WITH THE MOVIE MAKERS [Illustration: GETTING READY TO TAKE A SCENE “ON LOCATION.” The camera men preparing their cameras while the director is coaching the actors in their parts. Because the scene is to be a “long shot,” the two cameras are put on a platform to secure greater elevation.] WITH THE MOVIE MAKERS BY JOHN AMID WITH FIFTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM FAMOUS STUDIOS AND FROM THE AUTHOR’S OWN PRODUCTIONS [Illustration] BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. Copyright, 1923, BY LOTHROP, LEE, & SHEPARD CO. _All rights reserved_ WITH THE MOVIE MAKERS PRINTED IN U. S. A. Norwood Press BERWICK & SMITH CO., NORWOOD, MASS. U. S. A. FOREWORD Motion pictures are still changing so much, in their development from year to year, that any survey of this vast, chaotic new industry is in danger of being out-of-date long before its time. With this in mind, I have attempted to stress those phases of movie-making, and of the story-telling that underlies each photoplay, that do not change. A generation hence, the fundamental problems confronting the makers—how to show real people, doing interesting things in interesting places—will be the same. Grateful acknowledgment is due Walter P. McGuire, of “The American Boy,” where much of the material embodied in this book first appeared in article form, for his assistance in planning the original articles, as well as in editorial supervision of the work as it progressed. If there is good entertainment, as well as instructive value, in these pages, and interest for old minds as well as young ones, much of the credit is due to him. JOHN AMID. _August 23rd, 1923._ CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE HOW DO YOU WATCH MOVIES? 13 CHAPTER II TRICK STUFF 23 CHAPTER III THE WORLD THROUGH A CAMERA 41 CHAPTER IV INSIDE THE STUDIOS 65 CHAPTER V MAKING A MOTION PICTURE 87