Hearing the Movies

Masking Exercise

2011-09-08T23:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a quotation from Dimitri Tiomkin that could serve to introduce the masking exercise:

To comprehend fully what music does for movies, one should see a picture before the music is added, and again after it has been scored. Not only are all the dramatic effects heightened, but in many instances the faces, voices, and even the personalities of the players are altered by the music.

Source: Dimitri Tiomkin, "Composing for Films," Films in Review 2.9 (1951): 21. (The full article runs pp. 17-22.)

Administrative Post

2011-08-30T20:35:00.003-05:00

I've just discovered a stash of emails that were sent to the link on the site here. This spring and summer, Google has been transferring the accounts associated with the site, and during that transition, some emails seem not to have arrived immediately. I have now answered all the emails that have appeared in the inbox. If you have sent a message and not received a reply, please resend your inquiry.

We apologize for the confusion.

Studio Scene

2011-08-20T11:58:00.003-05:00

A little self-deprecating humor from The Score, the official newsletter of the American Society of Music Arrangers.

Image Source: The Score, 2.7-8 (1945) (PDF).

Marlin Skiles Says...

2011-08-18T19:25:00.008-05:00

The American Society of Arrangers and Composers has posted PDFs to four volumes of The Score, the organization's newsletter, from the late 1940s. At the time, the organization claimed membership by the prominent orchestrators and arrangers working in Hollywood. The following, short article by composer and arranger Marlin Skiles is typical of the materials to be found in the newsletter

Among the subscribers to THE SCORE, there are undoubtedly many people who wonder just how the arranger functions in the music profession. Consequently, I think it would be well to give a description of just what the arranger's place is in musical society.

Most of our popular music is written for voice with piano accompaniment. As there are many mediums of performance other than vocal, it is necessary then to have this music transcribed, or re-written so that it is possible to perform it in another manner.

This is the arranger's job. Every time a piece of popular music is performed in any other version than that of voice and piano, an arrangement or orchestration has to be made for the particular way it is to be performed.

The arranging profession came to the fore with the advent of the jazz era, and it is a singularly unique American development. It is a definite expression of the American way of life, caused by the desire for individualism, variety and the demand for something new and different.

A competent arranger is expected to be, among other things, an excellent musician, a clever "idea" man, an inventor of new styles or patterns, and a composer of sorts. He is supposed to shun the thought of imitating any previously employed devices in his idiom.

This, of course, is quite an assignment, and it is remarkable that so many thousands of music writers in this country pass the test. The arranger has become as necessary to our present popular music production as the mouthpiece is to the wind player or the bow to the fiddler.

It can truthfully be said that without the arranger, easily 80 per cent of our popular songs would never have been written. This estimates the percentage of popular songwriters who cannot so much as write their own melodies.

Hence jazz itself would never have risen above the cacophonous state in which it was born, had not the arranger appeared on the scene.

Source: "Marlin Skiles Says," The Score 1.3 (March 1944), 1. (Link is to PDF.)
Image source: Color masthead was excerpted from the cover posted here.

YouTube analysis-comparison exercise

2011-01-12T16:11:00.000-06:00

The sheer volume of items posted to YouTube makes it easy to construct elementary comparison exercises that draw on audiovisual analysis. The point of the exercise is to give students practice very early in semester (as they read HtM Ch. 1) but isolate the work from the complex narrative contexts of feature films and from the students' learned viewing habits for films.

The task is to describe different visual tracks as they relate to a single audio track. I chose performances of a musical composition because they're easy to find on YouTube and often are relatively stable there (that is, not taken down), but more so because the limits of the musical text allow us to treat the sound track more or less as a control, against which we can more easily compare different collections of images, still and moving. Tempo remains a variable in the audio track as well, of course, but we will minimize that by looking first at three visualizations of the same recorded musical performance.

The composition is "Morgenstimmung" (Morning Mood), the first movement in Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46. The design is simple: A - A' (expanded) - A'' (as coda or ending section). Here are the corresponding moments in musical notation (piano reduction only).

Timings for the three sections in the performance by the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan are included at the top of the next example, which charts the principal harmonic changes through the movement. (The image is a thumbnail -- click on it to see the original.)

Version no. 1: link. One might think of this as a "control" since the image track is static, nothing but a title card. In fact, however, this is in some ways the most difficult version to study because the students must be able to pay attention to their attention, so to speak. Once they guess that the image is probably not going to change, attention shifts away from it to the music, in a radical version of what Claudia Gorbman calls the "pure cultural musical code," that is, music as performance. A clever student who refuses the let the image track go entirely may relate the starkness of the black background to the audiovisual sparseness of a video that is only music.

Version no. 2: link. The same recording (played twice!) with a slide show of images. Questions to consider: how are changes to a new image timed to the music track? (Generally, they avoid synchronization -- images change shortly before the downbeat of a new bar. Exceptions @ about 2:40.) What is the effect of the lack of synchronization @ important form articulations in the music? (If images had changed at those moments, the images would suddenly have seemed relatively "important", leading to speculation about reasons for that importance. Something similar happens in a couple cases where the slide is onscreen noticeably longer than the others.) What kind of narrative content (or expectation for narrative continuity) is provoked by the slide show? (The obvious one would be the minimal narrative of dawn in many different locales -- but here again there are a few exceptions, slides that obviously depict mid-day. One might also ask whether chronological continuity is important -- one slide of a darkened tree and a pre-dawn planet seems out of place. In the case of narrative, it is not important to come up with answers -- what is important is to notice the fact of imposing (or trying to impose) narrative continuity on the images.) The ending of the first playthrough is obviously clumsy in the image track (the photo of Grieg appears twice in short order and then the slide show starts up a third time a few seconds before the piece ends).

Version 3: link. An upgrade to the slide show that makes a very good comparison for no. 2. Here the poster is playing with simple effects applied to a video of a fire in a fireplace. Because the editing is plainly done by someone (no. 2's slide show could have been an app on autopilot), the questions of intention and design arise more seriously. (If students know about it, a discussion of the associations brought up by the context of the YouTube "Kaminfeuer" trope could be interesting -- here again, it's not the information that is important but the realization of the power of these external associations to shape or guide the viewing -- very much like genre expectations in feature films.)

Version no. 4: link. Not Karajan. By comparison with no. 2, both performance and slide show seem frenetic.

Version no. 5: link. Here is what Gorbman really meant by the "pure" code in feature films: a filmed performance of the piece by an orchestra. The camera is static. Compare to this performance that has multiple cameras and was edited: link.

Terminological History of Music for Cinema

2010-12-29T15:20:00.006-06:00

The graph below shows the frequency that various terms used to describe music and cinema appear in the sources contained in Google Books. This was produced using the Google Labs Ngram Reader. I inputted five terms: film music, cinema music, moving picture music, motion picture music and movie music. One of the more interesting aspects of this graph is that it suggests that "film music" does not become the dominant term until after 1930—that is, its terminological dominance coincides with the change over to sound film production.

(Click to see a larger image.)

You can make your own graph and change the variables here.

Music on the Set

2010-12-22T14:24:00.004-06:00

"Music—The Soul Behind the 'Movies'" is link to a nice, short article from 1924 on the practice of playing music on the set. The article might be especially good for the purposes of teaching. It appeared in the September 1924 issue of Popular Mechanics, pp. 412-14.

Classroom resources

2010-12-13T09:54:00.007-06:00

A pointer to our "Classroom Resources" page on the main HtM website: Syllabi and other materials.

Here's the syllabus for Jim's large section general course based on HtM: UGS303, fall 2010.

Here's a link to David's summer course for which HtM was the textbook: MUS 337, ss 2009.

We're happy to add links to syllabi for courses using HtM. Please send links or write to us (see "Contact us" under Contributors).

Review sites for film books

2010-12-12T13:00:00.004-06:00

David Bordwell has written another excellent essay on the state of the field, this time on the mismatch between the volume of publication in film studies and the number of book reviews. Citation: Film History 22 (2010): 257-64. Bordwell mentions two open access online journals that make a serious effort to review film books. Here are links for both of them:

Senses of Cinema.
Screening the Past.

UCLA silent animated films

2010-06-04T17:26:00.003-05:00

The following is reproduced from this week's edition of The Scout Report (June 4, 2010; Volume 16, Number 22).

UCLA Preserved Silent Animation [Flash Player]

http://animation.library.ucla.edu/

UCLA's film and television archive of animated silent films from the pre-

1930s is relatively small, but considering the rarity of any silent films,

it is still an impressive collection. Some of the films offered up on this

website include "Felix the Cat", the "Inkwell Imps", and "Aesop's Film

Fables". Visitors are lucky enough to be able to view online or download 11

animated films from the library's collection. While watching the films,

visitors can listen to the preservation commentary, or listened to the music

for each film composed by Michael D. Mortilla, who has played music for

silent films for the Silent Society. Visitors can learn more about Michael

D. Mortilla by reading the "About the Music" link. There are also film

notes and an historical overview that visitors can read for each film.

Researchers or interested parties will find a 15-page study guide of films

and works about silent films available as a PDF. This helpful document is

conveniently located at the bottom of the homepage. [author: KMG = Max Grinnell]

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2010.

http://scout.wisc.edu/

Gaumont Sound films

2010-04-04T19:26:00.005-05:00

Below are some "phonescènes" that have been posted to YouTube. These are synchronized sound films directed by Alice Guy for the Gaumont Chronophone, and all of the ones below happen to have been made in 1905. All of these are also included on the Gaumont Treasures, 1897-1913. Here is the IMDB link to a list of Chronophones.

This first one is actually not on the IMDB list (but is included in the Gaumont Treasures): Polin performs L'anatomie du conscrit (The Anatomy of a Draftee).

Félix Mayol performs La Polka des Trottins.

Armand Dranem performs Five O'Clock Tea.

Armand Dranem performs Le Vrai Jiu-Jitsu.

The Gaumont collection also includes Félix Mayol in both Questions indiscrètes and Lilas-Blanc.

Examples of Early Sound Film

2010-03-31T15:42:00.007-05:00

Here are a number of examples of early sound films.

The Dickson Experimental Sound Film (c. 1894)

Nursery Favorites (Edison, 1914)

A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor (de Forest Phonofilm, 1923):

Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake Sing Snappy Songs (de Forest Phonofilm, 1923)

President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Grounds (de Forest Phonofilm, 1924)

Gus Visser and his Singing Duck (Theodore Case, 1925)

Anna Case in La Fiesta (Vitaphone, 1926). (Although the YouTube video lists this as 1928, I believe it is actually 1926.)

George Bernard Shaw (Fox Movietone, 1928)

Finding His Voice (Western Electric, 1929)

The First International Exposition

2010-03-30T05:56:00.003-05:00

Below are excepts from a review of the International Trade Show that was held in New York in early July. I have included primarily the passages on music and sound effects. The full article, which contains many interesting bits about equipment available to exhibitors, can be accessed via Google Books in window at the end of the post.

The First International Exposition

Splendid Showing Made by the Various Branches of
the Motion Picture Trade and Contributary Interests

It was something of a venture on the part of the promoters of the First International Exposition of Motion Picture Arts when they suggested the project. As has been frequently observed in these columns, conditions in the trade were not favorable to such an undertaking, but that fact did not deter the promoters, the New York City Exhibitors' League. They framed their plans very carefully and toiled with great industry for the ultimate success.

Whether conditions of the trade changed to please the promoters of the exposition, or whether it was their energy that overcame adverse conditions, the fact remains that the exposition was a huge success. The big hall of the Grand Central Palace was tastefully laid out, the booths were artistically designed and decorated, giving the exposition a fairyland aspect when illuminated by the thousands of incandescent lights.

It would be impossible to publish all the complimentary remarks expressed by visitors, but they were enthusiastic to the last degree, and well they might be, for it seldom happens that a trade exhibit at Grand Central Palace is more comprehensive and attractive than this. A careful review of the displays follows:

[. . .]

[325]

[. . .]

Just across the aisle from the big Wurlitzer instrument, that makes more noise than the band, the Dramagraph effects machine has to get in when the Wurlitzer man has a heart, but the novelty of the machine holds the crowds. It is a compact collection of drummers' traps and effects self-contained and supplemented by the usual bass and snare drum. The bass pedal has an arrangement whereby the cymbal or drum may be operated independently of the other or in unison. The other has a lever device for throwing off the snares and converting it into a tom-tom. Cranks, pulls and handles work all sorts of bells and a series of tubes work the whistles, and other pneumatic effects. There is a phonograph for use where the piano is absent, and an organ run by a crank for church scenes. A typewriter key effect has its accompanying bell, and the demonstrator claims that not a single sound asked for yet has not been replied to. The jokester who asks for "a noise like a nut" is given the laugh by the operator tapping his assistant's head.

Scott and Van Altena have their display in running order and show a collection of slides that it would be hard to beat anywhere. They are all straight photographic effects in combination instead of crude drawing, and some of the colorings are unusually effective. You are missing an eye treat if you go past this booth too quickly. The interior is darkened and a glass screen shows the effect of some of the numbers in the lantern.

Phonoliszt Violina is a pretty large mouthful of name. It belongs to one of the most unique musical instruments on the floor, a combination of two violins and piano. While there are four instruments for each violin, each violin using but a single string, all are completely strung and the combination of the eight give the full effect of two good instruments, the bowing being done by a circle bow and the stopping by mechanical fingers. Apart from the novelty the tonal effects are really good and the piano accompaniment leaves nothing to be desired, being neither obtrusive nor lacking in volume. Perforated paper rolls are used, these being made in Germany. There is another instrument giving a combination of piano and organ, a pleasing effect, and there is a pipe organ with effects for those who desire something of greater volume, all of them being handled by Ernst Bocker. There is more than plenty of music in the air, but it is good music.

[. . .] There is a full equipment of Deagan's bells. A. F. Berry is in charge of the exhibit, and he is aided by J. R. Hunter and J. R. Sweeney.

[. . .]

[326]

[. . .]

The one thing that can make the Wurlitzer organ weary is the Yerkes bells mounted on the balcony railing and operated from a booth close to the entrance. Next exposition, it is rumored, they are going to put all the musical instruments in a special

[327]

hall and let them fight it out, but the bells are holding their own well, and are attracting attention. They have other music makers, but the bells lead the rest.

[. . .]

It isn't necessary to talk much about the Wurlitzer-Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra. It speaks for itself and in no uncertain tones. Every time it starts up—and it starts up about ten minutes after it runs down—the crowd hustles over and the only person in hearing who does not seem to like it is the man who tries to sneak in a demonstration of the Dramagraph each time they change a tune.

The W-H-J has to hustle some to live up to two hyphens, but it makes it every time and with plenty to spare. The Wurlitzer people might have filled that end of the hall with their various styles of instruments, but they centered on the Unit Orchestra and the band lost its job after the opening night, just as many orchestras have been replaced by one man at the W-H-J console. The best thing about it is that having only one man, a good man may be engaged, since he is the director over a mechanical instead of a human orchestra. The regular Wurlitzer catalogue lists machines all the way from $375 up, but no one ever discovered that they had more than one standard of excellence though a score of degrees of elaborateness.

The Berry-Wood people, at the other end of the hall—and have you noticed how these automatic players run to hyphens— have three instruments on display and many more in their catalogue.

[. . .]

Source: “The First International Exposition,” Moving Picture World 19 July 1913, 324-27.

Wurlitzer, Sound Effects, and a Letter from Columbus

2010-03-29T05:45:00.001-05:00

Sinn's column appeared only sporadically during the summer months, and this particular column seemed to serve primarily to drum up reader interest in the column. For whatever reason Sinn would place only two more columns in Moving Picture World before the end of September.

Here, Sinn spends the first part of the column on the Wurlitzer Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra, which had made a very big impression at the summer trade show in New York. This instrument is indeed the forerunner of the mighty Wurlitzer that would become legendary during the picture palace era. Wurlitzer had long advertised in the Moving Picture World, but their ads, as the one to the left, had generally sold their cheaper automatic instruments, with the promise that its automatic instruments would "furnish better music than musicians and reduce expenses." Wurlitzer did not, for the most part, advertise the Unit Orchestra directly in Moving Picture World—though it did receive fairly extensive coverage in news items.

Sinn then turns to Lapin's (Excelsior) "Dramagraph" sound effects cabinet, which had likewise impressed at the trade show, before printing a long letter urging musicians to play appropriate music. He ends with a short item announcing a collection of music written specially for "motion picture work."

Come Right In; Don’t Stop to Knock.

The editor of this department has been a few weeks vacation and in consequence the page has been neglected somewhat. Now that we are back in the harness we are going to try with your help to make the music department more interesting than before. Those having new ideas, worries, questions or answers—anything in fact which may be of interest to your fellow musicians—please come forward with your offerings. It says “Welcome” on the door-mat and we are always glad to hear from you.

To the exhibitor who contemplates the installation of a pipe organ in his theater, I would respectfully suggest that before deciding he will give a thorough inspection to the Wurlitzer-Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra. (The manufacturers object to its being styled an organ, tho it is played the same.) Exhibitors who attended the convention in New York heard this instrument among other exhibits, of course; they could not very well help it, but amid all the confusion, bustle and many-voiced sounds, the Unit-Orchestra had little or no opportunity of demonstrating its value as applied to picture-music. To appreciate its worth, one must see and hear a practical demonstration and I found one at the Astor Theater where “Quo Vadis” is being shown. Many of the visitors attended this performance, no doubt. Those who did not, missed a treat. I saw it three times this week and enjoyed Mr. Clarence W. Dow’s masterly accompaniment upon a Wurlitzer-Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra. I wish to remark in passing, that Mr. Dow is an artist, an experienced picture-musician and one of the very few I have been fortunate enough to hear, who can improvise appropriate and musical music to moving pictures.

The instrument at the Astor Theater is only one of their many styles and, as the manufacturers justly say, is destined to become very popular. So again I suggest before you decide upon that pipe organ inform yourself regarding the Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra. The Rudolf Wurlitzer Co. will gladly give you details in case you are so situated that a personal examination is impossible.

Sound Effects.

Lapin’s “Dramagraph” was another exhibit which attracted much attention. This is purely a “sound-effect” instrument and its inventor claims that it can be made to produce “any conceivable sound known and used in dramatic or photoplay portrayal.” As that will cover theoretically every sound known to art and nature, you can see it is a pretty big proposition. At that I think they made all of them and added a few original noises during that week of July 7th. It is “some sound box” all right.

A Few Remarks From Columbus, Ohio.

“So much has been said about music for pictures in your valuable magazine that I feel as though I might add a few words of advice to picture-pianists. First of all, play the picture as it should be played, if you know how. If not, give up your position to one who does know how and save your credit. Not every pianist is qualified to play pictures. I have known the very finest performers of piano to be utterly lost on a picture as far as appropriate music for the picture goes. First of all study your picture thoroughly before you touch the piano, know just what you are playing for and play it. If you played a song for a singer you would have some feeling about that song, wouldn’t you? I am sure no piano player, no matter how brilliant or what amount of knowledge of music he may have, would play ‘Il Travatore’ in the same rambling time and tone as he would ‘Grizzly Bear.’ If some of the old authors who spent the best of their lives in writing such pieces as ‘Melody in F,’ ‘Sextette from Lucia,’ ‘Il Travatore,’ ‘Poet and Peasant,’ or any of the higher class of music, could hear how it is being literally butchered by the ragtime banger, they would week with mortification if they at all recognized their composition. Now, piano player, for sake of poor suffering humanity, please play as though you enjoyed your work and were not doing it simply because you had to, to buy a new frock or that it was more of a task than a pleasure. It is a task for an intelligent audience to sit through, probably, the very finest set of pictures, when they are poorly played. Play all the latest popular airs, of course, and, as much lively ragtime pieces as you like, but for your own sakes play them at the right time and in the right places. It is always best with a three (3) reel subject to carry the feeling of one reel straight into the next one, then play a rag or poplar air at the close of the picture. I was in a picture show in my own town just a few nights ago. The picture was ‘In Slavery Days,’ a Southern drama. The pianist was an exception; she played All the old Southern airs, I believe, that was ever written from ‘Kentucky Home’ to variation of ‘Mocking Bird’ and between the reels she played variations of ‘Massa’s in the Cole, Cole Ground,’ and, to tell the truth, there was not a dry eye in the house and scarcely a breath drawn between reels, simply because that girl got her audience and she held them. One more word, pianists throw your whole life and soul into your picture. Just make yourself fit in and put feeling into your playing. I believe that the time will eventually come when the ragtime junk will be thrown out altogether, and the higher class of compositions used. Pianist should remember that no matter where the theater is located, there is bound to be a musician at some time or other visit it. And they should also remember that his or her manager is depending on them for exactly one-half of his entertainment. If the pianist is no part of the entertainment and cannot hold up his or her end of the entertainment, the sooner the music is dispensed with the better. I have played in picture shows for seven years and the best way to play for pictures is to get the ‘Moving Picture World’ and the moving picture stories each week and read all the stories of the picture your exchange furnishes. Then you are familiar with the thread of the picture before the show. And until pianists do acquaint themselves with the different subjects of the pictures, the managers are bound to have poor music.

“The pianist alluded to in the above is Mrs. Ethel London at the Oakwood Theater, Columbus, Ohio, and I believe her to be one of the best in our City.

“Mrs. I. B. Sneed.”

New Music.

I notice Mr. J. Bodewalt Lampe, the well known American composer, is about to launch a collection of music designed for motion picture work. Mr. Lampe expects to have it on the market in a few weeks and you will doubtless see his announcement in these pages when the work is ready. It will be for piano and orchestra and can be used for any combination of instruments, and will, I am sure, be a welcome addition to the meager selection of music designed especially for picture work which is now on the market.

Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 23 August 1913, 833.
Image Sources: Excelsior Sound Effect Cabinet Moving Picture World 12 July 1913, 256; Wurlitzer Moving Picture World 9 August 1913, 692.

What and How to Play for Pictures

2010-03-28T21:07:00.008-05:00

Here is a scan of Eugene A. Ahern's What and How to Play for Pictures (1913) [5 MB PDF]. Unlike Lyle C. True's very similarly titled catalogue from the following year, Ahern's book offers practical advice in the specific task of playing to the pictures; it is in that sense a practical manual. The copy I looked at did not contain a Table of Contents, but I have compiled one below:

Preface 5
How to Play 7
Appropriate Music 10
Short Scenes 13
Continuous Playing 18
Difficult Music 22
Producers' Suggestions 28
Popular Music 32
Arrangement of Themes 39
War Dramas 43
Society Plays 45
Brighter Prospects 50
Effect Playing 53
Specimen Program 56
Don'ts 58

Here is his preface:

This Booklet was not gotten up to criticize anyone's way of playing pictures, nor to teach you how to play the piano; but What and How to Play for Pictures is the object aimed at. The book also contains a little advice to beginners in this line of business.

The Booklet embodies my ideas of the business of playing the pictures. I do not claim to be infallible, but experience has shown me the wisdom of the views set forth. In the hope of assisting others in this particular occupation I offer the result of my own observations and study.
Eugene Ahern.

How and What to Play For Moving Pictures

2010-03-27T06:33:00.006-05:00

The catalogues of Seredy, Rapee, Borodkin and Hastings all date from the 1920s and they emphasize orchestral music. The same is true for the most elaborate of these catalogues, the Allgemeines Handbuch der Film-Musik of Erdmann and Becce.

The idea of a list of music catalogued by topics occurred early, however. Numerous times in the early days of his column, Clarence E. Sinn had mentioned a list he had compiled and was willing to share with correspondents for the cost of postage—though he declined to publish it in his column and so the extent of its coverage remains unclear.

The first publication I’m aware of that sees cataloguing music by topic as key to the whole enterprise is Lyle C. True’s How and What to Play for Moving Pictures: A Manual and Guide for Pianists (1914), which, aside from a two page introduction (reproduced below), consists almost entirely of a list of compositions catalogued by topic. Earlier publications had also contained topically arranged lists of compositions as part of longer works, but these lists were initially fairly short and clearly conceptualized as appendices rather than a primary order of musical knowledge.

The primacy given to the categorization is what changes with True's collection, even though his treatise remains relatively short: 11 pages of catalogue proper divided into about a dozen categories (some with subdivisions). In addition, he includes 7 additional pages that analyze well-known operas, operettas, and overtures into categories and also provide a list of some common, useful popular songs.

Here is the preface:

How and What to Play for Motion Pictures

The motion picture pianist who would be above the mere mechanical devices in playing for the picture must, first of all, take his work seriously. He should be able at once to recognize the dramatic possibilities of a picture and to augment and support them through the medium of his art.

It is obvious, of course, that the solo pianist has an advantage over two or more musicians through being able to watch the pictures and play at the same time. He can instantly follow each change of mood and character, and support the climaxes as it becomes desirable.

It is not sufficient, in many cases, merely to select a number of compositions of a given character, and to play them through as the drama is shown on the screen. To do so is to miss completely the scores of opportunities that arise for fitting the music to the action.

The pianist should create a tone poem that forms a frame, as it were, for the picture: and this involves a true test of his musicianship. To do this well, he should have at his finger tips a large and varied repertoire, and the ability to improvise, so as to unite several, or the fragments of many compositions into a pleasing and effective whole.

As a good accompanist merges his work with that of a soloist to a degree that the hearer is entirely oblivious of his work, so the good picture pianist makes the music so intregal [sic] a part of the picture that the two become one perfect, inseparable, and harmonious whole.

Of course there are scenes and situations requiring no particular kind of music, and yet even here, lack of judgment and taste can work to disadvantage.

After having read the synopsis of the picture in the "Moving Picture World", which is, of course, an essential guide in his work, and having gotten an idea of its general atmosphere, he can select from the particular group of compositions required,

[3]

those single numbers that his taste tells him are best suited. It is needless to say that often his second performance will be an improvement on the first, as some details, not forseen [sic], are sure to suggest more accurately fitting accompaniment.

It is the object of the classified lists and notes on the following pages to aid the player in the selection of suitable material, but he must use good judgment in fitting his selections, whole or in part, in modulating smoothly, and in playing through a picture without break or interruption.

Many songs are included, and these he will, of course, transcribe into piano solos, as they form one of the most valuable groups of his material.

The classification of the following numbers does not mean that they cannot be used for other situations, as, for example, numbers like the Grieg Nocturne, while pastoral in character, would be fine for a sad, or a love scene. The classification simply shows what they are originally written to picture. This is left to the judgment of the pianist.

Time and money spent in acquiring a good library of music is well spent, and this is a part of the preparation for those better positions that are sure to appear when the possibilities of the picture pianist's work are fully recognized, and when he will have developed with the demand created by the higher conception of this offices by the public.

In the better houses the ill-toned and often blatent [sic] mechanical instrument has given way to the grand piano and the ten thousand dollar pipe organ, played by an ambitious artist who is not satisfied to "get by" with a few stock tunes of questionable fitness.

The ambitious picture pianist is proud of his work, and glad of the opportunity never before so favorable, of bringing really good music to countless millions who are in a receptive mood and have no other opportunity of hearing music of lasting merit.

The following list, which includes many gems in piano literature, contains nothing which the author has not used often, and every class embraces the most suitable selections for its character and mood.

LYLE C. TRUE

Because it emphasizes categorization, the book appears almost entirely devoted to “what,” with the “how” covered mostly implicitly, through the act of choosing from the catalogue on the one hand and the presentation of a brief exemplar on the other.

This is a scan of the first two pages of the catalogue:

Here is True's example musical interpretation for Vitagraph's The Mystery of the Hidden House (1914).

The object of this book is to deal with the standard music and the serious pictures.

The following synopsis of the Vitagraph release, "The [Mystery of the] Hidden House" will serve as a model to the pianist showing what type of music to use for woodland or forest scenes, poetic fantasy, contrasts of sorrow and gladness, dancing and love scenes.

This two reel subject also demonstrates how much music is required (with no improvising) playing the music successively from beginning to end of the second reel.

There Is so much good music of this type, that the improvising of the average pianist would suffer in comparison.

[21]

"The Mystery of the Hidden House"
Synopsis
The music was played as follows:

Reel 1
Who is Sylvia. Song—Schubert
Moon Moths (entire suite; 3 numbers)—Kussner
Song of the Waternymph—Rhode
Festival in the Fields—Bachmann
The Lake of Como—Galos
What the Pond Lillies [sic] Whispered—Betts
Scarf Dance—Chaminade
Narcissus—Nevin

Reel 2
Dance of the Hours (from ''La Gioconda")—Ponchielli
Pas de Fleur (Nalla)—Delibes
Venezia (complete suite; 4 numbers)—Nevin
Strophe—Bartholdy
Pourquoi?—Latour
Serenade—Drigo

While tramping the hills of Virginia on his vacation, Dick Marston, a young minister, sprains his ankle. Moina Jardine, a demure little mountain maiden, assists him to her grandfather's home, "The Hidden House." Marston learns that Moina is subject to great stress of mind, at times. She tells him she and her sister, Robina, take turns caring for Mr. Jardine. Marston falls in love with the beautiful Moina. but Mr. Jardine and Mercy, the colored servant, say "Wait until you see Robina!" One day, Moina turns from Marston and begs her grandfather to explain the Mystery, but is angrily told to keep silent. That night Marston, walking in the grounds, meets Moina. She seems dazed, tells him that Robina comes! She disappears, leaving him greatly puzzled. The next morning Robina, beautiful and bewitching, comes dancing in.

