International photographer (Jan-Dec 1935)

February, 1935 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen I VISIT ART REEVES By Charles Felstead When Art Reeves, the big boss of Hollywood Motion Picture Equipment Company, Ltd., invited me to inspect his laboratory at 645 North Martel Avenue, Hollywood, you may be sure that I was delighted ; for I remembered the very pleasant and interesting afternoon I had enjoyed on a former visit to his combined laboratory and machine shop. And I was not to be disappointed. Art Reeves himself met me at the door. It is hard to find a man who is more genial, more genuinely pleased to show a guest around and tell about the things his plant is accomplishing, or who is more intimately acquainted with the special problems confronting the motion picture photographer and sound man. His laboratory is devoted to the devising of ingenious ways and means of solving those special problems, and of overcoming the numerous mechanical and technical difficulties encountered in the making of motion pictures. One of the first things he showed me was a sound Moviola that he had just developed. It was the neatest and most compact machine of the sort that I had ever had the opportunity to inspect. The sound head with its attachments was bolted to a desk top and was hardly larger than a thick book. The amplifier and loud speaker were built into a cabinet that had been designed for a midget radio, and stood above the desk on a shelf. For those persons who may not be familiar with the sound Moviola, it may be described as a miniature motion picture sound projection machine that is intended principally for the use of a single person — the motion picture film editor, or "cutter." The sound portion of the film (the sound track) is drawn past an opening from which a light shines onto the sensitive surface of a photo-electric cell. The densities of the striations, or the amplitudes of the "saw teeth," of the sound track serve to vary the amount of light reaching the photo-electric cell when the film is drawn past the light aperture. This causes a variaion in the electrical output of the photoelectric cell which, after being stepped up in value by the audio-frequency amplifier, is converted into sound by the loud speaker. Unlike most other machines of this sort, the Reeves sound Moviola is operated by drawing the film through by hand instead of driving it with an electric motor. The elimination of the complicated motor drive usually employed with sound play-back devices of this type greatly simplifies the machine. For sound track editing, moving the film by hand is even more satisfactory than driving it by motor, for greater accuracy in locating points at which to cut the sound track is possible with the manually operated drive. Art Reeves then showed me a small portable densitometer that indicates the density (degree of opacity) of film directly on a meter that is connected to a Weston photo-electric cell. This device has not the same high degree of accuracy possessed by the standard densitometer ; but its compactness coupled with its ability to pro(Continued on Page 27) • From Pole to Pole with the EYEMO It is given to few to view in one lifetime the wastes of the arctic and antarctic, the sands of Sahara, the atolls of the Pacific. Yet the Eyemo 35mm. hand camera has seen them all. Between one explorer or another, one scientist and the next, one news gatherer or his colleagues, Eyemo has taken the world in its stride ; and this is because it is the one piece of equipment always able to make the trip! Its technically perfect results qualify it for every post, its maneuverability makes it a practicable piece of equipment. Spring motor, hand crank, or electric motor drive its mechanism. Loads with 100-foot daylight loading spools, or with 200and 400-foot external magazines. Seven film speeds (4 to 32 or 8 to 48, including sound speed). Variable area viewfinder. Three-lens turret. Write for descriptive booklet. BELL & HOWELL COMPANY 1849 Larchmont Ave., Chicago; 11 W. 42nd St., New York; 716 North La Brea Ave., Hollywood; 320 Regent St., London (B & H Co., Ltd.) Established 1907. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.