Home Movies and Home Talkies (Jun 1932-May 1933)

HOME MOVIES & HOME TALKIES 223 youR CINE QUERIE/ AH/WERED Free Service for Readers Is there a cini problem bothering you ? Have you some difficuUy in which yon would like expert help P Do you want to know where to obtain certain apparatus and what it will cost ? HOME MOVIES is at your service in this and many other ways. Address your query to : The Service Department, HOME MOVIES, Messrs. George Newnes, Ltd., S-ii, Southampton Street, Strand, W.C.2, enclosing the free Query Coupon printed in this issue. A selection from queries and answers of general interest will be printed each month on this page. All others will be replied to by post. Special Note.— Criticisms of amateur films, opinions of amateur scenarios and test of apparatus can he undertaken by special arrangement. hi such cases a preliminary letter to the Editor is essential. W. H. E., Merton, wiites : " Can I take cine films through the windscreen o£ my car or will the glass cause distortion ? " Answer. — It is perfectly practicaVJe to take films through a ^\■indsc^een and we have done so many times ■\\ithout any noticeable loss of definition. This is due to tile fact that mndscreens are made of highgrade plate-glass. Exposure will be slightly more than when taken direct, owing to absorption of light bj the windscreen. As many cars are now fitted with safety glass wintlscreens, which consist of two sheets of plate-glass between which is sandmched a sheet of celluloid, and as this celluloid in many cases acquires a yellowish tinge with age, it is preferable to take such shots on panchromatic film. The car must be very well sprung and driven over a smooth road in order to take satisfactory jjiciures in motion, and considerable practice is necessary in holding the camera to obtain reasonable steadiness on the screen. A slight unsteadiness, however, is 'by no means objectionable, and iidds to the natural effect, particularly if a portion of the bonnet is also showing, so as to make it perfectly clear that the picture is taken from a moving car. ,^1 F. G., Wokin?, asks : " WiU I get as good a result on orthochromatic film with a heavy filter as on panchromatic film with a light filter ? I know the exposure would be longer, hut provided the exposure he correct, would similar results be obtained in the two cases ? " Answer. — The results would not be the same, although to what extent the difference would be noticeable depends upon the subject. If obtaining cloud effects were the main object, the results might be very similar, as the filter would repress the excessive sensitivity to blue, but.no filter can add sensitivity which is not there, and orthochromatic stock is completely insensitive to red and many shades of yellow and green. On some subjects panchromatic film with a filter will give far better results than the orthochromatic witli the lieaviest of filters, particularly \rith the dark greens, yellows and bromis found in many autumn scenes. We always recommend the use of panchromatic stock for all subjects in preference to orthochromatic, which has onljr one thing in its favour these days — it is slightly cheaper. G. A. L. (Nottingham) vprites : " I have been using a 16-mm. cine camera for the last two or three years and am faced with a diflBculty vpith regard to the storing of finished film. I first stored my films in a tin container holding ten reels, and after a few months found a large amount of my films were spoilt by mould and had to be destroyed. I then obtained separate cans tor each reel, moistening the blotting paper pads regularly, but found h'ouble still occiured. I should be glad of your advice as to the best way of storing film vsithout having this trouble." Ansiver. — The trouble witli ail forms of mould and mildew is that it spreads rapidly, and imless it is completely eradicated will affect anything which comes near it. As your question is of general interest to our readers, we have referred it to an authority on moulds and mildews, who informs us that in yoiu case the trouble has come through over-moistening. It so happens that he himself has used a good deal of film and finds that in this climate there is sufficient humidity to keep the film in good condition "\iithout frecjuent moistening. His advice is that you should immediately wash out your cans with a solution of Lysol, which will remove all existing mould, after which the pads should only very occasionally be moistened so as to avoid the excess of moisture \i'hich has given you your trouble in the past. In most of our film technique we have copied the United States, where atmospheric conditions are entirely different and where film becomes brittle very rapidly, due partly to the climate and partlj to the luiiversal use of central heating. We do not think you will have any farther trouble if you follow this advice and \\'ash out your cans with Lysol, as unless you get rid of this mould it will taint everj'thing that comes near. After this it will be sufficient if 3'ou moisten your pads about once every two or three months, blotting off the excess of moisture. G. C. H., Ipswich, and many others. — See our notes regarding the illumination given by 9}-mm. projectors in the '" Editor's News Reel " for September. The Bolex Model D projector gives a brilliant picture with 9i-mm. film on quite a big screen, as it has a '2o0 watt lamp. This machine is uniciue in that it projects both 91 -mm. and 16-mm. film equally well, but owing to the high intensity of light focused on the film it cannot be used with the notched title scheme, which, incidentally, is the subject of Pathe patents. J. H., Sutton. — It is not i^ossible to fit a super attachment to the Pathescope Kid projector, as these attachments are designed to fit only to the standard Pathescope instrument. F. L. K., Gloucester, wants particulars of how to process his own 16-mm. film. An.sjoer. — It is not always realisetl that in the case of most of the l(j-nim. film on the market the price of the new film includes senicing and the provision of a positive ready for projection, and therefore the home processing of the film can effect no saving. Unless the film is cut up into short lengths, bulky frames and large tanks of developer and fixer are necessary, while both washing and drying are processes requiring greater facilities and more space than the average amateur has at his disposal. Certain 16mm. negative film, such as the Gevaert, can he purchased \vithout right to free processing and the film is itself developed in a similar fashion and with similar solutions to those used for '■ stiU " films. Once, the negative film has been fixed and washed, the amateur is faced with the problem of printing, which for its part requires a special machine which is quite expensive. If you intend seriously to rmdertake home processing, we suggest you obtain particulars of the Stineman system, which is probably the most practical apparatus available for home processing. This consists of three nesting tanks and two 100 feet developing reels, a collapsible drying rack with a capacity of 200 feet and a portable printer. As tliis apparatus is of American manufacture, with the import duties and differences of exchange, no definite price can be given at the moment, but the cost of the whole outfit will be approximately £80, of which about half represents the cost of the printer. The Westminster Photographic Exchange, Ltd., or Messrs. Wallace Heaton,