CORONATION FILMS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 35, 4 August 1911, Page 3

CORONATION FILMS

i flow TIIKV \VKI!E SECURED. ; A KTOUY OF ENTERPRISE AN*E) SPKED. Mr. A. J. Heighway, an Australian journalist, who was in London during the Coronation ceremonies, remarks in a letter that if, at a very liberal estimate, live million people, by crushing, crowding, and heroic discomfort, saw the Coronation procession in London on June 22, fifty millions—nay, one hundred millions—will see it with comfort, ease and pleasure, and in every case with the smallest possible sacrifice of time, by means of the cinematograph film. By the same mail that carries the newspaper descriptions of the event to every corner of the globe, there will, speaking generally, be made available to the people of those parts a living representation of the. great scene with all its vivacious throb, its glitter and its pomp. Let me tell you the story of the work of these cinematograph men, by whose effort* these results will be achieved.

In that quarter back of Theatrcland, London, you will find the visible emblems of the magnitude to which this business of cinematography has grown, for whole streets are here devoted to the production, representation and buying for distribution, of films of every class. Into this quarter I was taken by my. friendly, guide, and placed in the hands of the biggest man in London for handling topical events by cinematography, Mr. W. G. Barker, of the "Topical Pictures." He is a little grey man, full of nerve, dash and brains, and I can never wish to ■meet a better subject for an interview.

"Mr. Barker,' I said, "I am an oversea pressman, and I know the appreciation with which the people in the Antipodes will meet this great film. I have an idea also that theYe is an uncommonly good story attaching to ' out methods of securing it comi'l"tp in everv detail. Will you let me tell them how von do it?"

"Come risrht inside," he said. "I know exactly what you want —an uncommon story— and I can give it vou. What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing," I answered, as I pau cd at the door of his private roon "But, excuse me asking, do you sleep ii all these yourself at once?" And I wav ed my hand towards the eight bed ranged incongruously around. ''No," he replied. "That's Part I. o your story. That's the way we an goi'ig to get these one hundred copie: of this Coronation film off by Friday': mail to Australia and New Zealand. M; men are going to sleep here in batch"! —six hours' sleep, eight hours' work Eleven camera men will arrive here oi Wednesday—the day before the Corona tion—and will be here till the night o the "28th inst., practically a full week for, after thpv have got their picturef they must turn to and assist here. Th dark-room men will be in the same posi tion. For myself, I don't expect an; sleep till about Monday." "The procession starts in the morn ing from the Palace, and proceeds ti Westminster, where the Coronatioi ceremony takes place, after which th procession is continued on the retun to the Palace. Very good." He leaner forward; his voice became impressive and his words fell slowly and witl weight. "The film of the procession ti Westminster will be shown in Binning ham, 120 miles away, Leicester and Bris tol before the King is back at Bucking ham Palace." I stopped writing. "By aeroplane." came the answer to my unspoken question. "The film goes j from here to Ilcndon, in Middlesex, by I motor-car; C.rahame White there take's charge and Hies to Birmingham; an assistant takes a duplicate to Leicester, another assistant proceeds with two more to Bristol. Tn addition to these aeroplanes we are distributing films all over England by means of twenty-one special trains. The outcome of' this expeditious distribution on our part, and that of other firms, will be that the complete film will be shown practically all over England on the evening of Coronation Day itself. It will be shown from Manchester to Lands' End, and from Cardilf to Yarmouth. Time beats us for Scotland and Ireland, but the pictures will be in Paris on Thursday night, ft will be in the New York theatres by means of the Mnuretania exactly one week after the event; i„ Winnipeg two (lavs later, in .Vancouver two davs later still. And. of course, some of the Australian public will have seen it before the newspapers can get vour articles into type."

' ll||U "" »" v ''-'- well.' T rejoined. ' I " lt - 1o!l »" »"■>'.- aiv von K oinsr to beat these crowds? Wan the streets packed to extinction, harriers up and the police refusing to lei anyone pass in or out how can yon get, the negative from the various operators in the street "?'' »' "'"'"' to allow of these wonders being done?"

