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SECRETS OF
SCENE PAINTING AND
STAGE EFFECTS

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SECRETS OF
SCENE PAINTING AND
STAGE EFFECTS

VAN DYKE BROWNE

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
IN COLOUR AND BLACK AND WHITE

LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED
NEW YORK; E. P. DUTTON & CO.

913 &

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
AND STAGE EFFECTS
The idea of dramatic representation is to produce
the impression of reality, and the value of such
representation is in direct measure with the force of
such impression. In this connection stage scenery
and effects are of the utmost importance. When
properly used, they add tremendously to the realism
of dramatic representation. We see this clearly
proved in London to-day at such theatres as Drury
Lane and His Majesty's. The success of the big
productions at those theatres depends almost, if not
quite, as much upon the quality of the scenery and
effects as upon that of the plays performed or ofthe
actors and actresses engaged. This is shown by the
views expressed by the dramatic critics and the
public generally. Perhaps the production at Drury
Lane is a strong melodrama. What is most dis
cussed in connection with that production ? Almost
always some big and novel effect, such as the
representation of a race between aeroplanes or a
battle between submarines. Again, in the case of
a Shakespearian production at His Majesty's, the
talk in the green rooms and at the dinner tables of
London is often more of the scenic beauty of the
production than of the achievements of the actors
and actresses. And the talk of the 'man in the
street ' follows the same lines.

2 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
The ancient Greeks and Romans were very fond
of the drama, and have left us some great plays.
But they did not realise the value of scenery.
Indeed, very often, their performances were given
without scenery of any sort. The drama of the
Romans, like most other manifestations of their
civilisation, was based on that of the Greeks. The
greatest of the Greeks as playwright and producer
was Aeschylus, who flourished about 500 b.c. There
appears to be little doubt that it was he who first
introduced scenerv in connection with dramatic
representations. To him, too, the credit is due of
having erected the first permanent theatre. Pre
viously, the dramatic performances of the Greeks
had always been given in the open air.
The scenery used by Aeschylus was stationary
scenery. Indeed, it was not until more than 2000
years after his period that movable scenery was first
introduced. There has been much discussion as to
the actual date when this took place. Some students
ofthe Elizabethan drama have asserted that movable
scenery was used by Shakespeare and his contem
poraries ; but the proofs of this are not at all definite.
The general concensus of opinion is to the effect that
Davenant, the English playwright, was the first to
apply this novelty. At any rate, there is convincing
evidence that in or about the year 1662 he produced
a play with the accompaniment of movable scenery.
Probably this scenery was very clumsily contrived.
But it embodied the principle on which the cleverest
effects of the present day are based.
And how clever some of those effects are ! It is
worth the while of anybody at all interested in

AND STAGE EFFECTS 3
theatrical matters to inspect the scenery arrange
ments at an up-to-date theatre. At every turn he
will find something to wonder at and admire.
Quite recently at one of the London theatres
there has been installed a new electrically driven
equipment for raising and lowering cloths, sky
borders, curtains, and for setting ceilings, etc. It
has proved a great success. Wire is used instead
of the old hempen ropes, and this is an enormous
advantage from the fire-risk point of view. Further,
it has enabled the number of stage hands to be
reduced. The equipment works with far less noise
than the ordinary hand system, and much more
quickly and certainly. It seems quite likely that
before long this electric power system will be the
one adopted at all the big theatres. But for the
smaller theatres, and certainly for the halls at which
amateur companies usually give their performances,
the old system will continue to be used.
There have been a number of books issued
during recent years on the subject of Scene Painting
and Stage Effects. I have read all of them ; but
have come to the conclusion that none effectively
covers the ground. Some of these books are
evidently produced as advertisements of dealers in
paint for scenic purposes. Those dealers doubtless
know much about the making and mixing of paints ;
but it does not follow that they are acquainted with
the art of placing the paint on canvas, any more
than it follows that a maker of pens or paper is a
literary man. Others of these books are far too
technical, both as regards matter and style. The
perusal of them cannot possibly be of much assist-

4 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
ance to the amateur in scenic painting, however
intelligent he may be. It almost seems as if the
authors did not really wish to impart information,
but only to publish a book showing their own
intimate knowledge of abstruse terms and definitions.
I think the present book will be found to be free
from the faults to which I have just referred. It is
not an advertisement of any man's goods ; it has
been kept as free as possible from technical diffi
culties ; and it is an honest endeavour to cover the
ground with which it deals. The book includes
within its scope the whole art of scene painting.
lt deals with the problem of perspective in as clear
and simple a way as possible. It gives designs of
typical scenes and of the furniture appropriate to
such scenes. Further, it contains much useful in
formation as to stage building, from a platform for a
drawing-room entertainment or a fit-up tour to an
elaborate permanent structure. In addition to all
this, it describes in detail the working of scenery, in
cluding curtains, full scene sets, a chamber set, etc.
The need for such a book is evident. Every town
of any size has its amateur dramatic society, and in
the big towns and cities those societies are to be
counted by the dozen. Amateurs quite rightly
pride themselves on doing as much as posible in
connection with the performances they give. They
make their own costumes, and even sometimes write
their own plays. Now they will be able to paint
their own scenery. In the case of almost every
amateur dramatic society, there is at least one
member who has some knowledge ofthe art of painting.
With the aid of the advice and information given in

AND STAGE EFFECTS 5
this book he will be able to apply that knowledge for
scenic purposes. Without such advice and informa
tion, however clever a painter he may be. he could not
so apply it. There is a world of difference between
painting a picture to hang on the wall of a gallery or
a drawing-room and to be inspected at short range,
and in painting a scene to form the background of
a stage and to convey a bold and definite effect to
hundreds or thousands of people inspecting it from
all parts of a big hall or theatre.
In this connection I may mention a performance
which I witnessed in the provinces recently. It was
given by a local amateur society. The play was a
good one, and the acting was good. But the scenery
was lamentably poor ! It had been painted by two
talented artists, both of whom have several times
exhibited at the Royal Academy. But they had
failed entirely to get the effects at which they had
aimed. Looked at from a few yards' distance, the
scenes were simply a blur of paint. Yet, when I went
round after the performance and inspected them
closely, I found that as 'pictures ' they were admirable
productions. That is the difference in a nutshell — a
scene may be and should be picturesque, but it is
not a ' picture ' in the Royal Academy sense of the
word. At other amateur performances I have seen
various shifts resorted to. The background of the
stage has been covered by ordinary wail-paper and
hung with ordinary pictures. The effect has never
been what was intended. The play produced may
have been a comic one, but, in my case at any rate,
quite as much laughter was excited by the faulty
scenic effects as by the jokes uttered by the actors.