Mr. Jardine and Mercy decorate the house and at night, before the blazing logs the colored servant tells witch stories. Marston, in his room, sees Robina dancing through the grounds in the moonlight. She pouts and goes straight up his room, laughing at his displeasure. Seeing a picture of Moina, she angrily tears it in pieces and rushes out. Marston is fascinated by Robina and one day, seizing her in his arms, he kisses her passionately. Suddenly her expression changes. She cries out that Moina is coming and falls unconscious. The girl is cared for by Jardine and Mercy, and when Marston next sees her, finds she is once more the sweet and gentle Moina. Appalled at the strange phenomena, he Is overcome with emotion. The grandfather explains that Moina is a dual personality, possessed in turn with the soul of Moina and that of Robina, which explains why Marston has never seen the two girls together, but he now knows that Moina and Robina are one and the same. Marston later meets Moina in the garden and tenderly takes her in his arms, telling her of his love. The mystery of the "Hidden House" is solved and Robina is only a memory of the past.

A scan of the whole book is available here [8 MB].

Sam Fox Motion Picture Music Catalogue

2010-03-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

Catalogues classifying music by mood were quite common in the 1920s. We have already posted scans from Seredy's two catalogues from Fischer, Rapee's Encyclopedia from Schirmer as well as Bodokin's general collection. Today, we turn to the Sam Fox company. In 1929, J. B. Hastings published a loose-leaf volume very much in the spirit of Rapee's Encyclopedia (without the extensive notes and advice for exhibitors). The title of the collection was Classified Catalogue of Sam Fox Publishing Co. Motion Picture Music. Here the idea seems to have been to layout a proper cataloguing system for a music library that served a large movie theater. Preprinted in the catalogue were all of the appropriate items from the Sam Fox backlist, but Hastings' collection also contained ample room for the theater to log its own music and included numerous empty pages for this purpose. (The collection was also only printed on the recto side of the paper, leaving the verso free for additions as well.)

Here is the table of contents for Hastings' Classified Catalogue. (The copy I had access to did not include a title page.)

And this is the entry for Agitato:

Borodkin's Guide To Motion Picture Music

2010-03-25T06:22:00.004-05:00

Here are some scans of the opening pages of Maurice Borodkin's Guide To Motion Picture Music from 1928, which unlike Rapee's Encyclopedia, the catalogues Seredy compiled for Fischer is not much mentioned in the literature. This is very similar to the Carl Fischer Motion Picture Music Guide compiled by Seredy et al. in 1922, albeit Borodkin's guide is not restricted to pieces by a single publisher. Borodkin's collection does not include the extensive information on each piece that Seredy's 1929 Analytical Orchestra does, but it is published in loose-leaf format which would have permitted easy updating of the content.

Borodkin apparently worked for Balaban & Katz, which by the time Borodkin compiled his Guide had been acquired by Paramount to form the basis of its Publix Theatre chain. The book was privately published and as such the details of why it was published are somewhat murky. One possibility is that the Guide was first assembled to help establish a degree of musical uniformity among the Publix theaters and was then offered for sale to music directors of other theaters. Why Publix would have permitted the dissemination of such proprietary information, however, is unclear, as is why the company would have allowed Borodkin to publish it on his own.

PREFACE

No one but the experienced musical director or organist can appreciate what a task the synchronization or fitting of appropriate music to a music picture is. The other numbers on the average picture house program, the overture, presentations, musical novelties, etc. are prepared along accepted lines but the job of setting the feature picture and the various short subjects to music is frequently the stumbling block of some of the most capable musicians.

There are many fine points to be learned before one can be really called competent to provide suitable music to the action of the film offerings. The volume of work that surrounds most picture theatre conductors and organists is generally so great the time in which to develop the art of cueing pictures is seldom available and every aid must be employed to complete the job.

To actually cue a picture correctly and artistically presupposes adequate equipment in musical knowledge and considerable experience. A finely balanced artistic sense of the propriety of things. An intimate and readily accessible knowledge of dramatic emotions, moods, scenes, incidents, climaxes and their musical complements.

To know even a part of this requires more time than the average musician can afford and so Borodkin's Guide to Motion Picture Music makes it bow and finds a place already awaiting it in the musician's library. To the thousands who prefer to specialize in their own work it places the work of cueing in the hands of an expert.

Maurice Borodkin, in the compilation of this carefully planned work has rendered a definite service to the profession—a service plainly apparent even by hasty investigation. More than six thousand numbers—in daily use in the finest De Luxe theatres throughout the country—are classified and sub-classified into more than one hundred and fifty distinct categories.

Each mood is accurately defined in plain language so that musician does not have to consult an encyclopedia of a musical dictionary. Each piece in a suite, potpourri, or medley is individually mentioned. This is a valuable point, for one will often remember but a single chorus of a selection and forget just where to look for it in the confusion ensuing from an overburdened memory.

The general task of filing is reduced to the extremely simple one of putting one's library away in consecutive, numerical order. There are even interesting program notes included which will assist the musician who has to furnish the explanatory material for his concerts. It is entirely a loose-leaf affair,—which means that the work can be added to from time to time and thus kept up to date.

Finally, this Guide is written in such simple language, it is so thorough in its scope of application, and so accurate in its attention to the details of classification that the user can compile his entire score away from his library. Once having completed a selection it is only necessary to look the numbers up and the score is complete and ready for the pit!

In this manner Mr. Borodkin relieves the musician of the tedious detail and lessens the experience otherwise necessary to do good work. He has had intimate acquaintance with thousands of musical compositions during his fifteen years of library experience so that "Borodkin's Guide To Motion Picture Music" ought to deserve a place in every serious musician's library for its value in picture fitting. The serious professional will not be without it.

—HENRY FRANCIS PARKS,
Instructor of Theatre Organ Chicago Musical College.

And here are scans of the "agitato" section of the Guide:

Carl Fischer Motion Picture Music Guide, Part 3

2010-03-24T06:01:00.003-05:00

Another set of short articles from the Motion Picture Music Guide, this time covering topics such as the advantage of medleys, the use of well-known songs for accompanying film and the leitmotif. Part one of this series is located here. Part two is located here.

Serious Selections

It is customary when no special action is being carried on in the picture, to fill out in musical score with a selection in accordance with the dominating mood in the picture. It should be taken that those parts of the selection which are dramatic (agitatos, mysteriosos, etc.) are omitted. (p. 32).

* * * * *

Medleys

Every library should contain a few old Medleys to be used in cases where the action in teh picture goes back one or more decades. The Medleys listed here cover a period of about the last thirty-five years and contain the popular Songs and Dances of that time. They can be used in whole, or in part. (p. 33)

* * * * *

The Use of Well-Known Songs

Music should represent in sound the emotions of the characters on the screen and should also interpret the action. This function of the orchestra is well within its scope. After much experimentation, arrangers of music for the motion picture have come to the conclusion that standard published works are most satisfactory for this purpose. But occasionally, there are times and situations when a well known popular song may be employed with telling effect. For example, in a domestic life comedy, when the situation reveals a backsliding husband about to return home to an angry wife, it would be quite in order for the orchestra to strike up the dashing theme of "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight." The significance of this particular song lies in its being universally known. It happens to be one of the few in which the melody is characteristic of the title. But the audience will not think of the melody so much as the words of the song. And when these interpret a situation, the effect of the picture is enhanced. What really happens is that the audience adds another title to whatever the screen may have flashed. That title in the instance cited, is "There'll Be a Hot Time," etc. It would be manifestly ludicrous for an orchestra to play this melody simply because it has a brisk rhythm. The audience would think of the words, and if these did not add to the action of the scenes they accompanied, the picture would appear ridiculous.

The nature of popular music is adaptable to farces and to light comedies, but the compositions selected should have more than a titular relationship with the photoplay they are chosen to accompany. If the composition has no great popular vogue, the music alone will carry the necessary significance, but if the music is fairly well known, orchestra leaders must take into consideration what effect the words of the song, if the composition be a song, will have on an audience. (p.33)

* * * * *

Modern Orchestra Arrangements

The modern arrangements in the Carl Fischer Orchestra Catalogue are fully cued. This permits of any portion being played first by part of the orchestra, pianissimo and gradually (or instantaneously) being brought up to full orchestra, fortissimo or vice versa. Excellent effects can often be obtained by this method.

_____________
Good motion picture music should blend unerringly with the picture, and should be made to appear to the audience as an inseparable part of the picture itself, and not a separate and distinct attraction. (p. 34)

* * * * *

The Use of the Music Theme
The use of the "theme" in motion pictures is neither more nor less than applying to the film drama a principle Wagner introduced in opera. Wagner in his scores associates a certain theme, motive or air with the appearance of his leading characters. When they take the stage the melody with which they are identified is heard. This effective musical device has great possibilities in the picture drama, and is valuable in giving unity to music and dramatic action. The picture musician has wide freedom in the choice of his "theme" material. Most important to remember, however, is that the first requisite is a genuinely melodious theme, one which will bear repetition. A theme of pleasing outline, suave, graceful and pronouncedly melodic in type, is sufficient to establish clearly the identity of the character whose appearance it accompanies.

A theme such as that described may be varied in tempo and played either ff or pp, as the varying of the stage action may demand—the effect will be the same. It will make the role with which it is identified "stand out." The use of the "leading" theme is naturally best adapted for larger and more elaborate picture productions, in which the appearance and stage action of principals is broken up to some degree by minor incident. Yet the idea may, on occasion, if the picture conditions are favorable, be employed in smaller pictures as well. At all events the use of the theme is an idea on which the intelligent moving picture musician can ring his own variations. And in many cases he will find it of great value in "making the music fit the picture." (p. 36)

Source: Julius S. Seredy in collaboration with Chas. J. Roberts and M. Lester Lake, Motion Picture Music Guide to the Carl Fischer Modern Orchestra Catalog Indicating All the Themes and Motives Suitable for Motion Pictures and Showing their Practical Application to the Screen (New York: Carl Fischer, 1922).

Carl Fischer Motion Picture Music Guide, Part 2

2010-03-23T06:13:00.003-05:00

This is a continuation of a summary of the Carl Fischer Motion Picture Music Guide. The first part is located here. Though not as useful for planning out programs for films as Seredy's 1929 Analytical Orchestra, which included timings and keys, the 1922 Motion Picture Music Guide carried little passages of advice for the musical director. A set of these have been gathered below:

Dramatic and Romantic Moving Picture Situations

Romantic and dramatic photoplay situations are in the most cases either psychic (emotional, without much action), or physical (in which emotion is expressed in movement). In "romantic situations, where love, hatred, anxiety, despair, horror, ecstasy, etc., are shown by facial registration and with little or no bodily movement, dramatic maestosos, lentos, adagios or andantes are best employed; while in scenes of physical violence or agitation, bodily struggles, encounters, etc., agitatos, hurries and furiosos are the proper musical mediums of expression. In both "love scenes" and "fighting scenes" absolute synchronization, it need hardly be said, is a first requisite. In the last-named, fifteen second "let downs," with only a dynamic change in the music are often decidedly effective. (p.9)

* * * * *

Music and Pictures

"A successful musical interpretation is as necessary to a picture as good projection." The truth of this maxim, born of experience, cannot be denied. Music in the Motion Picture show provides "atmosphere" and establishes mood. It infuses the mute action of the motion drama with the life of tone and harmony. Properly used, it may be made to take the place of the spoken word, and underline every detail of picture acting and registration with appropriate tonal comment, explanation or emphasis.

But music should never be considered an accompaniment to the motion picture, it should be apart of it. In this fact, accepted in theory and carried out in practice, we have the gist of music success in the "movies." Synchronization is its secret—the welding of picture movement and music movement, the matching of picture mood with music mood, the merging of picture and music in a unit of effect.

And the object of this Guide is to provide the musician with the means for realizing this ideal, an ideal which means personal success for him, as well as the artistic success of his work. (p. 15)

* * * * *

The Use of "Tacet"

In very many instances "tacet" can be used to good effect. We quote the prize fight scene in Charles Ray's picture "SCRAP IRON" as presented at one of the largest New York Theatres. Realism was introduced by the sounding of a gong at the beginning and end of each round. The fighting was spirited and entirely held the interest of the audience. Music was not necessary, and was not missed. At the end of each round, as the gong struck, the orchestra played a lively number, which then tended to serve as a relaxation. "Tacet" can also be used during funeral processions provided it does not cover too great a space of time. A funeral is generally sad enough without being accentuated by a dirge or depressing music. (p. 31)

More Musical Suggestions

2010-03-22T06:05:00.004-05:00

This week's "Music for the Picture" consists largely of musical suggestions provided by a drummer in Virginia. In addition, the page carried a warning from a manager in Illinois about a disreputable music salesman.

From Huntington, Va.: “I don’t suppose you often get a letter from a drummer with a score of music for the picture, but I am an exception. Although I am a drummer I also play piano, having studied it for several years. Am playing with a young lady (Miss Shirley Notter), also a good musician and picture player, so between us we pick out music for the picture; it ought to be pretty good as two heads are better than one. I would like to see ‘Music for the Picture’ every week, as it is just as necessary as any other of the departments. Why don’t you get after the musicians for not sending in any more ‘dope’? We are playing Universal pictures and find in them a good field for good music.

“Am sending in three scores we used last week. If you think they are any good I will send in more every once in a while.”

“Thus Saith the Lord” (Eclair).
Part One.
“The Palms,” until title: “While Jesus and the Twelve Disciples, etc.”
“Perfume” (From Suite, “My Lady’s Boudoir”—Witmark), until title: “Five Wise Men and Five Foolish Virgins, etc.
“Thais” (Valse Oriental—Jos. Stern), until it shows virgins coming out of door; then:
“Bells of Seville” (Valse—Walter Jacobs), until title: “Attracted by Curiosity, etc.”
“On a Sunny Morn” (Theo. Presser), until title: “Wednesday Feast Drawing Near, etc.”
“Shahin Shan”—Oriental Valse (Smith & Brown, pub.), until title: “Here Comes the Bridegroom.”
“Roman Emperor March” (Sinn’s Orpheum Collection), until end of reel.
Part Two.
“Old English Dance” (Theo. Presser, pub.), until it shows Jesus and Disciples. Then:
“Perfume” (From Suite, “My Ladies’ Boudoir”), until title: “Our Father, etc.”
“Oriental March” (From page 12 of “A Tragedy of the Desert”), until title: “Hallowed Be Thy Name.”
“Barcarolle” from “Tales of Hoffman,” until title: “Thy Kingdom Come.”
Third Movement “Poet and Peasant Overture” (Allegro), until title: “Thy Will Be Done.”
Pathetic until title: “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.”
Prayer from “Der Freischutz,” until title: “Forgive Us Our Trespasses.”
Hurry—slow down with action and gradually get down to pathetic until title: “Lead Us Not Into Temptation.”
Massenet’s “Elegy,” until title: “But Deliver Us From Evil.”
Storm (No. 42, Sinn’s Orpheum Collection), until title: “For Thine Is The Kingdom.”
Heavy bass chords until title: “And After Jesus Had Finished, etc.”
“Perfume,” until end of reel.
_____

“Slavery Days” (Rex).
“Old Folks at Home,” until it shows colonel and wife.
“Maurice” Valse Lento, until title: “Colonel Called Away On Business.”
Pathetic until title: “The Maid Takes Care of the Baby.”
Waltz (No. 2 from “Sign of the Rose”—Vandersloot, pub.), until she brings the baby back.
Lullaby from “Erminie” until: “Colonel’s Return.”
Lively waltz until: “Fourteen Years Later.”
“I’ll Change the Shadows to Sunshine” (Witmark), until it shows girls and mother on porch.
Pathetic until it shows them out in the woods.
“Trail of the Lonesome Pine” (Shapiro), until title: “Robert Fails, etc.”
“Jack O’Lantern” (Flirting Princess), until ballroom.
“Flo Waltz” from “Maid and Mummy” until end of reel.
Part Two.
“Just My Style” (From Fantana), until girl comes upon them.
Agitato until it shows Robert himself.
Sentimental until title: “The Slave Dealer, etc.”
Intermezzo until Charlotte sells Tennessee.
Hurry until Robert comes to tell them.
Sentimental until girl runs on.
Hurry’s from this on; heavy chords for burning and agitato for boat race until title: “Twenty-four Hours Later.”
Intermezzo until they come out of church.
“Here Comes the Bride” until end of reel.
_____

“Crossed Swords” (Great Northern).
Part One.
Third movement “Raymond Overture” until inside house.
“Hallowe’en Valse Lento” (from “Wonderland”), until ballroom.
“Birds and Butterflies” (Espressivo movement), until title: “Both Love the Same Girl.”
When I Dream of You” (Forrester, pub.), until title: “A Serious Accident.”
Agitato; work up into a “hurry” with action until inside house.
Pathetic, until title: “Experimenting With Airship’s Guns.”
I’ll Introduce You to My Father” (from “A Modern Eve”), until title; “The Proposal.”
Waltz until ball.
Grand March (No. 2, C. L. Johnson’s picture music), until title: “At the Club.”
Waltz until end of reel.
Part Two.
Six-eight March until: “He Shows Her, etc.”
“Jingles” Intermezzo until it shows one officer creeping after the other.
Mysterious—work up into hurry until man by fireside.
Sentimental until title: “His Great Day.”
“Bobbing Up and Down” (Theo. Morse), until engine room.
“Jingles,” until officer about to turn crank.
Agitato—work up into hurry until shot.
Sentimental until working guns.
Jingles intermezzo until inside house.
Waltz until end of reel.
Leo Volkenrath, Lyric Amusement Co., Huntington, W. Va.

I am sure the constituency is under obligation to Mr. Volkenrath, and we hope he will call oftener than “every once in a while.”

_____

Look Out For a Sheet Music Fakir.

Galesburg, Ill., July 2.

Editor Moving Picture World:

Dear Sir:—Through the columns of your paper I would like to voice a warning to nickel-theater men, particularly those of the Middle West, against a young man who represents himself as Ted Johnson, of the Snyder Music Co. Mr. Johnson is soliciting orders for professional copies of music, claiming that for two dollars a year his company will send three copies of new music weekly together with a catalogue of music arranged for moving picture playing.

Mr. Johnson cleaned up on all the Galesburg houses two seeks ago for music orders. He found ready purchasers. But since his exit no music has been received and enquiry at the office of his supposed employer developed that he was a fraud.

Mr. Johnson is of medium height, well built but not heavily, light haired, has a nervous manner and is well acquainted with the picture business. He is wanted in the city for forging the Snyder Company’s signature to a check.

Yours very truly,
R. C. Schroeder,
Mgr. Colonials of Galesburg.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 19 July 1913, 303.

Carl Fischer's Motion Picture Music Guide

2010-03-21T06:01:00.001-05:00

The large music publishing firms recognized the value of selling music to the picture theaters fairly early on, and they quickly developed music specially suited to playing the pictures. Publishers also recognized that cinemas were ideal places to monetize their back catalogues. It was toward this end that Carl Fischer "published for the convenience of the profession" its Motion Picture Music Guide, which was essentially the Fischer orchestra catalogue organized according to the needs of a cinema orchestra. Compiled by Julius S. Seredy, Charles J. Roberts and M. Lester Lake, 1922 version ran about 30 pages of double-columned entries. Here is the opening of the collection:

You can see that each entry carries a classification, title, composer, catalogue number and price category.

The later better known 1929 version is far more extensive, running 244 pages albeit with a single column:

The new arrangement adds key, meter, tempo and duration to each line and this has clearly been laid out as much to be useful as to sell music.

Besides the entries, the 1922 version had also sprinkled a fair amount of advise throughout the catalogue. (The 1929 version, by contrast, has little text other than the preface.) Here is the text that introduces the 1922 version:

SIX REASONS
WHY
The MOTION PICTURE MUSIC GUIDE
Is Indispensable

* * *
It shows how many different themes each number contains.

* * *
It classifies each theme, according to the mood it portrays.

* * *
It lists themes which can be used to express different moods, in their proper classification.
* * *
It helps you to derive the utmost value from your library, by showing you all the material in each number suitable for motion picture use.

* * *
It points out—on the piano part—the pages and measures, where each theme starts and ends.

* * *
It places at your disposal the largest collection of modern, classical, standard and popular orchestra music in the world.

* * *
Note: Piano parts of all numbers listed here are fully cued and may be used for piano solo or organ.

The following plug for Fischer-sponsored publications preceded the catalogue itself:

Why Every Motian Picture Leader
and
Musician Should Read the Musical Magazines.

Nearly every professional man of any prominence subscribes for and reads a few good magazines devoted to his profession. Where would the doctor be without his medical journals or the lawyer without his law papers. The journals are the professional man's stock in trade and are equally important to the musician in the motion picture theatre. They help him keep in touch with the latest developments, to get new ideas, and to broaden his outlook.

There are three magazines which will prove of most help and interest to the musician playing for the films. They are “The Metronome” and “The Dominant,” both band and orchestra monthlies; and “The Musical Observer,” devoted to the interests of all music-lovers. Everyone who plays a band, orchestral or other instrument in a picture theatre, should read one or both of the first two magazines. They are the tools of the trade. Not only do they keep you informed on all the latest popular and standard successes but they bring you in touch with the important musical events in the movie field—events which are making history and which you should not miss if you would keep up-to-date. Music in the movies and for the movies is a leading topic in these journals. Each issue contains interesting articles written by expert writers upon music as the foremost and indispensable accessory to film presentation and the progress of music in this field. Many news items inform you of the music offered in all the leading picture theatres. There are personal notes about the musical directors and their orchestras. In addition, both magazines contain two complete orchestra or band selections in every issue.

"The Musical Observer" covers the entire musical field and is of value and interest to anyone identified with music. It will help you to keep out of a rut and will prove an inspiration and an ambition builder by bringing you in contact with prominent musical people and musical activities the world over.

If you are looking ahead, it will pay you to get acquainted with these magazines. If you can read and think for yourself you will profit by subscribing for those that meet your needs best. You could make no mistake in taking all of them. But you owe it to yourself to read one of them, at least. (p. 6)

Scene Analysis Assignment

2010-03-20T06:12:00.004-05:00

For the assignment, I require the students to select at least two scenes and the scenes must total at least six minutes of film.

They begin by making a complete shot list and sound track description for the scene. For each shot, I ask them to provide:

A time code for each shot.

A shot description, which should include the characters in (or object of) the shot, the framing (LS, MS, CU, etc.), any significant camera movements, and any image transition other than a cut (dissolve, wipe, etc.). A brief description of the action can also sometimes be useful.

A complete transcription of the dialogue in the shot.

A listing and description of the sound effects. (In an action sequence from recent films, it is unlikely that the list will be completely exhaustive, but try to be as complete as possible.)
A listing and description of the music.

General remarks, which contain more detailed comments about aspects of the sound track, including interactions among the components and how they interact with the images/narrative.

Filling out the form requires making at least four passes through the scene, attending on each pass to one element:

Time code and shot description
Dialogue
Sound effects
Music

.
Here is what the scene analysis blank looks like:

I distribute the blanks as an Excel file. I also give them some exemplars, which are provided as jpgs below. After the students have filled out their forms for the scenes, I will ask them to write a short paper based on these analyses.

The first examplar is the terrace scene from Rebecca.

(We analyze this scene using musical notation in HtM, pp. 218-21.)

* * * * *

The second is the main title and Trinity in a jam, from The Matrix:

We analyze this sequence from The Matrix on pp. 223-24 of HtM, albeit in much less detail. Note the large number of shots (and short average shot length) in this sequence. Also this is a very busy sound track, and at times it is difficult to know whether a particular event belongs to the sound effects track or the music track. A version of the script is located here. (Correction: HtM refers to the agents collectively as Mr. Smiths; according to both IMDB and the script, however, the other two agents in this scene are named Mr. Brown and Mr. Jones.)

* * * * *

The third example consists of two scenes from 42nd Street.

Neither of these dialogue scenes has music. The number of sound effects is also quite low.

Week 8 Lectures

2010-03-19T05:58:00.006-05:00

This week's lectures focused on scene analysis. The text has three chapters given over to scene analysis: Chapters 6, 7 and 9. Besides giving the students an overview of the scene types, I also wanted this week's lectures to help prepare students for making scene analyses of their own, as this is the task for their second paper.

I began by following the divisions of the chapters and then formalizing some implicit subdivisions of scene types:

(NB: "Supradiegetic" is a term Rick Altman uses in The American Film Musical to describe the characteristic performance situation in a film musical, where the singing is diegetic but the accompaniment is rendered, usually after an audio dissolve from diegetic piano, by a nondiegetic orchestra. The performance is thus partially diegetic and partially nondiegetic and for Altman is representative of the idealized realm of romance.)

I then sorted the scenes according to how they deployed the sound track.

We then looked at a number of examples.

For main titles: Meet Me in St. Louis, Broadway Melody, 42nd Street, and The Apartment. I actually ran each of these examples well into the first scene so we could talk about how the main title dovetails with the establishing sequence and how the establishing sequence serves to set up the first scene. Music runs right through the establishment sequence of Meet Me in St. Louis and covers all of the opening dialogue scene in the kitchen until Agnes begins to sing, when it shifts to accompanying the song. After opening with a brief bit of the title song, Broadway Melody continues "Give My Regards to Broadway" over an establishing shot of the city; the music ends for an exterior shot of the music store, where we hear snatches of music coming from the store; with the cut into the store, we hear a cacophony of diegetic musical sound. The scene will eventually end with a performance of "Broadway Melody." 42nd Street, like Meet Me in St. Louis follows the classic two-theme title music, the title song opening the credits, with a shift to "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me" when the credits turn to the actors. The music returns to the title song for the beginning of the establishing sequence, creating a three-part ternary structure (ABA') for the titles and establishing sequence considered together. As is often the case, the first extended dialogue scene, here between Abner and Dorothy, does not have music. Finally, the titles for The Apartment use a single theme. The establishment sequence, which integrated into a prologue with voiceover commentary, has new music, a march that contrasts with the lush romantic quality of the main title theme proper. The music continues until it is displaced by diegetic music coming out of Bud's apartment, just before the voiceover itself ends, marking the conclusion of the prologue.

We next compared the opening of the 1933 version of King Kong with that of the 2005 version, noting that the recent version is much, much shorter. We then also compared the final scene and end credits of these two films, so we could see how long end credits are today and how short they were in the studio era. (In fact, due to time, we did not watch all of the end credits of the 2005 version, but we watched enough of it to get the point.)

We then watched the Ländler scene from Sound of Music as an example of a performance scene before turning to two examples of montage: the montage sequence of Blood as pirate from Captain Blood and "I Wasn't Born to Follow" from Easy Rider. I then presented two action scenes: the opening of Captain Blood and the theft of the sword, from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Finally, we watched some dialogue scenes: the terrace scene from Rebecca and the opening scene between Abner and Dorothy from 42nd Street.

Musical Conditions in New York

2010-03-18T06:19:00.000-05:00

S. M. Berg was a composer and small music publisher specializing in music for the pictures. He also published occasional articles in trade publications before being asked to help Clarence Sinn run the "Music for the Picture" column in early 1916.

Musical Conditions in New York

By S. M. Berg

Among the numerous inquiries received from musicians throughout the country, one of the most common is “what are my chances in New York City?”

Some go into detail on their years of experience they have had as musicians, telling the class of music they are conversant with, and how they are able to compose and arrange. Others will write me they hear of the enormous salaries being paid to certain men, and that here in this great city is the opportunity to get one of the big salaried positions that are frequently offered. Then many will tell me of the poor opportunities for advancement in the town they are in, and how they have been told by their relatives and friends of their capabilities, that New York is the only place for them to come to and quickly climb the ladder of success. I have in no way exaggerated or overdrawn, but have endeavored to state clearly from my personal experience in the past ten years, what is the real condition of affairs in New York.

The Musician’s union, which is allied to the American Federation of Labor, has a membership of about 7,000. It is financially strong, and has usually won everything it has gone after. All of the leading theaters playing Drama, Opera, Comic Opera, Musical Comedy or Burlesque, and the leading motion picture theaters engage exclusively union musicians. The Hotels, Restaurants, Cafes and Cabarets engage on the average about 33 per cent union musicians.

The largest combination in greater New York, of theaters which play pictures or vaudeville and pictures the conditions are peculiar, as no outsider really knows how the music is handled. The company trade under one man’s name. Some of the houses playing vaudeville and pictures engage union musicians.

