Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1935)

MOVIE MAKERS 363 ing and. in others, by pulling too much film out when threading and loading the camera in the bright sunlight. Occasionally a warped or bent spool will cause edge fog throughout the entire reel, and this difficulty can be recognized by the light flashes that occur at regular intervals on the side of the picture as it is being projected. It is a good plan, before using a spool, to test it by running a piece of film around its edges to see that it does not bind. If the spool does bind in one place, it means that the opposite side will be spread enough to allow light to enter and fog the film. Among other faults involved in handling film in the camera are shooting pictures on the paper practice strip supplied with new cameras, scratching film by allowing dirt to remain in the gate and getting ragged frame lines because of dirt in the aperture. The last two difficulties can be overcome easily by cleaning the camera according to the instruction manual. One type of 16mm. camera, the StewartWarner, requires special care in loading. Contrary to general practice, the spool is placed on the spindle with the square hole up. The camera winds the film in the opposite direction from other 16mm. cameras. The loading instructions for these cameras must be followed very closely. The film spools of one manufacturer bear the words. "This side up," to indicate how the spools should be placed on the spindle but, in the case of the Stewart-Warner camera, these indicia cannot be used as a guide. Camera Manipulation Troubles: Of course, the fast panorama heads the list of difficulties in exposing movie film; it probably accounts for the largest percentage of unsatisfactory shots. Following this, although not necessarily in the order of their importance, are tilting the camera, out of focus pictures, lens flare caused by shooting into the sun, and poor exposure. There is not much excuse for very poor exposure nowadays with the many excellent exposure guides and meters that are available. Nearly every camera has, as an integral part of itself, a very helpful exposure table, and the amateur wTould do well to follow it more closely. In addition, there are many printed guides and. of course, the ever popular exposure meters. Although the modern film laboratory can do a great deal to correct bad exposure, it cannot be expected to accomplish miracles, and there is a limit to the amount that any photographic film can be changed. Color filmers need to be more careful than black and white users, because the color films do not have the latitude of the ordinary monochromatic films. Among the difficulties found in color work is the use of the wrong filters. If any but the special filters supplied by the manufacturers are used, the result is inevitably a failure. Ordinary cine filters must not be used with color film, and it might be well to mention that under no circumstances should red filters ever be used with orthochromatic or color blind film. Only panchromatic film is sensitive to red and, for this reason, it alone can be used with red filters. One peculiar and rather common trouble that comes to light in the finishing laboratory is found in the fact that a movie maker may hold a camera upside down without realizing it. It is very easy to hold certain types of cameras upside down. When the film comes back to him, the movie maker may be puzzled and maytry to blame the laboratory for turning his film end for end. Yet, this could not be done by any laboratory and the only cause lies in the way the film was shot. Likewise, if the film strip is continuous, it has not been possible for the laboratory to eliminate a scene or to add one from elsewhere. Irate filmers have complained that certain scenes have been deleted from their pictures, yet the film in question is shown to be in an unbroken and continuous piece. In such cases, it is evident that the amateur's memory has been playing tricks on him. Nothing makes the amateur any hotter under the collar than to have his roll lost or damaged while away for processing, yet the great majority of such losses occur because of faulty addresses on the boxes. Now and then, a laboratory will have trouble and damage a roll of the customer's film, but this is a rare happening indeed when the number of rolls processed is considered. Wherever film is damaged through a fault of the laboratory, the concern is ready and willing to replace it with a fresh roll. More than this cannot reasonably be expected, for accidents will happen even to the most efficiently operated plants. Reversal as Negative: The use of reversal film for development as a negative is most unsatisfactory because the majority of such films have a non halation backing which is removed only by the manufacturer's reversal process. Films of this type are useless as a negative because of this practically opaque backing. In this connection, it is well to note that movie makers who film in Russia should take only negative film. No reversal facilities are available there, and yet the law requires development and censorship of movie film before it is taken out of the country. Hence, all film must be developed as a negative. The standard reversal films which have a backing are useless under these conditions. If the movie maker will take reasonable care that he follows these precautions and does his part in making good pictures, he can be sure that his results will be satisfactory. 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