Projection engineering (Sept 1929-Nov 1930)

Page 14 Projection Engineering, May, 1930 was justified, as the early results show. On the other hand, one must learn to walk before one can run, and the utilization of natural distortion in recording, the introduction of "sound perspective," and the following of the action of a photoplay with moving microphones, were all devices either originated by engineers or developed through their cooperation. It is clearly essential that the head of a sound department should be able to understand the literary and dramatic aspects of picture making, so he may help to create the devices necessary to produce the desired emotional effects in audiences. But should the "mixer," or head of a sound crew, possess this ability? Most of the sound executives interviewed thought such traits were a distinct asset, and this view happens to be the one favored by the present writer. One of the leading managers argued, on the contrary, that the business of the play and the merits of the plot were solely the affair of the director, and preferably the mixer's disposition should be such that he will be interested only in getting intelligible dialogue and good music and not overshooting the amplitude limits of the equipment. He did not want to run the risk of the sound man becoming what is known in the art as a "scriptmeddler." The fact that a dissenting opinion was expressed shows, even if time should prove it wrong, that final conclusions cannot yet be arrived at in the choosing and training of sound picture personnel. Stage PsychologyIn addition to a good ear, one quality the "mixer" (the term is a misnomer in that he frequently uses only one microphone, and ' harmful psychologically by its tacit encouragement of excessive manipulation of the gain controls) must have, and that is imperturbability. Of all the elements of character required for the job, coolness in difficult situations is the sine qua non. Agitation, except on the part of actors and a few directors, cannot be tolerated on a stage, for the simple reason that there are so many things to be agitated about that a general demoralization would be the result if everyone yielded to panicky or irritable impulses. Furthermore, a show of apprehension or uncertainty results in a loss of confidence which, in the atmosphere of picture production, is extremely harmful. It may, for example, cause actors who play important roles to imagine that their voices will be poorly recorded, and that fear in itself may detract from their impersonations to such an extent as to seriously reduce the dramatic and box office value of the picture. Closely connected with this quality of calmness under tension is the power to make decisions quickly and without elaborate explanations. When the first recordist is asked whether a take is good for sound or not, he should be able to answer yes or no. If he is uncertain, the proper answer is no, with a compact statement of what he believes will improve the take from the viewpoint of sound. In this way production is accelerated and the best mental and emotional attitude maintained among the members of the company. Finally, the sound man who does his work on the stage must have a pleasant personality. A pleasing address is frequently as important as technical knowledge. Of course the sound men cannot expect to get by on amiability alone, but it helps immeasurably when combined with the other technical and personal qualities which are required in his work. The assistant recordist on the stage, in addition to his function of maintaining communication with the recording booth, generally operates the microphone boom when it is necessary to follow the action. He therefore requires considerable training in practical acoustics. Microphones are suspended as required by sound grips, who are under the direction of the stage recordist. The assistant recordist in the booth loads and unloads film and watches the machine for irregularities during operation. Where both portable studio equipment and location sound trucks are in use, a separate crew may be assigned to the trucks, but it is probably more effective to train the personnel to handle both types of equipment, thus enabling the same crew to work through an entire picture, whether it is shot entirely in the studio or in the studio and on location. In some studios all the recording equipment is mounted on trucks and the problem of training personnel for two kinds of equipment does not arise. Who Should Re-Record? The production of sound effects may be left to a specialist under the direction of the recording supervisor, or reporting immediately to the director of sound. In either case the sound effects man works with the first recordists, either during the shooting of the pictures or during re-recording. Re-recording is another function which, under the organization system of Fig. 1, is one of the responsibilities of the recording supervisor. It is a moot point, however, whether the rerecording should be done by a specialist or by the first recordist who originally made the sound for the picture. The latter often tends to resent the idea that his work requires changes before it is released, while if the re-recording is placed entirely in the hands of a specialist, the director is put to the trouble of conveying his ideas on sound level and quality to this second technician. The best system is probably to assign rerecording to a specialist who knows the capabilities of his equipment and the best method of adapting the final sound version of the film for effective theatre projection, with consulting service by the original recordist, the cutter assigned to the picture, and the director or his deputy, the picture supervisor and the supervisor of recording haying the final decision when disputes arise. The functions of installation, test, and maintenance are largely self-explanatory and will not require extended treatment here. Whenever possible, it is well to unify these responsibilities in one engineer, although the actual work must be done by specialists. An amplifier maintenance expert, for example, usually is not skilled at stringing light valves, and vice-versa, but both functions are vital from the over-all standpoint of recording. It is impossible to record pictures successfully on a large scale unless routine tests, daily frequency runs, etc., are attended to faithfully, and capable trouble-shooters are on hand when some unexpected difficulty arises in spite of preventive measures. Theatre Contacts Needed Projection, although a dual function, with picture elements of as much importance as the sound, is in most studios under the control of the sound department. The reason is simply one of expediency. When sound invaded the industry, picture projection had reached a stage where no serious difficulties were encountered, whereas sound projection presented numerous problems of personnel training and addition of equipment. Projection as an uncertain factor in the judging of sound recording may entail a serious division of responsibility if it is assigned to another department, although here, as in many other instances, much depends on the individuals. Where the problem is not solved by handing over studio projection in toto to the sound department, at least the maintenance of the sound reproducing machinery is delegated to it. Some sound departments also employ one or more technicians as theatre contact men to check up on conditions of sound reproduction in the field. This is obviously a prudent measure, since too often infinite pains are taken by the producing staff (and an almost infinite amount of money spent) with everything that goes into the negative, after which all hands trust to luck in the presentation of the picture to the public. As far as quality of release prints is concerned, it is gratifying to note that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is taking appropriate action to remedy the present deficiencies. Development and research are obviously topics of importance in an industry as wholly dependent as motion pictures on technological factors, which are still far from a state of perfection. In general, fundamental problems of sound recording and reproduction are best handled in the laboratories of the equipment manu