The Cine Technician (1935-1937)

Feb. -March, iq-; The Journal of the Association of Cine-Technicians 151 Lights in High Places Kc\ news at the time of goinf< to press is the prosecution of Leslie Wyand, Hawkins, Golding and Prentice of G.B. News, for taking a lighting truck to Buckingham Palace on the night of the abdication. This resulted in a fine. Yet Movietone, covering rota footage at St. James's Palace on the occasion of the Proclamation, had last minute official sanction for the same lighting truck and two 5-kws. to attend the ceremony at St. James's Palace. Some smart work was performed by Sir Duncan Watson's truck crew under the direction of Sam Mardon, Movietone's lighting expert, in the last minute assembly of the lights. The pageantry was much accentuated by the illumination and Newsreels obtained records which would have been impossible otherwise, owing to the lateness of the hour and to the December darkness. Of course, there was no pro.secution on this occasion. The ,Crisis During the crisis, Newsreel cameramen had a very trying and cold time covering the situation at Fort Belvedere, "pneumonia gate" Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, and Mrs. Simpson's house. They have to thank the police for the courtesy they displayed during this trying ordeal. It was necessary for the cameramen to be on their toes the whole of the time. Never a second could they slack. There was a nice gesture by the Gaumont executives, who gave a special allowance to their operators for refreshment to ward off the cold. Hague Wedding Pathe were the only Newsreel to send photographic units from England to cover the Roval wedding at the Hague. They obtained a scoop, beating the opposition on showing by many hours. Jock Gemmell had a worrying time in obtaining the necessary permits, which were very tied up, but with his confreres, Jimmy Taylor and Harold Jones, and the usual dogged persistency of these tough Newsreelers, a first-class picture was obtained. Darts The Mcn-ietone News boys are having a Darts Toiu'nament in their Rest Room in Berners Street for ten-bob prizes. The leaders at the moment are "Slim" Wyand, "Bottler" Law, "Piggie" Harris, and "Fiddler" Tunwell. By the way, we'd Hke to know why the "Fiddler" has to ha\-e the dartboard tilted when he throws ! The London F"ire Brigade wishes to thank "Adulphe" for his gallant attempt to put the Crystal Palace fire out by being violently ill while flying over the conflagration photographing for G.B. News. Anyway, he got a really good picture. Firemen can take films with a De\ry but it takes more than a belly-full of ginger beer to put out a "'"^ "Tenax et Audax." Letters After Their Names CoxGRATLLATioxs to Gordon Dines and John Boyle, A.C.T. members who have been elected Associates of the Royal Photographic Society. We are also pleased to hear of the election to membership of Eric Williams, Stephen Dalby and Ronald Neame. Other members will, we hope, follow their lead. O MORE SCRATCHES The New Peerless System PRESERVES AND PROTECTS MOTION PICTURE FILM Adopted throughout Great Britain, U.S.A., France and Italy by the leading Film Renting Organisations and Laboratories. The remarkable feature of the Peerless sysfem is the fact" fhaf the film is not unwound, wound, or manhandled during operation. The reels are simply placed in a patent vacuum chamber where certain vapours act on the emulsion, the result being : 1. The film is permanently lubricated. 2. The emulsion is considerably hardened so reducing the liability of scratching. 3. The film is rendered impervious to oil, water or dampness, and i^ iinnmnc to any climatic conditions. 4. The sound track is similarly protected, obviating dis tortion. 5. The process sets the emulsion, sealing the lubricated pores, case-hardening the emulsion, thus extending 4 to 5 times the life of film. IN FACT THE PEERLESS PROCESS IN EVERY WAY PROTECTS AND EXTENDS THE LIFE OF YOUR VALUABLE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FILM. PERMANENT PRESERVATION AT LOW COST. BRITISH INDUSTRIAL LABORATORIES LTD. 8 9 LONG ACRE, LONDON, W.C.2. Telephone: Temple Bar 3221