International projectionist (Oct 1931-Sept 1933)

Record Details:

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SOUND ON STANDARD 16 MM. FILM Dr. Lyman A. Wilson RENAMEL RESEARCH LABORATORIES, NEW YORK CITY Efforts to record upon and reproduce from 16 mm. film sound of a satisfactory character continue unabated. Much of this development work is the result of a desire on the part of companies active in the 16 mm. field te expand the market for such equipment. The latest move in this direction is the plan to utilize major film company feature releases for exhibition on 16 mm. equipment in small towns where no motion pictures showings notv occur. Details of this plan, together with a description of the equipment used, will appear herein next month. Apart from this latter consideration, the comparison between 35 mm. and 16 mm. sound-on-filin technique and apparati should prove highly interesting to projectionists.— -Editor. 1 por*«TB iS^m \t%ir^ |PMM. '^^^^^1 FIGURE 1 Enlarged specimen variable area recording, on left ^ IN any discussion on the topic "Sound on 16 mm. film" a question as to what is standard is frequently propounded. If one be actuated by a sincere motive in asking that question, the usual and obvious answer "Accepted practice" is quite sufficient. We find, however, in certain quarters a diversity of opinion on this all-absorbing modern topic. To delve into the past performances and ancient lore of the film industry and show by what laborious processes the present standards of motion picture film dimensions were arrived at is beyond the scope of this article When the 16 mm. film was introduced we had at the time the 28 mm. non-flam which had come from Pathe in France, and another not so well known 17^ mm. film having its origin in this country. Proclamations from the lair of the 28 made it "Accepted practice" and it became "standard" in the non-theatrical non-inflammable field in spite of the advantages of the 17^2, not the least of which was the lesser cost. The 28 has gone the way of all the flotsam of the early clays of pioneering in the cinema art, although it deserved perhaps a better fate. The 16 mm. was ushered in and received with a welcome. Here was the film the world awaited. It was cheap. It was easy to handle and, above all, it would put a projector in every home. It became standard. With the introduction of sound pictures, active minds began to speculate upon the possibility of having this, too, play its part through the loudspeaker. About three years ago, Mr. Johnson, with whom the writer had been associated some years previously in motion picture enterprises and who in the meantime had become a 16 mm. enthusiast, suggested that we look into the matter of putting sound on the 16. Investigations led us to the files of the patent office where we found not a few mechanical and optical arrangements, some ^purely dream combinations, and some based upon sound mechanical and optical knowledge. Undeterred by this array of previous effort, we set about to design and build a printer by which direct proportionate reduction of the 35 mm. film could be carried through to the 16 mm. A printer was built into which was incorporated a series of light stops and controls which function automatically and in unison when predesignated. This printer turns out excellent work; the picture is sharp and snappy and the sound-wave area of the track of the variable area recording is glass clear. " 5,000 Cycle Limit With the variable density recording the conditions may or may not be a little more difficult, depending upon the quality of the recording and processing of the original 35 mm. film. The results of this work have been satisfactory and it has been found possible to produce 16 mm. prints of the sound track with frequencies of from 60 to 6,000 cycles, provided the 35 mm. film represented a good recording job. It may be said frankly, however, that 5,000 cycles is the best that can be produced consistently and the work must be well done to do that. The picture and sound track on the film is a directly proportionate reduction of the 35 mm. and projection of the picture and reproduction of the sound does not entail problems that have not been solved in the 35 mm. field, and it [35] is generally admitted that with the advent of sound, super-sensitive film and precise laboratory technic, screen results are superior to those of the silent days. It is not intended nor is it likely that the 16 mm. film will intrude itself upon the 35 mm. domain, even though some film manufacturer give to the 1 6 mm. field a new, fine-grained emulsion film which it so richly deserves. It is to be understood, of course, that the above has reference to standard 16 mm. film with two rows of sprocket perforations with the picture and sound track between the two rows in the same relative position as is found in the 35 mm. Fig. 1 shows an enlarged specimen of variable area recording. In this instance a negative was made from a 35 mm. positive, and the 16 mm. positive shown was made by contact printing from the negative. Fig. 2 shows a specimen of variable density recording made in the same way. It will be observed that both specimens express clarity and detail and are representative of average results obtained by the optical reduction method. One Roiv of Sprockets An effort is being made to have accepted as standard a 16 mm. film having picture and sound track with only one row of sprocket perforations. This principle harks back to the early days of the 16 mm. when manufacturers were striving to build cheap projectors to take the new cheap film. Cheap 16 mm. raw stock was imported having only one row of perforations for use in machines having a single-claw movement, and most machines of the early 20's were of that type. The singleclaw machine and the film with a single row of perforations had little