Hitherto the amateur worker has been held back by the great expense of the necessary apparatus. The camera cost £50 ($250), and the developing and printing operations were generally supposed to be too difficult and costly for private undertaking. There was some excuse for these notions. The trade at first followed narrow lines, no welcome being held out to the amateur competitor. But circumstances have been too strong for this trade, as for others, and it burst its bonds in due time. The co-operation of the independent worker became essential as the demands of the market increased. In the production of plays, for instance, England at first led the way. But the American and French producers came quickly to the fore. The English pioneers, not being skilled in the mysteries of stage craft, wisely retired from the producing field upon the entrance of the expert from the legitimate theatre, who realised that the moving-picture field offered him increased opportunities for his knowledge and activity as well as bringing him more profitable financial returns for his labours. The British fathers of the industry devoted their energies to the manufacture of cinematographic apparatus, as they foresaw that sooner or later the amateur and independent worker must enter the industry. The activity of amateurs was needed by the English trade as a whole, and the manufacturer, with great enterprise, brought down the cost of apparatus to a very reasonable level. This has been effected by methods not less advantageous to the purchaser than is the reduction of the price—by standardisation of parts and simplification of mechanism.
To-day a reliable camera for living pictures, suitable for topical and other light work, can be bought for £5 or $25. A more expensive camera, the Williamson, costs £10 10s. ($52), and is actually as good as other machines priced at four or five times that sum. On the other hand, so much as £150 ($750) can be paid. But the camera sold for this large sum demands a purchaser with something more than a long purse. It demands special knowledge. Designed for studio work, it has peculiarities that are difficult to master and is not to be recommended to a beginner.
With the cost of the camera the cost of other apparatus has fallen in proportion. It was realised that the amateur's dark room and other facilities are likely to be less excellent than those of the professional and that he must be provided with compensating conveniences. This problem has been solved. A complete developing outfit can now be packed in a hand-bag, and a camera and printing outfit can be carried in a knapsack no larger than is required for the whole-plate camera of the old "still-life" photographer. Simple and efficient appliances for the dark room can be purchased very cheaply. There is a portable outfit for use in field work, where it is imperative that films should be developed as soon as possible after exposure, and this outfit is now used by the majority of travellers and field workers, such as Cherry Kearton, Paul Rainey, and others. Distinct advantage, it may be observed, comes from prompt developing. There may be vexatious delay, occasionally, but the photographer is at least able to tell quickly whether his film is a success or a failure. It is better to gain this knowledge on the spot, even compulsorily, where another record can be taken, than to gain it later a few hundreds of miles from the chance of trying again.
The capital expenditure of the cinematographer need certainly not be great. A complete outfit, the "Jury," may now be obtained for £20 or $100. It comprises a combined camera and printer, developing troughs, film-winding frames for developing and drying, and all necessary chemicals. Yet it is no toy, as might be thought, but a thoroughly reliable outfit capable of doing first-class work. Anyone who is more ambitious, or willing to spend more money, should purchase the Williamson outfit. This costs about £40, or $200.
Now for other difficulties that have nothing to do with money. It has been assumed that the art of animated photography is a mystery demanding a long and weary apprenticeship. But the impression is really quite wrong. Anyone who has practised still-life and snap-shot photography may become proficient in the new art within a week or two. Many of the problems encountered in the old photography are actually easier to solve in the new; some are eliminated entirely; others, that are intensified, are really not very hard to master.
From the "Cinema College," by permission of the Motograph Co.
A Lion and Lioness at Lunch.
By permission of the Motograph Co.