American Cinematographer - July 22, 1921 - 1

LOYALTY-·- PROGRESS _.- ART-'-~~~~~~~~~~

THE MEN WHO MAKE MOTION PICTURE:S

Copyrighted, 1921, by the AMERICAN SOCIETY OJ<'CINEMATOGRAPHERS.
VOL. 2, NO. 15

LOS ANGELES.

CALIFORNIA,

JULY 22, 1921

TEN CENTS A COPY

AT THE THEATRES
PHOTOGRAPHY AND
THE FINANCIAL OUTLOOK CHATS ON COMPOSITION
WEEK OF JULY 18
By Joseph A. DUQrrLY
MOTION PICTURES In these days when all are

a.~

.,..,.

ALHAMBRA - "Jim, the Penman." Photographed by T. L.
Griffith and Harry Stradling.
CALIFORNIA-"The
Ten Dollar Raise." Photographed by
Tony Gaudio, member of A.

S. C.
CL UNE' S BROADWAY"Moonlight and Honeysuckle"
Photographed by Faxon M.
Dean, member of A. S. C.
GARRICK-"Lessons
in Love."
Photographed
by 0 I i v e r
Marsh.
GRAUMAN'S - "The Bronze
Bell."
Photographed
by
George Barnes, member of A.
S. C.
GRAUMAN'S RIALTO - "The
Whistle."
Photographed by
Joe August, member of A. S.

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..

HOLLYWOOD Monday "Don't Neglect Your Wife."
Tuesday and Wednesday "Puppets of Fate."
Photographed by John Arnold,
member of A. S. C.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday-"Thru
the Back Door."
Photographed by Charles G.
Rosher, member of A. S. C.
Sunday - ' , H ear t sAl'
e
Trumps.'
Photographed by
John F. Seitz, member of A.
S. C.
KINEMA-"Bob
Hampton of
Placer."
Photographed
by
David Kesson and Jacques
Bizuel.
MILLER'S-"Proxies."
, Photographed by Harold Wenstrom.
MISSION-"The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,"
Photographed
by John F.
Seitz, member of A. S. C.
NEW APOLLO - Monday "Thru the Back Door." Photographed by Charles G. Rosher, member of A. S. C,
Tuesday "The Passion
Flower."
Photographed
by
Roy Hunt.
Wednesday and Thursday"Man, Woman,
Marriage."
Photographed by H. Lyman
Broening, member of A. S. C.
Friday-"Ducks and Drakes."
Saturday "The
Snob."
Photographed
by A I f l' e d
Gilks.
Sunday-"Pecks
Bad Boy."
Photographed by A I f red
Gilks.
NEW SYMPHONY-"A
Dangerous Pastime."
PANTAGES (7th and Hill)"Penny of the Top Hill Trail"
SUPERB A "The Beautiful
Gambler." Photographed by
George Barnes, member of A.

S. C.

TALLY'S -"The
Man Who."
Photographed by Arthur Martinelli.
WINDSOR - Monday - "The
Last of the Mohicans." Photographed by Charles Van Enger.
Tuesday-"Trust
Your Wife"

By John Leezer
"Ah! Wad some power the giftie
gte us
To see oorsels as Ithers see us!"

A lens in a crank-propelled
mechanism which allows of sixteen separate exposures to each
foot of sensitive film one and
one-half inches wide and four
hundred feet long, is a rather
simple contribution withal, yet
Mr. Burns' great desire is
gratified.
Gratified thru the
medium of photography.
The quality of photography
produced by the different studios
varies almost as the number of
studios. When we say photography we mean not alone the
efforts of the photographer, but
those of the laboratory force as
well. If the photographer has
made some artistic lightings
with the proper exposure, it is
only fair that the laboratory
people should give a corresponding print. Therefore where the
photographer does not do his
own developing and printing,
the closest co-operation should
exist between himself and the
one who does it for him.
Pictures are made up of light
end shade; so is life. A true
portrayal of life uponthe screen
so far as the photography is
concerned can always be artistic
no matter what phase of life is
depicted. The lighting and composition of that which goes to
make up the set determines
whether the picture will be artistic or not. The action may
interfere
somewhat with the
composition, but not often. The
lighting in a great cathedral, of
course, would differ considerably from that of a modern
dance hall. Likewise the lighting in my lady's boudoir would
hardly be the same as in her
maid's apartment in the attic.
Nor would we light the hunter's
cabin as we would the private
office of the bank president.
The mission of the photographer, his great mission, is the
true portrayal of every scene in
the story. So true a portrayal
that everyone who sees the picture will forget that photography has really been the medium thru which the story has
been revealed. It will all be so
realistic that for the time being
he sees the different characters
as living flesh and blood.
Some producers realize the

