International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1931)

B B O R P H Cinematographic technique, projection, manufacture of films, by Leopold Lobel. Edition Dunod, Paris. This is a purely technical work from the pen of a really competent authority, who besides being a chemical engineer and teacher in a school of photocinematography, is also President of the cinematographic section of the French Society of Photography. In the first part of the book the author deals with the mechanism of projections, various kinds of arc-lamps, the electric installation necessary for the functioning of the apparatus, the system of objectives, various methods of cinematographic representations. Of particular importance in this preliminary examination, is the critical analysis of the various difficulties that may arise during the projection, which may be due either to the apparatus or to the film. The author indicates the technical and practical methods by which such drawbacks may be eliminated, limited or corrected. The second part is dedicated to all the activities connected with the manufacture of the positive. The best models of cinematographic apparatus are passed in review, also the various systems of velocity, superimpression, trick and methods of achieving a perfect negative and an accurate positive. Although tremendous progress has been made since 1927, Mr. Lobel's volume remains a publication of the greatest value, penetrating far beyond the severe and rigid limits of a book for the initiated. The lucidity and sobriety of its style enhance its utility. From the simple amateur to the professional, from the reader innocent of all technical notions, and anxious to gain some knowledge of the complicated machinery of the cinematographic world to the reader ■ who is completely familiar with it, all will find in Mr. Lobel's book a series of facts and suggestions which will prove most helpful for the progressive perf ectioning of their daily task. Le Cinematographe Scientifique et Industrial. Son evolution intellectuelle. Sa puissance educative et morale. By Jacques Ducom. Edition Albin Michel, Paris. This is a practical treatise which in 500 pages gives an highly interesting account of the history and technique of cinematography. The author examines its origins from the earliest experiments made in France, proceeding in a rapid and synthetic historical survey to the great discoveries of the Lumiere brothers. More important than the historical, is the technical part of the book. It lays no claim to predictions on the future of the film (the evolution of which is, indeed, so rapid that all ideas are out stripped by reality), but gives a careful and detailed examination of such industrial systems as are already antiquated or still employed at the moment of the printing of the volume. The author examines in detail the scientific and artistic application of the cinema, the various types of films and perforations, in use or under experimentation, the photographic and projecting apparatus, the work of procuring a perfect negative, the special knowledge necessary for cinematography, and the systems employed for the preparation of the positive (development, colour, preparing of captions, etc.). One part of the volume is dedicated to the construction, illumination and ventilation of public cinema halls, and the other to the exploitation and projection of the pictures: cabins, illumination, objectives, etc. Ducom, in his valuable work particularly