Motion picture photography for the amateur (1924)

FOR THE AMATEUR the film of air bubbles. During development the film is examined from time to time and when the image shows up strong and clear on the back, rinse and im- merse in the fixing bath which is the usual acid-hypo bath, made either with common alum and acetic acid, or with chrome alum and sulphuric acid. When the film has been thoroughly fixed and washed it is ready to be dried. This can be done by hanging the film from a clothesline, pinning it up about every five feet, but such a method results in uneven drying and consequent uneven density in the finished film. It also is frequently the cause of dirt on the film, scratches and other faults and is most inconvenient. A small drying rack is easily made, and will pay for itself in the improved quality of the first film dried upon it. Obtain two bicycle wheels and some light wooden strips, about one-quarter by one-half inch and as long as the rack is to be, three feet being ample for sixteen millimeter work, and for standard work it should be five feet long. This is calculated for thirty inch wheels. The strips are nailed to the circumfer- ences of the wheels, about every six inches. The com- plete afifair is a skeleton drum, a trifle more than thirty inches in diameter and as long as the strips. Sixteen millimeter film can be wound a layer in each inch, and two inches of linear space should be allowed for each turn of standard film. A drum three feet long and thirty inches in diameter, will accommodate thirty- six turns of sixteen millimeter film, each approximately ninety inches long, therefore, 36 x 90=3,240 inches or 270 feet of film. This allows plenty of leeway. In 155