The film daily year book of motion pictures (1937)

picture iields of producing films or manufacturing equipment, but also the fields of education, sales and other propaganda, etc.. and ultimately the mass of the populace who learn from, or are entertained by. the pictures projected from such films and by such equipment upon the screens of the country. Much of the credit for this achievement extends back to the administration of Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, President of the Society for three years, who was instrumental in establishing the Sectional Committee on Motion Pictures under the American Standards Association, and to the administration of Homer G. Tasker, during whose two years as President of the Society the international activities have rr.ade marked progress. Credit must also be given to the various companies, technical organizations, and individuals who have contributed splendidly to the work, and (o George Friedl, Jr., who represented the American Standards Committee at the international conferences held at Paris and Berlin in 1935. All these activities bespeak great development of the principle of coordination, not only within the borders of our own nation but throughout the entire world. Another evidence of this growth is the growth of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers even as regards its membership, which now has reached a high peak for all time, and is steadily growing at the rate of several hundred members a year. Another evidence of the fact that the entire world is "getting together" on motion picture problems is found in the wide distribution of the SMPE Standard Visual and Sound TestReels, which were developed by the Projection Practice Committee of the Society three years ago. During the intervening time hundreds of reels had been sold, the distribution being, roughly about equally divided between America and Europe. Interest lies not so much in the fact that all those who are purchasing the reels are striving to improve their equipment, technique, processes, and results, as it is that they are all trying to do so according to the same "yardstick," the same basis of measurement and comparison, the same criterion, or datum. By virtue of the international distribution of the test-reels to all the important film, equipment, and producing companies of the world, all tests made with the reels agree with one another. Conformity of results is achieved and a criterion for judging quality and performance of equipment is available, which is as of great importance in establishing the quality of sound motion pictures as is the platinum-iridium bar reposing in a vault at Washington in establishing the length of the meter. An important step has been taken by the Sound Committee of the SMPE in establishing a special Primary Frequency Standard, as a basis according to which the large recording laboratories of the country may be able to recognize differences occurring in the quality of their recordings, from one studio to another. thus leading to prompt discovery and correction of the underlying causes of such variations and nonuniformity. The Projection Practice Committee of the Society is engaged in further attempts at coordination, laying the groundwork for the development of a projection code for theaters, which, it is hoped, may ultimately be adopted by all the States of the country, if not entirely, at least in respect to its salient features. State regulation of projection and projection rooms has in the past been a very haphazard, contradictory, and in many instances very arbitrary procedure. The laws of the States conflict among themselves, and even with municipalities within the States. Such a difficulty requires correction, and little argument is necessary to establish the great importance of the work upon which the Projection Practice Committee has embarked. Supplementing the work of coordination already described, the work of the Projection Screen Brightness Committee is directed toward establishing reference bases of brightness for the picture projected in the theaters of the country, just as the Sound Committee has established its basis of judging the recording and reproduction of sound. Other Committees of the Society are proceeding in similar directions, and all taken together illustrate clearly the transition of the state of the motion picture industry described at the beginning of this article from sporadic, haphazard, and widely separated, independent efforts, to a vast network of coordination and collaboration, the focus of which lies in such organizations as the SMPE. Although the depression had its effect upon the SMPE, just as upon all other organizations and companies, the Society was able to continue wi h its work. For a time retrenchment was necessary, and a diminution occurred in the membership despite the fact that dues were lowered and an additional grade of membership established that would place membership in the Society within the reach of everyone. Fortunately, however, the Society was able to weather the storm very success fully, hardly without furling its sails to any extent, and at the present time the future looks bright and promising. There are some corners of the industry to which the Society has not yet penetrated; not because the Society has net tried, but because those in those branches of the industry do not appear to be very receptive to technical assistance and guidance. If is a most remarkable fact that although the keystone of the motion picture industry lies in the box-office of the theater, the managers of the theaters seem to disregard utterly any engineering technicalities connected with the performances given to the patrons who pay their mites at the box-office. Why that should be, is not very well understood. The exhibitor should know what he is selling. A great effort is being made, and will con 851