Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1952)

234 BUILD A PORT-A-TITLER! Compact and convenient, this portable titler is a must for the traveling movie maker, a boon to apartment-housed amateurs JOHN E. CLOSSON, ACL FOR some time now I have had to move quite often, and in the process I soon found that carting all my movie equipment in the car seldom left room for anything else. Therefore it was a necessity for me to find some kind of titler which was compact and portable — instead of the bulky dust catchers I had been using. Also, I wanted a titler with which I could use small letters on backgrounds that I found in various magazines. Well, I didn't find such a titler commercially. So in the end I built one myself and, to suggest its most significant feature, I have dubbed it a Port-ATitler. It works. I might say, very efficiently in shooting most any kind of title, and it is easy and economical to make. You'll find it diagrammed and discussed on these pages. BUILDING THE TITLER STAGE The stage base ( 1 ) requires 4 feet of % by 1% inch white pine, cut into lengths as shown and nailed together to form a rectangle. Next the stage-base cover (2) is cut from a piece of ^ inch plywood and fastened to the top of the stage base with small nails. The two light arms (4) , of % inch plywood, should be made at this time and assembled to the stage-base cover (2) by means of two 3/16 by \x/± inch bolts, with washers on top and bottom and finally a wing nut on the top. The stage-base bottom (5) is made from ^4 incn plywood and fastened to the stage base so that ^4 inch projects evenly all the way around the stage base. This % inch projection will later form the ledge to accommodate the thickness of the sides and back. One standard bakelite lamp socket is screwed to the outer end of each of the light arms. A gooseneck lamp reflector can now be press-fitted around each socket so that the light from each No. 1 photoflood can be directed toward the stage. The light sockets are connected in parallel, so as to prevent voltage drop, and wired with a length of regular lamp cord sufficient to reach an available power source. A light switch may be added somewhere on the line for convenience if desired. The stage itself (3) is made from % inch white pine of the dimensions shown, and it is then mounted on the back side of the stage base (1) with nails or screws. About 30 inches of title board guide (6) are then fashioned; half of it is nailed to the bottom and the other half to the top of the stage so as to form runways for the title board. As a substitute for the title board guide, and a time-saver as well, I used the wood strips in which Koh-I-Noor graphite drafting leads are packed. These are 514 inches long, so that six such strips would be needed to create the necessary channels. MAKING THE TITLER CASE The bottom case parts (7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) are cut next from % inch plywood to the dimensions shown. The back (10) is nailed to the stage, followed by the sides (7 and 8) and finally the top (11) as shown in the sketch. The side door (9) is fastened with small butt-type hinges to the right side (8). This door permits the easy removal of the title boards when wipe effects are desired. The title boards (16) are made of light-gauge metal so that magnetic title letters may be used. The cover case parts (13, 14 and 15) now can be cut from % inch plywood to the sizes and shapes shown; they are PORT-A-TITLER FIG. 1 SCREEN PARTLY REMOVED. CAN BE USED TO CREATE WIPE EFFECTS. LIGHT ARMS FOLDED FOR CARRYING