Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1949)

MOVIE MAKERS 383 tic parts, which account for the low weight. Full details and specifications may be had by writing to Ampro Corporation, 2835 North Western Avenue, Chicago 18, 111. Ektachrome data As a special service, the Eastman Kodak Company is now packing an information slip in each box of its Kodak Ektachrome sheet film. The slip indicates the amount that normal exposure should be increased or decreased if any variation from the published A.S.A. Index is necessary for that particular emulsion coating. An identifying sticker is being attached to all Ektachrome film boxes that contain the new information slip. SMPE meeting The 66th SemiAnnual Convention of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers will be held October 10 to 14 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, in Hollywood. Twenty four papers will be delivered at the sessions. "Slides" A fourth edition of the Kodak data book. Slides, is now being distributed by the Eastman Kodak Company. The edition features an expanded section on making Kodachrome title or graph slides and a greatly enlarged section on making a slide presentation. Priced at thirty five cents, the booklet is available through all dealers. Ektalite lens The Kodak Ektalite field lens, which increases overall ground glass brightness by approximately 250 percent, will now be installed in Kodak Reflex I cameras. Installation includes dismantling of the camera's finder assembly, insertion of the lens with a new type of supporting frame, refocusing of the finder lens to compensate for the addition and reassembly of the finder system. The charge for installing the new lens, adding a new name plate (Kodak Reflex IA Camera) and readjusting the viewing system will be $10.00. The repair may be ordered through any Kodak dealer. Victor Clamp-bar Owners of various types of clamp-on lighting units often find it desirable to use these on stands. The new Victor No. 564 Clamp-bar (95(0. used with a two section Victor S2 stand ($3.25) or a three section Victor S3 stand ($5.10), makes this possible. The bar has a green hammerloid finish and mounts on any % of an inch stand rod. In connection with the Clamp-bar, a new Victor screw stud No. 565 (25<0 enables various items of equipment to he attached to the % of an inch top rod of any stand when it is screwed into their tripod sockets. The Victor line of photographic specialties is manufactured by Jas. H. Smith & Sons Corporation, Griffith. Ind. Radiant fabric Fire and mildew hazards are reported cut by a glass beaded fabric, Vyna-flect, recently announced by Radiant Screen Manufacturing Corporation, 2627 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago 8, 111. The new fabric is a vinyl plastic, and the beads are bonded to it with a thermoplastic. It can be used where public safety requires the use of flameproof materials and is said to be the first beaded fabric that can withstand tropical humidity. Medo catalog A new comprehensive catalog, listing both amateur and professional items of equipment, has been completed by Medo, 15 West 47th Street, New York 19, N. Y. Conversion tables, exposure guides and other data are strewn through the pages. The catalog is available free of charge. Vacuumate ^ Vacuumate installation has been completed at Photo and Sound Company. 116 Natoma Street, San Francisco. Calif. The Vacuumate Process is a film protective treatment. Cinema 1 6 Cinema 16, founded for the exhibition of documentary and experimental films, will present over forty motion pictures during its third season. In addition to the regular New York showings, Cinema 16 programs will be presented in Washington and Chicago, and arrangements are being made for a Cinema 16 branch in Los Angeles. Headlines A IU^ s'ze dummy newspaper is the feature of a new title letter set introduced by Moviecraft Company, 1799 East 177th Street. New York 60, N. Y. The newspaper is printed on sturdy, flexible stock and has blank headline space. In addition to the regular white letters for standard and trick titles, the set YOU can create your own movie news with the help of a dummy newspaper and special letters, all included in Moviecraft's new title letter set. includes a full assortment of special black letters with which newspaper headlines may be made. Priced at $3.00. the set contains 258 unbreakable letters, l1/^ inches high. Castle catalog The new 1949-50 edition of the Castle Films catalog is being distributed to dealers in quantities which require printing more than one million copies every time the book is revised. The Castle policy of releasing new films every autumn and at the beginning of each year requires that the catalog be printed twice, and covers are even changed with each printing so that the latest catalog can be distinguished from its previous edition. Try tabletop titling [Continued from page 379] a sense of depth and perspective to the scene. The actual distance, front to back, was less than two feet. This matter of perspective should be kept carefully in mind in constructing your tabletop settings. Look off in the distance and you will see (if you weren't already aware of it) that all objects look smaller the farther they are from you. This same relation of near and far objects to each other must be recreated in dressing your set. Thus, a model cowboy in the foreground should be larger in size than one which is placed appreciably behind it. The same scale of values will hold true with trees, bushes, fences, houses, roads, etc. To add action to each of these settings, and to suggest the theme of an auto trip, a fine thread was tied to the miniature automobile and it was pulled slowly across the highway as the title was filmed. This method is far easier than frame by frame animation of the little car; the thread can generally be concealed behind the grass bordering the road. The lettering Go West! on the lead title was set up with l1/-* inch stick-on letters applied to a sheet of glass positioned 18 inches in front of the western backdrop. Then, to avoid the problems of "hot spot" light reflections on the glass surface, I trained both of my lighting units only on the setting behind the glass. This revealed the white letters in sharp silhouette against the blue sky of the picture backdrop. All this sounds like a lot of work, you say? Well, naturally attractive titles can be set up in other ways which probably are quicker and easier to complete. But if you enjoy working with your hands, if you get a kick out of creating something— no matter how simple — then tabletop titling is for you. There's a lot of satisfaction both in making up your sets and in the final results on your home screen.