The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-07-21
MAKING THE MOTION
PICTURES IN FRANCE

formed upon the scene. the figures
move sometimes with an astounding
rapidity. In the funny little play
L'Echelle, the robber must run 100
yards down the street while the appa-
ratus is working, If he kept the
crank running at the usual rate. the
operator would get about 900 pictures.
To produce an impression of greater
speed. what does he dO2 He cuts down
the number of pictures to 500, which
still reprOdUCes the distance as be-
fore, but will be run off upon the
screen in a much shorter time. So
the actor no longer runs, he bounds
ahead with outrageous leaps, since q
part of his successive pastures have
been omitted by the hiograph.
There's a better one still. BY some
amazing enchantment the biograph
can make horses gallop backward
and make hats Jump up from the
ground and replace themselves on
1 their owners heads. The film has
simply been reversed.
To produce certain lengthy comic
scenes, with wondrOUs fairies perform
ing in them, the bi0graph man must
have the interior of a theatre at his
disposal. With the exception of the
opera and the Chatelet. no theatre IN
Paris is as well equipped a. a bio
graph establishment. The Gaumonts
have one 40 feet long. with A stage
90 feet deep and los ter high The
stage flooring is strong enough to up
hold a troupe of elephants. and has
two approaches for teams. The prob
lem of lighting, here of prime import
ance, is solved by a skylight of 500
square yards. Twelve powerful arc
| lights afford additional illumination.
/ So powerful are they that they will
blister your hands and face. Notices
in the wings warn the artists against
remaining too long within their glare.
Upside Down Pictures.
] Everybody was delighted with the
| adventures of the gentleman who
walked up the side of the wall and
ran along the ceiling like a fly. Here
| is the secret. A Sage-set represent
| ing a parlor wall was laid upon the
| floor; farther on a second Stage-set
showed a dining room wall: a third
did fog the decorated ceiling Each
had all its appropriate appuTtenances.
The apparatus was carried to the top
of the theatre and the lens pointed
downward The actor crawIed on all
TOURS from one stage set TO the next,
while the operator turned the crank.
The film showed no evidence of the
humbug, and the man was shown
really running along the ceiling.
But now we come TO the case where
inanimate objects become animate.
With no workman present a carpen-
ter shop assumes a lively activity
the saw saving a plank, the plane
running to and fro. the lathe turn
ing, the hammer rising and falling.
This is how it is done. Instead OF
turning a crank, this time, the operat-
or runs his apparatus by an electri-
cal arrangement so precise that it en-
abIeS him TO take one picture at
time. The stage manager moves the
tools just so far and no farther, gets
out of the way, and another picture
is taken. So on to the end. When
the film goes at normal speed the
halts no longer exist. The illusion
is perfect.
Same process for La Statue, which
energies unassisted from a block Of
clay.
A soft clay model, newly formed,
is reduced by a series of beatings to-
shapeless mass. At each step in
the proceedings a picture is taken
The film is shown run backward.
All this costs. The smallest troupe
of performers costs from 500 to 1000
francs; the least grasping fairy COM
pany demands from 1000 to 1900
francs MedDWnile INe UtNt COSTS ~
cents a yard; and as, for safety's sake
the operator makes duplicate every
time, the mere bills for cellulOid rib
bon run anywhere from 400 to SEQ
francs for each experiment. L'Enfant
Prologue took 200 meters of film and
those | 200 meters cost $500. The
Passion Play holds the record for ex-
pense. It's splendid staging was cop
led from Tissots paintings. II had
900 performances. Its open-aiT scenes
were enacted in the forest of Fontaine-
bIeu. All told, il cost 5000.
Every day thousands of miles of film
are shipped abroad by the biograph
establishments of Paris. France leads
the world in this production And the
biograph has a future that has enlist
ed the interest of our best play
wrights NM. Paul Hervieu, Lavedan
and Jules Lamaitre have announced
intentions to create dramas for the
biograph that will be played by art
lists in the rank of COqueiin and Bern
hardt Edmund ROstand is already
at work upon a Chat Bottle.
Father seems impressed with your
talk about coupons" said the maiden.
Have you really any?'7 Sure" an
swered the guileful youth, Got $50
saved up toward piano for our lit
tie f1at"-Louisville Courier-Journal.
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