Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

3° THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS sends. The great objection to washing films in tanks is that the water is bound to retain some of the hypo and thus upset the relationship of the chemicals. With the spray method, new and clean water continuously reaches the film. This Mr. Willat believes of considerable importance, especially in tinted or toned films. I will do it the celluloid is not rendered brittle, and the quality of the film is always the same. That is to say that the fortieth print from a negative will be exactly the same as the first.'' The printing and perforating-room at the plant of the Willat Film Manufacturing Corporation will be very large. This is for two reasons. The first is so SIDE ELEVATION OF STUDIO The drying-room will be far different from any other anywhere in that the films will be dried in an atmosphere controlled by an ice plant. This feature is not found in any other factory in the world, according to Mr. Willat. The air will also be washed before it is admitted to the drying-room which, when in use, will be practically a sealed room. The air before it enters the dryingroom is washed by apparatus installed by the Carrier Air Conditioning Company, of 30 Cortlandt street, New York City. The washing process forces the air through water which cleans it of all dust particles, and also eliminates all water from the air, thus making it clean and dry. By this process the air is reduced to a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit or less. It is then warmed to 70 or 75 degrees and turned into the drying-room. Hot Air Makes Films Brittle In this method Mr. Willat sees several advantages. "We duplicate natural conditions," he says. . "Films dry in the best possible way out of doors on a moderately warm summer day when the air is clean and the humidity is low. By artificial means we secure the same conditions in the drying-room. Thus we get ideal conditions. "Many plants dry films by hot air which they keep circulating fast enough so that the celluloid does not take fire This method I do not believe in. I believe it makes the films brittle and apt to tear. Celluloid is a chemical compound subject to changes. A few hours drying in heated air ages the film as much as several months in the tin cans will. Thus the hot air method robs the film of sn much life. By drying the film that the operators may have sufficient air. The second is that it is easier to control humidity and temperature in a large room than in a small. Another feature, and one which Mr. Willat worked out himself, is a revolving door between the developing and washing-room. Various methods of entrance and exit for these two rooms have been designed. Double doors with an intermediary chamber are in common use. The revolving door has been experimented with, but with no startling feet of film turned out in a day I can do the work." The studio building, where the Willat Film Manufacturing Corporation will produce features, has a working floor space 120 feet by 80 feet. The studio is an all-glass structure equipped with light diffusers. On bright or moderately bright days artificial lighting will not be necessary. On dark days and if evening work is necessary, artificial lights will be employed. Plenty of Cooper-Hewitts will be installed and also arc lights. The studio has one innovation not found in any other stud io in this country. It has a big tank set in the working floor. This can be used for water scenes and also for trap-door work. Such are the factory and studio being built by one of the master workmen of the motion picture business after years of study. They represent the most improved and approved in their respective lines. G. D. P. Wum tin nwuACiuoixs (oOTsuim STEELWORK OF STUDIO degree of success. Now Mr. Willat has perfected a revolving door which he feels will be successful and a time saver. The capacity of the factory is a million feet of film a week. This is greater than any other motion picture factory in the country unless the new Lubin plant at Betzwood equals or passes it. Big Tank in Studio Floor "I do not expect to do a million feet of film a week," says Mr. Willat. "If I do half of that right nlong I shall consider myself fortunate. But my plan in building so large a factory was to be prepared for emergencies, especially rush orders. Now if a man wants 100,000 POWELL BENT BUT NOT BROKE Frank Powell, director for Pathe Freres, had an experience last week which he will not soon forget. He was looking for a location with suitable backgrounds for the finding of pirate, treasures, and Crane Wilbur, the leading man, suggested his own birthplace, Athens, N. Y., a quaint old town on the Hudson. Mr. Powell shipped to Athens sacks of pieces of round metal to simulate money, but they went astray on the way up and the director was up against it for money to bury. He finally went over to the nearest bank and cashed a check for $450, all in silver dollars, and buried the sacks of real money on the river beach. Mr. Powell, like most people, did not know that the Hudson for a good many miles up has a tide of considerable rise and fall. Busy with the details of the play no one noticed the water steadily creeping up the beach, and when it was time to dig the treasure up the spot was covered with water. It was impossible to locate the place and Mr. Powell and his camera man had a long and lonely vigil of hours before the beach was bare enough for them to dig. Their identification marks of the spot had been swept away and the two men wearily dug up about a quarter of an acre of beach before they finally found the sacks. As they hobbled away from the scene of their labors Frank Powell said just two heartfelt words: "Never again!" The Solax plant is rapidly expanding. A new two-story building is. being erected and in it, when finished, will be housed the factory and laboratory. The added facilities will make it possible to turn out about 200,000 feet of positive film weekly instead of 100.000 feet as at present.