International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

Twenty-two The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER December, J934 Sound For The Amateur 16mm By Walter Bluemel ITH the universal adaptation of sound pictures in theatres during the past five years, the amateur has no doubt felt the lack of sound in his pictures and has wished many times that he could add sound and dialogue to them. With no silent professional films to use as a model for his silent pictures he has many times been at a loss as to putting over certain scenes silently, for silent and sound technique are undoubtedly different. This puts the average amateur at a decided disacl vantage and often makes it necessary for him to clutter up his picture with titles of unnaturally exaggerated gestures on the part of his characters to make his scenes clear, with the total result that his pictures are sadly amateurish. That sound, whether it be music, incidental sounds, explanatory dialogue or the actual dialogue of the characters, is an advantage to any picture cannot be denied. The illusion cannot be complete when sound is lacking where one is accustomed to hearing sound. When the sense of hearing is not occupied along with the sense of sight, the two become divided and attention to the picture is incomplete. The ear picks up all stray sounds and when these are not in harmony with the picture the spectator's attention to the picture suffers. It is like reading a book while someone is talking in the same room. It can be done, but only with considerable concentration and when the book lags in interest attention is unconsciously transferred to hearing and the reader reads on without knowing what he is reading. In the case of silent pictures the spectator picks up all incidental noises, and when these noises assume interest, such as the comments of other spectators about the picture, the attention can be kept wholly on the picture only with effort, unless the picture be of extreme interest. It is for this reason that theatres have furnished music with silent films almost since the beginning of entertainment pictures. Music, especially when it expresses the mood of the picture, occupies the ear in harmony with the picture. One might think that this would tend to draw attention from the picture to the music, but this is not the case because the sense of sight leaves a stronger impression than the other senses, and hearing, therefore, is subordinated to sight. The picture is enhanced by the music, rather than the music by the picture. Even in sound and dialogue pictures the visual will, and should, always leave a stronger impression than the auditory. It is much easier to remember what the characters did than what they said. The amateur must keep in mind that the motion picture is essentially a visual medium, and as such sound is by no means indispensible. The amateur who has no sound available, therefore, need not despair but should, instead, try to overcome its absence by making his pictures pictorially interesting. The ingenious amateur need not stop here, however, for there are many ways in which he can also add sound to his pictures. I do not intend, just here, to discuss sound for the amateur in so far as doing his own recording on film is concerned, but rather to suggest ways in which he can cheaply and efficiently overcome the lack of sound felt in his pictures today. Sound-on-film recording has, of course, a definite commercial value, but as yet not for the home movie maker, who can neither, for reasons given, successfully and cheaply make his own sound pictures, or secure enough ready made sound pictures to warrant the purchase of a soundon-film projector and reproducer. On the other hand I certainly would not advocate the purchase of synchronous disc recording and reproducing equipment, for this type of equipment has been proven unsatisfactory, and has been discarded from commercial use. There remains, however, several simple ways in which the amateur can add sound to his silent pictures. He must, necessarily, limit himself to accompanying music and dialogue, rather than to sounds and dialogue actually produced by the things or persons in the picture, but even with this limitation much can be done to improve his silent pictures with sound. Perfect synchronization is possible only with soundon-film or synchronous disc recording, but there are many instances in which perfect synchronization is not necessary, and in these instances a number of means for adding music and dialogue to a silent picture are available. The simplest of these is, of course, the phonograph. It is surprising how much the simple musical accompaniment of a phonograph will add to a silent picture. With the proper choice of records much the same effect can be obtained as that of the organ or orchestral accompaniment in theatres before the coming of sound. The records should also be limited to organ and, preferably, concert orchestra selections, except in rare cases where voice or a single instrument are better fitted to the scene it accompanies. Symphony music is especially suited to the motion picture, for it has, or can have, depending on the picture, much the same characterization, one affecting the ear as the other affects the eye. Each can produce the same moods, the same variations in the emotions, so that together one aids the other to produce the desired effect on the spectator. By means of cutting and acting, tempo and rhythm can be obtained in pictures just as in music, so if the director of the picture directs and cuts it according to the tempo of a previously selected orchestral recording the two can be made to synchronize closely enough to become almost as one. Most orchestral compositions are really tone-poems, and to an imaginative person can depict scenes much as do word-poems. Transformed into pictures tone-poems may become cine-poems, having either plot or being merely descriptive. (This is a form of art which as yet has been little developed) except in Walt Disney's cartoons, which are excellent examples of action and cut (Turn to Page 27) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.