6 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
As a matter of fact, there are very few working
scenic artists. The profession may quite fairly be
termed a close corporation. The artists realise that
so long as their number is few, their individual re
ceipts will be high. Instead of welcoming any
addition to their ranks, they do their best to keep
others out. To go to one of these scenic artists for
information as to his profession is simply to waste
time. I heard a story the other day of a man who
knew something about the business, and who
wanted to learn the more intimate secrets. He
obtained the acquaintanceship of a skilled scenic
artist, and did his best to extract those secrets from
him. He failed utterly. He even went to the extent
one night of deliberately making the artist drunk or
nearly so, in the hope that then the man would talk.
The man did talk ! But none of his talk was about
his art. Although not master of his faculties, he
still had the sense to know that he must not impart
any information about his art. He talked about his
wife, his mother-in-law, and many other interesting
subjects. But not a word fell from his lips as to
scene painting or stage effects.
Some dealers sell paper scenes, which to some
extent supply the need felt by amateur societies.
But only to some extent. The scenes are usually
of miniature size and are inadequate for large
stages. Besides, the mounting of them on canvas
is a difficult and expensive task. And even when
it is performed the result is often imperfect, for
paper soon crumples up on a canvas background.
The best thing is for the amateur to do his own
work if possible. This book will make it possible.

AND STAGE EFFECTS 7
All the various points are dealt with. The reader
will learn as to the right sort of canvas, the right
sort of glue, and the right sort of brushes. Valuable
hints will also be found as to scenic artists frames,
the stretching of canvas, the use of pulleys to pulL
up canvas, stencilling, and many more necessary
matters. Exact diagrams as to all these are given.
The pages dealing with the construction of a plat
form will be found very useful. On how many
occasions is not such a platform wanted ! There
is the need for one, not only for the purpose of
dramatic representations but also for concerts and
various social functions.
The book deals very fully with stage effects.
The reader will learn the best and simplest ways
of producing the effects of rain, snow, hail, thunder,
galloping of horses, etc. Occasions for the use of
these occur in very many plays performed by
amateurs. The realism of such effects is very
great if they are produced properly. The truth of
this may be proved at any of the cinematograph
theatres. The impression of the pictures is again
and again intensified by some effect worked behind
the curtains. Stage lighting is also adequately
dealt with in the book. This section will be useful
to many amateur societies. It is not sufficient to
have the right sort of limes — there must also be
a full knowledge of the best way of working those
limes. That knowledge will be obtained from a
careful study of the section in question.
Every endeavour has been made to illustrate
the book in the best possible manner. The plates
showing typical scenes will assist the amateur

8 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
scenic artist very considerably. The diagrams as
to perspective have been made as simple as possible,
with due regard to the necessity of their illustrating
the accompanying letterpress adequately. Indeed,
the whole note of the book is the coupling of
simplicity and efficiency. PREPARATION
The professional scene-painter requires a very
large room for his work, and it must be so situated
that there is a large space below the room and an
equal amount of space above it. This arrangement
is necessary because, with one exception — to which
I will presently refer — the scenery is painted from
the top downwards, and as the scene-painter
finds it convenient to stand on the floor of the
room while he is at work it follows that the canvas
must first be dropped through a slit in the floor.
It is then hauled up to a convenient height and
when all the part which the painter can reach
is covered it is drawn upwards so that another
blank piece of canvas faces the painter. By the
time the lowest part of the canvas is in place the
top is therefore well out of the painter's reach.
If the amateur scene-painter can arrange an
outhouse in this way he will facilitate his work,
but if the scenery is not very large he can work
fairly well on the canvas if he spreads it out on the
floor. In that case he will first roll up the canvas
and then unroll a portion of it. After he has covered
that he will unroll some more and will continue
the process until he has covered all the canvas.
In some cases, however, the scene-painter will find

AND STAGE EFFECTS

that the more convenient method is to suspend the
canvas in some way with ropes and pulleys.
The exception to this customary plan of
working to which I have alluded, is when the
painter has to produce a street scene on a back

cloth or some scene in which the artist's knowledge
of perspective comes into play. For a scene of that
description it is best to begin in the middle of the
canvas. The necessity for this plan will be
appreciated when the chapter on perspective has
been studied. A street scene is, perhaps, the most

io SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
difficult of all scene painting to do well, because
if the perspective is not right the effect will be not
at all what is required ; the houses depicted in the
scene will appear to be in danger of toppling over
and the whole effect will be grotesque.
MATERIALS
All scenery is painted on ordinary flax canvas
which, in the first case, is only a yard wide.
Strips of the canvas are sewn together to make
a large sheet. The amount of preliminary work
required may be judged from the fact that a full-
sized ' frame ' for a theatre measures sixty feet
across by forty-five feet in height.
The canvas is joined together in a special way,
so that the joins may not be seen and a perfectly
flat surface may be presented. The simplest way
to learn this process is to take two sheets of paper
and set to work in the following way.
Lay half a sheet of notepaper on the top of
another, so that the under one projects about an
inch beyond the upper; paste along both edges of
the papers and then fold the top paper over tbe
bottom paper, but before doing so push it up
about a quarter of an inch so that it adheres to
the bottom paper. The two papers will then be
held together firmly and the surface will be
practically flat.
After the required area of canvas has been de
cided on it must be mounted and stretched accord
ing to the purpose for which it is required. In
dealing with a back cloth, cut cloth, or act drop,

AND STAGE EFFECTS

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12

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

the canvas is merely stretched tightly across the
batten and nailed at intervals, it thus hangs loosely
below ; the surplus material, if properly dealt with,
drops through a slit in the floor as before
mentioned. In the case, however, of wings and other move
able pieces a proper wood framework is required, as

shown in many of our illustrations. On this frame
work the canvas should be stretched as taut as
possible, which can be done either by tacking the
bottom and then pulling the canvas over the top
batten with the hands while an assistant nails it,
or, by using the special pincers shown in the ac
companying illustration. These pincers have a long
gripping surface with a toothed surface, one set of

