American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1926)

Sixteen AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHBR June, 1926 "Trick" Photography Methods Summarized (Continued from Page 9) spot li^ht photographed through a copper wire screen to give the shimmering rays which are shown in the conventional paintings representing this sacred history. The massive walls of Fort Schuyler furnished the walls of the City of Jerusalem and the Wise Men followed the Star on the backs of camels in the Bronx Zoo. Photographs of the pyramids were double exposed above a location on a sandy beach for the sojourn in Egypt and the pillared portico of a rich patent medicine manufacturers' home, served as the architecture of the Roman Court. Great Demand Nearly seven hundred prints from the original and two dupe negatives which had to* be made to supply the demand were sold and some of the prints are still listed by educational exchanges. Orders were still coming in when the negatives were destroyed in a disastrous studio fire. What Comedies Brought Since the days of these crude pictures trick photograph) has waned and then waxed strong again. For a long time it was the step child of the legitimate producers. The comedy producers, however, have always regarded it as one of their strongest allies. It is, in fact, mainly due to the patient research of serious workers on the slap-stick lots that the credit for the present perfection of trick effects is largely due. Experts Far sighted producers have awakened to the money savings that may be affected by the use of trick photography and now all the larger companies retain the services of high salaried experts who are specialists in the business of artistic photographic trickery. Stringent Requirements Trick photography is a trick profession. It requires the arts of a trained magician with the added requirement that the spectator shall not even suspect that he is being deluded. Magicians must be familiar with psychology, with intricate mechanics, with higher mathematics, with physics, with art, with myriads of complicated details that must be made to dovetail to the fraction of a second. The craft of the trick cinematographer is just as exacting and calls for an even wider application of special and practical knowledge. It is not my intention to give in this paper any detailed explanation of trick photography. The subject is far too broad to be covered, even in a large volume. Every piece of trick photography is a separate problem and, just as the combinations of the alphabet are practically infinite, so are the various combinations that may be arranged in doing work of this character. Trick photography in cinematography is an analysis of motion in two or more directions. Simple cine analysis of motion is the series of frames or pictures the successive units of which represent phases of action at intervals of one sixteenth of a second. Most cine tricks require that two or more of these analyses be synchronized on one film and at the same time matched or blended with one another so that the line of demacration between the two or more combinations be imperceptible to the eye even after the image is enlarged several thousand times on the theater screen. In cases where the recording or taking interval of WHETHER for interior or outdoor shots, Zeiss Lens equipment on your camera insures results. No matter how thorough your methods, how good your lighting or how elaborate your settings, the final result will be better — whenever and whereever Zeiss Lenses are employed. CARL ZEISS, Inc. 153 West 23rd St. New York [Formerly H. M. Bennett] A NEW LENS "That has made good" Large aperture F:2.3. To a large extant responsible for the Bas-relief, or solid appearance of the subject on the screen. Good definition over the entire field, yet not harsh or wiry. A portrait lens in short focal lengths 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, with full dosing diaphragm. Price is reasonable 40mm $50 00 "Oram 50.O0 75mm 5B.OO A trial will be satisfying ASTRO-GESELLSCHAFT, mbh., Berlin FOR SALE BY MITCHELL CAMERA CORPORATION 6025 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, Calif.