MOVING PICTURES
HOW THEY ARE MADE AND WORKED
CONQUESTS OF SCIENCE
_Uniform with this Volume._
BY FREDERICK A. TALBOT
THE OIL CONQUEST OF THE WORLD
LIGHTSHIPS AND LIGHTHOUSES
THE RAILWAY CONQUEST OF THE WORLD
STEAMSHIP CONQUEST OF THE WORLD
PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
[Illustration:
_Frontispiece._
TRICK CINEMATOGRAPHY--THE AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT.
The producer giving instructions to the principal actor and his double,
the legless cripple. The dummy legs in the foreground.--_See page 211._]
_CONQUESTS OF SCIENCE_
MOVING PICTURES
HOW THEY ARE MADE AND WORKED
BY
FREDERICK A. TALBOT
NEW EDITION
_ILLUSTRATED_
PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1914
_First Printed, January, 1912_
_Revised Edition, December, 1912_
_New Edition, November, 1914_
_Printed in England._
PREFACE
The marvellous, universal popularity of moving pictures is my reason
for writing this volume. A vast industry has been established of which
the great majority of picture-palace patrons have no idea, and the
moment appears timely to describe the many branches of the art.
I have endeavoured to deal with the whole subject in a popular and
comprehensive manner. I have been assisted by several friends, who
have enabled me to throw considerable light upon the early history of
motion photography and the many problems that had to be mastered before
it met with public appreciation:--MM. Weiss and Bull, the Director
and Assistant-Director respectively of the Marey Institute in Paris;
M. Georges Demeny; Messrs. Frank L. Dyer, the President of Thomas A.
Edison, Incorporated; W. F. Greene, Robert W. Paul, James Williamson,
Lumière & Sons, Richard G. Hollaman, the Eastman Kodak Company, Dr. J.
Comandon, F. Percy Smith, Albert Smith, and the numerous firms engaged
in one or other of the various branches of the industry.
I am indebted especially to the editor of _L’Illustration_, the
well-known Parisian illustrated weekly newspaper, in conjunction with
the Société des Établissements Gaumont, for permission to publish the
photographs illustrating Chapters XIX., XX., and XXI., as well as the
frontispiece; also to Mr. A. A. Hopkins, the author of “Magic,” and to
Messrs. Munn & Co., the proprietors of _The Scientific American_, of
New York, U.S.A.
The book makes no claim to being a practical manual, because thereby
intricate technicalities would have been unavoidable. The information
respecting the various mechanical aspects of cinematography are set
forth in a readable manner, so that the broad principles may be
understood.
While the most popular features of motion photography are described
fully, I have not omitted to introduce the reader to the educational
and scientific developments, which are more wonderful and fascinating.
Indeed, the cinematograph will probably achieve greater triumphs in
these fields than it has accomplished already as a source of amusement.
