Reel and Slide (Jan-Sep 1919)

30 REEL and SLIDE | Slides M Questions on Lantern Slide Sub H jects will be answered by mail if | stamped envelope is enclosed in H addressing this department. Too few of our amateur photographers have learned to make use of the stereopticon. The pleasure in taking and developing pictures increases rapidly as the amateur progresses in his chosen hobby. But only a small percentage of "kodakers" have taken up the lantern slide._ It is not necessary that they make their own slides, but the true pictorial value of many negatives are never fully realized until they are made the subject of projection. Mr. Henry R. Bates, of Richmond, Va., writes this department as follows: "A copy of Reel and Slide awakened in our camera club an intense interest in the lantern slide. _ We have had several sets made from our choice scenic negatives and find the screen method of examination superior to any other. We are able collectively to view, at their best, the entries of our members and form judgments more rapidly than by passing prints around or placing them on the wall. No camera club should be without a stereopticon. It is true that few amateurs will take the trouble to make their own slides; but a good slide house can be depended upon to produce results satisfactory in every way. "Personally, I secured extra quality slides by making an agreement with the slide man whereby he got full credit for the slide and this brought him some valuable advertising." * * # There has been a feeling among slide makers in general of late that fewer individual sets and better quality are the need of the day. Competition has put the various slide houses to great expense in securing timely screen material with the idea of "scooping" each other. This is notably true of war subjects. Big prices have been paid for photographs by_ Chicago and New York slide makers, the material selected being chosen for its timely value rather .than for its permanent or ethical quality. The result is that only a small part of this material will be of service after peace actually arrives and general interest in war subjects subsides, as it must. The war has brought lantern slides into many churches and other institutions where they never were shown before, and it is undoubtedly due to the wideawakeness of the slide men that this is the case. It is reasonable to suppose that these institutions, once having adopted the screen, will continue its use. To that degree, the many dollars invested in sets that must have a short earning period are not lost. One of the big problems of the slide house has been to know what the people want in advance of their asking for it. The slide man has taken many chances — that is, the renting houses who depend upon rentals for the bulk of their revenue. Naturally, over a period of years^ the_ law of averages gives the slide man an intelligent basis upon which to stock up. But, of necessity, he must carry considerable dead weight on his shelves at all times. On the other hand, one" of the outstanding features of the lantern slide industry today is this: It is an easy matter for the instructor to put his hand on what he wants and to get it when he wants it. In this way, the slide business is far ahead of the educational film business. Some day the educational film industry must take the educational slide business for its model in so far as service is concerned. The slide men can teach the film men a great deal. * * * B. J. H. writes as follows: "A few years ago I saw a most unusual set of dog slides. They were hand colored and, from a photographic standpoint, most artistic. I have often wondered who owned them. Can you tell me?" Answer: Maybe some reader can help B. J. H. out? * * * Most slide houses are now charging by the slide instead of_ by the set. One leading firm, however, maintains its price per set. In justice to both slide user and slide maker, the charge based on the slide seems more equitable. The owner realizes revenue on his actual investment — the user pays for exactly what he gets. * * * The writer recently saw an interesting exhibition in a private home. A beautiful woodland scene, near by, had been photographed in winter with several inches of snow on the ground. It was again pictured in the spring, again in the summer and in the autumn. Slides were made up, hand colored of each season's view. These slides were dissolved, one into the other, on the screen. _ As all were taken from precisely the same pointy of vantage, the effect was striking; the comparisons were most interesting. ?— ASK US—? L. J. MacArthur of St. Louis, Mo., asks: How many systems of showing color films are there? We can best reply to this by quoting from an address made recently before the Society of Motion Picture Engineers: "Probably very little work has been done abroad during the past few years with color cinematography. In the United States several groups are busy with the problem and some have reached the market or have given public showings, showings. "Kinemacolor gave up its wheel screen showings and devoted itself to perfecting the Fox process. "Technicolor two-color taking process. Camera records two color value records of each exposure, simultaneously, through one lens not adjacent. Rapid movement resulting in fringing is therefore eliminated. Public showings were on a special type of projector which superimposes two images on the curtain at one time. This process appears to be technically correct, but is not adapted to standard projection in its present form. "Cinechrome two-color taking, two adjacent images being recorded at each exposure. Projection by means of a special projector superimposing two images on the curtain at one time, eliminating fringing and pulsation. Very much the same as the technicolor process. "Douglass two-color taking records being made singly in succession and projected in that way at high speed. Does not use color wheel, but dyes,_ the red positive record red and the green-blue positive record green. Public showings in New York did not indicate any improvements over similar showing before its advent. "Kesda. Working on a method for producing a film that