The motion picture projectionist (Nov 1931-Jan 1933)

28 Motion Picture Projectionist November, 1931 housing. Re-recording has assumed a new significance in connection with the dubbing in of foreign language versions with original American action pictures. One item on the annual technical report of the A. E. G. for 1930 was a description of a new German rerecording apparatus. Three films may be passed through the device simultaneously and the record made on a fourth film, or on a disk. Laboratory Equipment and Practic. — One of the most recent additions to the list of modern laboratories is the new M-G-M Laboratory in Hollywood. All film is processed on machines, of which there are twelve, and only that actually being handled is exposed as all other film is stored in self-closing steel lockers. The maximum capacity of the laboratory is 300,000 feet of negative and 4 million feet of positive per week. Each developing machine is a distinctly separate unit from the mixing tank and chemical room at one end to the dryer at the other. For the convenience of motion picture companies, the Technical Bureau of the Japanese Railways are fitting up three cars so that film may be developed and printed enroute. Projection facilities are included. Laboratory processing of negatives and master prints is quite satisfactory but evidence exists that much of this quality is lost in the preparation of release prints, on which the public judges the value of the entertainment of a picture. Recommendations are being drawn up to correct this serious production defect. Depue of Chicago has announced a 35 mm. combination sound and picture printer, as well as a printer for color picture work. Duplex Motion Picture Industries, of New York, also have introduced a combined picture and sound printer as well as equipment for handling bi-pack negatives. Standard Kine Laboratories in England have installed apparatus for working the Hepworth "stretched" negative process. Films taken at 16 pictures per second can be "lengthened" and subsequently projected at higher speeds. It is claimed that "slow motion" films can be made by this method from normal negatives. A new model Bell & Howell splicer for 35 mm. film is equipped with disappearing pilot pins, for splicing 16 mm. film. A heating unit maintains a constant temperature in all parts of the machine with which the film comes in contact. Projection Eqnip?nent and Practice.— Unperforated Czaphane film was projected on a Cinelux projector at a meeting of the French Societe de Photographie held this summer. Although the facilities did not permit reproduction of the recorded sound, it was reported that the demonstration otherwise, was successful. Framing of the unperforated film was accomplished by projecting light through images of perforations (printed along one side) onto a selenium cell connected to a one tube amplifier. Splicing is accomplished by treating the surface with a normal zinc chloride solution at a temperature of 140° F. Before films may be projected in Japan, the exhibitor must supply the police with a complete synopsis, including the exact words used in every title, or if a sound picture, the exact words spoken by every actor. Effective, April 21, 1931, the projector speed cannot exceed 28 meters per minute for sound pictures, or 24 meters per minute for silent pictures. Sound Picture Projection. — While there has been some improvement in the quality of reproduced sound in the better type of theatre, during the past year there has been no radical improvement in the devices or in the method of reproduction. Very slight improvement, if any, has been noted in the quality of reproduced sound in smaller theatres. The first Japanese sound pictures were produced during the past six months by two different companies. Disc recording was used. There are now 60 theatres, equipped for sound in Japan. Extensive introduction of sound picures is hampered, however, by the attitude of the Benshi, or professional announcers who are a regular member of the staff of every theatre. The general practice has been to reduce the volume of the sound sufficiently so that the Benshi can be heard with the result that very often the sound is cut out almost entirely. A lamp for slitless sound reproduction has been devised by Dunoyer. Essentially the lamp consists of a cylindrical glass bulb having a flat piece of optical glass sealed in one end exactly parallel with a tungsten filament 25 mm. long and 0.1 mm. diameter. The filament is made in such a way as to be perfectly rectilinear at its normal temperature of 2290 °K. The image of the filament falls on a triplet anastigmat lens which at a magnification of 8 gives a scanning zone of 3 mm. length by 0.0125 mm. width. Projector Light Sources. — Data on new projector lenses are very meager for the past six months. At the Eighth International Congress held in Dresden in August, Joachim presented a comprehensive paper dealing with optical systems for projection. An effort to meet the demand for a portable source of illumination of greater brilliancy is indicated by the introduction of a new low amperage projector lamp designed to operate on 115 volts a-c. current at a maximum of 15 amperes. A compact portable full wave rectifier provides direct current for its operation. Automatic trimming is afforded by a differentially wound motor. Non-intermittent Projection. — A non-intermittent projector for very thin (cellophane) film was demonstrated successfully in Madrid, Spain. The film has a row of perforations along one side and the sound track is printed along the other border. Since the film moves continuously, the sound record does not have to be displaced from the picture but runs alongside each picture. Screens. — -A new sound screen recently demonstrated in London consists of a special fabric upon which small semi-parabolic lenses % inch in diameter are mounted with a special light reflecting cement. The spaces between the lenses are cut away. A screen 22 ft. by 17 ft. carries about 460,000 lenses. In a new type of reverberation meter supplied by Electrical Research Products, Inc., sound energy is converted to electrical energy and a series of points are recorded on a waxed paper drum which give graphically the exact history of the sound decay. Applications of Motion Pictures. — Extensive plans are underway in Japan for expansion of the uses of motion pictures in education. Substandard film is now in wide use in the schools. There are over 300,000 teachers in the empire's 45,000 schools housing 12 million pupils. A program of 180 pictures is in progress for school and general educational use under the direction of the Ministry of Education. Drawing or free-hand sketching from motion picture films is becoming more and more an accepted practice in art schools. Commercial classroom films are now available for this work. Sound motion pictures have been offered as evidence of unpleasant noises of an Australian dairy company's workman which disturbed the sleep of the plaintiff. In obtaining the record, a microphone was placed a few inches from the windowsill in the plaintiff's bedroom, and an ordinary voice recorded for comparison purposes. Television Systems. — Short has published details on a television direct pickup camera, in which the image of the person being televised is focused directly upon spiral number one of the scanning disc. The camera is mounted on a rubber-tired truck which runs under its own power. Detailed movement of baseball games, tennis matches, and airplanes in flight have been followed easily with the apparatus, and it is possible to move quickly from a "close-up" to a "long-shot." At the end of each scanning cycle in the Barthelemy system, the beam is interrupted a very short time. These lapses produce a 480-cycle frequency, which, filtered by an ingenious amplifying circuit, is used to operate a synchronous motor which (Continued on page 38)