Amateur Photographer & Cinematographer (1934)

Decemler 26tli, 1934 Ik AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER Ita 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER e mateur NEWS, NOTES AND MATTERS OF IN¬ TEREST FOR ALL CINEMATOGRAPHERS USING AMATEUR CINfi APPARATUS. Cinematography “ Let’s Show Our Movies ! 5 > By R. H. ALDER. An eminent statistician has com¬ puted that if all the handbooks lost by ultimate owners were placed end to end they would stretch a dickens of a long way. The essential to a successful projection night is to find the handbook and to follow its advice. A major overhaul is needed only once a season, but driving belts should be examined, the gate cleaned and the feed and take-up mechanism checked over before, and not during, each performance. Badly kinked fle.x may blow a fuse — it is not in the best taste to leave your guests in darkness while you grope about the cellar with a candle. Showmanship. Films are next examined, weak sprocket holes patched, dirty films cleaned, faulty joins cut out and re¬ spliced. Brittle films can be steamed very lightly to restore flexibility by rewinding quickly through the jet from the spout of a kettle — hut how much better to have kept them in proper tins ! Having taken these ordinary pre¬ cautions against scorn, we can set out to win praise. Showmanship is an art very like that of editing — it consists mostly of eliminating dull moments. What seems dull after brightness may itself seem bright when seen alone. For this reason the programme is arranged so that the poorer pictures (both technically and artistically) come at the beginning. Increasing Interest. There is a rhythm in programme building. We cannot expect an audience to maintain intense attention all the time, so our points of interest must be distributed in ascending scale through the evening. The climax comes to¬ wards the end, to be followed by a short comedy that releases the accumulated tension. Although interest is built up in waves it is never relaxed to the degree where it is ost. Arrangements, therefore, are made for smooth, rapid, but unhurried presentation. Distractions of all kinds are eliminated so that the audience is held throughout. There is nothing so distracting as a flickering coal fire ; an opaque fire¬ screen is highly desirable. Even at night windows are heavily curtained to avoid flashes from passing cars. Shifting furniture about always causes disturbance. It is an enormous ad¬ vantage if the guests can be received in one room and conducted to the already arranged " theatre,” just before the performance begins. If one room only is available the order of removal of the table and of placing the chairs should be planned in detail to avoid confusion. Aunt Tabitha’s old bones like a wellcushioned chair at the front ; all children, except little girls in party frocks, prefer a rug near the screen. Hide “ the Works.” The screen is covered by curtains with a pelmet at the top ; cords and weights, released by an e.xtemporised trigger, draw the curtains as the first title appears. Frequently the window cur¬ tains can be used, the screen being mounted with a black surround on the window itself. A silver screen is inclined downwardsas if it were a mirror reflecting light from the projector to the centre of the auditorium. Many a good show has been spoilt because the operator, stand¬ ing up at the back, had the brightest view. The projector is set up beforehand at such a height that the tallest head will not throw a shadow. It is kept hidden in an ” operating roorn ” formed of two tall screens ; if anyone is in¬ terested in the machinery he can see it after the show, not before. The spools are set out conveniently in an open rack. The position of the projector is such that the operator has ready manipula¬ tion of all lighting. Few of us rise to dimmers, but the main room light can usually be controlled by a bed-switch extension as sold for travellers’ use. A twenty-watt lamp, well shaded in a cocoa tin, is arranged to illuminate only the projector table and the gramophone turntable. The gramophone is a necessary ad¬ junct ; unless the ear is drugged with appropriate rhythmic sounds it is Now is the time to secure good action pictures of flying gulls in the Parks. The amateur cinematographer ivill find the light ample in the mornings, and plenty of ' material for attractive films. 2 1 597