|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 94
Manton called out to an employee and he appeared after a long
wait and unlocked one of them. At Kennedy's direction I put the
traveling bag in the lower compartment, pocketing the key. Then
we retraced our steps to broad steel stairs leading up and down.
We descended to the basement and found ourselves in a high-
ceilinged space immaculately clean and used generally for storage
purposes.
"The film vaults," Manton explained, "are at the corner of the
west wing. They have to be ventilated specially, on account of
the high inflammability of the celluloid composition. Since the
greatest fire risk, otherwise, is the laboratory and printing
departments, and next to that the studios themselves with the
scenery, the heat of the lights, the wires, etc., we have located
them in the most distant corner of the quadrangle. The negative,
you see, represents our actual invested capital to a considerable
extent. The prints wear out and frequently large sections are
destroyed and have to be reprinted. Then sometimes we can reissue
old subjects. All in all we guard the negative with the care a
bank would give actual funds in its vaults."
In our many visits to the Manton studios I had been struck by the
scrupulous cleanliness of every part of the place. The impression
of orderliness came back to me with redoubled force as we made
our way around in the basement. Nothing seemed out of its proper
position, although a vast amount of various material for picture
making was stored here. We passed two projection rooms, one a
miniature theater with quite a bit of comfort, the other small
and bare for the use of directors and cutters.
Finally we saw the vaults ahead of us. The walls were concrete,
matching the actual walls of the basement. There were two
entrances and the doors were double, of heavy steel, arranged so
that an air space would give protection in case of fire. At a
roll-top desk, arranged for the use of the clerk in charge of the
negatives and prints, was a young boy.
"Where's Wagnalls?" demanded Manton.
"He went out, sir," the boy replied, respectfully enough. "Said
he would be right back and for me to watch and not to let
anything get out."
The promoter led the way into the first room. Here on all four
sides and in several rows down the center, like the racks in a
public library, were shelves supporting stacks of square thin
metal boxes or trays with handles and tightly fitting covers.
Cards were secured to the front of each, by clamps, giving the
name of the picture and the number under which the film was
filed. I was surprised because I expected to find everything kept
in ordinary round film cans.
"These are the negatives," Manton explained. He pulled out a box
at random, opening it. "The negative is not all spliced together,
the same length as the reels of positive, because the printing
machines are equipped to take two-hundred-foot pieces at a time,
or approximate fifths of a reel, the size of a roll of raw
positive film stock. Then whenever there is a change in color, as
from amber day that to blue tint for night, the negative is
broken because pieces of different coloring have to go through
different baths, and that also determines the size of the rolls.
The prints, or positives, in the other vaults, are in reel
lengths and so are kept in the round boxes in which they are
shipped."
Kennedy glanced about curiously. "The negative of that snake
picture is here, you said?"
Manton went to a little desk where there was a card index.
Thumbing through the records, he found the number and led us to
the proper place in the rack. In the box were only two rolls of
negative, both were large.
"This was a split reel," the promoter began. "It was
approximately four hundred feet and we used it to fill out a
short comedy, a release we had years ago, a reel the first part
of which was educational and the last two-thirds or so a roaring
slap-stick. We never made money on it.
"But this stuff was mighty good, Mr. Kennedy. We practically
wrote a scenario for those reptiles. Doctor Nagoya was down
himself and for the better part of a day it wasn't possible to
get a woman in the studio, for fear a rattler or something might
get loose."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|