searching the times' for the
smallest sign of cheer', 'the following came to us from the
Union Trust Company of Cleveland, Ohio. To be sure we realize
that it ;8 one of the duties of
tho banking business to cheer.
This banking
house is the
strongest in a wealthy manufacturing community, and the sentiments expressed are so sensible and clear that we are
moved to pass them on.
Business results from the
production and distribution of
goods, on the one hand, to meet
tho, demand for goods on the
other.
Credit, meaning, the
mon-y supply, is the great lubricant to set going anew the machinery of industry and trade;
and the supply of credit the
world over is gradually but certainly approaching normal.
World-wide conditions
are
acute, but now, as in every similar crisis in the past, the world
is finding its cure in the return
to work. The antidote for our
present ills is increased production, and a more even balance
between the product of our toil
and the reward which that toil
receives, to the end that the
wage may represent value received; and furthermore
our
products must be widely distributed thru well developed
sales methods.
The war brot about a tremendous destruction of property,
goods and capital. It is obvious,
therefore, that the world's renewed demand for goods to supply its current requirements
will. when coupled with the necessary supply of credit now being made more available, bring
about with inevitable certainty
a wide-spread resumption of
trade and industry.
We believe that this revival
will not be long delayed, and we
look.forward to the future, both
immediate and remote, with the
utmost confidence.

importance
of
photography
While others do not. A conversation we had with one of them
occurs to us just now. Hie said:
"You fellows call yourselves
photographers,
and claim to
have .a heaven born gift whereby you can judge light. Well,
give me a man who can turn the
crank and read an exposure
meter. That's all that is necessary." And his pictures looked
it. Considering the commercial
Photographed by Joe Brother- exploitation th ru which the inton.
dustry has passed, it is a wonWednesday, Thursday-"Conder that more are not of the
rad in Quest of His Youth." same mind. Poor photography
Photographed by L. Guy Wil- has killed many an otherwise
ky, member of A. S. C.
excellent production, and on the
Friday, Saturday - "Peck's other hand good photography
Bad Boy." Photographed by has saved many a mediocre picAlfred Gilks.
ture from the shelf.
Sunday - "Thru the Back
Some photographers
light
Door."
Photographed
by their sets irrespective of the
Charles G. Rosher, member of action which takes place. Others

A. S. C.

(Continued

on Page

Four)

One of the most important
factors in the success of a motion picture play is the ease
With which an audience can
read and therefore understand,
each of the scenes of the play.
This can' only be accomplished
by a perfect connection between
the scenes, which so smoothly
blend into each other, as to
carry the observer thru the different incidents of the plot and
form a satisfactory whole. The
action should be clearly shown
in all of its details, leaving none
of the essentials to the imagination of the audience.
The sense.of continuity so important for the story-telling
quality of a photoplay, might
seem at first, to be purely a
mechanical matter, entirely in
the hands of the scenario or
continuity writer and of the director.
But even a perfect
mechanical construction of the
screen version of a story would
appeal cool and lifeless, if the
artistic conception of the cinematographer
is not properly
developed.
In other words the mechanical
blending of the scenes of a
photoplay can be emphasized by
the artistic sense of the cinematographer.
His knowledge of
the science of composition will
(Continued

on Page

Two)

APPLAUSE AND THE
MOTION PICTURE
Director Paul Bern is urging
patrons of the moving picture
houses to express their approval and pleasure by applause. Some people consider it
small town to applaud motion
pictures, but he assures us that
it is being done in the best
circles, namely, in the Capitol,
Rivoli, Strand and other ciriema
houses of New York City.
Pleasure is a contagious
thing. Because the play is silent is. no reason why the audience should act like mutes. Why
can we not show our feelings
of satisfaction over a successful
issue in the story by clapping,
even as we laugh when pleased?
The actors do not need the
demonstration, but it may warm
the cockles of the manager's
heart, and let him know just
what we really enjoy.
Two pictures which stand out
particularly in the mind of one
fan are "Black Beauty" and
Whistling Dick," and the reason
was that everyone in the audience was so excited by the horse
race in the former that they just
had to clap the winner. In the
latter picture it was the hearty
laughter produced by the titles.
It is the memory of the spontaneous clapping and the jolly
laugh which made as lasting an
impression as the delightful
pictures.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 22, 1921