Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1940)

465 mnMb 1. Background picture cut out of a magazine. 2. Title is double exposed over action in the background. 3. Another double exposed title — background is scene of necklace. 4. A curtain was used as a background scene here. 5. The title is double exposed over scene of the pudding. Pleasing captions can be produced with simplicity AN Old Timer in the club was speaking. . "I like my titles straight, but let me add a background to make them more palatable. I've gone through the cycle of making all kinds of titles, from plain typewritten ones to single frame animations, and I've come to the conclusion that, while a background is spice to the title, too much seasoning will detract from the text. "However, a beautiful titling job helps to 'put across' a picture. The movie industry recognizes that fact. Back in the old silent days, and that's where we amateurs are now, the title maker was given screen credit in the opening titles. Because of sound, titles are less important now, but the movies still make elaborate introductory titles. For example, have you seen Gone With the Wind?" I told him that I had. "That's a beautiful titling job in color. They even varied the background scenes as the wording changed. However, the title I enjoyed most, lately, was the introduction to the picture, Siviss Family Robinson. Instead of distracting the audiences' attention with a moving background, it subtly supplied the information that the picture was based on the book of that name." I told Old Timer that making background titles was a little too tedious for me, because I did not have a wind back feature on my camera. "I've got that problem licked," he said. "It doesn't make any difference what kind of titler or what make of camera you have; it's very simple to include a suitable background in a title. Come into the dining room. I'm going to make some titles now." On the dining room table, he had a small metal titler, a movie camera, a No. 2 flood bulb and reflector, a carton containing 100 feet of 16mm. reversal film, a stack of black cards, with white lettering on them, a number of small snapshots and pictures that had been cut out of magazines and newspapers and a conductor's transfer punch. The source of light for the room was a canopy hung from the ceiling directly over the table, and the lighting fixture had a cluster of three sockets. In one socket, there was a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb, which illuminated the room. In the second socket, there was a red bulb, while to the third socket was attached the cord of the flood lamp. "For black and white titles, the secret of my procedure is to use orthochromatic or a color blind film, because you can expose it to a red light without spoiling it," said Old Timer. He then threaded his camera with the orthochromatic film. "I print my lettered titles in white ink, with the aid of a Wrico lettering guide, on black cardboard, size three and a half by four and a half inches. You can buy a ten WALTER BERGMANN, ACL cent black show card board, at your stationer, that can be cut into forty small cards of that size, to fit the titler. You can use both sides of the card, thereby getting eighty title cards from one sheet. "I usually wait until I have a number of titles to letter, then I spend a whole evening lettering them. Meanwhile, I am on the lookout for any small pictures in magazines or rotogravure sections, which might be suitable as backgrounds for my titles. When my lettered title cards are completed and the background is chosen, I am ready to make titles." He placed the first of the lettered title cards in the holder, or easel, of his titler and centered it with a guide frame that came with his titler. He then removed the guide frame. Next, he held the flood bulb lamp above the titler lens, so that the light shone directly on the lettered title card. Then he took an exposure meter reading of the card. "Using film with an emulsion speed equal to Weston 8, I usually shoot the lettered titles at an opening of //8. Because of the presence of the supplementary lens on the titler, the camera lens focus is set at twenty five feet, even though the titler lens is only six inches away from the easel," he explained. "Now, I'm ready to shoot the title," he continued. He clicked on the flood bulb, started his camera and read the title twice, rather quickly. "Do you want the lettering of the titler to fade out?" he asked. And, before I could answer, he exclaimed, "Simple! When you are taking the title, slowly turn the light away from the lettering for a fade out and slowly turn the light back for a fade in." After he had made a shot of the title, he noted the reading of the camera's footage indicator. "Here's the way I wind back the film for the background exposure," he said, as he turned off the room light and turned on the red light. "Bemember." he cautioned me, "you can do this only with orthochromatic film." He then opened the camera, took the film right out of the camera and wound it back to the beginning. After rethreading the camera, he replaced the cover and turned on the white light. Next, he inserted the background picture in the titler easel, turned on the flood bulb and took an exposure meter reading of the picture. "I usually set the diaphragm so that the background picture will be a trifle underexposed and darker than the lettering, in order to make the title easier to read. The / stop for this picture," Old Timer continued, "would normally be f/5.6, but I have set the camera lens opening between //5.6 and //8." I asked him how [Continued on page 486]