Movie Makers (Jan-May 1928)

Photographed by H. Armstrong Roberts Titled by Ralph R. Eno MAKING your own ART TITLES Part Three THOSE who have acquired the knack of lettering their own art titles and desire to try their hand at animation will find the following comments and examples both interesting and helpful. We all have a sense of humor, and if it were dollars instead of sense some of us would be millionaires, while others — not so good. Anyhow, we all like to be amused and we get a kick out of funny cartoon characters. Cartoons may be used successfully on art titles, songs, parodies and limericks. Some of these, when animated progressively and timed to the music, appeal strongly to the movie audience because of their humor. As the simplest style for the beginner the famous skeleton cartoons have been selected. These little characters were made familiar to movie fans through the clever pen of Norman McLeod who has illustrated Christy Comedy titles for a number of years. Almost any sort of action can be SLIM TWuN[S in a comedy ^skitter 51PBERNECK3 A CARTOON TITLE One-hundredfifty-six By Ross F. George Illustrated by the Author vigorously expressed with fewer strokes of the pen in these characters than in any other type of cartoon that I know of. Success here depends upon the ability to eliminate detail. What is left out often counts more than the lines that are put in. They look their best when all the lines are more or less uniform in strengtth. Sharp pointed pens are not suited to this style of drawing, because they produce a line of such uneven value. And when photographed, fine lines invariably cause the amateur grief. The writer believes that the best pen for this work is the new Style B Speedball pen. These new pens have longer nibs than the old style and are equipped with two ink retainers, one on the under side and another on the top which extends down over the turned up marking tip. The cooperative action of the two feeders combined with the increased flexibility of the pen make it exceedingly practical for use with white or opaque inks. For my own work I take the small size B pen (No. 5) and grind down the diameter of the marking tip a little, using a fine oil stone for this purpose. In this way I can get a uniform line of any desired strength. You will also find that when you have a job calling for a special size letter that it saves time, which is the equivalent of money, to grind down a pen to fit the letter. This takes only a few minutes and, on a long job, saves many hours, besides producing a letter or drawing of more pleasing proportions. Experience has also taught that pens crusted with ink will not produce sharp letters. The best way to keep pens clean is to scrub them off occasionally with an old tooth brush dipped in water. Another time saver which should be known by everyone who letters is that a few drops of alcohol added to white ink will speed up the flow and make it dry faster. In hot weather it is often helpful to thin the ink with a mixture of fifteen parts water, three parts alcohol and one part glycerine. In order to make these cartoons easier for beginners, the familiar music staff of five lines and four spaces has been adapted to their construction. Proportions may be varied as the subject suggests or as the artist thinks best as long as the characters approximate the appear AN ANIMATED-DUMMY CARTOON