FREDERICK A. TALBOT.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. WHAT IS ANIMATED PHOTOGRAPHY? 1
II. THE FIRST ATTEMPTS TO PRODUCE MOVING PICTURES 10
III. THE SEARCH FOR THE CELLULOID FILM 23
IV. THE KINETOSCOPE: THE ANIMATOGRAPH: THE CINEMATOGRAPHE 30
V. HOW THE CELLULOID FILM IS MADE 50
VI. THE STORY OF THE PERFORATION GAUGE 57
VII. THE MOVING PICTURE CAMERA, ITS CONSTRUCTION, AND
OPERATION 65
VIII. DEVELOPING AND PRINTING THE PICTURES 76
IX. HOW THE PICTURES ARE SHOWN UPON THE SCREEN 88
X. THE STUDIO FOR STAGING MOVING PICTURE PLAYS 103
XI. THE CINEMATOGRAPH AS A RECORDER OF TOPICAL EVENTS:
SCENIC FILMS 116
XII. THE CINEMATOGRAPH THEATRE AND ITS EQUIPMENT 130
XIII. HOW A CINEMATOGRAPH PLAY IS PRODUCED 146
XIV. MOVING PICTURES OF MICROBES 161
XV. SOME ELABORATE PICTURE PLAYS AND HOW THEY WERE STAGED 169
XVI. PICTURES THAT MOVE, TALK, AND SING 179
XVII. POPULAR SCIENCE AS REVEALED BY THE CINEMATOGRAPH 190
XVIII. TRICK PICTURES AND HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.--
I. THE FIRST ATTEMPTS AT CINEMATOGRAPH MAGIC AND THE
ARTIFICES ADOPTED 197
XIX. TRICK PICTURES AND HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.--
II. DANCING FURNITURE: STRINGS, CORDS, AND WIRES: “THE
MAGNETIC GENTLEMAN”: THE “STOP AND SUBSTITUTION”: “THE
AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT”: REVERSAL OF ACTION 207
XX. TRICK PICTURES AND HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.--
III. MANIPULATION OF THE FILM: APPARITIONS AND GRADUAL
DISAPPEARANCES BY OPENING AND CLOSING THE DIAPHRAGM
OF THE LENS SLOWLY: “THE SIREN”: SUBMARINE EFFECTS 218
XXI. TRICK PICTURES AND HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.--
IV. LILLIPUTIAN FIGURES: “THE LITTLE MILLINER’S
DREAM”: THE “ONE TURN ONE PICTURE” MOVEMENT: HOW
SOME EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENTS ARE PRODUCED: “THE SKI
RUNNER” 231
XXII. TRICK PICTURES AND HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.--
V. “PRINCESS NICOTINE” AND HER REMARKABLE CAPRICES 242
XXIII. TRICK PICTURES AND HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED.--
VI. SOME UNUSUAL AND NOVEL EFFECTS 254
XXIV. ELECTRIC SPARK CINEMATOGRAPHY 264
XXV. THE “ANIMATED” NEWSPAPER 277
XXVI. ANIMATION IN NATURAL COLOURS 287
XXVII. MOVING PICTURES IN THE HOME 301
XXVIII. MOTION-PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN EDUCATIONAL FORCE 312
XXIX. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: THE GROWTH AND POPULARITY OF THE
CINEMATOGRAPH: SOME FACTS AND FIGURES: CONCLUSION 319
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
_To face page_
Trick Cinematography--The Automobile Accident _Frontispiece_
Dr. E. J. Marey’s Famous Experiments--Photographic Gun of 1882 16
Consecutive Pictures of a Gull Flying, taken with the
Photographic Gun 16
Chronophotographic Apparatus for taking Consecutive Pictures
upon a Single Glass Plate 16
Dr. Marey’s Animated Pictures made in 1884–6 for the Analysis
of Motion 17
Edison’s First Kinetoscope 32
Edison Film made about 1891 for the Kinetoscope 33
Edison Film made in 1911 for the Cinematograph 33
Paul’s Camera showing Mechanism for moving the Film
intermittently past the Lens 36
The First Kinetoscope Film made in England 36
The “Black Maria,” the First Edison Studio for making
Kinetoscope Films 37
The Dissolving Room 52
The Mixing Barrel 53
A Battery of Celluloid Mixers 54
The Liquid Celluloid Storage Room 55
Paul’s Rotary Perforator 60
The First Cinematograph Studio-Stage 60
The Williamson Film Perforator 61
The Perforating Room of the Cines Company in Rome 66
The Film-moving Mechanism of a Cinematograph Camera 67
Paul’s Complete Developing, Printing, and Drying Outfit 70
The First Developing Room in Great Britain, at Robert Paul’s
Pioneer Film Factory 70
After Development and Washing the Films were transferred
from the Racks to the Cylinders 71
The Drying Room, showing Films wound on the Drying Drums 71
The Developing Room at the Pathé Works 78
The Drying Room at the Pathé Works 79
