The Cine Technician (1939)

April-May, I II E (' I N E-T EC II N I C I AN are quite accurate enough for theatre projection purposes, where such meticulous accuracy is not needed. They are accurate enough also for printing travelling backgrounds. But when the background to be printed is stationary, and will be compared by the eye with some foreground object which is truly stationary, it is essential to have the print made on an optical printer fitted with dowell pins, which will ensure absolute steadiness of the print (assuming, of course, steadiness in the original negative). [Note. — When everything is mechanically perfect and the above points have been observed, it will be found that some street backgrounds are still unsteady. This, upon investigation, will be found to be due to shake of the surface of the street or pavement on which the camera was resting, due to traffic. Such shake, for example, will inevitably occur in backgrounds taken in a busy street where an underground railway is close to the surface. This, of course, can only be overcome by a change of cameraposition). Any back-projection machine which projects a really steady background is fitted with dowell-pins. All, or almost all, of these machines are made to take Bell cv Howell punch negative perforations. Therefore, the projection printer must be fitted with similar pins. And therefore it is necessary for the print to have the right kind of perforations for the machine from which it is to be backprojected. Prints which have been dried too quickly, and consequently have developed excessive shrinkage, may be found difficult or impossible to run in a shuttlegate projector, because the shuttlegate is made to run film with perforations of a pitch of unprocessed film. Obviously KANDEM BritishMade studio f LIGHTS FOR 1 BRITISH FILMS £ A complete range of Silent Arcs up to 300 amperes and Incandescents up to 1 0 k.w. are available for Hire and Purchase 150 Ampere Arc Spot. USED IN ALL THE LEADING BRITISH AND EMPIRE STUDIOS KANDEM ELECTRICAL Ltd. 769 FULHAM ROAD LONDON, S.W.6 KANDEM 'Phone : FULHAM 238719 Works : PARSONS GREEN, S.W.6 nil processed film is slightly too short, but film which has been carefully processed will run perfectly and be rocksteady. (10) The background must be of a quality that would look too hard if projected normally in a theatre, owing to the inevitable loss of contrast in the composite. (11) For night backgrounds, very great contrast is essential, and if the shot includes any sky, the high-lights of any object also in the picture can safely be white. II necessary, the sky can be darkened when back-projecting by masking the top of the projected background between the projector and the screen. It is obvious that the edge of this mask can be as hard or as soft as required, according to its distance from the projector lens. (12) It is a great help, when ordering prints, to tell the laboratory that they are for back-projection. Realising this, the laboratory will be sure to print to bring out contrast. Also (though this is not a rule and depends upon the subject) the print should be lighter than normal by two Bell and Howell printer lights. Photography of Composite. (13) No matter at what angle the background has been shot, the camera photographing the composite in the studio must be square to the screen. The angle of the composite is determined by the angle of the background, the artistes being placed in the studio in proper foreground relation to that background. (14) Please, says Mr. Dickinson to producers, don't ask for a 60ft. screen and quote American pictures to ( Continued on page 2). THE CROWN THEATRE PROVIDES STUDIO PROJECTION SERVICE AT ANY TIME TO SUIT YOUR CONVENIENCE. TWO DOUBLE-HEADS, n FULL RANGE SOUND. □ n MIXING PANELS FOR TRACKS, n n n SEATING FOR 100 PERSONS, d d a a 86 WARDOUR ST., LONDON, w.i Telephone Gerrard 5223