Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1937)

34 JANUARY 1937 0 LTU FEW OF THE WELL KNOWN USERS OF BERHDMHRURER RECORDING EQUIPMENT Colui N.V tltfor Tibia Universiry, New Yo Cornell University, Ithaca, N ' International Business Machines C rpora New York. N Y New England Coke Co., Boston, * Agencia Control Organization R Buenos Aires. Arger Atlab, Amsterdam, Hollant Aurora Film., Helsinki. Finis id Bata Shoe Company, Zlin, Czechc Cineophone, Casablai Eastern Electnc Engmeenng Co., Borr jay, India Egyptian Govemmer Filippine Film Co.. Manila, Philippi Instituto De Cacao Da Bahia, Bah i Erypt Islands A. B. Kanocentralen, Stockholm. Sweden Kodak Brasileira, Ltd., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Multirilm Co., Java, Dutch Indies National Presnge Film Co. Hong Kong, China Poste, Pansien. Paris. France Pronlti, The Hague, Holland Screen cV. Sound Service Ltd, Toronto, Canada Sonoarte, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Van den Bussche, The Hague. Holland Van Wouw Studios, Amsterdam, Holland Yokohama Cinema Co Yokohama, Japan Yrjo Nona, Helsinki, Finland h BERnDT-mnURER 117 East 24th Street • new Varh City Card s as cine adjuncts SIMPLEX FILM CLEANING DEVICE Clean your films as you rewind. Remove dust, grit, oil & finger marks. For 16mm. and 8mm. film. Outfit consists of: — Film cleaning Device with cleaning pads, extra pads and 8 oz. can of cleaning fluid. Price $3.50 Postpaid. Send for list of Gold Seal Superscenics. 100 ft. 16mm. subjects $4.50 each. From your dealer or direct ERNEST M. REYNOLDS 165 E. 191 ST. CLEVELAND, OHIO SKI THRILLS From Finse. Norway, the home of skiing for a thousand years. . . . THE GREATEST SKIING PICTURE YOU HAVE EVER SEEN. ... It Is entertaining to everybody and carries special interest for fans of this great sport. 1 Reel 16mm. S.O.F, Exclusively distributed by NU-ART FILMCO 145 W. 45TH ST. NEW YORK CITY OPTICAL "PRINTING 8mm ENLARGED TO 16mm 9.5 Pathex enlarged to 1 6mm. STILL ENLARGEMENTS FROM ANY GOOD FRAME 5" x 7" $1.00 EXPERT LABORATORY SERVICE 100 ft. I6mm film developed $1.00 100 ft. 16mm film reversed 1.50 25 ft. 8mrn film developed 1.00 25 ft. 8mm film reversed 1.00 including slitting State make and kind of film. We do titling, duplicating, printing, editing and repairing of 16mm and 8mm film. SUPERIOR SAFETY FILM COMPANY 96-98 ACADEMY ST. NEWARK, NEW JERSEY DOROTHY AND H. H. VAN ALLER ORDINARY three by five inch cards cost less than a mil apiece, yet they are capable of saving for the photographer hours of wasted labor. Taking a hint from research workers and libraries, we have discovered four phases of our movie making in which these cards are quite effective. We first utilized them in editing; we then broadened their scope by sending along a set when a reel went to ACL headquarters for criticism; lately they have formed the basis for an efficient method of filing unused shots; and, fourth, we keep on them bits of sorted and sundry information that some day we may find helpful. The usual advice to the beginning movie editor is to list on paper the order of the scenes as they appear on the screen and then to rearrange them into a more pleasing form. In this, our card system has proved of great aid. While the projector is running slowly, we note each shot on a separate card and we number the cards consecutively in the order that the scenes appear on the unedited reel. After viewing the film a sufficient number of times, so that we know just what every shot includes, we rearrange and eliminate the cards until we feel that each photographed bit is in its very best location; then we add. in their proper places, the cards on which are written the title wordings. Next, we review the film to see that we have not overlooked any disconcerting detail or inconsistency, and the ground work has been accomplished. Now we can begin to cut up the film, placing each clip in the numbered cubicle of an egg box. on a numbered spring clothespin or on whatever device we happen to be using to keep the pieces in order. To save ourselves labor, we make sure that we do not cut apart scenes which will remain together in the edited form. By matching the numbers of the properly sequenced cards with those of the film clips, there is no confusion during the imoortant work of splicing all the shots into a unified whole. Since the cards also contain notes on where to shorten scenes and to manufacture cellulose tape wipes, such details lose their unpleasantness. If the proposed titles are not yet made, we place a half dozen frames of waste film in the space where they are to appear. We sometimes find that this stop gap is handy where we are not sure of the final order, since it saves wasting a frame each time a sequence is moved and respliced. When we were ready to send our first film to the Amateur Cinema League for criticism, we decided to extend our editing system by shipping with the reel a complete set of cards — one for every shot and title, numbered and in the order in which the scenes appeared. This elicited from the League's continuity consultant an unexpected note of appreciation. One can see how the cards could be a very real help to both movie maker and the reviewer, since the critic will find it a deal easier and will be much more likely to make detailed comment on special scenes. Not being confined to general discussion in a letter, he can write on the specific cards his suggestions for cuts, changes or reworded titles. As the film is projected, he simply turns a card at each change of viewpoint and has no trouble at all in identifying a scene. Suggested rearrangements can be indicated by shifting the location of the cards. Try this plan and see if the work of the ACL doesn't become even a bit more helpful. For a long time, we struggled with our unused bits of film. Sometimes they were parts of shots which were too long; often they had been photographed with no plan in mind or the scenario had been altered so as not to include them. There were even a few technically poor shots which sentimentality kept out of the wastebasket. We tried storing them loose in a box; we struggled with the unspliced pieces on hundred foot spools; we rolled them up singly with rubber bands and paper labels; a few were worked into a reel of miscellaneous new shots. As the number of these odd pieces increased, we finally worked out our present system of classification. We constructed homemade "egg" boxes from old sock cartons about four by fourteen inches in size. The only requirements of such storage boxes are that they be about an inch deep and easily obtained in a uniform size. (Flat wooden boxes of the twenty five cigar size would do nicely.) We divided ours into partitions about one and a third inches square by cutting strips from very light cardboard and cross joining them together. Into these numbered spaces the rolls of film are placed, with no effort being made to keep them classified by subject. That part of the work is done by the file cards, since for each strip of film there is a card describing it and bearing the letter of the box and the number of the cubicle. When a film clip was permanently removed from its space, the corresponding card was torn up. Later, another odd end filled the vacancy. It makes no difference whether or not all shots of golfing are in box A, while those of the baby are in D. They may as well mingle, as long as an accurate record of their location is kept on the cards, since it is far easier to