The Cine Technician (1938-1939)

18 [HE ('IN E ..TECHNIC] A N May-June, L989 lion of the camera and its adjustment is extremely complicated. You have to be an engineer to adjust it and make it work, and alter much consideration the B.B.C. have presumably decided that it is quicker to teach an engineer how to operate a camera than it is to teach a cine-cameraman how to become an engineer. The lenses in the new type of camera are substantially the same as in a cine-camera and vary from 2in. to 20in., and we are now developing a form of electrical "zoom" giving approximately a three to one ratio. At the moment film has various uses to us apart from the straight business of televising shorts and feature films such as the other evening when 0-10ths of our programme was taken up with the film "The Edge of the World." Firstly, we do use film Frequently to suggest atmosphere for a studio show ; Cor example we recently televised an Eastern Cabaret, and to get the necessary eastern atmosphere we intermixed film shots of the East which helped to build up the programme. Similarly, in the case of outside broadcasts, we often preface an actuality transmission with a piece of film ; we are now doing a monthly Coliseum programme and before this we always show a short film tracking shot coming down St. Martin's Lane and along to the Coliseum, thus helping to establish Vie location. As another example of the use of Interior of the Scanning Van film in television, we are proposing to televise direct from the lioyal Academy during the afternoon of Varnishing Day and immediately preceding this we are proposing to show a film which we are shooting of the events leading up to Varnishing Day — pictures being sent in, the Selection and Hanging Committees at work and so on. Finally, the man of the house is Hie person who usually buys the television set and he frequently grumbles because many of the best outside broadcasts take place during the day when he is not at home! Ultimately, therefore, I can think we must evolve a system wdiereby we can film the whole of an afternoon outside broadcast so that it can be repeated again on film in the evening. This would not be in competition with the newsreels because newsreels are usually shown some three days after an event has taken place, and even then they only show a small portion of it. LIGHTING PROBLEMS Boms outside broadcasts, particularly evening ones, run into lighting problems. Adequate light and power is not always available and then we have to hire the necessary apparatus; and tied up with this problem is the actual sensitivity of the television camera. 1 think 1 am right in saying that it is substantially the same as Super X film stock used in conjunction with a 1 .i) lens. Fiim people are apt to criticise television lighting, and on the surface they are justified, but they do not realise certain things. A lens is a lens, admitted, and a lens on a television camera may be the same as a lens in a film camera, but what goes on behind the lens of a film camera is very different from what goes on behind the lens of a television camera. Apart from the fact that in television one is lighting in a few minutes for what is probably going to be a two-hour "take" and the lighting has to be suitable for long-shot, mid-shot, and close-up, the television camera suffers with a problem known as "Tilt and Bend." 1 cannot explain what it is but I have tried to write it down. "When scanning the mosaic of an emitron camera, in addition to the WANTED picture an UNWANTED spurious component or shadow picture, which if not got rid of by interposing correcting circuits, shows up as an inconsistent shadowing on the picture giving the effect of indifferent lighting." THE FUTURE One final word. The future of television. My guess, for what it is worth, is that the country will be covered by a series of regional stations. The studio activities will happen in London but each regional or provincial station will have an outside broadcast unit. When this will happen it is impossible for me to say. Again, it is impossible to forecast the eventual tie-up with the cinemas, but that films and television must work together is, I think, beyond all question. Summarising, we want your films — you want our outside broadcasts. Let's hope it turns out that all wants are fulfilled. After a general discussion and questions the evening wound up with a television showing of "Picture Page" on a receiver kindly lent for the evening by the Marconiphone Company. % # sj: 25 YEARS OF INDIAN FILMS Congratulations to the Indian Film Industry which is twenty-five years old. Its Silver Jubilee was celebrated by a Motion Picture Congress held in Bombay last month. Bombay, Calcutta and Madras are the centres of the industry which has now grown to such an extent that it occupies the eighth place among the major industries of the country. India now has nearly 1,500 exhibitors and 75 production companies, with a total investment of £13,000,000. Talkies gave a great fillip to the industry as the adaptation of sound to the screen overcame the great obstacle of illiteracy. It is hoped that as a result of the Congress the Government will grant some sort of recognition to the industry and that greater organisation generally will result.