International projectionist (Oct 1931-Sept 1933)

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FILM STOCK: ITS NATURE AND APPLICATION Super-Sensitive Panchromatic, Duplitized Positive Orthochromatic Negative, Tinted Positive — these are but a few of the many types of film stock available for use in motion picture production and reproduction work. Little more than a group of type names to most projectionists, the entire series of motion picture film stocks is classified and the various uses cited in this very interesting article. THE competent physician is familiar with the surgeon's instruments, even though he himself does no surgery. The projectionist deals only in finished film, but the thorough-going practitioner in projectionist ranks may welcome an opportunity to clinch his knowledge of the tools used by the surgeons of the motion picture industry — those who, dealing not directly with the public through projection, specialize in the operations that make pictures. Films of various types are the pliable tools of Hollywood and New York and Chicago. To satisfy projectionists' desires for fuller information about film, a glossary of the types, present and recent, is here offered. Orthochromatic Negative. Until the introduction of panchromatic motion picture film, orthochromatic negative was in universal use for outdoor work and studio work. "Color blind" film is sensitive only to the blue, the violet, and the ultra-violet rays reflected from any photographic subject. Orthochromatic, in addition, is sensitive to the yellow-green, but not to the red. . . . Orthochromatic has been almost entirely superseded by panchromatic types of film. Panchromatic Stocks Panchromatic Negative. Panchromatic film is sensitive to the red, as well as to the colors which affect orthochromatic film. Improved photographic rendition of tone values results from sensitivity of film to the whole visible spectrum. Upon its introduction, panchromatic negative was used principally for outdoor work. Panchromatic Negative, Type 2. Introduction of this film followed that of the original panchromatic. Greater speed made Type 2 "Pan" useful for studio work as well as out-of-doors, and this film quickly came into the most general use. Increased speed, in photographic terminology, means simply the ability to record an image with less light. Super-Sensitive Panchromatic, Type 2. Introduced not quite two years ago, this type of negative material has in turn very largely superseded previous types of negative material. About three times as fast as Type 2 "Pan" under artificial light, Super-Sensitive gives equal studio results with very much less light, thus reducing heat, glare, and cost in motion picture making. Greatly increased sensitivity to red light is responsible for the trebling of this film's speed under artificial light. Artificial light contains a higher proportion of red than does sunlight. But the fact that Super-Sensitive "Pan" is also faster out-of-doors has made it the most widely used all-purpose negative. In addition to the reduction of necessary lighting, the greater speed of this film makes greater "depth of focus" possible, which means that directors can move their actors about more freely without getting them out of focus. In spite of its great speed, Super-Sensitive "Pan" is even finer-grained than previous types. Super-Sensitive Panchromatic {Gray Backed). With the same emulsion qualities as the original Super-Sensitive "Pan", the gray-backed type of film is not subject to halation around bright lights or brilliant spots in the picture field. Positive. Theater prints are made on positive film with a nitrate base. Since speed is not an important factor in making prints, positive film is much slower than negative, with an emulsion composed of very fine silver-salt grains. The Sonochrome Series Tinted Positive. Before sound, tints were widely used for theater prints. With the advent of sound, the existing tinted positive became useless, because certain of the tints in the film base interfered with the passage of the light through the sound track to the photoelectric cell of the sound reproduction system. The Eastman Kodak Company overcame that obstacle by producing a series of seventeen "Sonochrome" tints [10] which had a minimum of obstructing effect on the useful light passing through the sound track. The purpose of the Sonochrome series of tinted films is to enhance, by inducing moods which are subconsciously associated with colors, the emotional significance of various scenes. Although gray, as projected by un tinted film, may deepen certain moods of the screen, the peaks of emotion are usually flattened off by gray ; whereas psychological ,tests have well established that colors do have certain consistent emotional effects. Positive (Acetate Base) . The so-called safety film is used for non-theatrical prints to be projected where no projection room is available. Duplicating Positive. To guard against loss, as well as to speed up the making of prints, it is common studio practice to make duplicate negatives from finished original negatives. Of course it is necessary that a duplicate negative shall give a print which is a facsimile of a print from the original negative. To that end, special film is necessary both for the duplicate negatives and for the master positive which is the intermediate material used in making duplicate •negatives. Duplicating positive film has a lavender base, which serves the purpose of reducing halation effects in printing and which also serves for identification. The emulsion is capable of giving very finegrained images with good contrast on full development. The "latitude" of the emulsion is such as to insure correct reproduction for the greatest range of tones likely to be met in an original negative. Duplicating Negative. With sufficient printer speed so that enough exposure can be obtained through the dense master positive without changing printer lamps^ duplicating negative film possesses, in common with duplicating positive, the qualities of latitude, fine-grained image with good contrast, and reduction of halation. In the case of duplicating negative, a yellow dye in the emulsion accomplishes the reduction of halation. Two-Color Prints Duplicate Positive. Coated with an emulsion on each side, this film is used for two-color prints. After a negative or two negatives, according to the process,.