projects at sixteen pictures a second — standard. "Prisma. Double complementary pairs of images used in taking. One pair records the redorange and blue-green values, the second pair records the orange and blue values. Their new IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlP positions project at 16 pictures a second — standard. "In addition to the above, the Eastman Company possesses the Chronochrome process of Gaumont, using three colors in taking and projecting. Members of the Eastman staff have also developed a commercial process, in which double coated positive stock is used and the dyeing applied by the Capstaff process." Is there a small projector on the market that takes more than one reel of film at a time? H. G. F., Portland. Answer: We presume you mean more than one thousand foot reel. If so, no. * * * Where is the Movee Camera made? H. G Orcutt. Answer: Address the Movee Company, Schofield Bldg., Cleveland, O. * # * What is the address of the National Board of Review? K. Answer: 70 Fifth avenue, New York City. * * * Which company has produced Alcott's "Little Women?" E. G. H. Answer: The newest and most finished version is that just announced by Famous Players Lasky, distributed through Paramount Exchanges. (It is referred to elsewhere in this_ issue.) No. Your school could scarcely rent this film for a while yet. It will have a theater run in Des Moines. Watch for announcement in your local papers. * # * Does the Methodist Church, _ as an institution, approve of the use of films in religious teaching? Hartman. Answer: We do not know that the church body has gone on record to this effect. We do know that many individual Methodist churches use films regularly and their leaders are readers of Reel and Slide. Usually the decision lies with the individual minister and his congregation. A most interesting list of slide subjects is offered by the Riley Optical Instrument Company of New York in their "The Great European War" series, a copy of which has reached this department. The divisions allow a wide range for the lecturer. Mobilization, views in countries affected, miscellaneous war views and people and places of note connected with the war, are among the well assorted classifications. This company also lists featured subjects classified by nationality, which should be of special interest just now, including portraits of many notables who are certain to appear prominently in the peace conferences. * * * This reminds us that the lecturer will find portraits of notables and Versailles of great value once the peace conferences are under way. Why wouldn't a carefully prepared interpretation of the events at the conference, illustrated with suitable slides, be just the thing this spring? Many churches and schools will find a wealth of material therein. The daily papers will furnish a keynote for these lectures, which should be worked into a series and classified. There could be a lecture with pictures on the personalities, another on the peace conference scenes and one on former treaties of peace, especially that of 1871; an interesting pictorial parallel is easily possible and the catalog of any important slide firm will assure adequate pictorial representation. * * * Stereopticon slides on Russia are in great demand. The world is trying to understand Russia. There is much public interest evinced in the Russian situation now that the big war drama has come to a close in Europe. Fortunately, there are many fine views of Russian cities and the Russian people easily available. Perhaps no country in the world, before the war, offered more interesting and varied subjects for screen visualization, and Russian subjects have always been popular with young and old. We pick at random from a Russian catalog issued by a leading slide house, to show the wide variety of Russian subjects: Helsingfors — Harbor and cathedral. Natives of North Russia. Riga — The quay. Riga — Kalkstrasse. A Russian droskie. A droskie driver. Peasants at the well. A village street. Natives of the Baltic provinces. House of a well-to-do peasant. Haymaking. A bride and bridegroom. Offering gifts to bride. Lutheran church — Baltic provinces. Village choir. Village Sunday-school. Village schoolmaster and pupils. St. Petersburg. A lady of St. Petersburg. Suburban house in winter. Boys in winter clothing. Peasant boys on sleigh. A three-horse passenger sleigh. Moscow — General view. Moscow — A modern residence. J. S. B. Reel and Slide will welcome contributions from its readers on any historical matter having to do with the development of the stereopticon and lantern slide art. The early beginnings of the industry in the United States are of special interest in this connection. Address communications to John S. Bird, care of this magazine. J. S. B. * # * The writer was privileged to examine some very unusual slides made by the Scott & Van Altena Company of . New York recently. These people make a specialty of coloring and their work is truly representative of the best in that art. A series of travel slides were truly _ remarkable in their natural shadings, especially in the geological specimens. Mr. Scott, who has enjoyed many years of experience in this field, owns a collection of negatives which are exceedingly interesting. "It is only necessary to follow nature in coloring," said Mr. Scott," and this, of course, requires study and time. That is why a cheap slide is of little use to the educator. A great deal of restraint is necessary in this work. The colorist is so apt to go too far." Mr. Scott has just completed some important orders for the New York State University, Visual Instruction Department. # * * One of the most interesting slide lectures is that now in use by the Congregational Churches of America. The lecture illustrates over 100 years of work of the American Board of Foreign Missions. The institutions and the methods used by this organization, ministering to 75,000,000 people in foreign lands, are featured in the sets used in connection with the lecture. Recently this lecture was given in the Olivet Church, Bridgeport, Conn., with great success. In this kind of work the stereopticon is supreme.