Business screen magazine (1938)

,Viii'T, VAP,rYRATE YOUR FILM PERFORMANCE deserves the improvements VAPORATE protection assures. YOUR filmBUDGET deserves the economy VAPORATE protection provides. INSIST ON PRINTS vapOrated for better screening and longer useful life. VAPORATE protects over five hundred million feet of theatrical, industrial, educational, rental and personal motion picture, slide and continuous display films annually, against damage from climate, scrotches, wear, oil, dirt and finger marks. CONVENIENT-ECONOMICAL VAPORATE Service is available, through Groducers, dealers and laboratories in the nited States, England, France and Italy. ■l30W 46th St. 1801 L.1r FOR GOOD ADVERTISING have your type set by a typographer because he will always give you greater value tn general appearance and the satisfaction you con obtain only by purchasing the very finest. ADVERTISING TYPOGRAPHERS, INC. 341 EAST OHIO STRCCT, CHICAGO G-E A VISUAL PIONEER {Continued from Page ii) tin nosf to reduce spill light. Simple but firm clamping structures hold the lighting units to the top of each set without sacrificing height or freedom to move set walls about for various camera angles. A Fearless turntable dolly and blimp which houses a modern NCMitchel Camera allow full flexibility and quietness during synchronous takes. X recently designed Mole-Richardson boom. Type l();i-B. supports one of several kinds of microphones the sound recordist may care to use for a particular job. Most of the synchronous recordings are )nade with either a standard velocity or semi-directional velocity microphone. An inductor type is used when possible for voice-overs or disk recordings. We have recently designed and constructed a complete new amplifying channel capable of mixing four different inputs with the highest quality. The overall frequency characteristic is flat from .id to 10. 000 cycles, plus or minus 'iDB. For film recordings, which will be played mostly on standard equipment, a rise in response at the high frequency end amounting to 8DB at 8000 cycles can be introduced. Recordings which will be reduced for 16mm. reproduction are peaked a similar amount at 4000 cycles with a sharp cut-off at 5000 cycles. Individual compensators are provided in addition for each of the four mixer positions giving an alternative of either 0. 9, or 13 DB loss at 100 cycles. This equipment is located in a room adjoining the studio. A sound-proof window of three floating glass panes allows the recordist full view of the studio. RECORDING EQUIPMENT DESCRIBED Film recording is done on a PR23 RCA Recorder with ultra-violet light and biased-shutter ground noise reduction. Disk recording is done on a Presto semi-portable machine. Both 78 and 3.3-1/3 recordings are made — some for single use, others for processing. Inbuilt also are three turntables which may be used for playback or dubbing-in purposes. The output from these tables feeds into a separate threeposition mixer which parallels the other mixer. A reconstructed early type film recorder serves as a film phonograph. This is tied in by means of selsyn drive to a standard projector so that re-recordings and direct recordings may be made synchronously and with the lowest sound losses. For location work, a laboratory model recorder and a compact broadcast field amplifier are used. With this apparatus nearlyall types of souufl work which might be re((uired are possible. Auxiliary camera equipment consists of a silenced Bell & Howell equipped with a silent Unit "I" type shuttle and a direct-on-film 5 and 10 X focusing magnifier. This unit in a blimp of our own construction allows two angles to be shot simultaneously when a sound take of a difficult-to-repeat action is called for. The preference is to shoot with one camera; light for each angle; and repeat the action. This same camera or an Akeley is used for most location work. The latter is particularly adaptable in factory shots or transportation sequences. Two Eyemos and a DeVry, all springdriven, fulfill a useful service in the making of odd angle, insert, or grab shots. Because of their simplicity, they are often turned over to salesmen who may be traveling and can pick up a shot or two which will be satisfactory. Recently some footage of a trolley-coach installation in Honolulu was made by the sales engineer sent from the states to supervise their operation. Such procedure is of course a gamble; but so far the company considers that it has been lucky. A second Bell & Howell, adapted to handle two films in perfect register and contact, as well as to run a single thickness, is in the laboratory. This camera is mounted on a vertical table-type stand for making animated drawing sequences. The .stop-motion control is operated conveniently through solenoids and even illumination is supplied from Mazda lamps in soft-type reflectors. This same camera may also be mounted on a horizontal lathe bed mount for copy work, run up titles, etc. Dissolves, wipes, and simple montage effects are made with this camera by running the master positive and duplicate negative together, controlling exposure with the lens iris, and creating the eff'eet through the reflection of light from black and white cards which are animated. Though slow and limited, this procedure has produced all the effects the department has thus far had occasion to need. Two standard continuous Bell & Howell printers in addition to the optical reduction printer and the special .sound jirinter previously mentioned, are in a small but adequate dark room. A D.C. generator and control panel provide constant voltage to the motors and lamps so that printing densities may be constant. All negatives are optionally timed by the man in charge for the flrst print. Changes in timing, if in order are made after conforming. Because all the negative processed is shot liy the same cameramen, there is little variation, so visual timing is satisfactory. All 16mm. sound printing and some large printing orders for standard release are done by commercial laboratories. ALL PICTlltES IN FIVE GROUPS ♦ The pictures produced with this equipment are rather diversified, so it is somewhat diflicult to draw sharp lines in classification. In general, however, they break down into the following groups: 1. Institutional or informative — the subject matter of which may influence a general (Please turn to page 38) 36