164 



Popular Science Monthly 



^n 



foundering. When the 



water is lapping the hand- 

 some chin of the hero and 



the heroine is getting the 



life, preservers from under 



the berth — the director 



shouts, "Cut!" When the 



scene on the screen shifts 



from this to a real ship 



tossing about in a storm, 



the illusion is vivid and 



convincing. 



But action for the director and the 



actors doesn't stop here. In addition to 



having the whole Atlantic Ocean dumped 



into his par- 

 lor just as 

 the clock 

 strikes noon, 

 the poor rich 



The present widespread interest 

 in warfare has occasioned the 

 building of elaborate parapher- 

 nalia for making motion-pictures 



attempt in imitating the 1 2-inch siege 

 howitzers employed by the Germans. 

 The huge guns are constructed almost 

 entirely of wood which is supplemented 

 at all wearing points with metal. The 

 guns follow the well known Krupp design 

 faithfully. A recoil mechanism is pro- 

 vided as well as a means for regulating 

 the angle of the gun barrel. The wheels 

 are provided with 

 caterpillar treads to 

 enable them to climb 

 over rough ground. 

 The powder charge 

 used in firing is mixed 

 carefully in the 

 studio laboratory. 

 In making the pic- 

 ture the guns are 

 drawn from the point 

 on the "firing line" 

 byatractordriven by 

 a gasoline engine. 



K^ 



The camera man, under the 

 umbrella on the platform, is 

 busily filming the wooden 

 Krupps as they are Krupping 

 away at the invisible enemy 



actor dons his summer 

 tweed ten minutes later and 

 hurries to another part of 

 town to take j^art in a 

 staged battle,or"warstufL" 

 Here the directors arc 

 compelled to resort to 

 wliatever alternatives stage 

 car])enters and studio me- 

 chanics can devise. One 

 of the latest of these inva- 

 sions into carpenter shoj) 

 realism is a successful 



All that glitters is not goltt ; :ill u'"'^ •"'■' "<'l "I steel. These are 

 of wood — perfect imitations of the famous Krupp howitzers 



