International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1954)

NTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST VOLUME XXIX FEBRUARY 1954 NUMBER 2 This is the first of three articles THE LENS: Key to Projection Quality By ROBERT A. MITCHELL A projection lens has no moving parts. It gets dirty and has to be cleaned at intervals; but there is nothing in it to wear out. When the focus is properly adjusted, the lens has nothing to do but "stay put" and "look" at the intensely illuminated photographs in the film-aperture. What the lens "sees" it paints with rays of light upon the large, distant screen. Human vision is seldom perfect. Our eyes may be astigmatic, nearsighted, far-sighted, or have other things wrong with them which falsify our visual impressions of the world. And so it is with projection lenses. They too may suffer from various "visual" defects — spherical aberration, coma, astigmatism, field curvature, and other distortions. They may be unable to see the film-photographs as they really are, and accordingly mess up our screens with blurry, distorted images. But when the lenses function properly, the visual product captured on the film will be faithfully reproduced, its shortcomings as well as its merits. Lens Is Everything The projectionist understandably has a profound and tender respect for a pair of good lenses. He knows, as everyone else in the movie industry ought to know, that everything in a motion-picture production except the sound must pass through the lens of the projector. Many theatre-owners, profit-wise, are also aware of the importance of the projection lens; and they sagely seek the advice of the projectionist when considering the purchase of the new ones. Many theatreowners, yes! But not all! Penny-Wise Exhibitors It might seem that no exhibitor would be so stupid as to consult an usher, a doorman, or a janitor about lenses. And yet that is exactly what some few exhibitors do. They allow themselves to be "educated" in projection technology by managers whose knowledge of motion pictures has been acquired on non-technical levels. The fellow who counts the pennies frequently draws no distinction between saving a shilling on lavatory disinfectant and practicing a similar "economy" on projection lenses. Ignorance has closed, not hundreds, but thousands of theatres. A closed-until-further-notice sign on the door of a dark theatre may in about three out of ten cases be attributed directly to the type of exhibitor who expects the projectionist to "get by" with lenses that are chipped, cracked, heat-blistered, or just plain no good. Such an exhibitor blames his loss on Tv, high taxes, a mythical business recession, or almost anything except the real cause of his financial woes — the intolerably poor quality of his audiovisual wares. The moviegoing public can be lured into the "cheap" type of theatre only by unusually good films, a commodity too scarce to sustain the "dumps" through days and weeks of quite mediocre film-fare. We do not want any theatre to close, but it does not surprise us when mismanaged theatres lock up for good. We dislike the idea of jobs being lost through the sins of managerial incompetents who do not belong in any theatre and would quickly ruin any business. It does not please us at all to see the public getting gypped by the "economists" who operate on a dayby-day basis and totally ignore projection, the one factor that often spells the difference between success and failure in the exhibition field. Only in projection are images dealt with, and it is only for the sake of images that cinema tickets are purchased. And the public today will pay to see only good images. A Good Screen Image The projectionist knows what constitutes a good screen image. He is the only employee in the theatre who knows on what factors a good screen image depends. He is not expected to possess the optical and mathematical knowledge of an optical scientist, nor is it necessary that he be capable of INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST FEBRUARY 1954