The world film encyclopedia (1933)

474 Interesting Facts About FUms In the silent days pictures of average popularity had their titles translated into 36 different languages. These served 73 different countries. Film Production Average time devoted to making American films : 22 days. Atlantic, directed by B.I. P., was the first multi-lingual talkie. A day's work in the studios consisting of eight hours often represents only six minutes' screen material. Hell's Angels, one of the most expensive films produced in America, cost ;^8oo,ooo. The following figures will indicate how this was spent : negative and developing, ;^62,ooo ; flying sequences, ^^422, 600 ; sets and costumes ; ;^i04,ooo ; artistes' salaries, ;^66,ooo ; technicians' salaries, ;^44,ooo ; Zeppelin sequences, ;£i02,400. This film was at first made as a silent, but owing to the growing popularity of talkies, it was decided to duplicate many of the scenes in sound. The number of regular feature films made by Britain, France, and Germany last year were as follows : Germany, 164 ; France, 143 ; Britain, 141. With 900 films in 1931, Japan holds the record for the number of films produced in one year. Most of these, however, were silent, and intended for national use only. The following figures will show the proportion of money spent on different items in a film production : Actors, 25 per cent ; directors and cameraman, 10 per cent ; scenarios and stories, 10 per cent ; sets, 19 per cent ; overhead, 20 per cent ; costumes, .03 per cent ; ground, .08 per cent ; film stock, .05 per cent. Films are invariably shown in the studio about 100 times before finally achieving their " first night." A " SHOT " is sometimes rehearsed 40 times before the actual take. Sevexty-five pictures scheduled for one year's productions cost Paramount ;^4, 500,000. The Covered Wagon, starring Mary Miles ISIinter, cost nearly ;^i, 000,000, a figure that has never been surpassed. For several years the only lighting used in the making of motion pictures was sunUght. Producers in Great Britain and U.S.A. determine the cost of a picture before work is begun on it. Blue eyes are considered photographically to give a wider range of expression than eyes of any other colour. In Warner Bros.' spectacular film. Noah's A I' ft, produced at a cost of ;^40o,ooo, an army of 7,500 extras was sprayed with bronze rainproof toning which gave them the colour of the ancient Semites. The first artificial jungle for a sound picture was used in Condemned, starring Ronald Colman, when a realistic jungle was made measuring 640 feet long by 380 feet wide, with a river, using 200,000 gallons of water, running through it. Christinas Cheer, a two-reel comedy released in 1929 and starring " Sunny Jim," the four-years-old actor, was the first all-talking picture made specially for Christmas presentation. Sovmd in Films There are many words banned in talkies owing to their unsuitability for reproduction, words such as soldiers, kiss, and pleasure. In addition to these, artistes often add their own list of words which they personally find difficult to pronounce. There are eighteen sound systems on the market. When talkies were first introducea all the camera equipment was placed in closed boxes with glass fronts through which the " shooting " Avas done. (It was not an unusual incident for cameramen to faint in these boxes owing to the intense heat.) These liave since been discarded, and only the top part of the camera is now enclosed in a sound-absorbing box. To avoid the usual noise of rain, which through the microphone sounds Uke thunder, hoses fitted with finely