Business screen magazine (1946)

NUMBER THIRTEEN IN A SERIES . . . "A" BETTER IDEA! ! ! Thi tk-linihon ol ihe terms "A ' and "B" in motion picture nomenclature is ambiguous. A and B can refer to multiple rolls prepared for effects printing and/or to eliminate visible splices. A and B is also used to refer to the type of wind of single perforated 1f>mm lavv stock as supplied by the film manufacturer. Another use of the terms is to identilv the image-emulsion position of a piece of film already processed. Three different meanings for the same term naturally cause confusion, so what standards can the industry adopt that would eliminate the present ambiguity with the least amount of confusion? As editors often use more than two rolls to achieve the effects desired, or to preserve the original film in an uncut condition, additional letters following .-X and B, such as C, D, E, F, etc. are needed. I suggest this use of the terms for printing rolls should be continued without change. I recommend that the use of A and B in reference to the type of wind of raw stock be discontinued and other letters substituted. Reference to the American National Standard ph22.75 indicates; '. . . When a roll of motion picture raw stock is held so that the roll of film is above and away from the observer and the film end unwinds from the side of the roll which is toward the observer and down, winding A shall have the reference edge of the film (the edge closest to the perforations! along the left side: winding B shall have the reference edge of the film along the right side." My recommendation is that the letter "L" be used to identify the left side (now A wind) and the letter "R" to identify the right side (now B windi. As raw stock winding essentially concerns only laboratories and sound recording studios whose personnel are already C|uile familiar with the use of both winds, this change in identification should present no problem. Normally, the film manufacturer supplies T6mm raw stock with the emulsion side of the film in, toward the center of the roll, but the emulsion position should be indicated on the label of the can, preceding the letter L or R. The code letters El would idenlif\' emulsion side in and EO emulsion out. Adopting the letters L and R instead of A and B would actually be an improvement because the letters themselves specify the perf position. The next use of the terms is in reference to iniage-emulsion position. Originally, both 35mm and 16mm silent film had perforations on both edges. When optical sound was introduced to 35mm, the track was placed inside and adjoining the perforations on one side, which decreased the size of the picture area. On the smaller gauge 16mm film however, it was suggested that one row of perforations on one edge be deleted in order to make room for the new optical track. This resulted in no sacrifice of picture size. The newly engineered 16mm sound projector, of course, had to have sprockets with teeth onl>' on one side. So, it was impossible to flop the film over because the single perforated edge would be on the wrong side. Two things were necessary for the new sound track — it had to have the perforations on the correct edge of the film, and the emulsion position must be compatible with the picture negative. The film manufacturer supplies rasv slock in two winds — A and B. If negative film is exposed in the camera, then B-wind raw stock must be used when recording the appropriate negative sound track The winds A and B were very new to the trade so a lot of confusion resulted. \o suitable standard existed for indicating the emulsion position of dcvflopcil film. For want of a standard, the industry improvised anci made its own. The emulsion position of the picture film, even though double perforated, was often referred to in the same term as the wind of the raw stock used when recording a sound track with the correct emulsion position for printing with the picture film. For years 1 patted myself on the back because I considered myself an authority on imageemulsion position. This education was a costiv one, because in 1941, before the advent of magnetic tape, I personally went on a three (.la\ location recording job and used the wrong wind raw stock. Alter that I made it my business to understand the winds thoroughly. After the war many producers were making similar mistakes, so in 1948 I wrote a series of technical articles, one of which was on A and B wind. Later I rewrote my article for the Handbook of the Association of Cinema Laboratories. In the handbook 1 accepted the erroneous use of the terms because it was the easiest wa\ to explain it. Now, however, with the confusion between three meanings for the same terms, I suggest we drop the use of the terms .A and B in reference to image-emulsion position and adopt another standard. A simple solution to the problem would be to think in terms of the first piece of ec|uipment that is used to photograph our subject — the camera, and the last piece of equipment — the [irojeclor. When film is threaded into a camera the emulsion always faces the lens, so why not call this position — "forward," emulsion away from the lens would be called — "reverse." When projecting the camera film after processing. It IS also necessary to place the emulsion again (ouard the lens so that our image will appear with the correct orientation as to right and left. If we photographed a right-handed baiter and projected it with the emulsion in the "forward" position, the image on the screen would appear to be batting righthanded. This silent film has perforations on both sides so it really has no designated wind. If we make a contact print of our camera film, the emulsion of one film is in direct contact with the emulsion of the other and therefore forms a mirror or "reverse" image (erroneously called A wind). If we project this print, it will be necessary for us to thread the emulsion of the print ,iway from the lens or in the "reverse" position so our right-handed batter doesn't become a switch hitter. Remember — "forward" image-emulsion position IS always towjrd the lens, and reverse" is jway from the lens. Simple, isn't it? Our industry should modify the meanings of the terms A and B, but in order to avoid confusion I recommend that all three problems be attacked at the same time. byron .-'{Jfe I circle 145 on reader service card