International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1946)

'If it Isn't qL Film . . / Old and new lighting methods admirably illustrated on "The Perils of Pauline" set, showing replica of early-type outdoor stage which utilized sunlight for a light source, diffused by muslin. Illumination here consists of banks of controllable carbon arcs. Technicolor camera is mounted on a travelling dolly; in early days it would hove been stationary. Q MOTIONALLY, the characters and the story are the most important factors in motion pictures, but technically the entire subject is based on means of controlling the intensity and color of light, A common phrase often heard in projection rooms all over the country is, "If the picture isn't on the film, you can't put it on the screen." A suitable addition to that true statement is, "If the light isn't on the motion picture set, you can't put the picture on the film." A motion picture is largely an appeal to the senses through vision, and vision is the ability to apprehend light and color. The success of modern cinematography is based upon the ability of the cinematographer to control the intensity and quality of light on the set much the same as a painter controls the color and amount of pigment he uses in his art. If the cinematographer be restricted in the use of proper lighting equipment, his finished product may appear like a skeleton, without flesh and color. Early Artificial Lighting for Sets In the early days of motion picture production sunlight was the only available light source and sets were photographed on open stages covered with muslin diffusers mounted on wires so they could be adjusted to control the light. Various types of reflectors were also used to redirect the rays from the sun and avoid heavy shadows on the faces of the characters and throughout the set. Because pictures were made in black-and-white the question of color quality was not so important as it is today where many pictures are produced in full color. However, the cinematographer was handicapped by wide variations in intensity and position of his sunlight source throughout the day, and during inclement weather he was unable to work at all. As a natural outgrowth of this technique, glass stages, similar to large greenhouses, were constructed and diffusers were installed as on the open stages. The reason for the glass stage was to permit the picture companies to operate during inclement weather; however, the advent of artificial lighting at about the same period made them obsolete and they were seldom used in the manner for which they were originally designed. The advantages of working under artificial light were so great that most of the sets built inside the glass stages were covered over with canvas, or other means were employed to exclude the natural light. Later the glass panels were painted black so the natural light could not interfere with the controllable artificial illumination being used. Some of the earliest attempts at flood lighting sets were made with old street-type carbon arc lamps and banks of Cooper-Hewitt tubes. The need for a light source which would project I Hit for considerable distances, thereby giving the cinematographer the ability to create sunlight effects, shadows, the illusion of depth and to model the characters, resulted in the use of large numbers of units adapted from the theatre. Theatre spots with plano-convex condensers and vertical hand-operated carbon trims were used extensively for many years. The floodlights, or broadsides ("broads") were largely of the type used in photo-engraving, but many types of theatre stage lighting units were also used for this purpose. The "Sun-arc" was an adaptation of the military searchlight to cinematography, and the 36-inch Sun-arc is practically the only type of adapted unit still in use: it still has some value on extremely large sets. While some incandescent floodlighting equipment was used at about the period of World War I, this type of light source did not become popular until many years later. The film emulsions used in the early days were of comparatively slow speed and the light sensitivity was restricted toward the blue end of the spectrum. Incandescent lamps found very little use because the radiation of that type of light source is largely in the red and yellow Showing details of parallels for various lights, and some control d in front of lights in left foreground. Paramount Studios By PETER MOLE Mole-Richardson Company, Hollywood end of the spectrum. Later, however, black-and-white film was made panchromatic, sensitive to all colors and incandescent filament lamps were added to set lighting equipment. s First M-R Fresnel-Type Lens The introduction, of the M-R Fresnel-type lens in 1931 marked the arrival of the first piece of set-lighting optical equipment designed exclusively for cinematography. AH of the older lamps, made obsolete by the Fresnel-type lens, were adaptations of equipment made for other purposes! Both the plano-convex lens and the parabolic mirror produce a very dark spot in the center of the light beam when the unit is at full flood position. This defect is overcome with the Fresnel-type lens which is so designed as to deliver a smooth field of light within the limits of 10° to 60°. The efficiency of this lens is many times that of the plano-convex, and the M-R Type 90 H,l. Arc at 120 amperes will even surpass the light output of the 150-ampere Sun-arc flooded a very few degrees. The advent of modern full-color cinematography brought with it a number of new lighting problems. To visualize them it is only necessary to consider that in black-and-white cinematography light creates film density which is merely a medium to control the intensity of the rays from the projection light source. The audience gains the illustion of a picture by variations of light and shade. In color, however, it is also necessary to use a light source containing the three primary colors of the spectrum in order to produce color, hues and tints. Because white light is made up of equal quantities of the light primariesblue, green and red— it has been chosen as the source for professional color cinematography. The use of white light for interiors also simplifies the process because sunlight is white light and the same film may be used on exteriors as on interiors. If the projection light source contained no blue, there Poromounr's triple projector superimposes three identical prints onto one screen thereby increasing the light almost threefold. Trantpartncy Depi., Paramount Studios R?cr.e"'seTdThCe°rnr h0" ''I1"'"? ">U''<"n'-" °" "Carnival i„ Costa motion picture workers. would be no blue on the screen regardless of the color of he film. The same is true of the light sources used in set lighting. The color is in the light, and the objects serve only to selectively reflect the various rays from the light source to the film in the camera. Color Cinematography Requisites In black-and-white cinematography the absence of light results in a black image on the screen which in many cases is accepted by the viewer as an intended shadow. Under adverse lighting conditions a character in a dark suit'may appear only as a face, hands and a white shirt with no detail whatever in the suit; still the viewer will accept the result. The foregoing is not true with color. Here the absence of light is also black; but if a character wearing a dark-colored suit moved into an area where the light level was too low, the suit would appear black, which would not be acceptable to all. The same thing could happen to a colored dress with deep folds where the absence of light in the shadow areas might make it appear as having black stripes. In the early days of color the somewhat lower latitude of the process brought forth some proponents of flat lighting. It was their contention that the sets should be illuminated with highly diffused light sources, the differences of intensity reduced to a minimum, and that color itself , would provide the necessary depth and contrasts. As a matter of fact, modern color has brought about demands for lighting equipment with much greater scope than was previously dreamed of with black-and-white. Brilliance, volume, color, penetrating power, and controllability have all been vastly improved in modern lighting equipment. Inasmuch as white light, or sunlight, quality is required for color, the only unfiltered light source to completely meet the requirement is the Duarc-type carbon arc broadside lamp which provides a smooth, general-purpose light. This twin-arc lamp, rated at 40 amperes and 40 arc volts, is used for floor lighting to build up front light, for lighting backings from overhead, and in other positions where projected light is not indicated. The rotating type, high-intensity carbon arc spotlamps,