The rest have non-union men, and when the question “why” is asked, the answer is given that he books the shows but has no financial interest in the house.

The second largest company controls a number of theaters playing vaudeville and pictures or pictures only. The whole combination is non-union, and the their largest circle of theaters playing vaudeville and pictures only, the musicians again are non-union.

The union scale of salaries for pictures in New York City for the two shows a day, seven days a week is $28.00 per man, double for leader, and the price per man ranges to about $40.00 according to the scale of admission prices. On the face of such a statement as this it would appear that fair wages and plenty of work is open to musicians, be they union or non-union. Here is the other side of the question.

As stated before, the union is composed of 7,000 members. The test of capability as a musician is ridiculously simple. In fact candidly it is disgraceful and some years ago when they were making an effort to control things, almost anybody that had the slightest idea of drawing a melody out of an instrument was accepted as a union musician, and qualified to take any job. A story is told, that a certain man who was in the habit of getting jobs for musicians at weddings, etc., according to the laws of the union, he could not be a contractor, and claim one-half of the leader’s money unless he was a member of the union so it became necessary for him to become a musician and play some instrument. He took lessons on the flute and after two months applied for membership. He endeavored to play the “Star Spangled Banner” and after three attempts to play the first half was accepted.

There is a large number of men who are members of the union who are not qualified musicians in the true sense of the word. This raises the question “What is a qualified musician?” One who is acquainted with what is known as Standard Music and is able to play his part in any combination. Qualified to read with ease at sight, he should be a master of his instrument and be able to play the cadenzas, passages, etc., which are frequently marked solo in orchestrations, but I regret to state there is a large percentage of men without these capabilities. Now to the non-union men.

Owing to the war conditions, we have lying idle in New York over a thousand foreigners, who were in the habit of traveling to Europe as boat musicians. Then possibility there is another 8,000 men who are non-union. There is a second union the American International Musical and Theatrical Union, which claims to have about 3,000 members but are not allied to the Federation, their scale of prices being lower. Possibly my readers will now begin to realizes what all this means. Qualifications with the exception of very few instances cut no figure. Price is the consideration. Non-union men work for less. Union men that are in need are forced to accept below the scale. Union musicians can be found working in any of the three theater circles as non-union men and at very low salaries. Over two-thirds of the Restaurants, Cafes, Cabarets, have all kinds of mixed combinations. An instance was brought to me a few days ago at a picture theater at which application as director was made by a well-known Italian leader, a man who is in the habit of dressing in a white uniform with many medals. He explained to the proprietor what a good director he was and what a good orchestra he would give him. When prices were talked of, he said “My price is so much.” When asked the price of the orchestra he quote the union scale but was told the theater could not pay it. After much discourse he exclaimed “I have a friend in the outer office, permit me to bring him in.” His friend was brought in and after explanations were made told the proprietor he could supply the rest of the men, union men too, at a moderate figure which was far below the union scale.

I trust that my readers will not feel that I am falsifying my statement. There is a large body of competent qualified men, with honorable ideas but the abnormal conditions in New York forces a number of them who possibly have the best intentions but whose wives and children are in need of the necessities of life, to accept such propositions. What can they do?

A word as to the positions in the leading dramatic houses. This class of job is the easiest in the business. A stranger could not get one of these positions as they are almost all in the hands of men who have had them for years. Possibly for no other reason than they are known to the managers.

The few organists who are receiving high salaries are the exception. I am sure that if one were to insert an advertisement in the Evening Telegram (which has a column for musicians), for an organist wanted to play 7 or 8 hours a day at a salary of $30.00 a week, on would get 20 or 30 applicants.

In my earlier days I have been as far west as dear old ‘Frisco, and have traveled from New Orleans to Northern Canada. My personal experience with the qualification of musicians is far beyond the New York average. The salaries are not so high but the cost of living is much cheaper. The musician in the small city is looked upon with respect and is recognized as a professional man. He has the opportunity to do a little teaching but unfortunately here in this great city one might almost classify musicians as a necessary evil. In fact this very expression was used in my presence by a well-known restaurant proprietor. I sincerely hope that the day is not far distant when conditions will be changed.

In this great city the sincere and earnest musician is deserving of a living wage, but my knowledge of the conditions is that many qualified musicians willing to accept a position for $18.00 a week to play for 7 hours a day and 7 days a week, cannot find the work. With such conditions as these can you say that New York is the stepping stone to prosperity for musicians?

Source: S. M. Berg, “Musical Conditions in New York,” Moving Picture World 14 October 1916, 237.

At the end of 1916, Berg left The Moving Picture World to become head of the music section for the Exhibitor's Trade Review. On 26 May 1917, he republished a lightly edited version of this same item, which I include below for sake of comparison:

Among the numerous inquiries received from musicians throughout the country, one of the most common is, “What are my chances in New York City?”

Some go into detail on their years of experience they have had as musicians, telling the class of music they are conversant with, and how they are able to compose and arrange. Others will write me they hear of the enormous salaries they hear of, which are paid to certain men and feel that if they were given the opportunity they could fill one of these big salaried positions. Then again, many will complain of the poor opportunities for advancement in the town they are in, and how they have been told by their relatives of their capabilities and that New York is the only place for them to come to and quickly climb the ladder of success.

The editor has in no way exaggerated or overdrawn but has endeavored to state clearly from his personal experience during the past ten years, what is the real conditions of affairs are in New York. The classes to be considered are the union and non-union musicians.

The Musician’s Union, which is allied to the American Federation of Labor, has a membership of about 7,000. It is financially strong and has usually won everything it has gone after. All of the leading theaters playing the drama, opera, comic opera, musical comedy or burlesque, together with the leading motion picture theaters engage exclusively union musicians. Hotels, restaurants, cafes and cabarets engage on the average about 33 per cent. union musicians.

The largest circuit of theatres in greater New York that play pictures or vaudeville and pictures, has peculiar conditions as no outsider really knows how the music end is handled. However, some of the houses playing vaudeville and pictures engage union musicians while the rest have non-union men. The second largest circuit of theatres playing vaudeville and pictures, or pictures only, is also peculiarly situated.

There are two other unions in New York City, which are not allied with the American Federation of Labor, whose members also hold positions in the various circuit theatres.

The union scale of salaries for pictures in New York City for the two shows a day, seven days a week is $28.00 per man, double for leader, and the price per man ranges to about $42.50, according to the scale of admission. On the face of such a statement as this, it seems that fair wages and plenty of work is open to musicians, regardless of whether they are union or non-union. Here is the other side of the question.

As stated before, the union is composed of 7,000 members. The test of capability as a musician is ridiculously simple. In fact, candidly, it is disgraceful, and some years ago when they were making an effort to control things almost anybody that had the slightest idea of drawing a melody out of an instrument was accepted as a union musician, and qualified to take the job. A story is told that a certain man who was in the habit of getting jobs for musicians at dances, weddings, etc., according to the laws of the union, could not be a contractor, and claim one-half of the leader’s money unless he was a member of the union. It therefore became necessary for him to become a musician and play some instrument. He then took up lessons on the flute and after two months applied for membership. He endeavored to play the “Star Spangled Banner,” and after three attempts was finally accepted. Now to the non-union men.

Owing to the war conditions, we have lying idle in New York hundreds of foreigners, who were in the habit of travelling to Europe as boat musicians. Possibly readers will now begin to realize what all this means. Qualifications with but few exceptions cut no figure. Prices are the only consideration. Non-union men work for less. Union men who are in need, are forced to accept positions far below the scale.

Union musicians can be found working in any of the three theatre circuits as non-union men and at very low salaries. Over two-thirds of the restaurants, cabarets, and cafes have all kinds of mixed combinations. An instance of this kind was enacted a few days ago at a picture theatre at which application as a director was made by a well-known Italian leader, who is in the habit of dressing in a white uniform with many medals. He explained to the proprietor what a good director he was and what a fine orchestra he would give him. When prices were talked of, he said “My prices are so much.” When asked the price of the orchestra he quoted the union scale, but upon being told the theatre could not pay it he brought in a friend who explained to the proprietor that he could supply union men at a moderate figure which was far below the union scale. With such obstacles as these, can one blame those musicians, who possibly have the best of intentions but whose wives and children are in need of the necessities of life, for accepting such propositions?

A word as to the positions in the leading dramatic houses. This class of job is the easiest in the business, but a stranger could not get one of these positions as they are almost all in the hands of men who have had them for years for no other reason probably than they are known to the managers.

The few organists who are receiving high salaries are the exception. I am sure that if one were to insert an advertisement in the Evening Telegram (which has a column for musicians) for an organist wanted to play seven or eight hours a day at a salary of $30.00 a week, one would get 20 or 30 applicants.

The early career of the editor has taken him from coast to coast, and his experiences with the qualification of musicians are far beyond the New York average. The salaries are not so high but the cost of living is much cheaper. The musician in the small city is looked upon with respect and is recognized as a professional man. He has the opportunity to do a little teaching, but unfortunately here in this great city one might almost classify musicians as a necessary evil. In fact this very expression was used in my presence by a well known restaurant proprietor. However, we sincerely hope that the day is not far distant when conditions will be vastly different.

In this great city the sincere and earnest musician is deserving of a living wage, but with the conditions as mentioned above, many qualified musicians are willing to accept a position for $18.00 a week to play seven hours a day and seven days a week, cannot find the work. With such a state of affairs, can you say that New York is the stepping stone to prosperity for musicians?

Source: S. M. Berg, "Music for the Photoplay," Exhibitor's Trade Review 26 May 1917, 1753.

The Film in France

2010-03-17T06:08:00.000-05:00

After visiting England, Germany, and Italy, W. Stephen Bush finished up his 1913 European trip with a stay in Paris. This is his letter from Paris, which deals briefly with exhibition in Paris, especially the Gaumont Palace.

The Film in France
By W. Stephen Bush

Paris, June 11, 1913.

Contentment and prosperity are the dominant notes in the kinematographic world of France, though of course there is no millennium, and at least one great and just cause of complaint. It is an old story that the burdens of the industry fall most heavily upon the exhibitor, and France is no exception to the rule. The government of Paris and of most of the large cities of the country exact a toll of ten per cent. of the daily receipts of the exhibitor “on behalf of the poor.” Every time and exhibitor opens his show the government is right there with its black-coated official, who in a both of his own supervises the cash, counts off ten per cent. “for the poor” and takes the money with him every night. This method of collecting the taxes “for the poor” is not only somewhat despotic toward the exhibitor but likewise decidedly annoying to the public, for after you have bought your ticket at the box-office you have to appear before the seat of the official, generally situated in the centre of the lobby, and you cannot get in until he gives you his approval. The government also tells the exhibitor how many officers he needs for the purpose of keeping proper order, and these officers, and these officers, absolutely useless in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the exhibitor has to pay out of his own pocket.

United Interests

In spite of these hampering conditions the exhibitor is prosperous because the popularity of the pictures is greater than ever, and the number of theaters is constantly increasing. The day before I left Paris the great organization, which in France embraces manufacturers, exchange men, scenario writers, operators and exhibitors, met at its annual banquet in the Salle des Fetes to discuss things and to celebrate and to be happy and brilliant in the accepted French way. Ah! But there was the eloquence and the great applause every time. Monsieur Millevoy, a member of the Chamber of Deputies and a politician of some note, wagged his silver tongue and said much of the educational value of the motion picture. All the moguls of the French trade were there. M. Charles Pathe, Lumiere Freres, Max Linder, Nadar, Provost, Landry and very many others. A most interesting speaker was M. Benoit-Levy, who regretted the absence of the Minister of Education or some equally prominent statesman, who had sent his secretary instead of attending himself. He said, amid great applause, that the time will come when every government of the world will be anxious to have the moving picture for a friend and an ally, and when an invitation to attend a banquet of the organized motion picture interests will be deemed and honor and a privilege. There is one pleasant feature well worth mentioning in connection with this banquet. For the first time in the history of the French kinetamotograph the daily press of Paris had seen fit to devote considerable attention to the event, giving it in most cases due prominence on the first page. This is belated recognition when one considers how many million francs are invested in this industry in France.

The Three Great Names

Three names dominate the field of kinematography here and I give them in their alphabetical order: Eclair, Gaumont and Pathe. Among them they divide the French and indeed a goodly portion of the Continental market. With the notable exception of the Vitagraph films, which seem to lead American films in Europe almost everywhere, there is comparatively little sale of American-made films in France. It looks as if the motto were: French films for French audiences. Today mighty few films are sold in France, for the simple reason that the biggest firms, Eclair, Gaumont and Pathe, do no longer dispose of their reels through middlemen but deal directly with the exhibitor, to whom the films are not sold but merely rented. Of the foreign films sold, the Americans are well in the lead, with Italy a good second, while Germany looms up a distant third.

How They Show Their Pictures

As to the art of exhibiting pictures I cannot say very much for either Paris or France. There are, of course, some wonderfully fine show places, notably the Gaumont Palace and the Pathe Palace, where perfection is the order of the day. The Gaumont Palace, seating abut 6,000 people, is probably the largest and most successful moving picture theater in the world, with a scale of prices soaring up to somewhere near the dollar mark. The theater was well filled on the warm night in June when I visited there. I have seen some exceptionally fine projection in my day and have known many operators who were past-masters in the science of giving good light and a steady picture, but I never saw anything to surpass the projection in the Gaumont Palace. Even the most critical eye could not help being delighted by this picture—steady, always steady, without even the faintest trace of a tremble or a flicker. The most perfect order prevailed in the audience and what there was of vaudeville was tolerably good.

Outside these show palaces, however, the projection in Paris was generally poor and the pauses between the reels about ten times longer than even the most patient of our audiences would endure without plenty of hostile demonstrations. The service of the attendants and the music fall below the English and German standards. An American manager would get nervous prostration over the frequent breaks in the film, but here it does not seem to make any great difference to the public. I am inclined to think that the French exhibitor often cares more about a fine display outside than the show on the inside. I went, for instance, to the “Colisee,” on the Champs Elysees, one of the new and widely advertised theaters, in a very nice section of the city. For a fair seat I paid two francs. There is many a show on the lower East Side in New York with less pretense and far greater merit. The vaudeville shown was of the anthropoid variety which prevailed in many sections of our own country just about four years ago. The cheaper places are correspondingly worse.

Visit to Three Great Studios.

Of the studios I visited in Paris and its vicinity, none is more charmingly situated and better adapted to every need of the kinematograph than the Eclair plant at Epinay sur Seine, just outside the city limits. The grounds and a lovely chateau were purchased from a famous French naturalist, M. Lacepedo, who spent many years there. He had selected the place with a view to a leisurely pursuit of his studies, and what was well chosen for this admirer of nature was not ill chosen for the kinematograph, which is one of the secretaries of nature. The grounds cover about forty acres, of which but a small portion is occupied by the studios and the mechanical departments, while the rest consists of splendid and happily varied natural scenery. The Eclair Company [180] never leave its own premises to produce films—water, fountain, terraces, groves, romantic bits of forest or meadow—in fact, all the charm of outdoor scenery is found at home. The Eclair Company is now working on a new sensational feature in which it used the facilities of its outdoor studio to the uttermost, and I was told it would be better than “Zigomar.”

The Gaumont Company’s studio, like the others, is out of the city, and it is indeed a little community in itself, with a name of its own—Elge City—in honor of the initials of its founder, M. Leon Gaumont. What is most striking about this establishment is the spirit of “camaraderie”—good fellowship, which pervades every branch and characterizes every employee in every branch. This spirit, at once so agreeable and valuable, takes its source in a sense of deep and sincere loyalty to the chief of the great firm, M. Gaumont, who, at the time of my visit to his Parisian studio, was with characteristic energy demonstrating some of his new ideas to the public of New York. He has somehow imbued his staff with an ambition to do things well and to go forward without ceasing. The enormous plant of Gaumont’s now employs on an average of a thousand people, and from the last to the first they are capable, alert and industrious. As in every other establishment, I was fortunate in my guide. Mr. L. R. Aylmer, an Irishman who speaks French like a Frenchman, conducted me through every part of the works. Mr Aylmer, who is the “Chef du Service Cinematographique Societe des Establishments Gaumont,” is an ardent admirer of THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD, and especially of the Projection Department. He told me that he has often acted as official government examiner of French applicants for operators’ licenses, and he says he found Mr. Richardson’s hints full of the most practical value. He wanted me to thank our apostle of projection on behalf of France. A glad hand is waiting for F. H. Richardson at 57 Rue St. Roch, Paris. The Gaumont plant has been described in THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD before, but as this happened some years ago it is necessary to add that it has expanded in every direction and that as quantity has steadily gone forward, quality has never lagged behind. As a piece of Gaumont enterprise I might mention that they had the picture of the banquet of the moving picture men ready for exhibition within a few hours of the event. Manufacturers had it projected for me on the screen, and there surely was enough motion in it to make it suitable for a kinematographic reproduction.

The Pathe studio, which are partly in the ancient town of Vincennes and partly in Joinville, are most difficulat to describe. Everything has been planned and excuted on a gigantic scale, and it would take a giant’s pen to do the subject justice. Going through the various departments of the Pathe works is much like going through some great and world-famous gallery or museum—the human mind is limited in its ability to absorb impressions and properly digest them, and ordinary minds like my own begin to tire after four or five hours of steady exertion in watching and listening. Indeed, I should have given up the attempt of making a complete tour of Pathe works had it not been for the encouraging words and the ability to explain which is possessed in no small degree by M. Schoenmbaum, a young Alsatian who had been in America and who is an accomplished linguist. In the office of the great establishment on the Rue de Vigneros, I had the pleasure of meeting M. Charles Pathe and Mr. J. A. Berst, who happened to be in conference. They expressed in terms of great sincerity their pleasure at the opportunity of giving the readers of THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD some idea of their work here. Here indeed the workings of the kinematographic industry are displayed from Alpha to Omega. The Alpha is represented by huge qualities of sacks containing a white powder-like substance, which is the foundation of all film and which, according to my guide, is scientifically labeled “acetate de cellulose.” This raw material is found in varying qualities in all organic matter, and is therefore obtained easily and cheaply, It is not often that Nature throws out any very distinct hints to our intelligence beyond those we need to exist, but right here it seems is an unmistakable sign of the enduring character of the film; it is common almost as the air, and Nature locks it from none. I followed the white powder through the various stages of its chemical birth as a strip of film. I saw the powerful solvent kept in big iron casks. I saw the acetate and solvent mixed in numerous tanks and I saw the wheel upon which the mixture begins to take on the shape of film with which we are familiar. What infinite care was needed at every step, how difficult it seemed to guard the delicate embryonic substance against the rude intrusion of the light, of which even one strong ray or sudden glow would work decided havoc.

They have a system of tests which makes it, humanly speaking, impossible for one foot of defective film to leave the factory. The vast lengths are sent to every Pathe factory in the world, every inch is carefully marked and checked, and if any complaint comes home it is a matter of five minutes to trace every had which had anything to do with that particular section of film. I remember that even years ago it used to be a common saying among exhibiters that a Pathe film gave most excellent wear and long service. I have ceased to speculate as the reason for all of this, for even half an hour’s visit at Vincennes will make it clear. There is an educational and scientific department in the Pathe studio just as there is in the Eclair and Gaumont plants, and all three are intelligently active, though there seemed to be no effort to follow any definite system which might supply or at least supplement the textbook in the schools. Professor M. J. Comandon, a learned, capable and courteous gentleman, is engaged in interesting biological work in the Pathe kinematographic library. His work is almost entirely microscopic. As I will deal with the status of the educational picture in Europe in the course of another article, I must for the present content myself with this passing reference to one of the most promising aspects of the educational kinematograph.

The whole plant at Vincennes, vast as it is, belongs entirely to the negative production, while all the positive work is done at Joinville. Both at Vincennes and at Joinville one is struck by two things—the exceeding cleanliness of every part of the plants and the fact that so many employees of the company have held their present positions for many years. It is quite common to meet employees who have been with the firm since the very start. A merit system of the fairest possible type is in use. As a result, there are no “clock watchers” in the Pathe employ. Ambition and talent are encouraged at every step. There is a special department of invention and research, and this department is always busy, and in the words of my guide, “it has its ear wide open all the time.” Any workman who offers any practical suggestions for any kind of improvement will find his envelope somewhat bulkier than usual when Saturday comes around.

There is on the premises at Vincennes a large, well-lighted building which is labeled “Societe des Auteurs et Gens de Lettres,” in our idiom a sort of meeting place, where the “littery fellows” assemble on occasion and talk over the question of dramatic kinematography in general and with reference to their scenarios in particular. Authors are present while scenes from their plays are [181] being enacted, and there is no doubt many a friendly discussion which tends to make a better picture. Some of the choicest literary spirits of France belong to this society.

Censorship No Problem in France

There is no censorship in France—voluntary or otherwise. The public censor the pictures, and manufacturers and exhibitors are pretty clever in anticipating the taste and judgment of the public. Of course, the French taste is wholly different than ours, but there are well-defined limits which are observed with commendable consistency. A well-known exhibitor told me that there had been no interference on the part of the police or the legislators except two years ago when some misguided person wanted to show the details of a public execution on the screen. He was quickly stopped, and a law was enacted forbidding the portrayal of public executions in moving pictures. Censorship presents no problem in France. The industry here is about to grow, the picture is immensely popular and theaters are being built constantly. Conditions are likely to continue just as they are now.

Source: W. Stephen Bush, “The Film in France,” Moving Picture World 12 July 1913, 179-81.

Week 7 Lectures

2010-03-16T05:42:00.004-05:00

I'm a little late getting this up. This week we jumped to Chapter 8, "Film Style and the Sound Track," and looked at style topics and leitmotifs. I do this so I can cover all of the scene types at once. Because I need space to prepare the practicum assignment, where I have students create a sound track for a short film, I have to condense the text to fit it into a basic schedule of one week per chapter. I make the adjustment primarily in week 8, which I use to cover chapters 6, 7 and 9. I will have more comments about this particular compromise in my next pedagogical post dealing with Week 8 lectures.

Chapter 8 deals with leitmotifs and style topics. Both draw on the overt signifying capacities of music, with leitmotifs forming relationships that are intrinsic only to a particular work, whereas style topics apply to those relationships that transcend the particular work and are properties of style in general. In terms of signification, the meaning of a leitmotif attaches primarily to characters, places, objects and ideas of the work (or film), whereas the meaning of a style topic is not determined by the particular work, but the signifying field of style generally construed. This means that style topics can be lifted from one work and transplanted to another without affecting their signifying properties (battle music in one work continues to signify battle music in another), though it is important to recognize that this says nothing about whether the particular battle music is a good expression of its type or whether it will seem appropriate in the new context on other grounds. It just means the signification transcends the work in which it is embedded. The issue can get somewhat confusing, however, in that leitmotifs are often also instances of style topics: the heroine will be represented by a "love theme," the solider by a military march—and it is the recurrence of a particular theme and its relationship to the unfolding story that determines whether a particular usage of a style topic is also a leitmotif.

I begin my discussion with style topics, noting that music has many conventional figures. I then suggest four categories—primitive, storm, funeral, and grotesque—and play appropriate examples from Zamecnik's Sam Fox Moving Picture Music and have students do a matching exercise to show how effectively these categories still signify for us. We then examined the issue of stereotyping through style topics, looking first at the "Indian" style topic and then the Arabian or, as it was known in the early part of the century, "Oriental" topic. For the Indian topic we looked not only at the example from the Zamecnik collection (the opening of which is reproduced in HtM, p. 207) but also its very crude form in Stagecoach (see image on right), where cuts from the stage coach to the Indian's preparing to attack are underscored by abrupt musical shifts. For an excellent overview of the issues involved with this style topic, see Michael Pisani's Imagining Native America in Music (2006).

From Indians we next move to the Oriental topic, which I trace a little more extensively. The Oriental topic has a particularly long and rich history, due to a number of factors: the importance of Biblical stories to European culture; the proximity and perceived threat of Islamic culture from the Middle Ages through to the First World War; and European imperialism are three of the most significant. The signification of the Oriental topic is also broad and slippery: it was used to indicate Arabs, Turks, and Persians, but also North Africa and the Middle East in general, Jews, Moors and even Hindus and India. This broad signification was at least in part due to the fact that the primary representation was simply "other" and "primitive," which is one reason why the music could occasionally be interchangeable with other "others," such as Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese or Japanese, especially if the signification was primarily in terms of primitive and barbaric. As examples, we looked at the "Oriental Music" from the Zamecnik collection, then turned to the Blue Parrot music from Casablanca (a transcription is given in HtM, p. 206) and to three examples from Lawrence of Arabia (HtM, p. 208). The third example from Lawrence is particularly worth noting because it records a call to prayer; its seeming authentic quality can disguise a representational character that is every bit as stereotyping as the clearly composed "Oriental exotic" topic of the main theme associated with Lawrence. (I mention in passing that The Hurt Locker also makes extensive use of calls to prayer—though never as overtly as this instance in Lawrence—for much the same purpose. I will probably incorporate The Hurt Locker into a future version of this lecture.) I then turn to the opening of Black Hawk Down, where the apparently indigenous music is combined with orchestral underscore to paint a rather traditional musical representation of Somalia as other, as a dangerous and exotic place. (This example is briefly mentioned in HtM, p. 206.) Senegalese singer Baaba Maal provides the vocals, indicating again the wide signifying capabilities of style topics of the Other—as Senegal is on the opposite coast of Africa from Somalia. More could and probably should be said on this point with respect to globalization, the failures of imperialism, pan-African identity, its relation to Islam and the civil war in Somalia—all of which is to say that the signification of this scoring decision is complicated and subtle even if it is ultimately rather traditional in function. For general issues of exoticism in music, Jonathan Bellman's collection The Exotic in Western Music and Ralph Locke's Musical Exoticism serve as useful entries into the field.

In order to emphasize that diegetic status and appropriateness for the setting neither remove music from being a style topic nor diminish the signifying capacities of the music, I play the Christmas party scene from Die Hard, where a small diegetic orchestra plays a Brandenburg Concerto as background. Here, as we note in our discussion of the scene in HtM, p. 204, the music serves most obviously as a marker of class, an important thematic concern of the film. On some of the issues of the music to Die Hard, see Robynn Stilwell, "'I Just Put a Drone Under Him...': Collage and Subversion in the Score of 'Die Hard,'" Music and Letters 78.4 (1997): 551-580.

For explaining the leitmotif, I focused on two films: Captain Blood and Fellowship of the Ring. For Captain Blood we looked at how the three themes (transcribed in HtM, p. 198) become associated with Peter Blood and signify different aspects of his character. For Fellowship of the Ring, we focused on the prologue and the precise nature of the signification of the theme that arrives with the title. In fact besides for the title card, it shows up three times in the prologue: when Isildur cuts the Ring from Sauron's finger; when Isildur loses the Ring, and when Bilbo finds it. The point is that the theme is not here associated with the Ring per se but with its passing from one character to another (and indeed Howard Shore refers to the theme as "The History of the Ring"). Moreover because the theme has these broader associations it can also serve as an effective means of audiovisual phrasing: through the appearance of the theme, the music helps divide the prologue into epochs: a long opening segment concerning the history of the forging; a very brief second segment on Isildur, a longer third segment about Gollum, and a brief coda when Bilbo takes over the Ring. Each of these "audiovisual phrases" except Gollum's is initiated with a sync point of the theme with the Ring, and in general it is the way the leitmotif establishes such sync points that makes it such an effective tool for film composers.

A Musician's Complaint

2010-03-15T05:36:00.003-05:00

Besides the usual musical suggestions, this week's "Music for the Picture" column also contains a long letter from a pianist complaining about his treatment by managers. Indeed, the writer goes so far as to place a large portion of the blame for poor music in the theaters on managers and their lack of knowledge on or inattention to musical matters. Sinn, while acknowledging the validity of some general points, seems generally unpersuaded by the specific complaints against managers as a class.

A correspondent who does not wish his name given offers the following:

“So much has been printed in this valuable paper concerning suitable music for pictures that one might think all has been said, especially as many writers have gone into great detail, that could not but help the pianist, but I think there is still a great deal to be said that might be of interest to the manager as well as the pianist.

“It is true that the public, on the whole, is getting used to better things and good music is appreciated by the majority of picture patrons. Bearing this in mind, it is sad to state that very few managers know anything about music—many cannot tell the difference between a selection of grand or comic opera—and so long as this condition exists it is not strange that the average music seldom rises above a few waltzes, rags, and the popular airs of the prevalent type with suggestive words and wretched airs.

“And those managers who are seeking better things; what can they expect from a pianist who works longer than a bricklayer and gets less remuneration? Many a manager spends five dollars a week advertising a show with bad music who begrudges an extra dollar or two to get good in its place. It would be well to remember that poor music is not cheap at any price, and that good music is always worth the money. And this brings me to another point. The pianos supplied in many of the best picture houses are relics of the pioneer days, decrepit and worn out by years of toil—patched and repatched to prolong their miserable existence.

