Motion Picture News (Sep-Oct 1923)

1238 Motion Picture News Dutch Dance Prologue is Explained in Detail (Continued from page 1237) tion to a canal or so. The country of Holland is flat, so hills are tabooed. However, too much detail is unnecessary and should be avoided and good results will be obtained by the use of one or perhaps two windmills. No great artistic ability need be required for this painting but some attention should be paid to the shading to bring out the appearance of the run of the plate and the side of the dish. This shading is shown in Fig. 2A and B. After the plate has been painted, a small trestle construction having a board firmly attached to the top of it should be built and used as a support for the bottom of plate. This trestle should be fastened to the floor by means of angle irons as shown in Fig. 3A. The board mentioned before is the platform upon which the dancers stand and should project through a slot cut in the plate for that purpose. The width of the platform need be only 8 inches or thereabouts since it should not be very conspicuous. The height above the floor is given as 18 inches. In addition to the support attached to the bottom of the plate, braces must be applied to the top in order to prevent its toppling over. These can be made from either one long piece or two short pieces spliced together of timber measuring approximate!}' one inch square. The ends of these braces should be fastened to the floor to prevent their slipping. The plate itself should be placed before a black curtain to kill undesirable reflections and to make the plate stand out in the highlight. Lighting A variety of methods of lighting both the plate and dancers will no doubt suggest themselves to the active manager and in an effort to stimulate his thoughts a few possible methods will be briefly described. The easiest method, involving also the least equipment, makes use of two spotlights throwing white light on the principals during the dance. These spots can be arranged as shown in Fig. 3B thus giving cross rays of light and breaking up the harsh shadows which would result from the use of only one spot directly in front. These two spots can, if possible, be placed on the stage, one on each side. Another method involves the use of colored lighting. Some rather startling results can be obtained by painting thte Dutch plate in colors such as pale red (pink, to be exact) and pale green. Thus two windmills can be painted on the plate, one in red and the other in green. Two canals, one red and the other green, can also be added. If, now, red, blue and green spots be thrown on the plate, the objects will be seen in their natural colors. By the use of a resistance or dimmer attached to each spot, the red, for instance, can be brought down making the green windmill and canal disappear entirely from sight, if the colors have been carefully chosen, and the red windmill and canal will show up as a blueblack. If, on the other hand, the red is brought up at the same time that the green and blue are brought down, the red windmill and canal will disappear and the ones in green will show up in black. These changes should be carried out slowly in order to get the proper fading effect. Still another method, supplementing the use of the white spots before mentioned, calls for the use of blue footlights and blue spots from the sides. One white spot, however, should be used from the front with this method. A little thought will bring out a host of other ideas suitable to the proper showing of the act and these are given merely to point out the way. Pantages, Kansas City, to Re-Open Work in day and night shifts on the new .$50,000 adjunct to the air-cooling system of the Pantages theatre, a combination motion picture and vaudeville house of Kansas City, will be completed when the theatre is scheduled to re-open. A 150-ton plant which cools 60,000 cubic feet of air a minute is being installed by the Kiltz Engineering and Equipment Company of Los Angeles. Humidity is taken from the air by condensing the moisture and reheating it to the zone comfort, or whatever temperature is desired. A $60,000 washed air system previously had been installed in the theatre. The cooling system now being installed is the second to be placed in a theatre in the United States. It is automatically controlled, requires 200 horsepower to operate and cools 550 gallons of water a minute. This is sprayed through pipes, cleaning and cooling with one operation, making a complete cycle. — True. Washington Building Permit Commissioner Reports In his annual report the building permit commissioner of Washington, James Healy, declared that not only had the occurrence of the Knickerbocker mishap and other building casualties in Washington shown the need of limiting construction to qualified and competent contractors, licensed by the District of Columbia, but that it should be effected with the adoption of the new building code. Last year construction totaled slightly over $36,000,000, and the total number of permits was 1,891 less than this year when construction was close to $58,000,000, and permits were 12,191. Among other figures, some showing declines, and others gains, he showed that " twelve new churches and two new theatres were begun during the fiscal year." Total cost of the churches is given as $721,500; while the two theatres account for $150,000.— Kanppen. Industry Demands Big for Silver Approximately 5,000,000 ounces of silver are used in the United States annually by motion picture and other photographers, according to estimates made by Robert Linton, president of the North Butte Mining Company, in a statement made public by the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers which will hold its one hundred and twentveighth meeting in Canada, August 20 to 31. Both rich and poor are demanding silver, says Mr. Linton, who sees a world-wide increase in the use of this metal in arts and manufactures. Silver, he suggests, might play an important part in the readjustment of international business. " The amount of silver required for use in arts and manufactures has shown a steady increase, rising in the United States from 13,217,284 ounces in 1900 to 36,252,596 ounces in 1918, from which point it dropped to 28,843,428 ounces in 1921, or a net increase for the period of over 100 per cent.," continues Mr. Linton. The most important single factors in this increase have been the development of the motion picture industry and the growing popularity of amateur photography. N ewsettes from the West A new picture theatre will be erected at Gysum, Kansas. Erection of this new movie theatre will start in a few weeks and will cost $25,000. The Rialto theatre at Reno, Nev., owned by Turner & Dahnken Enterprises, is to be remodeled at a cost of $75,000 it has recently been announced bv Manager F. Costello. M. Phipps, of the Phipps & Layton Enterprises, Childress, Texas, will erect a modern picture theatre in this city at an early date. The very latest in projection room equipment will be installed. A 500-seat picture theatre will be erected at Eureka, Kansas, by Meade Theatres Company. It will be known as the Regent and will be completed shortly. A new picture theatre will be erected at an early date at Port Arthur, Texas, with the very latest in theatre equipment to be installed. A theatre to cost $75,000, at Excelsior Springs, Mo. The theatre will seat about 1,000. Will be erected by William Beyers. There are several new picture theatres planned to be erected in Oklahoma. The show business is on the boom and most every manager reports that his business is greatly increasing. — Trout. Exterior of the new Sawyer Lubin Studios recently dedicated at San Diego, Cat. This is the first of the studios of this group to be completed, being 256 ft. long, 90 ft. wide and 46 ft. from ceiling to floor.