AND STAGE EFFECTS 13
corrugations fitting into the other. Naturally this
grip cannot slip when the pincers are closed and
a great purchase can be obtained, which makes
satisfactory stretching a practical certainty.
When the canvas — which, by the way, costs
about eighteenpence a yard — has been joined and
framed up it is ready for 'priming.' The effect of
this process is to give it a white surface to which
the paint will adhere. ' Priming ' is made by dis
solving whitening in water and adding size. The
usual plan is to use about half a bucket of water.
Whitening is placed in this and after it has been
soaked till it is fairly soft the surplus water is
poured away. The bucket is then rilled up with
melting size and is well stirred up. It is necessary
to be careful about the quantity of size, because if
too little is used the paint that is afterwards put
on the canvas will come off when it is rubbed ;
thus, if a back cloth is painted and rolled up the
labour will be wasted. BRUSHES
When the ' priming ' has been made the canvas
is spread out and the painter is ready to begin the
first part of the work.
This is a convenient point at which to describe
the brushes required by the scenic artist. He
should provide himself with the ordinary painter's
sash tools, and it is as well to have them in all sizes,
from Number One to Number 12. The latter is
about an inch and a half across. The brushes are not
perfectly round. It is also as well to have a brush
with a long handle for use when painting foliage.

14

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

The 'priming' is applied with what is technically
known as a 'double-tie' brush; it is merely an
ordinary whitewash brush. A brush of a similar

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AND STAGE EFFECTS 15
kind but half the width — known as a ' single-tie '
brush — is also needed for painting tree trunks and
other large surfaces.
After the ' priming ' has been applied the
canvas must be left to dry thoroughly before it is
used. While our canvas is in this state we may
well turn our attention to the paints.
THE PAINTS
The scene painter's colours are known technically
as ' distemper colours.' They are bought in the form
of powder, and the only preparation they require
is the admixture of water. The usual proportion
is one pound of colour to a pint of water, but some
colours will 'take' more water than others; thus,
ivory black requires more water than vermillion.
The powder is merely stirred up until it dissolves,
but each pot of paint will require an occasional
stirring while it is being used. The painter will
also require a small pail of water for 'letting down'
his colour and a half pail of dissolved size for
mixing in before applying the paint and thus
causing it to adhere to the canvas, otherwise the
paint on drying would fly off in a powder. The
artist will also need some sticks of charcoal.
PAINTING THE CANVAS
The first step towards converting the canvas
into scenery is to sketch out a rough design on the
canvas with a stick of charcoal, but before this is
done it may be as well to make a design of the
scene required on paper. With this copy before

i6

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

him the amateur can go to work with his charcoal.
If he is going to paint a tree it will be as well to
have a stick of charcoal fastened to a long stick.

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AND STAGE EFFECTS

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\,<~- No words can tell the artist exactly what colours
he should use, for everything depends on the
mixture of the colours. The best plan for learning

1 8 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
this part of the work is to get an old piece of
scenery and try to copy it. At the same time the
learner should make a note of the colours that have
been used to produce such effect. The artist must
remember that the effect he has to produce must
not be that which he sees himself, but that which
the scenery will present when it is hung up and
shown by artificial lights.
In the painting of a tree or any out-door scene
the artist is sure to want to produce the effect of
sunlight and shadow. The former is generally
produced by painting with a mixture of yellow
ochre and chrom e yellow. The effect of shadow
is produced by painting with a mixture of crimson
lake, Prussian blue, and a very little ivory black.
When this mixture is made and applied the artist
will probably imagine that it contains far too much
crimson, but when the scene is lit by artificial light
this effect is subdued. Nevertheless, one often
does see a shadow effect on a stage in which far
too much crimson has been used.
The exact proportions of these mixtures and the
various shades needed to paint a tree can be de
termined only by experience.
The artist may have to paint over a scene three
times. He will always have to do it twice, but the
first coat is very light, merely a sketching in of the
outlines made by the charcoal.
After a tree has been painted, the foliage must
be cut out very carefully. When the scene is
finished and the leaves and branches have been cut
out, this part of the scene is laid out flat with the
painted side to the floor and a piece of fine blackgauze

AND STAGE EFFECTS 19
is pasted at the back of it. This has the effect of
holding out the foliage ; without the gauze at the
back of it the foliage would fall ' in a heap ' at all the
places where it had been cut. The black gauze is
not seen ' from the front ', when the lights are on
the stage.
The painting of a fence for an outdoor scene is
simple enough. After the fence has been painted,
the canvas is pasted to one or more other pieces to
stiffen it and the parts of the canvas not painted are
then cut out with an ordinary saw. The painted
fence is then stiff.
Having produced his piece of scenery the amateur
is strongly advised not to neglect one important
precaution, and that is to paint the back of the
canvas with a fireproof solution. It is now a rule
at all theatres and music halls throughout the
country that all scenery and properties must be
fireproofed. Things prepared in this way do not
readily catch alight ; when heat is applied they only
smoulder ; they do not burst into flames. Many a
theatre fire has been stopped at the outset through
one of the ' props ' having been fireproofed.
BROAD EFFECTS
The amateur artist who sets out to paint a piece
of scenery for the first time in his life will probably
be far too painstaking in his work, or, rather, he will
take the wrong kind of trouble over it. He must
remember that all his work is to be viewed at a
distance and under very peculiar conditions. There
is a blaze of light from the ground upward and from
the sky downward, and frequently from both sides

20

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

of the stage. Therefore, it is useless for the amateur
scenic artist to work as though he were painting a

AND STAGE EFFECTS 21
picture. He must always bear in mind what his
work will look like when it is lit up on the stage.
He is strongly advised to begin at first with broad
effects and to watch, if possible, to see what effect
his first work has when it is lit up on a stage, before
he goes on to anything more ambitious.
A simple plan for an amateur who is working in
the dark, so to speak, is to proceed in this way. Let
him get hold of an old scrap of scenery and copy it
as though he was drawing a picture of it. Then let
him put in the lights and shades, and he will soon
see for himself how to procure the effects demanded
in stage scenery. His chief fault will probably lie
in a failure to appreciate the effect of what he is
painting when it is presented in stage light : he will
probably think that there is too great a contrast in
his lights and shadows, but he must remember that
the stage lights have a softening effect on such
contrasts and therefore, in a stage picture, they must
be over-emphasised. The amateur actor is usually
just as nervous about overdoing his make-up,
because he does not take into consideration the
effect that the stage lights have on a face that is not
made up. The most unbecoming little shadows are
cast upon the face, and one of the secrets of making-
up well is to ' allow ' for these by means of grease
paints applied in such a way that the complexion
seems to be entirely natural.
The scenic artist must therefore remember that
his work is going to be judged under circumstances
very different from those under which it is done, and
he must make allowances for that fact ; otherwise
his scenery will be grotesque. After all, very few

22

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

N°*5 Process

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scenes, especially out-of-door scenes, in theatres, are
really life-like. They suggest the open-air scene
rather than depict it.