“No pianist, however, can do himself justice on such an instrument whose retail value would probably be between five and ten dollars. There is many a manager, whose ear for music can scarce distinguish between the dinner gong and the fire alarm, who seeks to cover up his deficiency by an insane interference with the pianist. If the pianist is good he or she will probably not put up with it, but if circumstances are otherwise they may do so in order to hold down the job. The manager should either decide for himself or seek the advice of his patrons on the merits of the performance; if unsatisfactory a change should be made. If satisfactory the pianist should be left to use his own judgment, free from useless criticism or perpetual harassing. It should be remembered that a pianist is an artist with temperament and high strung nerves uppermost, whose work calls for both mental and physical energy all of the time, and if in uncomfortable surroundings he loses that ambition so essential to produce good music or play pictures correctly.

“And just a word for those who think an orchestra, violinist or drummer an improvement. While a good orchestra is pleasure to listen to, as an accompaniment to pictures it is a woeful failure. The leader can of course choose suitable music—that is, something that will fit the subject on the whole, but it ends there; if the music does not blend in perfect harmony with every scene and action portrayed on the screen, the greatest charm is lost and the interest of the audience is centered either upon the music or upon the play instead of an undivided attention to both. In some places where they have an orchestra or violinist they make frantic efforts to play the pictures with ludicrous result, for no matter how carefully the music is selected or how quickly they switch from one piece to another, the effect is always ragged, the picture is never properly played and the music is usually spoiled in the process of cutting to fit the scenes. A lesser evil is a drummer, inasmuch as he can follow the pianist, but even he can be well dispensed with. A drum is the only instrument that has absolutely no music in it and whose only place is with a brass band or large orchestra. With a lone pianist it is nerve racking and irritating to a degree, especially if the house is small and the sound has no room to expand. The greatest fault of drummers is that they play too loud, drowning the pianist and all attempts at finesse he might put into his playing. It will be a great stride forward when managers realize that there is no music in this barbarous instrument, and drums are forever banished from picture theaters.

“It is when the pianist not only plays appropriate music, but enters into the spirit of the play shown on the screen; accentuating the action and emotions of the actors, working up the climaxes and making the music characteristic of the situation at all times that the picture is well played. And this along is not sufficient, for the successful picture pianist must not only use his head and hands, but he must throw his whole heart and soul into the subject. When he does this, then he can make the picture “talk” to such an extent that scraping feet and wagging tongues will cease and the audience with bated breath will watch the unfolding of the play. When the manager can hear the proverbial pin drop, he may be sure his picture is well played.”

The writer of the foregoing letter has evidently thought intensely on all his subject and bitterly upon a part of it. The indications are that his experience with managers has not been a happy one. One can imagine that a nagging employer who did not know what he was talking about could make things very unpleasant, but fortunately they are rare. At least, I never happened to run across any. Out here in our neck of the woods, most of the managers are too busy, managing, to waste time trying to educate piano players. If the musician is satisfactory, well and good; if not—and speaking on the other side of the case, some employers must be easily satisfied, as some of these piano-and-drum combinations ought to be interfered with; if the manager can’t do it alone he should call in the police to help him.

______
F. Edgar Ray, musical director of the Grand Theater, Newark, Ohio, is here again with another welcome contribution. He says: “Am sending musical program of two films that impressed me as worthy of attention, namely: ‘In the Days of Witchcraft’ (Selig); ‘Longing for a Mother’ (Lubin). I trust these suggestions may be of value to some one in the business.”

“In the Days of Witchcraft” (Selig).
“Dorothy” (Old English dance; Seymour Smith), until title: “Lady Bersford, An Old Sweetheart, etc.”
“Pull for the Shore, Boys” (old song) until title: “Yorke Introduces Anne, etc.”
“La Danse De Souvenir” (Loren Bragden) until foster father dies.
“On Wings of Love” (Bendix) until title: “Lady Bersford Accuses Anne, etc.”
“Melody in F” (Rubenstein) agitato until title: “The Trial.”
“Sextette from Lucia” until Yorke and sailors come to rescue Anne.
Mysterious pp. until Yorke attacks guard.
Agitato until old man stands on beach watching receding boat.
Waltz—rather bright, until end of reel.

______
“Longing For a Mother” (Lubin).
Bird of Paradise” (J. V. Mathews) until title: “At the Reception.”
“Enchanted Nights Waltzes” (Moret) until title: “Day Dreams.”
“Dreams, Just Dreams” (Berlin—Snyder) segue: “Nothing Like a Mother’s Love” until boy awakes by portrait.
Waltz pp. until ball room scene, then f. until Mary Evers joins boy at portrait.
“In a Red Rose Garden” (Billy Gaston) until fairy disappears.
“All Aboard for Blanket Bay” until dark scene.
Waltz f. until end of reel.

______
A correspondent wants the names of some pieces similar to “Tam O’Shanter.” Something adapted for long scenes of an agitated nature. I cannot now recall anything just like the number mentioned. The allegro parts of some overtures are often useful. Eduord Holtz’s “Dance of the Demon” is a fast, noisy gallop. No doubt our constituents will come forward with suggestions in plenty.

Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 28 June 1913, 1362.

Notes from Italy

2010-03-14T06:16:00.005-05:00

Compared to his accounts of London and Berlin, Bush devotes little space to exhibition in Rome, and doesn't mention the musical practice at all. Overall, he seems not to know what to make of the country. He discusses the Italian film industry at length, but seems a bit perplexed by its uneven quality. He also notes that unlike England and Germany, American subjects do not play well in Italy.

Notes from Italy

A Lesson in Italian Kinematographic History—Italy a Poor Market, but Features Bring High Prices—Exhibitors and Their Leagues—Theaters and Projection—Visit to the Cines.

By W. Stephen Bush

Rome, May 29, 1913

In the history of the kinematograph in Italy there is much to cheer and comfort the friend of the motion picture. No other country furnishes ampler proof of the fact that the palm of success and the crown of merit go to the producer who is not afraid to aim high and whose appeal addresses itself to the intelligence, the good taste and the more sense of the public. In the beginning of things kinematographic in Italy the producer had on the one hand the advantage of extraordinary opportunities, while on the other hand he was beset by great temptations. His opportunities lay in the natural beauty of his county, in the weather and the climate. Nowhere has Nature set up a more glorious and complete studio than in this most favored of lands. He had the precious opportunity of becoming the interpreter of a deathless and most interesting of civilization. By means of the new invention which by reproducing motion gives the most perfect imitation of life, he had it in his power to show to the whole modern civilized world pictures of the life and culture of ancient Rome. He had but to set up his camera with the right intention and his very surroundings would furnish him with the inspiration needed to produce great films. His was and is the home of art.

In Rome and all through Italy are the plentiful remains of the arts which have created imperishable beauty, which to the end of time will delight the eye and stir the heart. All the vast treasure of art and of knowledge and of history and of literature which is heaped up here in richest profusion was at the constant and immediate service of the moving picture camera. Here was the birthplace of two civilizations of the greatest importance—the civilization of ancient and of Christian Rome. Here were born two of the richest and most expressive languages; here these languages reached their highest perfection, and here they served as the means of expression to some of the greatest minds among mortal men. The source of much which we still teach in every school of the world is here. The priceless heritage of Greece was often transmitted to us through Rome. It is hardly necessary to allude to the part which Rome and Italy played in the history of Christian civilization. If ever there was in the best sense of the word a paradise for the ambitious and intelligent producer it surely was in Italy. It was in the power of the Italian producer to place before the world in clear and living pictures what all the schools and text books of the centuries could do but imperfectly. If the producer chose to strike the educational chord and do some homage to the Muses of History and of Poetry and of the Drama, his success seemed to be assured. He had the world for an audience, for Rome and Italy had been the themes of countless poets and writers and teachers in various tongues for more than two thousand years.

Great, however, as his opportunities undoubtedly were, his temptations were no less great. First, there was the cry of that old, owlish, parrot-like chorus: “The moving picture is not here to instruct and educate, but only to amuse and entertain.” With all their fossilized arguments these parrots can never succeed in talking the educational value out of the motion picture. There was, however, a greater and plainer temptation in the path of the Italian producer. This consisted in the very potent fact that in modern Italy the taste of the public is decidedly low. Indeed it verges on the morbid and the on the vulgar.

Education here is still very far from being universal; even the most superficial of observers must recognize all around them the effects of centuries of political oppression and superstition. This is not the place to go into the causes of low taste and vicious instincts—I only state the fact and place it among the temptations which confronted the producer. If he took a narrow view of his opportunities it might well seem to him that the road to fortune must lie in playing down to the tastes of the vulgar. “To get the crowd” in Italy it was neither necessary nor advisable to put art and high ideals in his films.

Now when they came to the parting of the ways there was a sharp division among the producers. Three or four chose the road which for the moment seemed harder and less profitable, while the others chose the path with a downward trend, but with seeming assurance of immediate financial gain. To the former we owe many of the great masterpieces of filmdom—“The Fall of Troy,” “The Last Days of Pompeii,” “Dante’s Inferno,” “The Odyssey,” “Jerusalem Delivered” and “Quo Vadis?” In publishing such films the producers achieved a reputation the fruits of which brought them not only honor, but rich material rewards. They set a splendid standard not only for others, but chiefly for themselves. They gave assurance to every exhibitor of a high average quality in even their minor productions.

What of the other and far more numerous producers, who carefully kept away from the educational and the classic to cater to the lovers of the cheap melodrama? There are a score of them and perhaps more, but who out of Italy hears of them to any great advantage? They cast their lot with the “crowds” in Italy and now they are lucky to sell on an average three copies in Italy, with an occasional print for the French, Spanish or South American market. In our country and in Canada mightily little of their stuff is sold, and the buyers are generally sorry. It is quite true that the Italian market for the sale of films is the poorest in the world, and that even the best firms sell at the most five or six copies of their regular releases, whatever they may be able to do with the big features. It stands to reason then that the Italian producer depends very largely on his export. He could not live without the markets of the English-speaking countries and of Germany and Russia.

Italy is a poor market for the sale of American films—with one notable exception. The films of the Vitagraph Company are very popular here. The agent of the Vitagraph is selling as many films as the best native producers, and I believe at a little better prices. Maurice Costello is a name to conjure with in Italy. His recent tour through Italy, including a visit to the Cines studio in Rome, has been much like a tour of triumph. He was cheered in true Latin fashion when he showed himself to the people in the “Lux Et Umbra,” one of the principal moving picture theaters in Rome. The other American brands, with the possible exception of the Bison, are sold but little. Perhaps more might be done with other American films, but Italy at its best does not compare with such markets as England, Germany and Russia. Even little Holland and Belgium, orphans in the House of Motion Pictures, lag but little behind Italy. Of the great Selig film, “Christopher Columbus,” only seven copies were sold in the land of Christopher Columbus. Edison is represented in Genoa and the well-known exchange man Barattolo, who owns theaters in Rome, Naples and Turin, and who is a member of the Neapolitan City Council, is the agent for Selig and Kalem. Rex and Solax are in the hands of the Vitagraph agent; while all other American producers are sold via London. To revert for a moment to the financial advantage of turning out high quality, I might say that, according to statements published by themselves, both the Cines Company and the Ambrosio Company paid dividends of 11 per cent. in the past year.

The renting situation is curiously mixed in Italy. The supply of first runs greatly exceeds the demand, helping to accentuate competition. Daily changes of program are unknown except in one or two theaters in Napes. Pathe, Gaumont, Éclair, Cines, Ambrosio and Vitagraph are trying to place their first runs in Italy at the same time and the result may be imagined. Pathe, Éclair and Gaumont refuse to sell to middlemen and will deal only with the exhibitor directly. This, of course, causes quite a little friction. The renters are fighting Pathe and the end is not yet.

The multiple feature film has added to the confusion of the market. Very high prices are paid for “State rights.” Italy is for this purpose divided into five parts: Piedmont with Turin for its center, Lombardy with Milan, Veneto with Venice, Central Italy with Rome, and Southern Italy, including Sicily with Naples and Palermo. For the new Ambrosio film, “The Last Days of Pompeii,” for instance, the buyer for Southern Italy and Sicily paid 40,000 francs. This is more than some of our biggest States have brought for some of the biggest features. As a natural result the single reel suffers, being relegated almost entirely to the smaller towns.

The theaters in the largest city of Italy, Naples, are small. Outside of Rome there are few moving picture theaters with [1230] a large seating capacity, and in Rome there is but one with 1,500 seats. Licenses are quite low and the opening of theaters is free to anyone. The regulations for the safety of patrons are easy to the point of laxity. With the excitable nature of the Italians, a panic in one of even the medium-sized theaters might cause a terrible disaster. Prices of admission are almost as low as with us, ranging from six cents to a rare maximum of 30 cents. The average Italian moving picture house compares most unfavorably with the average theater in England, America or Germany. It recalls Mulberry Bend and Little Italy in Harlem in the days of the early Italian immigration. The odor in these places is penetrating, but far from agreeable. Chairs are poor, the attendants are normally sleepy and insistent for tips when roused into a state of passing wakefulness. The projection even in the very best theaters is not much, and in the average theater it is intolerably wretched. Clear, sharp and distinct pictures, and an even, steady supply of good, strong light are positively unknown. An Italian translation of Richardson’s handbook is one of the crying needs of Italian operators, and I have taken the matter up with an editor of prominence.

The personnel of the average exhibitor is better than one might expect. He is generally inclined to be progressive, but he seems incapable of understanding the advantages of one great and strong national organization. Concerted action by the exhibitor would count for much more here in Italy than, for instance, in Austria or Germany. Italy is a more democratic country and public officials are much quicker to respond to public demands. It is to be much deplored then that the Italian exhibitors cannot be united in one organization. There are at present two leagues of exhibitors and, what is worse, they are fighting each other instead of turning their faces against the common enemy. If the one league commends some measure to the government as beneficial to the industry, the other league comes along and adopts resolutions strongly condemning the proposed measure.

Italy has little just cause to complain of censorship. The power of censoring pictures was until recently exercised by the local authorities of each province, but not it is vested in a branch of the Ministry of Justice at Rome and its decisions are valid for the whole kingdom. To an American all censorship is of course odious, but the Italian censorship is very mild, with a semi-occasional fit of rigor.

I will carry away from Rome one very pleasant recollection: that of a long, instructive and very enjoyable visit to the splendid Cines establishment just outside the Porta San Giovanni. The grounds of the Cines studios cover 56,000 cubic metres. Of their six different studios there is but one for which artificial light is used and this studio is used but rarely, mostly indeed for the production of light effects and a species of a higher sort of trick photography. Four companies were at work when I visited the studio in the company of the courteous Signor A. Meille, the private secretary of the general director, Baron A. Fassini. The baron received the visit from a representative of the Moving Picture World with every evidence of pleasure and extended innumerable courtesies. He and indeed all of the staff and the artists of the Cines are ardent readers of the paper and the supply of copies is never large enough to go around. This saying of the baron and his secretary was a most handsome tribute to the international value and importance of the paper, and on behalf of the readers of the Moving Picture World I conveyed to him our sincerest appreciation.

The excellence of Cines photography is easily explained by the magnificent natural light which is at the disposal of the Roman producer at least ten months out of twelve. This light is dry and extremely clear. I noticed many things that seemed interesting and useful in the industry. They have most of their cameras fixed to a pivot-like arrangement on the ground. This makes it possible to turn the camera easily without disturbing it. I saw a ball scene with lots of dancing taken in this way and it impressed me as a new and useful innovation. Of course, the mechanical and shipping departments were up to a high standard, but the story of the Cines plant would not be complete without describing the large number of special departments which are to be found on the grounds. These work of these departments is unique and greatly helps explain the artistic success of the Cines films. Outside of about twenty compartments, each about 20 x 150, where the movable scenery is kept, there are two large buildings which are occupied by special departments, such as the manufacture of hats and the making of costumes. There is a perfect arsenal in which weapons of every age in all conceivable shapes are found, there is a floor devoted to woodwork and carving, larger quarters for the scene painters, a smithy and a most interesting department of pottery. All these things are kept with the greatest care and are in charge of capable men and women.

The department for the making of costumes contains well nigh ten thousand suits and dresses. It covers every period in man’s and especially woman’s history, form the famous fig-leaf to the hobby-skirt. Every period in history has its separate and carefully marked lockers. I was struck with the fine gowns of the French revolutionary and the Napoleonic periods and was told that the Cines have a great Napoleonic play under way. The same careful and scientific division characterizes this arsenal. Everywhere indeed are evident the traces of experts, the hand of the scholar and the historian has been at work. The pottery was a most instructive department. The men employed are adepts and as they have the best models of the world for almost every style of pottery they turn out a splendid grade of work. Art, system, study, hard work and capable direction characterize the conduct of every one of the departments.

I had the pleasure of meeting the director of “Quo Vadis?” Signor E. Guazzoni, a very modest and affable gentleman, who is thoroughly absorbed in his work. He had troubles of his own the morning I visited Cines, for he was trying to make a huge python do the right thing before the camera in connection with a version of “Cleopatra,” which the Cines will shortly put on the market. I also had pleasant chats with all the artists in “Quo Vadis?” except Nero and Petronius, who are not regularly with the Cines.

The very important cities of Turin and Milano I expect to see to-morrow, and as they are the film centers of Italy and the studios of Ambrosio and the Milano Film Company, will no doubt offer much of interest to our readers. There will be a second letter on Italy.

Source: W. Stephen Bush, “Notes from Italy,” Moving Picture World 21 June 1913, 1229-30.

Conditions in Germany

2010-03-13T05:38:00.001-06:00

From London, where he posted three articles, W. Stephen Bush traveled to Berlin, where he was not much impressed with the governmental regulation, censorship or tax situation. He also found the German film producers to be on the whole very provincial. On the other hand, he had high praise for the exhibition, especially the musical practice.

Conditions in Germany

The Horrors of Government Supervision of Picture Theaters Described—American Pictures Favored.

Berlin, May 4, 1913

No just estimate of the conditions in the German film industry is possible without taking into account the attitude of the German government toward the maker and exhibitor of motion pictures. The great amusement trust in Germany is the government. Practically two-thirds of all the theaters, and actually all the theaters in the big cities, are managed by financial agents of the government. Within recent years just about the time motion pictures began to be popular in our own country, there was a sharp advance in theatrical prices. From popular prices, averaging about 60 cents, the scale was raised to an average well exceeding a dollar. A good seat in any of the first-class theaters of Berlin is not to be had to-day for less than two dollars and fifty cents and there are plenty for three dollars and more.

At this moment appeared the motion picture. The thrifty Germans gave it an enthusiastic welcome. The exhibitors were wise enough not to go too far below theatrical prices, but just far enough to become formidable competitors. Prices ranged from 25 cents to one dollar, with a few seats at a dollar and a half. At once a very desirable patronage was transferred from the high-priced theater to the moving picture house. Small theaters started up all over the city, but the government treated them with contempt.

It was not long, however, before one after another of the old legitimate theaters changed from the drama to the moving pictures. Presently new theaters were built rivaling in comfort and luxury the best of the legitimate houses and showing “straight” pictures to crowded houses. Now the government took the alarm. It was estimated that one big theater had taken in over $120,000 in one year. Perhaps the estimate was too high; but, at an rate, it was large enough to excite both the envy and greed of the government. The latter had two ways of coping with the situation—its weapons were censorship and taxation. We need not be any too proud of the position which the showman occupies in the eyes of our own law, but he is a pampered individual indeed when compared with the German showman. The government issues its edict and fixes a rate of taxation strictly to suit itself and with no thought of the probable fate of the exhibitor. I questioned a number of exhibitors and moving picture experts here and they agree that the government takes about twenty per cent. of the gross receipts of the exhibitor. The taxation begins with every ticket which is sold at 10 cents and the ratio increases rapidly as the tickets increase in value. I do not think there are half a dozen moving picture theaters here charging as low as five cents, but many have now gone to 9 cents just to avoid the tax.

Even the tax, however unjust and arbitrary as it seems to be, has failed utterly to hurt the popularity of the pictures. The government therefore used the bludgeon of censorship. The principles and methods of German censorship baffle description. They violate every rule of fair play and ignore the plainest mandates of equity. Prussia is a semi-despotic country; there is supposed to be a representative government, but it never goes any further than the police allow. From infancy the Prussian is taught that the serious business of life is to drill and be drilled. Implicit and unreasoning obedience to whatever the paternal government is pleased to ordain is second nature with the average subject of the Kaiser.

I asked an editor here: “If the police censor the pictures who censors the police?” and he could not understand. The “divine right” business is paying big dividends in Germany.

Censorship is not only severe, but hopelessly stupid. The producer takes his film to a police official who orders a couple of hundred feet cut out. No reasoning is possible. The producer who would contumaciously argue the point with the police official might be arrested and dragged off to jail for insulting a representative of the government. I understand that an appeal is technically possible, but it is attended with so much red tape and so great an expense that the remedy is about as bad as the disease. There is no system in this censorship. The whims and the temperament of an individual decide.

One of the most notorious enemies of the motion picture is a man known as Professor Brunner. He calls the motion picture a “national peril” and arranges public meetings in which the motion picture, the producer and the exhibitor are denounced as public enemies. This is the very man who has been asked by the police to assist in censoring the pictures. He does not want to compromise with the pictures; he wants to destroy them.

To mention just one example of the depths of stupidity of German censorship. The Gaumonts have released a series of “comics” showing the adventures of a little boy. The government censored these pictures and suppressed several of them because “they seemed to encourage rebellion against parental authority.” Pictures showing the most sordid and revolting conditions of the underworld and others chiefly dealing with the seduction of poor working girls by dreadful employers are passed without question.

It is a little short of marvelous that, despite all these handicaps, the picture thrives here better even than England. The chain of first-class moving pictures with large capacity and every possible improvement and convenience is constant food for wonder. The Cines Company and “Al” Woods, the American theatrical manager, own most of these theaters and are making them pay. All this is due to the American-made picture, without which no program is deemed complete. Almost all American manufacturers are represented in Berlin and if comparatively few of their products are advertised in the trade journals the cause must be sought in a well established market which takes care of itself.

American pictures suffer comparatively little from the censor. For the audiences here the screened description of American life, American customs and manners, American men, women and children seem to be specially attractive. While we often discriminate against foreign pictures, the foreigners seem to be prejudiced in favor of our pictures. American comedies are in great demand.

This demand for American pictures has set the German manufacturers thinking. They are looking for the secret of our success. They realize that their product must, in quality and from a moral point of view, seek to approach American standards. Some have hired directors with American experience and others are looking for American directors and willing to pay the price. At present not one of them has a studio of his own. Studios are hired by the day or week and the expense is often shared by a combination of two or three producers. Only one or two of the manufacturers have permanent staffs of actors. As a rule, their product is good in photography; some of their artists are capable, but the differences in taste and the demands of German audiences make very many of the German pictures ineligible for the American market. The German audience revels in detail. A death scene is reckoned a great sentimental luxury, which may be prolonged ad libitum. All “weepy stuff” is relished and must not be cut. Action is not deemed as important as sentiment. The German is cosmopolitan enough to find a source of wonder and delight in the foreign, especially the American picture, but he does like the native product best when it seems “to the manner born.” It must also be remembered that in spite of the effective educational system which prevails in all Germany the people outside of the cities are like most people in Europe—well contented to move in old conventional grooves. They have simple tastes and very little pleases them. They are the very opposite of critical. With these audiences almost any picture will make a hit. This accounts for an awful lot of trashy things, wretched photography and simply impossible in all other respects.

There are two things which are done much better here than on our side. I refer to music and to methods of presentation generally. Berlin has motion picture theaters in the finest parts of the city, which are wonders of artistic architecture and scientific management. When you enter one of these theaters, like Mozart Hall or the Cines Palace or the Kammer Spiele, you feel at once that you are a guest and the object of pleasing attention. The corps of ushers is well distributed and well trained. The visitor gets the idea that he is receiving individual attention. He is guided to a spacious and comfortable chair or a box; he gets a program for 2 cents and the usher either marks his program or tells him what picture is on the screen and how far it has run. If he wishes any kind of refreshment special waiters bring it at once and the price is very reasonable. There is a receptacle for glass or cup convenient to every seat. Your hat and coat are taken care of for a nominal sum. There are no swift or sudden changes from darkness to light or vice versa. The lights come on gradually and go out gradually. No noise from the operator’s booth ever gets to the ears of the audience. All seats are reserved and numbered, the higher the price of admission the further away from the curtain. The attendants are courteous to a fault. The interior of Mozart Hall reminds one of an opera house (not “opr’y house”), in its comfort and luxury.

The crowning achievement of the German theater, how- [900] ever is the music. Orchestras of fifteen and twenty pieces are not uncommon. The musicians are artists led by capable and experienced directors. The slightest detail is looked after. Every important psychological moment in the drama is effectively elaborated by the music and when a climax comes music aids motion in a most acceptable manner. I admired their music for comedies; it always fitted like a glove. No subject puzzles the musical director. I should imagine that music for a subject like the Ohio flood was not easy to select, but the accompaniment in the Cines Palace was strikingly adapted to the scenes on the screen. Awkward pauses are unknown. Nor are the show places the only ones exhibiting this fine regard for musical possibilities. The thing is typical of all moving picture theaters—large and small. Of course, the weekly change of program favors a proper selection and rendition of music, but I found that the music was just as good the first day of the program. I am firmly persuaded that the musical feature of the entertainment goes a long way toward reconciling the public to the big prices.

I cannot say much for the projection, which is on the whole little better than ordinary. All European pictures seem to be printed on poor stock and often reminded me of those terrible non-inflammable films which we saw in the latter part of 1909. Few films I saw were in perfect condition. The only exceptions ere some of the feature films.

The film market in Germany is in a most bewildering condition—confusion worse confounded. Pathe and Gaumont are dealing with exhibitors directly, releases are by no means regular and then there is the exclusive film, generally a feature of three, four and five reels sold on the State rights or world’s rights plan. I was told that “Quo Vadis” was rented at 10,000 marks ($2,500), for two weeks; another sensational film fetched a rental of 17,000 marks (over $4,000), in Leipzig, for a period of one month. There are a number of independent directors who form temporary alliances with distinguished artists of the big legitimate theaters and sell negatives to certain syndicates. This, to, helps to bedevil the market.

The exhibitors are well organized in Berlin and other large cities of the empire, but the national union is not strong and has but little influence. They are, as far as I have been able to observe, an intelligent body of men, with a proper realization of their responsibilities. They are greatly alarmed just now at the threatened action of the government, which in addition to levying an exorbitant tax, intends in October to take up the question of exacting a special yearly license. If this plan is carried out many places will have to close. The government will treat the theaters like we treated the saloons under the old high license system. If no proof of their necessity is forthcoming no license will be issued and of the necessity the government will be the sole judge.

In spite of all present troubles and allowing for further displays of hostility on the part of the government, I predict a great progress in Germany. There are only about 3,000 houses in the empire now, but I would not be surprised to see this number trebled in a year or so. There is no reason why this market cannot yield as fine returns to the American producer as the British market. Nothing more is needed than ordinary American energy and a proper understanding of the conditions.

For the benefit of other American moving picture men who may hereafter be tempted to visit here, I venture to set down a few observations which will, I trust, help them to understand some of the native customs. I must take special notice of the German elevator. In its normal state the German elevator dwells in sacred seclusion. It is strongly and safely locked up and the possession of the key to the elevator is the last and crowning emblem of janitorial dignity. When uncouth foreigners like myself wish to use the elevator—natives refrain from it out of regard for its sacred character—notice is given to the janitor, who in the exercise of a sound discretion may or may not admit the applicant. In any event, the news that the elevator is about to be used travels rapidly through the neighborhood and soon crowds of small boys and girls assemble and witness the unlocking and ascending of the elevator. The elevator ascends with imposing dignity and often attains a speed of a floor a minute. When you get out, the elevator immediately descends and is again locked up. If you fancy that upon topping the bell the elevator will re-ascend and brig you back to the ground floor you have a great lesson to learn. In the first place there is no bell. In the second place the elevator is not to be lightly molested. It has taken you up—please expect no more, walk down. What a sublime example of patience our German friends are setting us here. In the mad rush of elevators “up and down” we often are betrayed into violent comments on the slowness of the elevator service and are prone to speak rudely to the elevator man or the starter. We thus frequently compromise our dignity. Our German cousins would much rather walk down than imperil their philosophical calm.

