Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1931)

50 Better Theatres Section October 24, 1931 BILLY REED: FOR 35 YEARS A PROJECTIONIST IN GOING over some old papers the other day, I found the accompanying picture of William Reed, the man whom William T. Rock and Walter J. Wainright, 'way back in 1896, engaged as projectionist for their motion picture theatre in New Orleans, one of the first to be established. And "Billy" Reed is projecting motion pictures today! Rock and Wainright purchased from Raff & Gammon in New York the rights for the state of Louisiana for the exhibition of motion pictures with the Vitascope, invented by Thomas Armat of Washington, and manufactured by Thomas A. Edison. This Vitascope was the first projection machine in the world with which commercial results were achieved, and it became the parent mechanism of the whole art of projection. This machine was the ninth of those manufactured. At that time Reed was a sort of inspector for Edison, looking after the latter's Kineto scope, of which there were a considerable number scattered throughout New York, Boston, Providence and other cities. When Rock and Wainright purchased their Vitascope with which to exhibit the embryonic moving pictures, they took Reed with them to New Orleaiis to run the machine for them. At first the show was put on in an amusement park there, but in the fall of 1896, the two pioneer exhibitors opened up a theatre in Canal Street, with "Billy" Reed as chief projectionist and sole member of his own staff. The accompanying picture was taken at about that time. Today Reed is a projectionist in Atlantic City, N. J., where he is a member of Local No. 310, lATSE&MPMO. Thus he must be the dean of American motion picture projectionists. Because of this, I have often thought that the projectionists of this country might want to present him with some token in commemoration of his venerable position in American projection. For example, an engraved gold case for his I A card. A small sum apiece would do it. What do you boys think about it? ACOUSTIC TREATMENT FOR THE HORN AREA BELIEVING that a man who has for years successfully held the position of Director of Projection for a huge theatre chain like Publix, ought to have most excellent first-hand knowledge of such matters, and having had many requests from small town projectionists and managers for advice concerning sound treatment for screen surroundings, I invited Harry Rubin, director of projection for Publix, to express his views, which he has done, as follows: "Insofar as concerns light absorbing material for masking in the screen, in my opinion, based upon much practical experience, black velour is quite satisfactory for that purpose. Sound treatment for the screen surroundings is, however, something else again. It is a much more complicated matter, "The kind of treatment demanded depends largely upon the amount and nature of the space behind the horns. If there is but little space behind or above the horns, we usually wrap or box the horns in Ozite, El rap or some similar sound absorbing material and let it go at that. On the other hand, if there is considerable space behind the horns, backed by a hard surface wall which will reflect sound well, or if there is a high grid above them, we find much more careful treatment is necessary. "Taking one of our own theatres, for example, the rear wall is some 20 feet behind the horns, and presents a surface which reflects sound well, so that sound striking this wall and being reflected back from it reaches the ears of the audience something like one-twentieth of a second later than the sound coming directly from the horns. The result, of course, is a sort of 'fuzzi ness' in the sound as heard by the audience. "Formerly in this theatre we used a velour drop behind the horns. In addition, we now use a sound-proofing box around the horns. (By sound-proofing is meant that the box is covered with material which absorbs sound) to prevent any considerable amount of it reaching the rear vi^all. The 'fuzziness' is thus reduced so that it is not objectionably noticeable. "If a more elaborate treatment had been needed, the sound-proofing box might have been made to extend around the horns to the edges of the screen. This would have acted still further to prevent sound from reaching the back wall. In addition, it would have served to prevent any echo there might have been from passing back through the screen to the auditorium of the theatre. "Even where the wall is close behind the screen, high grids give some trouble. Sound echoes from the fly loft ooze back, to some extent, into the theatre, arriving as much as a second later th.m the direct sound. To meet such a condition — we cover the horns with sound-proof boxing, and if further treatment is needed, we close in both horns and the rear of the screen, to prevent so far as possible the sound from passing out into the auditorium." We thank Director Rubin for his cooperation in this matter. A study of what he has said will, I think, reveal the fact that problems of this kind are largely arrived at through the application of common sense. PAPER, FILM AND FIRE J. R. SEBASCON of Minneapolis. Minn., says, "We always call on you when we want something, don't we? Well, this time I want to know what the temperatures are at which ordinary paper and nitro-cellulose film is set on fire, and just why burning film makes such a fiercely hot fire. In my theatre, in a small town 50 miles from this city, a lot of loose film caught fire a week ago. It was amazing what a hot blaze it made. I thought blaze was blaze, but this seemed hotter than any fire I ever before knew of." Blaze is blaze, Friend Sebascon, but loose film makes far more blaze in any given space of time than some less inflammable substance, such as coal, for example, would. The reason the fire is so hot is because there is so much of it. If coal would burn as fast as film, I think an equal quantity of it would make exactly as hot a fire, or practically so. But it burns slowly, by comparison, hence does not produce so much heat per unit as does the celluloid. As to blazing temperatures, according to the best authority I am able to dig up, paper ignites only at a temperature of about 600 degrees, Fahrenheit. The temperature necessarv to set it ablaze varies between about 600 and 700, according, I believe, to the structure or composition (or both) of the paper. Nitrate film will decompose at temperatures approximating 300 degrees Fahrenheit or, if the exposure be prolonged, at a considerably lower temoerature. The actual heat produced by film combustion is approximately the same as that produced by burning wood, but its rate of combustion, when in a loose pile, is close to 20 times as fast, bulk for bulk. I have made several inquiries but have been unable to secure any reliable data as to the exact temperature at which film will irnite when thoroughly dry. It is presumed to be not very far from its decomposition temperature, however.