AND STAGE EFFECTS

TO ENLARGE A SKETCH
The best method is to sketch on to the canvas,
then rule up the design into a number of equal

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squares or rectangles, then using a chalk line divide
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24 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
The rest is easy, it is only necessary to follow
the original design, square by square, and map it
out on the canvas.
The sketch should of course be in absolute
proportion to the cloth, if it is square, any square is
right, if for instance the cloth was 30 feet by 20 feet,
the sketch should be 30 inches by 20 inches, or 15
inches by 10 inches, as most convenient.
PERSPECTIVE
If the reader is familiar with even elementary
perspective, this chapter will not aid him for it is
not within the scope of this work to instruct in a
science, which is adequately covered by literature
especially devoted to the subject.
The object of this chapter is to give the amateur
an opportunity of producing by the simplest methods
an interior or exterior back cloth which will be
reasonably convincing in its perspective lines.
For this reason, the orthodox means of obtaining
accuracy in fixing the vanishing point, scale, and
all other technical explanations have been omitted
as being useless unless the reader has the assistance
of a qualified student to help him in deciphering the
diagrams. It must not be assumed however, that the result
of following these few instructions will be a some
thing that is not perspective. With intelligence a
very respectable interior, for instance, can be set out,
which will satisfy most people, if not the professors.
If on the other hand an attempt is made to draw
out a scene without some method of perspective, the

AND STAGE EFFECTS 25
result will be in all probability ludicrous, and
' Chinese ' in its lines, producing an irritating effect
on an audience of discernment.
Perspective is the view of objects flat or per
pendicular, as they appear to the eye, and not as
they really are. The farther an object is from the
eye, the smaller does it appear to be until at last it
seems to vanish at the limit of vision, that which
we call the vanishing point. If we look through a
long straight tunnel we see ground, sides and roof
all converge to a point of light, the other end. If
the tunnel is lit by lamps at the sides they will be
seen to get smaller and smaller, and closer and
closer together, as they approach the outlet, they do
this in strictly decreasing proportion, and no two
spaces are alike, to attempt to draw these spaces
correctly without a method would be futile.
Now all straight lines, whatever they are, rails,
bricks, lamp frames, etc., that have their ends to
the mouth of the tunnel get closer and closer
together as they recede, until they appear to nearly
meet at the point of light, and this fact is the germ
of perspective drawing. The horizontal lines, how
ever, such as sleepers and the sides of the lamp,
although they decrease in width and length remain
quite parallel to the very end of the tunnel.
Therefore we have two leading facts, (1) that all
lines going away from us tend to meet, and (2) all
lines across our path remain parallel. If our tunnel
is a square one, and we chop it up into a number of
sections, what have we but a series of rooms end on
end. Consequently keeping the principle of the
tunnel in his mind's eye, the reader should have

26

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

little difficulty in setting up a correct interior. Of
course doors, windows, columns, pictures, etc., have
their widths to be determined, and these must be
laid out on the same principle as the tunnel lamps.
Fig. 1 of the illustrations shows a simple interior
including ceiling, floor, back wall and two side walls.

\ 13'

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It will be seen that from corner to corner of the
canvas are diagonal dotted lines, and where they
cross in the centre is a point marked V.P. which is
the vanishing point or ' end of the tunnel,' As we
do not require an endless room we cut off several
miles of it and put a back in. This can be done by
dividing each of the diagonal line into four parts,
and drawing up to the four points (F) to make the
back ofthe room.
We now have something like a square room,
with four equal sides, on the back wall we put
what decoration we like without troubling the

AND STAGE EFFECTS 27
vanishing point except that, no object that is equal
to a similar one on the side walls must exceed it
in height, although it may in apparent width.
To set out the columns on the right hand wall.
draw a line (B) from the left hand front corner,
through the right hand back corner of the floor,
and continue it on until it cuts across a horizontal
line (C) drawn in through the vanishing point thus
forming another point marked A. Now as we have
considered this a square room of course our base
line D is really the same length as the side walls
so we mark our columns on D in their proper places.
Then we draw lines from each of such marks to
the point A, and from where they cut the floor
line of the wall we draw perpendicular lines up the
walls to give us the elevation of the columns in
perspective spacing and width.
The left hand walls and the ceiling show a
simpler method, when merely a single central
feature is wanted. Simply draw diagonal lines
corner to corner, and then a vertical or horizontal
one and the exact centre is found, then mark out
the feature, seeing that all the going away lines
tend towards the V. P. The position of the Y. P.
as shown is not a fixed rule, but merely for sim
plicity of instruction, it may be above or below the
centre of the back wall, or to right or left,
giving a different aspect of the room, the general
rules described still apply.
Fig. 2 shows a method of setting out a parti
coloured paved floor. Divide the front line into a
number of equal spaces, draw lines to the V. P. then A
to A, then horizontal line B, through the centre cut,

28

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

which allows C to C to be drawn. Then draw the
other horizontal lines, cut vanishing lines, and the
floor will represent a draught board in perspective,

cross each square with diagonal lines, and the
pattern can be made diamond-wise. With this basis
to work on, many geometrical patterns can be set
out m perspective, and of course a ceiling decoration
would be painted on similar lines.
Fig. 3 is a street scene in perspective, it is very

fyc

AND STAGE EFFECTS 29
much on the lines of Fig. 1 except that the spaciDgs
are irregular, but they are arrived at by the same
methods. We have only shown the right hand side
of the street, as the other side can be set out by
reversing the procedure. Assuming the street to
be 60 feet wide, and the four houses together say
80 feet, the base line must be extended to show
this roughly to scale. Then from the V. P. draw
the horizontal line C, and from the left hand end
of the base, the line B, then cut at A , and that is the
point to which all the lines of the vertical features
of the houses must be drawn. Then proceed as
described for Fig. 1. We have not included the
Church, as it means too considerable an extension
of the base line for reproduction.
Treat the left hand side of the street similarly,
but vary the detail to fancy.
The heights of the various buildings are im
material so long as every roof and cornice line
runs to the V. P.
All the foregoing instructions have been for
parallel perspective, where bub one vanishing point
is required. Fig. 4 illustrates an instance of
angular perspective, where two sides of a building
recede from the eye.
For first efforts at scene painting, angular per
spective can be ignored by the simple evasion of
not including buildings on the angle. But strictly
speaking angular perspective is the more exact
of the two, and when the reader has grasped the
central idea of the vanishing lines, he should essay
the angular in his scenes to obtain variety and
freedom.

