MOTION picture director! da
not always go outside the
studios for their exterior
settings.
Many of the most adaptable ex
terior sites about the film capitals,
especially those such as gardens,
verandas and vistas on the property
of beautiful estates, have already
served as backgrounds for motion
picture scenes. Then again, the
mechanics of the story are often
such as to requlro the construction
of some of the exterior settings,^so
that they may be perfectly adaptable
in construction and design, for the
making of the particular scenes in
volved.
Far Away Spot.
Other exteriors built within ttie
studios represent various parts of
the world of such a distance away
that it would involve an immense ex
penditure to take the company and
cast to the real location to make a
few scenes of the picture. In such
' cases, the exteriors are often built in
the studio, as nearly as possible the
replicas of the originals and con
structed under the supervision of
skilled technical artists who have
made extensive research of the loca
tion and structure in question.
Examples of thl3 are the Versailles
garden spot in the Paramount pic
ture, ‘‘Beyond the Rocks,” starring
Gloria Swanson, which was prepared
by skilled landscape artists and dec
orators; the exteriors of St. Mary's
church. London, for another picture,
and for still aiytther, the exterior of
Shepherd’s Ho^el in Cairo. Egypt. In
‘‘To Have and to Hold.” the histor
ical stockade at Jamestown In 1620,
eras reproduced. Other exteriors
within the studio have included a
street in Shanghai. China, a street in
the vicinity of Sixty-seventh street
and Seventh avenue in New York,
eta.
Great Skill Required,
William UeMillo almost consist
ently builds his exteriors within the
studio. His pictures have included
several beautiful garden and veranda
settings which have greatly en
hanced their artistic and pictorial
value and In which much of the ac
tion has occurred. For instance, in
"The Prince Chap," there was a very
pretty Italian hotel exterior, in “The
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Lost Romance," a California patio
garden in a mountain home and in
“Clarence," the veranda and garden
of the Wheeler home. These com
bine the finest skill and art In ex
terior landscape decoration. Com
plete lawns are laid by transporting
the green turf in sections; trees and
shrubbery are put In rnd flowers In
profusion, in ' the whole set off by
walks, fountains and other garden
effects.
It' Takes an Hour
to Make a Minute!
IT takes an hour, or two hours, or
mayhap a day—or two or three—
to put upon the screen that
poignant minute of drama, heart In
terest, comedy—whatever it was that
taught your fancy when you last vis
ited a motion picture theater.
The time element is a factor in
motion picture production seldom
realized by the casual photoplay at
tendant So quickly, so smoothly do
the co-ordinated scenes flash over
the screen that they create an illu
sion of ease, of lark of effort, of
play in the making as well as the
projection.
It's surprising how many of the
uninitiated public have the impres
sion that to make a scene in the
studio required but little more time
than that required to place it on the
sliver sheet.
Disappointed Visitors.
“I had no idea it took that murh
s*». work!” is a common saying of stu
dio visitors. And hundreds admitted
to the big picture plants have gone
away disappointed because not a
camera turned while they wore there.
When one enters a Btudlo the first il
luslon to be shattered is that of the
average outsider who believes that
picture stages are flanked by bat
teries of cameras which click un
ceasingly all day long while the ac
tors and actresses pass in review be
fore them.
The time of photography is small.
The time "before and after" is
infinite.
Let's take a typical scene for ex
ample. Let's take'll vej-y famous one
to make our Illustration carry real
authority.
In "Ebb Tide," the Robert Louis
Rtevenson-Lloyd Osbourne classic of
the South Seas there is a dinner in
the home of Attwater, pearl conces
sionaire; a dinner heralded by crit
ics as being one of the greatest
pieces of character delineation in all
literary history; a dinner where the
emotions of anticipated theft, hon
esty cunning and ypngeance pass
across the fares of four remarkable
characters like squalls on a Summer
lake.
It will take hut a few minutes for
you to read it In the book; (o see it
on the screen. It took days for Di
rector (ieorge Jlelford to record it
on celluloid as an integral part of
his new' picture.
Ilim, Religion* l.igiil.
First the rehearsal.
They're spooky, ghost-like things
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these rehearsals. Especially for
night scenes where the set is cov
ered over with black cloth to ex
clude light.. In but dim illumination
therefore, James Kirkwood, ltaymond
Hatton, George Fawcett and Noah
Heery sit down to practice the busi
ness of the difficult scene.
Sitting and rising, passing plates
of bread or salt or pepper—all of
these things have to be carefully fig
ured out in advance. HY>r these mat
ters are minor undertones and must
not interfere—but It takes time and
thought and practice to assure this.
And in equal measure the dramatic
part must be built up to a crashing
climax, a climax so vivid that when
James Kirkwood, in horror, rises
from the table and crashes out to
the surrounding garden the sympa
thy and thrills of the audiences will
be sure to go with Wm. ^
Half-hour, aiyhour, two hours for
rehearsal.
Then lights.
When you've exclaimed over
some particularly beautiful photo
graphic effect, did you ever stop to
think what brought this about? When
an artist makes a light pffect on a
piece of canvas It ts comparatively
easy. He takes a little blue paint, a
little white point, a little pink paint
- daubs them here and there and
presto n beautiful painting with only
the exertion of a hand nd wrist to
get ttt v
netting Effect.
Rut to "paint’’ such an effect in
lights menns hard, grinding, physical
labor, not only by the elnematogrs
pher, but by a corps of electricians
which may vary from three or four
to fifteen or twenty individuals.
I'nder tho orders of tho cinematng
rapher, in thia case Ijgrt Glennon,
they wheel back and forth heavy
Klieg lights weighing 200 pounds
each, they Jockey into position a "Sun
Arc." a huge apparatus weighing
half a ton which throws a concen
trated flood of light on a certain
place. And then two or three of their
number emlilata tho monkey and
climb to the top of tb» set where
they sit precariously on narrow
pieces of boards and operate spot
lights which play down on the heads
<>f the players and give ^»at attractive
glowing'' effect which adds so much
to the excellence of the photography.
