The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-28
(Con'tinued.)

I asked if there wasn't a way to | stop that all too common practice of | carelessly packing film and were told | that a number of times complaints were lodged against operators to their managers and in several cases action was taken but the practice still con- | tinues in a number of cases So you 1 see we know that there are a num- | Der of things the operator does that l is not at all to his liking but still 1t goes with the position
 | Another man behind the gun told us how he enjoyed watching bits of pictures here and there and how he | tried to piece the whole story togeth- CT. Sometimes his efforts met with | success, other times he admitted his imagination ran riot
 A veteran (although not so old in years) operator told me a few things about the first machines used in the l projecting of the shadow dramas l Well you know in the days of long ago everything was different.
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 Never will I forget the first machine I operated. It was a -runabout all right. Why, you know now we have special iron tables for the machine
 but in those days we had tables but they didn't screw down to the floor and remain stationary. My machine when I started her off and stood by turning the crank hour after hour would walk all over the place at times. We used gas for light (not the sort of
 gas you use in houses, you know q blushed at his thought of my ignor- ance), and instead of the reel maga- zines Che pointed to the boxes. one above and one below the machine; the top one in which the film is placed and brought down, threaded, and con- nected in the lower case so when the l picture Is in motion, the bottom case revolves as well as the upper maga- zine and as one uncoils the film the other coils it up and but. back to the original subject) the film used to go into a. bag or basket placed under the machine and sometimes the film slipped over the edges of the basket and we had an almost endless collec- l ton of drama or comedy strewn over the floor The film in those days was never steady, the light dim and well 1 the operators had the time of their i lives" This gentleman also informed us to the effect that the operators of I yesterday were not the skilled me chanics of today and further enlight- ] ened us to the effect that today the mechanism of motion picture machines are very 5elicate and must be per fectly adjusted and the operator must | be df he were to call himself an ex- perD practically an electrician, ma ] chinist and have a working knowledge of optics. He must also have, at least. some idea of dramatic values in order ! to time a picture.
 l In some feature plays operators must grasp the dramatic and the tragic situations in order to time the picture in order to get the most value out of it. Take for example a scene | in which a number of soldiers are on dress parade. If the man in the booth doesn't know his business (and that's
 putting it bluntly) the troops would
 be seen either practically crawling across the sheet or flashing by. In a i tense dramatic scene, the man behind the gun, must see that his machines 1 run a bit slower so the fullest value of the scene may not be lost to the audience viewing same. In view of
 this fact may we not say an operator
 must understand film tempo?
 | Then again, you have no doubt at | tended a picture show where the pie i lures were rushed through at top | speed You didn't have a chance to grasp that big scene you saw on the
 posters outside the theatre and you
 didn't enjoy the picture half as much
 as you did at such and such a theatre i the other evening. You blamed it
 perhaps onto the operator and you
 | even remarked about it to your
 friends. But in many cases the rush.
 ing through of film Is not the fault of the operator. MT. Operator has a
 time schedule handed him before his
 afternoon show by the manager of
 the theatre. This schedule tells al
 what time the feature picture must Al start The operator arranges things , to suit the manager and the man. agers chief concern is the shekels he
 will reap through the exhibiting of a