Visual Education (Jan-Dec 1922)

May, 19 22 291 The Studio — a Place of Wonder A moving-picture studio is a place of continual fascination and sur-' prise. The dramatic art of the screen becomes, a • business which must be carried on with the utmostdispatch and efficiency. Within the great glass walls of the huge, barn-; like structure a dozen or more companies may be at work and many different scenes be in the process .of construction or removal. Floor space is so valuable that a director cannot let his set stand any longer than is absolutely necessary; therefore, as soon as the necessary scenes have been taken the carpenters begin to tear . down what they have just erected with such skill and labor. For this reason there is continual movement and confusion. Mechanics, carpenters, electricians, stage hands, executives, actors and extras in varied and picturesque costumes, all mingle in what has been characterized as "a human omelet." Underneath the colorful confusion, the kaleidoscopic shifting of groups, there is, however, a fine organization and system. Light on the Subject Visitors to the studio are bewildered by the maze of lighting batteries which are trained upon the sets and upon the faces of the players. Lighting is one of the most important phases of production. The art director must study the effects of different methods of lighting upon textiles, movement and position, for a wrong play of lights may mean wrong emphasis and the consequent failure of a dramatic scene to register. The lights most in use are the arc-lamp, which throws out a blue-white light, and the CooperHewitt, a mercury vapor light, which gives colors rich in actinic properties. What are known to the trade as "props" — all the furniture, bric-abrac, draperies, antiques and curios needed to furnish anything from the humble kitchen of a day laborer to the lofty halls of a ducal estate — are harbored in property rooms which resemble large department stores. The most up-to-date film companies have every separate piece of property photographed and indexed, so that the art director needs only to order the various items of his settings by number. What You See and What You Don't See In each studio are film artisans of infinite skill who can produce anything from battleships to tunnels. They can build papier-mache models with such incredible accuracy as to deceive a public not always easy of deception. The idea of Eome done in papier-mache is rather ludicrous, but that perishable material has nevertheless been used to construct such perfect walls and towers that observers have had no difficulty in believing that they were actually seeing the photographic reproduction of the Eternal City. That ship, for instance, which sank in such a realistic manner as to make you gasp with horror and pity, was only a papier-mache model taking a brief plunge in a studio tank. . IN A MODERN MOTION PICTURE STUDIO The contrast between the early studios and this complicated interior will serve to bring out the almost unbelievable progress that has been made in the course of a decade. These immense buildings, housing dozens of different "sets," are entirely under glass. Note the elaborate lighting arrangements. Batteries of powerful lamps, suspended fr om the ceiling, attached to floor standards, or mounted on rolling projectors, make the modern studio independent of Old Sol, at least so far as interior scenes are concerned. Courtesy of American Film Company, Inc.