Home Movies and Home Talkies (Jun 1933-May 1934)

HOME MOVIES & HOME TALKIES 125 ^ f X DiTOR:r« EWX REE m^'^m tit " / go to visit the Motion Man, for whom I've writ a play" Ben Jonson, A.D. 1640 THIS year more amateur ciiieinatograph films have been made than in any similar period in ithe history of the hobby. At the same time amateurs have had at their •disposal film stock of higher speed and better quality, while more precise methods of estimating exposure have been available, so that the results •obtained are more than iisually interesting to study. And studied they should be, by every enthusiast, to see ■what lessons can be learnt from the summer shooting. Watch Your Film ! Now while it is a convenience — and -a very great one — to the amateur cine maker to have his film processed for him, it does deprive him. of a certain amount of knowledge which he would ■otherwise obtain. Particularly is this the case where the professional development is controlled by photoelectric methods, for a wide range of ■exposure variation can be compensated for in the processing, and the fcial results can be so good that the user imagines his exposures have all been correct. We have frequently been asked to praise amateur films as being perfect jJhotograiDhically when, as a matter of fact, to an experienced ■eye they have shown clear indications ■of over-exposiu-e. In this connection it is interesting to observe that in several cases good results which have been attributed to the use of colour £lters have in actual fact been due to the restriction of the over-exposure which would otherwise have been :given ! Tone Rendering With modern super-sensitive pan-chromatic emulsions, adequately but mot over-exposed, the tone ren •derings are so good that it is difficult to believe that tone-correcting filters have not been used. We have in mind a film which we saw recently, taken at Whipsnade, with the blue sky correctly rendered as pale grey, compared with the whiteness of the polar bear's coat and the white dresses of visitors, while the light tones of the green grass and trees were all peifectly translated in monochrome. Had the exposure been three or four times that actually given the film would still A REAL NEWS REEL FOR THE HOME! PROFESSIONALLY PRODUCED UPTO THE MINUTE YOURS TO KEEP! SEE NEXT PAGE ha\-e yielded a good picture on return from the processing house, but the sky and other light objects would have been less correctly rendered. WTiipsnade, by the way, is a splendid hunting groimd for the amateur cinematographer but take an exposure meter with you, for the light is very strong on a bright day and you will find a tendency to over-expose. In this issue you will find particulars of a new service for amateurs — a sub standard news reel bringing the latest events right into your own home. A new sound-on-film library is also in the offing, so that a wide variety of home movie features will shortly be available. Few hobbies have made such rapid progress in equipment ill so short a time and few make such a wide appeal. Film Scratching On a mmiber of occasions recently both 9i-mm. and 16-mm. films have been sent to us for explanations as to why certain scratches have appeared right down a whole series of pictures, and we have taken some pains to investigate the cause of these scratches, which may easily ruin a valuable film. In the main it can be said that there are three causes : dirty or injiu-ed gates in the camera, dirty chargers and dirty or injured gates in the projector. Dm-ing the holidays and after film lias been exposed there is a great temptation to open the camera (say on the beach) either to examine its mechanism or more often to show it to a friend. In such circumstances dust and dirt often get into the gate, and a piece of grit can scratch many feet of film before it gets carried away by the moving strip. Again, small hmips of waxy matter sometimes accumulate in the gate and in endeavouring to remove this foreign matter the polished surface is sometimes scratched, the edge of the scratch serving to mark all subsequent film. In 9i-mm. chargers the film has to pass through a rather long ciu-ved path in the moulded material and dust or dirt in this path will have a similar effect. The gate of the projector, too, should be carefully examined and cleaned, particular care being taken to avoid scratching in the way referred to when speaking of the camera gate. The Edttor.