British Kinematography (1950)

December, 1950 gould, dalby and birch : magnetic recording 185 II. USES IN FEATURE FILM PRODUCTION W. S. Dalby, M.B.K.S.* IN feature film production, the expenditure of film recording stock and the mounting processing costs necessary to produce a good take of a script scene, have until recently been regarded as an inevitable part of the high cost of production, but now that synchronous magnetic recording systems have been produced this is no longer the case. Magnetic recording is by no means an entirely new development. In 1932, at the studios of British International Pictures, some experiments were made with a magnetic recording system, the Blattnerphone, in the endeavour to use it for sound film recording. The main problem was to hold the tape in synchronism with the picture camera, and because of this difficulty very little use was made of magnetic systems at that time. Editing and Transfer. The magnetic sound film can now be handled in the cutting room as easily as the normal photographic sound film, provided an editing machine fitted with a magnetic reproducer head is available. It is, however, my opinion that for feature film production, bearing in mind the length of time that a film is in the cutting room and the consequent risks of physical damage to the film base, it would be unwise to use the original magnetic recording as the cutting copy positive. It must be remembered that this is also the sound negative. In view of this, we at Ealing, when using magnetic recording, have always transferred the chosen take on to our normal photographic sound track. The actual operation of transfer is of course almost automatic, the record being, played off from the magnetic recorder into a normal film channel without variation of level or change of characteristic. This routine having been laid down, it was decided to use a magnetic film recording system on a production entitled — appropriately enough — " The Magnet." This picture commenced shooting with six weeks' exteriors at New Brighton, and a temporary studio was fixed up in a disused hall there to enable small interiors to be shot in case of bad weather. When shooting started, the rushes were sent daily to the studio at Ealing, and the take corresponding to the printed take of the picture was transferred to film. Many of the exterior recordings were used as guide tracks for eventual post-synchronising, as would have been the case if photographic recording had been used, but the original interior tracks were incorporated in the completed film. In addition to these a number of dialogue " wild " tracks of the local artistes were made to cover some of the exterior shots, and a large footage of sound effects was shot for use when the picture was re-recorded. The economy effected on this short location was considerable ; of course, the actual amount saved will vary considerably according to local conditions. The higher the number of takes of any scene, the greater the economy when only one or two are printed, i.e., transferred to film. Choice of Equipment. The equipment used for the " Magnet " location was a G.B.-Kalee " Ferrosonic " studio type channel mounted in a recording truck.7 This of course can be used only where transport can reach, and it was apparent that a more portable type of channel would also be required for certain locations. Tests have recently been carried out with a very portable magnetic recorder developed by Messrs. Leevers, Rich, which uses tape, not perforated film.5 This is powered from a 12-volt accumulator, and will give a synchronous record, as the playback speed is controlled by a pulse recorded on the tape. The * Ealing Studios, Ltd.