Moving Picture World (Mar-Dec 1907)

230 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD. How tlie Cinematographer WorKs and Some of His Difficulties. Continued jrom page 213 “Another interesting one is a deer-stalking scene taken near Pinehurst. Deer-stalking as it is pursued at present means that a man takes a camera and goes out to hunt his prey. It is just as exciting as hunting with a ritie, does not interfere with any legal prejudices and requires as much technique if not more than the use of a rifle. “The film shows a man with a camera chasing a deer. That is, the artist with his outfit is following closely the man who is working another camera. It is very amusing and gives you a very good idea of the timidity of the deer and the difficulty of getting within range. “An interesting game series was taken recently on the private fishing grounds of Lord Strathcona, showing the complete view of the landing of a salmon. “The cinematograph man has to follow the fisherman in a boat and finds great difficulty in getting a range that will show him the whole fight from start to finish, but there are probably no photographs which show such splendid action as these. The tarpon is to be taken next, and it will be interesting for sportsmen to witness the difference of method in landing these two famous fighting fish. “The wild turkey is rapidly becoming extinct. A cinematograph hunt was arranged in Virginia under the guidance of one of the most famous turkey men in the country, old Everett, who, it is asserted, could call a turkey back to life. He belongs to the so-called po’ white trash and is an interesting character. “He uses a couple of dry turkey bones for the call, manipulating them in some weird way, and suddenly you hear the rush of wings as the turkeys leave their nests in the high branches, and then the fun begins. “Another series just completed is the quail shooting at Pinehurst, and there is always a steady trade with series like the Meadowbrook Hunt and the automobile races. “The usual every-day series involve not a little trouble. A thoroughly equipped theater is necessary, whose proportions are properly adjusted and scenic artists who can paint any backgrounds necessary. One day, taking the representation of some comic song, like ‘Everybody Works But Father,’ where is employed the best character artists, and the next the whole interior will be turned into a representation of the Pennsylvania tunnel. “When an out of door scene is depicted Biograph Co. chooses a suitable locality and oftentimes many amusing experiences are the outcome of their trips. Lately, in New Jersey, they portrayed the rescue of a child from a burning house by a passing pedestrian. “They obtained permission from the authorities, but had neglected to warn a neighboring company of fire laddies, composed of the busiest men in the place. They got to the scene of the red property fire and smoke all right, with a great clatter and din, leaving luncheons, clients and trade for the purpose. “In another rescue which took place in a retired part of New York State near the Hudson, where a high fence protected us from the highroad, what was their amazement to see two elderly men, who turn.d out to be physicians, scaling that fence with a celerity you wouldn't have believed possible from their dignity and age, if you hadn’t seen it. “They had a similar difficulty with a farmer who mistook a biograph kidnaping for the real thing and raised a hue and cry that started the whole village at our heels. This gave the artist an opportunity to get in a very realistic picture of an infuriated mob in action. It is well they chose that locality, for if it had taken place out West I suppose they would have added a few bullets to the joy of the occasion. “Lately, to finish a melodramatic series where a woman exposes the dishonesty of a man, who responds by throwing her into a mill pond, they allow the leading man to bring along a feminine friend, who, he said, could do the work and was able to swim. As the pond had a depth of thirty feet, naturally they made this accomplishment a necessary part of the contract. “When they arrived after half a day’s journey the girl confessed that she could not swim a stroke, but she pluckily insisted on being thrown in the water, trusting to the stalwart rescuer who, of course, appears on the scene to take her out. He did it all right and the picture was successful, for the struggle of the girl was a real one, but for a few minutes some of them had their hearts in their mouths. “Another time one of the girls hired to depict a similar dramatic episode jumped from the rear of a ferryboat into the North River. This one was a fine swimmer and the boats were near to pick her up, but unfortunately her skirts became entangled and if it had not been for the prompt work of the men stationed there she would certainly have lost her life. “Lying down on the tracks in front of an approaching train to be rescued at a critical moment by a party of train men is another method of earning both money and excitement, each provided in a large quantity, for people who risk life and limb, or at least who run the chance of an unpleasant notoriety, demand high salaries, and get them. , “At the big Holloway farm near East Orange they had an amusing fox hunt and a pack of hounds took part in it, while the staff were arrayed like the tulips of the garden, in pink coats and fine linen. “They had the whole place at their disposal and even had a genuine fox, which, however, was not a lowed the freedom of the place, but was concealed in a basket held on the arm of one of the character artists who impersonated an old woman just returning from market. “She was given a good start and then the hounds and the party gave a view hallo, and after her they scurried. She climbed stone walls, and scaled up one side and down another of a hay rick, she forded streams and jumped ditches.