El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-12

business alone. IL is said on the au-
thority of Richard G. Houaman. presi-
dent Of the Eden NIusee Cthe first place
where moving pictures were exhibited
-or entertatnment), and vice president
1 OF the Associated Motion Picture Pat
ents company, that last year the 10000
moving picture exhibitors in the United
I States took in at the box office the
Caly S1,000,000 for every working day
q the year
Film Makers Prosperous.
What part of this enormous sum
found its way into The Golfers Of the
manufa cturers is not known, but that
! 1t was considerable is manifest by the
| evident prosperity Of the film makers,
despite the Sharpest competition There
are 5000 licensed moving picture thea
uers in the United States which recoE-
| nize the validity Of the Motion Picture
PATENTS compauy's claims and each Of
these pays two dollars a week license
( fee. This item alone brings in $500, 900
a year to the owners Of the patents,
over and above what is paid for the
actual use of the films.
The film makers in this country are
now turning out an average of so reels
each week. exclusive Of those imported
from foreign film makers. The public
demands new pictures every day, and
as the public is willing to pay, the man
ufacUurers are delighted to accommO-
date it.
The Reel to Commercial Unit.
The commercial unit of the moving
picture business is the reel. Although
formerly the length OF film wound on a
reel varied greatly, the tendency now
adays Is to approximate as nearly as
possible 1000 feet. This means 1000
feet of CellulOid ribbon, one and three
Fights inches wide On this strip Of film
are printed the phOtograp hs, each being
exactly one inch wide and Chree-fOurtls
Of an inch high. This leaves a margin
OF each side Of the phOtOgra phs Of
g. s Il Ia n
are punched at precise intervals the
SDrOcket holes which engage the pins
on the sprOcket wheel Of the projecting
lantern and insure a perfect register
that IS, that each successive picture
thrown on the screen Will leave the sta
ttonary objects in exactly the same
place they were when the preceding
picture was shown. Ordinarily the pic
second, so that 1000 feet Of film viii
require nearly 20 minutes for exhibit
ton
Process Not Complicated.
The process Of the manufacture Of
films is not a complicated one. The
photographs are taken on continuous
rim Of exactly the same width as the
films used for exhibition. The pictures
are usually taken in lengths Of about
zee feet. These long film negatives are
developed according to the usual pro-
CCs SIS The only differences are purely
mechanical, huge centrifugal drying
quired by the length Of the film.
When the negative is developed 1t is
RON through a projection machine and
thrown on the screen as in an ordinary
moving picture exhibition Since in the
negative the lights and shadows Of the
finished photograph are exactly re-
Tersed, the exhibition strikes the novice
as weird and ghostly performance.
II the negative is approved, and after
necessary corrections have been made.
the pOsitives are printed. The negative
Is unWOund rapidly before q powerful
electric light and the positive is print
ed on a blank film unwinding at the
same rate of speed One, a dozen, 100
or more pOsitiVes are printed from the
same negative. These pOstttTes may be
IT. varying lengths, according to the
length of the scenes taken Some parts
OF them may be required to be cut out,
and titles and explanatory notes must
be inserted To do these things the
newly printed positives are taken to
finishing room where they are cut and
pasted and finally wound on a reel and
packed in a tin box, ready for ship
N ent. Pictures imported from foreign
countries usually are brought over as
negatives and the positive prints are
made on this side IN order to avoid high
duties Similarly, nearly every moving
picture made In this country is made
twice, one negative to be used at home
and the other sent TO Europe
Plants often Combined.
Some Of the film makers have their
manufacturing plant and their studio,
that is, where the photographs are
taken consolidated in the same plant.
Others keep the studio entirely separ-
ate from the manufacturing plant.
While there are film makers in nearly
all of the large cities Of the country,
the greater number are produced in the
vicinity of New Y Ork, the manufactur-
ing plants being established on Long
Island and in the industrial towns of
northern New Jersey
ia Tor MOI - rrH Hn rnnsl=
of film making is concerned with tax
ing the photographs Almost every
phOtOplay has both exterior and inte-
rior scenes, and all Of the interior
scenes are made in the studios Of the
manufacturing plants Then, too, the
properties used IN outside pictures also
must be stored at the plant It follows
that a moving picture establishment is
the oldest kind Of a factory in the
world.
Nay See Many Odd Things.
At one great establishment on Long
Island the visitor fortunate enough to
get inside the great concrete walls,
which often do duty as q fortress in
show, may see all sorts Of things. There
is an assortment Of several varieties Of
1CE cabins, there is a Dutch windmill
one or two stage coaches, a well with
an old oa1en bucket an indian tepee,
and in short such cOnglOmeration OF
scenery and local color as one never
would expect to see within the walls Of
tALE y dA4s
In the property room inside one Of the
huge buildings there is an assortment
Of furniture and odds and ends that is
at first bewIdering, but which soon
resolves itself into a veritable eXpOsi-
ton of the periods OF furniture making,
for the producer in the studio must
nave ready at a moments notice furni-
ture of the right sort to outfit any
house from the period of Helen Of Troy
dcwn to our own time.
Another huge room is devoted to the
purposes Of an armOry This room JUS
titles its medieval apFellatiou by a col
lection of armor, battle axes, spears,
crossbows, and maces that would not
disgrace the Tower Of London, and
with them are hundreds Of muskets Of
the Civil war period, scores of modern
army rifles, nip hardware" OF the cow
boy variety, and enough other lethal
weapons to annihilate the population Of
Manhattan.
But best Of all. perhaps, is the cos
tuners department. Here is another
huge room, fitted up with tnnumerable
closets containing costumes represent
ing practically every style and fashion
from the fig leaf to the harem skirt.
Scene Painters Important.
The scene painters claim a large part