The international photographer (Jan-Dec 1937)

Eighteen The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER March, 1937 AMATEUR52S0ECTION *EdH:<ici by T. H^ntil-ton Riddel ilU^ "TALKIES" ON 16 MM. FILM— A SUCCESS Part I Autht By A. P. Hollis Motion Pictures for Instruction" FACTS march on, most impudently, and trample theories underfoot. Back in 1930 we were loath to acknowledge that sound could be photographed on a strip of 35 mm. film, and reproduced in a movie projector. But it happened gloriously, and banished forever the clumsy attempts at synchronizing with phonograph records. For many years the new "talkies" remained the supreme possession of the theatres. eliminating the sprocket holes on one side of the film. Thus, "strange as it seems," the 16 mm. sound film reproduction is not so far from the sound quality of the 35 mm. as might have been expected — and schools, business firms, etc., using the smaller sound units, find that they can have a complete talkie unit — projector, loud speaker, and amplifier, small and light enough to be carried in two suitcases, and with both sound and picture indistinguishable by the ordinary person from regular theatre performances. I think I will be pardoned for referring in this discussion to the machines with which I am most familiar — namely, the DeVry line. It goes without saying, that other firms are producing also, widely used apparatus of this character, and teachers and business firms contemplating the use of 16 mm. sound equipment should investigate the whole field, secure demonstrations of the various types, and select what they regard as the best for their purpose. New "Professional" Steadiness to the Picture In 1935 another advance in 16 mm. projection was announced by Herman A 16 mm. "Talkie" Equipment Being Operated in a School Room by a Student. Advent of 16 mm. Sound-on-Film Then, as usual, the amateurs began to cry for it — but were told that a sound strip could never be photographed on the narrow space left at the side of the tiny picture on a 16 mm. film. However, the film makers produced a finer grain emulsion, and it was also found that the small 16 mm. film could be run through a projector successfully using perforations along one side of the film only, instead of the two sets of perforations required in the larger 35 mm. film. This left space for the sound track almost as wide as that of the 35 mm. film. As shown in Figure 1, I have placed a 35mm strip of sound film, (variable density), flat on its face and marked off the perforations, sound track, etc. Directly under it I have placed a strip of 16mm. sound film in such a way that one edge of the sound track coincides with one edge of the track of the 35mm. film. The difference in width of the two sound tracks can scarcely be seen with the naked eye. It appears as a fine white line at the left of the 16 mm. sound track. The actual difference as laid down by S. M. P. E. is the difference between .100 of an inch and .080 — which is .020 — about the thickness of a piece of very thin cardboard. There is, however, a very considerable difference in the vertical dimensions of the markings on the two tracks due to the reduction in area. The diagram shows that at least so far as width of track is concerned, there is very little difference. This extra width as explained before, was gained by i.j?* ■ wt tit*^' \m . \M k ' w***~. r ; -f&jj .fJR ' jm <^^^^ »ff m~ 9 ■ , MA t H Fig. 1 A. DeVry, Inc. In that year DeVry succeeded in doing something in the