The Boy's Book of New InventionsMaule, Harry E. (Harry Edward)
History
The Boy's Book of New Inventions
Maule, Harry E. (Harry Edward)
Inventions
Every firm engaged in the fascinating business of making and
reproducing cinematographic plays gives the most careful and
painstaking attention to the first "performance" of a film. Of course
it is held in private before only the officials and a few critics
invited for the exercise of their judgment. The event amounts to the
same thing as the dress rehearsal of a play to be reproduced upon
the stage, and any changes that are necessary in the judgment of the
critics cause just about as much trouble. Any one of a hundred things
may be wrong. Some little incongruous detail in the scenery may be
noticed, some jarring gesture by an actor or a scene in which the
action does not proceed fast enough.
If the officials of the firm decide that a film is below their
standard, parts must be cut out, and new parts photographed over
again until the whole thing suits requirements. Sometimes one scene
must be done over many times before it suits exactly, and several
hundred feet of film wasted. At a cost of about three cents a foot,
it is plain that the waste in film alone is great, but when a big
scene with a hundred or so actors in it has to be done over again,
the cost of assembling the company, paying their salaries and other
expenses is enormous.
Finally, when the officials themselves are satisfied with a
film it is thrown on the screen for the board of censors in the
various cities, and if it measures up to standard, and contains no
objectionable features, it is ready for public reproduction.
When all this is done, the printing machine again comes into play,
and as many prints of the negative as are needed are struck off, for
in cinematography, as in still photography, it is a simple matter
to run off as many prints as are desired, once a good negative is
made. These prints then are sent out to as many theatres, in as many
different cities, as desire them, and released for public view on the
same day in every theatre in the country.
Having looked at the motion-picture camera, and at the complicated
process for developing and printing the films, we are now ready to
climb into the little fireproof box from which comes the beam of
light that throws the pictures on the screen. This is the projector
and it is probably the most complicated of all the machines used in
cinematography. As it was a development through the application of
well-known mechanical principles we will not go into this subject
more deeply than merely to understand its central principle, which is
intermittent motion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account