International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1957)

and a number of interesting facts came to light. One fact still unexplained was that year after year, print damage rose to two strong peaks during the summer months. By far the most costly form of damage was scratching, which accounted for half the total number of reports. Next came torn or strained perforations, about one-third of the total. Of all the causes to which damage was attributed, the most frequent was a dirty gate. Innumerable other factors were included: splicing safety base, problems of magnetic prints, changeover cues, transport, etc. As a result of these meetings, a series of leaflets was prepared for the education of the projectionist. They were printed on bright yellow paper, and were slipped into films cans by the exchanges. It would not be fair to say that print damage is a thing of the past, but the position has enormously improved. The Print Damage Advisory Committee has not met for 18 months, which presumably indicates that the exchanges are satisfied with the manner in which films are being handled. The stream of correspondence I formerly received, each letter enclosing a bundle of film clippings as horrible examples, is a thing of the past. In this imperfect world one would not expect print condition to attain perfection. But at least we are all printconscious. TECHNIRAMA DEBUTS The world premiere of Technirama — whose principles were described in my former article — was held on Saturday June 1, at the Leicester Square Odeon, in London's West End. The big theatre was filled with 2500 representatives of every section of the industry, and — surely unique for a trade audience — one of the sequences was greeted with applause in recognition of its superb photography. Dr. and Natalie Kalmus received their guests at a party after the show. Present too were Dr. Bouwers, of Oude Delft, inventor of the Delrama camera anamorph, many studio people who have worked on the process, and a collection of stars. First the system was explained in a short film by ace cameraman Jack Cardiff, who filmed "Legend of the Lost" in the new process, and is now The GB-Kalee double-frame Technirama projector. Compare with the Micronlambda soundhead (IP, May, p. 21). working on "The Viking". In the camera a standard 35-mm. film runs horizontally, exposing a double frame just like VistaVision. By means of the Delrama anamorph the image is given a compression ratio not of the orthodox 2 to 1, but 1.5 to 1. From this negative prints can be made by contact, for road shows and drive-ins; additional anamorphosis can be inserted in printing to provide a print compatible with CinemaScope; or the picture can be un-squeezed to give a print compatible with VistaVision. We saw a brief shot of the standard G. B.-Kalee projector fitted with the Varamorph, and a number of film sequences were shown in standard CinemaScope format. First film in the world to be released in Technirama was "Monte Carlo Story", and the first British film in it is "Davy"; sequences from these films and many others were included. The screen masking closed in to a 1.75-to-l ratio, and we saw unsqueezed prints projected; there was surprisingly little loss of quality. Came another shot of the projection room, this time showing the G. B.-Kalee double-frame projector with the unique Taylor-Hobson optics; this system differs from normal in that, instead of expanding the picture laterally the anamorph compresses it vertically. The backing lens needs to be of shorter focal length, and this has been taken care of by the development of a special series of short-focus lenses, known as Vistatal. Among the sequences shown in double-frame were some remarkable stage scenes from "Escapade in Japan," in which the Japanese chorus girls, in brightly coloured costumes, were lined up across a huge stage, from one side of the picture to the other. Also shown double-frame was the sequence that drew applause: only a test shot in the early days of Technirama, of ski-ing in the Swiss Alps, but a superb piece of photography, with the dazzling gleam of the snow and breath-taking views of distant mountains. The whole audience was in agreement that Technirama represents the finest wide-screen process yet developed. It brings us back to the quality of five years ago which we lost when the screen became larger. In America the drive-in owner will, I am sure, especially welcome it, because doubleframe Technirama should solve his projection problems. Obviously in theory the doubleframe print should be capable of even finer definition than CinemaScope style prints; but the 45ft. screen of the Odean was not large enough for us to see the difference. It will take the screen of a drive-in to justify the larger format. Warning to Projectionists But there is one warning I must give to the projectionist: Technirama, because of the almost unbelievably fine sharpness of the print, places a heavy burden upon the projectionist in translating this sharpness to the screen. At all demonstrations I have so far seen — even on comparatively small screens in studios — a remote control device (similar to that used on a Technicolor camera) has been operated by somebody in the audience to keep the picture always sharp. It would need a man with an eagle eye to keep a picture in such sharp focus from the projection room. I visualise a focusing telescope, such as that fitted to the Simplex XL, becoming a necessary adjunct to the projection New Mag Sound Stripers Magnetic Sound Striping Co. has been appointed by the Minnesota Mining and Mfg. Co. as its representative laboratory in New York City for both amateur and professional movie film striping. The company, located at 1472 Broadway, New York 36, N.Y., promises magnetic sound striping added to films within 48 hours of receipt. Tape used is the newly improved Scotch brand. 16 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST • JUNE 1957