I would also warn you away from what the Berliners call their circular system of suburban transit. It is fair, but false. Apparently it casts three and a half cents to ride in any direction of a distance of four stations. In the cheaper cars it is only 2 ½ cents. Naturally you feel elated. At this rate you can ride continuously for a year and never touch your savings bank. You ride, say a distance from Grand Street to 14th and blithely walk off, giving the ticket taker your ticket and a look of a hauteur. He sternly orders you to halt and explains that you have gone one station beyond the limit of your ticket. Thinks begin to look black. Passengers gather and view you with ill-concealed suspicion. Nobody has a kind word for you. You really begin to lose sympathy for yourself, when another uniformed railway employe leads you to a ticket office where you have to pay an additional 7 ½ cents. You mentally retract all you ever said about the Interborough and thereafter trust yourself to taxis, which are quite cheap. Marvels of cheapness are the electric stages. For two cents you can ride indefinitely. I agave a conductor three cents, for which I was rewarded with about a dozen rapid military salutes. I then tried him with four cents and he ignored every other passenger on the car for the rest of the journey. No doubt I could have bought the car for a dollar, but the cost of transportation might have killed my profit. The conductor gazed after me with wondering eyes and a last salute. I am only a poor film man, but I am always willing to do my share in sustaining our reputation as a nation of reckless spenders.

Source: W. Stephen Bush, “Conditions in Germany,” Moving Picture World 31 May 1913, 899-900.

W. Stephen Bush in England

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As noted in the 3 May 1913 issue of Moving Picture World, in April W. Stephen Bush had sailed for Europe to investigate the state of the industry in the principal European markets: Great Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

Mr. W. Stephen Bush, of the editorial staff of The Moving Picture World, is making a business tour of England and the Continent. He sailed April 12th, and will remain abroad from six weeks to two months inspecting productions and making a study of the European market generally. It is expected that Mr. Bush will contribute some interesting stories upon the various phases of the motion picture business in Europe as presented to his critical eye for the benefit of readers of The Moving Picture World.

Source: “Facts and Comments,” Moving Picture World 3 May 1913, 463.

Through the early summer, Bush sent back detailed reports from the various cities he visited. Almost all of these reports contained descriptions of his visits to the local moving picture shows. Though Bush tended to visit the higher class theaters in each city, the comparisons he offers do give some sense as to how exhibition differed by country.

His first installment on the state of the film industry in London was published on 10 May 1913 and it is reprinted below.

Yankee Films Abroad

An Interesting Budget of Information on
Picture Conditions In Great Britain.

Written on the Spot by W. Stephen Bush.

If you want to realize what can be done with American-made films, do not fail to come to London. If you happen to be an exhibitor it might pay you to come and see, and then go back and put your experience into dollars and cents.

There are, indeed, in some of the very cheap sections in the East End, moving picture theaters where they charge as low as 1d. (2 cents) and 2d. (4 cents), but in the West End the prevailing price of admission is 6d. (12 cents) ranging upwards to as high as 10/6d. (2 dollars 62 cents). English capital which is hopelessly shy about supporting any film producing enterprise, is remarkably eager to invest in moving picture theaters or "cinemas" as they are called over here. The concrete and immediate strongly appeal to the British mind. While through the lack of financial support, English film making enterprises languish like an exotic plant on unfriendly soil, the city is dotted with modern superb moving picture theaters. I will not attempt on such short acquaintance as I have, to theorize about this, and to explain why the London exhibitors are generally prosperous and the British manufacturers generally poor, while the renters too are coming in for some of the cream. Perhaps the open market has something to do with this. Perhaps the liberal patronage of the London public may help to explain it, and perhaps it is the superior method of presentation or perhaps it is due to a combination of all these factors.

In the West End Cinema, where I attended a moderately good entertainment last evening, consisting of six reels, the scale of prices was as follows:

Orchestra Seats in the Rear 50 cents.
Orchestra Seats nearer the Curtain 25 cents.
Second Balcony 25, 35 and 50 cents.
First Balcony 60 and 75 cents.
Private Boxes $2.60.

At 10 o'clock the house was crowded. The seating capacity was only 800, but that is good enough with such a scale of prices. The furnishings were of a high order throughout. There was an invisible orchestra, which played music suitable to the pictures. Please take that word "suitable" in its actual, and not in its American or Pickwickian sense. No doubt the music had been carefully rehearsed, as it invariably struck home at the psychological moments. I have a painful recollection of an orchestra in New York engaged in an effort to follow the pictures with suitable music, and frequently coming to a dead stop at precisely the wrong moment, closing, for instance, with a crashing finale just a minute before the climax of the play on the screen. The highest price in the New York theater was 15 cents. I will leave it to the reader to draw his own conclusions. I characterized the program as moderately good, and barring the luxurious surroundings, the splendid music and the perfect management, I have seen moving picture entertainments at home a grade better than this, and charging no more than 10 cents. Again I leave the reader to draw his own conclusions which lie on the surface.

It is evident to even the inexpert eye that the exhibitor has a decided say in the moving picture industry hereabouts. Both the renter and the manufacturer respectfully consult his wishes. The progressive London exhibitor with possibly two or more theaters has his "viewers" or "selectors" scouting about projection rooms, and when the "viewers" or "selectors" commend something to the exhibitor, the latter suggests to the renter the purchase of the film, and as a rule the renter accepts the suggestion and acts upon it. The exhibitor's freedom in the selection of his program is absolute, and because he is able to grade his service according to the character, and demands of his audience, he gets the crowd, whether he is in a fine residential section or in a rougher neighborhood, or in a location where he depends on the transient trade.

Mr. Seymour Hodges, the Manager of the Marble Arch theater, admittedly one of the finest in England, was quite emphatic on the subject. "If," said Mr. Hodges who had had theatrical experience on our side, "we had to depend for our supply of film on just one single group of manufacturers we would soon suffer. The present arrangement enables us to select just what we think our patrons like best." The splendid crowd in the Marble Arch theater at 10 o'clock p. m. seemed to indicate that this particular exhibitor at least knew the tastes of his audience. Music, projection, management worked co-operatively toward absolute perfection, nor were there any first runs. The backbone of the particular program was an Edison subject, which an American friend at my elbow had seen at St. Louis three months ago, and which must have been in England at least a week or two. If the American film of today continues to hold an easy supremacy over the rest, it is due largely to the good judgment of the British exhibitor. There are not a few somewhat irresponsible men in the exhibiting business here, especially in the City of London, who have a small place, and can never under any circumstances, see one inch further than the entrance to their theater. But for them, the exhibitors organization in this country, would be a deal stronger than it is. These men, however, care nothing about the common weal and are stumbling blocks in the path of progress. The larger exhibitors, on the contrary, are keenly alive to the fact that harmony and co-operation make them strong and powerful, and they are well united. The result is, that they have a pretty free hand in the selection of their programs, and I think that helps to explain their success and prosperity. But a short time ago, there happened to be a short and sharp conflict of interest between the exhibitors and renters on the one hand, and certain manufacturing interests on the other. No attempt was made by any of the parties to the conflict to resort to "steam-roller" methods, there were amicable conferences, and a final agreement to disagree on certain matters and to re-unite on others. The liberty of the exhibitor to arrange his own program as long as he pays for it, remains in full force and vigor.

The only films which seem to appeal to the British public are the products of either purely American or partly American films. It is a high compliment to American-made films that they are hardly ever objected to by the Censor. The very fact that they are of American origin seems to create a presumption in their favor. I have seen a few French and German films, which would drag down almost any program to either the level of licentiousness or stupidity. The unadultered or rather unpurified French products are apt to rouse the ire of the Censor, while the ordinary German melodramatic films, mostly in two or three reels, have value only as an unfailing antidote for insomnia.

I have heard and read a whole lot about the superior projection in the capitals of Europe, and as far as London is concerned I have seen much actual proof of it. Projection varies here too, some of it is good, some of it indifferent, and some of it awfully bad, but the average is high. The trade conditions are far more settled here than they are on the other side of the water. There are no daily changes of programs here. Programs are changed twice or three times weekly, and this applies to the cheap as well as the expensive theaters.

It is a pleasure to relate that the educational film is doing well here in London. I have just had a long talk with Mr. Chas. Urban of the Kineto Co. Mr. Urban who is known on both sides of the water as one of the earliest pioneers in the educational field. He has retired from the Urban Trading Co., and is devoting all his energies to Kinemacolor, and educational kinematography both in natural colors and in black and white. I learned from him that the London County Council have had a plan of kinematographic instruction under consideration for some time. They wanted to add a kinematographic course of instruction to the program of the Polytechnic schools and after viewing a large variety of films submitted by the different manufacturers they arrived at the conclusion that the Kinemacolor would probably lend itself best to moving picture instruction. They have just completed an agreement with Mr. Urban, which provides for a trial of educational films extending over a period of six weeks. The conditions and details are as follows: At each one of the six Polytechnics (industrial schools, teaching. Carpentry, Machinery, Telegraphy, etc.) there are to be four exhibitions per day, each lasting from 45 to 50 minutes, each of these exhibitions are to be attended by classes of 1000. This means that there will be an attendance of 4000 children per day, or 20,000 per week or 120,000 for the entire period of the experiment. Children of all grades will be asked to attend these exhibitions, and the teachers intend to ascertain the value of kinematographic instruction by carefully questioning each child. If the results thus obtained are satisfactory, machines are to be installed at once. There is no question that this would then be the entering wedge for a general kinematographic course of instruction in all the schools of England, both public and private.

Mr. Urban tells me that he had a most interesting visitor in the person of a gentleman named Margunrien, who was authorized by the Greek Minister of Education to inquire in London as to the supply of educational films. He brought with him a letter of authorization, which I think will often

[574]

be quoted by the future historian of kinematographic education. The document sets forth the fact that there are 4000 schools in the Kingdom of Greece, and that the Greek Minister of Education desires to make a thorough test if the moving picture as a means of teaching the young mind. It goes on to state that the Minister does not know how much of a supply there is on hand at the present time and he assures Mr. Urban that he will be able to absorb and utilize almost any supply that may be on hand at this moment. The Greek representative has had numerous interviews both with Mr. Urban and his General Manager, Mr. Hickey, and the probabilities point to a large order of machines and films. Mr. Urban will construct a special model of machine, which will generate its own electricity, and take a standard size of film. It seems probable then, that Greece, the mother of education, will be the first to make practical and general use of the new invention in schools of the modern Kingdom. Mr. Hickey will leave for our side with a large supply of black and white educational films on May 6th.

Mr. Urban was in a reminiscent mood, as he talked and recalled the early days of kinematography, here and in America. He spoke with some feeling of a memorable trip he made to our side of the water in the winter of 1910. He came with hopes running high, banking, as he said, on promises, which were not fulfilled. He spoke in grateful words of the assistance and encouragement which the late founder of the Moving Picture World extended to him. Mr. Urban has now been in London for 18 years and his enthusiasm in the cause of education still remains unabated. He is firm in the belief that eventually the moving picture as an educator will in importance far surpass the moving picture as a form of amusement.

Passing through Cecil Court, otherwise known as "Flicker Alley," I noticed the sign of "Warner Feature Film Co.," I walked in and found Sam Warner in full charge. He has been here for about one month, and has had a busy time of it familiarizing himself with conditions, and with the various denominations of British currency. He thinks this is an ideal market for an enterprising American picture man and he is going at full speed all the time. He is the latest American invader.

Source: W. Stephen Bush, “Yankee Films Abroad,” Moving Picture World 10 May 1913, 573-74.

"Quo Vadis" at the Astor

2010-03-11T06:15:00.003-06:00

Below are ads and a notice of 1913 premiere of Quo Vadis at the Astor Theatre in New York carried in Moving Picture World. The ad includes notices from the New York City papers.

George Kleine, who owned the American rights, was experimenting with distributing the film more along the lines of a theatrical road show than through the usual channels of either the regular exchanges or state's rights. After the Astor Theater, where it would continue to run into the summer, the film opened at the McVicker Theatre in Chicago, followed by Philadelphia, Baltimore and Brooklyn in turn (see ad on right). It then went into somewhat wider release during the summer months, when many theaters traditional closed for the season. Throughout, however, Kleine kept control of the film, booking it for the most part into legitimate theaters that specialized in staging prestigious traveling productions.

"Quo Vadis" at the Astor
George Kleine's Big Feature Production Attracting
Increasing Business at Leading New York Theater.

With the distinction of being the first big dramatic motion picture, or photoplay, to open for a run in a first-class New York theater, "Quo Vadis" was given its first public presentation by Mr. George Kleine at the Astor Theater, Broadway and 45th Street, on Monday, April 21. Two performances were given on that date, to large, fashionable and enthusiastic audiences. The picture was simply staged with an accompaniment of appropriate music provided by a Wurlitzer unit orchestra. There was no lecture to detract from the picture and the audience seemed to enjoy every scene of this truly wonderful picture. The entertainment lasted two and one-half hours; the picture being run in three parts, or acts, with brief intermissions between each act, the length of the picture being about 9,000 feet.

A review of this production, which is by the Cines Company of Rome, will not be attempted at this time, but will appear in a later issue. But it is timely to remark the beautiful photography and the realistic effects that place "Quo Vadis" in the highest rank of motion picture classics. Notable among the effects were the scenes depicting the burning of Rome. At this point the audience was unable to longer restrain itself and burst into loud and prolonged applause. There were thrills in almost every scene; some calling for enthusiastic applause and yet others which commanded profound reverence. Altogether it was a delighted people who rose reluctantly to leave the theater when the curtain fell on the last scene.

Since the opening, the business done at the box office of the Astor has been steadily increasing, which fact, considering the prices of admission ranged from 25 cents to $1.50, gives reason for the belief that "Quo Vadis" will have a long and successful run in New York.

Having thus successfully launched the New York presentation it is Mr. Kleine's intention to open at McVicker's Theater, Chicago, 111., on May 5, where an equally enthusiastic reception may be expected.

Source: “‘Quo Vadis’ at the Astor,” Moving Picture World 3 May 1913, 467.
Image sources: Moving Picture World 14 June 1913, 1159 (right); Moving Picture World 3 May 1913, 496-97.

Brass Band Accompaniment

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Even when scores were composed for a particular film, the practice of accompaniment rarely demanded that it be used. The accompaniment was very much dependent on the venue where the film was screened. When in April 1913 the New York Exhibitor's League put on a benefit show for flood victims at the 60th Regiment Armory, they selected the New York Letter Carriers' Band to provide accompaniment for the five (!) hour show, which attracted more than 5,000 people. As the excerpt below suggests, the band's approach to playing the pictures was enthusiastically embraced.

[…]

Imagine that second reel of "War," by the "101" Bison Company, when accompanied by a brass band of fifty pieces. Try to imagine one of the most thrilling battle scenes ever produced being presented with the sound of ten trombones coming up the scale chromatically, with an equal number each of clarinets, cornets, altos and bassos working strong on the "hurry" stuff in counter melody, and you will get an idea of the right way to put that picture on. Of all the punches and thrills of the evening, that was the knock-out.

* * *
And, speaking of bands, a blind man would have enjoyed himself that evening for no other reason than listening to the New York Letter Carriers' Band, one of the best trade bands in America. When it comes to playing for pictures, their leader seems know just what to select.

Source: “New York League Benefit a Big Success,” Moving Picture World 26 April 1913, 369.

Corrected Version of Musical Suggestions

2010-03-09T05:41:00.006-06:00

As mentioned, the typesetter messed up the musical suggestions that Sinn had published on 31 May 1913, leading to a correction published 21 June. This post is a corrected version of the 31 May suggestions per Sinn's instructions.

CHILD LABOR TRAFFIC.

Part One.

1. “Sympathy Waltz” (by Mezzacappo) until title: “The Wicked Guardian, etc.”
2. Waltz Lento until: “The Plot.”
3. Short waltz or allegretto (one scene); an accordeon [sic] is being played in the scene by street musicians. Sound effect can be introduced ad lib. At change of scene:
4. “Dream of the Flowers (Chas. Cohen-Sam Fox), until she writes letter.
5. “Chiffon” (from suite “My Lady’s Boudoir”—Witmark), until Andrea meets her.
6. “In the Shadows” (Finck) until title: “Under the Pretense of Seeking Employment.”
7. Semi-mysterious until: “On the Track.”
8. “La Rose” (Emil Ascher) until end of reel.

Part Two.

1. “Dream of the Flowers” until: “A Lesson in Misery.”
2. Plaintive till Andrea enters supper room.
3. Agitato, pp. at first and crescendo for struggle until change of scene.
4. Short waltz until child is seen a prisoner.
5. Long “hurry” music. I used “Narcissus Overture” by Schleppegrel, beginning at the Allegro moderato and repeating this movement until she receives telegram, then:
6. “Dawn of Love” (by Theo. Bendix) until last scene.
7. Four bars of Wedding March to finish.

* * *

THE LADY AND THE MOUSE (Biograph).

1. Lilacs” (Feist) until title: “Boredom and Inefficiency.”
2. “Bees” Novelette (Remick) until: “On the Road.”
3. Any slow Reverie until title: “More Readjusting.”
4. “The Mouse and the Clock” (Whitney-Witmark) until: “A Change in Climate.”
5. Pathetic music (long) until: “Later.”
6. “Pansies” (Bendix) or any waltz lento until “The Change In Climate.”
7. Waltz until end of reel.

* * *

AN EXCITING HONEYMOON (Pathe).

Part One.

1. “Wedding Glide” until title: “We Want You To Put On Lady Rowley’s Robe.”
2. “Malinda” (Remick) until drinking scene.
3. Chorus of “Which He Didn’t Expect from a Lady” (from “Peggy,” by Stuart).
4. “Is There Anything Else That I Can Do for You” (Remick).
5. Lively music throughout the picture.

Part Two.

1. “I’d Like To Go On a Honeymoon” (from “The Red Rose,” by Bowers) until title: “At Last We Are Alone.”
2. “All Alone” until: “Go ‘way Man, etc.”
3. “One Drink More” (one scene), when colored woman powders her face.
4. “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (Chorus) once through.
5. “Honeymoon Song from Honeymoon Trail.” When Lord Rowley gets into auto.
6. “Goodbye, Everybody,” until second auto drives on.
7. Galop of lively march until they walk up gang-way to boat.
8. “Goodbye, Everybody,” until boat is seen moving out.
9. “On the Mississippi” until end of reel (lively).

This picture is a bright, rollicking comedy, and the more lively and “snappy” your music, the better. Popular stuff preferred.

* * *

THE COURAGE OF A SOLDIER (Bison).

Part One.

1. Indian characteristic music until: “The Peaceful Hopis Appeal.”
2. March until change of scene.
3. “Love’s Dream After the Ball” (Czibulka) after introduction. For one scene.
4. Same march as No. 2 until Indians go out of gate.
5. “Spring Dreams” (pub. by Feist) until council scene.
6. “Oy-an-ee-tah,” by Victor Herbert) until all in fort.
7. March until treaty is shown.
8. Indian music again until change.
9. Agitato p. and f. until end of struggle.
10. “Starlight Souix (or any popular intermezzo of similar character) until: “The Money Arrives for the Indians.”
11. “Indian Summer” (Moret) until he puts money in desk.
12. Semi-mysterioso until: “Chaplain Decides to Leave the Fort.”
13. “Twilight” (Reverie by Nat D. Ayer) until end of reel.

Part Two.

1. March until change.
2. Indian until change.
3. Sentimental, two scenes.
4. Agitato, pp. until saloon scene.
5. Mysterious, one scene.
6. “Sun Dance” (Freidman) until: “The Lieutenant Accuses the Chaplain.”
7. Intermezzo until Indians.
8. Indian music, one scene.
9. Agitato, one scene; back to Indian music, one scene.
10. Sentimental until: “The Chief Divides His Forces.”
11. Several scenes of hurry and agitato music; when Chaplain lays powder train, softly till explosion—ff. until: “Seeing the Fort Attacked.”
12. March, one scene.
13. Hurry p. and f. Can alternate marches with agitato when cavalrymen seen riding. When army rides into fort.
14. March. When Lieutenant enters.
15. Pathetic until end of reel.

* * *

A SPLENDID SCAPEGRACE (Edison).

1. Allegro (4th movement) of “Morning, Noon, and Night” overture by Suppe. Subdued agitato for one scene.
2. Any popular intermezzo until title “Selling the House of His Forefathers.”
3. “Old Kentucky Home”—paraphrase (or any Novelette—scenes are neutral); until they enter barroom.
4. Agitato pp. and mf. until: “An Inveterate Gambler.”
5. “Apple Blossoms” (Kathleen Roberts) until: “We’uns Want to be Quality Folks.”
6. “Kiss-Me-Quick” (Novelette), by Emil Isenman, pub. by Fischer, until title: “Fleeced.”
7. Semi-mysterious until he drops his head on table.
8. “Simple Aveu” until Goree Remembers too Late, etc.”
9. Semi-mysterious until: “Let Me Ride Ahead.”
10. Agitato until shot.
11. Plaintive until: “Epilogue.”
12. Religioso until finish.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 31 May 1913, 908, incorporating corrections published 21 June 1913, 1240.

Carl Fischer Analytical Orchestra Guide

2010-03-08T09:48:00.000-06:00

Julius Seredy compiled the Carl Fischer Analytical Orchestra Guide in 1929. A complete list of the topic headings has been posted to the web here: Seredy list. A reduced version showing only the main topical categories and organizing them by type is here: Seredy reduced list.

These lists complement another that was posted earlier: topics in Erno Rapee's Encyclopedia of Film Music.

Bartola Keyboard Attachment

2010-03-08T06:03:00.004-06:00

The bulk of this week's "Music for the Picture" column is given over to the Bartola Keyboard Attachment, which was evidently the brand name for one of the Barton Piano Attachments. Surprisingly, Sinn gave Barton this large write-up despite the fact that Barton products had not been advertising in Moving Picture World since March.

In addition, Sinn ran a correction to the musical suggestions from 31 May 1913. A version of those musical suggestions based on these corrections will be posted tomorrow.

Sinn concludes this week's column with a letter discussing the difference in accompanying film with orchestra compared to piano and drummer.

“The International Musician” (which is the official organ of the American Federation of Musicians), on p. 9 of its May issue, has an article entitled “Music Machines.” In the course of this very interesting and timely article it says: “Music machines are beginning to displace orchestras in the cheaper theaters” and “This is a problem that music be faced and solved. Somebody must manipulate these machines. Insist that such operators must be qualified members of the A. F. of M.”

I am moved to this partial quotation through having recently witnessed a demonstration of the Bertola [sic] Keyboard Attachment for Pianos. I want to say right here in the beginning that this keyboard is not an attachment in the true sense. It is entirely separate from the piano, but is merely placed in a position convenient for manipulation by the pianist. As a matter of fact, it could be played without a piano. So many music machines are a combination of piano, organ, etc., that I believe this point is worth notice. A small keyboard containing thirty notes (two octaves and a half) is mounted on a standard. This is not attached to the piano remember, but stands on the floor convenient to the pianists right hand. The keyboard can be swung over the piano keys when wanted and swung back out of the way when not in use. One the floor in front of the pedals is a board containing other keys or pedals connecting with drums and various traps (crash, thunder sheet, auto horn, tom-tom, etc.), which are manipulated by the feet. The organ is a real organ consisting of two sets of pipes voiced to “violin” and “flute” stops respectively. These pipes are of the best quality (being 90 per cent. tin), and their volume and tonal quality are exactly the same as a similar section from a good pipe organ. Although the other attachments are good, this organ section is the one great big musical feature which will make the Bartola Keyboard unique among music machines. Having a good piano already in his theater, any manager who installs the “Bartola Keyboard” only needs a good pianist to insure high-class music. This attachment is not a toy. Its effects are not “cheap,” but of good, solid quality. The drums are played by the feet—the bass drum by the left foot, the small drum by the right. They can be made to play soft or loud at will. This applies also to the xylophone, orchestra bells, chimes, and marimba, which are that is all there is to it. But the combinations and effects likewise attached to the keyboard. The different instruments are in separate cases, which may be placed adjacent to the piano or in various parts of the theater. They are run by a current of low voltage which is supplied from a storage battery. This battery is kept “stored” by a motor generator which is started and stopped automatically by the playing of the instruments. The full quota is given as follows: “Pipe-organ, xylophone, orchestra bells, marimba, chimes, bass drum, small drum, tom-tom, triangle, cymbal, thunder sheet, and auto horn.” These can be played all at the same time along with or without the piano; in any combination with or without the piano. The combinations are infinite in variety. The “violin” stop in the organ section really partakes more of the character of the oboe or high register of the cello to my way of thinking. At any rate, it is possible to get a very good Oriental musette effect on the upper notes of this stop; also an imitation of bagpipes.

Combined with the flute stop a big rich tone is produced which, when accompanied by the piano and drums, gave an excellent orchestral effect. When all the instruments and trap are played together, the volume is sufficient for any ordinary theater. Now, Mr. Exhibitor, when you install the “Bartola Keyboard Attachment,” don’t make the mistake of thinking it will do all the work; get a good pianist to operate it, as it is a really good instrument and deserves a chance. A pianist does not need to “learn” this instrument; in a few moments he can familiarize himself with the situations of the different levers which are all convenient to his hand, and that is all there is to it. But the combinations and effects possible to a good performer are worth the extra money.

A Correction.
A slight mix-up happened to my letter in the issue of May 31st. Under the title, “An Exciting Honeymoon,” the caption “Part One” and numbers 1 and 2 are correct; the remainder of this reel will be found in the next column under Part Two, numbers 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The caption “Part Two” belongs at the head of the second column, the first number in the second reel being “I’d Like to Go On a Honeymoon,” and ending with number 9, “On the Mississippi.”

“A Splendid Scapegrace”; first three numbers correct. The remainder will be found under caption “Part One” of “An Exciting Honeymoon.” Begin with No. 4, “Agitato pp. and mf.” and so on until No. 12, “Religioso until finish.”

“The Courage of a Soldier” is correct to and including No. 7. The remainder will be found under “A Splendid Scapegrace” No. 8, “Indian Music again, etc.,” and so on to finish. Accidents will happen in the best regulated printing office and please note that it seldom happens in this.

———
Likes the Music Page.
Mr. Roy H. Metcalf, of the Empress Theater, Missoula, Mont., submits the following: “One of the most interesting features in the Moving Picture World to me, and no doubt to many other musicians, is the ‘Music for the Picture’ page. I only regret that it does not appear each week and that more musicians do not take advantage of the opportunity to help others by offering suggestions.

“Music for the picture is second in importance only to the picture itself—many of the patrons of the photoplay place the music first.” (They should not if the pictures are all they should be.—Ed.)

“Every live manager is now demanding that the musical accompaniments for his pictures shall be of the best and many houses are spending more for the musical end of the game than for the pictures.”

[That probably accounts for it; I am a strenuous advocate of good music and good pictures, and believe that correct music enhances the value of the picture, but I do not protest against the fine concert program with pictures as a side issue. Not that I think Bro. Metcalf is arguing in favor of this proposition, but I have met a few exhibitors in the past who did and still do, and here is a good chance to get in my little knock.—Editor.]

“There are still some who are emphatic in their assertions that an orchestra cannot properly fit music to the picture. There is no question but that a pianist, either alone or with the assistance of a good drummer, has probably a greater opportunity to work out his pictures in detail than a number of musicians playing together, but I believe most orchestra leaders have demonstrated that it is possible to follow the picture quite effectively and at the same time give the public more pleasing music than a pianist can. We are using a string orchestra and pipe organ, adding drums or brass according to the requirements of the picture. In changing every day it is almost impossible to rehearse our program with the pictures as should be done; however, we do so on special releases. In featuring the music for pictures, the manager prepares slides which are shown before each reel announcing the name of the next picture and the musical numbers which are used for accompaniment. The music loving patrons are loud in their praise of this arrangement.

“We recently showed the Reliance feature, ‘The Bawlerout,’ in three parts; also a Keystone comedy. Below is the program used for that day: ‘Liebesgarten’ (Schumann), ‘Humoreske’ (Dvorak), ‘Serenade’ (Drdla), ‘Solvejg’s Song’ (Grieg), “To Spring’ (Grieg), ‘La Boheme, Fantasia’ (Puccini), ‘Salut D’Amour’ (Elgar), ‘Echoes of the Operas’ (Arr. By Reckers), “Love is the only Thing in Life’ (Helf), selections from ‘A Modern Eve’ and ‘The Fortune Teller.’”

This is a splendid program musically; unfortunately I did not see the picture in question, so cannot pass as to its fitness in regard to detail. Many leaders strive to carry out the general atmosphere of the picture rather than try to [1241] work to every little detail. This on the whole is much the safer plan, for as Mr. Metcalf says, it is difficult for an orchestra to follow closely to the details. Some leaders “humor” the scenes without changing the piece of music. Unless done with skill this is risky, although I have known violinists who could so vary the music at times by means of retard, accelerate, diminish, crescendo, etc., that their work was a joy to hear. This, of course, in certain scenes where the contrasts were not too pronounced. It would hardly hold good in all situations.—Editor.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 21 June 1913, 1240-41.

