How Motion Picture Films Are Made 



By R. W. Baremore 



On these big drums the films are dried after developing. They revolve slowly, throw- 

 ing off the water and exposing the emulsion side to a constant current of hot air 



THE system of taking a motion picture 

 and the developing and printing of 

 the film, follow closely the methods 

 employed by the amateur photographer, 

 even though the film is handled in very 

 much greater lengths. It is run through 

 the motion picture camera in much the 

 same manner as in the lowest priced kodak; 

 it is developed in a tank similar to the 

 amateur's, although many times 

 larger, and prints are made 

 from the negative in the 

 well-known way, ex- 

 cept that the positive 

 is printed on a cel- 

 luloid film instead 

 of on sensitized 

 paper. 



As a general rule 

 motion pictures are 

 made in thousand- 

 foot lengths. The reg- 

 ulation camera and pro- 

 jection machine holds 

 this length of film. What 

 are known as "features" 

 are produced in multiple 



The developing room. The work- 

 man is agitating the films in a bath 



reels. Hence the familiar sign "Mary 

 Pickford in Three Reels." This, we know, 

 does not mean that Little Mary has been 

 cut to pieces but that it was necessary 

 to utilize three thousand feet of film to 

 produce the picture. 



Motion picture film is much more dur- 

 able than that which is used in the kodak, 

 and the emulsion is considerably faster. 

 The film is one and three-eighths 

 es in width and is made 

 n two-hundred-foot 

 lengths, the full reel 

 or one thousand feet 

 being secured by 

 cementing five of 

 these lengths to- 

 gether. On both 

 outer edges of the 

 film are perforations 

 averaging sixty-four 

 holes to the foot. 

 These must be made with 

 great care so that the 

 picture synchronizes with 

 the projector shutter. 

 When the cameraman 



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