Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 37 Directory of Players and Directors THE EXHIBITORS' AND MANUFACTURERS' REFERENCE GUIDE IN ADVERTISING PLAYERS AND DIRECTORS FRITZI BRUNETTE Playing Leads in Victor Films Universal Film Mfg. Co. Carl Laemmle, Pres. KING BAGGOTT Directing and Playing Leads in Imp Productions [RVING CUMMINGS Now Playing Leads in Universal Films JULIUS STERN Manager Imp Studio Universal Film Mfg. Co. Carl Laemmle, Pres. EARL METCALFE Lubin Films Second Season ETHEL GRANDON Imp Productions "Universal Program" What is a IV ( Continued ture of ether and alcohol, two liquids much in use in the arts and sciences. Everybody has an idea of what these spirit-like liquids are. The cotton dissolved in these fluids makes a viscous body, heavier than water and like a light oil. It has a familiar, pungent odor which everybody who has been under the hands of a doctor or druggist will recognize. This liquid is called collodion. You can spread it out on glass and it will form a thin transparent coating. It is used in photography and for medical and other purposes. We are now getting near to the actual base of the celluloid film. This liquid, when commercially prepared and poured out upon glass plates, will dry and form a thin, transparent film. But it is not strong; it will readily break and so it is necessary to make it tough enough for photographic and motion-picture work as the film has to undergo a great deal of wear and tear. So a hardening substance or substances are added to it — cne of the latter is the familiar camphor. By adding camphor to the collodion, spreading it out upon glass plates or slabs, you get your celluloid film in large sheets, which is cut into the ribbons or films that are used in making motion pictures. This celluloid is inflammable. It lights or takes fire readily because it has in its constitution substances that burn readily, the gun-cotton and the alcohol. Celluloid films which do not burn and are known as nonflam are made but so far have not been a success in practice, because while you make your celluloid noninflammable, or non-burning, you also make it less easy to handle in the projection machine. It does not last so long. It is not necessary for us to go into the chemical explanation of this, because this is not a chemical article. 'TP HE actual picture consists of silver — it is called pigmentary silver. Although it is black and has not the white shiny luster that we usually associate with otion Picture? row, page 32) silver; it is, nevertheless, of the same nature. That it is black is due to the fact that the picture was produced by the chemical action of light on silver, which is incorporated in the gelatine that is coated on the celluloid. How does light act in making the picture? Simply in this way — it was discovered years ago that salts of silver, such as chloride of silver, bromide of silver and iodide of silver were affected by light, and that if you applied a suitable chemical to them they were made actually black instead of being roughly of a cream color. These salts of silver are so sensitive to light that you have to make them in the dark and you can only expose them in a camera, otherwise they would blacken all over — just as a silver spoon does if you leave it long in the atmosphere. Everybody knows that silver blackens or darkens in light and has to be constantly polished. The gelatine fulfills the office of carrying the silver salt in suspension. You make a mixture (or emulsion) of gelatine nitrate of silver and bromide of potassium. The two salts mixed form another compound which is white bromide of silver. The other salts so formed are washed away. All this is done in the dark and the celluloid is coated in the dark with the gelatine and bromide of silver in it. The film can only be exposed in a dark camera through a lens. When it is exposed it is developed in a dark room. Development consists in making the action of the light stronger. It darkens the part of the film that has been acted upon by the ligbt. The part of the silver that has not been acted upon by light is dissolved out of the film by a salt of soda. Then the film is washed and dried, and you have what has been described in the earlier part of this article as a celluloid film carrying a positive image of metallic silver in clear gelatine. This substantially is a motion picture : Celluloid, gelatine, silver.