Motography (Apr-Dec 1911)

November, 1911. MOTOGRAPHY 217 Lantern Slide Making By T. Stanley Curtis* FROM time to time, in various photographic magazines and handbooks, a number of useful and practical articles on the making of lantern slides have appeared. For the greater part, these articles have been devoted to lengthy explanations of the various developing and printing processes .which are, in all probability, well known to most readers of this magazine. Indeed, this ground has been so thoroughly covered in the past that it is with some hesitation that the author presents the opening paragraphs of the present series of articles in which, for the sake of completeness, the old story must needs be told again. It is hoped, however, that the systematic grouping of the processes may offer some suggestions to the worker to whom the ordinary developing and printing methods are well known. In the preparation of these articles, the author has had in mind two classes of readers to whom he wished to appeal. One of these might be termed the straight amateur class, which would include those who wish to make lantern slides of the very highest grade for their own use, either at home to greatly enhance the value of a series of vacation photos, for instance, or to illustrate a lecture with views which are not available from the slide manufacturers' catalogue. The second class would consist of those who desire to make slides for profit, and, as the first class of workers almost invariably merges into the second after a little experience has been gained, the primary object of these articles will be to offer suggestions on the profitable manufacture of lantern slides on a small scale with that all-important point, quality, in view. Comparatively few photographers realize the extent of the field for lantern slides. The few who have awakened to the possibilities of _ this branch of their profession are, for the greater part, reaping the benefit of their enterprise. It is to be regretted, however, that a number of men who possessed more business acumen than photographic or artistic talent should have entered the field and flooded it with worse than mediocre work, cutting Fig. 1. Printing Frame for Lantern Slides. their prices to the detriment of the conscientious slide makers, who were not able to compete and were, in many cases, forced out of the market. For several years this state of affairs held sway, but a change for the better is in evidence now and has been for the past year. The enormous growth of the moving picture business for a time threatened to wipe out the lantern-slide industry; but, with the introduction of the better class of illus *From American Photography. trated songs, illustrated lectures, and advertising slides in the motion picture theaters, the lantern slide took a firmer hold in the amusement field, and its importance is increasing constantly. It was at the time when the demand increased so suddenly that the "shyster" slidemakers started their work. During the past few months, however, the public has been demanding a better quality of pictures, both animated and still, on the screen, and for a long period of time they have shown their preference for the places in which projection receives the attention it deserves. This emphatic demand for quality re Under s/dv of Pr/nting Frame Reczssed to Take, t x S p/aTa Fig. 2. Recess in Under Side of Frame. opens the field for legitimate slide-makers in the lecture and advertising-slide line, rather than the illustrated song market. With but few exceptions, the manufacturers of illustrated song slides have turned out what may be termed photographically excellent views. Their studio equipment is most elaborate, and their photographers leave,. technically, little to be desired. The coloring, however,, of these slides is notoriously poor. In some cases it is absurd, and why this state of affairs is allowed to continue, it is difficult to understand. Perhaps the most plausible explanation may be that the coloring is done by low-priced help in many cases, and it is safe to say that but few of the colorists are blessed with a sense of the artistic. Out of justice to the few manufacturers whose products are veritable works of art, it may said that the public appreciates their efforts and that a good set of slides will sometimes make a success of a poor song, while many a splendid ballad has been "killed" with wretched illustration, in which the posing was unnatural, the photography poor, or the coloring absurd. At 'the present day there is but little demand for illustrated song slides in the retail market. As many readers may know, the slides are one of the most valuable advertising adjuncts of the music publisher, and the popularity of many a song is due largely to the influence of the slides which accompanied its presentation in a theater. For this reason the music publishers have an arrangement with slide manufacturers to furnish them with a number of sets of slides for each of their offerings as soon as they are published, and these slides are then sent out to singers or agencies, who rent them to singers at very reasonable rates. In the majority of cases the publisher merely requires a deposit from the singer covering the cost of the slides, with the understanding that the set of slides is subject to exchange either for a new set or for the sum of money deposited. Practically the only market for the song slide-maker is, therefore, with the publishers, and in order to interest them the manufacturer would have to offer attractive prices and extremely clever work. With slides used for illustrated lectures and for ad