Speech By Kinetophone

2010-03-07T06:29:00.001-06:00

Picking up from yesterday's post, this is longer item from later in the month when another Kinetophone film had evidently been made featuring the Street Cleaning commissioner. This film was shown at the New York Hippodrome, which is remarkable for its size—the theater holds more than 5,000.

“Big Bill” Edwards Host To 5,000 Men

Commissioner Gives an Entertainment at Hippodrome
for Street Cleaning Employes.
Speech By Kinetophone
Department Workers Congratulated on Their Splendid
Work in the City Clean-Up.

Nearly 5,000 men of the Department of Street Cleaning attended a special performance arranged for them yesterday at the Hippodrome. The entertainment opened with a concert by the Department of Street Cleaning Band, and then Commissioner “Big Bill” Edwards stepped forward on the stage. When the cheering had died away Mr. Edwards welcomed the workers of his department, and congratulated them on the splendid manner in which there had gone about the recent Spring clean-up of the city.

The special performance was arranged for the Commissioner, as a mark of appreciations of the work of the men of the Department of Street Cleaning throughout the last year generally, and in particular during the recent Spring clean-up campaign.

Mr. Edwards, wearing a silk hat and frock coat, was t the main entrance of the big playhouse when the first of the guests began to arrive for the performance. He stayed there until the house was filled to its capacity, acting as a special escort to many of the veterans of his department, whom he led by the hand to their boxes and seats. When Mr. Edwards appeared on the stage, following the band concert, he said:

“I have seen most of you men before, and I am glad to welcome you here this afternoon. I am not going to make you a speech, because later you will hear me give to the men of the Department of Street Cleaning a new kind of talk on the kinetophone, recently perfected by Thomas A. Edison. I hope you will all have a profitable and pleasant afternoon.”

The kinetophone was then put in operation while Commissioner Edwards retired from the stage to his box. In the prelude was shown a crowd of college boys, who started to sing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” until they were drowned out by the audience applauding. When the college boys finished their song one of them stepped to the front in the picture and made the presentation of the Commissioner.

For a few moments it was simply a motion picture performance by Mr. Edwards, for his words were lost in the uproar created by his 5,000 loyal men as he came forward in the picture to address them. When the audience was quieted his speech could be plainly heard until interrupted again by the enthusiastic street cleaners.

“I am allowed through the courtesy of Mr. Edison to make an address to the 6,500 men of the Department of Street Cleaning,” said he, “and I am very glad to thank you for the good work you are giving to the City of New York.

“Few people realize that every morning 6,500 men start out to clean the streets of this city, and I am glad to speak to the men of this department who earn their money by the sweat of their brows. Their work is the hardest of any city department, and there is not the slightest question that your salaries should be increased. I am confident that this will come sooner or later. The people of this city ought to arise and call you most efficient. I believe that a large majority of them do.

“The cleaner the streets are the fewer will be the beds in the city’s hospitals, because clean streets largely do away with unsanitary conditions.

“Nothing tends toward good street cleaning conditions so much as the cooperation of the people themselves. This city must realize that it can do just as much as the Department of Street Cleaning. The street cleaners leave their jobs at 4 o’clock in the morning, and after that it is up to the citizens of the city to decide whether the streets shall be kept clean. They should consider how much paper and rubbish they throw on the streets. It is estimated that it costs the city $50,000 additional each year for the time used by the department in picking up paper and other rubbish thrown in the streets.

“Those who criticise must criticise intelligently. Those who want clean streets must help. Every one is responsible for the condition of the streets of New York City. My whole idea of co-operation is contained in the following verse:

Why don’t they keep the streets a little cleaner?
You ask with keen amazement, not undue.
Why don’t they keep the parks a little cleaner?
Did you ever stop to think that this means you?

“Yes this means you and every other citizen in this city. You have a responsibility to bear. See that you bear that responsibility, and see that your neighbor do something to keep the streets clean. It is hardest to help those who will not help themselves. In some localities the streets are littered ten minutes after the street cleaners have left them clean.”

Source: “‘Big Bill’ Edwards Host To 5,000 Men,” New York Times 26 May 1913, 16.

Mayor Gaynor on the Kinetograph

2010-03-06T05:56:00.003-06:00

In April 1913, Mayer Gaynor of New York and a number of his commissioners were the subject of Kinetophone film. Whether this was for publicity, goodwill or an attempt to find a new market for the sound film is unclear, but it received quite a lot more press attention than any previous Kinetophone subject. This first item reports on the "posing" of the film.

Mayor In Talking Pictures
With Waldo and Other Commissioners, He Talks and Poses.

Patrons of the talking picture houses will have an opportunity soon to see and hear Mayor Gaynor, Police Commissioner Waldo, Fire Commissioner Johnson, Street Cleaning Commissioner Edwards, and Robert Adamson, the Mayor’s secretary, explain the workings of the city government. Yesterday the Mayor and his Commissioners went up to the Edison studios, at Valentine and Decatur Avenues, the Bronx, and posed for a series of moving picture films. At the same time they talked into a phonograph, and every word and gesture were duly recorded. The Mayor explained that he had promised representatives of the Edison Company long ago that he would talk and “act” for them, and that he found his first opportunity yesterday.

Source: “Mayor In Talking Pictures,” New York Times 18 April 1913, 1.

This next notice is more a publicity item, which suggests that the Kinetophone might have an important role in preserving the historical record.

Films for Posterity
Edison to Present Gaynor and Others in Records for Centuries.

Thomas A. Edison, who recently perfected the kinetophone, will formally present to the Modern Historic Records Association at the City Hall this afternoon at 1 o’clock the talking-motion-picture records that were lately made of Mayor Gaynor and other department heads of the city Government. The records, including both the motion picture films and the phonographic cylinders, will be received by William George Jordan, Managing Director of the Modern Historic Records Association, in the presence of Mayor Gaynor and others of whom records were made.

Mr. Edison will also present a piece of parchment on which there will be an inscription explaining that the records are intended to be preserved for centuries, and below the inscription will be the signatures of those whose records were made, certifying their genuineness. Until the Modern Historic Records Association builds its own home the records will be deposited in the New York Public Library. At a demonstration a few days ago in the Union Square Theatre the records were approved by the Mayor and his associates. In addition to Mayor Gaynor, there are records of his secretary Waldo, Fire Commissioner Johnson, and street Cleaning Commissioner Edwards.

Source: “Films for Posterity,” New York Times 1 May 1913, 6.

This is the report of the premiere of the film. Note that as of May the Kinetophone is still installed at four Keith and Proctor vaudeville theaters.

The Mayor In the "Movies"

Mayor Gaynor, Secretary Adamson, and Commissioners Waldo, Johnson, and Edwards made their vaudeville debuts yesterday afternoon at three of the Keith theatres, the Colonial, the Union Square, and the Alhambra, and Proctor’s Fifth Avenue, the simultaneous appearance being accounted for by the fact that they were seen as stars of an Edison talking moving-picture record. The Mayor’s secretary and the three Commissioners each spoke a few sentences for the recording machine, and then Mayor Gaynor gave a three-minute talk. The scene was set to represent the Mayor’s office, and the five speakers were seated around a large table when the picture was flashed on the screen.

The Mayor began by saying that he wished it were possible to have all the heads of city departments on the screen to tell the people about their activities, but he had to content himself with having three of them there. Some of the “corrupt newspapers,” said the mayor, had been endeavoring to raise a public clamor to have some of his Commissioners dismissed, but he had stood by them. He said that he believed the public was beginning to realize he as right in standing by them. He closed with an argument in favor of the Workmen’s Compensation bills, which he said he hoped to see enacted into law.

Source: “The Mayor In the ‘Movies,” New York Times 6 May 1913, 20.

This is an excerpt from "Observations By Our Man About Town," a regular column that appeared in Moving Picture World. From this column it seems likely that Edison was exploring the possibility of increasing the market for the Kinetophone by using it to record lectures and other educational events.

Mayor Gaynor, Police Commissioner Waldo, Fire Commissioner Johnson and Street Commissioner Edwards made their debut in motion picture studio work one day last week. They figured in talking moving pictures and, while some people look upon it as a joke, the event will do much towards demonstrating the value of the pictures in the exemplification of the work attached to the various civic departments. Communities finding it impossible to secure the personal attendance for lectures of men who become prominently identified with municipal, state and national departments will find a valuable acquisition in such pictures. Chatauqua circuits and lecture platforms will be particularly interested in the development of this branch of the industry. It is to become one of the most important factors in the educational line. Each day brings forth some new development or undertaking, showing clearly that the day is not far distant when the motion picture will become as indispensable in educational circles as it has become popular in the world of entertainment. It is no longer a question as to how long the pictures will survive. Truly they are in their infancy.

“Observations By Our Man About Town,” Moving Picture World 3 May 1913, 476.

Thematic Cue Sheet Patent

2010-03-05T06:15:00.000-06:00

Below is Moses Mintz's patent for the thematic cue sheet, like the one posted last week for Chaplin's Shoulder Arms. The full patent if available through Google by clicking on the image.

Patent number: 1463288
Issue date: Jul 31, 1923

The Opening of the Music Hall

2010-03-04T05:45:00.004-06:00

This item, which appeared at the end of April 1913, reports on the first couple of weeks of operation at the Music Hall in Cincinnati. An earlier notice on the Music Hall is available here.

The Music Hall, Cincinnati, seating 3,600 people, was opened with exclusive picture programs, March 29, by the Empire Exhibition Co., of New York. Licensed feature films are chiefly used. The house was opened with the "Prisoner of Zenda." A fourteen-piece, selected orchestra is used to accompany the pictures, and high class vocal and instrumental numbers are introduced during the intervals. John Bunny, the well known Vitagraph comedian delivered his special monologue during the first week, and Francis X. Bushman gave lectures the second week. Both these gentlemen scored big hits. Miss Florence Turner, another big Vitagraph favorite, has been booked for the week of Monday, April 14, to appear in a comedy skit, of her own composing. The admission to the Music Hall is 25 cents for evenings and Sunday matinees. For other matinees the charge is 10 cents. A. N. Smallwood and J. T. Hennegan are the managers.

Source: James McQuade, “Chicago Letter,” Moving Picture World 26 April 1913, 366.

Another short notice appeared the next week, this one covering Florence Turner's visit.

Miss Turner Entertained At Cincinnati
On the occasion of Miss Florence Turner's recent visit to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she went to appear at the Music Hall picture show, the Exhibitors' League of that city entertained her and Mr. Lawrence Trimble, her manager, at the Sinton Hotel, where an elaborate dinner was served. Miss Turner also received several beautiful floral tributes at the close of her engagement at the Music Hall; one large bouquet of American Beauty roses from the league, and one from A. C. Dingelstedt, president of the local.

Source: “Miss Turner Entertained At Cincinnati,” Moving Picture World 3 May 1913, 471.

Talking Pictures Popular

2010-03-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Two publicity items for Edison's Kinetophone appeared in the 26 April 1913 of Moving Picture World: a full page ad and a short article. Clearly, the strategy for exploiting the Kinetophone had moved its primary target from vaudeville to the regular moving picture theaters. This change in strategy is perhaps one reason William E. Waddell, General Manager of the American Talking Picture Company, the firm responsible for marketing the device, states near the end that he believes the Kinetophone "belongs to the motion picture theater," even though it had to this point been marketed exclusively to vaudeville theaters.

Talking Pictures Popular
"The Edison Kinetophone was installed in six theaters in New York and Chicago on February 17th, and since that date installation has been made in practically every city of size in the United States. It must be admitted that greater headway has already been made for the Kinetophone during this brief time than was ever accomplished by the numerous previous attempts at talking pictures," said General Manager Waddell of the American Talking Picture Company, the other day. "Of course the name of Edison has much to do with this ready acceptance by the various theaters, as they were confident Edison would not market an article that was not practical. That this judgment was good is evidenced by the record-breaking attendance and the enthusiastic comments of the press. Marked improvement is noted week by week in subject and production. A practical knowledge of the requirements of the theaters could be gained only by experience, and the studio staff have learned more in the past few weeks than could have been learned in another year's work in the laboratory.

"The talking pictures may never take the place of the pantomime pictures, but will undoubtedly prove an admirable adjunct. It belongs to the motion picture theater, where it will serve to enliven that otherwise quiet entertainment. It is only a matter of time—and a very short time at that—before we will have colored talking, and perhaps stereoscopic motion pictures."

Source: “Talking Pictures Popular,” Moving Picture World 26 April 1913, 361.
Image Source: Moving Picture World 26 April 1913, 419.

A Forty-Five-Minute Talking Picture

2010-03-02T06:16:00.000-06:00

This short item notes experiments in 1913 with multireel talking pictures in Paris. Gaumont's system, which had been in regular use in Paris for years and steadily improved in quality, was for uncertain reasons never put in wide circulation in the United States.

The most surprising claim in this notice is that the dialogue was easily heard throughout the theater, since amplification and intelligibility of dialogue (not synchronization) were generally considered the most difficult issues confronting makers of synchronized sound film.

A Forty-Five-Minute Talking Picture

At the Gaumont Palace Hippodrome in Paris, a few days ago, there was exhibited a speaking film running forty-five minutes. This is by far the longest talking picture ever thrown on the screen. The photoplay was taken from a famous French farce and was witnessed by nearly eight thousand people, the extreme capacity of the house. The dialogue was distinctly heard in the farthest corners of the auditorium without appearing unduly amplified to those in the pit. The Paris Daily papers gave the Gaumont talking pictures from four inches to three-quarters of a column next morning and described the entertainment as a revolution in the cinematographic art. Speaking photoplays running from twenty to thirty minutes are now being shown nightly by means of the Gaumont improved Chronophone in the Gaumont Palace Hippodrome.

Source: “A Forty-Five-Minute Talking Picture,” Moving Picture World 5 April 1913, 52.

Week 6 Lectures

2010-03-01T08:11:00.017-06:00

This week we covered Chapter 5, Music in Film Form. Because it deals with relatively large spans of time, the content for this chapter is a bit more challenging to present during lecture—especially if your class is organized, as is mine, without a required screening of full films. I compromised a bit and watched the first 50 minutes or so of Casablanca, so we could discuss some of these issues of large-scale organization of film and music.

I began this week's lectures talking about the differences in runtime segmentation between music and film. I followed the text in presenting the hierarchical divisions of music (motive, phrase, period, section, movement) and film (shot, scene, sequence, act). For music we then looked at the chorus of "Meet Me in St, Louis, Louis" in terms of 32-bar song form. (The sheet music itself is available here.)

For a variety of reasons, terminology for 32-bar song form is not always consistent, with the repeated A sections sometimes called "verses" on the one hand, the B section called a "bridge" or "middle eight" on the other. Since "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis," like most Tin Pan Alley-era songs, also includes a proper verse, calling the A sections "verses" easily leads to confusion. I therefore chose to label the opening two phrases as "phrase one (A)" and "phrase two (A')"; I labeled the final phrase as "recapitulation (A")"; and retained the term "bridge (B)" for the contrasting middle section. At subphrase level, I marked out "basic idea" units of two measures rather than motives proper; the varied rhythmic repetition of the second "Louis" (which in performance is sometimes transferred to the initial "Louis" as well) creates a distinct motive that recurs in every phrase of the chorus, including the bridge.

As I noted above, "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis" has a proper verse that precedes the chorus, which makes the chorus a section of the full song.

In terms of film form, we looked at an early segment of the film, Meet Me in St. Louis, where the song is introduced by Agnes and then passed along to Grandpa and the older teens. Here is a shot list:

From Title Song Scene—Shot List

LS, Agnes and others in kitchen, tracks into hallway

LS, Climbing stairs

MLS, Grandpa in bathroom

LS, Agnes and Grandpa, tracks following Grandpa

MLS, Grandpa in bedroom, at end to window

ELS, Street from Grandpa’s window

LS, street level

We then lined up the shots with the musical articulations:

From Title Song Scene—Shot List and Music

Agnes sings (AA’ beginning of bridge)
Middle of bridge
Grandpa takes over (AA’)
Bridge and A”
AA and bridge (offscreen teens)
Recap (A”)
Stretched out cadence.

One of the parallels between music and film form we can see here is that the beginning of each chorus initiates a new space (Agnes into the hallway; Grandpa in the bathroom; Grandpa in his bedroom). In each case the shift to the bridge also brings pronounced movement: Agnes climbs the stairs; Grandpa in the hallway; the teens coming to the house in the carriage. Here we can say that the film form seems to be responding to the particularities of musical phrasing; this is fairly typical in musical sequences, especially in musicals. (A brief discussion of this segment can be found in HtM, pp. 167-68.)

* * *

The remainder of the lecture for the week was taken up with screening and discussion of roughly the first half of Casablanca. Here the emphasis was on issues of larger level audiovisual phrasing and the identification of structural sync points. In terms of the audiovisual phrasing I drew attention to the nondiegetic music (and voiceover) for the opening prologue; the exclusive use of diegetic music for the early scenes at Rick's; the diegetic musical reaction to Ilsa's initial appearance and the nondiegetic stinger when Rick first sees Ilsa (the crucial sync point in the first half of the film); the audio dissolves that bookend the flashback; and the emotional fluctuations in the music as it responds to the dialogue in the scene with Ilsa that follows the flashback. If I had time, I would have carefully compared the scene where Rick and Ilsa meet (discussed in the text on pp. 102-06) with the scene between Rick and Ilsa after the flashback in terms of audiovisual phrasing and the location of sync points; I haven't completed laying out my lectures for this week, so if I can find 20-30 minutes, I may well spend the beginning of Tuesday's lecture exploring this issue.

* * *

Finally, we ended the week with the second quiz. I tried something new. Besides having the students define and discuss terms, I gave them short transitions to identify using the terminology from Chapter 4. I chose four segments from (500) Days of Summer, each lasting roughly 30 seconds, and played them three times each. Although the students were quite apprehensive about the task—with copyright issues it is difficult to give students much practice since it takes class time—they actually performed quite well. I also had them write a short essay on the party scene from the same film. Here is the question:

This scene comes from near the end of (500) Days of Summer. After having broken up with Summer, Tom meets her at a wedding of a mutual acquaintance. They seem to hit it off again, and she invites him to a party. This is the party scene, which is accompanied throughout by Regina Spektor’s “Hero.” The lyrics to the song are attached.

Note that the music is similar in form to “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis,” which we discussed in class; the large musical sections are marked in the margins. It is basically an AA’BA” song with the second BA” repeated in varied form. The first A” also repeats the lyrics of A’ whereas the final A” introduces new lyrics. The individual sections are longer than the standard 8 measures—this is common in popular music today—and each is divided into subsections (indicated by stanza breaks in the lyrics).

Write a paragraph describing the sound track of this clip paying particular attention to sync points and issues of audio visual phrasing. How is film form affected by the music in this scene? What lyrics stand out and how do these relate to the image and unfolding narrative situation? What role do the musical articulations (the beginning of sections) seem to play organizing the scene? Mention anything else you see as particularly significant or interesting in the sequence. Aim to be as complete as you can in describing the sounds and music.

Obviously, I provided a lyric sheet with musical sections indicated. I also played the sequence, which lasts a little over 3 minutes, three times. I found the students did pretty well on this question as well—although more than I would have liked had difficulty with the concept of the sync point. Nevertheless, most noticed that the beginning of the final (ironic) A section coincides with the close-up of Summer's engagement ring.

A Visit to the Deagan Factory

2010-03-01T06:25:00.002-06:00

Deagan's large ad buy in April 1913 continued to generate favorable coverage elsewhere in the Moving Picture World. In June, Clarence Sinn devoted the first part of his "Music for the Picture" column to detailing a visit he evidently made to the factory.

In addition, Sinn also published a short letter that included a cue sheet for Kalem's The Cheyenne Massacre, for which Kalem provided a musical score. The ad on the left prominently mentions the special score, which was available for the very nominal cost of 15¢. The letter writer nevertheless rejected the score as impractical, since his theater used an orchestra, which would have meant orchestrating the piano score. The large variability of theater orchestras was one of the difficulties that such "special music" had to negotiate, and it remained a block to the widespread adoption of original scores throughout the silent film era.

A very important adjunct to the orchestra—especially the moving picture orchestra—and one which is growing in favor every day is to be found in the musical bells, chimes, marimbaphones and instruments of like character, as well as xylophones and orchestra steel bells. To J. C. Deagan more than any other man is due this growing popularity of these instruments. Mr. Deagan has done two very important things toward this end; first, he has evolved a very superior bell. Second, by means of his clever electric appliances any ordinary pianist or drummer can play them. Also, being of so simple construction, a boy of average intelligence can install them. Of course, he has long made a feature of bells and xylophones, etc., for artists’ use, but undoubtedly the impetus given to the demand for these instruments in late years is due principally to J. C. Deagan’s electric inventions which make their playing an easy matter. It takes long practice to acquire the even “roll” necessary in playing the xylophone or steel bells; it takes none to manipulate a Deagan key-board and get the same result.

A favorite manner of installing the bells is to string them around the auditorium high above the heads of the audience. Some years ago as perhaps you remember, when any one of the bells was installed got out of order, you had to place a ladder under the bell in question and climb up to fix it. Mr. Deagan has eliminated all of this. By his “no contact” mechanism he has reduced their chances of getting out of order to a minimum; and if they should need regulating (which is seldom) it can be done by the performer without leaving his seat. They can be played loud or soft at will; single stroke or roll as desired. A shut-off key is provided; drummers will appreciate this feature who remember the discordant jangle resulting from accidentally touching the key-board when reaching over for some “trap.”

I visited the factory of J. C. Deagan the other day and was much impressed by what I saw there. He occupies three floors of the pretentious Deagan Building in Chicago—25,000 feet of space on each floor—75,000 feet of floor space in all, in addition to the out buildings, dry-rooms, etc. Every thing but the wood and metal is made in the factory. The wood (for the xylophones) is cut especially for J. C. Deagan in Australia; the metal for bells, chimes, etc., is made to order by a special process. These raw materials are received at the Deagan factory and are cut, shaped, polished, tuned, plated and a lot of other things by expert artisans to become the things of beauty which you finally see and hear in the exhibiting department. There were orchestra bells to be played by hand and by electric key-board. Other electric bells in such profusion that space forbids naming them. Electric cathedral chimes; these are the same shape as the usual chimes; long tubes of a beautiful tonal quality with a hammer fixed to strike in exactly the right place and operated from a key-board. The chimes may be placed in the orchestra, lobby or any part of the house. (The same is true of all the J. C. Deagan electrical instruments.)

An electrical marimbaphone was also shown. It is impossible to convey a definite idea of this instrument. Though made of steel bars with resonators and is the same shape as a xylophone, its tone especially on the low and medium notes is something like that of an organ. The illusion was more pronounced when heard at a little distance. Mr. Deagan describes its tone quality as “like that of musical glasses,” but he is too modest; the tone is bigger and fuller than any musical glasses I ever heard. I saw a large xylophone which is played from an electric key-board also. The hammers are of the regular type—hard wood heads and rattan handles, thus insuring the correct tone—and any piano player can play a xylophone solo upon it that would be the envy of any expert xylophonist. This can be hung in the lobby of your theater if desired. I haven’t got room here to tell all the interesting things I saw, but the J. C. Deagan catalogues may be had for the asking and they will tell you more things than I can and tell them better. We visited the plating-room, where each article to be plated receives at least three coats; some of them more. They are just completing a new instrument called the “Nabimba.” This will probably be on the market by the time your read this article, otherwise I would be chary of mentioning it at all. It looked like a xylophone—bars of wood with resonators suspended beneath. When struck with the hammer two tones were produced, one the regular xylophone tone, the other a sustained reedy tone something like the low notes of a clarinet. Impulsively I looked to see where “the wind came from” to make such an effect. Of course, I couldn’t find anything of that sort, but had me guessing and I said so. “You keep right on guessing,” said J. C., “and come away before you see too much. I only wanted you to hear it, not examine it.” That’s all I can say about it, only that it is a wonder. And I am still guessing.

* * *
From the “Crown Theater,” Hartford, Conn.: “I am enclosing my musical program to Kalem’s ‘The Cheyenne Massacre.’ Though they had a special piano score for this picture, I did not use it, as I would have had to make an orchestration. My orchestra consists of five men in the winter and four in the summer. At present I am using violin, cello and flute, which can’t be beat for playing pictures and for good music. People want good music and not noise. I have a large library of nearly all the standard overtures, selections, waltzes, etc., and keep a record of all I play, so my audience don’t hear the same music all the time. I change programs three times a week; every number is changed and not played for months again, except when some number is repeated by request. I have trained my men so they have all the cue-music at their finger tips—the whole orchestra—so it is as easy for me to play a picture with them at it is alone on the piano. Every leader should have his men learn all the National airs, a gallop, a march, a waltz and dramatic music, so they can play it the moment he wants it. In that way a picture can be played at sight, then at the end of that picture he can arrange a program for it. The following picture went pretty good the first time and fine the second, so I had the whole program made up of pretty good music.”

“THE CHEYENNE MASSACRE” (Kalem).

Part First.
“Brides and Butterflies Waltz.” Play introduction while title is on; as the first scene appears (dancing) segue to the waltz. Until title: “Next Morning, Chief Swift, etc.”
“Indian Summer Intermezzo” until title: “That Night.”
“Garden of Dreams Serenade” until Indians are seen.
“Tom-Tom Intermezzo” until fight scene starts.
Agitato until boy is seen standing alone near ruins.
“Alpine Rose—a Flower Song” until scene exterior of post appears; watch for bugle call, then segue.
“The Twelfth Regiment March” until end of reel.
Part Second.
Introduction of “Danube Waves” waltz until the title is on.
Agitato until title: “Vengeance of the Red Men.”
“Big Chief Battle Axe” (Indian Novelty) until title: “Lieutenant Ellis Volunteers, etc.”
“Venetian Water Waltz” until Indians are seen.
Agitato until man with shawl meets Indian girl, then:
Chorus of “Silver Bell” or “Red Wing” until he jumps on horse.
“Petersburgh Sleighride Galop” until title: “The Attack of Fort Bryson.”
Agitato until bugler blows bugle.
Bugle call, Siegel march, “Weinblut Wein” until soldiers are seen on hill with American flag.
“Red, White and Blue” until fight starts, then:
Agitato until title: “After the Battle.”
“Boy Scout March.” Lieutenant puts his arm around the girl.
“Star Spangle Banner.”

“Read this over a couple of times and arrange your music in this order. You don’t have to use the same waltzes or marches. Play any you have and you will find this program O.K. Let me hear from those who use it. Yours,
R. J. Besette, Musical Director “Crown Theater,” Hartford, Conn.

[1021]

I am afraid I have not got your name correctly, Brother B., as you did not write it distinctly. However, your method of playing to the pictures with an orchestra is correct all right. The only way to get results is to have a lot of music “at your finger tips”—as you say: “every man in the orchestra.” This applies particularly to the dramatic music, as it enables all to watch the picture. Will be glad to hear from you again.

* * *

“WAMBA: A CHILD OF THE JUNGLE” (Selig).

Part One.
“Daisies” (Bendix; pub. Witmark). First part only until title: “Dr. Rice of the Settlement.” Then second movement through two scenes.
“Mystic Shrine” (Earl Cameron; pub. Carl Fischer). Until Wamba arrives at Dr. Rice’s home.
“Idle Thoughts” (Harry von Tilzer). Until after title: “Wamba’s Baby Dies.” Continue No. 3 until Doctore breaks the news to Wamba; then:
Plaintive until end of scene.
Agitato p. and f. until Doctor R. orders Pete away.
Short sentimental until end of scene.
“Flight of the Birds” (or any pretty caprice or novelette) until end of Part One.
Part Two.
Agitato; through first scene. Then subdue for second scene or short neutral. At end of second scene:
Long agitato p. and f. for flight and pursuit by lions; continue until child climbs up the river bank.
Short Intermezzo (“In Cupid’s Garden”—pub. by T. B. Harms), until Dr. Rice and wife enter house.
Agitato until child seen crossing glade.
“Mozembique” (Oriental intermezzo by Gruenwall; pub. by O. Ditson), until lion comes to child’s hiding place in log.
Agitato until Dr. Rice and party leaves Pete’s shack.
“Amina” (Paul Lincke; pub. by Stern), until end of picture.

