The Washington herald., 1916-04-30
The Camera that Made "The Birth Of Nation" !"


D. W. Griffith. the advanced thinker of
motion picture art, Is the inventor of
about every important improvement in
motion photography that has been de-
veloped in his time in this country.
Griffith accepted the stories Of THE
Clansman" and one or two hundred
works OF Thomas Dixon as a basis for
his action. This was his choice because
he was in search of a copyrighted tale
that gave him protection for developing
an epic creation which would astound
the world.
The forces leading up to the main
story and following its thread to its
impelllng lesson range through the vital
pages Of American history. 1t shows
the arrival of the first slaves in this
land; the first rumblings OF the abolition
movement; the secession Of the several
sovereign States in their claims to the
right to maintain the institution of
slavery; Lincoln's election; the call to
arms for the civil war; the great battles
of that conflict such as Sherman's march
TO the sea and the final defeat of Lee s
starving army before Petersburg and the
surrender Of the lost cause at Appomat-
tox; the assassination of President Lin
coin; the hatreds following the war; the
era of carpetbaggism and the so-called
reconstruction period in the South; the
secret gathering of an Aryan5 people to
protect their rights; the reason for the
Ku Klux Klan and the early deeds of de-
tense executed by this mystic band and
then the coming of a surer understanding
and peace at last which made possible
the birth OF the greatest nation on earth
Personally Directed Production.
The scenario of this history -embrac cling
work was outlined by Griffith and the
entire production was made under his
personal direction. It took him eight
months to complete the picture Its
salient scenes were taken in five States
and partly IN Mexico. The total cost Of
the production was between 100000 and
S5000oO. AS near as can be estimated
there were between 1900 and ls.ooo peo-
pie utilized in the making of the entire
picture. 1t is estimated that not less
than 100000 feet of Aim was taken. III
condensing this to the direct narrative,
Griffith has assembled 1880 feet OF story
as the audience now sees 1t. For his
cavalry effects and artillery dashes to-
gether with the stirring runs Of the ku
Klux Klan, nearly 1900 horses were used
These scenes were participated in by the
crack riders Of all the western territory
that could be reached. In the great bat
tie scenes which are the tremendous fea-
lures Of the work, the eye scans bat
tlefield covering an area Of twelve square
miles.
once the suitable location for the
enactment of the great mimic warfare
was determined upon, the engineers went
to work to establish a camp. Wells
were sunk to secure the needed water;
camp was pitched like the modern mill
tary rendezvous, a hospital corps was es-
tablished and a fully equipped commits
sary department organized to fed the
10, COO odd participants in the big battles.
fleet of over 100 motor buses was
Communicated to transport the men TO
and from the camp TO the studios where
every detail Of the battles had to De
thoroughly rehearsed under Director
Griffth's eve to get just the effect he
sought While this was going on the
engineers were throwing up the trenches
laying out roads for the artillery ap-
proaches and for the bringing forth OF
the reserve Charges at the given signal
great hidden batteries were masked De-
hind the hills at least five miles distans
from the foreground of the action and
on the side lines mortar pits were bullt
for the bomb-throwing ordnance which
figure so spectacularly in the actual
scene of wars carnage. Another corps
Tltu "eTS lHdhlls NiiS
we're so charged that there was little
danger from injury to the men In the
battles Owing to che scenes being laid
in the period Of the civil war 1t was
difficult to get the same sort of rifles
which were used in these conflicts. The
arms of shat day are woefully out OF
date and it took time and patience to
get the old rifles reproduced.
Artillery Loaned by Uncle Sam.
The artillery was loaned by the ord
nance department of the United States
army, and every piece saw service some
time or other during the civil war. The
county commissioners had to be seen
and their consent secured to occupy the
roads and territory where the battles
we're fought. This meant the blocking
of traffic in that part of the country for
several days at a time.
Every leader in the fights was a trained
motion-picture actor, many of them we'll
known camera stars gathered from the
forces Of the nineteen different stock
companies under Griffith's general d.
rection. The soldiers we're men who had
seen military service either in the reg
ular army or the State guards. Griffith
did not care to risk his work to the
usual mobs that are utilized in big scenes
for motion picture stories These men
were employed at the usual wage allowed
soldiers for actual field duty. The SOL
diers were rehearsed in seventeen differ
ent groups under subdirectors, who had
been trained by Griffith. They were di-
yided into battalions, each man taking
orders from the battalion commander
who in turn looked to Griffith for the
signal for the entry of his forces into
this fight Of the camera.