A Row of Printing Machines in the Rome Works of the Cines
Company 82
The Williamson Printing Machine 83
The Projector and Mechanism 100
The Complete Projecting Installation 100
The “Chrono” Projector 101
Outstripping the Human Eye 101
An Early Open-Air Studio-Stage for producing Cinematograph
Plays 104
The Scene-Painters’ Shop at a Pathé Studio 105
Battle Scene from “The Siege of Calais” 108
Exterior of the Modern Edison Film-Play-Producing Theatre 109
Building a Solid Set for “The Two Orphans” 109
Building a Scene on one of the Pathé Studio-Stages for a Film
Play 112
The Wardrobe Room at the Selig Film Factory 113
The Selig Stock Company at Los Angeles 113
The First Topical Film 118
The Fall from the Balloon 119
The Luxury of the Modern Picture Palace 134
The Lantern Room of a Modern Cinematograph Theatre 135
The Trial Scene from “Rachel’s Sin” 140
How the Sound Accompaniments to Pictures are Produced 141
The Film-Play Producer at Work 148
Taking Three Picture-Plays Simultaneously 149
The Fight for the Boats in “Atlantis” 152
“Sauve qui peut” at the Wreck of the Liner 152
The Sinking of the Liner “Roland” 153
Sorting, Examining, and Joining the Strips of Film 156
Preparing the Titles 157
Dr. Comandon’s Apparatus for taking Moving Pictures of
Microbes 164
The Phenomenon of Agglutination in a Fowl’s Blood 165
The Blood of a Fowl suffering from _Spirochæta Gallinarum_ 165
A Triumph of the Cinematographer’s Art 172
The Gigantic Horse being Hauled by the Greeks under the Walls
of Troy 173
“The Fall of Troy” 173
The “Battle of Waterloo” upon the Film 176
Building the Scenery for the Film Performance of “Hamlet” 177
The Ghost Scene from “Hamlet” 177
Nature and the Cinematographer--Mr. Percy Smith at Work 192
Fly Seated in a Diminutive Chair Balancing a Cork 193
An Unfamiliar Juggler--Bluebottle Balancing a Piece of
Vegetable Stalk 193
Fly Lying on its Back Spinning a Wheel 194
Juggling Flies 194
The Fly Walking Up the Turning Wheel 194
The Life of the Butterfly 195
The Magic Sword: A Mediæval Mystery Explained 200
A Christmas Carol: How Scrooge saw Bob Cratchit’s Home 201
“Ora Pro Nobis,” and How it was Produced 202
The Secret of the Haunted Curiosity Shop 203
Motoring Round the Ring of Saturn 204
The Car Circling the Sun 204
The Animated Swords 205
The Travelling Bed 208
The Magnetic Gentleman 209
The Pursuing Man-hole Cover is a Wooden Property 210
The Lamp-Post is a Stage Article Hinged in the Centre 210
The Trick Picture--The Automobile Accident: The Actor being
replaced by the Legless Cripple with the Dummy Legs 211
The Taxi-cab Running over the Sleeper and Apparently Cutting
off his Legs, but in Reality Displacing the Legless
Cripple’s Property Limbs 212
Observing the Effects of the Disaster, the Doctor Proceeds to
Replace the Severed Legs 213
The Limbs Replaced, the Patient and Doctor Shake Hands 213
The Roysterer, after being run over by the Taxi-cab, Sitting
up and Brandishing his Severed Limbs 214
The Legless Cripple being Prepared for the Act 214
The Fountain of Youth 215
Pumpkins Running Up-hill 215
The Revolving Table 220
The Secret of the Fairy’s Disappearance: While a Length of
Film is being exposed the Diaphragm is closed slowly 221
The same Length of Film is re-exposed after the Fairy has
entered the Picture, under a slowly opening Diaphragm 222
The Effect of Double Exposure under closing and opening
Diaphragm 223
The Mystery of “The Siren” 226
The Mystery of “The Siren” revealed 227
A Workshop in which Tools move without Hands 238
The Skater approaching the Factory Chimney 238
The Result of the Collision with the Chimney 239
The Ski-runner Disappears into Space 239
Princess Nicotine--A Dainty Trick Film 246
The Fairy, Buried in the Heart of the Rose, Smoking a Cigarette 247
The Diminutive Form of the Fairy on the Table 247
The Fairy Imprisoned in the Bottle. This effect is obtained by
double exposure 250
The Fairy, after Coquetting with the Bachelor, is driven away
by the Smoke from his Cigarette 250
The Fairy proceeds to Build a Bonfire with Matches 251
