British Kinematography (1950)

December, 1950 WARD : PRODUCING 16MM. COLOUR FILMS 195 with Kodachrome the " tipping up " should be accentuated. I would not presume to make sound recording recommendations, but the view is held by some that an enhanced peak at about 5500-6000 c/s, followed by a sharp cut-off, with a gradual bass cut starting about 100 c/s, gives satisfactory results.6 In the compilation of this paper I have been greatly helped by three of my colleagues, Mr. George H. Sewell, Mr. P. W. Dennis, and Mr. Frank Cox. REFERENCES 1. Proc. B.K.S. Film Prod. Div., 1945/6, p. 15. 2. Brit. Kine., 17, No. 2, Aug. 1950, p. 57. 3. Brit. Kine., 11, No. 5, Nov. 1947, p. 142. DISCUSSION 4. Brit. Kine., 14, No. 2, Feb. 1949, p. 43. 5. Brit. Kine., 13, No. 5, Nov. 1948, p. 151. 6. Brit. Kine., 15, No. 4, Oct. 1949, p. 1 16. Mr. W. S. Bland : Does Dr. Ward consider the colour temperature of the projection lamp equally immaterial ? The Author : I do not think the colour of the projection light is at all immaterial. Kodachrome is balanced for projection by filament lamps, and I always try to use at least a 750-watt lamp, and preferably a 1000watt. Mr. D. G. Daggett : Before using a batch of stock, how many feet of tests are shot ? Are they projected or viewed by hand? The Author : We never shoot less than 100 ft., and we always view by projection. Mr. Sharples : Has Dr. Ward encountered any special problems in dissolving one colour to another ? Mr. P. W. Dennis : If you have yellows or similar colours, your dissolve is apt to go wrong because they linger after other colours have disappeared. Mr. H. S. Hind: In the case of a production 50^c of which was to be daylight and 50°c Type " A," which would Dr. Ward recommend: the use of two different batches, or daylight stock with filters for the interior shots ? The Author: I would prefer to use Type "A" film, assuming the interiors are going to be shot with photon* oods ; a Wratten 85 filter would be used for daylight shots. If the interiors were going to be done with arcs, I should use Regular film throughout. I would in any case stick to one batch. Mr. Derek Stewart: Has Dr. Ward any experience of the use of bipost lamps in Fresnel type spotlights ? The Author : If the studio can be fitted with CP lamps, they will give good results. But if you are fitted with the ordinary studio lamps, there is a tendency to yellowness. Mr. F. Cox: Nearly all the work I have done recently has been with ordinary studio lamps. Dr. Ward's tests rather prove that the slightly lower colour temperature is not going to effect the colour balance of the film very much. Mr. B. J. Davies : In regard to the choice of stock for a film to be shot half out-ofdoors, the speed of Type "A" Kodachrome is 8 Weston, and of daylight stock 6 ; if you -choose daylight emulsion, you get a speed of 6 in daylight, but with the daylight-totungsten filter the speed drops to about 2. With Type " A " emulsion, you start with 8, and in daylight the speed drops to 6. It is always advantageous to use Type " A " in such circumstances. Mr. A. S. Pratt : If arcs are not acceptable for projection, what light is the projector manufacturer to use to give a brighter picture ? Mr. Hind : The answer is to correct the arcs — but then the additional light is partly lost through the filter. Mr. R. H. Cricks: One must differentiate between the low-intensity and high-intensity arc; surely the light of the low-intensity arc is little different from that of the filament lamp ? The following communication has been received from the Eastman Kodak Company of America : It is our opinion that where 'Kodachrome' film is projected with an arc in a room where no ambient tungsten light is present, the picture quality is quite satisfactory. The eye will colour-adapt itself to the arc quality light, and not only in theory, but in practice, we find that the colour quality is satisfactory. If, however, there is tungsten light present in the room so as to furnish a reference to the eye, then undoubtedly the picture on the screen will look cold. Under these conditions for very critical viewing or possibly even with no ambient light present where the most critical viewing is desired, then it would be necessary either to filter the arc light to tungsten quality, or to make a special print in which the colour balance has been shifted in printing. There is some variation in colour quality among individual prints in a release. This would indicate that there is some tolerance by the eye for colour quality, and in turn this would tend to indicate that the filter of the arc or shift in balance on the print would not need to be too precise to give satisfactory colour quality. We find in a number of places in the States that prints are used interchangeably on tungsten and arc projectors, and while the question has been raised academically, we have found no objection to the difference in quality between the two types of light sources.