Motion picture photography (1927)

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MOTION PICTURE PHOTOGRAPHY Before the introduction of tank development the drum system was used but is now practically discarded. For convenience in developing long films they were often wound around large drums similar to the drying drums. After the film was wound on the drum it was suspended over the developing tank in such a way that the lower edge of the drum and the film dipped into the solution. The drum was then revolved until the negative was developed to the proper density, and then was transferred to the fixing and washing baths. Machine development is to some extent now superseding the tank method. In machine development the film is led by means of sprockets and pulleys successively through the developer, the short-stop, the wash water, and into a drying chamber and it comes out finished and dried upon a take-up spindle. By this method all the different steps in development are proceeding at once upon different portions of the same roll of film. The Pathe and Gaumont companies in this country and Europe, and some companies in England, have successfully used machine development for a number of years. Several companies finishing or "processing" motion picture film by machine development are now in operation in the United States. The beginner, when he handles for the first time a coil of sensitized film measuring i^s inches in width and perhaps 200 feet in length, might hesitate to attempt its development. He might prefer to dispatch it to a firm prepared to carry out this work for a light charge, confident that with the facilities at their command, and with their accumulated experience, they would be able to bring out his work to the best advantage. As a matter of fact it is by no means so difficult as it appears at first and the rudiments of the process may be grasped readily by a person of average intelligence. Success-, as in other handicrafts, can be achieved only with practice. Cinematography, being a peculiar and special branch of the photographic art, demanding the use of new and unfamiliar tools has been responsible for the perfection of particular devices and methods to assist and facilitate development. In the early days the worker had to worry through the task and was compelled to undertake many doubtful experiments. Today the beginner is able to profit from the mistakes of the pioneers and has at his disposal all the appliances and processes which have proved their