Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

770 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 16. New Camera Declared Best in the World Akeley Apparatus Adopted by Government for War Work Following Perfection by Inventor """PHE Akeley motion picture camera, A about which much has been heard recently, but little divulged, is the subject of a special illustrated article in the Scientific American of recent date. Motography has obtained special permission from the Scientific American to use the illustrations and the story. The illustrations appear below and the article follows : "There had been little improvement in the motion picture camera and this branch of cinematography had failed to keep up with rapid progress in other directions when Carl Akeley, the famous naturalist, sculptor and big game hunter, started out on a motion-picture expedition through Africa. He took along a standard camera such as was, and is still, employed in motion-picture studios and in the field. "But practical experience in the field soon convinced Mr. Akeley that existing cameras were not adapted to the hard service and many requirements of the naturalist-photographer. So he set about designing his own camera, disregarding from the very start the features which had come to be looked upon as the pillars of motion-picture photography, so to speak. "Beyond doubt Mr. Akeley has produced a camera which is far in advance of any other, due largely to the fact that his design is quite revolutionary. To begin with, his camera is made in the circular form shown instead of square. It is made entirely of metal. "The operator can watch the image photographed on the film itself during actual filming, so that he sees exactly what is be ing recorded. This is made possible by the use of an eye-piece and automatic light gate, the latter opening only when the eye is pressed against the eye-piece so as to exclude daylight. "Focusing can be done on a ground glass finder without disturbing the film; this is accomplished by a knife mechanism which cuts a circle in the film at the bid of a pulland-push rod leading to the outside of the camera. "An improved film movement is employed, and the shutter is said to possess an exposure efficiency considerably above that of the usual camera. A gyroscope stabilizer makes it possible to use the camera without a tripod ; and where a tripod is employed it can be of the lightest variety as compared to the heavy, cumbersome tripods called for by the conventional camera. "As his work neared completion, Mr. Akeley realized that the requirements of the big-game photographer were much the same as the war photographer. So he at once came to Washington and placed his invention at the disposal of the newly created photographic division of the U. S. A. Signal Corps. Major Barnes, chief of the division, was quick to see the possibilities of this revolutionary camera and adopted it as the 'box' for our official war photographers. "Since his camera has been taken over by the government, Mr. Akeley has added several new features which it is not possible to speak of here. Suffice is it to state, however, that in this camera the signal corps has beyond doubt the most highly perfected motion-picture camera extant." Manager Designs Film Box The Orpheum Theatre, Cincinnati, has just installed a projection booth which is constructed of steel and reinforced concrete. The booth has an electric re-wind and has a new kind of film box, which was designed by A. G. Hettesheimer, the manager. This box, in which the films are stored, consists of various compartments, each compartment having automatic closing lids. The booth has a comfortable work bench and good ventilation. It is large enough for four machines if necessary. The Cincinnati building inspector complimented the management on the booth and considers it one of the best in the city. Hart Works on New Picture William S. Hart and company, with Katherine MacDonald as leading woman, left Los Angeles last week for location in the northern part of the state. Later they will probably go to San Francisco or Seattle to do other exterior scenes. The picture is by C. Gardner Sullivan. Mr. Hart is to direct it himself. It will be an Artcraft release following the Ince production for Artcraft entitled "Selfish Yates." "Selfish Yates" follows "The Tiger Man," released April 1. Heads Montreal Exchange Men Announcement has been made in Montreal that Ernest Lafontaine, of the law firm of Bercovitch, Lafontaine & Gordon, has been chosen president of the Montreal Exchange Managers' Association. Mr. Lafontaine said he wanted to kill any impression that the exchange managers were hostile to the exhibitors. fWBm 3 Filming a long distance scene with the Akeley camera, using a telescope, and filming the flight of an airman with camera upturned.