Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

FILM AND RADIO GUIDE WILLIAM LEWIN, EDITOR March, 1946 Volume XII, No. 6 16MM EXCHANGE PRACTICES Topsy's A Precocious Child Even Though She's Turvy BY B. A. AUGHINBAUGH Director, Slide & Film Exchange, State Department of Education, Columbus, Ohio No. 21: Film Widths As was to be expected, improvements in photo emulsions and lenses have combined to make the 16mm film a theatrical threat. One of the first noticeable reactions in this revolution (or as we see it, evolution) has been the effect upon film censorship. Most of the censorship laws were passed when there existed only 35mm film and the accepted footage unit was a reel of 1000-foot length. The unit for censor-review charges is therefore based on “a thousand feet of film or fraction thereof.” For this reason a thousand feet of any width of film today goes through at the same standard censor-rate. But approximately 400 feet of 16mm or 200 feet of 8mm film carry as much pictorial material as 1000 feet of 35mm, and they run the same length of time on the projector. Thus over two reels of 16mm and over four of 8mm get under the “wire” at the same censor charge as 1000 feet of 35mm. When sound was recorded on film, the recording companies made no such legal faux pas in fixing royalties. They based their royalties on “running time,” which is the same for all widths of film. These rates, however, do vary for theatrical and educational use. The rates of one recording company were, at one B. A. Aughinbaugh time, $200 per minute for theatrical recording and $100 per minute for educational. What these rates are now we can not say. The film-width situation has created other problems. With the advent of 16mm arc-light projectors, there have been opened 16mm theaters, and therefore the 16mm film no longer belongs solely to the educational field. Some schools, in need of extra funds, are also using their 16mm projectors for theatrical exhibitions in their auditoriums. Some of these theatrical shows are only for school children, but others admit the general public. This situation has brought a whisper from the theatrical field that there should be a film width for theatrical use between 35mm and 16mm; perhaps 20mm. This width would be used by small city theaters and theaters in small towns. This plan may prevent small theaters from deserting the big producers. That would be a most lamentable occurrence to them since it is such small theatres that make theatrical pictures profitable. These little fellows are the profitable “skimmed milk,” especially to the “independent,” or semi-independent, producers. Theatres of this type thrive considerably on the “gun-play” releases, which do not call for big production budgets. Their patrons are not too particular. Just so a saloon, or “hotel,” doesn’t appear too often on the same side of the street, these “ride-’em-cowboy” folks are not critical about the scenery. They never were particular about plots, if they ever knew what a plot was. Moreover, people who are so easy to please are not critical about what the highbrow “projectionist” styles “screen results.” So why “cast such pearls” before them, especially since a few millimeters will not make much difference if the screen area is kept ivithin the projection limits of the film tvidth being used? There is another consideration that must not be overlooked. By utilizing a film-width intermediate to 16mm and 35mm, the