The Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1913)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 159 Projection Department Edited by F. H. RICHARDSON Operators' Union Directory, I. A. T. S. E. NOTICE: Each union is entitled to have its roster of officers, meeting nights, etc., listed here once per year, free of cost. Preserve this list, as it will not be republished. The mail address of the secretary should be included on each list, and the address of regular meeting place, if any. Moving Picture Machine Operators' Local Union No. 204, . I. A. T. S. E., Little Rock, Ark. President, W. J. Meckel; vice-president, Charles McCullough; financial secretary-treasurer, T. F. McBride; recording secretary, H. E. Ellenbogen; business agent, W. M. Burns. Mr. Harbor Springs Replied To. A. VV. Ballenger, Dean Theater Company, York, Neb., contribute* the following interesting letter: I have noticed the article of Manager Freeland, Harbor Springs, Mich., in the March ist issue, and am rather surprised at the way he jumps on the manufacturers. It appears to me that the cause of the "hash" he speaks of with regard to films now being released is not entirely the manufacturer's fault. It strikes me that the. cause of the releasing of so many aims lies with the exhibitors themselves; not with the individual, but with them all. It is competition that necessitates the increased output — competition of exhibitors, I mean. Where there are houses in competition it is necessary that they do not show pictures which are shown in other houses in their city. Therein lies the demand, and if a manufacturer is unable to supply exhibitors he must get out of business. It is the same in any line. Competition compels the manufacturer to get his goods on the market at as early a date as possible, and he cannot give the attention to each individual piece that he would were there less demand. In regards to the multiple reel releases, it strikes me as a good idea to lengthen out a play — give it more action and more detail. If a subject is crowded into 1,000 feet it leaves much to be thought out by the audience. There must, of necessity, be a less number of and shorter titles. They must make action to suit the length, where if they had twice the time to produce the action they could put in a finer quality and make the story more plain to the audience. Again, if all manufacturers devoted more time to two and three-reel subjects there would be less demand for so many one-reel pictures. It is a well-known fact that "Monte Cristo" cannot receive justice in i.ooo feet, nor can the audience grasp the story and get the interest that should hold them through such a picture. Comedy, as shown in pictures today, would be better if it were filled out. It would get the audience twice as quick. There are innumerable comedies completely ruined simply because they are made too short, and that brings the audi■ ence back to the same old place. They must take time to reason out certain actions, and while they are doing this probably miss some of the best scenes; anyway they fail to get the idea the actor is trying to submit. I say, give them more space and longer stories and the moving picture business will advance much faster than it has. Encourage the manufacturer to make a better picture and see how quickly he will begin doing so. They want your money, and will give you value for it if you give them cause to think that you want a better quality and not so much quantity. Personally, I wrll be glad of the time when we show two, three and four-reel subjects almost exclusively. This I know: with proper projection, a multiple reel subject will make more friends for a house than any other picture that can be shown. Brother Ballenger's letter is of much interest, but I think he is speaking of one thing, while Harbor Springs in his letter, and I in my comments, speak of another. In the first place, let us get right down to the root of this proposition and scratch around the foundation stone a little. The hieroglyphics on one side of that stone read: There are too many theaters. Now a word of explanation as to what I mean by this. We have a multiplicity of small theaters. A city of 10,000 population will have from three to four little theaters seating 200 or 300, instead of one seating from 500 to 1,000. In the very nature of things, the little fellow, playing to an audience of from 200 to 300, cannot afford to put up as good a show, in as good a way, as can the house seating 500 to 2,000. That is a plain matter of common sense which nobody, I think, will dispute. This multiplicity of theaters has also brought about the very evil of which brother Ballenger speaks. Each one of these theaters in that town of 10,000 wants from three to five reels a day, each one different from the other fellow's program, so that it may, in extreme cases, take as many as 25 reels a day to supply one town of 10,000 population, while if there be fifteen or twenty theaters in a city the demand for reels becomes even greater. Now, what I was talking about, and what Harbor Springs wrote about, was not. as I understand it, so much the two, three and four-reel releases. What Harbor Springs was hitting at was the padding out of a little, slow, one-horse story, that could be entirely told in 500 feet, to 1,000 feet. I fully realize that there is truth in what you say concerning the length of really meritous stories. You can cut down too much as well as pad out too much. But the evil of it all lies in the fact, as I said in my reply to Harbor Springs, the turning out of 100 (it is about 112 now) reels a week simply means that everything worth while will have been done, done, done and done over again before the business is 25 years old. It is a big question and I would like to hear from exhibitors ana operators on this subject. It is a question which vitally concerns the future of the business. As to the multiple reel release, I long ago prophesied that it is only a question of time when we would have the regular plays put on in moving pictures, to last from 8:30 to 11, or 2y2 hours, which would mean from ten to fifteen reels to the subject. These plays will be put on by the best actors the world can produce, and the small town theater patron, instead of paying 35 to 50 cents to see a splendid play butchered by a troupe of barnstormers, will pay the same sum to see it put on in photoplay by the world's greatest artists. A Fine Plant. Mr. W. O. Stevens, Eagle Theater, Princeton, 111., sends in a photograph and description of h.s operating room. He writes as follows: Our operating room is 12 x 8 feet, 6 feet in the clear. We project a 13-foot picture at 98 feet, using two Motiograph machines of late model. We have two meters and two sets of No. 4 wires feeding the operating room circuits. One machine is a combination M. P. and dissolver. We use a compensarc for each machine and a rheostat for the top dissolver lamp. The room has a vent flue 12 x 14 inches, which is the largest possible under the circumstances, there being living apartments over the theater. The operating room has running water, 'phone service and steam heat, the latter being used only when we are working in the operating room during off hours. We use two Gundlach half-size lenses, and in this connection I desire to say something. For months I have at times noticed an effect on the screen similar to the travel ghost caused by the shutter being out of time, but testing the shutter I found it to be O. K. I discovered the trouble was that oil had spattered on the lens a little and produced the above effect. We clean our lenses daily, but have to watch them during the show, and if travel ghost starts we get busy and clean the lens; also, if the picture starts to flicker we either change lugs and cut off some of the feed wire or tighten connections, and the flicker disappears. You are indeed fortunate to have such an excellent operating room, brother Stevens. I notice that everything is neat, clean and in order therein, which speaks well for the operator. Cannot you get two of those vent flues? One of that size is not large enough should you have a fire. I would also suggest that you hang your wall shutters as directed in the new handbook. As to the oil spattering, this is due to the use of (a) too thin an oil; (b) too much of it. Lay two pieces of blotting paper in the inside of your mechanism and it will absorb the oil, so that you can keep the inside of the head clean by merely changing the paper. A Camera Man's Qualifications. Hartford, Wis., wants to know if a cameraman has to be a qualified photographer, and if a motion picture operator would stand any chance of securing such a position. No; there! would be no chance for an operator — in fact, an experience as operator would be of very little value to him as cameraman. The cameraman has to be an exrert judge of light and other things.