Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-01-01
REALISM IN THE MOTION
PICTURE FILM MAKING
Continued from Page i,


Continued from Page i.
sering, the airman, one Of the most
skillfui professional fiers In England,
brought his machine to d point where
the guide rope of the balloon trailed
across the aeroplane; The young ac-
tress seized the rope and in another
second was hanging by her bare
hands, SO feet below the basket and
half a mile above the earth. Hand
over hand she climbed up the rope
a feat which she had successfully per
formed many times at lower attitudes,
in rehearsals. The nervous strain OF
her first trip in an aeropiane, and the
knowledge that a fall meant certain
death, however. nearly cost her her
life. Her hands were slipping on the
rope when the quick wit of the actor
who played the part of her father
came to her rescue. Leaning over
the edge of the basket he threw a
moose of rope down around her body,
hauled it tight, and in this way lifted
her, her hands torn and bleeding and
her strength almost gone. into the
car. Then the drama had to be re.
constructed to make it clear that after
the villain had been shot the father
had succeeded In untying the rope
that bound him just in time to save
his daughter from a horrible fall.
Hauptman's "AtIantis'
More than a month OF preliminary
rehearsals, including balloon ascen-
sions as high as two miles and lasting
10 hours, we're required before the
performance of Through the Clouds,
finally photographed for the
movies. Even more expensive re-
hearsals, however, and almost equally
dangerous feats on the part OF the
EEEE.ssN NT&F5ETgE-
performers were required in the pro-
duction of the dramatization of Ger
hardt Hauptman's novel Atlantis"
The big scene in this is the sinking
of a ship at sea after a collision with
another vessel. The Danish company
which produced this drama chartered
transatlantic liner, the &C. r. Tiet-
gen. of 8,137 tons. Five hundred act
'ors and actresses We're placed Gu.
board to represent the passengers,
while the actual officers and crew of
the "Tietgen' acted in their regular
capacities. The scenes of panic, low.
ering of lifeboats, frightened passen-
gers leaping notwithstanding
but the sinking OF the ship--were
enacted and photographed on board
the "Tietgen' in the Kattegat, an arm,
of the North Sea. Then the shiy
went back to its dock, and another.
ship, which was externally an exact
duplicate Of the 'Tietgen," but con
structed of wood especially for the
purpose, was towed out, and from an
other vessel, photographs were made
showing the lifeboats taking to the
water. passengers leaping into the
sea, and all of the scenes and horrors
which surround a genuine shipwreck,
up to and including the actual sink
ing Of the ship. 1t was realized by.
the producers of this film that photo
graphs taken on the deck of the ship,
while possibly thrilling, would not be
entirely convincing unless an actual
sinking ship were shown, and so many
thousands of dollars were spent in
building the dummy vessel solely for
the purpose of sinking it after a few
minutes of use before the camera.
Actual Realities Demanded.
No better examples of the actual
of the events portrayed on
the screen in q modern picture show
could be given than these. Time was
when the movies" attempted nothing
more than to show stage effects pro-
duced by the familiar mechanics of.
the ordinary drama. But the motion.
picture audiences of today are quick
to detect the difference between a
genuine and one that has been
They demand realities for
their nickels and dimes. Recognizing
this demand, the producers of motion
films are leaving mere illu.
to the old-fashioned Legitimate
drama, and are spending thousands
and tens of thousands Of dollars to
give their patrons the real thing. I'll
The action Of the motion-picture drama
with a shipwreck, a ship is
wrecked for the purpose. If it del
hands that the heroine shall be res
'ued from a burning hotel, a hotel
8 burned in order that there can be
10 suspicion of fraud or deception
the films are thrown upon the
GREEN. When the scene is laid in an