International projectionist (Jan 1961-Dec 1962)

IF YOU DON'T SEE IT, YOU WON'T SPEND IT. Millions of people sign up with the Payroll Savings Plan at work because it helps them save money that otherwise might slip through their fingers. How to Save Money in spite of yourself Many Americans have discovered a way to save money without really changing their spending habits. You simply ask the company where you work to set aside money every payday for U.S. Savings Bonds. The Payroll Savings Plan makes sure that it goes into savings before you can dribble it away. And, if you buy a $25.00 Bond a month (cost $18.75) in 40 months you'll have Bonds worth $1,000 at maturity. You really won't miss it because it adds up to only 63^ a day. U.S. Savings Bonds are more than a good way to save • You can save automatically with the Payroll Savings Plan. • You now earn 3M% interest to maturity. • You invest without risk under a U.S. Government guarantee. • Your money can't be lost or stolen. • You can get your money, with interest, anytime you want it. • You save more than money — you help your Government pay for peace. • You can buy Bonds where you work or bank. You save more than money with U. S. Savings Bonds The U.S. Government does not pay for this advertising. The Treasury Department thanks The Advertising Council and this magazine for their patriotic ,«£2L% %c si*1* MONTHLY CHAT . . . Continued from Page 3 lamps, and sound equipment, no matter how well made, soon stop running i£ denied the care which only an experienced projectionist can provide. Yes, even the thorough inspection and satisfactory repair of prints is an "art" which can only be mastered by a long period of training! "But that is not 'art' in the sense you projection people have implied," say our detractors. "All that is only the routine practice of a mechanical trade!" True, the aspects of the craft mentioned above fall into the categories of mechanical, optical, electrical, and electronic equipment operation and maintenance. But this is only one side of projection. The opening and closing of the several "acts" of a complete performance, including the use of music, and smooth, uninterrupted projection with the exercise of judgment in making the changeovers when the prints are defective is nothing less than art. In many of the smaller theatres, the projectionist is practically the "director" of the show, arranging its order, selecting short subjects, sometimes editing the newsreel, and choosing appropriate overture and intermission music. This is art. It is also true that the projectionists in some theatres even "dress" the stage in respect to the curtains, the general color scheme, and the effect lighting to provide the most pleasing setting and atmosphere for the film presentations. This, too, is art. Now, art can be practiced only by an artist; and IP insists that the projectionist is a true artist in just about everything he does. Why? Because what he does has a single end in view, namely, the creation of an artistic effect. We also maintain that, just as the artistry of the projectionist has been generally overlooked by a moviegoing public which has been entertained by this highly specialized artistry for 65 years, modern protagonists of "automatic projection" are doing even worse: they, in effect, seek to replace the non-expendable human element in a complex and necessarily "humanized" process, believing that the substitution of unskilled for highly skilled labor will somehow benefit the movies! "The great art of films does not consist of descriptive movement of face and body," observed actress Louise Brooks, "but in movements of thought and soul transmitted in a kind of intense isolation." The machine and the physical film are indispensable ingredients of this kind of audiovisual magic, but the machine can function only as effectively as the man who presides over it and transmits, by his own unobtrusive artistry, the "great art of films" to the screen. iP New Optical System from Bausch and Lomb NEW YORK — A completely new integrated optical system designed for the RKO Palace Theatre by Bausch & Lomb was used for the first time recently. Major advantages of the new system include: extremely flat field sharp from corner to corner; uniform screen illumination with no washed-out center; crisp color rendition, and freedom from color fringes. The optical system has been designed with a four-inch diameter barrel and has sufficient back focus to be used with the Simplex X-L projector. "This system," says Charles Horstman, RKO director of projection, "delivers a tremendous improvement in screen quality over previous optical systems. It's the finest I've seen." iP Hi-Speed Color Film From Kodak A recently introduced Kodak color motion picture film that can be used in high speed cameras with exposures as short as 1/50,000 of a second was described recently by A. Earl Quinn of Eastman Kodak Company. The color film has a tungsten light speed of 125. It can be used interchangeably with Kodak Tri-X blackand-white reversal film, which has been the accepted Kodak film for high speed photography, Quinn said. The film's color differentiation affords additional data and information in the ultra-slow-motion movies that result from high-speed photography. High-speed photography is used in the study of rocket firings, arc welding, and other events that happen too fast for the human eye to see. Quinn demonstrated the film's ability to record information in such low light levels that the transparency appears almost black. By making a print on Ektachrome Reversal Print Film with printer exposures up to 40 times normal, the information recorded on the original film can be salvaged in such a way that color and brightness differentiations are retained and much of the recorded data becomes usable, Quinn said. 14 International Projectionist January 1961