The Fairy, her Accomplice, and Properties, which are Enlarged
Reproductions of the Actual Articles 251
The Dissolution of the Government 258
The Latest Craze in Trick Cinematography: Silhouettes with
Models 259
A Quaint Advertisement Film 260
Mr. Asquith in Cartoon 260
A Novel Curtain Idea 260
The Human Butterfly: How are the Effects Obtained? 261
M. Lucien Bull’s Complete Apparatus 270
The Novel Camera showing Stereoscopic Lens 270
A Bee Cinematographed in Full Flight 271
A Dragon Fly in Flight 274
Cinematograph Film of a Bullet Fired through a Soap Bubble 275
Preparing the Pathé Colour Films 288
The Pathé Colour Machine-Printing Room 289
The Kinora Camera 302
The Mechanism of the Kinora Camera showing Paper Negative
Film in position 302
The Reel of Positive Prints 303
The Kinora Reproduction Instrument 303
The Bettini Glass Plate Cinematograph 308
A Section of a Bettini Glass Plate Record 308
The Birth of a Flower 309
Waging a Health Campaign by Moving Pictures 309
Cinematographing Africa from a Locomotive 314
Mount Etna in Eruption: Looking into the Crater of the Volcano 315
The Plumes of Smoke as seen from the Observatory 315
The “Cradle of Cinematography”: The Marey Institute in Paris 322
The latest marvel in Moving Pictures: Combining the X-rays
with the Cinematograph 322
After Fifty Years. This Film won the First Prize of 25,000
Francs at the recent Turin Exhibition 323
CHAPTER I
WHAT IS ANIMATED PHOTOGRAPHY?
From the day when it was found possible (by the aid of sunlight) to fix
a permanent image of an object upon a sensitised surface, inventors
steadily applied their ingenuity to the problem of instantaneous
photography. In other words, they strove to realise the possibility of
photographing an object in motion.
In our days the idea of “snap-shot” photography is such a commonplace
that we can no longer realise the proportions of the task which
confronted the early inventors. Probably most of us are unacquainted
with the conditions under which the first photographs were taken.
The writer has often heard a member of his family relate the amusing
story of an ordeal which, as a lad, the latter underwent at the hands
of the Frenchman, Daguerre. He was seized upon by the inventor as an
experimental subject and was forced to sit in the brilliant sunlight
for a long time. It seems incredible, but it is true, that when
photography was in its infancy, an exposure of six hours was required
to secure a recognisable impression of an object--a circumstance which
left practically nothing but still life as feasible subjects for
photography.
The problem which confronted the pioneers of instantaneous photography
was the reduction of the period of exposure from about 20,000 seconds
to a mere fraction of a second. Considering the magnitude of this
difficulty, it is not surprising that the average person was sceptical
as to its solution. The possibility of fixing a horse in the act of
jumping, a bird in the act of flying, or an orator’s lips at the
moment of uttering a word, must have seemed nearly as remote as the
discovery of the Philosopher’s Stone. It is interesting to imagine
the sensations of the sceptic of one hundred years ago, to whom
instantaneous photography appeared a chimerical idea, should he be
recalled to life to-day and be shown first a procession passing down
the street, and a few hours afterward the same procession repeating
itself before his eyes upon a screen in a darkened room, with all the
semblance of reality in colour and animation.
In the end, it was the chemist who solved the problem of instantaneous
photography, without which animated photography as we know it to-day
would never have been even conceivable. He carried out innumerable
laboratory experiments for the purpose of rendering the sensitised
surface more and more susceptible to light--accelerating its actinic
speed, as it is called--until at last he revolutionised photography, as
he has changed nearly every other field of our modern industrial life.
