British Kinematography (1953)

Vol. 23, No. 1 THE FOURTH CONVENTION Saturday, May 9, 1953 THE proceedings opened with an Informal Luncheon at Kettner's Restaurant. The event proved popular and some 80 members and their guests saw the President, Dr. L. Knopp, present the Certificates of Hon. Fellowship to M. Andre Debrie and Mr. G. W. Pearson. Ordinary Meeting of the Society The programme continued at the GaumontBritish Theatre, Film House, with the Seventh Ordinary Meeting of the Society. A well attended meeting heard the Secretary review the Society's activities during the past year. These had been greatly extended, and emphasis centred upon the work of the Education Committee. In London, two courses of study had both been oversubscribed and had been repeated in order to accommodate the large number of enrolments. The course on " Television in the Kinema " had been held in Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool. Altogether, approximately 500 enrolments had been registered in the courses. The syllabus of training for the Projectionists' Apprenticeship Scheme had been completed and approved. Further, the Society, together with the C.E.A. and the N.A.T.K.E. had been invited to be the signatories to the certificate of competency awarded to trainees at the successful conclusion of their apprenticeship. The work recently undertaken in respect of the production, distribution and exhibition of 3-D films and wide screen presentation was a task of some magnitude. No doubt the result of the investigation would be anxiously awaited by all sections of the industry. An important step forward had been taken by the introduction of a new grade of membership. The new member would be known as an Associate of the Society, and the old Associate would become an AssociateMember. It had, for some time, been appreciated that there existed a number of people, who, although not gainfully employed in the industry, were able to produce evidence that they had made use of cinematographic processes for professional, scientific, educational or artistic purposes. It was from among these, who were either accomplished in the art or technology of cinematography or else seriously desirous of improving their proficiency, that the new Associates would be drawn. The present membership figures were : Hon. Fellows, Fellows & Hon. Members 49 Corporate Members ... ... ... 570 Associate-Members 318 Students ... ... ... ... ... 36 In the field of standardization much good work had been done. The Society had appointed a Standards Committee to act in a liaison capacity with the British Standards Institution. The President, Dr. Leslie Knopp, had attended the I.S.O. Conference in New York in 1952, as United Kingdom delegate. Turning to the Sections of the Society, Leeds had made outstanding progress. It was greatly regretted that Mr. N. J. Addison had resigned the secretaryship of the Section due to pressure of work, but the time and energy he had expended would not be lost : the foundations which had been built would prove a solid basis for the future and Mr. A. Buckley could be assured of the best wishes of all in his task as the new Hon. Secretary. The Hon. Treasurer, Mr. R. E. Pulman, presented the annual accounts. In his review, Mr. Pulman drew attention to the fact that the income from members subscriptions had fallen below the figure for 1951 but, on the other hand, the income from Patrons donations had increased. There was a surplus of £176 and the total capital of the Society was £924.