D. W. GRIFFITH’S RECORD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 738, 10 August 1929, Page 18

D. W. GRIFFITH’S RECORD

l CONTRIBUTIONS TO FILM TECHNIQUE i Between “The Adventures of Doliie,” i released in 1908, and “Lady of the | Night.” released in 1929, David Wark Griffith has made 430 motion pictures j at a total cost of £ 2,400,000. They have 1 made a total for their producing companies of £ 11,200.000. “The Birth of a Nation.” which cost ~ 20.000. has returned a gross sum ol ? £ 2.000,000, and is still being exhibited. It was “The Birth of a Nation” which rasied the cinema from a 6d to a 2s Gd j show. In that sense we owe the modf ern cinema to Griffith, who created

that picture. To Griffith also goes the credit of inventing the “fade out,” the “flash back” and the soft focus photography and many other facilities for motion picture technique. His latest contribution to screen art is the multiple exposure. It is said to be the most astounding camera feat for

some years. It is a camera illusion showing 13 representations of a single figure in one scene at the same time, and is used for the first time in his latest picture, “Lady of the Night.” William Boyd, upon whom the experiment was tried, is made to merge into the personalities of 13 characters seated about tables until the room is literally filled with them. At the end of this really wonderful scene the 13 Boyds rise and merge into one.