He succeeded in preparing a surface, or emulsion, so sensitive to light
that it can take a picture clear, distinct, and full of detail, not
merely in the space of one second, but in less than a thousandth part
of a second--a picture equal, if not superior, to those which in the
early days of photography required an exposure 20,000,000 times as long!
The wonderful achievement of instantaneous photography assumed at
first a scientific rather than a commercial value. Many a “snap-shot”
is taken which does not betray whether the plate has been exposed
for six hours or only one-thousandth of a second; but, on the other
hand, a “snap-shot” of a quickly moving subject may seize upon and fix
an interesting or characteristic motion. It was this fact which led
certain ingenious minds to perceive in instantaneous photography a
valuable means of analysing motion. If a single photograph reproduced
the exact posture of a moving subject at any given instant of time,
they argued that a series of such photographs, if taken in sufficiently
rapid succession, would form a complete record of the whole cycle of
movements involved, for instance, in the jump of a horse or the flap
of a bird’s wing.
Here, again, the inventor encountered a difficulty almost as great as
the initial one of instantaneous photography. Not only had the chemist
to devise a new sort of sensitised plate with a gelatine coating better
and more convenient to handle than the medium before employed, but the
mechanical engineer, the optical instrument maker, and the lens maker
had to co-operate on a special sort of camera which should minimise the
interval between successive exposures.
As earlier inventors had reduced the duration of the period of
exposure, modern ones have succeeded in their turn in reducing the
interval between exposures to a minute fraction of a second. When this
result was achieved animated photography became a reality.
It was possible to secure a long series of consecutive snap-shots,
or instantaneous pictures depicting motion, recorded at such brief
intervals that when they were passed swiftly before the eyes they
produced the _illusion_ of movement.
At this point it is best to consider the physiological basis upon
which animated photography rests. The word illusion, as used above,
correctly describes what takes place. The eye sees a swift succession
of instantaneous photographs; but it is deluded into believing that it
sees actual movement.
We have all marvelled at the magician who causes bottles, eggs, birds,
and animals to appear and disappear mysteriously before our very eyes.
We know that it is trickery, pure and simple: that the eye is being
deceived. The camera is a far more perfect trickster than the most
accomplished illusionist that has ever lived, and moving pictures are
the most cunning illusion that has ever been devised.
In order to convey this delusion, the photographer has taken advantage
of one deficiency of the human eye. This wonderful organ of ours has
a defect which is known as “visual persistence.” Briefly defined,
this means that the brain persists in seeing an object after it
is no longer visible to the eye. I will make this clear by further
explanation.
The eye is in itself a wonderful camera. The imprint of an object is
received upon a nervous membrane which is called the retina. This is
connected with the brain, where the actual conception of the impression
is formed, by the optic nerve. The picture therefore is photographed
in the eye and transmitted from that point to the brain. Now a certain
period of time must elapse in the conveyance of this picture from
the retina along the optic nerve to the brain, in the same manner
that an electric current flowing through a wire, or water passing
through a pipe, must take a certain amount of time to travel from
one point to another, although the movement may be so rapid that the
time occupied on the journey is reduced to an infinitesimal point and
might be considered instantaneous. When the picture reaches the brain
a further length of time is required to bring about its construction,
for the brain is something like the photographic plate, and the picture
requires developing. In this respect the brain is somewhat sluggish,
for when it has formulated the picture imprinted on the eye, it will
retain that picture even after the reality has disappeared from sight.
This peculiarity can be tested very easily. Suppose the eye is focussed
upon a white screen. A picture suddenly appears. The image is reflected
upon the retina of the eye, and transmitted thence to the brain along
the optic nerve. Before the impression reaches the brain the picture
has vanished from the sight of the eye. Yet the image still lingers in
the brain; the latter persists in seeing what is no longer apparent to
the eye, just as plainly and as distinctly as if it were in full view.
