Home Movies (1943)

PAGE 420 HOME MOVIES FOR DECEMBER Do you get a lot of pleasure from building your own home movie gadgets? Then here is the very book you want. Chock full of ideas for gadgets for 8mm. and 16mm. cameras and projectors— things easy for any amateur to make. HOME MOVIE GADGETS and how to make them $<f 00 PER COPY postpaid Nearly 100 pages profusely illustrated with photos and sketches telling how to make gadgets and accessories for cameras; for making wipe-offs and fades; title making; editing and splicing; and a host of others. No theories — every gadget tested and proven by an advanced amateur. The plans and specifications of just one of the gadgets alone is easily worth the price of the book. Limited printing on first edition. Order Now! Ver Halen Publications 6060 Sunset Blvd. HOLLYWOOD 28 CALIFORNIA signing, folding or addressing greeting cards; wrapping gifts; fastening labels; hiding presents; hanging stockings; arranging ornaments on the tree; then snapping the light switch to extinguish the room lights and fadeout on this sequence. Then the following morning: opening gifts; setting the holiday table; preparing food in the kitchen; and then — with guests assembled about the festive dinner table, make full shots of assembled guests to complete the story. This procedure will enable getting an fitting, QilmA ZJo • Continued from Page 405 composers to draw upon for scoring his pictures with music. Instead, he must rely upon phonograph records for his background music. And as these recordings offer limited choice of appropriate orchestral music and no means to rearrange it to fit one's picture, the only alternative is for the amateur to tailor his film to fit the music. Once a musical recording has been selected, it should be carefully studied with respect to the scenes or sequences that are to be screened with it. By editing the film to fit the music, the music lends greater importance and stature to the film. Probably the most important step in backgrounding a film with recorded music is in the careful choice of recordings. So many amateurs have spoiled an otherwise good film presentation by unwisely playing popular tunes or vocalized recordings. This results in immediately distracting an audience's attention from the picture — especially if the tune is one of immense current popularity such as "Pistol Packin' Mama" or "Sunday, Monday, and Always," both hit tunes at this writing. If a melody with the tempo of "Pistol Packin' Mamma" is required, it is far better to choose an unknown, probably long forgotten tune, of equal tempo that would unconsciously heighten an audience's interest in the picture without totally distracting it. Especially is the unknown melody not likely to interrupt the train of thought when abrupt cuts or fades are made to another recording, although such transitions should never be made between recordings of unsimilar tempo or volume. Well known selections of the old masters should be expertly played. The music must never be halted abruptly in the middle of a stanza in order to cut or fade to another melody. The scene or sequence should be extended to screen for the corresponding playing time, or music selected which would better fit the sequence. intimate Christmas continuity on a single roll of film. This year, many filmers will have a special reason to make Christmas movies when a man or woman in service comes home on leave to spend the holidays. The continuity need be changed little except for the addition of liberal closeups of the son or daughter on leave for a happy holiday reunion. Perhaps, there may be a neighbor's son or husband in service home for the holidays. It will be neighborly to save a little film for one or two shots of him, too. When double turntables are used and are equipped with separate fading controls, as certainly they should be, two records can be kept playing simultaneously. Thus, one of the records can be of sound effects especially recorded for the film and can be faded in over the music whenever desired. It is not necessary nor even desirable to fade-out the music entirely in order to play a sound effect — merely drop the volume of the music to a soft but audible level. Another reason for re-editing scenes for better sound accompaniment is to allow the projector operator more ease in changing records. Too many times short scenes follow one another so closely that the operator must work with split second accuracy in order to make all cues on time. A short scene is all right, and many times adding to it will spoil its effectiveness. However, in most instances a few re-action shots or some related footage can be placed between short scenes, thereby lengthening the time between them required to change from one record to another. In fast tempo sequences where additional footage of this kind cannot be added, or the scene order changed without losing the desired effect, a recording of several sound effects can be especially made exactly in the order desired and with the correct timing. Local sound studios make such recordings for a nominal charge. Properly used, they relieve the operator from annoying split second record changing each time the film is shown. Some amateurs have all music and sound effects recorded on one large record which plays throughout one entire reel. This is most convenient in that it does away with record changing and requires only that correct synchronization be maintained during projection of the reel. The only disadvantages are that selections of music cannot be altered and film cannot be taken from or added to the reel later without having to make a complete new recording.