International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

Eight The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER June, 1934 In the Realm of Tricks and Illusions (Associate Editor of International Photographer and Member of the Faculty of the University of Southern California as Lecturer in the Department of Cinematography) By Earl Theisen Honorary Curator Motion Pictures L. A. Museum IRPLANE crashes, train wrecks, under-sea hots, volcanic eruptions, are made by the triclc ^ men of the studios. They are part of the motion picture. Without them pictures would lose a valuable vitality. From the very first the industry found it necessary to resort to effect and trick photography. W. K. L. Dickson, who worked with Edison to bring the motion picture into being, used effect photography. As early as 1894 Dickson employed double exposures and masking in the then crude motion picture. One picture, "The Banjo Player," shows a man playing a banjo and several of his own heads watching him play. The heads are lying on a nearby table. Since the pictures of this period were largely newsreels and topical pictures, much of the news that was presented on the screen was simulated through miniatures. Because the history of trick and effect photography is too long for the present article, and because this has been covered to an extent in "The History of Newsreeling," in the International Photographer of September, 1933, we won't elaborate on early miniatures. At best they were very crude, but they satisfied the particular needs of that time. Trick and effect photography came into use about 1910, at which time there was a general trend towards a wider narration in picture technique. It became necessary for the cameraman to employ various dramatic and technical devices to expedite the screen story. During this period, such men as Joseph Dubray, G. W. "Billy" Bitzer, A. S. Howell and Eddie Kull were actively interested in the perfecting of such devices. Dreams and visions made by "double exposures," "lap dissolves," etc., were widely used about 1910. These and other effects were utilized to great extent in the Pathe and Biograph pictures. George Melies had used these processes as early as 1900. Melies, by the way, may be considered the dean of trickmen. His pictures almost entirely depended on trick photography. The majority of his pictures were made by stop motion. That is, he photographed the picture frame by frame and by this method created such effects as the furniture and other inanimate objects moving about. One particularly notable effect used by Melies was in "The Clown," which consisted of a clown building up a dummy piece by piece. When completed, the dummy suddenly came to life and had a very active fight with the clown. The "mask" or "matte" process dates back before the advent of motion pictures. On April 14, 1874, C. M. Coolidge was granted patent No. 149,724 for a process of making composite prints by masking. It was, of course, designed for still photographs, with particular reference to combining cartoon pictures. According to present records, the first patent on a mask process designed for motion picture use was issued to J. E. Garrette on October 19, 1915, patent No. 1,156,896. The patent covers the combination of a lantern slide and motion picture film. The traveling mask used in motion picture work was first patented May 15, 1917, by R. V. Stanbaugh, patent No. 1,226,135. Stanbaugh's system consisted of threading in the camera a traveling mask, together with an unexposed film. This process was primarily designed for advertising, in cartoon form. The cartoon action was photographed and then it was used as a mask to which the names of the advertisers were added by super-imposition. There were many other mask patents, notably the one granted to Norman Dawn on June 11, 1918, No. 1,269,061. This process used photographs of the foreground, which were used as a cut-out mask. The background of a desired scene was then added. A very complete resume of the patent literature may be found in the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers for April, 1933, Volume XX, No. 4. "Composite Photographic Processes," by H. D. Hineline. The credit of perfecting and the commercializing of the "mask" or "matte" process goes to Frank D. Williams. His first patent that came into wide use was issued on June 23, 1918, No. 1,273,435. The Williams' process consisted of photographing against a black background with a Bi-Pack that gave a transparent negative and a foreground action. In the Williams' process, by using this mask made of the foreground action, he was able to add any desired background from any portion of the world. The foreground action, in the form of a matte, was then used as an intermediate step in introducing later, by process, the people in the foreground. William previously had been interested in motion picture process work in connection with the Essanay in 1910. The first experiments were made in the form of silhouettes of camels crossing a desert. His process at that time, could not more than make shadow silhouettes in the foreground. He made the foreground negatives of the camels against a white background, which, when intensified, were double printed over any desired background. By 1912 he had developed the process where he could add an image instead of just a silhouette in the foreground. Williams introduced and perfected many devices in the field of process work. In 1919, he was the first to use, according to present records, a double magazine. Prior to this time, he had been using a single magazine and had threaded double films in his camera. By using the single magazine, he could only thread in 20 or 25 feet of film, because it was necessary to roll the two strands together. This made one of the strands longer than the other. While with Sennett, he used a Bell & Howell camera with registering pins. The Williams' process, though used earlier, was first used commercially about 1922. His first picture was the Famous Players Lasky picture, "Beyond the Rocks," starring Gloria Swanson, released on May 14, 1922. Williams, in the last three years, has applied for a number of patents which greatly improved his process. His last patent, applied for in 1932, makes it possible to photograph with bipack panchromatic emulsions. Through the use of panchromatic emulsions, it is possible for him to photograph colored objects in the foreground. Williams had been using an orthochromatic emulsion Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.