The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-03-24
USED BY
MOVIE OPERATORS
MINIATURE BUILDINGS AND RE-
VERSlNG FILM PLAY IMPORT.
ANT PARTS ENGLlsHMAN Id
CRUSHED TO DEATH IN At
TEMPTING REAL FEAT.

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first great m~elodramatio thrillers in
the movies" was The Great Train
Robbery. This was followed by The
Train Wreckers. in which a great
heart"stopping incident drew the audi
ence to their feet. An unconscious girl
was left prone on the railroad tracks
and as the engine bore Town upon her.
the fearless and dashing young cngi-
neer rushed along the ~foothoard to the
pilot n there, leaning down, lifted
the girl from the jaws OF death in the
nick of time.
1t was attempted to pirate this
picture In England, but with a man in
stead of a girl upon the track. The
man was crushed to death. The
hero" was not able to lift him the
moment the engine was upon the vic
tim.
The English picture takers did not
know that Edward Porter, Who o n
summated the original picture, had
done this scene safely by a clever
trick. A light dummy in exact fac
smile of the heroine" had been borne
out Of the cab n over the footboard
and down over the pilot and dropped
upon the track as the engine backed
away. When this picture was shown.
the film was reversed: that is, the last
part OF 1t was run through the project
ing machine first, and what the audi
OH~N '~' "1o iO 6Jlt upCH the track
the train bearing down. the brave en-
glneer climbing out and then leaning
over the pilot and snatching her from
tehe jaws Of death in the nick of time.
1t is by this method of reverse
printing that actors in moving pic
lures can be shown climbing up the
sides OF great buildings, leaping and
darting impossible heights and over
great obstacles, etc. In reality, they
dropped or jumped down only a few
feet.
Great ingenuity is exercised in Sc
curing surprising effects in the
movies" One method often en-
ployed is called miniature work.
The first experiment in miniature
work was made some eight years ago,
when Kathleen MaVourneen" was ia
ken on Staten Island. One scene
showed the villain setting a house ON
fire from the inside. The next scena
bursting into flames n being utter
ly and actually destroyed. This was
done by taking a photograph Of the
house and from that a p~asteboard
model in reproduction in miniature
was made. This mode was set on fire
and, although only two feet long and a
foot and a half high, it looked las big
as a house while burning in the pic
ture. AS all sizes are comparative in
the camera, and as no human being
was in the scene of the burning house
to show it's disproportion, it is not pos
sible to detect in the pictures any diff
ference in the house that is burned up
in miniature and the real house AS it
stands in the previous scenes.
Similar effects are obtained where
toy automobiles go over toy abysses,
four feet in actual height, but hun
dreds in the picture; the sinking and
burning of toy steamships, etc.
In The Great Train Robbery a
noble st. Bernard can be seen hasten
ing from point to point, bearing mes
sages that vitality concern the lives,
the hopes, The happiness Of the "hero'
and "heroine.' The fact is, the actual
master Of the dog, who is not even
participating in the picture, conceals
himself from view. yet remains on the
scene, say, in the switchtender's tower.
under the railroad bridge or in like
places. The master her calls the dog,
which is being held just outside the
field Of the picture being taken. At
the sound Of his masters voice, the
noble animal rushes far up the rail-
road track, or around under the bridge.
or over the dangerous ~trestle, or up
the steps of the signalman's aerie, and
to the audience his Intelligent" ac-
tions seem the most important part
Of the ~unraveling of the plot.
When in the movies" you see the
hero" or the heroine" bound to q
tree or in a burning building and then
behold, while the theatre rings with
cheers, the faithful hound bounds in
to the scene and unties the knots with
his teeth it surely thrills you. You
will not thrill SO much after this how
ever, for / am going to tell you how
1t Is done. The dog is very hungry
and there are strings Of tough meat
which do not show in the picture,
tied with twinc to the rope ends. The
knots are simply TAXED and while
the dog IS eating the meat off the rope.
the "hero" or the heroine gets
loosened from the ties that bind.
Where bulldogs in comedies pull tffe
seats out Of the trousers of .frarnps or
in drama, spring at the throats OF
thugs and throttle them, the dog acts
with such intense vigor that IL lis hard
to believe this too is faxed. The bull
dog Is working on a pad. They are
trained to this-to go for the pad, gen
orally a small cushion, covered with
tough dark cloth. and hold on it and
| worry it until exhausted.
At sight of his pad the dog goes
with wild eagerness to get at It.. Tho
rest is easy. The pad is sewed to the
tramps trousers or fastened to the
villains neck, the dog, held out of
the picture. is released and flies at it
like mad wherever it may be. The red
pad takes q neutral color i'm the photo
graphs and is not noticeable.
MAAskAf 49, a-s