Machine Gives Movies Illusion of Depth
MOTION pictures are being given another eye. Recently in the Academy of Sciences, in Washington, Dr. Herbert E. Ives, internationally known engineer, produced motion pictures that gave the illusion of depth, making them appear like views in old-fashioned stereoscopes.
Read the rest of this entry »
New Cartoon Camera Combines Drawings And Photographs
A REAL car with a flesh-and-blood driver rolls sedately along a busy city street.
Careening behind it, a caricature of an Indian in a speeding jallopy performs antics that would whiten the hair of a traffic cop. Trick photography produces animated movie cartoons of this novel sort, combining hand-drawn characters with natural backgrounds, in the studio of Paul Terry at New Rochelle, N. Y.
In making the 6,000 separate cartoons that go into a typical 500-foot animated film, the artist uses a special procedure. Each figure or object is drawn on top of an opaque silhouette, of black or white pigment, applied to a transparent sheet of celluloid. Hold it up against the, light, and you will see only the black outline of a figure; by reflected light, its details appear. So each cartoon receives the illumination of a pair of spotlights, from above, while a stop-motion camera photographs it. Meanwhile the opaque cartoon effectively blocks out the unwanted part of a real movie scene, which is projected from below through the transparent part of the celluloid. The rest of the background automatically is photographed with the cartoon, giving a composite picture. For each succeeding frame, the same procedure is used, after cartoons and background scenes have been shifted.
Read the rest of this entry »
Film Discs Replace Ribbon Film
FILM discs replace ribbon film in a new type movie machine recently introduced. The device projects pictures from a film disc that greatly resembles a phonograph record. The disc measures 18 in. in diameter, which equals 1,000 feet of ordinary movie film. A unique optical arrangement allows the pictures to be transposed from standard sized motion picture films to be printed spirally on the disc.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lifelike Movie Puppets Act Out Ancient Fable
LIFELIKE puppets, that change their expressions realistically, replace the usual drawn cartoon figures in a new animated movie depicting an old-time fable in which a nimble-witted hedgehog plots with his wife and wins a race with a fleet-footed hare.
Read the rest of this entry »
At Last ~ Movie Cartoons in Color
by JAMES BOWLES
After years of a successful black-and-white career, animated cartoons are due to take on the additional appeal of color, thanks to the perfection of a process which is explained in detail in this article.
THE first of 13 one-reel animated cartoon comedies in color have just been completed in Hollywood, marking the beginning of a new era in this popular form of entertainment which has already made Mickey Mouse and his cohorts the highest paid actors in the movie world, although they draw no salaries. Ted Eshbaugh, a Boston artist, is the man who has at last succeeded in producing animateds in color.
Read the rest of this entry »
This magazine was published the same year King Kong was released. I wonder if this is one of the masks from the movie?
Mechanical Secrets of Movie Gorillas
EVER wonder how a Hollywood make-up man converts an actor into a terrifying-ly realistic gorilla in those fascinating jungle pictures you watch on the silver screen?
A study of the photos above will give you an idea of what goes on behind a gorilla face. Mechanics have devised a set of mechanical facial bones and muscles which act as the skeleton for a leather “skin” which make-up men put on.
A simple set of levers on the mechanism and a strip clamping over the lower teeth enable the actor to open and close his huge gorilla jaws like the real beast of the jungle. A special strap over the eyes gives the beetle browed effect.
I previously posted part two of this series. You can view it here.
Mechanical Secrets of Marionette Shows
by TONY SARG As Told To Alfred Albelli
When watching a marionette show you’ve probably wondered what made the little mechanical actors appear so lifelike. In this unusual article, Tony Sarg, world’s leading puppeteer, takes you behind the scenes and explains the mechanical marvels which create the amazing illusions of reality you behold on the stage.
MEET the most fantastic troupe that ever strutted across the American stage!
These actors play to capacity audiences in the biggest theatres, yet they don’t get a single red cent for their work!
Read the rest of this entry »
How Disney Combines Living Actors with His Cartoon Characters
UP GOES another character in the Walt Disney Hall of Fame. Out comes another surprise from the Disney bag of tricks. To be specific, Panchito, a Mexican rooster with as much personality as Donald Duck or Joe Carioca, is making his first appearance; and on the screen with him will be live, three-dimensional actors.
Read the rest of this entry »
How Frank Buck Filmed His Tiger-Python Battle
Everyone who has seen Frank Buck’s “Bring ‘Em Back Alive,” that amazing movie of jungle life, is asking the question: “How did they ever film that spectacular battle between a Bengal tiger and a 30-foot python? Was it faked? How did the cameramen happen to be on the scene—and how did they escape with their own lives?” Read the answer in this article.
WHO won — the python or the tiger? This is the question which is bothering thousands of folks who have seen Frank Buck’s startling movie of jungle life, “Bring ‘Em Back Alive,” and who have been vividly impressed by the incomparably spectacular scenes shown therein where a Bengal tiger, dreaded king of the jungle, battles the flashing coils of a deadly rock python thirty feet in length.
Read the rest of this entry »
