The Cine Technician (1935-1937)

M;.y, 1935 Tlic Joiiriuil of the Association of Cine-Tecluiicicuis Cinema Lo Colour Colour has been the foremost topic during the first quarter of the year and, altliough it has still to become a permanent feature of our screens, rapid progress is being made. Colour, therefore, will be the main topic of our log. Spectracolor. Two of our members, Albert Hopkins and Reginald W'yer, Joint Managing Directors of Publicity Pictures Ltd., iiave successfully commercialised a Bi-Pact Process under the above name. Their first colour musical feature, "Faust," shewn recently to the press, was very well received and their coloured ad\'ertising cartoons are on general release throughout the cinemas. This young firm has tackled the colour question so well that they have recei\-ed contracts to make a further number of coloured features, principally of a musical character. The sound in this process is first-class, and they can print either variable area or density, giving good volume and sharp reproduction. They have designed their own camera gear and their Cartoon qualitv is steadilv impro\ ing. Brewster Colour. Thi> Is another process in which an A.C.T. member — .Vlbert Arch — is the responsible technician. It is a threecolour substractive process, and in principle differs from Technicolour, which uses the Bi-Pact red and blue and a separate green negative with two gates. Brewster Colour has three separate gates, each fed by its own magazine. The camera, which weighs two and a half hundredweight, is dri\en by a main shaft. Each gate is fitted with registration pins and, of course, great care is necessary in loading. The negatives used are Dupont Pan for red and emulsions sensitized for blue and green. In photographing the blue no filter is used. For green or red, of course, filters are used. The camera at present in use is experimental. New cameras now being built in America ha\'e an entirely different system of reflecting the image. This will be done by the ingenious device of revolving mirrors. The actual images are reflected by three mirrors simultaneously. Dr. D. A. Spencer, Vice-President of the Royal Photographic Society, said that, as he understood it, the main claim of the process was the ingenious camera. This was invented in 1932 and was based on the principle of a beam-splitter. Light from a single lens was divided up inside the camera, so that it recorded on three separate films, and use was made of metallic mirrors. These were arranged propeller-wise inside each other. When the mirror made one revolution, the whole of one image was completed, but as the vanes had apertures in them, light was also being transmitted for the formation of the second image, the revolutions of the vanes being arranged so ingeniously that they did not interfere with one another. To ensure a steady picture on each of the frames meant a very high precision job in the camera construction. The idea of this is to avoid any loss of light, as is the case when using prisms. The actual processing is secret, but on observation it appears to be a form of dye-toning. They claim that their yellows and whites are far truer than iiT any existing process, due to a special yellow dye used by the laboratory. Speaking to the Colour Group of the Royal Photographic Society after the shewing of the Brewster film, "Let's Look at London," Mr. Arch said that he made the film last October, and was not quite an fait with the actual working of the camera gear. The film shewn was made under mixed weather conditions, as the camera had to be returned to America within a specified time to conform with Customs requirements. The film had very good colour rendering. In one section scenes taken at the Gaumont Studios were shown. Tliese were taken under normal black and white lighting, the set being approximately eighteen feet square and the amount of current used being three hundred and twenty amps. At present the negati\'e has to go to America for processing, but a British laboratory is to be built, the site for which has been purchased at Wembley. The cost of the positive will be approximately 3Jd per foot, and, of course, the additional cost of the two extra negatives. Vibration was noticed in one or two scenes. This was due to the motor in the camera being of an American type for sixty cycles, making it necessary to fix a quarter horse motor of 50 cycles on the side of the camera when taking in this country. This temporary fixing caused the vibration. A series of new motors have been ordered, so that the three cameras, now being built, can be used in any studio in this country. To me, the finest colour was a yellow velvet seen in a mannec[uin parade, whilst the green in the exteriors was very true, and the general fidelity of the colours very pleasing. This process has no detrimental effect on sound, the track remaining white on a red groimd. Kodak's New Colour. Somehow tlie words "Kodak" and "colottr" seem to flow easily together, and rumour has it that a very simple process will shortly emerge from this house. Another screen process, I belie\e . . . beautiful rendering, easily processed. Dr. Kenneth Mees and his experts are working under a heavy cloak of secrecy to perfect it. It is the invention of a Continental technician, and I hope to give more details in the next issue of the Joitrnal. One of this process's greatest attractions is that it will be available to the whole trade and V, ill need no special camera gear. Gone to Foreign Parts. Just had a note from Roy Fogwell to say he is well on the way to Shanghai with the Ward Wing Unit to produce a picture in the East. Glad they have an A.C.T. cameraman and wish them luck. By the way, NeU Emerald is with them. She is Stanley Lupino's sister-in-law, and was my "boss" in the old "Britannia Film" days, and is, I believe, financially interested. Nineteen Hundred Nineteen Thirty-Five. Cherry Kearton, world-famous Animal Cinematographer, has compiled a film dealing with his exploits in Africa during thirty-five years, which is being shown at the Regent Street Polytechnic. Cherry is still actively engaged with the camera and, I believe, will head another Photographic Expedition to his beloved Africa. He w'as responsible for the construction of the first spring-driven automatic camera and was a leading light in the floatation of the "Aeroscope." A.C.T. wish him every success, and I am sure we shall procure him to give one of his fanious lectures to our members during the latter part of the year. Kenneth Gordon.