3°

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

In Fig. 4 two vanishing points are required, but
they must both be on the same horizontal line,
lines to right and left of the building are drawn
out to their respective Y. points. The base lines

*Lu«!mt LHj'de >oo ff

Basthm RrlJttlcjCf' s

rig J2

for spacings can be utilised as in Fig. 3, but
one for each side of the building must be set
down. Perspective drawings should be made to scale
on paper. After finishing rub out guiding lines,
and square up paper as described in another part
of this book, and so transfer sketch to the canvas.
Never place the vanishing points above the centre
unless the scene is to be viewed as from a hill.
In the small space at my command much has
been omitted from this chapter, and the ambitious
amateur would do well to obtain standard books
on perspective, and study the science fully, but
satisfactory results can be obtained by following
these simple instructions carefully without further
tuition.

AND STAGE EFFECTS 31

CHOICE OF SUBJECT AND TREATMENT
The earnest beginner will no doubt desire to
adapt his designs to the play to be represented, but
he will usually find very little guidance in the
author's directions. Such directions are scant and
laconic, except where the position of a door, window
or fireplace is concerned. This reticence of authors
is a blessing rather than a restriction, for such
directions as ' Interior of a cottage,' ' A drawing-
room,' 'A stile by a cornfield,' 'A woodland stream,'
give the scene painter a free hand in depicting that
which his fancy may dictate. A number of the
illustrations in this book will be found useful as
suggestions for exteriors and interiors suitable for
a goodly collection of domestic plays dealing with
home life, but where, as in many of Shakespeare's
plays, the scenario lies in Italy and other parts of
Europe, or as in The Only Way, and The Scarlet
Pimpernel, Paris of the Revolution is dealt with,
some attempt must be made to get local colour or
the effect will be ludicrous. There are occasions
where one need not be too particular, for instance,
A Baronial Hall, covers a long period of English
History, it can even be made quite modern when
the play deals with personages of ancient lineage,
but the amateurs we saw who depicted a stirring
incident in the Soudan war inside a Dickensian
cottage, required too elastic an imagination from
the audience. Where local colour must be got, the
scene painter should look up some private prints or
illustrations of the period, or where possible good

32

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

pictures ofthe actual incidents in the play, an easy
matter in the case of Shakespeare.
Having obtained these, rough sketches should
be made from them with all the portions knocked
out which are not practicable for stage purposes,
but still retaining the essence of the designs. To

be truly conscientious the amateur should mount
the sketches on cardboard and make them up into
models which will give him a good idea of the
finished effect.
The chapter on perspective gives a method of
squaring up, by which these rough sketches can be
enlarged to the size required.
Landscape will more easily pass muster with
the majority of onlookers, but intelligence in de
signing outdoor scenery is keenly appreciated by
those who know, and a landscape that coincides

Qa.<
O LU I
H

D
O ><II10I

Q ZD
O Z

0.
co u<I

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING 33
with the locality of the play stamps the painter as
an artist rather than an amateur. English land
scape can take care of itself, pictures by Birket
Foster, B. W. Leader , Alfred East and others, pro
vide excellent material. Scotch scenery should be
wilder and more rugged, with masses of rock and
heath instead of grass, while Irish landscapes should
be depicted as somewhat unkempt in appearance
with small stumpy trees. It should be noted also,
that the character of the fencing changes, hedges
to stone walls, stone walls to banks and ditches,
and so forth. Where foreign environment is con
cerned, photographs must be studied, but Italian
gardens, which are very popular as backcloths, can
be seen copied in many English county mansion
domains. With their dark masses of trees, many of
the poplar order standing in relief against the sky,
suggestions of statuary, fountains and balustraded
terraces, they have a decidedly foreign appearance
and are undeniably effective.
Now a few words as to treatment, or what artists
would call ' handling ' of the subject chosen, will be
useful, because many amateurs in their desire to be
painstaking, overdo their work and produce a stiff
and angular effect.
Of landscape we can say little except to urge
trying for the broad effect as pointed out in
Chapter I. Do not get trees ' leggy,' or with all
the foliage on top like the Noah's Ark variety.
In the case of buildings and interiors however,
there is considerable difference in treatment. In
painting cottage interiors, Elizabethan or Tudor
streets, old stone halls, old inns, etc., nice straight

34

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

lines and square corners are all wrong. The main
vertical lines of the buildings must not fall over too
much, but the half timbering roofs, sashes, etc., can
leave the straight road with reasonable impunity.

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The colouring must be broken up so that no space
of wall or roof presents an even toned surface.
Buildings at a distance can be quite sketchy with
most of the detail left out. There is no need to
paint in the tiles of a roof half a mile away, it is a
abour that undoes the effect desired.
AND STAGE EFFECTS

35

36

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

hX
Ozo o
a

ww

AND STAGE EFFECTS

37

When it comes to painting marble halls and
French eighteenth century drawing-rooms, the
foregoing advice must not be followed, for columns

3Veac«Wd Walls

and friezes 'flopping' over, would suggest indulgence
in strong drink on the part of the artist.
Although requiring accuracy these latter scenes

28

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

w u<<
tt.Z< <

AND STAGE EFFECTS

39

are not really so difficult as the other buildings,
for the artistic sense is not so much required as a
mechanical exactitude in drawing out the various
features of construction. All the straight lines
should first be charcoaled and painted in as neatly
as possible before any of the decoration is inserted,
for it will then not be found a difficult matter to

COUNTRY KITCHEN

fill in the various spaces by means of stencils, that
is, pieces of thin card with the pattern cut out in
open work, so that by painting over the outside
surface of the card, an impression of the pattern is
left on the canvas beneath. Illustrations of these
stencil patterns are shown here, but it is not such
an easy matter to design and cut them, for unless
every portion of the cut-out ornament is connected

40

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

wzwu

ooXu

;*a
wSo u

AND STAGE EFFECTS

41

42

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

with tie pieces of card, some parts will drop out.
The ' ties ' however can be put in, even if not
wanted as part of the ornament. It is a simple
matter to paint them out of the canvas afterwards.

