International projectionist (Oct 1931-Sept 1933)

io INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST September 1933 International Photographer — ^is a finely printed and beautifully illustrated monthly magazine owned by the West Coast Cameramen's Union. In all matters concerning the professional motion picture photographers of the country it is the official organ. It is designed to appeal to amateur followers of 16mm. cameras as well as to the most advanced technicians. The columns of the magazine recognize the close relationship between the photographer and sound recorder. If your news or kodak dealer does not carry the magazine on its counters write for a sample copy to IXTERNATIOBfAL PHOTOGRAPHER SILAS E. SNYDER, Editor 1605 North Cahuenga Avenue, Hollywood, Calif. • 25 cents a copy ^3 the year Eastern Representative: James J. Finn, 580 Fifth Ave., New York radio broadcasting studio, it matters little hov^f the furnishings are arranged or how the artist appears. With television, the atmosphere of the stage will prevail. The uses to which television will be put are subject to the most varied speculation. Actual events, such as the inauguration of a President, athletic contests and ceremonies of all kinds, will be televised for the vast audiences that today enjoy such spectacles only in sound reproduction. Talking motion pictures will most probably be made of the same event and later in the day or at some subsequent date they will be used to reproduce the action and sound ■for television audiences. It may be possible to use television for the transmission of such business transactions as signing checks and contracts, making announcements, and introducing and advertising products of various kinds. This may require important reconsiderations and interpretations of the law. Another interesting statement is the following contribution to the correspondence section of The Photographic Journal (London, England) : Your report of the Television demonstration gives one the impression that, in this connection, photography is of almost no importance. This, however, is far from being the case; photography has assumed an importance it would hardly be possible to overestimate, since by the use of film most of the difficult problems atached to high resolution Television services are largely solved. There are many reasons why transmission from film is preferable to beam, or "flying spot" scanning of the living "Televisee" — if I may use such a word. Of these the principal are: — (1) A considerable reduction in the cost of the transmitting apparatus. It enables the replacement of a large number of enormous photo-electric cells, of which the cost is appalling, by a single cell of the normal type, familiar to those using "talkie" apparatus or modern density meters. (2) As the initial technique in the studio is merely that of the film, the subject can be properly lighted, and, moreover, he or she is not distressed by the wandering light spot, which, at times, is apt to be somewhat dazzling. (3) To make the most efficient use of the light reflected in the beam scanning method, the photo-electric cell or cells must be near to, or surround, the exploring beam. The image transmitted is therefore intolerably flat, and quite lacking in any suggestion of the third dimension. In contrast to this, a film is easily lighted from any azimuth to suggest roundness or planar recession as may be desired. (4) "Make-up" problems are nonexistent; since the record for transmission is a scale of gray densities the photo-electric cell has no color variations to deal with. Any "make-up" necessary is therefore that associated with film technique, which, of course, is well known and thoroughly understood. (5) The transmitter is simpler, and, optically, much more efficient. It is also much easier to deal with "presentation" difficulties, such as the change from a close-up head to a full length. This is readily done by changing the lens on a film camera, and which can just as readily deal with fades in or out, or, if necessary, transmit titles. The Sound Accompaniment (6) Sound. In regard to the presence of a sound track on the film, opinion appears to be divided, mainly on the question of quality. But there is no doubt that a sound track on the film tends further towards a compact transmitter and a reduction of its cost. These are a few of the reasons why photography is of importance in Television— an importance which will grow with the passage of time. At the present time in Germany the filming and transmission are almost simultaneous. The exposure is made with a slightly modified camera, after which the film is rapidly developed and fixed. It then passes into the Television transmitter proper, the reversal from the negative to the positive image is affected electrically. In conclusion, there appears to be some rivalry between Germany and America in the reduction of the time necessary for the development and fixation of the film. It is definitely known, that in Germany, these processes have been carried out in thirty seconds, but, in a clipping, I see that America claims that it can be done in ten seconds! So far I have seen nothing in the photographic press relative to this rapid development fixation technique.