"LIFE" OF FILMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1916, Page 12

"LIFE" OF FILMS.

FACTS OP THE MOVING PICTURE BUSINESS. What becomes of the old picture films after they have had their day and have become so worn as to be unsuitable for further screening? (remarks the Sydney Evening News). It is an interesting speculation for picture-theatre audiences, for millions of films are probably used in Australia every year, and the film has only a limited life. Enquiry shows that by far the igreat majority of the films have only a butterfly existence. They are born for a brief but eventful history, and then they die for ever. They are replaced by new creations, which in turn die, to give place to something more brilliant and novel. Pathes, the celebrated film manufacturers, used to put down the life of one of their productions at the short term of only 50 screenings. Of course, there may be an unlimited number of films of the same scene or story, but each one of them was supposed to last for only 50 presentations. By that time it would be so damaged or worn as to prohibit screening by a theatre. That estimate is particularly conservative, for, with ordinary careful handling, film 3 will last For 200, or, perhaps, 300 screenings before they become unfit, and have to be cast aside. Then for most of them the end is oblivion, though some go through & sort of reincarnation, and appear in a new life, probably as the celluloid combs that deck the hair of a fair lady, who lees their successors in the realm of moving picturedom.

OLD FILMS DESTROYED. The Germans were about the only people who found any use for the discarded film-. With their well-known facility for using up waste products, they took the old picture film, put it through a process to take oft' the photographic solution, and then turned it into aft sorts of celluloid goods. Methods have also been invented of re-coating the film with solution, and once more putting it into circulation as a fresh film for the photographer, but this has never been a commercial success, and is not in general practice. For the most part, particularly since Germany had the misfortune to lose lier trade with the outside world, the old films are destroyed. The process of producing film pictures for the theatres is in most respects similar to that followed by the ordinary photographer in developing his films. The difference is that the film producer does things in a large way, dealing with hundreds of feet of film at a time, where the amateur with a camera deals with a couple of feet. The moving picture man's camera carries about 400 ft of film, tfhen he comes into the studio with a picture this roll of film is taken out of his camera in a dark room and wound round frames capable of holding 800 ft at a time. This is then dipped, frame and all, into a big tank of developer, tlien into a tank of water for washing, next into the hypo tank, and again washed in another tank of running water. Then it is hung, still on the frame, for drying in a dust-proof room.

GREAT DEAL OF WASTE. All these processes are followed by the ordinary amateur photographer. The only difference is in the amount of film handled at the one time. Should the picture be wanted in a hurry it is dried quickly by being wound on a drum, which is then set revolving at a rapid pace, and it dries in about fifteen minutes. After it is dry the positives are printed, going through practically the same operation, and the pictures are ready to be issued to the showmen. There is a great deal of waste in producing the moving picture films. The first waste occurs when the picture is being taken. The slightest mistake on the part of the actors concerned in staging a scene, for instance, is faithfully recorded by the camera, and that piece of film has to be cut out and the scene re-acted. Sometimes this is not discovered until the whole series of pictures has been taken and printed. Then the scenery has to be set up and the scene taken again. Supposing that no mistake occurs before the camera, if the most extraordinary care is not taken in the developing and printing of the film the lot of it may easily be damaged beyond repair through some slight accident, and then again the scene has to be re-stage?. The accidents that may occur to the film are many and varied, but the chief things that a competent man guards against are dust and scratches. The latter occur sometimes in most inexplicable ways, and sometimes hundreds of feet of film are damaged before the defect is discovered anil put right.

HISTORY OF PAST EVENTS. After the developing and printing comes the piecing together of the strip of film in its proper order to make .the completed story,'and here is'where thousands of feet are cut out and thrown away. The producer discovers that parts of the story are unsuitable or unnecessary. They are cut out and the rest of the film .ioincd up. Before the reel is issued the titles of different scenes and the written explanations o{ certain parts are put in. These, letterings are also photographed by the camera, and developed and printed in the same wfiy as the other parts. Then the negative, carefully numbered, is put away in a strong-room for use in case further copies of it are needed. In this way the big producers accumulate thousands of reels of important pictures, for should they be damaged or lost many of them could never be replaced. The picture of an event like the arrival of the Australian fleet at Sydney could never be obtained again should it be required, and such a film has a big value. This was proved recently when the cruiser Sydney made herself famous. ITer picture was of great interest to audiences then, so a length of .the film depicting the arrival of the fleet, showing the Sydney entering the Heads, was cut out and issued to the picture theatres. It 'had a great reception. There are many other films, such, for instance .as that of a famous novel like "Lea Miserables," that are wortli thousands of pounds, for the picture will live as long as the bc.lj itgclf.