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

HOME MOVIES & HOME TALKIES 261 which may lia\'e accumulated. If the matter has become caked it may be removed by scraping with a match or with the special bone scraper sold for the purpose. In no circumstances must a metal scraper be used. See that the mask aperture is free from dirt, using a brush if necessary to remove any particles which may have collected. After performing this operation, connect up, close the gate and project a beam of light on to the wall or ceiling ; focus the mask sharply, and any dirt which has escaped the brush will be immediately apparent. The next items to be examined, and cleaned if necessary, are the lens, condenser, reflector and (if any) the mirror. The surfaces of these parts are very delicately polished, and the less they have to be cleaned the better. If they must be cleaned, use only the very softest of fluffless cloth or one of the special lens-cleaning tissues available. Liquids are best avoided for cleaning lenses : it is usually quite sufficient to breathe gently on the surfaces and then carefully wipe dry. Do not allow the fingers to come in contact with the glass surfaces, otherwise a greasy mark is inevitable, and such marks are quite difficult to get rid of. Finally, examine the lamp and clean it if merely smeary or dirty ; it will often be found, however, that a degree of blackening has taken place on the inside of the bulb, due to emissions from the filament. In such cases it is advisable to replace the lamp by a new one, keeping the other as a spare for emergencies. All Ready! The projector may now be put aside with the comfortable assurance that it is all in trim for the event, and attention may be directed to the films which are to be displayed. If films of your own taking are to be shown, avoid above all else the slipshod practice of displaying them in short lengths, and with all faults, exactly as they left the developing-room. Home Movie projector stripped for light overhaul They should be edited, made up into reels of reasonable length and, if possible, titled. Should time be too short to allow of titling, then confine yourself to editing ; but edit at all costs, and do not hesitate to cut out unsatisfactory shots. Never mind about the waste of film : to have to apologise for poor shots is much worse than omitting them altogether. If you show only good pictures your spectators will naturally believe you are a clever cinematographer ; whereas if you include the ' ' dud ' ' shots as well they will discern the awful truth that the good ones were sheer blind luck. Library films do not call for actual editing, but it may be advisable to examine them for damage, and to " cut and shut " where necessary. In regard to the cleaning of films, a word of warning seems to be called for. Some writers treat this matter with a sang-froid that is positively bloodcurdling, urging their readers to rewind their films through a sandwich of cleaning pads, and implying that this is quite a normal and every-day occurrence, to be resorted to on any A miniature title for the smaller titlers. A larger reproduction was given last month old pretext, or even without one ! Perhaps I am funny, but I regard film cleaning as a rather desperate operation, to be performed only on desperate occasions. If there is anything more likely to scratch a film than the operation of dragging it between two pieces of dampened material (no matter how soft) I can only imagine it to be the act of drawing it from under the heel to take the kinks out. Film Cleaning Film cleaning is sometimes essential ; but it should not be more than about twice in the whole life of a film, and must be undertaken witVi extreme care if the film is not to suffer damage. Use a very soft, fluffless cloth placed over a wad of cottonwool about the size of a walnut, thus making a kind of ball for use as a rubber. Get some rectified spirit and moisten the rubber by dipping a finger in the spirit and applying it to the rubber once or twice. On no account must spirit be poured on to the rubber, otherwise the excess of spirit will be very troublesome. The film should be cleaned bit by bit — it is a fairly tedious business — the rubber being wiped once or twice, in one direction only, over each section treated. As th? pad quickly gets soiled, a fresh surface should constantly be used to ensure that no dirt is dragged over the film, inevitably causing scratches. The best plan is to avoid cleaning as far as possible by keeping the films in dustproof tins except when actually in use, taking care not to over-oil the projector, and wiping the guideway of the latter each time a fresh film is threaded. Before the show commences make certain that all films have been properly rewound so that you will not suffer the contretemps of starting a film "end first" and upside down. This sort of thing raises a laugh, but does not add to the good effect of the show which should, as far as possible, be a model of quiet efficiency — ^smooth, uninterrupted, and completely devoid of " fuss."