Motography (Jul - Dec 1915)

November 20, 1915. MOTOGRAPHY 1061 The Importance of the Film Technician BERST DISCUSSES FACTORY WORK J A. BERST, vice president and general manager of the Selig Polyscope Company, has an enviable * reputation as an expert in photoplay technique, evolving good stories out of bad ones in film, and introducing beautiful and unusual effects on the motion picture screen. For many years Mr. Berst has been a close student of the motion picture art, and through his extensive study and immediate perception of the beautiful, his contributions to cinematography have materially aided in the artistic worth of film releases. Mr. Berst was interviewed recently on the subject of the technical side -of motion picture production, and his statements will not only be found interesting but instructive to others. "Too little attention is paid to the cutting, trimming, and editing of motion pictures," said Mr. Berst. "I am speaking now of the filmed production, when the story has been produced and goes to the cutting and trimming department. A story will frequently read well in manuscript and will produce well. Then, after it is presented in the projection room, many and varied errors and incongruities are noticeable. /. a. "An expert film technician should be able to quickly perceive the weaknesses in the completed film. Perhaps the continuity has been lost or the film is not clear enough for the mind of the theater-goer, or sub-titles show lack of clearness. It is for the expert to perceive these items and to remedy them. I am a busy man, but I have time to visit the Selig laboratories almost daily and personally aid our film technicians in improving our motion picture productions in every possibly way. I have seen feature productions delivered by the studios to the film companies' technical departments in deplorable condition ; the clever experts are frequently enabled to make new stories by taking scenes from the first reels of motion picture plays and placing them in the final reels. I have, myself, taken a story with little meaning in film, and by the judicious use of sub-titles, inserts and transposition of scenes, made that production clear, entertaining, and a hit. "Tinting and toning of film is an art that is too often neglected. The color tints should be applied with judgment and care. Many unusual effects that add to motion picture realism can also be applied by the technician, with the co-operation of the factory manager, who is also often an experienced technician. One successful way of obtaining multiplicity of color effects is, first, to tone the film, then tint it, then give the film a coating of celluloid, and then retint it again. The toning and the two tints add greatly to the value of the parts so treated. "On other occasions, to add a touch of realism it is advisable to color a small portion of the film, say a flag or a signal, when they play important parts in the story. It is good practice always to tint exterior night scenes blue, and interiors in amber, when such rooms are lighted, as the public is now familiar with those effects and understands them. The effect of a bolt of lightning can be made very realistic in certain motion picture scenes by drawing a line to represent lightning on the negative. Sun and moon effects are made by painting in the sun or moon on the negative, and utilizing proper tinting and toning effects. "Sometimes a story as constructed and produced does not work out well and it is found that some portion would be better if used as a dream or a vision. In such cases, the trimmers are handicapped because dissolve fades are not in the film, and if the expert is not talented he will not be able to get best results. The expert will find it possible to manufacture missing fades, using the film delivered by the studio, without the necessity of having scenes re-enacted. There are two ways to make fadeouts and fade-ins in laboratories. One way is to use a camera and make a positive from a negative. This is accomplished by putting negative and positive in about the same way as is done in a printing machine. "The camera will be operated the regular way and, according to the style of the camera, either shutter or diaphram will be gradually opened at the beginning of the picture and gradually closed at the end, to obtain the fade-in or fade-out of the positive. From this positive, a controtype negative will be made and then used instead of the original negative. Another method of fade-in and fade-out is the use of the chemical process. To obtain the fade out, the end piece of the negative it is desired to fade will be treated with a dissolvent, hypo for instance, and an expert will be careful to dissolve gradually. "Great care must be taken in trimming the film. Carefulness is really the prime essential, for the least mistake made in trimming a film production may result in sadly handicapping the artistic whole of that film. Take a scene, for example, where a man is being struck on the head. If this scene is trimmed carelessly, the blow may either fall short, or it may be made plainly evident that the blow is faked. "The film subtitle is a vital portion of the completed photoplay. Personally, I believe that the fewer the subtitles, the more artistic the film production. Subtitles at the best are explanatory material. They are supposed to make the story clearer and more comprehensive. The better written the scenario, the more carefully produced the film play, the less need for subtitles. Those film plays which carry forward the story in a clear manner, with the need of only a few subtitles, are the best productions. "The Selig Company pays careful attention to the