TusonHaum Tavern

When the whole of a formal interior is set up in
line and shadow, the artistic part of the work comes
in, in the tinting and colouring, and imitating of
gold work, for however well drawn out such a scene
may be, the finishing work can be delicately

AND STAGE EFFECTS

43

44 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
beautiful or crudely coarse, according to the
painter's idea of colour.
These few simple colour rules may be followed
with advantage : —
English oaken dining-rooms : — Rich brown with
creamy whites, silver and glass, and blue pottery.
Italian Halls and Palaces : — Marble with gold
decorations, black and white flooring, palms, heavy
crimson drapery.
Gothic Baronial Halls : — Distempered walls, red
and black patterns, with a little gold, white walls
above frieze-rails, dark green hangings in doorways.
French drawing-rooms : — White and gold only,
or with pale green and rose coloured panels.
Cottages : — Limewashed walls, black oak beams,
doors, and other woodwork.
Modern interiors require no comment or direc
tions. HANDLING SCENERY
This is a side of play production that on no
account should be treated as of little moment, or
in the frame of mind that feels ' it will be all right on
the night', for apart from the possible danger to
life and limb from incompetence, there is also that
exceedingly irritating business, the long stage wait,
which is such a common feature of amateur
theatricals. It is, of course, best if possible, to enlist the
services of regular scene-shifters to manage the
various changes. If there is difficulty in obtaining
professional help, volunteer assistance should be

AND STAGE EFFECTS

45

46

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

6 font- 23ri

^mrrm^^w^mMmtm

\7XA

AND STAGE EFFECTS 47
properly drilled and rehearsed, and provision must
be made for the management and support of each
set, or a grievous muddle will be the result.
If a hall is hired where stage plays are often
presented, the various appliances and fittings will
be found ready for use, where a rough and ready
platform is erected the amateur must fix up his own.
The illustrations we give show how various parts
of scenery are dealt with in the large theatres, and
we leave the aspirant to play production to adapt
them to the necessities of his smaller space.

BLACK CLOTHS
On some of the great stages these are suspended
one behind the other, cables run up through the
grid over pulleys, and are lashed round adjoining
cross pieces or cleats, (see illustration). Now there
is a space above the cloth more than equal to the
depth of the cloth itself, so that when it is drawn
up (flat), it disappears out of sight and leaves the
piece behind completely exposed.
This is not a possible method in a small pro
duction, so the various cloths should be attached to
rollers and drawn up with ropes, like a simple
window blind, the disadvantage naturally being that
like a blind, the cloth will not always roll up straight.
FLATS
A simple method is here shown for joining two
flats together, the cord permanently attached to the

48 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
A \A w Vi w w w \ edE a r ii i if i i n a ii 1 1 i g j i 1 1 it i i JLWLTLaJMJ

BRTTEl

I Jj ( rewJ '

SflTrgg

BUCH CLOTH

y i

I- <_[

>-h
<co
OO

OQ<I
wUJ>
<

AND STAGE EFFECTS

49

50

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

ring A, is thrown over the hook B, pulling the
two edges of the frame tightly together, the end

/vjAy. BoA-^pr

of the cord then being passed through the nearest
fixed screw eye in the stage and slip knotted (see
illustration, page 52).

AND STAGE EFFECTS

5i

o u¦» <HHDU

52

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

/?

%

///
1 7/
11
1
J//7Z7 VIEW- fi
3
ft*
<i
.5A0£\ v/tryy 3
A SIMPLE CLEAT FOR SCENERY
Screw eye A on one flat, then hook B on the other. Cord is simply
thrown over and the flats drawn up together.
tlofnt'.

Cleat

THE LATEST EXTENSION BRACE (PATENTED)
The top end catches in a screw eye on to the scene. Bottom of brace is
screwed to the floor by means of a thumb screw.
The centre slides up and down, and fixes with thumb screw into any
length desired.

54

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

-#-y*J

1

BACK OF
W I NG O
Showing frame
and bracing

AND STAGE EFFECTS 55
SUPPORTS FOR WINGS AND FLATS
These pieces should have eyes screwed in the
backs for engaging hooked rods which are united to
the stage and act as supports. One illustration
shows the simple form of these braces, the other
shows in working detail a patented extending brace
which is designed to deal with any piece of scenery
that may come to hand, for by loosening the thumb
screws at the joint the brace can be shortened or
lengthened to enable the hooked top to catch in the
fixed eye on the flat, etc., at any angle.
TO ERECT A PLATFORM
There are as many ways of building a platform
as there are of building a house, but in both cases
the great essential is that the finished structure
shall not collapse, and at least shall stand fair usage.
The method shown in the diagrams may seem
somewhat elaborate for a back drawing-room, but
it is safe over a small or a large area, even using the
same Sections. Like the ' book case ' it grows with
your aspirations, you simply require more tressels,
and more platform sections, and you could extend
your platform over an acre if so desiring.
The tressels are rectangular frames of 2^ by 2
inches wood with struts in the centre, five or six
feet long by 3ft. to 3 ft. 6 inches high, the ties are
long pieces of 3 by 2 inches wood, holed at intervals
for bolt. The flooring is simply a number of
planks nailed on a 4 by 2 inch wood frame, and
having strengthening joists at intervals (see
drawing). These floorings can be of the most

56

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

> FRONT

View from otd& of <Jfaqe
How to pat tresseb together ready for platform

fron./-

Porlton of Platform ready made up

lck Vieu oj-
Platform- erected. =t^|
feAdy for staqe.

AND STAGE EFFECTS 57
convenient size for storing, as they only form
sections of a whole.
Being provided with the necessary number of
pieces you commence to build the platform by
spacing out the tressels and fixing the tie bars to
them, by means of thumbscrews, the tressels should
also be bolted together end to end.
This now forms a firm foundation for reception
of the flooring. The sections are laid in position,
and should be bolted through their outer frames to
each other, so that they form actually one piece.
Attach brackets for a curtain rod to the front and
sides, and provide a sheet-iron box, with one side
away for your footlights, paint black outside and
white in, and string a safety wire the whole length.
The platform is now ready for the erection of a
stage. The triangular feet in the drawing of the
tressels, can be dispensed with in most cases, but
they entirely obviate any tendency of the structure
to rock from back to front, if the tressels bolt
holes were loose for instance.
BUILDING THE STAGE
The preliminary remarks to the platform in
structions apply here also. There are many many
ways it is obvious that a scheme for a 12 feet
by 8 feet will be useless for a 40 feet by 30 feet
stage, in the latter case it would be necessary to
use a system of bracing and cross tieing which
would be superfluous in the former.
The illustration gives an example of a stage

5S

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

TrcnT

^uJthc rtj

-

pfatfbnx. Vr1
pot &r\cu,n. ff-or cleafriej*)

C .

