Home Movies (1943)

HOME MOVIES FOR SEPTEMBER • Here's a portable outfit of unique design for playing records with home movies. Turntables are mounted one above the other within a stand that also houses amplifier, radio for speaker and serves as table for projector. Projector and turntable occupy space ordinarily required for projector alone. & ome ew in tiling, JSt vurntable Outfit* B y CURTIS T, HE problem of bulk and of excess weight in turntables as used in conjunction with showing home movies has been solved by one enterprising movie amateur, Kirk Lundwall of Salt Lake City. His compact, streamlined and portable record-playing outfit pictured above provides many noteworthy features, all of which, if adopted by other hobbyists, are certain to insure a wider use of dual-turntable equipment in the future. One reason many sound-minded movie amateurs are reluctant to use their turntables outside of their own home is because they're invariably too downright cumbersome to carry comfortably beyond the front gate. I've lugged a few of them around myself RANDALL and, until recently, always figured there was an anvil in the case to give the outfit ballast. But Lund wall's outfit seems to be the answer to the problem. When knocked down, it consists of three easyto-carry units. When assembled, it occupies less floor space than the conventional dual turntable. At the same time, it provides a rigid platform on which to place the projector with the added convenience of having the turntables in a handy position for convenient operation by the projectionist. About a year ago, Lundwall acquired a combination recorder-player, a preamplifier unit, and an extra turntable fitted with dual pickups. These he assembled into the usual type dual-turn table unit — the turntables mounted side by side in an over-size suit case type of carrying case. The outfit proved unsatisfactory. There was too much to move and so many parts and accessories to be carried each time the outfit was used away from home. Even for home use it was too cumbersome. The third time Lundwall used the equipment was the last. He decided to reconstruct it, make it more portable and easier for one person to transport. The revolutionary, multiplane turntable outfit pictured here resulted. This new outfit enabled Lundwall to easily carry everything necessary for screening movies with sound, in three compact carrying units including projector, sound outfit and screen. Moreover, it afforded a suitable stand of correct height on which to set the projector, something the average amateur invariably finds lacking when called outside his home to show pictures. The outfit provides for both sound recording and playing back of records for home movie projection. It can also be used as a public address system. The table was built of light plywood and is 30 inches high. Legs are 1 inch by 3 inch pine. Turntable boards are made of 2 inch plywood 15 by 18 inches. A removable cover over the top of the recorder unit serves as a platform for the projector. This feature does not hamper operation of the recorder nor of the playback facilities afforded bv each turntable. The two turntables are connected so that one may be faded into the other. On the lower turntable is an extra pickup, a valuable feature that enables shifting smoothly from one part of a recording to another. Lundwall has successfully screened movies with dialogue post-recorded on a disc so that the voices match the screen action with surprising accuracy. His method for concealing the lack of exact lip synchronization is not to play spoken dialogue scenes in closeups. Where need for dialogue is only occasional in a picture, music is played and when dialogue is to be spoken, the music record is faded out and the dialogue recording faded in. • Continued on Page 29b 284