Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

December 6, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD -WORLD 17 Hissing and Scratching Ended By New Process, Asserts Erpi Declared Greatest Advance in Talking Pictures in Four Years Photographers of New York Local Pick Sttrpn&e President Additional Equipment and Changes in Recording System (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, Dec. 4.— At a meeting of Local 644 of the International Photographers Union, with headquarters in NewYork, the following officers were elected for the year 1931: President, Walter Strenge; first vice president, Ulyate K. Whipple; second vice president, Harry Harde; third vice president, Willard Vander Verr; treasurer, Frank Kirby; secretary, Walter A. Lang; sergeantat-arms, Frank Landi; trustee for a threeyear period, William Miller. The new executive board is composed of the following members: George Folsey, William Steiner, Lawrence Williams, Charles Downs, Lester S. Lang, Ray Foster, George W. Peters, Joseph Seiden, Walter Scott, Herman Lutz, Hugo Johnson, Willard VanderVeer, Tom Hogan, Carl Larsen. Francis E. Zeisse continues as business agent of the local, which has a registration of 250 members. Warner Begins Two New Houses in N. J., 3rd in Pennsylvania (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, Dec. 4.— Warner Brothers plans the construction of three new theatres, two in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania, with construction due to start not later than January 1, 1931. The new house in Hackensack, N. J., for which contracts are now being let, will seat 1,800, and is said to be planned as a pretentious motion picture theatre. Thomas W. Lamb, who designed the Hollywood theatre on Broadway, is the architect. The Perth Amboy house will also seat 1,800, with John Eberson as architect in charge of construction. In connection with the theatre building, there will be a commercial structure containing business offices. The third house is to be erected in Wilkinsburg, Pa. Bids are now being received for the construction work, with Eberson again in charge. Business Firm's Juvenile Shows Trouble Exhibitors (Special to the Herald-World) DAYTON, OHIO, Dec. 4— Local exhibitors have a source of more or less competition from pictures shown exclusively for children in the auditorium of the National Cash Register Company building here each Saturday morning. The juvenile audience is served with refreshments. Unsuccessful Attempt Made to Burn Theatre (Special to the Herald-World) HERRICK, ILL., Dec. 4. — An unsuccessful attempt was made recently to burn the Herrick theatre here, which is operated by Wellington Bolt. Rags and excelsior were piled in the attic and set on fire, but the blaze was discovered soon after. Bring Increased Sensitiveness to Sound (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, Dec. 4. — Introducing a new system of recording sound to eliminate hissing, scratching and all other extraneous sounds, Electrical Research Products claims for its latest process the greatest advance in talking pictures in the last four years. The first picture using the system, which is known as "The Western Electric New Process Noiseless Recording," is Paramount's "The Right to Love," starring Ruth Chatterton and soon to be released. Many major producers, says Erpi, soon will be using the process, developed in its West Coast laboratories. Years of experiment by sound engineers to eliminate the "ground noises" marring perfect enjoyment of talking pictures have brought about the new system. It is declared that now one can record and reproduce in theatres the faintest of sounds without having them "masked" or covered up by extraneous sounds. Every syllable of even the softest spoken words, whispering and sobbing now will become clearly audible, according to the engineers, with greater realism as the result. "One of the major problems confronting sound engineers has been the extension of the volume range of sound recording and reproducing," according to H. G. Knox, engineering vice president of Electrical Research. "This means the ability to reproduce both louder and softer sounds. "There are, of course, two ways of widening the volume range in recording and reproducing. One is the recording and reproducing of higher volumes, which means the handling of louder sounds. One obvious way to do this is by increasing the amplifier power and the capacity of the loud speakers to handle it. This presents practical difficulties in that it would require new and more powerful theatre equipment. The second method is to broaden the volume range by making it possible to record and reproduce sounds of lower volume. To do this necessitates reducing the extraneous electrical, mechanical and photographic noises heretofore recorded which mask or cover up the desired sounds. Increased Sensitiveness "In the theatre this means simply the refinement and better maintenance of its sound equipment. In recording it means the reduction of the electrical and mechanical background noises commonly called 'ground noises'' so that every syllable of very soft sounds, such as whispering and sobbing will become clearly audible. One hushed gasp out of utter stillness mav climax a dramatic crisis. A Philadelphia Has New German Theatre (Special to the Herald-World) PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 4.— A new all-talking German motion picture theatre, formerly known as the Little theatre, called the Deutsches Kino, has been opened in this city. The opening screen attraction is "Zwei Herzen." single low word after a long silence will startle the waiting audience. It is the successful solution of this problem that makes the new Western Electric process of noiseless recording possible. "The new method of recording requires some additional equipment and changes in the present recording system, which produce a tremendous increase in sensitiveness to sounds that are to be recorded. A number of the principal producers are already equipping their studios to take advantage of the improvement. "Motion picture audiences are well aware of the hissing or scratching sound which becomes audible as soon as the sound apparatus is switched on. In other words, during the silent introductory title of a picture everything is quiet. Just before the recorded portions of the film start, listeners are warned of the coming sound by the scraping ground noise coming from the screen. While in good recording this ground noise is not particularly offensive, it nevertheless means that any whispers or low level sounds on the film must be raised artificially to a relatively high volume if not to be masked by the noise of the system itself. During normal dialog or music the presence of the ground noise fades to relative unimportance and, of course, during loud dialog or heavy passages of music it is completely covered up. It is therefore a question of making 'silence' silent. Higher Standard Demanded "While the problem can be simply stated, the method of its solution has been many years in the making. At last, however, the film recording machine has been so modified that all audible evidences of its mechanical nature have been removed and under the new Western Electric process it is now possible to record the lowest whispers in thrilling silence. Fortunately this innovation comes at a time when audiences are demanding more realistic sound and at a time when producers are using: less dialog and more silence. To be effective the silence must be complete. During dramatic periods the expression will soon be true* that 'it was so quiet that one could hear a pin fall' — even in a talking picture theatre. "As with every startling improvement, higher standards of performance are involved. A standard of developing and printing of films higher than the already exacting technique of sound pictures is demanded. The reproducing equipment in theatres will likewise require most careful grooming and maintenance if it is to handle noiselessly pictures recorded in this new way. By and large, however, noiseless recording is the greatest advance in talking pictures in the last four years." Government Film on Asbestos Mining WASHINGTON. — In cooperation with a commercial concern, a one-reel educational film entitled, "Asbestos, the Magic Fibre," has been prepared by the Bureau of Mines, Department of Commerce. It depicts the mining and uses.