American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1932)

July, 1932 AMERICAN CINEMATOCRAPHER Forty-one Why Blondes? (Continued from page 12) ever, when the wigs are properly made and applied, this prejudice has no foundation. It has been my experience, too, that this objection to wigs is never found among the people who actually wear the wigs, but among the executives — producers, supervisors and sometimes directors; men who are seldom in a position to have had personal experience with the merits or demerits of wigs, and whose objections are motivated by a fear that the production might suffer by the employment of such an expedient. If wigs were what they were only a few years ago, these objections would certainly be justified; but within the last few years, wigs have not only been immeasurably improved, but absolutely perfected. This is, I realize, a very broad statement to make, but it is none the less true. From my own personal experience I can state that in no instance where a properly made and applied wig has been used has the result been in the slightest degree short of absolute satisfaction. As an example, in one production upon which I worked a short time ago, no less than seven members of a cast of nine — among them some of the greatest players in pictures — wore wigs; and in none of the many reviews of the picture was this fact mentioned. It was not, so far as I could learn, even noticed by the critics, most of whom knew the players more or less intimately. The credit for this perfection of wigmaking belongs entirely to those splendid artists and gentlemen, Ernest and Percy Westmore. These men are not merely wigmakers, but artists. They come of a long line of wigmakers, and they have so perfected the technical and artistic phases of their craft that their products defy detection, not alone by the eye, but by the camera as well. Therefore, in cases where the natural hair of a player is not suited to such alterative treatments as dyeing or bleaching, or has been injured by incompetent manipulation, a wig is not only the obvious recourse, but an extremely satisfactory one. A wig may, naturally, be of any color or texture desired; but it may also be of any desired length — a feature which gives the wig a decided advantage over natural hair. For if a player whose natural hair is long is cast, let us say, in a part requiring bobbed hair, she need not sacrifice her hair for the part, for wigs may now be worn over long hair without increasing the apparent size of the head. Conversely, if a bobbedhaired player is cast in a long-haired role, she need not grow her hair out for the part, for the wig will prove entirely satisfactory. Furthermore, the wig may be made either to match the individual's natural hair in every respect, or in any shade, color or texture that will most perfectly set off the wearer's personality, or suit the part. There is, too, an added convenience in that the wearer need not spend an undue amount of time in the hairdresser's establishment, for the wig can be placed on the block in the makeup shop, and dressed during the night, to be ready for wear in the morning, at which time it is easily and quickly applied. In the far more rare instances where men are required to alter the coloring of their hair, a wig will again serve the purpose effectively, while, of course in cases where the man's natural hair is too thin, toupees are frequently and successfully employed. To briefly summarize the matter, wherever a change in the coloring of a player's hair is indicated, either to increase that player's photographic or personal effectiveness, to develop new facets of the personality, or to complete a definite characterization, two methods are possible: the coloring of the natural hair may be altered by means of dyes or bleaches, or a wig may be used, with perfect satisfaction in either case. There is, however, always this proviso: that whatever manipulation is done — whether it be the application of coloratives to the Sound Cartoons (Continued from page 37) When a character is to walk across the screen, we can use a walking cycle, with multiple registration-punches to give him the movement; of course, in this case, the cells must be long enough so that their edges don't come into the picture at either end of the walk. When, on the other hand, our character is to walk, but remain in the same place, while the background flows past him, we can use an ordinary walking cycle, while the background is drawn on a long roll of paper, and moved by, a sixteenth of an inch or so at a time. This type of movement must, of course, be handled very carefully, so that the background moves naturally, and does not appear to skid by under the character's feet. Photographing the drawings is simple. I have already described the camera-set-up; the lighting may be either by Cooper-Hewitt mercury-vapor tubes or by incandescent light. We use the latter; I think that for amateur use a pair of the new "Photoflood" bulbs would be excellent. The only requirement as to lighting is that the field be illuminated evenly, and that there be no reflections, either of the lights or of the camera and its supports, in the cover-glass. When it comes to "sounding" the amateur cartoon, there are several methods. In the first place, bearing in mind the way I have described that we allow 24 frames to the bar, you can, with some experimenting, synchronize your cartoon to existing records, either the 78 r.p.m. commercial records, the new 33'/3 r.p.m. "long-playing" records, or the 33^ r.p.m. theatre sound-effect records made by several of the photograph companies. The 33 1 ; r.p.m. records are the best, as they will last long enough for a 400-ft. reel, and, too, most of the 16mm. sound-projectors are made to take them. In addition, you can record your own sound on these records by means of the new Victor, R. C. A., General Electric and Creybar home-recording phonographs, or through one of the several agencies that specialize in making sound-effects for 16mm. films. If you haven't a sound-projector, it is possible, though difficult, to synchronize your ordinary projector with an electric phonograph. The results aren't, of course, perfect, still — it can be done, with patience. There, in a few words, is an outline of sound-cartooning. It is difficult, and requires patience — but it provides a deal of enjoyment, and a type of film that is rarely seen on amateur programs — and therefore doubly welcome to home-movie sated audiences. natural hair, or the creation and application of a wig — must be done by the most competent of operatives only. When this precautiton is followed, everyone concerned — the producer, the director, the cinematographer, and the individual player — can be assured of perfect satisfaction and absolute safety. Moreover, under the guidance of such specialists in this art as the members of the Motion Picture Makeup Artists Association, one can be certain of obtaining not alone the best of such treatment, but also treatment that will make the most of one's actual and photographic personality. ♦ A Good Record TWO years of daily operation without a single interruption during a performance and without having even been inspected by a service engineer is the record established by a Photophone Type F sound reproducing unit in "The Imperial Talkies" theatre, operated by Madan Theatres, Ltd., at Bangalore, India, according to a letter addressed to the foreign department of the RCA Victor Company by A. W. Smith, Manager. Mr. Smith's letter was written on the second anniversary of the installation of the Photophone apparatus in his theatre.