* * *

A FIGHTING CHANCE (Vitagraph).
Novelette until girl is seen at piano.
“That’s How I love You” (follow pianist in picture).
At change, back to No. 1 until: “Not Knowing Wynne Is Married.”
Waltz until they enter restaurant.
“If You Talk In Your Sleep, Don’t Mention My Name.” When at piano.
“That’s How I Love You” (short), then:
Waltz lento until: “The Firm Sends Wynne on a Four Months’ Tour.”
“Pearls” (Moret) until: “A Stranger to the Wife, etc.”
Waltz lento until: “Preparations to Leave for the City.”
“Dimples” (Bratton) until: “Learning the Charm of Grace.”
Waltz (for dancing) until change of scene.
Restaurant scene. Popular cabaret music, “Home From His Trip.”
Waltz (Neutral) until: “The Appointment.”
“You’re a Great Be Blue-Eyed Baby” until he sees his wife in box.
“If You Talk In Your Sleep, etc.” very softly, crescendo at change of scene. When he meets his wife.
Sentimental until she plays piano; then:
“That’s How I Love Your,” until end, dying away with picture.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 7 June 1913, 1020-21.
Image Source: Moving Picture World 26 April 1913, 409.

Deagan Bells

2010-02-28T06:34:00.002-06:00

This two-page ad for Deagan Bells appeared in Moving Picture World on 5 April 1913, and it initiated a new advertising campaign for the company, which began running a weekly full page ad in the paper. (One example of the weekly version is shown to the right.) As this ad from 1910 shows, Deagan had previously run ads in the trade paper, but with this ad buy they became the most prominent music advertiser in the paper, eclipsing Wurlitzer's regular quarter page. Presumably, as part of the ad buy, they received this favorable notice in the paper:

Remarkable List of New Electrical Instruments

J. C. Deagan, the well known manufacturer of musical novelty instruments, announces in his advertisement, in this issue of the Moving Picture World, a new catalogue, introducing 240 different, electrically operated instruments, particularly suited for just motion picture theaters, and which can be played either individually, collectively, or in any combination in connection with a piano easily manipulated by the piano player.

A representative of the Moving Picture World recently made a call at the home of the Deagan Bells, a beautifully appointed and modern factory, costing $350,000. located at 1770 Berteau Avenue, Chicago. Claude Deagan, the genial young manager, conducted the World man through the factory and showed him a great number of remarkable instruments, which, no doubt, will make a great hit in motion picture theaters. The two most striking instruments are the new improved Musical Electric Bells and the new Deagan Electric Cathedral Chimes. The Musical Electric Bells have been improved considerably. They can be played soft or loud, single stroke or vibrating, at the will of the operator, by merely pressing buttons conveniently located on an ivory keyboard. The bells are mounted on a handsomely nickel-plated floor rack, but can also be distributed around various parts of the theater, if so desired.

A truly beautiful instrument is the Electrical Cathedral Chimes, made of the purest bell metal. It gives the best imitation of church chimes ever produced. These chimes are also electrically operated from an ivory key-board, and can be distributed throughout the theater, the same as the Deagan Musical Electrical Bells. Other new instruments are the new style Swiss Electric Bells, the Electric Octaphone, the Electric Orchestra Bells, the Electric Parsifal Bells, the Electric Steel Marimbaphone and Electric Xylophones.

Source: “Remarkable List of New Electrical Instruments,” Moving Picture World 5 April 1913, 50.
Image Sources: Two page spread: Moving Picture World 5 April 1913, 112-13; one-page version: Moving Picture World 12 April 1913, 207.

Cue Sheet for Shoulder Arms

2010-02-27T06:05:00.011-06:00

I picked this and some other cue sheets up a couple of weeks ago on Ebay. This cue sheet comes from a rerelease of Chaplin's Shoulder Arms, which originally appeared in 1918. The other cue sheets available from this supplier all dated from 1926 and 1927, so my guess is that this cue sheet also comes from that period, though I haven't researched the rerelease dates. The film itself is available for (free) download via the Internet Archive.

According to the cue sheet, the runtime of the film should be a bit over 34 minutes, which is quite a lot faster than the 46 minutes for the 1959 reissue (with a musical score Chaplin composed) that was part of The Chaplin Revue. Whether the 1926/1927 version was abridged or it was exhibited at a very fast clip is unclear: I couldn't find an accurate footage count for the film, but the 46 minutes of the 1959 release would be consistent with a little more than 4000 feet run at 24 frames per second (about 11 1/8 minutes per 1000 feet). To run 4000 feet in about 34 minutes would require an extremely fast frame rate (8 1/2 minutes per 1000 feet, which if I'm doing the math right would be above 30 fps). On the other hand, I have not yet watched the film with the cue sheet and stop watch, where any significant abridgment should become evident.

For information on silent film projection speed, this article by Kevin Brownlow is a classic. See also this chart of conversions speeds. The March and April 1998 entries from the Silent Film Bookshelf have a number of other articles on the topic of variable projection speed.

Update

Having done a bit more research, I learned that the film was originally shot as a five-reel feature but released in three reels. At three reels, 34 minutes would mean about 24 fps and 46 minutes somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 fps. I'm still not sure if the 1959 version is an extended cut, projected at a slower speed, or a combination of the two.

British Trade Exhibition

2010-02-26T06:04:00.003-06:00

This is an excerpt of an article on a 1913 industry trade show in Britain. A lot of manufacturers of mechanical musical instruments and sound effects machines evidently showed their wares—in any case, there were enough that the article had this whole section devoted to them.

British Trade Exhibition
Moving Picture Symposium in London—Fourteen Picture Theaters in One.
(Specially Reported By Our Own Representative.)

SATURDAY, March 22 will be an important date in the history of the moving picture industry in Great Britain, for on that day was opened in London, under most distinguished auspices, the first industrial exhibition ever held in this country in connection with development of the kinema as an educational, scientific and entertaining factor.

[…]

Sound Instruments.

It would seem from the many mechanical musical instruments shown at Olympia that, so far as the smaller shows are concerned, the orchestra will soon be swept out of existence. A most ingenious contrivance which attracted endless attention was a violin-playing instrument. The sceptic showman will ask "How can a machine draw a bow across a fiddle with accurate musical expression." That is not the point. The violin plays the bow, the latter remaining stationary throughout. The invention consists of a three-legged frame to which is attached three violins, close together and all in line. Across the three is stretched a huge bow and when the motor is set going and the sound regulator fed with paper music rools [sic] the three play together. Pneumatic stops regulate the strings instead of fingers.

The stentorian was another device which attracted endless notice. It was really an elaboration of the gramaphone [sic] except in stentorian notes which could be heard from one end of the building to the other. Combinations of pianos, organs, orchestrions and violins were exhibited by the dozen and all were under electric control, compact, and regulated on the press-the-button principle.

Machines for sound effects were as common as flies on a July morning and the cacophanic [sic] catastrophes produced by some were bewildering in the extreme. One small instrument, for instance, no larger than a sewing machine and known as the "Kinesounder," almost produced a panic. The operator pressed seven of its levers down simultaneously; then immediately fire alarms rang, police whistles blew, the fire engine hooter buzzed, horses galloped and vehicles rattled, timber cracked as though burning and passable imitations of falling floors and roofs were interspersed with many other noises of a fire scene. This machine produces about fifty other different stage noises with one of the most realistic resemblances of smashing crockery I have ever heard.

Source: Our Own Representative, “British Trade Exhibition,” Moving Picture World 19 April 1913, 259.

Kinetophone in Louisville

2010-02-25T06:20:00.000-06:00

This little item carried in the correspondence section of the Moving Picture World indicates that the Kinetophone was less than successful in its Louisville debut—so much so that it seems that the local Keith vaudeville house was relinquishing its rights to the device and allowing another theater in town to install it.

The Edison kinetophone has made its appearance in Louisville, B. F. Keith’s vaudeville house presenting the latest device of the inventor to the public. Largely speaking, it may be said that the Lousiville patrons of the theater enjoyed the talking pictures, even though some expressions of disappointment were heard. Devotees of the animated pictures, perhaps, had been led to expect too much, and the performance therefore fell a bit beneath anticipations. One of Louisville’s amusement companies is now negotiating for the local rights of the kinetophone, and one of its houses will shortly be devoted to the talking pictures.

Source: G. D. Crain, Jr., “Correspondence: Louisville,” Moving Picture World 12 April 1913, 181.

A Day "At the Door"

2010-02-24T05:26:00.002-06:00

This is a fictionalized account of one day in a manager's life running a small moving picture house, which includes some details about musicians.

A Day "At the Door"
By Hugh King Harris

LET us stand, if you will, for a moment in the place of the manager of the motion-picture theater, in the average town, and watch, for a day the different phases of the business. It is a most interesting proposition as viewed from various angles. If I burlesque some points a trifle, keep in mind that what I say is founded on actual occurences [sic] related by managers of various houses, on facts, not fancy.

The house is to open at ten o'clock A. M., the film is to come in by express, and there has been a wreck on the road, the feature has been billed heavily. The posters have been up and folks are looking toward seeing something worth while. Jacks, the manager, phones the express office. "Hello, that film in yet? What, a wreck on the P. & O.? The deuce! How soon do you expect it? By noon sure! Say, man, we open at 10, the thing's billed and we stand to lose a nice bunch of money."

He turns from the phone perplexed, the films of the day before are boxed ready for shipment out, on the train that the feature was to come in on. Morning business is always good here; to wait two mortal hours without films is to face a loss of the real profits of the day. But such is life. Just then the phone rings. "Hello, yes, this is Jacks; what, Mary sick, won't be down today? All right, I'll see what I can do."

More bad news, the cashier sick, some one must be pressed into service at once to handle the box office. It is close to ten and folks have already paused, lounging about the lobby, real money is waiting to be taken. Jacks scowls, a hurry call and he locates a girl he knows will be O. K. He is about to call the express office again but feels that will be useless, they know his plight and will send the film as soon as it comes.

Now a shrill whistle from the speaking tube to the operating booth gives promise of more trouble, and sure enough, the operator finds the projecting machine has a broken sprocket and it will take some time to fix it.

"Everything in bunches," mutters Jacks and tells the musicians who are waiting that nothing will be doing until noon. But as gloom is settling thick and fast the express wagon dashes up, and lo and behold, the unexpected has occurred, the film has arrived, twenty-five minutes late, yes, but that's a small matter under the circumstances. A sharp blow on the speaking tube whistle and the operator "thinks" ten minutes more will fix her. So finally all is ready and Jacks takes up his station at the ticket box. A well advertised feature has brought out a good crowd and soon the tickets are dropping merrily into the box.

The speaking tube whistle blows, it is another bit of trouble, possibly ten minutes or so. Instructions are sent down to the orchestra and the singer is forced into quick
action and by strenuous musical stunts the original ten minutes, stretched to half an hour, is passed.

"Gee, mister, I can't hang around here all morning; I came to see a show, not to hear a cheap concert.” It is a red-faced, portly man speaking. His nickel is returned without question. But the next party who departs snorts something about blanked fakes anyway, these snide cheap theaters. Jacks takes it all coolly. It is part of the daily grind.

Now all is going smoothly, it is some feature all right, folks commence to applaud and Jacks knows he has the crowd with him at last. As the audience departs comments of Bully," "Some class" or "It was awfully interesting, don't you think," take the sting out of the episode of the disgruntled folks who left earlier in the morning.

Noon comes; with the regular cashier off duty, Jacks eats a hasty bite and is soon back on duty. Here comes a big lady, loaded with bundles, a weazened little fellow, with sparse gray whiskers trails along meekly, in the rear.

He carries a tin pail with a card board cover tied on it, it seems very precious. The fat lady gurgles. "Oh say, mister ticket man, would you oblige a lady by taking care of the pail while we see the pictures? It is a present for Susan Ann, that's my husband's cousin. Gold fish, yes, she dotes on gold fish. But do be careful and don't set them so near the register, you will kill them; and do keep them out of the draft; don't spill the water. There's a good man, ever so much obliged, we won't be in long, come along Jasper" and she stalks down the aisle, Jasper following in the rear with never a word. Jacks heaves a sigh of relief and rapidly gathers in the pasteboards of the crowd who has had to wait for the fat lady to get rid of her burden and her tale of woe.

"Three men sat on a dead man's chest, yo heave ho"—bang, and the doors fly open, a whiff of onions and whiskey strikes Jacks' nostrils. A burly sailor, three sheets to the wind comes stalking in, bumps against the ticket box and leers cunningly at Jacks, who sees trouble in sight, right there.

"Say, old sport, shiver my timbers, let a man cast anchor, will you?"

Jacks none too gently shoves the sailor out the door, but just outside the entrance (Jacks is very glad it is outside), the sailor turns with an oath and raises a wicked slug shot; Jacks ducks, and luckily the officer passing is on time, the sailor is hauled away and Jacks resumes his duties.

"Mister, does the show run all day for a nickel?" it is a little old woman who asks the question. Jacks sizes up the rusty bonnet, the thin face and eager eyes. The gloves have no tips. "Someone from' God knows where, no money and wants to fill in time." Jacks sizes up things in a hurry. Kindly he explains that one may stay as long as one likes and she goes on in, and Jacks pretends not to notice the lack of a ticket.

Out in front, the big frame with the actors and actresses of the feature company is standing. A rural couple stroll up, gaze at the photos of the players and Hiram remarks in a loud nasal twang, "Guess, Marthy, that curly headed lad must be some good tenor singer. Let's go in and hear the concert." And in they enter, believing the place a regular theater and the players musical artists.

A smart young fellow comes in and leans against the back seat rail. He is one of the floaters and pretends to be so very much of the world. Suddenly on the street is the clang of the fire bells, the department is rushing by.

"Gee, there's a fire," the wise boy calls loudly to Jacks and dashes hastily out the door. Jacks scowls as he sees several patrons in the rear seats shift nervously.

"The fool," mutters the manager, "it takes less than that to start a panic, at times," he saunters carelessly down into the aisle and the folks keep their eyes on him, but his manner reassures them and no trouble comes of the incident.

Now the fat lady of the gold fish comes out and suspiciously inspects the gold fish with a sniff and no thanks to Jacks goes out.

"No dogs allowed in here, madam," this to a flashily dressed young woman who has a big bull terrier on the end of a chain.

"Well, you have a nerve. I have him chained and can sit in the rear." Her voice rises shrill and Jacks calms her as best he can, but she makes a nasty scene before she leaves and Jacks wishes she and her dog in most any place at all, so long as it is away from him.

The day goes on and many fool questions are asked and answered, a fight in the lobby is stopped, a "rough neck" in the audience subdued and ejected.

A short time for supper, and the night doorman comes on. Jacks has a bit of time to himself, but the singer, a young tenor, gets mixed up with some friends and doesn't show up for evening service on time. The extra singer is hastily secured, after a deal of grumbling, and goes on.

The advertising for the next day and the day after is gone over, the janitor makes a "touch," on the plea of illness, a new part is ordered for the machine, and many other duties are disposed of.

It is pretty late when Jacks gets to bed, tired, with some important matters to call him out early the next morning. He has had a "full day" surely, yet some folks sigh with envy at the manager's "job," a bed of roses, maybe, but every rose has its thorns, and every manager can point out a whole lot of these same thorns if you will but ask him.

Source: Hugh King Harris, “A Day ‘At the Door,’” Moving Picture World 19 April 1913, 270.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game—illustrated Song

2010-02-23T05:55:00.000-06:00

Here is an excellent essay by Tom Shieber, curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame, on the illustrated song set for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Among other things, the essay provides information on the slide maker Dewitt C. Wheeler, whose firm made a slide set for the song. This slide set is used as the basis for this overly active rendition on YouTube, which I discuss here.

Week 4 and Week 5 Lectures

2010-02-22T09:50:00.053-06:00

I'm a little late getting the week 4 and week 5 lectures up due to a big conference on music, sound and film I attended last week.

I opened the week with a discussion of the acousmêtre (acoustical being). I developed the concept using the work of Chion, Bonitzer and Doane. Here are some quotes:

Acousmatic. Dictionary definition: “a sound that is heard without its cause or source being seen.” (quoted Chion, The Voice in the Cinema, p. 18)

Acousmatic—“Pertaining to sound one hears without seeing its source. Radio and telephone are acousmatic media. In a film, an offscreen sound is acousmatic” (Chion, Audio-Vision, p. 221)

Definition—“A kind of voice-character specific to cinema that in most instance of cinematic narratives derives mysterious powers from being heard and not seen.” (Chion, Audio-Vision, p. 221).

Between one (visualized) situation and the other (acousmatic) one, it’s not the sound that changes its nature, presence, distance, color. What changes is the relationship between what we see and what we hear. (Chion, The Voice in the Cinema, p. 19)

The use of the voice-off always entails a risk—that of exposing the material heterogeneity of the cinema. Synchronous sound masks the problem and this at least partially explains its dominance. But the more interesting question, perhaps, is: how can the classical film allow the representation of a voice whose source is not simultaneously represented? As soon as sound is detached from its source, no longer anchored by a represented body, its potential as a signifier is revealed. There is always something uncanny about a voice which emanates from outside the frame. (Doane, “The Voice in the Cinema,” p. 40)

[The consistent use of voice-off for the villain in Kiss Me Deadly] gives to his sententious voice, swollen by mythological comparisons, a greater power of disturbing, the scope of an oracle—dark prophet at the end of the world. And, in spite of that, his voice is submitted to the destiny of the body . . . a shot, he falls—and with him in ridicule, his discourse with its prophetic accents. (Bonitzer, quoted Doane, “The Voice in the Cinema,” p. 41)

The acousmêtre . . . must haunt the borderlands that are neither the interior of the filmic stage nor the proscenium—a place that has no name, but which the cinema brings into play. (Chion, The Voice in the Cinema, p. 24)

De-acousmatization of a character generally goes hand in hand with his descent into a human, ordinary, and vulnerable fate” (Bonitzer, quoted Chion, Audiovision, p. 131).

For examples I used Wizard of Oz and Psycho. In the past, I've also had good luck with 2001: A Space Odyssey, though I've found that film takes a bit longer to get the concept across. The process of de-acousmatization is particularly clear (and amusing) in Wizard of Oz. Psycho, on the contrary, resists showing the final de-acousmatization, which helps produce the uncanny effect of its ending, a gesture that the slasher film has taken over and made its own.

* * * * *
We then moved on to chapter 4 proper and examined the various transitions covered there:

Sound Advance. I showed a long sound advance in When Harry Met Sally. We hear Harry and Sally talking on the phone about Casablanca as we see a montage of Harry's and Sally's days both together and apart. Only after about 90 seconds of this do we get synchronization, with each in their own house, in their separate bed, but watching the ending of Casablanca together as they discuss it on the phone. This example is discussed on p. 94 of the text.

Sound Lag. For the lag, which is much less common than the advance, I use Goodfellas, which we discuss on p. 95 of the text. Here, the transition from the night club act to the airport caper are linked through the continuation of Henny Youngman's act well into the beginning of the airport sequence.

Sound Link. For the link, I showed two examples. I began with a brief sequence from Emma, where Emma must tell Harriet that Mr. Elton is getting married (HtM, p. 96). We then watched the more elaborate "Would You" sequence from Singin' in the Rain. This sequence is discussed on pp. 96-97 and 100 of the text.

Sound Match. A Match is generally less elaborate than a Link, and the Match from De-Lovely discussed in example 4-2 (p. 97) could easily be analyzed as a link by analogy with the example from Emma discussed above since in both cases the connecting sound is continuous across the cut and more or less identical in both scenes. A Match may also be based on resemblance rather than identity, however, in which case the resemblance may suggest a metaphorical connection between the two shots. A good example of such a link occurs in The Big Broadcast (1932), where pounding on the table turns into pounding on a car horn. This example is discussed on p. 97 of the text.

Hard Cut. For the hard cut, we watched a short sequence from Blue mentioned in the text (p.98). Note the abrupt shift in sound mirrors the abrupt shift in image, and together they help mark a sharp temporal break despite the lack of formal transition.

* * * * *

The distinction between synchronization and counterpoint (playing with or against the film), covered on pp. 98-110, was the next topic. I used a couple of sequences from Singin' in the Rain to talk about general issues of synchronization. We started with the failed premiere, which is useful for emphasizing that it takes a lot of work to get synch sound right.

I then showed the bit where Cosmo illustrates how they might substitute Kathy's voice for Lina's, followed by the short scene of Kathy looping in Lina's dialogue (which was actually done by Jean Hagen, the actress who played Lina). If I had time, I would have screened the "Would You" sequence again, as it brings together many of the concerns of synchronization.

We next turned to the general issue of playing with the image. We watched the sequence where Rick and Ilsa meet from Casablanca, discussed on pp. 102-06. This is a particularly good sequence for illustrating dialogue underscoring, which in this case follows the scene very empathetically. The real effectiveness of Steiner's practice here can be illustrated by comparing it to the French language dub, which on my DVD uses very little of Steiner's score, substituting different music, also based on "As Time Goes By."

For counter- point or playing against the image I showed the sequence from Catch Me If You Can discussed in the text, p. 107. Nat King Cole's rendition of "The Christmas Song" plays, apparently diegetically, while Frank approaches the house and sees his mother happily a part of a new family. Chion notes that anempathetic music, especially when nondiegetic, often signifies the world's indifference to the characters. There is certainly a degree of indifference here, but the music serves as much to emphasize Frank's exclusion from the scene, as though we are hearing music that insists on a point of view that is not Frank's. Choosing to withdraw from the scene rather than force himself back into his mother's life, Frank seems experience empathetic recognition, which is underscored by having the music lag into the next scene as we hear his sentence handed down. The empathetic recognition also helps convince us that Frank is in fact redeemable, which aligns us with Carl.

Music that seems at odds with the image often produces an effect of an intruding—or at least shift in—point of view. Near the end of the opening battle of Gladiator, a solemn hymn suddenly drifts in over the images, which also shift into slow motion with distorted sound. This kind of gesture is occasionally used to underscore battles from the perspective of a "lost cause," but here the film remains very much on the side of the victorious Roman army. The shift in music does seem to signify a new point of view, however, as the cut to the Emperor watching from afar indicates.

* * * * *

The above material took a little less than two class periods to present (NB: my class meets twice a week). In addition, I also prepared the class to write a screening report. For that, we looked at the opening ten minutes or so of Catch Me If You Can. As we did not hold class for the first meeting of week 5, the students worked on their screening reports instead. For the second class meeting of the week, we spent about an hour on the commutation test (pp. 110-13). First I showed the "Non Nobis Domine" sequence from Branaugh's Henry V, which basically consists of a single virtuosic tracking shot across the body strewn battle field accompanied by Patrick Doyle's version of the hymn (in fact that's the composer shown singing at the beginning of the clip below). I have prepared an alternative sound track to this segment using "Vergangenes," the second of Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16, and some foley effects. The contrast could hardly be more marked; I've found that with the change in music students will actually see a different preponderance of colors: where with Doyle's score students will generally say they see blues, whites and greens, with Schoenberg's music they will generally say they see, reds, oranges and browns. Schoenberg's music also lays the emphasis on the dead bodies that are strewn across the image, whereas Doyle's score encourages us to see the growing numbers of people marching across the scene. Of course, I play the Schoenberg first, and I don't let the students know that I have changed the sound track. I then play the Doyle under the pretense of listening to the sound track again. If you like, you can easily turn the discussion to the rhetorical force of music, since in this case the sound track alone seems to turn the scene from expressing anti-war sentiment (Schoenberg) to war as something quite a lot more positive, if not exactly warmongering (Doyle).

We also did an actual commutation test, using a scene from Taxi Driver and a playlist put on shuffle. The scene consists of Travis cruising through a red light district to the sound of a soft, jazzy nondiegetic saxophone.

* * * * *

Bibliography on Acousmêtre
Chion, Michel. Audio-Vision (1994).
_________. The Voice in the Cinema (1998).
Doane, Mary Ann. "The Voice in the Cinema: The Articulation of Body and Space." Yale French Studies 60 (1980): 33-50.

Sound Editing Oscar

2010-02-22T08:29:00.008-06:00

The New York Times published a nice article by Virginia Heffernan on the nominees for Academy Award in sound editing. The article opens with this evocative bit of writing on The Hurt Locker, which I agree should win the Oscar:

”The Hurt Locker” is a bomb movie that mutes its booms. It derives suspense by withholding the expected “boomala, boomala” . . .

“The Hurt Locker” is not cool. It’s hot and dry, a heaving desert parable with a mounting sandstorm howl at the center. The internal explosions matter more than the fireworks. . . . The top notes in the soundtrack are arid metallic clicks, snips, squeaks and creaks, the chatter of wrenches and wire clippers, as bombs are defused in air so parched as to seem combustible itself. Men can hardly summon the spit or breath to speak.

After running through three other nominees—Up , Star Trek and Inglorious Basterds—rather harshly (and I would say a bit unfairly), Heffernan turns to Avatar, calling its sound "brazenly cartoonish”; this characterization is in fact a positive.

What stands out is the whoosh of muscular—not fluttery—reptile wings as they flap and glide. This has to be the sound of flying in dreams. The dragonlike creatures vie for sonic dominance with the machinery in the film and particularly with the man-machine tanks that have their own distinctive sounds, especially in the fantasyland of Pandora, where a clash of resounding arms takes place in an atmosphere of no oxygen.

Heffernan understands sound as one of the best avenues filmmakers have for opening up to the representation of the other worldly, especially one deprived of oxygen, which must then stage the breath of life.

It’s intriguing that both “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” have built otherworldly environments in which humans are intoxicated—in part by being deprived of oxygen. You can hear this danger much better than you can see it, and it falls to sound editors to exploit its dimensions. What a great challenge in moviemaking: the various sounds of breath—gasping, sighing, speaking, expiring—may be film’s first and most consequential sound effect. Here’s to films that revisit and rethink the sounds of breath and breathlessness.

I would caution against valorizing the breath in this way, however, as it couples rather too easily with the naive authenticity of location sound—Heffernan goes out of the way to inform us that the dialogue for The Hurt Locker "was almost all recorded on location in Jordan (and not looped in a studio)." Surely, like the sound of the breath itself, it is the effective representation of the dialogue—the way its difficult mediation through technology and body is rendered—not the location of its recording that matters.

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Musical Suggestions

2010-02-22T06:26:00.001-06:00

This week's "Music for the Picture" column is devoted exclusively to musical suggestions. In this case, the printer messed up the cue lists fairly extensively, so much of the listing makes little sense. I will provide a corrected version of this column when a list of Sinn's corrections are posted (in his column of 21 June 1913).

Through courtesy of Mr. E. C. Zane, of the Bijou Dream Theater, Chicago, I offer the following musical suggestions for the two-reel Ambrosio feature film:

CHILD LABOR TRAFFIC.

Part One.
1. “Sympathy Waltz” (by Mezzacappo) until title: “The Wicked Guardian, etc.”
2. Waltz Lento until: “The Plot.”
3. Short waltz or allegretto (one scene); an accordeon [sic] is being played in the scene by street musicians. Sound effect can be introduced ad lib. At change of scene:
4. “Dream of the Flowers (Chas. Cohen-Sam Fox), until she writes letter.
5. “Chiffon” (from suite “My Lady’s Boudoir”—Witmark), until Andrea meets her.
6. “In the Shadows” (Finck) until title: “Under the Pretense of Seeking Employment.”
7. Semi-mysterious until: “On the Track.”
8. “La Rose” (Emil Ascher) until end of reel.

Part Two.
1. “Dream of the Flowers” until: “A Lesson in Misery.”
2. Plaintive till Andrea enters supper room.
3. Agitato, pp. at first and crescendo for struggle until change of scene.
4. Short waltz until child is seen a prisoner.
5. Long “hurry” music. I used “Narcissus Overture” by Schleppegrel, beginning at the Allegro moderato and repeating this movement until she receives telegram, then:
6. “Dawn of Love” (by Theo. Bendix) until last scene.
7. Four bars of Wedding March to finish.

* * *

THE LADY AND THE MOUSE (Biograph).

1. Lilacs” (Feist) until title: “Boredom and Inefficiency.”
2. “Bees” Novelette (Remick) until: “On the Road.”
3. Any slow Reverie until title: “More Readjusting.”
4. “The Mouse and the Clock” (Whitney-Witmark) until: “A Change in Climate.”
5. Pathetic music (long) until: “Later.”
6. “Pansies” (Bendix) or any waltz lento until “The Change In Climate.”
7. Waltz until end of reel.

* * *

AN EXCITING HONEYMOON (Pathe).

Part One.
1. “Wedding Glide” until title: “We Want You To Put On Lady Rowley’s Robe.”
2. “Malinda” (Remick) until drinking scene.
[NB 3 is missing.]
4. Agitato pp. and mf. until: “An Inveterate Gambler.”
5. “Apple Blossoms” (Kathleen Roberts) until: “We’uns Want to be Quality Folks.”
6. “Kiss-Me-Quick” (Novelette), by Emil Isenman, pub. by Fischer, until title: “Fleeced.”
7. Semi-mysterious until he drops his head on table.
8. “Simple Aveu” until Goree Remembers too Late, etc.”
9. Semi-mysterious until: “Let Me Ride Ahead.”
10. Agitato until shot.
11. Plaintive until: “Epilogue.”
12. Religioso until finish.

* * *

THE COURAGE OF A SOLDIER (Bison).

