The chronicle=news., 1913-10-31

before tho birth of the motion pic.
iurc. Thomas Hardy made effective
ufc Of dOluhivc photograph In Que
ri his novels. Hut II Ia through cin-
.matoEraphv the camera has reached
It's hishcs: development In the art
oi creating illusions for IA" doiu-
sirn OF the spectator.
Tn. skill reached by operators In
this form Of camera manipulation
has enabled them To attain results
that seem to verge on the miraau-
'oMs. even when III" mcthosis they
employ have bccn ihoromRh,y OK
Elninrd. nni seem wholly miraculous
when tho spectator remains inrocs nt
of knowledge u those meth ,,is.
Tho tricks la. their Dsgtnning in
u mechanical peculiarly of the NOV
Ing picturs camera. The photo
graphs. each one Inch Wide aud sew
cn.ciEhths Of TN Inch deep. rr. taken
on ContinIGuI moving film. The
makers found that the apparatus
could he stnppcd at any I.oiut 10 that
each picture nigh. he taken sepa-
-aici, or = group together. or that
.nh.ii,n,c. ahd changes IL the sccnc
might bc ,anac h"'wc~n the ~Npoa-
ur"s.
When The manufacturers realized
'h-sr possibilities the earlier asylrs
.f tick rtotuI" hogan to- appear
thick "nd fsst. \ French maRiria
named MailcA originated tho scrslicsi
masical ricturca Ia which pcrsons
and o5jccta aprs jared or disappeared
In an instant. OF course. ,acs.
wcro mcrcl. placed In or removed
from the scene whiic tic shutter Of
tho cnwcsa was closed trswrtn tnr
photographs.
Then the trick Of substitution
was brought to perfection. II has
survived y. ono Of tho host Of tho
devices. In Tire picture of tho Great
'rvaia Robbery" for example. n dunn
my wnx EIisStiiutc.t and thrown from
= moving train In place nf tho living
fireman who had hrcn knocked on
tho head with n piece Of coal. In
later pictures this substitution wa.
carried 10 srch perfection that tho
spectators fairly rose In their seats
In excitement. Two men seem Ia he
fighting an tho edge Of high wall
Of castle. Ono ovorpowcrs tho 9TH
or and throws him from the pararci
tn tho ground far beneath. 4 dunn
my has bcon substituted for the liv-
ing performer so neatly that the H.
fusion of the fall cannot he detect
ed in a scene Of startling realism.
by other devices known tc the rte
ture man the impossible murvcls Of
Alice In Wonderland have been
made possible the wildly fantastic
of Lewis Carroll have
been transmitted into rsalitirs aud
children unfortunately afflicted witt,
precOciOus skcpticism who may have
the truth OF the story. as
they read. its pages. have hcen di-
verted from the dangerous path upon
which they were entering and. re-
stored to the proper mental -xani,y
OF childhood by seeing Alice actually
goiaE through her strange ahven-
tuscs before their very eyes.
,ly Still other devices tho fathers
Of thuse cbiltiren have bcen euablcSi
to see John Paul Jones and his men
On the blood stained deck OF tho Bon
Homme Richard again fight and CON
qucr the scrapis.
In this latter picture the sen and
sky were nctual. ina. is. n motion
picture camera was taken on the
ocean and , film made of IN unob-
horizon. Then models of the
Two wnrships, each about four feet
hish. were constructed and placed
om rockers. Each of the miniature
black guns protruding from their
portfolios had behind It a cap for
loliimg powder, which was exploded
by electricity. Then, the sen scene
was placed In camera In the studio |
,nd exp0sed for q second time. The
placing of the little battleships so
that they. should he prscIaely en-, the