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November— December, 1011 THE CINE-T E CHXI C I A N
! FUTURE TECHNICAL PROGRESS | IN THE FILM INDUSTRY
A. G. D. West M.A., B.Sc, F.R.P.S.
117
This article is based on Mr. West's Presidential Address to the British Kinemato graph Society.
A
MONG the many things which we hope to celebrate when Victory Day comes (or shortly alter) will be that release from restrict. mis which will enable us to pursue a steady programme nt technical development, unhindered by lack of materials, by lack of man and brain power, and by our present inability to concentrate on any but war needs.
Whatever view we take, short or long term, our work must first be concerned with re-equipping and rehabilitation - whether it be of plant and machinery or of personnel — we are suffering in both directions and the cure can only be by the
[direction of material and production into the right channels, by the release of manpower, and by providing opportunities of education and of acquiring experience.
In this short term view we can see many outstanding problems, which, had it not been for the war. would I am sure have been solved, and standardisation effected : the problems of Theatre Acoustics, Uniformity of Sound Eeproduction
Iwith 100% intelligibility), Uniformity of Screen Brightness, Maintenance of Quality in Picture Duping ancl Sound Dubbing, Standardisation in the use of Push Pull Recording, and Improvements in 16 m.m. Sound.
On the other hand, in spite of the war, we have nut stood still but have made progress in many
.directions — notably in optical printing work, which <-an be so good that the results in optica] hilling are in many cases as good, if not better, than the original negative.
I prefer on this occasion, however, to take a ong term view, somewhat imaginative possibly, nit by no means impracticable; and I submit for your consideration a 10-year plan of development,
Hwhicb if successfully carried out will provide the jommercial leaders of the industry with all they heed for maintaining interest in the minds of the mblic.
j Taking the period 1945 to 1955, I allot the first
\y. years to the problems of rehabilitation, including i solution of some of the problems outlined above Aith particular attention to the subjects of acousics and sound standardisation. (X.B. the talkie
is 15 years old and it still has not learnt to talk" clearly and intelligibly). These two subjects alone provide plenty of food for thought. They should be tackle! together. The recording, laboratory and reproduction processes by the various systems need a degree of mutual standardisation, in terms of the average acoustic conditions (if they would only be average) of both studio and theatre. During this period we should also see the ironing out of what we might call the elaborated sound systems, using multiple tracks and al devices aimed at cleaner and more sound reproduction.
the various
impressive
(Continued overleaf)
THE
GROWN THEATRE
PROVIDES STUDIO PROJECTION SERVICE AT ANY TIME TO SUIT YOUR CONVENIENCE
TWO DOUBLE HEADS
DUOSONIC SOUND SYSTEM MIXING PANELS FOR TRACKS
SEATING FOR 90 PERSONS
86, Wardour St., London, W.1