Movie Makers (Jun-Dec 1928)

DECEMBER 1926 XHi A CLEVER EXAMPLE OF MODEL WORK IN AN EARLY PRODUCTION OF THE PEABODY CINEMA CLUB OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. SOLVING Production PROBLEMS Suggestions from Current Amateur Photoplays EVERY day amateur film story producers demonstrate the all inclusive veracity of the homely proverb, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Faced with a lack of the capital, and the extensive equipment of the professional, the amateur is forced to experiment and to substitute imagination and ingenuity for studio facilities. Harrowing as these limitations are to the amateur producer, out of them has arisen some of the finest amateur work. The amateur is slowly developing his own technique and is creating a wealth of cinematic devices for his own use. The story of the conception and mechanics of some of these successful amateur experiments will have interest and practical value to the individual amateur who uses his camera for personal film records as well as for the film story producer, whether an individual or a group worker. So from time to time articles reporting the methods and devices developed by amateur film story producers with the practical application of them will appear in Movie Makers. It should always be remembered that these bits of technique have been worked out by amateurs who in general have no more than average amateur equipment and that they have been proven by actual amateur use. In the production of "Masque" by the Peabody Cinema Club in Nashville, Tenn. in order to convey the idea, without the use of a title, that the lead and his friend were being hypnotised, a double exposure was made showing the eyes and forehead of the mysterious villain filling the By Arthur L. Gale background and the figures of the boys moving blindly in front. The film's most successful cinematic achievement is best told in the words of the cameraman, Dillard Jacobs, who worked it out. "At the climax the villain threatens to throw the heroine over a high cliff. He loses his balance, however, and is himself hurled toward the jagged rocks beneath. The fall is portrayed in the cinema as follows: Scene 579 — Closeup of Timothy's feet slipping over the edge of the cliff. Scene 580 — Closeup of Timothy's feet slipping, similar to Scene 579 but taken from a different angle. Scene 581 — Semi-long shot of dummy falling off cliff. Scene 582 — Closeup taken from below of horrified group peering over top of cliff. They move back out of the scene. Scene 583 — "Closeup of Timothy falling. . Scene 584 — Medium shot of dummy. It bounces down cliff toward camera. Scene 585 — "Closeup of Timothy. Scene 586 — Medium shot of dummy. It rolls into a closeup almost on top of the camera. Scene 587 — * Closeup of Timothy. Scene 588 — Camera swings around several times giving whirling effect to trees. Camera slows down coming to a stop trained upon a large tree, and moves to a closeup of the tree. Scene 589 — Closeup of Timothy's body. Head not shown. His bloody hand drops into the frame and all is still. The closeups of Timothy marked oy an asterisk were taken with the actor standing on the slope of a steep hill. The cameraman stood above, holding the camera close to the upturned face of the actor. The motor was started and the camera jerked quickly and steadily away while still trained on the face of the actor. This allowed the villain to be recognized and gave the blurring effect caused by a swiftly moving object. When the closeups were spliced together in the order indicated the effect produced was as if the camera had followed the villain over the cliff in a continuous closeup." This sequence gets over with~~convincing realism and is one of the most ingenious examples of amateur cinematics that we have seen. The problem of some way representing the human soul arose in the production of "The Soul Thief" filmed by Dr. and Mrs. H. A. Heise in Uniontown, Pa. The device worked out was exceedingly simple. An electric light bulb covered with a paper napkin was lowered in the jar that was supposed to contain the soul. The light cord was painted black and the bulb was given a constant fluttering movement by means of a black thread operated by someone outside the scene. The figure of the mad doctor gloating over the captured soul was illuminated with spot lighting, so general illumination did not reveal the actual nature of the "soul." In the film, the light diffused through the paper napkin gave a soft and not quite definable luminosity which, with the movement, represented, as well as anything possibly could, the human concept of the soul.