Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

April 12, 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World 119 THE OLD AND THE NEW IN one of the pamphlets issued by that excellent body, the Projection Advisory Council, I made note of this statement: “Various agencies and individuals have worked in the past to improve projection conditions, but the efforts of the Projection Advisory Council will be more collective and concentrated.” Well, now, gentlemen, with that statement I cannot altogether agree. Just what the Council had in mind when the statement was made I, of course, cannot know, but I do feel called upon to say that the work of this department and its editor, begun in 1908, has been pretty thoroughly “collective and concentrated.” During the 20 years of its life, it has had on its staff a very large number of projectionists in all parts of the world, including New Zealand, Australia, England, Norway, Russia and even China. Some of these men have been, and now are recognized as, among the finest projectionists in all the world. This department, therefore, most emphatically has not been the work of any one individual (though an individual had to head the work, gather the facts, analyze them and make them available, which will be equally true of the Projection Advisory Council). The work of this department has been almost altogether “collective.” Its results are “concentrated” in the “Bluebook of Projection,” which is respected all over the English speaking world and is even used to some extent in lands using foreign tongues. That is just plain, cold FACT. Now, please don’t get the foolish idea that I am criticising the Projection Advisory Council. Most emphatically, I am not! To the contrary, I am most friendly to it, believing its work will have high value. The Council made me a life member some while since, though for some reason, best known to its sponsors, your Timble editor was omitted from its official family. However, I am not in the least disgruntled by that fact. BLUEBOOK THE ROBERT W. CRICKMORE, projectionist, Newport, Wash., writes interestingly as follows: “I am not dead, Friend Richardson, but have been so deeply buried in putting forth my best effort in the projection of sound pictures that I have done little else for some while. When sound came along I just settled right down to climb the hill, starting at its bottom. I hitched myself to the load called study. It was a pretty desperately hard pull for a while. It’s a long way to the top, too, but I know I can make it, as other projectionists are doing. “In common fairness, I will say right here that after studying Volume 3 of the Bluebook, sound projection problems became a lot easier. Friend Manager and I have gone to the mat on sound, but My hands are very full as it is, and I have reached a stage of life (63) when I am very willing that the younger men shall have the “honors”— and do some of the work. THIS department repeats its former assertion that it, its editor and the “Bluebook of Projection,” most cordially welcomes into the field of projection anything which it is felt gives promise of being of benefit to the profession of motion picture-sound projection. The American Projection Society was one thing which gave and still gives such promise. The American Projectionist was and is another. The Projection Advisory Council is still another. These are the three things which have entei-ed the field not based purely upon the hope or expectation of financial gain. They are the three things which entered the field more or less with the idea of helping projection, financial gain being either wholly disregarded or very largely in the nature of a side issue. As a matter of fact, I have for some while believed that when the time comes that the American Projection Society is financially able to stand an expense of something like $5,000 a year for a really able paid secretary or business representative, it will blossom forth into an organization which will have very, very large value. The profession certainly has need of it, and even hampered by absurdly inadequate finances, it has already accomplished much good work. Well, all things come in time if we have patience. With the I A T S E & M P M O to take care of working conditions (as it is doing admirably) and with the American Projection Society to take care of educational affairs and provide social contact among the better class men, and with the Projection Advisory Council to carry forward such other work as may seem necessary and advisable, we are now well supplied with organizations, so all is well in that field. BASIS OF FACTS all I do is show him exactly what I have based my argument on and he gives up. Volume 3 of the Bluebook supplies the basis of facts, in understandable form, and they always win in an argument. “One particular case comes to mind : When we first installed sound, the horns were placed immediately behind the screen, which was the same we had used for silent pictures. Results, just plain punk! I argued with the manager that they be changed, but he would have none of it. Then I showed him Volume 3 of the Bluebook; also I showed it to the service engineer, who agreed with it — and me. Then we re-set them. Sound 100 per cent improved, and the manager admitted he was wrong, after reference to that Volume 3 settled our arguments. “Sound film has been in use about one and a half years. I have received sound film marked for warnings and for changeovers. I have found tin foil pasted on the films. The projectionist who really wants to get ahead and to put out the best possible show as an evidence of his ability and sincerity in his work, is compelled to suffer for the carelessness and laziness of those others who mutilate film merely to save themselves the trouble of making a cue-sheet and watching for cues. “The top of the ladder of projection is reached by climbing, round by round but it would seem that the men who punch holes in film, make scratch mark changeover signals, etc., know of no ‘ladder’ or ‘top.’ Their zero hour is the hour they go on duty. Their ‘top’ is the time they go off duty, and their heaven is pay day. “Wishing to offer a bit of help, I herewith inclose a few rules which may be of value to some of the men if they file them for reference:” RULES FOR CALCULATING SIZE and speed of Pulleys. TO FIND DIAMETER OF DRIVER. — Multiply number of revolutions of driven by its diameter and divide product by number of revolutions of driver. TO FIND DIAMETER OF DRIVEN. — Multiply number of revolution of driver by its diameter and divide product by number of revolution of driven. TO FIND REVOLUTIONS OF DRIVEN SHAFT. — Multiply diameter of pulley on drive-shaft by its number of revolutions and divide product by diameter of pulley on driven shaft. Reverse above rule to ascertain number of revolutions of drive-shaft. SMALL ERROR IT is almost impossible to get out such a book as the “Bluebook” without some error creeping in. Very few have been found in Volume 3, but Robert Baker, projectionist of the Regal theatre in Elvins, Mo., has just pointed out the fact that the “1/18 of a second” in Line 14, Page 1,012 of Volume 3, should be “l/24th of a second.” I don’t know just how so obvious an error got past me, but it did. Owners of Volume 3 will kindly make the correction in pencil, as indicated. Incidentally, Friend Baker says: “I recently purchased the three volumes of ‘Bluebook of Projection.’ Have studied quite a bit of each volume and almost all of Volume 3, which is devoted to sound recording, reproduction and projection. The books already have proven their value to me. It is my ambition to be a projectionist and not merely a machine operator, as you define the dilference between the two.” I am grateful to Baker for pointing out the error. He is entirely right in desiring to be a motion picture-sound projectionist rather than merely a “moving picture machine operator.” There really is a vast difference, which shows up both on the screen and in the overhead expense of projection.