_ "Listen: I will toll you. This is how it will lie done. Take tin- ease of Northumberland Avenue-one great mass of people ti..1,t.-«V(l M ,.<l between two barrier, and lines 0 f police. Problem-to get (lie negative of the procession passing to the Abbey up to Soho Square within half an hour, crush and all given m. Behind and underneath the position secured for my man will be a messenger He will see nothing. It is not his business to see, but to wait for one thin-*— to do one act only. In hi., pocket "he has a whistle of a very peculiar shriek Sow for the procedure. The instant the procession Ims gone by the operator takes his negative from the camera in a light-tight box, puts it into a stuffbag, much like that used by the barrister for his wig and gown, "and lowers it to the messenger by a piece of string. Instantly at the back of the crowd this man makes his way to the barrier and blows his whisle. On receiving a reply he throws the bag over, by means of the string keeps it at such a height that no one can reach it. On hearing a further whistle he lets all go, as that indicates that the right man is beneath This man then passes down a back street iii a motor car, which makes a speedy detour of the whole processional route and lands the valuable film safely at headquarters. As a matter of fact there will be two lil-ns-an extra one for purposes of safety.

EXPEDITION- AND ORGANISATION 'Good. Now how long will it take you to send that, negative out as a complete pnsifive?"

-Well, in just over an hour it can be put through every stage of develop mont, drying, cutting and packing. Zt hat is done only for the purposes of a record. r t you wish to treat your uega iyo lovingly, as every negative ogl To be treated, you will "take* from 35 t 0 40 minutes for ,ts development alone and not rush it through in'five minutes To get good work you must take time" Exactly " I agreed. "It is the whole difference between the artist and the mere workman."

¥r 1■ Vi lel Ip ak ; e • V 0" stairs" said •Ur baiker and show you how all this is do,,ea,ul 0..r special preparati^ info' T Wnt We mto groat dark-rooms, whore in tlie rod "loom an evil, sibilant bum and grasp.njr roar told of the activity of the perforating machine; into rooms where huge automatic developing and washing

I baths of over :i yard square wished slowly to and fro; into rooms where ; stood great skeleton drums, by which 1 the films are died while revolving at the rate of 44 miles in the hour; into the printing-room, where, with half-a-dozen machines producing an infernal, deafening click, click, clicking, the men have to sit in the darkness and drear monotony and watch one little red speck. Each machine clicks 400,000 times an hour, awl it is a loud, harsh click, too. There are six machines, and, in addition, the buzz of the electric motors. ' And yet there in that room for over a j week there will be men incessantly watching, watching, watching that little red speck, which shows whether the positive is printing correctly from the negative. Two clicks mean one photograph. With six machines, that gives you 1,200,000 separate photographs printed in sixty minutes. Over one million feet of film, or about 200 miles, will be used in producing the 300 copies of the event | that this one house is to send to various parts. And there are at least eleven British firms which took the Coronation procession, besides a number of amateurs. You can easily see, therefore, that there is the material at hand for an appalling statistical array concerning the dimensions of cinematographv." I A LIVING JOURNALISM."

Cinematography is simply another species of journalism. It calls forth the same qualities and gives the opportunity for the same ability. There is an individuality in the picture as in the article. There is art in knowing what to leave out, where to retain. There is skill in securing your "scoop" and misleading your competitors. The necessity has arisen before now for a dummy camera to be used while the genuine operator is in another and better position. There is room for skill, daring and pertinacity in every direction. Upon the basis of the facts that I have given you let your imagination build up for you some conception of the magnificence of this new growth, and form for you some idea of the part it is capable of playing in the spread of Empire knowledge and enthusiasm. As I walked along by the side of this little grey man of the indomitable enerry—he is one typical of many —and became aware of all that he was doing to commemorate and perpetuate for those oversea this great event, my mind turned (back to those days in New Zealand and Australia when I sat in crowded audiences and gazed transfixed at the dei piction of some striking scene here in London, such as, for instance, the funeral of the late King; and I realised then more and more clearly what a debt was owed to this supreme invention —the moving picture.