American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1957)

at 24 f.p.s. This chart gives it to you at a glance. Cut these charts out and paste them in a note book for handy reference when using your camera. Let this be the start of an important technical guide for your movie making. The American Cinematographer Handbook, of course, contains many more such tables and charts making it an invaluable guide and source of knowledge for the pho¬ tographer — both amateur and profes¬ sional. Indeed the wealth of informa¬ tion it contains, gathered over a period of more than twenty-five years, more than justifies it’s nominal price of $5.00. Copies are available from many camera stores and photographic dealers, and also from the publishers of American Cinematographer. FILM PROCESSOR (Continued from Page 759) hard to come by. But for more refine¬ ment in the rinse operation, provision has been made for use of an accessory tank for circulating water. The only utility required for the unit is ordinary 110-volt a.c. Major elements of the tiny processor, about the size of a standard file drawer, are the easily-interchangeable film trans¬ port plastic inserts containing developer, fixer, hypo eliminator and rinse; and the high-velocity air jet method of dry¬ ing the processed film. A wide-range capacity of film length and longevity of chemical solutions are two more features. Film lengths as long as 400 feet may be processed without the necessity of changing or replenish¬ ing the chemical solutions. Construction is of welded stainless steel with an aluminum rear housing af¬ fording lightness, rigidity and economy. All chemical tanks, which hold 18 ounces of liquid each, are easily remov¬ able for rinse, cleaning and renewing of solutions. All compartments are access¬ ible for cleaning and wiping by hand. The unit is ordinarily placed on a table top for operation ; no fasteners are re¬ quired. Weight of the Mini-Rapid 16 dry is 70 lbs. Size is 27" long, 12" wide and 13" high. Manual operation of the unit begins with the placement of exposed 16mm film in the film compartment. Film on daylight loading spools is placed directly in the processor; film on special maga¬ zines require re-spooling on daylight¬ loading spools. Film loads larger than 400 feet must be re-spooled or the ac¬ cessory 1,000-foot cassette may be used. After insertion of the film emulsion side down into the entry port, the film supply compartment is closed. The film then automatically threads itself through the processor to the take-up compartment, a trip of approximately 6 feet and 8 inches. Rubber rollers on the plastic insert assembly serve a triple function — as drive rollers for film transport, as a means of agitation, and for squeegeeing the exhausted solution back into the so¬ lution container, thus reducing solution carryover from the tank to another. The rollers are on floating shafts which are retained against the driven center drum by means of an elastic member. The film is guided in its path by grooves in the sides of the plastic inserts. Once the film passes between the rub¬ ber rollers and the center drum it is automatically transported to the next rubber roller and on through each in¬ sert. Drying of the film is effected by im¬ pingement of heated air on the emulsion side of the film. The base side of the film is held against a driven fabric belt by means of the air blower which as¬ sists in the transport of the film on the drier. Take-up, which is the second manual operation, is accomplished by attaching the leading edge of the processed film to a standard daylight loading spool and dropping the spool into the take-up com¬ partment where it rides on a rubber cov¬ ered film spool which is slightlv over¬ driven. This method takes up the film firmly and ready for projection. A variable speed film drive system makes it possible to adjust the rate of processing for over and under-exposure and for temperature variations. The film may be checked for degree of develop¬ ment at the take-up spool and the proc¬ essing speed adjusted to compensate for any errors in exposure. Thus the con¬ trol may be used to pre-select a specified degree of development when all the other factors are known. Fairchild is presently demonstrating this new processor in key cities across the nation, including New York City, Washington. D.C.. Chicago, and Los An¬ geles. Retail price is understood to be around $1,250. SUBWAY FILMING ( Continued from Page 797) through it. So the RATP provided a brand new train on tires, or rather the brand new bodies of coaches mounted on steel wheels. But as it goes to the depot the new rolling stock never runs on the Neuilly-Vincennes line. So spe¬ cial work had to be done to reconnoitre the line and adjust the tunnels to the maximum structure of the new coaches. Then cinematographer Leclerc and his assistant cameraman had to light the scene and frame the camera so as not to disclose that the train shown running American Cinematographer When practically everything flies . • December, 1957 • H07