Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1948)

156 SPLICING HINT If you are spreading too much cement on your splices — and it is a very easy thing to do — one of the inevitable and unpleasant results will be the appearance on the adjoining frames of flashes of blue. These are quickly discernible, even in projection. You can guard against these flashes by following the routine here outlined. Spread the cement lightly and clamp down at once. Open up the left side of your splicer {it isn't holding the film in place ) the very instant you have finished locking the right side in place. Now wipe away gently all the excess cement which may have squeezed out. Do this at once and with a soft, lintless cloth. It is this excess of cement which creates the blue flashes on your film. Joseph J. Harley, FACL Summit, N. J. CUTS REFLECTIONS How many times have you taken pictures through the windshield of your car, or seen such shots taken by d □ □ LEI D U S i □ □ D ■ U Fii.2 A PAPER PUNCH, used to notch and slot film ends, creates a quick and easy join for odd lengths of 8 or 16 footage. others, only to find them marred by an annoying reflection from the rear window or of other occupants in the car? The gadget illustrated on this page will obviate this. Obtain from your dentist one of the rubber mixing cups he uses to mix cement. Be sure to get a small one, for the larger sizes will obstruct your view finder. Cut an opening in the bottom of this rubber cup, so that it will fit over and around your standard lens (1 inch or V2 inch) snugly. Now, push the lens through this opening and press the cup against your auto windshield, as shown in the sketch. Not only will the cup exclude all reflections, but, in creating suction against the glass, it serves also to hold your camera steady and at the same distance from the glass. There is even enough play in the rubber to permit you to pan the camera within a limited field. This gadget will function excellently on any glass surface. I found it especially valuable when taking pictures through the glass bottomed boats at Silver Springs and through the port holes at Marine Land — both, of course, in Florida. Dr. C. Enion Smith, ACL Chicago, 111. QUICK JOIN This is a quick and easy way of joining short lengths of film together temporarily, either for splicing at a later date or for convenient storage. Obtain a cheap paper punch, preferably one which makes an elongated hole rather than the usual round one. If this is not available, the round punch can be used by nibbling out the kind of holes needed. For the join, make two cuts, one on each side of a piece of film a short distance from its end, as in Fig. 1. Now make a slot near the end of the second piece of film, as in Fig. 2. The dimensions do not have to be too accurate, but the distance "A" in Fig. 1 must be equal to or shorter than distance "B" in Fig. 2. The film ends can then be locked together, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Films joined in this way cannot, Pictures, plans and ideas to solve your filming problems A DENTIST'S rubber mixing cup, holed at the base, clings to car windshield or other glass surfaces to cut reflection. of course, be run through a projector, although they can be passed through some types of action viewers. My experiments (and the illustrations) have been done on 8mm. film. I see no reason why the same system will not work with Sixteen. Eric Brooke, ACL Galion, Ohio. PRINT FRAME FOR TITLER I have worked out what I think may be an interesting and helpful adaptation of the basic titler design published in the February, 1948, Movie Makers. This is the use, as the easel part of the design, of a still picture printing frame. In my own titling, I have been using the 4 by 5 inch frame — -but any of the other standard sizes (either smaller or larger) might be used as well. The frame is positioned in the rear element of the titler by slipping it into slots wide enough to accept the thickness of the frame. Where your title card has the same dimensions as the printing frame, it can be held in place in the frame without the customary glass. Smaller cards, however, will require the insertion of the printing frame glass — in which case, care should be taken not to get reflections on it from the lighting units. Robert G. Calvert Pitman, N. J.