Tt means art, correct lighting, hut
It takes time and a liberal applica
tion of good old human "elbow
gTonse "
And then comes rehearsal with the
lights to test them to see If every
thing l« working well. It develops
that one of the lights has an asth
matic flicker that needs correction
and the lighta are turned off while
an electrician slips In a new carbon
and Iwlsta nuts and bolta here and
there to make the thing behave
again.
Heady to Mart.
Finally everything is set so that
Director Melford can call “Camera."
The seme unfolds. Raymond Hat
ton as the slimy “Hulsh'* digs
ravenously Into the food: George
Fawcett as "Captain Davis" pours
wine Into his glass with a shaking
hand; Noah Hcery as Attwater tells
the story of his domination on the
pearl island while "Herrick" the
Oxford bred failure smokes a cig
arette and listens to tho recital.
"Cut," calls the director. Seem
ingly the scene is ready for' (jjtjor
poration Into the finished photoplay.
Rut it Isn't.
“I think: a little sterner expression
at tho start Noah," says Mr. Melford
"And ‘Hulsh' that side expression of
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yours was great do It again only a
little broader next time."
Then he returns to hi* canvas chair
by the camera.
Hut does he call "CameraT“
Not at all, there's a lot to be done
before the scene can be "shot" a
second time.
A new helping of food has to he
placed on alt the plates. The bottle
of wine used by Fawcett has to bn
refilled Just to the exact original
level. The property man hands to
Mr. Kirkwood a new cigarette which
he must puff rapidly for about 30
seconds to bring to the sumo length as
at tho start of the scene. And the
players can't move except by' per
mission of the photographer for he
has them tn exact focus and to re-do
this work would cause the loss of
much valuable time Tf It Is really
necessary for therrt to get up. and it
was tn the case of Raymond Hatton
who had a big putty "wart" on his
noee « hlch required careful revamp
ing every few minutes, the property
man cornea forward (with a piece of
chalk and carefully marks the play
er's feet and the feel of tha chair tn
which he was sitting so that both
can be replaced quickly when the
scene starts again.
rhetographlng a Song.
"Camera" Is called for the secoud
time and the scene is repeated. And
a third and a fourth and maybe more
times for there must he st lrsst two
perfect "negatives'* and the dtreo
tor can not run the risk of Imperfec
tions In any single roll of film. And
each time a repetition of the same
round of real physical and mental
labor and use of time.
Just a few minutes on the screen—
but tt meant several dajs' hard
work for twenty or thirty people.
And there are Instances where a
whole day has been spent lust to fit
a "flash" on the screen that doesn't
last more than two or three seconds.
In "Forbidden Fruit" Cecil R. Re
Mtlle wanted a "shot" of a canary
bird stngtng to emphasise later
scenes where Clarence Burton
throws cage and canary out of the
tenement window, killing the btrd.
hts wife's one pet
For an entire day a motion picture
photographer stood vigilantly by -
watching to see the first rremonttlon
of song. But milady canary wai
temperamental—and for hour* and
hours she eat huddled on her perch,
talf asleep with no apparent Interest
In the proceedings whatsoever.
And then suddenly, late in ths
afternoon when the camera operator
had almost given up hope, she sat up
suddenly as if galvanised by elec
tricity and opened her throat to give
forth glorious spasms of melody, the
physical part of which was Immedi
ately recorded In celluloid.
Take stunts where something has
to be thrown and a light in test a
certain way. They take time. Take
'Blood and Sand" where Rodolph
Valentino tosses his toreador’s hat
towards the bandit "Fluminas’ sit
ting in the grandstand. Time end la
bor-yes, indeed bo!
To Second f hanre.
And great uprooting storm* I ke
that in "The Old Homestead’ may
means days and days of careful prep
aration before a camera Is e'en
turned. In cases like this, where de
struction :s involved, the time is all
beforehand, for there is no duplica
tion of takes. A big battery of eight
or ten cameras all crank at once and
long shots, close-ups and medium
close-ups are all secured at the asms
litre In such an instance the actual
lime of taking is small but to make
I’.fl for this there are hours and hour*
of careful forethought
Truly, in motion pictures *lt takes
»n hour to make a minute!"- Bf
Barrett C. Kiesling.
>.tght-fent Meals Snoeeissfal.
Frtsoners in the Washtenaw coue-'
lj Jail, in Ann Arbor, M’ch., gained
"eight during the last year on meal*
hat cost S cents each. Several ctvsea
*ere cited by the SberifT where loeg"
lerm prisoners had gained as murl
is 3d pounds.
Color Process Used in New Film
Coior photography of a row kind
Is tried In Cecil It IteMIUe's produc
tion. “Adam1* RJb“ The system
used U what ta known as a perfect
ed "spotted" process.
The system ha* been perfected by
Loren Taylor, who has been work
ing on It for some lime. The color
1* shown through the regular blacks
and grays of the ordinary celluloid
film. "All Over" color photography
carried to the tints of the skin ts ad
mlttedly far from perfection, accord
ing to Paramount executives.
The scene in which the spotted col*
or appears is a night ball-room in
which appear a large group of danc
ers. They are furnished with large
Japanese lanterns. The main lights
of the room are turned out and the
lanterns lighted. Each lantern has
been "spotted" In a different color,
red, blue, yellow, purple and tusny
tints.
♦
1/7AY11TI rfc ^ 1S narrow:soulcd Pc°pk a* with narrow-necked bottles—
^jjUlUv: 11 the less they have in them the more noise they make in pouring out.
