Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

3.2 THE MOTION PICTURE MEWS The Motion Picture News MOVING PICTUBE SEWS EXHIBITORS' TIMES Published Every "Week by EXHIBITORS' TIMES, Inc. 220 "West 42nd Street, New York City Telephone Bryant 7650 Chicago Office 604 Schiller Building WM. A. JOHNSTON President HENRY F. SEWALL Vice-President E. KENDALL GILLETT Secretary WENTWOBTH TUCKER Treasurer This publio*tion is owned and published by Exhibitors' Times, incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevi York. The offices and principal place of business are at 220 West 42nd Street, New York City. The address of the officers is the office of the publication. Entered as Second-Class matter at the New York Post-Office. Subscription $2.00 per year, postpaid in the United States, Mexico, Hawaii, Porto Eico and the Philippine Islands. Canada and Foreign IS. SO per year. ADVERTISING EATES on application Copy for next issue must reach us by Wednesday 11 a. m. Cuts and copy are received subject to the approval of the publishers and advertisements are inserted absolutely without condition expressed or implied as to what appears in the text portion of the paper. Vol. VIII January 3, 1914 No. 26 WHAT IS A MOTION PICTURE? OF the scores of thousands of exhibitors who show motion pictures in their theatres in all parts of the world, probably few could reply to the question at the head of this article so clearly that the answer would be understood by a schoolboy. It is our object to make plain what the motion picture really is — that is, of what it is made, and this quite outside of the story, the acting, the settings that make the play or subject which the picture illustrates. We think that the exhibitor would find it of use to him, if he would master this information for himself and make it known to his audiences, as there is a widespread desire for such knowledge. This we know from what is said to us by many exhibitors and members of the public interested in the motion picture. In technical language, a motion picture is a film of perforated celluloid, upon which is superimposed a positive silver image in pure gelatine. Say this to an ordinary exhibitor or a member of the public and he would reasonably ask: What is celluloid? What do you mean by superimposition ? What is a positive silver image in gelatine? The answers to these questions will, we think, make our explanation clear to all. Until about twenty-five years ago, all photographs were taken on glass and then printed on paper. But amateur photographers, travelers and others complained of the weight of a number of glass plates, which they had to carry. So experiments were made to provide a light substitute for the glass — a substance that you could roil, that was flexible like paper or leather, that was lighter than glass and from which you could make your prints with the same ease that you could from glass. This substitute was found and it proved to be what is now known as celluloid. Anybody who uses a Kodak Camera to-day is using the substitute for glass that was then sought. T>EFORE the motion picture, as we see it to-day, could be made, it was necessary to have a flexible support and that flexible support is celluloid. Thus as a matter of historical fact the Kodak system of photography with celluloid and the making of motion pictures on celluloid were perfected about the same time. So you may say it was this celluloid which made photography so popular and the motion picture popular. In Kodak photography you roll your film around a spool, in motion picture photography you do practically the same, you wind it around a reel, either in the camera or in the machine that shows it on the screen. Now, what is celluloid? The base of it, the substance out of which it is made is known in general terms as cellulose, which is a combination of little cells of a white papery looking substance, which is extracted from the wood of trees or plants. Ordinary cotton is really one form of cellulose. Absorbent cotton, or cotton wool, as it is sometimes called, is one form of cellulose. Imagine a mass of white, fluffy, pure, absorbent cotton, then you will get an idea of the first and most important ingredient that enters into the making of celluloid. This mass of pure white cellulose is mixed with nitric acid and sulphuric acid, two powerful liquids, which will remove the skin from your fingers, if you are careless in handling them. They are known as corrosive acids ; they dissolve some metals and other hard substances easily. They are used in making explosive compounds. The result of mixing your cellulose with these strong acids is to form an explosive mixture known as gun-cotton. When this nitrated cotton, as it is also called, is dried and you take a little of it and light it or throw it into the fire, you will see that it burns or explodes quickly. This substance is known to be the base of many explosive compounds. TT AVING obtained this gun-cotton, the next step in * * the preparation of celluloid is to dissolve it, and make a liquid of it. This is done by means of a mix( Continued on page 37)