Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-02-03

Lake, represent a new de-
parture in the professions, or,
rather, it should be stated, that the
making Of the films is a new way Of
making a livelihood, and a profitable
one, too.
Those who witness the moving pic
lures thrown on big screen by the
biograph, yitascope, kineograph, kino-
drome, ,or whatever the act is billed In
the program, take the pictures as
matter Of course and seldom worry
about the manner In which they are
secured Others pass them Off with
the remark, they are good, but, of
course, they are fakes"
Most of the motion pictures are fakes,
but just where the reality ends and
the fake begins--that is the rub
When the biograph was first present.
ed as feature of vaudeville programs,
church socials and promiscuous enter
tainments pictures were secured of
street scenes, moving trains and other
familiar objects. These soon began
10 pail, and the acme was reached when
the Alhambra In London produced
faithful representation of the oxford
and Cambridge boatrace on the night
Following the day II was pulled off on
the Thames. Then the pageants fol-
lowing the Queens Jubilee afforded
much profit. Prize fights also became
popular
Step by step those operating picture
machines cast around for novelties UNI
III today 1t Is hazardous occupation
D Nrrn. ~
tors are engaged specially, and scores
OF supers are drilled daily for two or
three weeks until the desired results
are obtained. Even then something
may go wrong which Will ruin the pie
lures. and again they may not take
with the public The man who gets a
good set of pictures Is sure of hand
some profit In the form OF royalties.
The process OF taking motion pictures
Is simple one. Given a specially
constructed camera, which takes in
Simultaneous photographs In rapid sue
cession and that Is all there is to Il,
For instance, man walking is photo
graphed. In all, ten or more pictures
of him are snapped before he has COM
pleted single step. The negatives
are developed and printed on a flexible
transparent ribbon OF gelatin, which is
wound up. These pictures rapidly UNI
wound before the tense of a stereop-
tlcon, give the desired result. on the
screen is thrown life-like representa-.
ton of pedestrian in motion, or some
other subject.
1000 FEET OF FILM.
In this manner, all kinds of subjects
and stories told in pictures have been
taken. Some of these stories embrace
100 feet of films, others are only linz
tied by the size of the spool which con-
tains the transparent ribbon. At the
Orpheum here, for instance, 1000 feet
of films are used at every performance,
and the local house has a contract with
a Chicago firm to supply that length
Of pictures every week. Should the
film he too long for practical purposes
before the climax Is reached,
some culling is done which
causes practically lmperceptible
gaps In the even run OF the presentation
In some cases too many prints are
killed and this is what gives the
"jumpy' effect TO some pictures. II the
objects are close to the camera this IL
more pronounced than IL the case when
some foreground intervenes.
THE FAKE PICTURES.
From everyday scenes the natural
evolution was to secure some pictures
that were novelty and this Is where
the Great American Fakir got I'm his
fine work. Some enterprlsing indlvid-
ual worked up "A chase. IL was a sue
cess from the start, and chases serious
and comic, with water scenes and peo-
pie falling down stairs thrown In for
good measure Hooded the market.
Then came the criminal series which
now has much vogue. These pictures,
according TO W. a. Pinkerton, the great
detective IN a recent interview. were
more pernlciOus than the much-exploit-
ed dime novel. From first TO last the
sympathles OF the audience are vita
the desperate criminal who Is making a
daring escape-at least that is the ire
sistabe conclusion drawn from the vo-
ciferous applause which greets their
nightly presentation. Every detail Is
depicted with a faithfulneSs that leaves
a lasting impression, II Is so real that
II must have happened.
HOW IT HAPPENED.
1t happened all right, but not quite
as depicted. There Is the convict pac-
ing his cell, thinking of wife and home,
tie frantically shakes the bars (strlps
Of lath) while next to him In an ada
cent cell waits another convict to
bounce on the TALLER when he makes
his rounds. They could both escape
with the greatest ease because right In
'front.' Of them Is an open hall contain
ing the camera and the employer and
one or two friends OF the convict who
.ook az though they were actors out
Of job-which may be the truth. Sud-
denly the taller leaves the group,
works his way into the canvas corridor,
nters one Of the trail cells to see that
all Is well. and gets blow on the
aead with club stuffed With rags. He
then staggers and does one OF those
slow twisting falls well down In front
and drops prone artistically before the
camera Then the convict secures the
Keys and unocks his pals cell, and
they both race down the corridor. At
ter some more business the machine is
shut off and packed up While everybody