The Cine Technician (1935-1937)

56 The Journal of the Association of CineTechnicians Auj4.-Oct., 1936 ll^■^UJ VJVilK 1 BCD* Tl/E P ■ii Ml «»dc« SpM *.r^[rM et»»5. i7>j 0»-«. 0.70 Ui T4. 11.) «lr.. riv.O' fCTvw^ j ^ ^ iar« 2i l.i ) ■ 5i * L.j fu* r t.T. uU t ' ' ** " 1» r> flJjt J 0.6 '' JU> 4 O.J _^ -^^ ■!.» 5. J 5,! 5.« T.. I.-' 0.0 a.) o.» Fig. 2. room illumination further complicated this entire problem. In the light of our present day knowledge these factors are not considered difficult to handle but at the time of their introduction there were a considerable number of obstacles which seemed difficult to overcome. During the first year after the introduction of these three new features, considerable progress was made. In a large measure the success of the application of these various technological aspects would not have been so satisfactory had it not been for the personal artistry of the cinematographer and the splendid co-operation of the laboratory technicians. To the men of both of these important branches in the motion picture field great tribute should be paid because they both gave considerable impetus to the production of high grade photographic quality to which we are accustomed to-day. It was found that as time progressed the first type of panchromatic emulsion used for motion picture photography was not all that could be desired. While there was progress shown it was felt by the emulsion manufacturers that definite improvements could be made in the negative emulsion itself. The first outstanding improvement in negative emulsions was made during the latter part of 1928, at which time the Eastman Kodak Company introduced Eastman Type II panchromatic motion picture negative film. This film when compared directly with its predecessor showed a marked improvement and was the first real step in the direction of finer photographic quality. As time passed and the use of the new illuminants and the new developer were better understood, it was found that this Type II negative also lacked certain qualities which it was felt could be overcome in a new type of film. In I^'ebruary of 1931 Eastman Super-Sensitive motion picture negative film was presented to the trade. This negative introduced a new era in the negative emulsion field. Not only was the quality of this film superior to that of Type II but its speed was materially greater. Under daylight conditions it exhibited twice the speed of Type II, while with normal set lighting it was nearly three times as fast. There was less contrast shown by this emulsion and a much finer graininess characteristic was in evidence. This film played a very important part in the fine photographic quality exhibited in motion picture production during the years 1931 to 1935. During these latter years steady advancement was made in the field of illuminants, during which time more efficient light sources of the tungsten type were manufactured. The functions of the bora.x developer were more thoroughly understood. Likewise by 1931 the use of developing machines for the development of negative film, as well as positive film, had almost completel}' supplanted rack and tank development in the major motion picture laboratories. Machine development in itself played a large part toward contributing to better photographic results. Following the general poHcy of the Eastman Kodak Company to strive continually in the impro\'ement of its products, there was manufactured during the year 1935 a new type of panchromatic negative film which was given the name Eastman Super X. This emulsion exhibited certain superior qualities to those of the Super-Sensitive film in that a speed increase of approximately 40% was shown, together with a slightly softer characteristic and a definitely finer grain structure. This emulsion met with immediate approval after complete tests by the camera and laboratory men and at the time of this writing approximately 95 "„ of the motion picture productions made on film of Eastman manufacture are photographed with this new Super X Panchromatic Negative. The emulsions which have just been described are in a sense in a direct line of succession since each new one replaced the older one completely for the purpose of normal motion picture work. However, there were other fields of endeavour open to the emulsion manufacturer. During the years 1931 to 1934, particularly, considerable experimental work, as well as production work, was being done in a new field known as the Projection Background Process. This process more or less completely superseded other special effect processess which had been in use for several years. The fundamentals of the projection background process are extremely well-known but some details of it have escaped general attention. Since the process of rephotographing a projected image on a translucent screen is essentially one of duplication it may be readily observed that any step toward the elimination of the emulsion graininess characteristics would be desirable. It was conceived that a negative emulsion with sufficient speed for exterior photography, since most soft background plates were exteriors, would lend to a greater improvement of the final results of this special process. An emulsion for this purpose should have similar colour sensiti\-ity characteristics to that of the negative but it should be dissimilar in that its grain structure should be materially finer. An emulsion for this purpose was maufactured and marketed under the name of Eastman Background Negative. This was introduced to the trade in the year 1933. Compared with Super X Negative this emulsion has about three-quarters the speed and exhibits definitely higher contrast under equal development conditions. The graininess factor, however, was excellent and without question this film soon established itself as the hnest grained panchromatic negative emul tJL.'ni>> ^»CTifo.■B •ii.*7iit PPMP^ 9 (u). J **■* 1.2 9*i,, Sp»c»rotf« 1 6 » 12 I» •' ^.■^ z.i ;.) T.I 1. 1 T.* T.^ J. 5 3.) o.» Fig. 3.