THE MOVING PICTURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 51, 5 July 1913, Page 6

THE MOVING PICTURE.

LIFE IN THE CINEMA STUDIO

Here is a description of the brisk life in the cinema studio during filming operations given by a writer in McCllire's Magazine:—

" 'Lights!' shouts the director

"Immediately dozens of arc-lights, at the sides and above the stage, burst forth. However brightly the sun may be pouring through the glass roof, this additional illumination is always used. Its effect upon the performers is far more enjoyable, for the heat from it is intense. " 'Everybody ready?' the director asks. 'All right, how! Steady! Shoot 1' "This last word is addressed to the photographer. The whirring immediately begins, and now likewise the director brings his first energies into play. His chief anxiety is to keep everybody within the focus chalked out on the floor. If the actor merely moves his arm outside, an esenstial part of him leaves the picture—is 'decapitated,' to use the technical word. Anyone would imagine that the players would get confused at the director's hurried instructions, especially as he commonly emphasises his remarks by jumping up and down. All, however, quietly accept his emendations and go on, with the play. After forty or fifty seconds—about the average length of a scene—the director abruptly turns to the operator. " 'Stop! Lights out!' " The clicking ceases.

" 'All over!' And the players break tip, usually much relieved to get out of the heated little circle.

"Many of the studios are more elaborate than anything known in theatredom. The Edison studio in New York cost one hundred thousand dollars to build. The Selig studio in Chicago employs regularly five hundred people. It has enclosed two or three adjoining acres for 'exteriors'— as scenes taken outdoors arc called ; and here it has even manufactured hills for military and woodland spectacles. Its establishment at Los Angeles strikingly illustrates the great natural resources used in cinematography. One of its 'properties,' used for elaborate sea events, is the Pacific Ocean; for mountain scenes the Sierras are part of its. equipment."