ty feet long and seven feet in diameter. An electric motor is
then started, and the drum revolves at an ever-increasing speed. Drum
after drum is loaded in the same way, until the whole of the film is in
position and the whirling continues until the negative is perfectly dry.

Cleanliness in every possible respect is absolutely essential during the
process of development, until the film is dry once more. The most minute
speck of dust or foreign matter might adhere to the wet emulsion
permanently disfiguring it. Therefore to avoid this the utmost care must
be maintained throughout, and the negative is now ready to be projected
on the screen for the first time in order to see that it is technically
perfect in quality, and to decide upon the possibilities of a big
feature film, or a series of short ones.

For simplicity's sake we will assume that we are dealing with a subject
such as the Battle of the Somme, approximately five thousand feet in
length. As the film is projected, notes are taken of each scene in
strict rotation. The negative, as in the ordinary process of
photography, is quite the reverse to the film shown in the picture
theatre. The black portions of the picture as we see it on the screen
are white, and all whites are black. It therefore calls for a highly
trained eye to be able to follow the film.

Only now do I find out whether the scenes I have taken live up to my
expectations. Sometimes yes--sometimes no. One great drawback is that
the sounds are not there! When the projection is finished the whole of
the negative is taken to the cutting and joining-room. I take every
reel, and each scene is cut out separately and titled by means of a
label fastened to the section by an elastic band.

So the process goes on until I have the whole of the film cut up and
registered. I often go through each scene again separately and closely
scrutinise it, cutting out all blemishes, black stops, uninteresting
sections of the scene, and many other faults which unavoidably present
themselves. Before going further I should say that the film is "taken"
in lengths of four hundred feet, and they are always kept at that length
and in a separate tin box. Even when they are cut up the sections go
back into the same tin. Each box is taken in turn and numbered one, two,
three, four, five, six, and so on. Number one contains ten sections,
representing ten scenes. Each is labelled and every title is copied on a
sheet of foolscap, and