Home Movies (1944)

• Fig. I — View of interior of home-made camera blimp showing RCA • Fig. 2 — Blimp weighs 12 pounds, is constructed wholly of wood and sound sound camera mounted in place on sound-proof semi-floating coupling. absorbing wool and cork, and is complete with built-in sunshade. M AMATEl RS ADVEATl RE WITH There's More To Making A Sound Film Than Setting Up Camera And Microphone And Shooting The Scene L (IKE many an ambitious movie maker, I long had dreamed of the seemingly distant day when I should be able to make 16mm. movies in sound. Then one day, there came an opportunity to purchase an RCA 16mm. newsreel model sound camera. This is one of the first sub-standard sound cameras that appeared on the market. The newsreel model is so-called because the microphone is built into the camera, enabling the photographer to speak and record the narration as he films. I soon discovered this camera had many limitations which did not fit in with my ambitious program of movie making. How I added to and improved this camera to enable it to record better sound is an interesting story I believe will interest other movie amateurs. The first pictures I made with this camera were very good photographically, but the sound was scarcely audible even when the projector amplifier was turned on full. Several tests proved that my difficulty was in obtaining correct modulation. There is no means of controlling volume in the newsreel model PCA camera and this, as every one knows is a "must" where acceptable sound tracks on films are expected. One of my first experiments was to rig up a small 5 inch speaker in a soundproof housing and mount it in back of the camera in front of the camera microphone grill. The speaker was connected directly to a small radio which served as amplifier and into which was connected a standard crystal microphone. In this way, the mike could be placed conveniently near players in a scene. Thus their voices would be picked up by the mike and carried to the camera microphone by means of the amplified sound from the improvised speaker. In other words, the camera microphone picked up the pre-amplified sound broadcast by the speaker. This method enabled me to control sound volume. Between the crystal microphone and speaker, a volume control indicator and monitoring headphones were added. Of course, this new improvement now made it necessary to use an assistant whenever shooting pictures. Making sound pictures now called for a man to operate the camera and one to handle the sound system, volume control, etc. While the assistant handled the camera. I slipped on the head phones, turned on the amplifier, adjusted the voice leve! indicator, and made volume control adjustments as the pictures were taken. The first picture thus made proved a decided improvement over the old method, and definitely demonstrated the need for controlling volume for good sound results. I soon discovered that best sound results in shooting dramatized pictures could never be achieved even with these improvements. I then learned that my RCA camera could readily be adapted for use with separate microphones through installation of a special galvanometer unit available from the manufacturer and which was interchangeable with the built-in microphone. This was ordered together with a special amplifier and a new microphone. With this new equipment installed, I anxiously made tests, only to discover new bugs in the galvanometer and the amplifier system. Consultation with an expert sound technician soon put everything right and eventually I recorded and photographed a roll of film that was pretty near perfect. By this time, my Long Beach Cinema Club associates and I were making all kinds of plans for super-duper sound productions. We decided we'd need other professional-like equipment such as a microphone boom, several microphones, camera truck, etc. The boom and truck I constructed myself and these may be seen in use in Fig. 4, which is a production still from one of mv late sound films "Barroom Butterfly." The microphone boom is entirelv of wood construction. There is a cross 232