Screen Thrills Are Cheaper Now 



How the motion -picture 

 man saves money 



Hv Prescott Lecky 



I, Part I) 'ine Start of a Tnrilling Accident 

 In a ruccnt film, the scenario called for the destruction of a high-powered automobile at a railroad crcrsing. it 

 supposedly having stalled at this thrilling point just as a train arrived. An exact replica of the real machine 

 was made of tin and wood, and brought to the location on a truck as shown above. The real machine is in the 

 foreground. What happened next is shown on the page opposite. The details are harrowing. We shudder. 



IN the early days of the motion picture 

 industry, directors were thrifty to the 

 point of parsimony — for money was 

 scarce. Then came an era of wild ex- 

 travagance — for money was plentiful. 

 And now, having swung too far both 

 ways, the financial pendulum has finally 

 settled down to a business range. This 

 is the day of sane economy — for money is 

 money. And that is why some of the 

 ingenuity 

 that was 

 formerly 

 devoted 

 to spending 

 money is 

 now occu- 

 pied in sav- 

 ing it. So 

 long as the 

 result re- 

 mains con- 

 vincing on 

 the screen, 

 the e f!i - 

 ciency man 

 is welcome. 

 The great- 

 est field for 

 intelligent 

 retrench- 

 ment lies 



How They Fool 'Em 



Till- alinvi- phdtoKraijli is an excellent illustration both of the effect of the 

 "lonii; tthot" and tlie "camouflage." The "lonij shot" is a picture taken at a 

 distance, and the obvious result is an ol)Iiteration of detail. In this case, as 

 (loser examination will show, the cars were not damaged at all. After llie 

 apparent .collision, shown from a distance, the seats were thrown out, a 

 wheel taken off and a cloud of dust thrown up during the making of the 

 (lose-up. In other words, the director takes advantage of the well known 

 fact that disorder l(joks like damage. lie gets satisfactory screen effects. 



in those scenes that call for wholesale 

 calamities and destruction. Until very 

 recently, the automobiles destroyed were 

 the real thing; very old, as a rule, and 

 cheap makes, but real automobiles never- 

 theless. To-day, the directors of even the 

 wealthiest companies try to avoid this 

 useless expense. If the effect on the 

 screen is just as good, the effect on the 

 expense account is even better. 



M u c h 

 cheaper 

 than the 

 d u m m y 

 model is a 

 literal 

 application 

 of the well- 

 k n o w n 

 "c a m u - 

 flage." A 

 cloud of 

 dust before 

 the eye of 

 the c a m - 

 era works 

 many con- 

 V e n i e n t 

 miracles. 

 The pic- 

 tures take 

 up details. 



348 



