Amateur Photographer & Cinematographer (1933)

December 27th, 1933 Ihi AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER ■a 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER o accompaniment, but a good many amateurs abandon this in despair after their first and usually disastrous attempts. In the old silent days many cinemas became famous for the quality of their orchestration, and in the same manner it is certain that a suitable musical accompaniment will double the appeal of any film screened at home. Unless one is able to purloin the services of an expert pianist one cannot hope to emulate the system of accompaniment in cinemas. An ordinary length pro¬ gramme would have an accompaniment built up from perhaps a hundred musical items and would flow from one to the other with no apparent change. For amateur entertainment, how¬ ever, accompaniment must be still more in the nature of a background, and instead of selecting closely ap¬ propriate items for each few minutes of the programme concentrate rather on choosing such compositions as will not clash with the general theme. As the piano is, alas ! falling into disuse, one associates music more with the gramophone, which, with all its limitations, can still provide a per¬ fectly satisfactory accompaniment. The electric gramophone or radiogram A Device FILM editing, to be successfully undertaken, calls for the use of a number of “ boxes ” or — alternatively — small spools by means of which the separately-cut film scenes can be temporarily located. In either case, however, trouble and confusion are likely to arise through the many spools being pushed about on the editing bench — where they are constantly changing from one , order to another. To obviate such difficulties, the simple device herein described and illustrated has been evolved. The device consists merely of a couple of o 00 000 O 00 o o o n d n n 0 a baseboards supporting a number of pins arranged at regular intervals for the reception of spools containing the separate film scenes. In use, the provides a more pleasant musical background than its more resonant prototype the acoustic machine. Two turntables are really necessary if one is to avoid jerkiness and the inevitable plop of the needle as the musician-inchief endeavours to change the record without being noticed. If one pos¬ sesses a radiogram an extra turntable driven by an electric motor can be purchased cheaplv, and this can be plugged in to the amplifier so that reproduction can be faded from one to the other by a dual volume control. We have sometimes heard it com¬ plained that one cannot find suitable records for accompaniment without spending a lot of money on stock items. This is really not quite true, but the idea emanates we believe from the fact that so many people are too “par¬ ticular ” in their choice. We hasten to add that we are using this word in its more precise sense. For accompani¬ ment we must avoid the particular and keep to the general. Take, for example, the moods induced by “The Blue Danube,” “ Peer Gynt Suite,” some selections from “ Scheherazade,” and the “ Valse Triste.” Why, with these four records one could almost accompany any type of film ! to By “ ACTINOGRAPHIST.” boards should be arranged one to the right and one to the left of the operator, for in this way not only is space con¬ served, but the work of putting the hands at once upon required cuttings is reduced to the simplest possible dimensions. One pin should, of course, contain only one spool. If required, and especially in the case of small films, only one of the boards may be employed ; and one only is shown in the illustration. Practical Details. Stout plywood is the cheapest suitable material to employ for the baseboard. Holes for the pins should be drilled at regular intervals com¬ pletely through the wood, care being taken to allow sufficient space for each pin to accommodate either 100-ft. or 50-ft. film spools — the particular size, of course, depending upon the enthusiast’s own requirements and circumstances. The pins may be cut from wooden dowel-sticks, and when cut should be a tight fit within the accommodating holes. The task of fixing does not require much explanation, though it may be hinted that a touch of “ Seccotine ” will be found to retain the 598 There is one thing to avoid, and that is vocal accompaniment. No matter how appropriate and how well timed, the sudden injection of a voice into the programme will produce a psychological shock, and bound upon it half the people will turn round and look at the gramophone, though heaven only knows why. It would be possible to continue in this strain about things which ought to be done to make an enter¬ tainment artistic, but we will content ourselves by pointing out that the length is vital. Do not pull the room to pieces and move all the chairs round for the sake of twenty minutes, neither should you endeavour to run a continuous entertainment for two or three hours by shooting through every foot of film you happen to possess. Between one hour and an hour and a half is ideal for home entertainment. One final word about comfort. Most homes do not possess anything like as many armchairs as they should. Ordinary chairs are horrible things, especially for thin people, but do try to make them reasonably comfortable by refnembering there are such things as cushions. Editing pins permanently in position. To finish, a couple of applications of garnet polish will make a workmanlike job of the whole. Spools. Spools for use with the device may be accumulated by making a practice of mounting film shots from small containers collectively upon the 400-ft. projection reels. Alternatively, the 100-ft. spools marketed by Kodak, Limited, may be purchased at a cost price of sixpence each. It is an advantage where many of the spools are likely to be required to mark each one plainly with a dis¬ tinguishing number — say, 1 to 24. A corresponding table or identifying card may then be made out and kept in front of the worker to facilitate the easy location of required shots. Nine-millimetre enthusiasts may make the device by merely driving stout wire nails at regular intervals through the undrilled baseboards. The tops (i.e., the pointed ends) of the nails should, of course, be neatly cut off with a pair of pliers — an operation that is best performed upon each nail separately as it is driven through the plywood. Simplify Film 24