Projection engineering (Sept 1929-Nov 1930)

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Page 12 Projection Engineering, May, 1930 Sound Personnel and Organization1 By Carl Dreher* rnouAa/nd oound ~hchrj/dan6 ~io of sij-'vThote ho^ti of With the advent of sound in the motion-picture industry, some peculiar problems of employment and organization arose. An intricate and highly evolved business had to assimilate, in the space of a year or two, a large body of technicians from another field, train them in its methods, and in turn modify its own technique to meet new and exacting requirements. The speed with which the amalgamation was accomplished speaks well for the adaptability of both the film group and the majority of the newcomers. The problems which arose, overshadowed at the time by questions of major technical and economic importance, are still of sufficient interest to justify some consideration in the present course, especially as their complete solution lies in the future. Since the moving picture background is familiar to most readers of this paper, it is unnecessary to discuss it here. The history of sound recording and reproduction is in many respects analogous, with the addition of an important factor ; the electrical technique based largely on the vacuum tube and its associated circuits. The early phonograph art resembled motion pictures in the fusion of esthetic t Academy Academy of .Sciences. * Director of ]RKO Studios. Technical Digest of the Motion Picture Arts and the Sound Department, and mechanical elements. In each case the artist has to reach the public through a machine. Early attempts to combine the two processes failed, largely because the sound reproducing elements were still too imperfect. In the meantime the radio art had started on its development. For a time, during the first two decades of the century, radio was purely a business of telegraph signaling without wires. The potentialities of the vacuum tube as an amplifier and generator of currents of almost any frequency promoted the spread of radio technique into the wire telephone art, me phonograph industry, and the amusement business. These developments have a bearing on the sources of sound picture personnel. Many of the sound technicians now in the picture business began their careers as wireless operators or engineers. The early history of radio showed the usual characteristics of instability and financial turbulence of any new industry. The men who chose it for a career were, as a consequence, young, adventurous, and more adaptable than the average. When broadcasting became an adolescent member of the family of radio industries, a certain percentage of these men chose the path away from electrical communication into a business with theatrical elements and immediate contact with the amusement Director of Sound Ttfcord'ini; Supggrfa Sound Effect* Fjrtj Recordists Rc-recordin Assistant Recordists (Stage; JRecordinp | Machines) Sound Grips (As required) Installation, Test, & Maintenance Supervisor I Optical— Ejettrfeal Mechanical Development Projection Supervisor I Projectionists Film laboratory Contact (Sensilometry^ (Research) FIGURE 1 STUDIO USING PORTABLE EQUIPMENT; FILM RECORDING ONLY. Director of Sounif FIGURE 2 STUDIO USING CENTRALIZED INSTALLATION; FILM AND DISC RECORDING. seeking public. In the meantime technicians from the radio and telephone industries, finding positions in phonograph recording organizations when that field turned to electrical methods, likewise became available for work in sound pictures. As a third major source of supply, the laboratories of the electrical and telephone companies produced their quota of engineers who were more or less fitted for the special requirements of sound picture production. In addition to these groups, there were men already in the picture field who had qualifications for sound work. Importing Personnel This brings up the first of a number (if arguable points. In the building up of an effective sound department, to what extent was it advisable to go outside of the motion-picture industry for personnel ? Had the adoption of sound been a gradual process, it might have been necessary to import personnel to the extent of only a half, say. of the total number of people required. Because competitive conditions, and the inherent nature of the business, required an extremely rapid consolidation, it is estimated that eighty per cent of the sound men were taken from the outside. The majority of sound executives in Hollywood appear to feel that this ratio is somewhat high, and that the best results at the present juncture may be secured by mixing about two-thirds of what may be loosely called radio oersonnel with one-third film personnel. There are, however, extreme views on either side of this compromise. One prominent sound head expressed the opinion that the personnel of the department should be secured entirely from outside sources, such as engineering schools ; telephone, radio, and electrical laboratories, broadcasting stations, radio receiver factories, public-address installations, phonograph recording studios, etc. Another executive recruited his entire sound personnel from the employees already on the lot, training them with the aid of engineers provided by the licensor of the recording equipment. He concedes that this