MOTION-PICTURE PHOTOGRAPHY 705 



A fade is made in an optical printer by placing a master print in the projector and 

 copying it on a new or duplicate negative, frame by frame. At the desired point the 

 operator starts to close the camera shutter and continues to close it at a rate deter- 

 mined by the length of the fade. To fade in, the process is reversed. For a dissolve, 

 where the outgoing and incoming scenes overlap, a double exposure is required, the 

 dupe negative being exposed first to the scene fading out and then to the scene fading 

 in, so that the two superimpose. (A fade, in which the screen goes black, denotes a 

 considerable length of time; a dissolve indicates a briefer interval.) Instead of cross 

 fading for dissolves, "wipes" may be used, a moving edge or outline, in a variety of 

 shapes, obliterating one scene and bringing in the next. This may be accomplished 

 in the optical printer by means of a moving shutter geared to the driving mechanism. 



More complex composite effects are often managed in the optical printer by means 

 of masks, stationary or traveling. A stationary matte or mask is one which blocks 

 out the same portion of one of the components of a composite scene; it is simply an 

 opaque material appropriately cut and inserted in a slot in front of the unexposed 

 negative. When the area to be blocked out shifts in size or position, a traveling matte 

 of film must be made, usually by intensification, and threaded appropriately with the 

 print which is to be masked. The desired action then prints through the transparent 

 portion of the mask. In this way montage effects or other composites of several 

 films may be made, and the method also lends itself to trick effects of various kinds. 

 Often multiple masking and multiple printing are required to give the desired illusion. 



A detailed description of trick photography is not within the scope of this discus- 

 sion, but one elementary illustration may be given. Let us assume that it is desired 

 to show an actor working with a lion in a cage, the lion or the actor being of a disposi- 

 tion which precludes any actual fraternization between them. The scene may be 

 photographed with the man at one side of the cage going through the appropriate 

 action in the absence of the lion; the man then withdraws and the lion, persuaded by 

 suitable means to remain on the opposite side of the cage, performs his role and is 

 photographed. It is then a simple matter to combine the desired halves of the two 

 negatives in the optical printer, matting off the undesired halves in turn and producing 

 a dupe negative which shows the actor and the lion apparently occupying the cage 

 together. The same effect could, of course, be obtained by matting and double expo- 

 sure in the original photography, with the camera kept in the same position through- 

 out, but it is generally preferable from the standpoint of both time and quality to 

 resort to the optical printer. 



As in composite photography, in optical printing everything depends on accurate 

 registration, clean prints on stock of appropriate characteristics, and good laboratorj' 

 procedure. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the fact that optical 

 printing tends to introduce a change in contrast which is not encountered in contact 

 printing. This is particularly the case with specular illumination, where the light is 

 dispersed by the reduced silver in the print to an extent depending on the density, so 

 that there is slight dispersion in the high lights and heavy dispersion in the shadows. 

 In contact printing the dispersed light still reaches the new negative, so that the effect 

 is of no great practical consequence, but in optical printing the dispersed light is lost 

 before it reaches the lens, causing a loss of exposure in the shadows. Thus the contrast 

 is in effect increased — doubled in some cases. The remedy is to use softer prints and 

 to develop the negative to a lower gainma if necessary. 



An animation or title stand used in cartoon and title work comprises a camera 

 arranged to photograph film, title cards, drawings on celluloid, etc., by either trans- 

 mitted or reflected light. The material to be photographed is mounted on an easel, 

 which is generally positioned in the horizontal plane below the camera, the latter 

 shooting down along a vertical optical axis. The camera may be driven at a wide 



