The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

90 THE C I X E T E C H X I C I A X Julv— October, 1945 Edited by Fred J. Hyson LAB. TOPICS G.F.D. Forces Fund With gratitude in our hearts we have seen the cessation of hostilities and many members of G.F.I>. labs, who are serving in the Forces are in!] of gratitude to the boys and girls in the labs who have so long sent them comforts and cash. Jack Deering sends the following account which was received too late for insertion in the last issue of the journal : — " We started the fund in December, 1939, with George Riley, our negative cleaner, acting as collector; for a few months we were able to send to the lads a monthly P.O. for five shillings, but as more went into the Forces we found that the amount collected was insufficient, so we increased our subscriptions to £2 13?. Od. which plus tin.' sum oi tl Ms. Od. I'roui the football pontoon (run by George Riley) and the management's contribution of £4 a week enabled us to not only send everyone a monthly gift, but to increase the amount to £1. The enormous amount of £800 has been collected to date, and all but fc'4 of that total distributed to among 28 lads and one lass. We also send them a news sheet entitled 'Titbits,' edited by George Riley, who collates news items from all the lads who are serving; there being two in Burma, two in India, three in Italy, seven in Europe, one in Yugoslavia, four at sea. one in the Women's Land Army and eight serving at home. If there is any money left over we send cigarettes and airgraph letters to those who are I urt best away ; and we hope that soon the lads will be home to enjoy the new lab agreement." — Jack I >eering. Well done G.F. I ). ! and well done < reorge Riley ! The lab. boys and girls have fought and won a new agreement, may the boys and ^rirls that come back get their portion of the fruits of our labours. My Particular Job Some time ago I asked for contributions from fellow lab members concerning their own job. We have had one from Pathe's about making blue prints and dupes. Here is another article from E. Potter. Who will contribute the next? Notes on 16 M/M Reduction Processing. By E. Potter. This held of the cinema industry has expanded in recent years, resulting in extra work for the laboratory, and additional responsibility for the tei hnieian. What are the chief processing characteristics for this type of Him in order to obtain satisfactory results? Like its senior brother, 35 mm, the finished prini appears the same, but a rather different technique is adopted. To commence : the printing is a process of optical reduction. A 35 mm negative is mounted on the printer from which the 16 mm prints are made by means of lenses, mirrors and prisms, focussed to an accuracy of 1000th of an inch. This calls for skill and precision. The eorreel grading of the mute negative is in itself rather important, and because the exposure scale due to optical printing varies considerably to that required for 35 mm contact printing, an entirely different proportion oi exposure is needed for 16 mm as compared with 35 mm prints. With a development of three minutes in a 1)16 posit i vi • formula bath at an avert _ gamma of 2 0, 1 have experienced results equal in quality to standard 35 mm. Printing the Sound Track on 16 mm is a job of accuracy and precision, especially the initial problem of setting focus and optical system, once again in terms of 1000th parts of an inch. This is the job of a skilled mechanic. Working to an average positive track density of 10 to 110 on variable area. I find very good results can be obtained. As faults in original recording are exaggerated on optical reduction it is impossible to make a good 16 mm trackprint unless the 35 mm track negative is good, and \<\ that 1 mean a negative track with p srfe ■■ modulation, not over-shot and of correct density. The Laboratory welcomes a track negative of this description for optical reduction. Better quality sound can be obtained when the recordist knows that 16 mm optical tracks are to be made from his 35 mm negative: he then modulates accordingly. The system of re-recording sound on 16 mm gives excellent results. It would be interesting to know what are likely to be the trends in sound reduction printing. Some technicians stand by optical reduction, others prefer re-recording. Demands in the future on 16 mm reduction printing departments should still further men . Schools, Governmenl Departments, factories and main other bodies will be usin^r sub-standard films. Our aim should be to improve the teclmii al quality by research and exchange of ideas. To help in this re'sped 1 sugges! that technicians prepare technical articles on 16 mm reduction pro tor publication in The Cine-Technician. Personal Paras Wedding bells were rung lor Miss E. Harvej and Mr. Vernon Morris oi the Loyal Navy in June at Hayes. Main people in both studios and labs will join me in wishing them a happ\ and long