Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1919)

3782 (Equipment Service) Motion Picture News PROJECT-A-LITE Transformer and Adapters, Guaranteed to Give Satisfactory Service DEALERS WILL DO WELL to look this over, as many inquiries are coming from YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS. PROJECT-A-LITES are adapted to either Alternating or Direct. Current serrice WE GUARANTEE all our products to be free from mechanical or electrical defects, and to do the work for which we recommend them Manufactured only by Rutledge & Company 35 S. Dearborn St. CHICAGO ATTRACTIVE THEATRES ARE MONEY MAKERS MAKE YOURS ATTRACTIVE BY USING KON KEM KOLOR The Brilliant, Transparent Colorings That Are Pleasing to the Eye In All Colors 8-oz. $1.00 16-oz, $1.50 32-oz. $2.75 Sold by Your Dealer CONTINENTAL DRUG AND CHEMICAL WORKS 107 Broadway, Brooklyn, N. Y. Manufacturers of Velvet Film Cement, Atlas Developer. Frosting and Photographic Chemicals NEWMAN" BRASS FRAMES AND RAILS Corner Unit Hinged Fram Accompanying cut shows our new st^le unit frame for corners of theatre lobbies. Especially designed to fit irregular shaped columns and sloping entrances. Neat, attractive and complete, it enables the passer-by to see at a glance the entire program Send sketch for prices and ask for new 1918 catalog. THE NEWMAN MFG. CO. Established 1882. Wriie for Out Latest Catalog. 717-19 Sycamore Street,' Cincinnati, Ohio 68 W. Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois Canadian Representative: J.T. Malone Films, Rialto Theatr e BIdg., Montreal, Canada. Pacific Coast: G. A. 'Metcalfe, San Francisco Cal. Frames, Easels, Rails, Grills, Signs, Choppers, Kick Plates, Door Bars IVe manufaciurt 'the frames' in various finishes which do^not require polishing. Exchanges Projectors for Professors T^ROM Ithaca, the home of Cornell Ljni\ersity, comes a letter from a frequent contributor, E. W. Large. As his letter below says, he has given up projecting for a while in order to complete his course in chemistry. Besides this news Mr Large describes a couple of stunts that make interesting reading. Perhaps in reading of them others will come to your mind. If they do, send them in and we will publish them. There are thousands of little short-cuts and kinks kicking around but you probably feel that everyone else knows about them. Take no chances. Send them all in and we will weed out the oldest ones. Mr. Large's letter follows: " Since you were so kind as to ask me to write again I thought some of the boys would like to know what I am doing now. I quit the projection game temporarily in September to return to my work here in Cornell University in the College of Chemistry. Hope to get into studio laboratory work in a few years. This is my Junior year here and I am mighty glad to be back. There will always be a warm spot in my heart for projectionists, however. " It has always been my opinion that if every man interested in projection would, when he heard of a new operating-room scheme or dodge of any kind, sit right down and send it to the projection department, the News would soon be more eagerly looked for by projectionists than any other publication. " To practice what I preach, here is a little trick that I learned last summer. I never had occasion to use it myself, so cannot vouch for it absolutely, but my cousin declares it works and I can't see any reason why it shouldn't. This man was workmg a small town picture house during the war. One night in a Liberty Loan Rally a singer of patriotic songs wished to rouse the audience as much as possible and asked for a spot-light on him down by the screen as he sang. The manager said : ' Impossible. We have nothing but two old Power's machines in the booth,' But the projcctioixist was thinking it over and finally said: 'Wait a minute; let's try first.' " This was his stunt. He opened his gate, hung a small metal washer (circular) over his aperture plate, took out the three screws holding his lens jacket in front, dropped the revolving shutter, struck the light and by moving the lens around was able to throw quite a passable spot for a limited range over the front of the house. By varying the washer over the aperture he could change the size of his spot. Some of you men still in the projection game should try your luck with this combination and see how it works. "A stunt I used to work myself was the producing of colored effects on the screen when the film was black and white. I took several old song slides which are merely pasteboard frames (lantern slide size) with printed gelatine sheets inserted. Removing the fasteners I substituted different color gelatine sheets and used them in the slide carrier. If you try this, don't use them in front of the lens. Using them in tlie carrier or directly in front of the gate merely changes the color of your Hght, but when you put them in front of the lens the light rays coming from the lens carrying the screen picture are refracted and the lesult is an out-of-focus picture, only slightly, to be sure, but still enough to be objectionable. This stunt, of course, absorbs a certain amount of hght, but on my Mutt and Jeff cartoons, which were always too bright, I always ran an amber color to soften, them down. " It might interest you to know that the carbon question (that of using White A. C. Uppers in the lower jaw) that vou verified for me in the News a few weeks ago, would have been the means of firing me from a job (if I hadn't quit any^vay). The manager claimed I was wasting money. Can you beat it?" Reply: "Glad to see that you have re-entered college. You are to be commended for wishing to enter the laborator> side of the industry. It can use any number of well-trained chemists and, moreover, it will be necessary to do this if laboratory technique is to keep even with other phases of film production. " We hope the publishing of your stunts will bring in a large number of others along similar lines. The more of^ these short and quirk methods a projectionist has in mind the more capable he will become as by the use of these little kinks he can often, bridge over a temporary breakdown or minor trouble. (Continued on page 3784) For Sale by all Leadm$ Dealers