International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1939)

S.M.P.E. Convention Program Marked by Advance Technical Data BIG TIME engineering activity, rather than practical theatre operating problems, held the spotlight at the Society of Motion Picture Engineers Convention held at Hotel Pennsylvania, N. Y. City, Oct. 16-19. Current progress in many branches of industry technical endeavor, ranging from intricate sound scrambling machines down through three-dimensional pictures to simplification of the Technicolor photographic process, lent to the Convention an air of futuristic forecasting. As usual, the Convention afforded an opportunity for many informal discussions among delegates from widely scattered points — luckily for the large projection delegation on hand to whom the program cannot be said to have been of absorbing interest. At the opening business session it was revealed that, while the Society affairs in general are in excellent shape, the European War has occasioned the loss of not a few foreign members. Society finances are in good shape, it was disclosed, which status was not altered by this latest Convention. • New Officers Elected The Convention marked the retirement after years of service of Dr. Loyd A. Jones (Eastman) as Engineering Vice-President; he was succeeded by D. E. Hyndman (Eastman) ; A. S. Dickinson (Hays office) and James Frank, Jr. (National Theatre Supply Co.) were re-elected financial vice-president and secretary, respectively; R. A. Strock (Eastern Service Studios) was CYCLEX PROJECTION SYSTEM (Continued from preceding page) phase relation between the sine waves of the current supply and the shutter openings is maintained, there will be no flicker; but if the current should alter or the shutter opening shift by as much as 90 degrees, there would be a pulsation with a light change of 25%. Such an arrangement of synchronism and phase maintenance is entirely impractical. Around 96 cycles and 192 cycles, there is a band of frequencies which allow a considerable latitude of variations and in which the arc can be operated without the necessity of mechanically or electrically interconnected means of interlocking for maintaining definite speed relations. It is in the lower range that Cyclex is operated due to the simplicity of frequency conversion to this range. named treasurer, and Dr. A. N. Goldsmith and Herbert Griffin were returned as Governors. The initial session featured a paper by Dr. S. S. Stevens, Dept. of Psychology at Harvard University. The problems of sound distortion encountered in recording and reproducing and sound for the movies always before have been handled by scientific improvements within the equipment used in the studio and the theatre projection room. Dr. Stevens' researches are an attempt to study the problem from a new angle by discovering what amount of sound distortion is set up within the ear itself. "By analyzing the minute electrical output of the ears of animals, and by SMPE Speech Gleanings Highlighting the oratorical efforts at the SMPE Convention were the following significant statements. By W. G. Van Schmus, managing director of the Radio City Music Hall, largest theatre in the world: "I wonder if you people know how it feels to have 6,000 patrons in an auditorium — and then have the sound go dead. This doesn't happen often at the Hall, naturally, but I confess that it constitutes my greatest fear." By Mayor F. H. La Guardia of N. Y. City: "I had expected that Mr. Van Schmus would name as his greatest problem the handling of the 72 Rockettes (world famous precision dancers). Even so, I doubt that Mr. Van Schmus knows what real trouble is; and in any event, I hereby offer to trade him 72 Commissioners for the 72 Rockettes." By Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, head of Technicolor: "Within one year I predict that Technicolor pictures will be taken in conventional motion picture cameras and with only a single negative film." indirect experiment on the human ear, we have been able to measure the amount of distortion produced by the ear itself upon simple sound waves," Dr. Stevens said. "We found that the amount of distortion which the human ear is just able to detect is intimately related to the amount of distortion occurring in the ear itself. Hence, the transmission characteristics of the ear determine the exact tolerances for distortion in sound reproduction." • IV. Y. Production Appeal Highlight of the get-together luncheon was the address by Mayor F. H. LaGuardia of N. Y. City who suggested W . & V. Circuit Projectionists Guests at SMPE Meet Dupbcating its performance of past years, Wilmer & Vincent Theatres gave additional prove of its sustained interest in good projection work, and also gave other circuits something to shoot at, by bringing to the New York meeting of the SMPE a group of its key projection men. All expenses paid by the circuit, of course. The W. & V. projectionists in attendance at the Convention, under the guidance of Supervisor Henry Behr, were Frank Sutton, Norfolk, Va.; Otis E. Bugg and F. M. Armstrong, Richmond, Va. ; Stewart Seifert and Charles Seifert, Easton, Pa.; Harold Conrad and Jim Rau, Allentown, Pa.; Leroy Talbot, Reading, Pa.; Paul F. Patterson, Harrisburg, Pa.; and Charles E. Brunner, Altoona, Pa. Credit for this intelligent managership move is due and hereby extended to General Manager J. D. Eagan of W. & V. Sidetrips to various places of interest were arranged for the group, including a visit, under the guidance of P. A. McGuire, to the International Projector Corp. plant. the return of at least a portion of picture production to N. Y. City. "This is no typical Chamber of Commerce appeal," said the Mayor, "but is a question posed in all seriousness. N. Y City offers everything that Hollywood does, including location spots, and then some, and in addition it is the undisputed art center of the world. Production certainly would be no cheaper, but N. Y. offers certain advantages not given to any other city in the world." The Mayor said that when in Hollywood he never visited the studios because he desired not to dispel the illusion created by motion pictures by knowing too much "behind-the-scenes" stuff. The session at the World's Fair grounds on Monday evening included a special after-hours demonstration of RCA television, a showing of two-channel recording and reproducing with steel tape by A. T. & T. engineers^ and J. A. Norling's three-dimensional motion pictures at the Chrysler Auditorium. The Norling described the making of a three-dimensional motion picture on double film with a camera having two polarized lenses, spaced apart to record the composite depth of vision obtained by human eyes. He then distributed polarized viewing glasses to the delegates with which they saw the completed motion picture at the Chrysler exhibit. One of the lenses in the viewing glasses is polarized to admit light vertically, and the other to admit light horizontally, so that each eye sees a (Continued on page 27) 14 IfSTERNATFOWi PROJECTIONIST