The Moving Picture Girls in War Plays: Or, The Sham Battles at Oak Farm — John Shaqi
The Moving Picture Girls in War Plays: Or, The Sham Battles at Oak FarmHope, Laura Lee
General
The Moving Picture Girls in War Plays: Or, The Sham Battles at Oak Farm
Hope, Laura Lee
Girls -- Juvenile fiction; Motion pictures -- Production and direction -- Juvenile fiction
"We'll run a hose up to this one," explained Pop Snooks. "A man will lie
down behind the well-curb, where he won't show in the camera. As fast as
Ruth lowers her bucket into the well the man'll fill the pail with water
for the soldiers to drink. It'll be quicker than a real well, and if we
find we don't like it in one place we can move it to another. This is a
movable well."
"Well, I'll be----" began Sandy, but words failed him. "This is sure a
queer business," he murmured as he strode off.
The hard work of preparation continued. All about the farm queer parts
of buildings were being erected, extra barns, out-houses, bits of fence,
and the like.
In what are called close-up scenes only a small part of an object shows
in the camera, and often when a magnificent entrance to a marble house
is shown, it is only a plaster-of-Paris imitation of a door with a
little frame around it.
What is outside of that would not photograph; so what is the use of
building it? Of course in many scenes real buildings figure, but they
are not built for the purpose.
In one of the war plays a small barn was to be shown, and a soldier was
supposed to jump through the window of this to escape pursuit. As none
of the regular buildings at Oak Farm was in the proper location, Pop
Snooks had been ordered to build a barn.
He did. That is, he built one side of it, propping it up with braces
from behind, where they would not show. The window was there, and some
boards; so that, seen through the camera, it looked like a small part of
a big out-building.
Some hay was piled on the ground to one side, away from the camera, and
it was on this hay that the escaping soldier would land. Then Ruth was
to come to him, and go through some scenes. But these would be interior
views, which would be taken in the improvised studio erected on the farm
for this purpose.
Mr. Switzer was to be the soldier, and would plunge through the barn
window head first. He was called on to rehearse the scenes a few days
after the semblance of a barn had been put in position and the hay laid
out to make his landing safe.
"Are you ready?" asked Mr. Pertell, who was directing the scene. "All
ready, there, Switzer?"
"Sure, as ready as I ever shall be."
"All right, then. Now, you understand, you come running out of those
bushes over there, and when you get out you stop for a minute and
register caution. Look on all sides of you. Then you see the barn and
the open window. Register surprise and hope. You say, 'Ah, I shall be
safe in there!'
"Then you run, look back once or twice to see if you are pursued, and
make a dive, head first, through the open window on to the hay. All
ready now?"
"Sure, I'm ready!"
"How about you, Russ?"
"Let her go."
"All ready, then! Camera!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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