Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1916)

(Continued from page 4246) Each of the four enclosed stages are equipped with a battery of Cooper-Hewitt lamps of sufficient number to light the entire stage for night photograpliing. Diffusing system employed is one worked out by the men of this studio, which assures no shadows, but at the same time, gives the maximum light. The diffusing cloth was furnished by Cooper, Coate & Casey, a wholesale dry goods firm of Los Angeles, who make a specialty of supplying the needs of studios. In a far corner of the lot, stands what is unquestionably the most amazing building of the Ince group. It is the laboratory — a structure that measures 57 by 135 feet — and is veritably a magic city for its astounding output. It is operated by a crew of forty-one men, and is responsible for the original developing and printing of all the Ince-Triangle plays. The building embraces one negative-examining room, two negative-cutting rooms, four positiveexamining rooms, four printing rooms, two dark rooms, one drjdng room (capacity 16,000 feet), one projecting room, one chemical room, one experimental room, facilities for the making of distilled water, and a refrigerating plant for the manfacture of ice. The capacity of the dark rooms is 100,000 feet of negative and 300,000 feet of positive film per week. A carload of chemicals, demanded by the laboratory work is kept on hand at all times. In the projection room of this laboratory the Power's Cameragraph is also used. Great care has been exercised in selecting the equipment for the laboratory. A building which houses boilers using crude oil as fuel, has been built a short distance from the main building. In this place is operated a filtering and distilling plant, automatic refrigerating equipment and air cleansing device. Ail c.ir that goes into the laboratory is first washed through several sheets of water. A part is then heated, and by means of temperature regulators manufactured by the Johnson Service Company of Milwaukee, and installed by Melville C. Hill, their Los Angeles office manager, the desired temperature is maintained in all departments of the laboratory at all times. Each room is fitted with a thermostat, which by compressed air device, automatically operates a mixing damper which controls the intake of hot and cold air. The temperature of the different departments is kept as follows: Washing room, sixty-five degrees; drying room, seventy-five degrees : negative cutting, assembling, printing and chemical rooms are kept at sixtyeight degrees, and the projecting room at seventy. Another thermostat is connected with the hot and cold water intakes for the laboratories and various tanks, and these automatically keep the water at the desired temeprature. Tests made at the studio show The Fire Department at the Ince Studios that the Johnson system prevents more thaii two degrees variance either wav. All water used in the factory is either filtered or distilled. Hygeia Stewart Agitator Filter of seventytwo inches in diameter, and a capacity of 6,000 gallons per hour cleanses all water used for washing by the coagulation process. The filter was manufactured by the Hygeia Filter Company of Detroit, Michigan, and installed by their licensed agents, Horstman & Plomert of Los Angeles. This Los Angeles firm is also responsible for the installation of a distilling system manufactured by the Standard Water Systems Company of Hampton, N. J. This is known as the Tripure. By it, water absolutely free from all mineral or organic matter, and ideal for use in photographic work is obtamed. The solvent action of Tripure distilled water, it has been found, tends to make the films sharper in detail, and eliminates all danger of chemical reaction, which is sure to follow when raw or filtered water is used The Standard Tripure still has 250 gallon capacity, and connected with this is a heat exchange and a distilled water storage tank, lined inside with heavily tinned copper. The Fessco automatic oil burner system also installed byHorstmann & Plomert, gives forth the proper heat. The laboratory is equipped with four Angelas printers, manufactured by the Los Angeles Motion Picture Company. These are especially designed for Alfred Brandt, superintendent of the laboratories. The machines are all extra heavy. The cabinet is of hardwood, divided into two compartments. The upper one contains the motor and mechanism, and the lower the light shift. The printers are designed to prevent scratching and give an extremely sharp print. The laboratory was built under the personal direction of Alfred Brandt, its superintendent, and by the very few who have had the pleasure of being shown through it, it has been spoken of as the most highly efficient one of its kind. It is spotlessly clean, and not a grain of dust is to be found. All doors and windows are dustproof, and air-tight, and the walls, ceilings, and floors are cleaned several tirnes daily. All of the employes wear white clothes while within the laboratory, and each suit is laundered daily. The Automatic Refrigerating Companyof Hartford, Conn., installed the plant for keeping both the air and the water in the laboratory at the proper temperature. The system maintains a temperature of about sixty degrees in the developing room and supplies a continuously flowing stream of cool water for washing the film at a capacity of approximately four thousand gallons per hour. The coils for cooling the developing room are placed in bunkers overhead. The air is blown in from (Continued on page 4250)