The international photographer (Jan-Dec 1936)

April, 1936 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Nineteen Right Off the Reel Questions and Answers By F. Hamilton Riddel PRING Cleaning: About this time of year, with spring in the air and summer not far off, your camera is due for a cleaning. The next six months will mean a busy period of movie making, so take time off now and check over your camera. This will include cleaning lenses, oiling, checking proper speed, checking the take-up reel belt, and cleaning the camera's aperture plate. Natural Curl: When splicing frosted leaders onto a reel of film, take advantage of the natural curl of the film base. Make a splice so that each section fits this natural curl of the other. Such splices will be stronger and will last longer. Dull Base: The section of film which fits over the scraped lap of a splice is the base (shiny) side. A splice will be stronger if you will "dull" this shiny side with a common typewriter eraser. By so doing, the "dulling" process is accomplished in a neat manner. Identifying Reels and Cans: To label 400-foot reels and cans, for identification purposes, secure some half-inch adhesive tape. This tape adheres quickly and conveniently to the polished surface of the reels and cans. By placing a small strip of tape on a typewriter roller, the reel number and subject may be easily typed onto the tape. Make two such labels — one for the reel itself, the other for the can. Be sure to affix the label for the can on the side of the can, for then it is easily seen when several cans are stacked together. Using adhesive tape as a label has a distinct advantage for, should it ever become necessary to re-classify reels and cans, the tape can be very conveniently removed. Scenes Lengths: Most scenes of a personal motion picture film should not last longer than ten seconds on the screen, or about four feet of 16 mm. film. This is a good rule to remember when photograping. Many scenes are improved if they are reduced to five or eight seconds. Have a good sense of what is interesting and you'll never project a picture that is jerky, because of scant footage; nor a boring one, due to excess film footage. Getting Ready for Summer: It doesn't seem too soon to mention summer and color. Those less fortunate amateur cinematographers who do not have the opportunity of enjoying fair southern climes the year 'round perhaps appreciate better that summer and color are synonymous. With this thought in mind and if you have not yet made an initial trial of the natural color 16 mm. films — Dufaycolor and Kodachrome — the spring months offer a forerunner of summer's colorful subjects. So load up your camera with a roll of color film and sally forth. Make this first roll a test — both of the film and of your own ability to choose good color subjects. Follow the film manufacturer's exposure instructions and keep notes on your individual exposures and lighting conditions. Thus, when the color film has been processed, study carefully the results on the (Turn to Page 24) In the International Photographer for February, 1936, a mistake was made in the answer to Question No. 7. The correct answer is that the Eastman Kodak Company has been making duplicates of 8 mm. film for more than a year. 1. What is meant by the various terms, antihalation or grayback. in speaking of such films? Each film manufacturer has its own particular term for such films. A special coating on the back of the film base minimizes the danger of halation (reflections) when photographing, thus rendering a more pleasing image. 2. What is meant by "grain" in a cinefilm? In any film the picture image is composed of small clumps of silver which are embedded in the gelatine emulsion, coated on the film base. These small clumps of silver are the "grain." 3. What is the difference in the amount of perceptible "grain" in fast film and slow film emulsions? Speed film emulsions are necessarily somewhat more "grainy" than slower film stocks. However, the problem of "large grain, fast film versus small grain, slow film" has been well met by modern film manufacture. In addition to improved film manufacture, proper processing in special "fine-grain" developers has minimized the effect of any perceptible grain in the fast films. 4. May a camera be hand-held when using a telephoto lens? Conservatively speaking, a camera with a twoinch lens may be held in the hands. Experience has demonstrated, however, that far better results are obtained in telephoto work when a tripod is used. A somewhat faster camera speed also helps. And of course, with longer focal length telephoto lenses, a tripod is an absolute requirement for successful long distance shots. 5. Occasionally one of my rolls of film turns out a complete loss. The frames are a blurred streak (a sort of multiple image) and are unsteady, etc. What is the cause? No doubt the condition of such rolls is the result of losing the proper film loops in the camera. As is well known, there is a combination film movement in a movie camera, continuous and intermittent, and the film loops bridge the gap between the two. When these loops are lost the film moves continuously past the lens aperture, thus ruining your pictures. Lost film loops are either the result of hurried and careless threading; or less frequently by a partially exposed film which having become "set" by lapse of time, loses loops when filming is resumed. Usually, when loops are lost, the camera mechanism will jam or labor, and thus warns you that something is wrong. Unfortunately, this is not always true of all cameras and an entire roll may be spoiled. Very careful threading of the camera is the best insurance against lost loop trouble. 6. Does tinted positive film cost more than plain black and white? (Turn to Page 24)