Home Movies (1951)

WORKSHOP Just pull slowly on the brass chain threaded into this special socket dima-light, and easy fading is no problem. — (By Warren L . Warren ,NewYork,N.Y.~) LABELLING FILMS How to see films in the semi-darkness of the projection room? Just use a length of positive film, a lettering pen, and film cement. Letter the label on the emulsion side of the white exposed film, using film cement as the "ink." This makes the emulsion under the cement impervious to developer, and stays white while the rest of the film turns dead black when developed. To develop just stuff" the film into a bottle of developer. After complete development, wash and dry the film, and that is all there is to it. — (By Lester Ames, Kansas City, Kan.~) NOISE FILTER Got a noisy projector? Get a rubber pad, similar to those used under typewriters, and place it under your projector. It is particularly effective when sound films are screened. — (By Ross Woodman, Peoria, Illinois.} SUPERIMPOSED TITLES Those amateurs who have wanted to make superimposed titles but have felt they required a backwind on their cameras to do so can put their minds at ease. This can be accomplished quite easily with an ordinary movie camera and the conventional typewriter titler. Here's how it's done. Select a negative which you feel will make a suitable picture for a title from your collection of negatives. It should be a little thin or underexposed to give contrast. The title wording is lettered on a piece of celophane or other transparent material and brought in contact with the picture negative. India ink should be used. The negative and title lettering should now be mounted in place on the titler. Load your camera in a darkroom with bulk film, sometimes referred to as negative stock. Mount the camera in place on the titler and you are ready to shoot the title. Exposure is made by aiming the titler and camera mounted thereon towards a bright sky, shooting at approximately //5-6 at 16 fps. You may have to vary the exposure depending upon the density of the negative and brightness of the day. After the film is removed from the camera — in a darkroom, of course, under a ruby red light — it is developed as a negative in ordinary film developer, then washed and fixed in the usual way. You will find that your title appears as a positive with white lettering superimposed over it. The possibilities of using superim posed titles are endless and besides they are lots of fun and will add variety to your movie titles. — (By Betty Landgraf, Elmhurst, N.Y.") SHUTTER TESTER Even though a reliable meter is used to calculate exposure, some amateurs often get consistent over and under exposure, because the camera is running faster or slower than the f.p.s. speed established by the manufacturer. In other words, the speed will vary, over a period of time and consequently require adjustment to insure consistency of camera speed. An accurate check of your camera speed may be made as follows: Focus your camera upon an electric clock having a sweep second hand. Run the camera long enough to expose film for at least three or four seconds. Develop the film and inspect it, counting the number of frames exposed be Study, first of all, some of the effects that may be achieved by super-imposition of images on the film; in other words, double and multiple exposures. The best known of these is the lapdissolve, showing one scene gradually disappearing as the other appears on the screen. It is really a combination of the fade-out and fade-in. In professional work this is usually done in the laboratory, but the amateur may do it in his own camera with a little time and patience. The first step is to fadeout the first scene, carefully taking note of the number of frames used in the process. A stop watch will provide a good double-check on this. Then, with the lens cap on the camera, wind back the film to the point where the fade-out first began. The film is then exposed for the same length of time on the fade-in scene. If your camera does not have the back-turn device, the film may be turned back in a darkroom if you know exactly how many feet have been exposed. * * * The double-exposure technique is used to produce ghost effects in your movies. Supposing you wish to show a ghost walking through a room. You first photograph the room, exposing normally. After rewinding the film, you film the ghost against a totally black background. If this scene is slightly underexposed, the ghost will be transparent on the screen. If you wish to show the ghost examining tween the time the sweep second hand moves from one second mark on the clock dial, to the next. — (By Orville Skinner, Yakima, Washington). REDUCING FILM Recently while shooting a series of interiors in black and white which called for the same lens stop, someone inadvertantly moved the iris ring of the lens, changing the exposure. Result: I had a number of unexposed scenes which could not be re-shot. I was able to remedy this error by reducing the film. This consisted of soaking the film in plain water for 10 minutes, then giving it a bath in Farmer's Reducer — a formula obtainable in any camera store. This bath cleared up the density of the underexposed shots, and brought them up to a density that gave normal projection on the screen. I found that the reducer works rapidly on the film emulsion, and the image must be warched carefully during the process, so that it may be stopped at the right point. Otherwise the film will fog. — (By Jerome Symons, Atlanta, Ga.~) • Continued on Page 1 80 Cut exposjre in halt it you want authentic double exposure effects. things in the room it will be easier to make the scene a different way. With your camera firmly set on a tripod you first film the room, underexposing one stop. Then rewind your film and photograph the ghost in action, again underexposing one stop. Be sure to have the camera in the same identical position for both scenes and don't allow your ghost to move any object. This same general method is employed to show a spirit arising from a sleeper and walking away. The double-exposure idea is used to show a person inside a bottle or cake of ice. Of course, the objects would be filmed close-up and the person at a distance so that he would appear to be inside the bottle, cake of ice, or other transparent object. Tricks for Beginners 169