When the image does disappear, it fades away gradually from the brain.
True, the duration of this continued impression in the brain is very
brief. In the average person it approximates about 2/48ths of a second,
which appears so short as not to be worth consideration. Still, in a
fraction of time a good deal may happen, and in the case of animated
photography it suffices to bring a second picture before the eye ere
the impression of the preceding image has faded from the brain. The
result is that the second picture becomes superimposed in the brain
upon the preceding image; and being stronger and more brilliant, it
causes the disappearing impression to merge or dissolve into itself.
Indeed, one might go farther, and say that the brain acts in the same
manner as a dissolving lantern. This apparatus is very familiar to us
all, and in its most approved type one view is dissolved into another.
For the purpose two lanterns are required, placed either side by
side or one above the other, and both focussed upon the screen. For
the purpose of illustrating our complex point we will consider that
they are one above the other. A slide is projected brilliantly from
the uppermost lantern. Presently the moment arrives to change the
slide. If the operator withdrew it from the upper lantern and inserted
another there would be a defined break or blank interval upon the
screen betraying the change. So he inserts the new slide in the lower
lantern, at the same time increasing the volume of light emitted from
that lantern, and diminishing the volume thrown from the upper lantern.
The result is that the picture projected from the upper lantern
becomes fainter and fainter, while that shown by the lower lantern
becomes stronger and stronger, until only the latter is seen upon the
screen--the former has merged or dissolved into the latter.
The same action takes place in the brain in connection with
cinematography. A picture is thrown upon the screen, and remains
visible for 1/32nd part of a second. It is then eclipsed by the
shutter, and--supposing that the photographs are taken at the rate of
sixteen pictures per second--for the next 1/32nd part of a second the
screen is darkened owing to the passage of the shutter. This division
of time is not strictly correct, as we shall see later, but for present
purposes I have considered the intervals of exposure and eclipse to be
of equal duration.
Now as a picture will linger in the brain for 2/48ths of a second
after it has vanished from the sight of the eye, the brain retains
the impression during 1/32nd part of a second, while the shutter is
passing across the lens. The second picture now comes before the eye,
and although the previous picture still will remain in the brain
for another 1/96th part of a second--the difference between 1/32nd
and 2/48ths--the new picture, being the more brilliant, becomes
superimposed upon that already obtained, and consequently causes the
former dying image to merge into the later and brighter impression.
This successive dissolution of one picture into the other continues
until the whole string of snap-shots is exhausted. It will be noticed
that every picture remains on the screen for 1/32nd of a second,
followed by a period of darkness of nearly equal duration, the pictures
thus being projected at the rate of sixteen per second.
The illusion of movement is enhanced by the fact that all fixed and
stationary objects retain their relative positions in each succeeding
image. Suppose, for instance, that a series of pictures, depicting a
man walking along a street, are being shown upon a screen. In the first
picture the man is shown with his left foot in the air. This remains in
sight for 1/32nd of a second, and then disappears suddenly. Though the
picture has vanished from the eye, the brain still persists in seeing
the left foot slightly raised. One thirty-second part of a second
later the next picture shows the man with his left foot on the ground.
The shops, houses, and other stationary objects in the second image
occupy the positions shown in the first picture, and consequently the
dying impression of these objects is revived, while the brain receives
the impression that the man has changed the position of his foot in
relation to the stationary objects, and the left foot which was raised
melts into the left foot upon the ground. The eye imagines that it sees
the left foot descend. Another 1/32nd part of a second passes, and
the right foot is seen elevated, but the fixed objects retain their
positions still, and so on. The brain only notices the difference in
the position of the moving objects, and thus secures an illusory idea
that movement is taking place. I have taken a very simple example
to illustrate the idea. As a matter of fact, moving pictures of men
walking are seldom perfectly successful, generally having a jerky
movement.