Part One.
1. Indian characteristic music until: “The Peaceful Hopis Appeal.”
2. March until change of scene.
3. “Love’s Dream After the Ball” (Czibulka) after introduction. For one scene.
4. Same march as No. 2 until Indians go out of gate.
5. “Spring Dreams” (pub. by Feist) until council scene.
6. “Oy-an-ee-tah,” by Victor Herbert) until all in fort.
7. March until treaty is shown.

1. “I’d Like To Go On a Honeymoon” (from “The Red Rose,” by Bowers) until title: “At Last We Are Alone.”
2. “All Alone” until: “Go ‘way Man, etc.”
3. “One Drink More” (one scene), when colored woman powders her face.
4. “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (Chorus) once through.
5. “Honeymoon Song from Honeymoon Trail.” When Lord Rowley gets into auto.
6. “Goodbye, Everybody,” until second auto drives on.
7. Galop of lively march until they walk up gang-way to boat.
8. “Goodbye, Everybody,” until boat is seen moving out.
9. “On the Mississippi” until end of reel (lively).

Part Two.
3. Chorus of “Which He Didn’t Expect from a Lady” (from “Peggy,” by Stuart).
4. “Is There Anything Else That I Can Do for You” (Remick).
5. Lively music throughout the picture.

This picture is a bright, rollicking comedy, and the more lively and “snappy” your music, the better. Popular stuff preferred.

* * *

A SPLENDID SCAPEGRACE (Edison).

1. Allegro (4th movement) of “Morning, Noon, and Night” overture by Suppe. Subdued agitato for one scene.
2. Any popular intermezzo until title “Selling the House of His Forefathers.”
3. “Old Kentucky Home”—paraphrase (or any Novelette—scenes are neutral); until they enter barroom.
[intervening numbers skipped]
8. Indian music again until change.
9. Agitato p. and f. until end of struggle.
10. “Starlight Souix (or any popular intermezzo of similar character) until: “The Money Arrives for the Indians.”
11. “Indian Summer” (Moret) until he puts money in desk.
12. Semi-mysterioso until: “Chaplain Decides to Leave the Fort.”
13. “Twilight” (Reverie by Nat D. Ayer) until end of reel.

Part Two.
1. March until change.
2. Indian until change.
3. Sentimental, two scenes.
4. Agitato, pp. until saloon scene.
5. Mysterious, one scene.
6. “Sun Dance” (Freidman) until: “The Lieutenant Accuses the Chaplain.”
7. Intermezzo until Indians.
8. Indian music, one scene.
9. Agitato, one scene; back to Indian music, one scene.
10. Sentimental until: “The Chief Divides His Forces.”
11. Several scenes of hurry and agitato music; when Chaplain lays powder train, softly till explosion—ff. until: “Seeing the Fort Attacked.”
12. March, one scene.
13. Hurry p. and f. Can alternate marches with agitato when cavalrymen seen riding. When army rides into fort.
14. March. When Lieutenant enters.
15. Pathetic until end of reel.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 31 May 1913, 908.

Mr. Frohman's Idea

2010-02-21T06:18:00.003-06:00

This is another article on the future of the feature film that Moving Picture World carried in 1913. Here, the author explored an idea floated by Daniel Frohman. Frohman, a theater impressario, wanted to integrate feature film production into a theatrical distribution model. Theater had relied on the road shows of Broadway productions to help defray the costs; indeed, then as now, the Broadway production often served as a loss leader that helped create demand for plays in the rest of the country; the actual money would be made through road show productions and later licensing to stock theaters. By the 1910s, the viability of the model had begun to erode, since theaters specializing in live shows found it more difficult to fill their galleries with the moving picture theaters as competition (and many of the stock companies were simply forced out of business). Frohman's plan was to use the motion picture to reclaim some of that lost revenue. Frohman would in fact be integral to the founding of Famous Players (with Adolph Zukor), which would later develop into Paramount Pictures.

In an interview accorded Mr. Charles Darnton, dramatic editor of the Evening World, a few days ago, Mr. Daniel Frohman, one of the leading theatrical producers and managers of this country, and managing director of the Famous Players Film Company, which has produced "The Prisoner of Zenda," in motion pictures, interestingly outlines what he has in mind for the photoplay field of the future. Although Mr. Frohman's idea is termed "a new move in the 'movies' that will work revolution," it is not an original one, with possibly one exception. The work he intends carrying out will be the fulfillment of prophecies made by the watchful people a long time ago. It will be the adoption of a policy of leading photoplay producers—the Old Guard of the business, they may be more appropriately called. Mr. Frohman's main undertaking will be successful, be¬cause it is founded upon lines which is bound to be important factors in the elevation of the photoplays to a plane that will make them enduring and attract to the picture houses even a still greater patronage from the higher class of patrons than is now accorded them. In this respect it will place these picture houses on a par with the best in the theatrical business, and benefit the motion picture business generally. It is for this reason that Mr. Frohman's advent into the field has not been opposed by, or created uneasiness on the part of, the producers who have elevated the photoplays to their present standard. The attitude of the latter may be summarized thus: The term "film manufacturers" will soon become obsolete, replaced by the more dignified one of "producers," all being bent in achieving the same end sought by the new comer to the field. This classification may possibly be resented in some quarters as undesirable, but it will soon be adjusted to conditions. It may be claimed that some pictures do not give the producers the right to claim positions on a par with others. There is where the turning point will come and the "survival of the fittest" will be effectively demonstrated. It will be decided by the public. Those upon whom it places its stamp of approbation will become the photoplay producers and those who operate on the theory that people go to see motion pictures simply because they are such, and sacrifice those things which are essential to the kind of productions the people want in order to make as much money as possible in the shortest possible time, will become the pikers of the business.

* * *

As far back as eight years ago, the "Old Guard" predicted in the columns of the magazines devoted to the interests of the motion picture business that the people who were deriding the pictures as a short-lived elaboration of the stereopticon and slot machine devices would see them dedicated to posterity, and the time has come. In the interview referred to, Mr. Frohman uses the expressions, "I believe the industry is in its infancy," "How far it will go remains to be seen. It is like throwing a pebble in a pond-the ripples spread in every direction."

* * *

The interview, although reflecting views that are not entirely original, has attracted wide-spread attention. The one idea to which originality attaches, is the outlining of a plan by which successful plays converted to picture form shall take on a fourth life. The first will be in the two dollar houses of the New York theatrical field, the one-dollar life will be in the combination houses, and then they will take on the fifty-cent life in the stock company theaters, after which the plays, in picture form, will go into the picture houses. Whether or not it will become practicable remains to be seen. It sounds good, but many who have discussed it are inclined to the belief that the plays in picture form will force themselves to a better than fourth position. Some time ago the Moving Picture World pointed to the great advantage to which photoplays based upon leading productions could be adapted in drawing people to the theaters making the original productions and in one of his statements. Mr. Frohman indorses the views. He said. "I think we shall be a hopeful ally to the stage by drawing those who see the pictured play to the theater." This seems to be nearer the mark. If the photo¬play is to await the passage of the originals through the three grades of theaters that have been mentioned there is danger of the photoplay life losing its vigor for the time being, and the necessity presenting itself that the photoplay production be placed on the shelf until a revival becomes opportune. It is true that nothing can replace the magnetism of the living actor. From this point of view it is equally true that it would not be good policy to have original and photo-form productions simultaneously in the same city, but the magnetism of the photoplay will also suffer if it is held back until almost all theatergoers have had an opportunity to see the play itself. They patronize the photoplay houses as well as the theaters and expect as much from the former as the latter, so far as new attractions are concerned. What they see in the picture houses will undoubtedly entice them to go and see original productions, but it is doubtful that the reverse would be effective.

* * *

But whatever may be the outcome, so long as the regular photoplay producers maintain the required standard they will continue in the running. There is a big field for feature productions and it is constantly growing, and there is also similar inducements for the short-story film. Features consist of two or more reels. The length is required to properly bring out all the striking points of the play or story. They are in a class by themselves. Short photoplays also control a domain. They are made from stories of merit that cannot be extended beyond one reel. In many instances they hold the same interest as many of the feature subjects and they will continue to hold their places on the programs. They also retain their popularity on account of the variety of tastes of audiences. In some places feature reels are the more popular. The appetite for them is strong and growing in this country. In Europe and many other foreign countries there is a great demand for them, but in nearly all quarters the audiences yearn for variety—short stories of an effective, sentimental character, and comedy. Educational subjects are also desired and in this case it has been found that one reel is the most desired, because there is danger of monotony.

* * *

So it can be seen that the field continues open for all styles of merit—long and short. The advent of the big producers is not of a threatening nature to those already on the ground. In fact, there is only one thing that warrants uneasiness; that is the multiplicity of producers. There is danger of the market becoming stagnated and, the most to be feared, the effect of inferior productions.

* * *

And now the vaudeville profession is asking why it should not figure in the motion picture possibilities. The answer is plain. With the talking feature eliminated from the pictures, vaudeville acts without voices are devoid of interest. They have been tried time and time again. Occasionally some novelty act has made good, but none of them has stood repetition. Years ago, when the pictures were known as "chasers" in the vaudeville theaters, short films were introduced, showing strong men, acrobatic and dancing acts, and the work of magicians were demonstrated. The pictures themselves were a novelty at that time, and, consequently, helped the acts along, but soon the people learned that trick photography was an important factor in the making of the pictures, and from that time on, no matter how good the acts were. they could not become interested. They declared the performer was not the original and what was shown them was simply the creation of trick photography on the part of the film maker. This impression resulted in the gradual and absolute disappearance of such films. At one time a famous manufacturer in France did an enormous business in this country with films, based upon magical acts. People wondered how this and that was done. They were astonished by some of the productions and amused to the extreme by others, but as the explanation gradually gained circulation their admiration and amusement turned to—well, I guess it was offended dignity. They seemed to feel that part of the price of admission had been repaid by trickery and nothing but travel and story pictures could hold them. There are some very clever vaudeville acts on the bills to-day, but none that any well-equipped studio cannot reproduce with equal effect, although doing so with practically the camera alone, the figures being mere tools. A few years ago Harry Lauder posed for a film showing his act, but it fell flat. His entrance, walks and exits created a laugh. but to get a film of fair size repetitions were required and the subject became monotonous.

* * *

It is announced that a Baltimore inventor has perfected a new motion picture-taking device that will combine with the pictures an apparent perfect reproduction of voices of the performers. It is said to be especially adaptable to singing acts. If he has the right thing vaudeville performers may take courage. If a correct, synchronizing reproduction of the voice is there, a big field will be found for the films. Then another discontented element will arise in protest. It will mark the gradual fading away of the illustrated song singer. In many respects it will be a blessing. A great many picture homes have suffered in reputation and other respects through placing the song part of their programs in the hands of those having more talent in the mashing line than for singing.

Source: “Observations By Our Man About Town,” MPW 19 April 1913, 287.
Image Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

The Future of the Single Reel

2010-02-20T05:52:00.001-06:00

This article by W. Stephen Bush is not concerned with music or sound at all. But it is an illuminating account of the situation with respect to transition from single reel to multireel (feature) production in 1913. At least in part because the distribution system for features differed somewhat from that of the single reels (following a complicated system of state's rights rather than a general release to the film exchanges), features were often shown in venues other than motion picture houses, including legitimate theaters, which had higher prices and more elaborate traditions of accompanying dramatic presentations. Even when motion picture houses chose to put on features, they tended to treat the feature as something special and augment the number of musicians or include a lecturer. As some of the ads that have been posted suggest, the production companies encouraged more elaborate accompaniment by commissioning scores for special features, a practice that had been tried on and off for a number of years. (Click on the Vitagraph ad on the right to see that the company had begun providing music for all its special features in March 1913.)

The Future of the Single Reelby W. Stephen Bush
Less than three years ago the single reel held absolute sway. Old moving picture men will easily recall the wonder expressed in film exchanges, when the Pathe "Dreyfus Case" was released. This splendid feature ran but a couple of hundred feet over one reel and the short end had an old-fashioned "comedy" for a running mate. Exhibitors were puzzled as to how it should be put on, but most of them guessed right and waited awhile before they let the tear-stained climax of the tragedy be followed by the farce. Nobody then thought much about features and the possibilities of the multiple reel. "The Fall of Troy" was among the early features consisting of more than one reel.

Then along toward 1911 multiple releases became more frequent, but they were still looked upon as exceptions, and there were few indeed who then anticipated the coming rise and development of the multiple feature reel. Multiple releases were given to the exhibitor in installments, the continuity of the subject to the contrary notwithstanding. In that shape they were anything but welcome to the exhibitor, who had to hear frequent complaints from his audience because subjects of multiple reels were split up and often released at intervals of a week and more. When producers at last began to heed the demands of the public and the repeated urgings or this paper and decided to release multiple reels on one and the same day there were many vaudeville houses which sandwiched acts of vaudeville into reels treating the same subject. We mention all this just to show what a novelty the feature reel was in those days and how long it took for producer and exhibitor to properly adjust themselves to the new conditions.

On June 17, 1911, The Moving Picture World said in its editorial columns : "The present upward trend of the moving picture could not be shown more strikingly than by grouping together the titles of the following films released recently or about to be released : 'The Fall of Troy,' 'A Tale of Two Cities,' 'Enoch Arden,' 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic,' 'The Maccabees' and 'Faust.'" We prophesied the further rapid development of the feature films in the same article in these words "It is * * * characteristic of the present higher ideals that of the subjects above mentioned one consists of three reels and two consist of two reels each. The two and three reel subject is indeed a necessary product of the higher ideal. It is bound to come, and in two or three years it will be the rule rather than the exception in all dramas."

Events have literally verified this prediction. I believe that on the whole the quality of the feature reels has been above that of the single reel, though the feature reel has lately gone to inferior sources for its material and inspiration. The fond hope that the feature and the higher ideals would become synonymous has not been entirely fulfilled. European productions especially have too often departed from the higher ideals in the selection of subjects for multiple reels.

With the feature still holding the center of the stage and with every prospect of continuing to hold it for many years to come the question will occur to every exhibitor: What is to be the future of the single reel? The studios and equipments of every producer who issues regular releases every week is especially adapted for the making of single reels. The great fortunes in the manufacturing branch have in the last five years been made through the production of single reels. To the men who supply the staple of the exhibitor's program the feature is, as a rule, a thing most difficult of achievement. They look at the film situation from an angle wholly different from that of the feature men. It is well nigh impossible to put out a weekly supply and at the same time astonish the film world with wonderful features. There are some producers, not too many of them, who have foreseen the coming triumph of the feature and who have prepared special facilities for the production of features, entirely separate and distinct from their equipment for single reels. Such producers are the exceptions rather than the rule. The great majority of manufacturers will for a long time to come be dependent for their financial success and their artistic reputation on single reels.

It seems plain that the diminished demand for single reels will suffer still greater diminution unless the average of quality in the single reel takes a quick and decided turn for the better. In the regular single reel issues of certain producers there is about as much variety and interest as in the links of a chain of sausages. When one remembers to what heights of artistic achievements the industry rose in the days of the exclusive reign of the single reel, it is strange that there has been so much retrogression.

It would be easy to recall instances of splendid single reels. Take for example the old Shakespearean series of the Vitagraph Company, which no multiple Shakespearean reel since made has ever been able to approach in dramatic power and condensation ; take the famous old Biographs such as "Pippa Passes," "The Greaser's
Gauntlet" and scores of others, which were the delight of the public and the exhibitor. The old companies still release an occasional fine single reel, but on the whole even their single reel issues have shown meager quality, while of the newer companies scarcely one can lay claim to even a fair average of quality in the single reels. Originality of invention and dramatic power are sadly lacking.

We hope the day will never come when the single reel can be considered as little more than a "filler." There is to say the least as much chance for a display of directorial skill in the making of the single reel as there ever was. No matter how many features may be produced hereafter and how good such features may prove to be, the single reel will continue to be the backbone of the motion picture show. That show will in the end be judged by its single reels. If these are given over entirely to the exploitation of cheap comedy and cheap melodrama it will be a sorry day for the exhibitor and the public.

The coming of features consisting of eight reels and even twelve reels will undoubtedly have a tendency to decrease the demand for the single reel. Such features will establish new standards in kinematography. If the difference in quality between these very big productions and the every day single reel release is too pronounced it is not at all improbable that the single reel will lose in popular favor and will be relegated to the very cheapest of motion picture theaters. There is but one way to prevent this. The single reel must conform to higher standards. Its place in the kinematographic procession must not be too far in the rear of the modern feature of many reels.

Source: W. Stephen Bush, “The Future of the Single Reel,” Moving Picture World 19 April 1913, 256.

Pictures in Cincinnati Music Halls

2010-02-19T05:18:00.002-06:00

This account of the opening of a new picture theater in Cincinnati demonstrates that by 1913 the idea of the picture palace was already well on its way to realization.

Pictures in Cincinnati Music Halls

Arthur Smallwood Plans Big Project for the Queen City's
Mammoth Palace of Amusements.

If the plans of Arthur Smallwood are successful, Cincinnati will have a picture show par excellence. This energetic young man, whose home is in Cincinnati, but who has been engaged in the advertising business in New York for the past few years, has secured a lease of the big Music Hall on Elm Street in that city and will put on a strong picture program beginning March 29.

Music Hall is one of the largest auditoriums in the country, seating several thousand people, and is used for grand opera and other big musical entertainments. The picture entertainment will be conducted by the Empire Exhibition Company, which was promoted by Mr. Smallwood and is under his management. Several large Cincinnati capitalists are interested, so there will be no lack of funds to finance the enterprise.

The picture program will consist of eight reels of the best pictures including features and single reels. This will be varied by vocal and instrumental solos by the best of talent, and a fourteen piece orchestra will play the pictures.

A feature of the program will be the frequent appearance of popular photoplayers. For the opening week Mr. Francis X. Bushman, a former Essanay star, has been secured. For the week of April 7 Mr. John Bunny, the popular comedy man of the Vitagraph Company, will be the feature, and during the following week Miss Florence Turner, the first of the motion picture stars and a Vitagraph player, will appear. Others are being negotiated for.

Mr. Smallwood has had some experience as a picture theater manager and is planning many little comforts for his patrons. He will have a chaperone for young children and a playroom with nurses for the babies. There will be lady ushers and a maid in the ladies' retiring room.

The scale of prices for the house will be ten, fifteen and twenty-five cents.

To popularize the venture Mr. Smallwood proposes to bill it like a circus. For the opening nine thousand sheets of paper will be posted on the billboards all over the, city. Elaborate heralds and other forms of advertising, including liberal newspaper space, will be used. Special advertising will be used for the feature pictures and the photoplayers.

Mr. Smallwood has been in New York for the past week getting ideas and features for his show. He announces the "Prisoner of Zenda" for the opening.

Source: “Pictures in Cincinnati Music Halls,” Moving Picture World 5 April 1913, 24.

Music and Features

2010-02-18T05:24:00.003-06:00

At the end of March 1913, James McQuade, contributing editor of Moving Picture World in the Chicago office, printed a letter from the manager of a film exchange in St. Louis that argued many exhibitors were not treating their features in a suitable fashion. In particular, the letter argues that features should be handled more like theatrical productions, with careful selection and rehearsal of appropriate music for the dramas. The letter is interesting not only for its advocacy of better music for features but also with its account of what constituted normal musical practice for live theater: "nearly every theater devoted to the spoken drama has an adequate orchestra for the enhancement of the play." For the author adding music, then, was akin to treating the feature film in line with the expectations of a theatrical presentation.

The following article, contributed by Mr. Cotter, manager of the Universal Film Exchange of St. Louis, is timely and shows a careful study of present conditions in the film industry, especially in the Independent field:

“In the history of the film business, there has never been a time when the public demand for high-class subjects was so imperious and persistent as the present. Several years ago, one feature a week was welcomed by the exhibitor. Times have changed. With the fierce competition of the various manufacturing companies, there has come into the field a persistent demand for features. This demand has become so insistent, that it behooves manufacturers, who are striving for the betterment of the business, to take cognizance of this condition, and produce pictures which are up to the standard created by the advanced artistry and perfection of detail, which distinguish the productions of the best producers.

“That good features pay, has been demonstrated time and again; still the mass of exhibitors seem oblivious of the tremendous possibilities presented when a great feature is shown. In this respect the value of appropriate music cannot be too strongly emphasized. For instance, nearly every theater devoted to the spoken drama has an adequate orchestra for the enhancement of the play. Why cannot exhibitors see the advantage of having correct and appropriate music, rehearsed with the same care and attention that is bestowed upon the melodic accompaniment of the spoken drama? The value of appropriate music can scarcely be estimated in, for instance, such photoplays as “Dante’s Inferno” or “Satan,” or in great plays like “As in a Looking Glass,” with Marion Leonard, which, by the way, broke all records for a feature in this city last week. Of course the exhibitor will say that this will entail more expense. But will not increased patronage more than offset this condition? In other words: make the feature picture a FEATURE in every sense. It is time for exhibitors to realize that the feature in the world of entertainment, has attained a rank of rivaling in importance the great productions of the dramatic world, and they should endeavor to enhance their offerings with the same care as to detail and musical accompaniment that is bestowed upon their more ancient rival. As to the manufacturers, the sooner they realize that the day of the wild and woolly, and the insipid has passed, and that real, vital subjects are the demand of the hour, the sooner the film will cease to be an adjunct to cheap vaudeville, and will be regarded as sufficient in itself and command the patronage it deserves.

“Another thing: the manufacturers who are now releasing films of one-reel subjects to the various exchanges throughout the country, are doubtless equipped and furnished with the material to produce really high-class subjects, such as are in urgent demand. Why not a feature each day in their daily program, thus saving the exhibitor an inordinate amount of trouble, and anxiety, in securing his daily feature program from two or more exchanges? The insistent demand for the BEST subjects shows the healthy trend of public taste; but a high standard can only be maintained by the intelligent co-operation of both manufacturers and exhibitors.”

Source: Ja[me]s S. McQuade, “Chicago Letter,” Moving Picture World 29 March 1913, 1322.

Against Illustrated Songs

2010-02-17T05:10:00.002-06:00

This article appeared as an editorial in Moving Picture World and made a strong argument against the illustrated song. Criticisms on the illustrated song had been relatively common even in the nickelodeon days, when the illustrated song was generally considered an integral part of the moving picture show. By 1913, however, the practice was in decided decline. Though new illustrated song sets continued to be advertised weekly (the notice on the right dates from 5 April 1913), the illustrators were feeling under attack, as can be seen from Alfed L. Simpson's response to this article, which is also reprinted below. (You can see in the notice on the right that Simpson was one of the regular slide advertisers.)

We believe that with certain exceptions the moving picture audience of today has outgrown the illustrated song. The exception in the main is the small and generally rural community, where “everybody knows everybody else” and where interest in local talent is always keen. In the larger theaters in such cities as New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia, the illustrated song elicits but a very weak response from the audience. We have in many electric theaters in the big cities fine and intelligent audiences, consisting of mostly grown people in commercial and even professional walks of life. Audiences of this kind ought not be asked to join some callow youth with untamed vocal cords in a chorus, wherein the singer assures an imaginary sweetheart that he will love her until “the sands of the desert grow cold” [a 1911 song by Ernest R. Ball]. Nor is this the worst. There are some very nasty and vulgar songs which are simply obnoxious to the men who go to such theaters with their wives and daughters. When the manager of a metropolitan moving picture theater on Broadway can find no lesson in the profound silence that greets the showing of the chorus slide on the screen he casts a serious cloud on the title to his salary. There was a manager of a large house who, when multiple reels became numerous, would sandwich cheap vaudeville in between the different parts of a feature. This sort of nonsense has been stopped. To persist in asking a thousand sane and intelligent adults to burst into “song” at the end of each show shows either a cruel disposition or an approach to idiocy. There are other and less drastic means of emptying a house.

*
Moving picture theater must not be made responsible for the spreading of bad songs. One sure way of avoiding such a reproach is their total elimination from the electric theater. A prominent Western daily after deploring the many obscene and disgusting “popular songs” holds the motion picture theater responsible for their [441] wide circulation. The paper goes on to say: “The demand for ‘popular’ songs is greater than ever before because such songs are heard in public a hundred times to-day where they were heard once a dozen years ago. This is due to the cheap motion picture and vaudeville houses. Unfortunately these places are too often run by people who mistake noise for applause. It takes only a very few to make a great noise.” The paper might have gone further and pointed out that the noisy element is a distinct detriment to any reputable motion picture house. They make order impossible and a theater given over to rowdyism of any kind will not last long.

Source: “Facts and Comments,” Moving Picture World 1 February 1913, 440-41.

As mentioned above, this article prompted a quick response from Simpson—though it would not be published until 22 March.

New York, Feb. 8th, 1913.
Editor of the Moving Picture World,
New York City.

Dear Sir:—Have read with much interest your article on page 440, Moving Picture World of February 1st, 1913, in reference to illustrated songs, and think that same is very much to the point and well put, and certainly the principal cause of the general lack of interest taken in illustrated songs of today.

As you state, this very beautiful form of amusement is so horribly misgiven, both in rendering of obscene and disgusting songs, and also from the fact to expect an intelligent audience to join in the chorus and make themselves ridiculous, would be enough in itself to kill the whole proceeding. Would also state that the cheap music publishers of today or a certain class have tried to use this excellent form of amusement for the purpose of cheap advertising for their miserable musical publications which are unfit in many cases to ever see the light of day. They employ a lot of cheap, irrepressible, ineffective and utterly unmusical boosters, as they are called, to render these musical compositions, which are truly an insult to any clean-minded audience, as most of these individuals would be much better adapted behind a push cart, or assisting the well-known gun men of today with their labors. When these factors can be eliminated the illustrated song properly done will again be restored to its proper place as a much desirable and beautiful diversion to the picture theater of today, as there is nothing more beautiful than good music and song poems properly rendered musically and pictorially.

I can well remember the time when a refined theatrical audience would show more appreciation to a well-rendered act of this kind than to any headliner on a program.

As I have been the principal one to develop this beautiful feature of amusement, it seems a pity to allow it to do down in dust without some word of remonstrance. Trust that you publish this letter, and hope it will have some effect. I remain
Sincerely yours,
Alfred L. Simpson,
Manufacturer of Simpson’s Celebrated Slides, and formerly
of Maxwell & Simpson, Kings of Illustrated Song.

Source: Alfred Simpson, “Letters to the Editor: Concerning Illustrated Songs,” Moving Picture World 22 March 1913, 1224.

Talking Picture Devices

2010-02-16T06:40:00.001-06:00

This item is a brief run-down of the most prominent devices for synchronizing film and phonograph as of 1913.

Talking Picture Devices

Several Concerns Claim Priority, But Edison’s Kinetophone Seems to Have Created Greatest Interest.

In answer to many inquiries regarding the so-called “talking pictures” and to note the several claims of priority in that particular field, the Moving Picture World offers the following information:

Cameraphone.—This was the first device offered to picture theaters in America, for which it was claimed that the picture and the voice could be reproduced simultaneously. J. H. Whitman was the promoter and owner of the patents covering the synchronizing mechanism. The Cameraphone Company operated a large studio and factory at Eleventh Avenue and 43rd Street, New York, for some time, but eventually failed for lack of interest on the part of the public.

Gaumont Chronophone.—This device for the production of “talking pictures” was perfected by the Gaumont Company, of Paris, and was first shown at the St. Louis World’s Fair. It was not until 1908 that the device was offered for sale in America, during which year Mr. Herbert Blache opened offices on East 25th Street, New York. The Chronophone was, to all appearances, successful in meeting all claims of the inventors, but it did not meet with favor here, so its promotion was discontinued for the time. We are informed that it is in successful operation in Paris and that the Gaumont Company is preparing again to urge its use in America.

Cort-Kitsee Device.—This is a synchronizing device invented by Dr. Kitsee, of Philadelphia, Pa., and is being promoted by Mr. John Cort, a New York theatrical man. Up to the present writing no attempt has been made to offer the device to the public, but private demonstrations have been given that are said to have proved the practicability of the mechanism.

Synchrophone and Cinematophone.—A new deice being promoted by the Synchrophone Motion Picture Company of New York. This device may be seen at Sherwood’s picture theater on Fulton Street, New York, between Broadway and Nassau Street. Many advantages are claimed for this mechanism, but there has been no effort made to place it generally.

Kinetophone.—This is the Edison device now being operated in a number of the larger cities in connection with vaudeville theaters. It is being handled by the American Talking Picture Company. Whatever may be said by rivals regarding the merit of the Kinetophone and the work of Mr. Thomas A. Edison in bringing it up to its present state of perfection, it must be admitted that it has been instrumental in gaining recognition for the “talking picture.” If not the first in the field, it is the first to gain any considerable recognition in America.

Source: “Talking Picture Devices,” Moving Picture World 29 March 1913, 1318.