American cinematographer (Dec 1936)

December, 1936 • American Cinematographer 503 Progress in the Industry During 1936 by The Editors of which ore going into service immediately. The De Brie "Super-Porvo" camera, integrally blimped, made its debut on actual production in Hollywood, though used for some time in Europe, and in studios in New York, Detroit, and elsewhere. Several hove been used on production at the Twentieth-Century-Fox studio, and at Universal. An interesting new color-camera was developed by the Dunning Process Company. This camera uses two films, side by side, passing through a double pilot-pin movement, and receiving their images through a Harrison "Multi- chrome" optical unit on the lens. This design eliminates the loss of definition in the rear (red) negative, common to bipack processes. The camera also incorporates a note- worthy feature by which the filter-balance is controllable, and may be adjusted by visual inspection through the finder. In the substandard field. Bell & Howell supplemented their "Straight 8" Filmo camera (using pre-slit 8mm. film) with a virtually identical model for standard 8mm. The Eastman Kodak Company introduced an excellent magazine-loading 16mm. camera embodying numerous refinements. As this goes to press, home-movie making is being brought to a vast new group with the introduction of the Univex 8mm. camera. This will sell for approxim- ately $12, and use pre-slit Gevaert 8mm. film retailing at 60c per roll, with an additional charge of 30c for pro- cessing. A similarly low-priced projector is also made, bringing the cost of buying and operating a home-movie outfit within the reach of thousands who previously could not afford the hobby. Accessories. The Fearless Camera Company introduced a new cam- era-dolly in which the features of both the crane-type ("Velocilator") and the turntable-type ("Rotambulator") are combined. In it a spring-counterbalanced crone arm is mounted on a revolving turntable, which in turn is car- ried on a four-wheeled chassis. Emil Oster, Camera Executive at the Columbia Studio, developed an accessory which should be invaluable for high-speed camerawork. This is a motor-drive which eliminates the complication and uncertainty of hand- cranking a high-speed shot through a gear-box. The new drive consists of a 110-Volt Universal series-wound motor capable of speeds up to 12,000 rpm. This drives the camera direct. The motor's speed is controlled by a re- mote-control rheostat, and the camera speed is indicated by a tachometer coupled between motor and camera. The device permits operation by remote control at any speed from 24 to 192 frames per second, and even at full speed starts quickly and will pull a full 1,000-ft. roll of film through the movement. The Fried Camera Co. developed a special underwater housing for the three-color Technicolor camera. Several improved types of blimps hove been developed, both by the studios themselves and by equipment firms. The Raby blimp is gaining popularity, being used in many studios. Specially modified Raby blimps are being ordered in quantity to house Paramount's new Mitchell cameras. During the year the new Photoscop was brought into the American market. This electric photo meter by an arrangement of pre-setting both film speed and shutter speed gives a direct lens reading. Lenses. An outstanding special-purpose development is a uni- versal-focus lens-mount developed by Hoi Mohr, A.S.C. This makes use of a standard Leica "Summar" lens, which is mounted in a ball-and-split-socket mount so that the lens may be rotated about its optical centre, or nodal point. In use, this permits an effect similar to that ob- tained with a swing-back "still" camera; i.e., altering the plane of focus from a plane at right angles to the optical centre-line of the camera to a diagonal position relative to the camera. This gives an effect of universal focus along this diagonal plane, though the focus drops off nor- mally on both sides thereof. Lighting. The trend to lower levels of illumination, and fewer lighting units still continues. This is porticularly notice- able in Technicolor cinematography, and is attributable alike to improvements in the process itself; more efficient beam-distribution on the part of the new H.l. Arc spot- lighting units; and to increasing familiarity with the pro- cess. Mole-Richardson introduced several new Fresnel-lensed lamps in both the Incandescent and the Arc types. These include the (incandescent) "Senior Solarspot," a 5,000- Watt unit; the "Ultra H.l.Arc," a 150-Ampere high intensity unit; and the "Type 60," a small 60-Am- pere arc said to outperform the older 80-Ampere rotaries. The Fresnel-lensed "Solorspots" came into general use in every studio. Twentieth-Century-Fox announced a program of completely replacing reflector lamps with these new units. A new Photoflood globe, known os the "No. 2 Photo- flood," was introduced by General Electric. It is rated at twice the intensity of the familiar No. 1 Photoflood, and has burning life of six hours. Special-process Cinematography. The outstanding development in this field was legal, rather than technical. It was a cross-licensing agreement by which the major producers arranged to effectively pool all existing patents relating to special-process cinematog- raphy, and provide for licensing under future patents. A provision is also made by which non-members of the agreement, such as Independent producers, industrial studios, etc., may obtain licenses. This move quashed an Continued on page 510