El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-18

To
they are distributed by the exchange
man. and they are published to the
world by the exhibitor"
The success OF an Individual exhibitor
depends upon three things: First, upon
the quality Of the pictures shown, which
is determined not only by the subject
matter Of the films, but also In large
degree by the manner in which the pic
lures are projected on the screen sec
ond, upon the character OF the house
in which the pictures are exhibited,
which includes not only the cOnsidera-
ton Of comfort, safety and ventilation
for the pleasure Of the patrons. but
also the lOca ton Of the house with re-
spect to a convenient clientele; third,
upon advertising, which includes news
paper notices, posters annOuncemen ts
on the screen and all manner of de-
vices to spread abroad the reputation
Of the house to induce the people to
come to it.
The Prime Essential.
The prime essential requirement that
the pictures shown must be Of good
quality, makes the operating room OF
a moving picture show house the most
important place in all the moving pic
ture world. If the operator is unskill-
ful and does not know how TO get the
best results from the films, the days Of
that particular moving picture show
are numbered.
The projecting machine is a glorified
magic lantern The pictures on the
e
screen in exactly the same way that
the magic lantern was used to throw
still pictures on canvas sheet. While
the picture between the light the pro-
1ecting lantern and the screen Is
changed so often that the resultant pic
ture on the screen appears to be con-
tinuOus and to simulate all the motions
OF life, the picture actually is made
by throwing the light through sta
Sixteen a Second.
Ordinarily the pictures are projected
at the rate OF I6 per second The crank
Of the projecting machine, usually
turned By hand is continuously revOlF-
ing, but by means of an intermittent
gear the film moves exactly three
fourths Of an inch at a time and then
stops. In front OF the lens devOlVeS
metal disk from which three triangu-
lar segments have been cut away. When
the cam-WheeI engages the gear and
pulls down the strip OF film, one OF the
three solid portions OF this revolving
disk is between the lens and the screen
The time required to move the film
down three-fOurths Of an inch is exact
IS the same time required for one OF
the solid portions Of the disk to pass
before the lens
Therefore, the screen is actually dark
for the time required 10 change from
one picture to another IF this were the
only Interruption Of the flow OF light
Il would mean that the screen would
Ond. But as the prime element Of the
success of projecting moving pictures
is that the picture remains before the
screen for a much longer time than is
required to change from one picture to
another, this interruption Of light is
times a second would have the effect
of q bombardment upon the human eye.
Therefore, to equalize the periods Of
darkness and light, the light is cut off
by the other two solid segments OF the
revolving disk twice while the picture
remains stationary, so that the moving
picture screen Is in total darkness 46
times IN each second, All or tlls laAes
place too rapidly to be detected by the
eye, for IL Is a physiological fact that
the retina OF the eye VIII retain an inn
preston for perceptible period or time
after the agency causing that impress
sion has been changed 1T Is upon tnls
persistence Of vision that the whole
moving picture art is based
The Operators.
To operate machine as intricate as
this, the operator must needs be some
thing OF mechanician, something OF
an Optician, something Of an electrician,
and a good deal Of a Jack-Or-all- des-
In view of the fact that q vast majority
OF the 10000 operators in the United
states have learned the business by eN-
perimentation and rule-of- thumb, near
ly always without adequate instruction
and often without any at all IL is mar
velOus that the average standard OF per
The exhibitor. having procured the
services of competent operator, m usr
needs be careful in his selection OF
house for exhibition. The Nikelodeon
in its early DAYS inhabited the most
convenient vacant stOrerOOm, asking no
questions Now, although IN trade cir
cles the one room theater on the street
level is still known as a store snow,
even when the building has been erect
ed especially for the exhibition OF NOV
ing pictures, a higher type or mOtl0n
picture theater is being evolved The
Ideal show house ought to be large
enough to take care OF the patronage.
comfortably arranged as TO seats, vel
ventilated and in every way protected
from the risk Of fire or the even great
er risk Of the fire panic All OF these
things are required by the pubic me
exhibitor requires for himself that the
house be so situated in the city or town
as to get its full share of the nelgnoor-
hood patronage
As England Does 1t.
In England the motion picture COM
panies long ago established an engl-
neering service an Idea Wnicn lately
has been imported to America II YOU
for Instance desire to start up In Dusi-
ness as a moving picture exhibitor, you
may apply TO q motion picture concern
for the services Of an engineer, which
are given gratis. The engineer comes
to see YOU, examines the site yOu have
counts the people VINO pass
that corner fla given time, takes a
census O. the neiEhborhOOd to see what
is the local attitude toward moving
pictures, investigates the earning ca
pacity and the probable spending pro-
clivities Of the neighborhOod, and then,
I'm the end advises YOU whether or not
&c viii be a profitable adventure Tor
you to set up your show house.
In the wide range Of the exhibition
business, from an open air summer
show in a rural village where the eN-
hibitOr and members of his family per
form all the functions of operator, tick
ct seller ticket taker and ushers, to
the great motion picture theaters OF I
London and Paris, there are successes
and failures in every grade ana level.
Leaving to one side those failures that
have been occasioned by the unwise
opening of an exhibition house where
there were not sufficient number Of
people to draw upon, III may be stated
that the failures have been the result
Of bad advertising and that the sue
cesses have been the result Of good adj
vertising.
The old saying, Good wine needs no
BUSH" holds good to a certain limited
degree as the successful moving picture /
show advertises itself in many ways |
Ii uses it's patrons, who. when they have
been given comfortable seats, clean air I
and a good show, go forth TO tell their !
leighbors. An attracUVely decorated /
house, a brilliantly lighted front good l