Film and TV Technician (1957)

March 1957 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN 43 A Technician's Notebook REVISED EXPOSURE STANDARD THE British Standards Institution has issued a revised British Standard for Photographic Exposure Tables. This standard first appeared in 1941 as a War Emergency Standard following upon a request from the Admiralty In 1947 a new standard on speed and exposure index of photographic negative material was published and it was, therefore, necessary to revise the one dealing with exposure tables. At the same time the exposure values were brought into line with the corresponding American Standard and this involved an increase in the exposure obtained from the tables. This increase was generally considered in this country to be too large and it was explained in an amendment that the scene indices for black and white negative material incorporated a safety factor of 4 to guard against the likelihood of under-exposure due to errors in scene estimation and to deterioration of emulsions. Recent experience in America has confirmed the British view that this safety factor was too high, and the American Standard was recently revised to incorporate reduced safety factors and a modified scene structure classification. The new British Standard maintains the alignment with the American standard. There have also been other changes : provision is made for the more logical series of shutter speeds which is being included in the revised British Standard " Camera Shutters " now being prepared; and an appendix has also been added which gives an approximate table for converting the European Scheiner, Weston and DIN speed systems to the British Standard (logarithmic) and the American Standard (arithmetic) exposure index. Copies of this Standard, B.S. 935: 1957, can be obtained from the B.S. I., 2 Park Street, London, W.l. The price is 3/-. W. F. Dormer Ltd. inform me that the Camefiex hire service they started several months ago with one camera has proved so popular that they now have four outfits available, with camera crews if needed. Two of the cameras are of the type which can be converted to shoot 16mm. in a matter of By A. E. Jeakins seconds. With 16mm. film lenses down to 13.5mm. can be used, with 35mm. film an 18.5mm. lens is provided. The range of lenses extends upwards to one of 500mm. focal length. There is a choice of sync, or wild motors, and one outfit is fitted with a contactor for the Leevers-Rich Syncropulse sound system. A blimp is available when needed. Magazines of 100, 200 or 400 feet capacity can be supplied. Equipment for special applications — for example time lapse, remote control, underwater photography, etc. can be provided. Recently I gave some details of a " mirror " screen being developed in Poland which enabled pictures to be projected under normal room lighting conditions. The "American Cinematographer " reports experimental development of a radically new type picture screen that makes possible the viewing of television and motion pictures in artificially or naturally lighted rooms, by the Radio Corporation of America. It is reported that the new screen makes possible increases of up to 20 to 1 in picture contrast under adverse ambient light conditions. The R.C.A. screen has a honeycomb structure, consisting of a network of tiny, interconnecting cells. It is made of aluminium foil, 001 inch thick; cell width, length and depth can be varied to produce a range of viewing angles. For motion picture use the screen, or " directional viewing device " as it is called, can be mounted in front of the theatre or home screen or it can be made complete with a backing screen. For TV use the device would be placed directly in front of the receiver. Last December the Hollywood plant of Technicolor Ltd. passed the 5,000 million mark in processed footage. Most of this footage was accounted for in the form of 35mm. positive colour prints manufactured by the Technicolor imbibition process. More Technicolor prints have been made of Gone With the Wind than of any other picture : 2,000 in fact, totalling round about 41,000,000 feet. ("American Cinematographer"). NEW ORGANISER Tj^RED TONGE, a Trade Union * Organiser with thirty years' experience in the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, has joined the staff of A.C.T.T. as a temporary Organiser. He started his Trade Union activities as Branch Secretary at Swindon. In 1939 he transferred to London, and two years later he became Secretary of the Paddington Branch. In 1943 he was elected to the National Executive of the T.S.S.A., serving on the Negotiating Committee. He also served for fifteen years on the Superannuation Committee and for ten years on the Sectional Council, which deals with conditions of employment apart from nationally negotiated agreements. Between 1943 and 1956 he represented the T.S.S.A. at the T.U.C. and the Labour Party Conferences. He has been a member of Trade Union delegations to Belgium, Austria, Czechoslovakia and the U.S.S.R. He stood as Parliamentary Labour candidate for Chelsea in 1950 and 1951. In 1952 he was elected to the L.C.C. for South Hammersmith. This constituency disappeared under the re-distribution of 1955. In 1956 he was elected an Alderman of St. Pancras Borough Council.