International photographer (Jan-Dec 1941)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

and light, the camera performs its miracles that transforms the writers abstract thought into concrete images, that he who sees may enjoy what another man may have only thought. It is such knowledge as this that the writer must have or be able to obtain to enable him to further his story values and give his audience cause to see more of his visualized thought. If the Director of Photography can, with his lighting, illusions, and controlled "atmosphere," enable the writer to better his product by more closely co-operating during a story's inception, he immediately simplifies the director's problems and enables him to turn out a better product. In other words, this tri-mutual effort on the part of the writer, director, and cameraman, should strengthen the triangle of co-operation so necessary to the ultimate benefit of their combined as well as individual efforts, and result in a better picture for the producer whose money makes such "triangles of effort" possible. JN dollARS ANd CENTS {Based on reports of the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.) Motion picture production in the United States, measured by dollar cost, has increased approximately three-fold in twenty years. The annual production budget now exceeds 215 million dollars a year, compared with 77 million dollars in 1921; 86 million dollars in 1923; 93 million dollars in 1925; 184 million dollars in 1929, and 197 million dollars in 1937. The figures released by the Census Bureau covered the year 1939, as reported for the Decennial Census of 1940. The costs listed include laboratory work and positive prints, but do not include any part of the cost of distribution and exhibition. (A Census report recently issued showed the annual intake of motion-picture theatres at $673,045,000. ) The unique nature of the picture production industry is indicated in the Census report. More than 93 million dollars was paid out in executive, supervisory, clerical and star salaries, representing nearly 50 COOKE LENSES Easily passing tests far more exacting than present uses require, Cooke Lenses bring assurance of meeting both your present and your future needs. Speeds and focal lengths for every need. Write for descriptive literature. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY Exclusive World Distributors 1848 Larchmont Avenue, Chicago \<w »nrk: .'in Rockefeller Plii/.a Hollywood: 716 N. La lire a Ave. Washing D.C. : \r±\ t, st.N.W. London: 13-14 Great Castle Street per cent of all production costs. Wages paid to skilled and unskilled manual labor amounted to less than half of the salaries paid to executives and creative talent. Of the $215,664,929 total cost of production, pictures produced in California cost $186,848,971. The amount expended in New York State was $18,059,670. The report does not permit a determination of the average cost per negative because $38,031,356 represented investments in unfinished productions at the end of the year. The number of feature subjects included 493 in black and white and 27 in color. Approximately $6,000,000 was expended for short subjects, a substantial increase over 1937; $6,415,573 was expended for positive prints, and nearly $4,500,000 for news reels. Industrial films produced during the year cost more than $2,100,000, compared with $855,782 two years earlier, and educational films expanded to over $725,000 from $320,000 two years earlier. Although the production of motion pictures is not a manufacturing industry, its commercial importance is so great that data in regard to it have been collected at the biennial censuses of manufactures for 1921 and subsequent years. The "Motion pictures, not including projection in theatres" industrv, as constituted for census purposes, embraces all processes and activities connected with the production of motion-picture films, such as the preparation and photography of scenes, the development of exposed films, the printing of projection films, and other studio and laboratory work necessary in connection with the production of projection films for use.. It does not, however, include the distribution of these films and their projection in theatres. No data are included for establishments that reported less than $5,000 as the cost of work done during the census year. The salaried personnel reported for this industr) comprises officers of corporations, supervisory and clerical employees, and also many productive employees, such as scenario writers, unit managers and assistant directors, actors, technical employees, and extra talent. The wage earners are those engaged chiefly in skilled and un skilled manual labor, and comprise carpenters, painters, prop makers, laboratory and wardrobe workers, property men, etc. This item includes the cost of work done in 1939 on films that were completed after the close of that year, but does not include the cost of work done prior to 1939 on films completed within the year. It does, however, include receipts for laboratory and other work done for others, and for use of studio facilities. MORE HISTORICAL FACTS Inadvertently, in our March issue, certain points which should be of interest to our readers were not mentioned in Ira Hoke's article, "Some Historical Facts." Therefore, we quote a letter received from Agfa Ansco, Binghamton, New York: "Mr. Herbert Aller, Editor International Photocrapher, 6461 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Calif. Dear Mr. Aller: "In looking over the March issue of International Photographer, we noticed an article entitled "Some Historical Facts," by Ira Hoke. "This seemed to neglect completely any historical facts regarding Agfa Ansco or our contributions to the photographic industry, which of course includes the fact that we own the original patents on roll film or 'flexible' film and that our Superpan Press and Ultra Speed Pan were the first modern high-speed films as we know them today. "Naturally with 99 years of history as an American manufacturer, there is a pretty sizable list of firsts that are attributable to us, and of course a great deal of the modern improvements in photography are the results of our research. Therefore it seemed a little peculiar that in this article, "Some Historical Facts," no mention was made of this. Cordially yours, Robert M. Dunn, Advertising Department."