International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1936)

26 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST December 1936 all of them — thus making unfair the citation of only one manufacturer. The job at hand, as I. P. saw it and still sees it, was to effect improvement on the factory end. In any event, the name of the lamp appears in the aforementioned article, manifestly unfair though it be. I. P. welcomes contributions from readers on practical projection; yet the final decision as to their availability for publication must necessarily rest with the editor. If Mr. Patterson feels that he has been treated rather shabbily in this instance, I. P. can only express its sincere regrets. Anent the charge that consideration of advertising revenue influenced the decision not to publish Mr. Patterson's contribution, this statement is so manifestly unfair and so at variance with the facts as to require scant comment here. It is our opinion that from among the thousands of I. P. readers Mr. Patterson would find it extremely difficult to find even one or two who would agree with him in this opinion. — Ed. Lax Exchange Inspection No Aid to Good Projection I can't resist congratulating you on your recent article relative to projection room fires and the deaths resulting therefrom. Your reference to film that is "iun to death" was particularly acute. Recently we had a fine example of this. We received a print that was literally hacked to pieces, in addition to having long sections of dialogue missing. We wired for another print, which was in worse shape than the first one, except that no dialogue was missing. Evidently when it was rewound (it had the exchange seal although not initialled) the film was allowed to slap from side to side on the reel. It was then shipped in an upright case, with the weight of other reels on the bottom reels, which were in the worst condition. The edges were broken, necessitating the removal of much footage in order to ready for projection. Believe it or not, we elected to run the first print. Such an exchange should be penalized, I don't know by whom. Most exchanges think only of squeezing the exhibitor and of running a print to death until it falls apart. The remainder of your article was excellent and should be seen by every projectionist and manager. H. B. Smith West Springfield, Mass. Recommends Acetate Film as Protection Against Fire Your article "Five Recent Fire Deaths Stress Poor Equipment and Lax Regulation" in your last issue is commendable. I have spent more time and money in preaching the same subject than anyone else in the industry, and thereby have made some formidable enemies, including the film manufacturers and some producers. For years, I attended regularly the International Fire Marshall's conventions. I talked with the underwriters and also the local and state officials on the subject. I finally gave up the fight, as, after all, it's the public's concern more than my personal feeling as to what they want to do about it. I kept newspaper clippings on the subject for years — and the deaths from film fires run into hundreds; but the public seems unconcerned as long as it doesn't strike home. When I first started on the subject in 1914 I was, of course, more interested in the non-theatrical use of film than in the theatrical end of it; but I claimed then and do now claim that it was short-sightedness on the part of manufacturers of film to use nitrate base instead of acetate stock; that insurance costs, restrictions, vaults and, more important, the loss of life, many many times offset the trifling increase of cost of the acetate stock; and that the increase in the sale and consequent profit of safe film would so far outdo the nitrate stock that there would be no comparison. Eastman argued that everything is lovely now and we don't need it. No one but myself raised their voice in supporting acetate film. The moving picture film fires are not the only ones we have had. Hospitals and film exchanges have been blown up time and again, and still the industry tolerates inflammable film. You will never eliminate carelessness or accidents in the handling of film — the cause of 99% of the film fires. The answer is, make the film safe for the entire industry and simultaneously for kindred uses. That's the answer. Herman A. DeVry H. A. DeVry, Inc., Chicago. Given a good print, ample manpower, and projection equipment that is up to snuff, almost all theatres could compile an imposing safety record from film fires, even with nitrate stock. Deficiency in any of these respects constitutes' as much if not more danger than carelessness. — Ed. A Man Who Wants Action Your remarks in the October issue concerning "simplifying" the I. P. editorial content interested me when I first read it, and after reading the remainder of this issue, I still feel that you are hitting just about the right level of projectionist education and intelligence. Many of the articles are just above my level [of both e. and i.] and many far above, but as yet there has never been any too low. That may not prove very much, except that one reader feels that if the level is just above him, it will encourage him to reach for that level, and highly approves of such a condition. The standard seems to remain about the same and I know that study has made your magazine much more readable, understandable and therefore more valuable. The S. M. P. E. Conventions would be much improved by additional time for discussion of papers and for examination of equipment on exhibition. The Rochester Convention [my first] had a lot of the rush and roar of a fraternal or political pow-wow. Some of that may be needed, but enough is too much at a technical meeting that's supposed to be educational. Who can write a good discussion of projection room ventilation and when will the I. P. or S. M. P. E. give it publication? The worst ventilated theatre here recently closed for rebuilding. That's one way to get rid of some of the "black-hole" projection rooms, but it does put men out of work and there is no assurance that the rebuilt room will be much better. I. P.'s five years leave you an infant. I've heard of "operators" who have been "thuty yars in tha business" who never read any technical publication, not even I. P. But the most of us appreciate "our best publication" and wish for you many more years of even greater success — still sans congratulations. Frederick J. Closser L. U. 253, Rochester, N. Y. Several reports of the Projection Practice Committee of the S. M. P. E. have cited the requisites for acceptable ventilation of projection rooms. As with most other projection recommendations, the problem here is to gain acceptance by architects and by theatre owners. The large circuits are practically the only groups today which give careful consideration to projection room requisites in advance of construction. — Ed. FILM PRESERVATION DATA Excerpts from a report by the National Bureau of Standards anent the storage, preservation and handling of motion picture film are appended hereto: "The films have been studied by using extremes of temperature and moisture conditions as accelerated aging tests, and by putting them through various cycles of temperature and humidity conditions to find the optimum storage conditions. Tendency of the films to become brittle under such treatments has been studied by testing for decrease in folding endurance. Chemical deterioration of the film base has been tested for by finding whether any drop in viscosity of solutions of them, loss in weight, and increase in acidity occurs. In addition, the nitrate films have been tested for time required for acid fumes from the film to discolor a test paper on heating — a test used for gun cotton. "Film should be stored in air having a relative humidity of about 50 per cent. After they are used in the projection machine, they should be exposed to air of this humidity in such a way that the air has free access to all parts of the film, to restore moisture that may have been lost, and they should not be reused until moisture equilibrium has been obtained. This moisture condition plus a low temperature, not above about 50 °F, is suitable for prolonging the life of nitrate films. Such conditions have been recommended by the S. M. P. E. committee on film preservation. The films should be carefully wiped clean before being stored. "Study of the deterioration of the emulsion of nitrate films showed that the acid gas resulting from the decomposition of the film base is destructive to the emulsion, consequently it is recommended that vented containers be used for this type of film. For the same reason acid-resistant containers are necessary for storage of nitrate film. The acetate film presents no problem in these respects."