American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1940)

Professional Proiectionists CondiuLctiiri' Amateur Contest By PAUL R. CRAMER FOR SOME TIME the organized projectionists of Southern California have been informally discussing the feasibility of conducting an amateur photographic contest entirely restricted to the membership. A meeting was held February 15, at which plans were formulated for the holding of the preliminary exhibitions and the final salon. The title selected for the organization was the Southern California Projectionists' Amateur Camera Club. There will be seven monthly showings, from April to October inclusive, and a salon will be held in November, the exact date and place of exhibition being determined later. The men who are behind these showings are those who operate professionally all the projection machines in the studios and the theatres from Bakersfield to San Diego. They are the men who stand behind the projectors in theatres of the small towns and behind the projectors of the great theatres like, for instance, in Los Angeles the Carthay, Warner Brothers Hollywood and downtown, Chinese, and all the others. Committee Members They are the men who in Southern California the same as throughout the country are affiliated with the I.A.T.S.E. The membership in the Southern California locals alone runs into many hundreds. Perhaps the majority of these men are employed at night and for certain hours in the daytime are free. That free time is to rather a large degree de Paul R. Cramer, at right, explaining to Henry Fonda some of the intricacies of sound on film at RKO-Radio studio. voted to amateur photography, in the aggregate to an amazing degree. The informal meeting on February 15 was made up of studio projectionists, as a matter of convenience. Later when plans are more fully formulated there will be another meeting at which time the membership will be made more fully representative of the men interested in such places as Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana, San Bernardino, San Diego, and many other cities and towns. The present Governing Committee was selected as follows: Paul R. Cramer, projectionist at the Van Nuys Theatre of Van Nuys, chairman; Merle Chamberlin, chief projectionist, M.G.M. studio; Howard Edgar, chief projectionist Columbia studio; Lee Moore, president M.G.M. studio camera club; Fred Borch, Local 150; Jim Brigham, Paramount studio; John Smith, Twentieth CenturyFox studio; and George Mariot, RKORadio studio. This department will be conducted with articles that will appeal to two divisions of readers. One of these, as said, will be matter that will appeal to the projectionists of the theatres and studios of Southern California. That matter will be amateur photography. There will be a second department. That will be to amateur photographers and also, perhaps strangely enough, to professional photographers. For it is assumed that the professional photographer may not necessarily be so qualified as a professional projectionist that he may approach an amateur projection machine as to the "manner" born. It will be a department for amateur projectionists written by a professional projectionist. There are many advanced amateur projectionists who sometimes get "stuck" on seemingly a simple matter of projection, but when they come to take the machine apart to discover what really makes it tick they find themselves stumped. Classifications Particularly is this true in these rapidly approaching days of sound. To those amateur readers of this magazine who have questions to ask relating to projection either silent or sound this department stands ready to attack those questions in the issue succeeding that in which the question is received. Also there will be articles describing American Cinematographer • March, 1940 125