Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1938)

THE CLINIC 291 Technical comment and timely topics for the amateur FREDERICK G. BEACH, ACL Dual turntables General interest in adding music and sound to silent films, by means of the dual turntable system and phonograph records, seems to be on the increase. From various quarters come pictures of outfits that have been assembled by movie makers. Carroll Davidson. ACL. James Swyler The dual turntable and cases made for R. W. Crowther, ACL built a complete outfit on wheels, so that it can be rolled where desired. His turntables, amplifier and necessary wiring are built into a case which is provided with a curtain that can be drawn when the outfit is not in use. Casters are supplied for the four legs. Two other interesting models were made by James Swyler. of Pitman, N. J., for members of the Philadelphia Cinema Club. A single case outfit was constructed for Ripley W. Bugbee, ACL. Amplifier and turntables in one unit and speaker in a second are combined to make one case for portability. Another design, worked out for R. W. Crowther, ACL, embodies two cases. One case houses the amplifier and two turntables and is hinged in the center so that it forms a compact piece of luggage about the size of a lady's hatbox. The speaker is in a second case of approximately the same size. In each turntable unit, the owner's initials have been placed in the speaker grill for decorative purposes. Car shots "r recently made a picture in which it was necessary to film people sitting in the front seat of a car. The camera had to be placed outside the car, and the shot was to be made through the windshield." writes W. Bernard Roberts, ACL. "The great problem lay in killing the reflections on the windshield. I solved the difficulty by building a light canopy of canvas over the windshield and by increasing the illumination inside the car through the use of "booster" lights. By framing the shot carefully, by drawing the rear window curtain and by having an assistant jump up and down on the rear bumper, I was able to simulate a car in motion successfully." Steady ^n spite of frequent warnings, taking pictures with a hand held camera operated in a moving car continues to be one of the outstanding amateur faults. If you film from a moving automobile or train, make sure that the camera is on a tripod or is fastened to the car. Reasonably smooth pictures may be had in this fashion, while a camera speed of thirty two frames a second will lessen the jumpiness by fifty percent. A simple trial of this principle will show its worth in convincing fashion. James Swyler Ripley W. Bugbee, ACL, has a complete unit in one case Ormal I. Sprungrman, ACL Carroll Davidson, ACL, built an outfit on table on wheels Scratches Handling small brushes carelessly when cleaning projector and camera gates may cause minute scratches, which eventually take their toll of film surface. Nearly all small brushes are made with a metal binding to hold the bristles, and one must take care to avoid scratching the highly polished surfaces with the edges of this metal. Scrap book 0ne enterprising movie maker has made himself an invaluable scrap book by cutting out pictures of cameras, projectors and other equipment and pasting them in a loose leaf note book. Facts about each product are noted for reference. In this way, he is able to refer to a section on splicers, for instance, and see at a glance the types available and what features each may have. One might find helpful material for such a scrap book in the Neivs of the industry department in Movie Makers. Surely, he would find plenty of pictures in the advertising pages. Night time Francis Hirst, ACL, writes that he has made, on Kodachrome, some excellent shots simulating moonlight by using a lens of a pair of blue sun glasses as a filter. He closed his diaphragm down one half stop below normal, but, of course, the amount of underexposure necessary to produce the effect would depend on the type of blue glass used in each case. To create such effects is the only practical use for a colored filter in Kodachrome filming. Movie makers should remember that, if a colored filter is used, the resultant picture will appear on the screen just as it would appear to the eye if it were viewed through the [Continued on page 311]