Kinematograph year book (1944)

British Production 285 specifications of all phases of processing and processing control, inclnding the latest method of photographic duping. < RCA ultra-violet studio recorders are available for permanent installation or as mobile units, the latter having independent power generating equipment, and in addition a portable recorder for mobile use, with independent power equipment, is also manufactured. Playback equipment, scoring equipment, dubbing equipment, preview and review equipment are furnished, based upon individual studio requirements. Western Electric. — 'Although Western Electric facilities are mainly engaged on war work, their technicians are engaged upon experiment and research along lines that promise outstanding development in all forms of equipment for sound recording purposes. Post-war apparatus doubtless will be affected by the application to commercial usage of various phases of Government work, both here and in the United States, and it is likely that it will embrace radical changes in design and provide far superior recording results. During the past year a Western Electric Microphonic installation, having a 50-watt output, was put in at the recently built re-recording theatre at Denham studio, which was specially designed for two main purposes : (a) orchestral recording ; (b) the re-recording or dubbing of sound tracks. Both scoring theatre and monitor room are balanced for sound in a manner which give exactly similar characteristics, and the system is in complete agreement with that established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of America. At Merton Park Studios a further Western Electric recording channel has been added, and another is expected shortly, bringing the total up to four channels plus a fourway dubbing channel. A WE portable channel and crew under A. C. Rhind are on location in Tanganyika. Success has attended the introduction of the WE 16-mm. recorder, which was designed to meet the demand for an equipment that would enable sound technicians to record 16-mm. negative with the same facility and assure the same quality as with standard stock. THE COLOUR FILM ONE noticeable feature of war-time film entertainment has been the sweeping popularity of the colour film, which has gone far in convincing exhibitors that colour suitably employed is in itself a box-office attraction. Probably the reaction of the public is due largely to the care shown by producers in the selection of vehicles, and to a certain extent, that most of the pictures have been "escapist" in theme. It is evident, however, that colour will enter more effectively into the post-war picture, first because of the greater skill of the technician ; and secondly, because of its appeal to a public tired of the drab monotony of war-time existence. Last year's colour films numbered 42 — more numerous than ever before — and of this total three were British, produced under the aegis of J. Arthur Rank. The success of " The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp " and the interest aroused in " Henry V " and " This Happy Breed " have attracted the attention of other of our producers and the current year's schedules include other productions in colour, including one or two from Ealing. A study of the list of colour pictures, in 1943, establishes Technicolor as the most important colour process in the realm of kinematography at the present time — a tribute to its generally satisfactory results following upon continuous improvement. At the same time it has been questioned whether the virtual domination of the screen by one process is conducive to healthy development of colour generally. The point is emphasised by the temporary eclipse of the British Dufaycolor process owing to the firm's concentration upon various phases of war effort. Development, however, is proceeding, the result of which will be strongly apparent after hostilities.