278 



DISCOVERY 



players in action have been taken. These arc diligently 

 studied, and the speed in which amateur and pro- 

 fessional pitchers, catchers, batters, and basemen 

 work is therefore available. The method is so scientific 

 that the e.\act time a pitcher takes in the wind-up, 

 the speed of the pitched ball, the angles assumed by 

 its curving, and how long the batter is in finding out 

 he has banged it and in making a start for the new base, 

 the precise period the catcher takes to recover after 

 taking the pitched ball, and then to run 129 feet along 

 the course trying to put out the runner speeding from 

 the first base to the second — all these things are 

 revealed. 



As to horse-racing, a French trainer has discovered 

 that it is instructive to visit the kinema theatre in 

 order to see the races in which one or more of his horses 

 have run. 



In 1914 there was a dispute over the Derby. " Bump- 

 ing " and " boring " — foul play on the part of the 

 jockeys — occurred ; but many disagreed with the 

 steward's decision, who stated that it did take place, 

 and disqualified the favourite. The motion picture, 

 however, had recorded all these incidents, and thereby 

 proved its worth as an impartial judge. 



In boxing, too, champions have found it instructive 

 to have their efforts recorded on the film, and self- 

 criticise them when later thrown on the screen. 



In England, not so very long ago, an attempt was 

 made to instruct the amateur golfer in regard to the 

 correct way in which to play his strokes. Accordingly, 

 several famous golfers posed for a bunch of snapshots, 

 but when these were put on a mutoscope machine in 

 rotation, it was found that they lacked continuity. 



But all shortcomings were obviated when J. A. 

 Taylor, five times world's golf champion, consented 

 to give a demonstration for the film, by which it was 

 possible to follow every movement of the body, with 

 the start of the swing back until the follow-through 

 was over. The predominant features of the pictures 

 were the champion's marvellous driving and his 

 excellent " putting " and " stymie " strokes. Several 

 close-up views served to show clearly the right positions 

 the hands and feet should be in. 



One peculiar thing about cinematography is that 

 an ordinary quick movement appears ridiculously 

 rapid when the film is shown on the screen. For this 

 good reason, Mr. Taylor did not work with his cus- 

 tomary pace, but slowed down in order that his actions 

 would get over effectively. The film, which only took 

 fifteen minutes to show, taught the amateur more 

 than he could have learned in weeks by any other 

 method. 



I am also informed, on very good authority, that 

 several professionals, when "off colour," find the motion 

 picture highly instructive. 



Tactics Adopted in Filming 

 Wild Birds 



By Ernest A. Dcnch 



Author 0/ " Making the Mooiet" 



When we get down to nature, as we often do at vaca- 

 tion time, we can't approach sufficiently near to the 

 wild birds for any length of time to study them at 

 first hand. As soon as we come in sight, the songsters 

 fly off to the boughs of some stately tree. 



So when we see on the movie-screen some remarkable 

 close-up views of different birds, we pause to wonder 

 how the camera man got the studies unobserved. 

 Maybe a suspicion of doubt passes through our minds. 

 Well, this article is to assure you that there is no 

 faking— the cinematographer succeeds by reason of 

 his own resourcefulness. 



Edward A. Salisbury, who has put America on the 

 natural-history-film-map, recently wanted to secure 

 some snappy \iews of the eagle, so he climbed up an 

 exceedingly tall pine-tree, struggling gamely with his 

 camera, which turned the scale at eighty pounds. To 

 guard against possible attacks on the part of the 

 mother-bird, he carried a nasty-looking stick. It 

 proved, however, no easy task to fix the camera in 

 the top boughs of this majestic forest tree, so he 

 tried one way after another until the machine would 

 keep in position. When he succeeded in doing thb, 

 he had the utmost difficulty in coaxing the young 

 eagles to remain in their nests. 



To obtain a film study of herons, he made screens 

 out of vegetation growths picked from a tract haunted 

 by the birds. These screens were so cleverly arranged 

 to match the undergrowth that even Mr. SaUsbury, 

 on returning the next morning, wandered for over an 

 hour before he could locate his hiding-place. He was 

 soon rewarded, however, by two male birds appearing, 

 and while they indulged in a scrap a la Jack Johnson, 

 he turned the crank of the camera. 



Imagine, then, his disappointment, when developing 

 the negative, to find a blade of grass had obstructed 

 the view of the lens. 



It is a distinct feather in the cinematographer's cap 

 to " capture " the kingfisher, that shy British bird. 

 I happen, however, to know of one camera man who 

 attempted the difficult stunt. He went about it by 

 studying the haunts of the kingfisher for himself. 

 This completed, he took up quarters in a stream at a 

 place where the water was four feet deep. Over his 

 head and shoulders he placed a large mask formed of 

 tree branches. When a kingfisher ventured within 

 view, he moved cautiously, so as to deceive the bird 



