Screenland (Sept 1922–Feb 1923)

34 CHAPTER XVI In the Laboratory INHERE are three steps in motion picture photography. 1 ^ are th« actual exposure of the film, the develop C theorat ner Ve fi,m' ^ ™ °f ^ irom the original negative. It is the work of the laboratory to take our picture through the second and third or chemical stages just mentioned. -Mrst, let us understand perfectly, just what negative and po-ve film are. Negative film is that which is passed th ough camera and exposed, recording the scenes as enacted by the Players, and corresponds to the negative of a photograph o kodak n ho Positive m k that wh.ch . fe/h or he negative, and projected upon the screen through a proje" t,o„ machine. This type of film corresponds to the paper Photograph or kodak print, except that in substance it is film instead of paper, so that when projected it will be reflected £ a magnified fn™ *K ■ . vhc^icu in SCREENLAND tZ T 1 T rolk In dart ™TO th ">'k are passed through a developing and then a fixing „uid and areTn Th! r reVOlVi"g dn""S ™ "hich ** A « wound The developed negattve is then placed in direct contact ™* posmve is then pu, through developing and fixin„ bathsP. manner s,n,,.ar ,„ ,he negative. The positive is rt , wound on racb and d.pped in large ,a„ls „, the proper colo J2* winch have been designated a, the end of each scene by "he key number plate which has been photographed right on to he end of the scene. These tints include amber, blue, red «c and act as an agency ,„ increase the psychological 'efftt f' ,h scene. A mgh, scene, for instance, is tinted blue and when Pieced upon the screen a better nigh, effect is obtained A *ene mvolvmg a fire is tinted red, and this general tint „ ,fie enftre scene hetghtens the effect upon an audience. i^STlit *t "T? °" '«* drums and Each day the cameraman took th, ? u ' Madam Gly"' Miss Swanso"> Mr. Valen upon which seen* l^^^TSS!^ °f the Staff ^ of pr „ registered and delivered these "pals, assemble in the projection room and view on the screen takes" to the laboratory, these scenes made the foregoing dav The xZ* T ? which then began its worT -es his approval or 61^^^^^. Let us observe the various operations on this negative film as it makes its way through the laboratory. The negative goes into the laboratory in ' ' — **** "* scenes. If he doesn't like a certain scene, he stages what is known as a "retake" of that scene and discards the one already made. He also passe, upon the quality of the printing, etc. P th,?' ^r'^^" "egatlVe ,S St°red in a vauI< served for hat particular picture. When photographing is all completed the director takes all the positive scenes and, guided by the key numbers, corresponding to the scene numbers in the scenano, and photographed on the end of each scene, assembles the many scenes ,nto one continuous strip. When this fw print has been cut and titled and is in its final, completed" shape ,t ,s used as a guide for cutting the negative film and from this completed negative as many prints of the p,cture as are needed for distribution throughout the country, are struck. Within the laboratory are several girl operators who project all positive film on a tiny screen and observe and mark all flaws, scratches, bad prints and other defects in the film. All such defects are removed and new positives made to substitute therefor. The film is then highly polished. The time generally consumed to put a strip of him through all the laboratory processes and deliver it to the director, for projection, is about two hours, but in cases of emergency or rush, the film can be put through in one hour. Next month Mr. Riddle will explain interesting phases of film exploitation tn his concluding installment of this series of articles. tCherbflame;T'S* h,dde" ^"'^ *he '°9S' "'^inate