British Kinematography (1951)

March, 1951 93 PREFERRED METHODS OF PRODUCING FILMS FOR 16mm. RELEASE The meeting of the Sub-Standard Film Division on October II, 1950, was devoted to a discussion of the production of 16mm. prints. Mr. Norman Leevers, B.Sc, A.C.G.I. (Fellow), opening the Meeting, explained that the discussion was to form part of the work of the Technical Committees set up by the Division.1 The discussion was opened by Mr. Dennis Cantlay (Member) who read the following statement prepared by the Divisional Committee. THIS discussion is limited to those cases wnere the number ot release prints required will be at least 25 and possibly up to 100 or more. Those special cases where only half-a-dozen or so prints are required are outside our present scope. As far as possible, the problems associated witn picture, and those peculiar to the sound irack, will be discussed separately. Monochrome Films The first factor which will have a bearing on the method of producing the final prints is whether the film is to be shot on 35 mm. or 16 mm. stock. If one or more 35 mm. prints are likely to be required, the film must obviously be made on 35 mm. in the first place. If only 16 mm. release prints are wanted the decision will probably depend upon the equipment facilities available to the producing unit. For a film of the highest possible technical quality with all the tricks and refinements of the feature film, 35 mm. film must be used for the very simple reason that the necessary 16 mm. equipment does not exist. Further, in this country at the present time, the 16 mm. cameras and lenses which are equivalent in performance to the average good 35 mm. camera can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This statement will no doubt be challenged, but refers to picture quality of the highest order, and not adequate quality. Many producers are fully equipped to handle 35 mm. films, and in such cases it is obviously to their advantage to use their existing cameras and cutting-room equipment. It may be mentioned at this point that as a general rule, financial saving in making a film on 16 mm. stock as against 35 mm. stock is very small, being only the saving in cost of tile stock itself. The major items, labour charges, lighting, etc., do not vary for films of the same quality, whether they be 16 mm. or 35 mm. Nevertheless, many films are now being produced originally on 16 mm. film, and no doubt the proportion will be greater in the future. We therefore have to face the possibility of having to make prints either from 16 mm. negatives or from 35 mm. negatives.2 In the former case, the problem is straightforward, as ordinary contact prints can be obtained in the usual way. Of course, the obvious precaution of making a duping print should be observed before quantity printing is started, and often it is an advantage to print from a duplicated negative which is graded, rather than from the ungraded original negative. In the case of the 35 mm. negative, the most popular method at the present time is to obtain prints by means of optical reduction. Here again, better results are obtained if graded duplicate negatives are employed There are, however, other methods which can be followed, and one in particular is becoming popular by virtue of the saving in costs when a large number of prints are required, coupled with the fact that the final print itself can be as good as that obtained by reduction printing. This method is to produce a 16 mm. negative by optical reduction methods from a 35 mm. duping print, and to take off contact prints in the ordinary way. Colour Films Only the two most commonly used colour systems, i.e., Technicolor and Kodachrome, will at the moment be considered.3 In the