734 



Popular Science Monthly 



the subject of constant experiment. 

 Theoretically the blues are the most sen- 

 sitive, yet some companies insist that 

 other colors be used. The net result of 

 color on the film is gray, and provided 

 the right tint is obtained, the color pref- 

 erence of the individual make-up special- 

 ists does not matter at all. 



Browns are depended upon to make 

 up Indians, Malays and other characters 

 o f dark skins ; 

 but a very little 

 brown goes a long 

 way, for brown is 

 a combination of 

 red, black and grey, 

 evidently a danger- 

 ous and dark-col- 

 ored combination. 



For mulattos or 

 negroes a darker 

 shade of the same 

 pigment is all that 

 is required, al- 

 though there are 

 special prepara- 

 tions for the negro 

 make-up. Of 

 course, our knowl- 

 edge of film color- 

 value teaches us that other dark tints 

 might be used instead of brown or black, 

 but the use of the correct color has an- 

 other advantage. It tells the usually ig- 

 norant "super" or "extra" what he is for 

 the moment. There is a good deal in 

 feeling the part, most actors tell us. 



Occasionally an actor will be found 

 wnth a peculiar skin, one that contains 

 unusual pigments, and it invariably pho- 

 tographs very dark. The cure, in case 

 of extreme darkness, may occasionally 

 be accomplished in the developing room. 

 Ghastly faces to accompany death scenes 

 are obtained by a liberal application of 

 white make-up. 



Both facial make-ups and costumes are 

 influenced by the color of the back- 

 ground. An experienced actor, called in 

 to take part in a certain picture, will, be- 

 fore making up, carefully examine the 

 color of the set in front of which he is 

 to act. He does not want to make up, 

 especially in the matter of clothing, too 

 nearly the color of the set, for in that 

 case he would not stand out from the 

 background. Yet he has a still greater 



Any sort of cardboard box can be opened 



without breaking the contents if this 



handy knife is used 



fear of dressing so as to create too sharp 

 a contrast, for too great contrast is the 

 despair of the man in the darkness who 

 develops the film. If an actress wears 

 a white shirt-waist against a black back- 

 ground, one of two things happens, 

 either the film is over-exposed, or it 

 is under-exposed. It takes much less 

 time to develop the white than it does 

 the black, and if both are shown in con- 

 trast in the same 

 scene, one or the 

 other will suffer. 

 This theory of con- 

 trasts also holds 

 for the c o lo r s . 

 Reds and blues 

 make a poor com- 

 bination, either in 

 the setting or in 

 the actor's or ac- 

 tress's clothes, or 

 in the facial make- 

 up, for the blues 

 develop faster than 

 the reds. In fact, 

 it is always better 

 to use in one scene 

 adjacent colors of 

 the spectrum. 

 Occasionally 3'ou will notice an actor 

 or actress with lips and cheeks to which 

 the color has been too liberally applied. 

 This is over-zealousness in an attempt 

 to counteract the blue rays from the 

 overhead lamps by means of which the 

 studio scenes are lighted. As all lamps 

 in common use give off a large percent- 

 age of blue rays, reds and yellows suffer 

 in proportion, so that it becomes neces- 

 sary to apply a color that will compen- 

 sate this elimination. 



A 



fact 



Novel Box-Opening Knife 



NOVEL knife for opening paste- 

 board boxes of groceries and in 

 any sealed cartons without dan- 

 ger of cutting one's fingers or project- 

 ing the knife into the contents of the 

 box, has been recently invented. 



The knife is a short blade project- 

 ing centrally from an angular shoe, 

 the sides of which are at right angles 

 to each other, so as to form a channel 

 adapted to run smoothly along the edge 

 of a box while the blade slits its edge. 



