International projectionist (Jan 1959-Dec 1960)

The author, member of IA Local 165, Hollywood. THE fundamental purpose of projection in a film laboratory is to screen motion pictures under known and controlled conditions for analysis and correction by the laboratory staff and final acceptance by the customer. The duty of the projection supervisor and his staff is to design and maintain such unusual projection equipment as may be required. He is responsible for the purchase of supplies and equipment, and supervises the entire projection operation throughout the plant. This includes the management and operation of projection facilities maintained as a service and convenience to laboratory customers. While conditions under which a customer views his finished picture duplicate optimum theatre conditions, those requiring film analysis and correction at various stages during the laboratory process are quite different and offer an interesting challenge. Inspection by projection may reveal all kinds of defects or errors that could occur during photography as well as mechanical defects or human errors that can and do arise in any work as exacting and complicated as film processing. After corrective measures have been taken, projection again must be employed to check the correction, and prove that the defect has been eliminated. Projection of "Rushes" Camera negative delivered to the laboratory late in the day is developed and printed during the night. Next morning the prints, called "dailies" or "rushes," are projected for laboratory officials and customers' representatives. The film has been processed to a known gamma (roughly the ratio of density to exposure) and is projected at a known brightness level. This Projection Procedures in a Film Processing Laboratory By DON V. KLOEPFEL Projection Supervisor, General Film Laboratories, Hollywood Qualify production and adequate service facilities are essential requirements in a film processing laboratory. Projection is a key operation in both quality control and good customer relations through service. early morning projection of dailies is a source of much-wanted information. It is a check on set lighting, picture composition, and the condition of cameras and other photographic equipment. It is a check, too, on the laboratory process. Virtually all camera negative is processed for dailies. The volume runs into hundreds of thousands of feel per day. To view all this film at 90 feet per minute on ordinary projection equipment would require either a lot of time or a lot of equipment. To speed up the process so that viewing is within the realm of economical operation, General Film Laboratory's projection department devised the special projector shown in Fig. 1. Standard Simplex projectors were converted to high-speed operation by replacing the one-pin intermittent cam with a two-pin job. With this arrangement, FIGURE 1. two pull-downs are effected during each cam revolution, rather than one. The feed and take-up sprockets were replaced with 32-tooth sprockets, and minor pad roller and gate alterations completed the design. Variable transformers are used for screen brightness control, and the lamps are pre-heated. Such projectors are operated at 180 feet per minute, and in some applications as high as 265 feet per minute. Experienced viewers can spot defects at this speed and later analyze the problem at lower speeds if necessary. 16-mm Production Inspection 35-mm negative is used for most Hollywood motion picture production, including theatrical, television and commercial shows. Wide-screen processes have occasioned the use of a larger negative, and surely there is merit in photographing on a large negative for ultimate screening on wide screens. Conjecture relative to such processes, however, is not within the scope of this article. In the field of visual education, commercial pictures and, to a large extent, television shows, the release is in the form of 16-mm prints. Here too, there is merit in photographing on a 35-mm negative for subsequent reduction to a 16-mm positive for projection. 35-mm film has long been the standard size for Hollywood production. Equipment designed for its use and the technique of workers has reached a high state of perfection. Cameras, lenses, camera dollies and cranes, staging equipment, developers, printers, and all associated equipment has developed greatly through the use of a standard size film. A producer uti 10 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST SEPTEMBER 1959