Motography (Jan-Jun 1913)

March 1, 1913. MOTOGRAPHY 151 convey the interest herein assigned, that she (he) has not executed and will not execute any agreement in conflict therei\vith, that the said dramatic composition is original with her (him) and that no incident therein described is, to the best of the Author's knowledge and belief, the same as or a colorable imitation of any incident in any other copyrighted book or play. Dated Witnesses : With the signing and mailing of the copyright blank, the author's responsibility for the film story ends and that of the Essanay company, in reality, just begins. For the story as it is submitted to the scenario editor, and the film as it is shown on the screen for the entertainment of the public, are often strikingly dissimilar. The original scenario may furnish the main idea and from it the producer, into whose hands it is delivered for production, may weave around the idea an almost entirely new story. That is what happened in the "By Gum!" comedy, which was under the direction of "Lightning" Mason Hopper — the nickname "Lightning" prefixed, because he is credited with exceptionally rapid work. Comedy production is Mr. Hopper's specialty and when the film "By Gum!" was turned over to him, he saw in it the making of comedy other than the authoi had intended. So he set to work, sketching out his development of the gum idea and found he had fifty-six scenes in place of the author's twenty-four. He changed the title "By Gum !" to "The Gum Man," dictated his version of the story to his stenographer and picked from his comedy company the characters needed for the roles. The task of compiling a list of the props necessary for the scenario's production is the next task of the producer. Each room is listed separately as, for instance, with the film story "The Deacon's Dilemma," which director McMackin had in charge, the following order was preserved in the compilation of the prop list : Parsons Parlor (country town) — Heating Stove, Old-Fashioned Bookcase and Writing Desk Combined ; Oval or Roun<! Center Table; Organ and Stool, with Music; two or three Easy Chairs (Old-Fashioned Upholstery); Hall Tree in Hall; Ornamental Kerosene Hanging Lamp ; Coal Bucket, with coal, old newspapers and kindling wood; Wooden Washtub; Tea Kettle with boiling hot water; Old-Fashioned Sacred Pictures (not Catholic stuff) ; five or six Market Baskets (with paper tied over the tops) ; two or three jars of Fruit and Preserves; two Layer Cakes; basket of Fine Apples; Deck of Cards and Poker Chips; Smoke-Pot for Stove ; Glass of Hot Lemonade ; Suitcase and Hand Bag (for parson and daughter). Parsons Dining Room (country town) — Dining Table, OldFashioned Sideboard ; Small Kerosene Lamp ; Small Brown Jug (about Yi gallon); Old-Fashioned China Cabinet; Dining Room Chairs ; Pictures ; Same Baskets and Stuff as in Parlor. Spinster's Parlor — Oval Center Table ; Whatnot ; Organ and Stool; Settee or Lounge; Easy Chair; Sewing Basket; Small Bible. Country Kitchen — Cook Stove ; Kitchen Table ; Dirty Dishes ; Opened Letter ; Wood Box with Split Cord Wood : Kitchen Cabinet with Dishes. (Get something different than what has been used so much in the scenes. Spoor is kicking about this.) Outside Scenes — Parson's Two Suitcases ; Boy's Sled ; Pint of Whisky; Ladder; Basket of Eatables as Used in Inside Scenes; Telegram ; Key to Door; Ordinary Broom; Tea Cup. A diagram of each room with its setting is required by the producer. This he draws on a specially arranged large sheet of -paper, marked off in a scale of feet from the camera's focus. The parlor of the parson's home in the story, "The Deacon's Dilemma," is that which L marked off in the diagram, Form 4. The figures at the right indicate the distance in feet from the camera, while those at the left show the width of the field or range of the camera lens at different distances. The cast (form 5) and diagrams, Mr. Hopper made for "The Gum Man" story which was then ready for reproduction. In his version of it, he eliminated the jewel theft idea entirely, as that theme is a hackneyed one, now One page of his recomposed version uf the scenario, as it looked when the production of stor) was completed, is given herewith in Form 6. In it the markings to the left of the page serve an important purpose as they embody Mr. Hopper's method of facilitating his work. The wavy line through each scene was drawn as the taking of the scene was completed. The capital letter "H" means "hotel." The cross denotes an indoor scene. The cross inclosed by a ring signifies a bedroom scene. The large circle marks a hall scene. The figures, "10:40," "10:50," etc., denote the time lold on the hotel clock. The dot inclosed by a square denotes an out-of-door scene. With these markings, Hr. Hopper easily located whatever sort of scene he wished. For a hall scene, he had but to glance at the markings instead of looking down each page and tiring his eyes and patience by read A Still Picture from "The Gum Man." ing the guide-line to each scene. The producer's copy is typed on crisp white paper and the whole is given a backing of heavy blue paper, which will be filed for possible future reference. It took Mr. Hopper but five hours to produce the fifty-six scenes — in all, 1,400 feet of film — which tells the story of "The Gum Man." While the length of the film was 1,400 feet, the story was not taken on a film of that length, but on sections of 200 feet. From the camera, the film went to the dark-room of the factory where it was wound on a roller of slat-like construction turned by hand. With each revolution the so-wound film dipped into a tank of developer and, after about three minutes of this process, the characters assumed the correct distinction of the ribbon-like film and the roller removed and placed over a water tank where the film was thoroughly washed. The hypo was the next and last bath and fixed the characters permanently on the film. The roller was then taken into the drying room where a warm current of air dried the film and left it ready to be wound upon a small reel, for picture machine use. The various sections of film were cemented together by girls who do nothing but this work and it was ready for screen production.