Thus we have seen what we describe as animated photography is not
animation at all. All that happens is that a long string of snap-shot
photographs, taken at intervals of 1/24th or 1/32nd part of a second,
are passed at rapid speed before the eye. If the pictures are projected
at the rate of one per second they resemble ordinary magic lantern
projections. As the operator slowly and gradually increases the
speed, the figures shown in the pictures assume a spasmodic motion,
as if their limbs were moved jerkily by means of strings; this action
becoming less and less pronounced as the speed is accelerated, until,
at last, when the operator gains the requisite rate of projection, the
jerky movement becomes resolved into steady rhythmic action.
In the early days it was difficult to convey the impression that motion
was being shown, because the movement of the shutter cutting off the
picture was so emphasised as to convey a distinct sense of blankness
between the successive images. This regular intermittent occurrence of
invisibility, described as “flicker,” caused tremendous strain to the
eyes, and provoked nauseating headache. When the flicker was eliminated
the strain ceased; the illusion was rendered more perfect as well.
In order to satisfy one’s self that the semblance of animation is an
illusion, one has only to compare the projection of a moving object
upon the screen, and its appearance in the _camera obscura_. In the
latter case absolute continuous motion is shown. It may be said that
complete animation by photography is quite out of the question with the
single camera and projector. How it can be avoided and a more perfect
_camera obscura_ effect produced upon the screen is described later.
Mechanical ingenuity has not succeeded yet in achieving such a result
by means of a single lens.
As a matter of fact, only one-half or less of the movement that
actually takes place is recorded upon the film. What is lost occurs
during the period the shutter is closed after exposure, in order to
permit a fresh area of sensitised surface to be brought into position
behind the lens. However, the lapses are equal in point of time; and
when sixteen pictures are taken per second, the interruption in the
movement is not detected by the brain.
It may be asked why the operator confines himself to photographing
at a speed of about sixteen pictures per second. This question is
governed for the most part by economical motives. Film is expensive,
and therefore the obvious point is to consume the minimum of material
to secure the illusion. When Edison produced the kinetoscope, at
least thirty pictures per second were necessary to bring about the
illusion, but Messrs. Lumière and Paul, by means of their apparatuses,
which were the first commercial cinematographs, reduced the number to
sixteen pictures per second. If twenty-four photographs were taken and
projected per second the result would be practically no better than
when only sixteen pictures were made in the same period, so that the
additional eight pictures and their requisite length of film represent
so much wasted effort and material.
This law in regard to visual persistence concerning the number of
pictures per second holds good only so long as pictures are taken and
projected in monochrome or black and white. When animation in colour
is introduced, the illusory effect produced upon the brain becomes
disturbed, as is explained in the chapter dealing with this latter
development of the art.
An interesting illustration of the fact that the eye is deceived may
be narrated. A film of a train passing through a tunnel was required.
Two trains were secured for the purpose, and at the rear of the leading
train the camera was mounted in order to photograph the one following,
care being observed to keep them an equal distance apart. In the
darkness of the tunnel the question of illumination for the purposes
of the exposures was somewhat perplexing. Various expedients were
attempted, but all to no avail, and it appeared as if the task would
have to be abandoned.
One of the party thereupon suggested a novel solution of the
difficulty. A section of the track was marked off, and subdivided into
short sections. The train was brought to the first mark and there
stopped, when a flashlight photograph was made. It was then advanced
to the next mark, and another flashlight instantaneous picture was
secured. This process was repeated several times, the train being
moved forward about eighteen inches between each exposure. About fifty
exposures were made in this manner, and the length of exposed film thus
obtained was multiplied to form a continuous picture of great length.
When projected on the screen several hundred photographs were passed
before the audience at the speed of sixteen pictures per second, and
the semblance of motion was perfect, the train having the appearance of
travelling through the tunnel at express speed.
This is one of the most interesting examples known to me of illusion by
animated photography, and although it was not motion at all that was
recorded, still it sufficed to convey the impression of movement to
the public. In the course of the following chapters, however, various
successful illusions caused by this means are described, especially in
regard to “trick pictures.”