-

 ,

A fl
3(Cv 'Bert/-,- fbatkn

P, Pt*,tb* -fer H:r .d.rob^ B
c
Currztrs ,
Prcxe*,' .
^ CLLrTafns \
Front
PLAN
AND STAGE EFFECTS 59
with a fifteen to twenty feet opening for erection
on such a platform as described in this book .
The main supports are four ladders, two long
ones to reach the ground at the back, and two
short ones which stand on the platform, and have
pegs to drop into corresponding holes. The back
ladders by standing on the floor of the room or
hall, get a steady support, and also a bearing
against the back of the platform, thus steadying
the whole structure of the stage. If the foot of
these ladders may not be screwed down they should
be strongly lashed to the back tressels of the
platform. Across the back of the stage there is
a strong tie bar and the same at the front but this
latter extends some way beyond the ladders and
acts as a support for a curtain rod, the curtain
of course, being necessary to obscure the wings
from the sight of the audience.
On the top back to front ties a number of pegs
are required for back cloth and sky border battens
to drop over according to arrangement wanted.
In the underside of these beams double blocks
of wood form slides for the wings. These should
swivel to enable the wings to be adjusted to any
angle. If it is necessary to make the curtain beams in
two or more pieces, the socket joints should be
made close to upright supports to reduce the
sagging strain.
Iron tie rods as shown in the drawing certainly
stiffen the two sides of the stage, and can be
adjusted accurately, but they should be kept clear
of head, and are apt to obstruct passage of properties,

60 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
scenery, etc. There, must be some disabilities how
ever with a temporary stage.
When the skeleton is in place, it is only necessary
to mask the front with a painted proscenium hanging
curtains right and left and above, thus entirely
shutting out the audience when the curtain is
dropped. The arrangements for raising and lowering act
drops, back cloths, curtains, etc., are described and
illustrated elsewhere. STAGE EFFECTS
There are few plays produced in which a stage
' effect ' of some kind is not required. The following
explanations of how these effects are produced will
be found quite reliable, but the amateur stage
manager will do well to bear in mind that each
effect must be produced shortly before it is actually
needed. Thus, if the stage direction says, ' Horses
heard without' it will not do to wait until the
characters on the stage have reached the point in
the dialogue. Otherwise; however good the stage
effect may be from a practical point of view it will
seem absurd because it will appear to the audience
to have been dragged in just when it was required.
Possibly some one may say to this : ' But the
audience know that the effect is not real ; they
know that in reality there are no horses without ;
why be so particular ? '
To this, I reply : ' If the stage manager and the
actors know their business they will make the
audience forget for the time that the things they
see and hear are not " real." ' If the play is pro-

AND STAGE EFFECTS

61

62

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

duced and acted well everything will seem to be so
perfectly natural that, for a time at any rate, the
audience will forget that they are looking at a play ;

LIMELIGHT BOXES

that is to say, they will forget the artificiality of
it all. It is by attention to the smallest details
of the production of a play that the stage manager
will succeed at his work.

AND STAGE EFFECTS

63

Veli

LOW

Shutters

The colours are obtained by means of Sheets of Gelatine.

64 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
For instance, who has not seen at an amateur
production of a play, a man coming in from a long
country walk — according to the play — wearing boots
that had obviously just been cleaned ? Or a man
walking in from a snowstorm in an overcoat that
was perfectly dry ? It is the amateur's inattention
to little details of that kind that makes an audience
smile indulgently at the stage picture. They say to
themselves : ' After all, they are only amateurs and
we must make allowances.' But there should be
no need for such indulgence. A company of
amateurs may not be able to succeed in playing a
drama with all the skill of professionals, but there is
no reason why their stage management should not
be 'clean' and smart, because, after all, when once
you have the knowledge, the production of stage
effects is merely a matter of common sense.
The man walking in from a snowstorm should
have a little common salt laid on the shoulders
of his overcoat just before he enters, and his
boots should be " made up ' muddy. When he
removes his overcoat the ' snow ' falls away and
apparently melts — which, of course is just what
real snow does when a little is brought into a warm
room. The windows ofa stage are usually the amateur's
bugbear — or, rather, one of his many bugbears. I
have known an amateur to open a window of a
house in a busy London street — according to the
stage directions of the play — and, save for the fact
that the audience has seen the window opened,
there has been no attempt to deceive their sense of
hearing ; whereas, everyone should know that if you

o>
< i.9o

I-
w

o<r-\-O
O

< <i r-<
I

AND STAGE EFFECTS 65.
open a window of a house in a busy London street
you naturally hear the sound of traffic.
Thanks to motor cars this sound of traffic is
easily produced on the stage. Two or three motor
horns will produce some of the sounds with which
people are familiar, but to get the right effect the
men using the horns must retire from the window ;
indeed, one ot the horns should be some distance
from it in the first place. The only way to get this
effect of distance is to stand in the auditorium and
have the horns sounded from different places behind
the scenes. HORSES 'OFF'
The sound of horses trotting up to the imaginary
road outside the imaginary house of stage-land is
easily produced. The man whose business it is to
produce this sound has a couple of wooden blocks,
each fitted with a short band of webbing, into which
he slips his hands. The blocks are knocked on a
board placed on the floor of the stage, and when
the horses are supposed to be very near the scene
the board is discarded and the wooden blocks are
knocked on a slab of slate or marble.
Some men prefer to use cocoanut shells instead
of the blocks of wood ; the shells, which must be
cut or ground flat, give a better ring to the sound.
The illustration will show how the blocks or shells
are handled. A THUNDER STORM
A thunder storm is imitated by the sounds of
wind, rain and thunder combined. The thunder is

66

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

¦from- Flies-

Jtieef /trptu

Thvnd&p. £>HEE.T.

The Galloping dreed.

produced from a sheet iron hung from the flies. At
the bottom of it there is a handle which the thunder-
maker grasps. He shakes the sheet as well as he
can, and a sound of booming thunder is heard in
the auditorium.

