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

lay 10, 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World 58 BETTER PROJECTION \ Department Conducted for the Projectionist and the Exhibitor By F. H. RICHARDSON I NEW STYLES IN EFFECTS Photograph of London, England, projectionists gathered at the works of Charles H Champion, Ltd., manufacturers of carbons. A mighty fine bunch of men, if you ask me. What’s that? Who are the ladies? I don’t know, but if they are projectionists, I’m going to move right over to that “right little, tight little isle.” Your editor talks to these men, and hundreds of others, each week through “The Bioscope” of London. I hope some of these days to get over to meet these people. OUR old and valued friend Harry Rubin, supervisor of projection for publix Theatres, has much nore than amply proven himself not inly to possess executive ability but he tas creative skill in no small measure, tubin is a man who says little and works i whole lot. Moreover he has that 'acuity for selecting capable assistants vithout which no executive can possibly succeed in any large way. Rubin and his staff have recently developed some new effects to the point Where they are invaluable in the creation of an appropriate atmosphere for the introduction of motion picture productions. One consists in decorative designs projected to the screen and used with ibrgan solos, overtures, acts, etc. They also form appropriate and beautiful designs for seasonal subjects and for i“coming attractions” trailers, or they may also be used to enhance the beauty pf selected sequences of film subjects. These effects have been found to be very economical in application. They provide an assortment of design, limited jionly by the library of subjects which iihave been already made up, or which may be made up especially or in the future. There is a very wide range of ■colors which may be employed to beautify the effects thus produced. For some while I have been closely watching the gradual development of these novel and beautiful effects, which have been used in the Publix theatres of New York and Brooklyn. I understand they are now being used in all the great chain of Publix theatres. I was particularly impressed by one of the effects Friend Daughter and I viewed recently in the Rivoli theatre on the Great White Way. It is no easy task to describe such a thing adequately, but I will word-paint it as best I may. At the start of the show, a Magnascope screen came into view which, as you doubtless know, fills the entire proscenium opening. On the lower part of this screen, probably 35 feet wide by about nine feet high, appeared a sound motion picture of a large orchestra playing an overture. Above this the rest of the great screen was filled with an effect design projected by a Brenograph. It consisted of a series of light rays radiating from a common center. As the orchestra played, the light rays were made to assume various shades of color tones. It was not just one solid change but represented a wide variety of colors at all times. The effect was most charming. The range of color changes seemed almost infinite, though of course it was necessary to use only such shades as would secure a proper blending of color tones. I have obtained a detailed description of the methods and apparatus used. First of all, Publix has available slides in about 170 original designs. It was, I am informed, found necessary to employ many different artists in the making of new and original drawings, to the end that there be sufficient variety and originality to meet all needs. These designs are in sets of two, one of which is known as the positive, and one as the negative. They are used in pairs, projected by a Brenograph, which, as you know, has two optical systems with a dissolving apparatus. The two slides, positive and negative, are first placed in the Brenograph slide carriers and adjusted for perfect registration on the screen. A gelatine of one color is interposed between the negative slide and the lens, and a gelatine of contrasting color is interposed between the positive slide and the lens. The positive design is really a positive print of an original drawing made especially for effect use. The negative design is the same as the positive, except that the whites and the blacks are reversed. By using dissimilar colors with these two slides in registration on the screen, the resultant combined design will appear in colors, the exact shading of which will be determined by the transparency of the various areas of the two slides. The two designs may be put upon the screen simultaneously, or if desired, one may be projected first. This will produce one effect, and then by adding the other slide, an entirely different effect is had. It also is possible by proper selection of colors to produce either a day or a night effect or a gradual change from one to the other, either way. In the design I have described, a color wheel was utilized to produce the color changes. In producing such effects it is never advisable to show a blank screen, either at the start or the finish. If the screen, when idle, is covered with a curtain, the best effect is obtained by projecting the effect onto the curtain just prior to its opening, so that when the curtain opens a beautiful effect is displayed to the audience. In closing, it is only necessary to reverse that procedure, leaving the effect to be faded out only when the curtain has been entirely