration should follow closely the simple every day phrases used by people when they communicate with each other. If this is not done, the narration may sound stilted and lose its punch. Cost lor the dubbing of music and narration was $47.00, a standard price for this kind of job. Now to sum up: The value of our film on the commercial market is between $500 and $750. We checked with various independent studios here in Hollywood who specialize in 16mm work and that is the price we got. And this price includes everything excepting the script. Now let's take a look at our costs and see how we made out. Studio rental, lights and burn-outs $ 70.00 Cost of 400 feet Du Pont No. 930 film 16.00 Script 00.00 Sketches — shot-by-shot breakdown by staff artist 15.00 Camera rental Bell & Howell.... 00.00 Cameraman and assistant ( our own staff) 00.00 Director (staff) 00.00 Make-up, fee for one day 40.00 Artist for title cards 20.00 Actor, (male) 25.00 Actors, (female) 2, Models provided by the Caroline Leonetti School of Charm and Poise, Hollywood 10.00 Developing one negative and one positive. Acme Lab., Hollywood 25.00 Editing and cutting — Telefilm.. 12.00 Bell & Howell sound stripe 300 feet at 2l/2c per ft 7.50 Sound dubbing, narration and music 47.00 Narration (staff) 00.00 Grand total $287.50 I suppose our total of $287.50 looks very interesting, especially when it is compared to the value of the finished film— $500 to $750. But there are a few major items which have not been added to the cost because we had the 38