AND STAGE EFFECTS
HEAVY RAIN

67

The sound of rain is produced by means of a
rain box, fashioned in the following way. Two up
rights are fixed on a common base and a large

oblong box is fixed between them by means of a
couple of pivots in its sides. This box is filled
with small stones and the rain-producer stands at
one end of the box and moves it up and down, thus

68 SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
tilting the stones to and fro in the box. Strange
as it will appear to anyone not in the secret, this
moving of small stones in a box produces the sound
of heavy rain to those sitting in the auditorium.
Of course, if rain is to be seen on the stage it may
be the real thing — so far as the water is concerned
— but it is seldom needed, and then only for a few
seconds ; in any case, a play that needs such an
elaborate effect will probably not be looked upon
with favour by any company of amateur players.
STAGE SNOW
The ' snow ' that falls on a stage is white paper ;
if a snow scene is required the blocks of snow may
be painted canvas or may be blocks of rock salt.
The snow that is to fall in a pretty snowstorm
effect is gathered up in a large cloth with slits in
it. This cloth is held in the flies by two men, who
move it, in a rocking motion, backwards and for
wards, so the paper is caused to fall through the
slits in the cloth to the stage below.
That is one method. Another way is to have
the 'snow' gathered up in a long frame of wire
netting — something like an inverted ' pea net ' —
and this is fixed in the flies and rocked gently
backwards and forwards. With each forward move
ment some of the paper escapes and the effect of
falling snow is produced.
Snow is mostly wanted for melodramas and
pantomimes, and as the runs of these pieces are
always considerable the snow is used over and over
again. It is usually swept up with a broom and

AND STAGE EFFECTS

69

Mnnrinrrn'n-nnnh-n-ntil

'MiiMMiitm

, \\ 1 1 r / 1 1 I 1 1 1 ''////M|l''^^VV^^^^^ \ 1 -*—^ — >

F~ i- 1 el

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* c ^ ^RQLLINtS .51*0 W (CLpTrt OVEf* &r!,l° ' ' „
l' j ' „ " ' " - ' '¦ ¦• -¦ . 'A .
•¦•••* ' t . 7 „ .

^

.

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(7-7
^ wept up for future u^c
7o SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING
carried upstairs again in pails, but if this plan is
not practicable— owing to the changing of a
scene,— the snow is gathered up by an army of men
with fans. They bend down close to the stage and
fan the paper away into a corner. Which ever
arrangement is used the amateur stage manager
would do well to remember that if the audience are
allowed to see a few pieces of the stage snow_ lying
about the stage after the snow storm the illusion is
spoiled. I have frequently seen this bad, careless
mistake made at good theatres.
WINDY WEATHER
Stage wind is produced by means of a large
drum or wheel made of slats of wood, with about

0jj

FFtonr view NEWEST WIND MACHINE

31DE VIEW

three inches of space between the slats. This drum
is fastened to two uprights and has a large handle

AND STAGE EFFECTS 71
attached to the centre, so that it can be turned
round and round very easily. Above the drum is
fixed a stout rod, from which hangs a large piece of
moire silk. This silk hangs over the drum and
when the drum is turned the sound made by the
slats of wood touching the silk produces the sound
of wind. The illustrations show how the appliance
can be made. RIPPLING WAVES
The effect of rippling waves is produced by
means of a specially prepared backcloth. This
has a number of slits cut in it. (See illustration.)
Behind the backcloth is a machine consisting of
two uprights with a roller blind attachment at the
top, but in place of the blind there is a large sheet of
American cloth perforated in the way shown in the
illustration. Between this American cloth and the
backcloth on the stage is a sheet of prepared gauze.
This is necessary because the strong light wdiich is
used to produce the effect of rippling waves must
be diffused. The light is that of a strong ' lime '
placed at the back of the American cloth. Now
if the American cloth is pulled up and down by
means of the roller on the upright the effect of
rippling waves is produced when one looks at the
backcloth ' from the front. '
MECHANICAL SOUND PRODUCERS
The continued success of motion pictures as an
entertainment has made it necessary that some of
the time-honoured methods of producing stage

72

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

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dack cm

Gxxch of Back cloth.

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oooooo CD CO O CO CD
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' RIPPLING WAVES '

AND STAGE EFFECTS

73

effects, should be replaced with instruments more
adaptable to the limited space of cinematograph
theatres. There is no room for instance for a
thunder sheet in the operator's box, or beside the
painist. Incidentally the legitimate stage is also
the gainer.

(!£o

ric 2

The following devices here illustrated are the
invention of Mr A. H. Moorhouse of Stalybridge.
In the first, Figs. 1 and 2, we have an instrument
for imitating the trotting horses which can be tuned
to any speed or strength. A number of cups are
used. 'A ' one fitting over the other and connected
by a spring ' B.' The top cup has cuts round the

74

SECRETS OF SCENE PAINTING

edge to let the sound out. By turning the handle
which has the tappets CI and C2 mounted on its
shaft, the top cup is thrown off the other (see Fig. 2)
until the tappet C clears when it (the cup) returns
making the necessary sound. Now each tappet can

FlQ ¦&•
be set on the shaft at a different angle, so that
the cups open and shut one after the other, thus
producing a continuous trotting effect. In order to
obtain distance effects the inventor has provided a
foot lever by pressing which the platform of the
lower cups is thrown out of the vertical, thus the

AND STAGE EFFECTS 75
tappet only partially strikes the top cup and the
sound is consequently much fainter, but as the
lever is gradually released, the trotting increases in
intensity. By having a suspended rod of sleigh
bells with spring projections for the tappets to
strike effects of moving vehicles can be obtained.
The second drawing, Fig. 3, shows a drum fitted
up for producing a variety of sound effects. ' M '
is a kind of apron of woven wire, which is wound
on a drum ' P ' by means of the handle shown.
When the drum is struck the skin on returning
strikes the mat with a sharp crack or bang, a sound
resembling the firing of heavy artillery. By winding
up the mat on its roller the sound can be increased
or decreased as desired. On another part of the
drum ' R ' is an instrument for producting the effect
of a motor car travelling at various speeds, this
can be attached to clock work mechanism instead
of using the handle or lever.
The handle can also be used for working the
valve S (compressed air is admitted to the casings
and can be made to operate on the various in
strument V for producing imitations of wind,
whistles, sirens, horns, or any sound producer)
that are attached to the valve.

EDINBURGH : J. C. THOMSON
ATTHEMERCAT PRESS

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1942