Business screen magazine (1946)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

vrOU CAN PRODUCH a multi-screen a/v -' show as dazzling as anything you've seen at Expo . . . with the same money you'd spend on a standard single frame slide show. And with no more equipment or technical know-how than you need foi ordinary slides. The technicjue that makes it possible was developed by the audiovisual production groups of Lawrence Wolf (Canada) Ltd., a Toronto-based marketing communications organization, and its U. S. affiliate, Lawrence Wolf Inc., in Buffalo. The secret is in the slide itself. A special or four screens with a picture of men talking, then a picture of the thing they're talking about could fade in on the screen between them. You can also vary the size of images — a picture of a man might fill three screens; a picture of his son, one. You can bleed a single image across all the screens, to suggest size; or repeat it in smaller form on each of 1 2 screens, to give it emphasis. Ytni can even make things grow on the screen, either by progressively revealing parts of a whole; or by changing the actual imaee. rograms on A Mini-Budget process enables Wolf to modify standard 35mm. slides so that each slide can carry up to six images of varying sizes and shapes, each of which can be projected on a separate screen. With two ordinary slide projectors, then, you can create up to 12 images simultaneously. And with two Kodak Ektagraphics and a standard Kodak dissolve unit, you can produce animated images. Wolf's own house presentation is a showcase for the new technique — a technique which can turn ordinary sales meetings into pint-sized Expos, and which is already being used by such clients in the United States and Canada as Eastman Kodak, Westinghouse, and Pharmacraft. The big advantage of the technique is its flexibility — both in ease of operation, and in the number of different ways it enables you to achieve dramatic effects. One way is to vary the number and combinations of images you project. In the Wolf show, one segment shows a close-up of an eye, nose and mouth, with the rest of the face not shown. Then, in a series of quick flashes, the rest of the face is added. Then part of the face is shown in combination with three separate shots of a girl laughing, as though the face were watching the girl. This technique is good for showing relationships or contrasts, or for dramatically emphasizing a point. You could fill three For instance, the large panoramic view of a construction site. The full shot occupies all 12 screens. But only one corner of the shot is shown first. Then more screens are filled in stages. Finally, the whole image is revealed. The order in which you fill the screens is completely variable, so the image can grow in any number of ways or geometric patterns. You can also have the image grow by changing it. A tree might start as a seedling in one screen, and grow vertically to fill successively more screens until it is a fully grown giant in the forest. Another dramatic technique is to add more images. Start with a single shot of a man's face, filling one screen. Then add faces of other people in other screens until your original image is now just a face in the crowd. And all this, remember, with two ordinary slide projectors. The very shape of each image is infinitely variable: in addition to any geometric shape, special or irregular shapes are also possible by using special masks on the slides. By adding a specially-designed dissolve unit, the slide show almost becomes a movie. You can achieve extii^mley rapid motion effects by flashing a series of very similar images in rapid succession, with slight variations in each shot. For example, a traffic light can turn from red to amber to greeu; a ferris wheel turn around; and a word light up. You can also incorporate a live speaker into the slide program. In the Wolf show, a live speaker suddenly appears in a spotlight, holding an aerosol can with the firm's ■W" symbof emblazoned on it. He presses the button — and the same aerosol can pops onto the screen, beside him. Unlike movies, you can juxtapose still images to show relationships, make comparisons and contrasts. You can also infinitely vary the sizes and shapes of your images and of your screens. You get a time flexibility that would be impossible with movies. Since the operation of the technique is so simple, the operator has complete control over the duration of each image. A wide range of complicated effects can be achieved without the need for split-second synchronization of film and live speaker, or without the need for a complex, computer-controlled tape and highly trained technician. The technique requires a minimum amount of equipment. Most visual effects described can be created with two ordinary Kodak Ektagraphic 900 projectors, and an ordinary Kodak dissolve unit. An entire show can be packaged in regular Kodak Carousel slide trays. It requires no technical expertise to run the show and the necessary equipment can be set up in a matter of minutes. The show can adapt itself to any sized facility, turning a meeting room, auditorium or exhibition booth into a small-scale Expo. Local and regional sales meetings can be as visually impressive as the national sales meeting . . . and the regional sales manager can run the whole show himself in a hotel The technique can even be used for a sales presentation. Since the show is lowcost and extremely portable, a salesman can literally carry it with him into a client's office. All this can be done on a budget that's frequently comparable to the cost of a traditional single-screen slide show. All it takes for a multi-screen mini-spectacular is a couple of slide projectors, a modest budget, an electrical outlet and an audience. Then, just plug it in and turn them on. c A live speaker can step into the spotlight to demonstrate a certain product or emphasize a point. JANUARY, 1970 29