DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Scientifilmaker, v. 1, issue 1, May 1938

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Scientifilmaker, v. 1, issue 1, May 1938

Page 2

MAKE YOUR OWN CARTOON Cont'd.

Something like this for women: [drawing of a stick woman with a skirt]

Airplanes are drawn simply thus: [two drawings of plane]

Rocketships are the simplest and are shown this way: [two drawings of old stile missiles]

and you get the best from them. In each frame have the figure move very slightly, so that its motion is progressive like this:

Draw in one frame, then the one under it and so on. It is possible to get some very excellent effects if care is taken that the difference in motion of the figures in the succeeding frames is very slight. When the film is run through the projector, the little difference in the positions of the figures will give the entire film the illusion of motion, and the figures will move with lifelike characteristics. Use regular black drawing ink, or India ink as it is called, which is the standard ink used for making tracings for the mechanical drawings. Other inks will not do, because the light goes right through them and the picture will appear very faint. When finished, the film will look something like this:

[drawing on the right side of the page of a film cut with 7 entire frames with a plane moving from right to left and taking a dive. the text "ONE FRAME" with size arrows is located at the left side of the 5th frame form the top]

This film cannot be run through a projector provided with a motor, because the time each frame is exposed is so short that it would be seen for only a fraction of a second or so, and the entire sequence would be over in a flash without anything recognizable being observed on the screen. 

As for the subtitles and titles, the words are printed only on one frame. One frame above and one below this title frame is left blank, something like this:

[drawing of a piece of film with three frames, indicated by an arrow just after the double points. In the first frame there is the word "(BLANK)", in the second frame there is the title "COSMIC PRESENTS "NUTS"", and in the third frame there is the word "(BLANK)"]

When this is run through the projector slowly, it will be easy to see this blank space, and the projector may be momentarily stopped so that the title may be read. The projector must be run slowly so that the blank space may be easily seen. This method has been tested and found to be the best. It is impossible to print the letters in exactly the same position on every frame, and hence, if this were done, the titles would jump all over the place and they would become absolutely illegible. This trouble is also encountered with the cartoons themselves, but due to the illusion of motion, the condition is not so aggravated. As a matter of fact, it is far more difficult to portray absolutely stationary objects by this method then it is to show moving ones.

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MAKE YOUR OWN CARTOON Cont'd. Something like this for women: [drawing of a stick woman with a skirt] Airplanes are drawn simply thus: [two drawings of plane] Rocketships are the simplest and are shown this way: [two drawings of old stile missiles] and you get the best from them. In each frame have the figure move very slightly, so that its motion is progressive like this: Draw in one frame, then the one under it and so on. It is possible to get some very excellent effects if care is taken that the difference in motion of the figures in the succeeding frames is very slight. When the film is run through the projector, the little difference in the positions of the figures will give the entire film the illusion of motion, and the figures will move with lifelike characteristics. Use regular black drawing ink, or India ink as it is called, which is the standard ink used for making tracings for the mechanical drawings. Other inks will not do, because the light goes right through them and the picture will appear very faint. When finished, the film will look something like this: [drawing on the right side of the page of a film cut with 7 entire frames with a plane moving from right to left and taking a dive. the text "ONE FRAME" with size arrows is located at the left side of the 5th frame form the top] This film cannot be run through a projector provided with a motor, because the time each frame is exposed is so short that it would be seen for only a fraction of a second or so, and the entire sequence would be over in a flash without anything recognizable being observed on the screen. As for the subtitles and titles, the words are printed only on one frame. One frame above and one below this title frame is left blank, something like this: [drawing of a piece of film with three frames, indicated by an arrow just after the double points. In the first frame there is the word "(BLANK)", in the second frame there is the title "COSMIC PRESENTS "NUTS"", and in the third frame there is the word "(BLANK)"] When this is run through the projector slowly, it will be easy to see this blank space, and the projector may be momentarily stopped so that the title may be read. The projector must be run slowly so that the blank space may be easily seen. This method has been tested and found to be the best. It is impossible to print the letters in exactly the same position on every frame, and hence, if this were done, the titles would jump all over the place and they would become absolutely illegible. This trouble is also encountered with the cartoons themselves, but due to the illusion of motion, the condition is not so aggravated. As a matter of fact, it is far more difficult to portray absolutely stationary objects by this method then it is to show moving ones.