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ART AND SCIENCE IN SOUND FILM PRODUCTION JOE W. COFFMAN*
Much has been said about the conflict, real or apparent, between science and religion. We also hear of bickerings between science and art. It would seem that Lady Science, to whom we all profess devotion, has her very feminine moments devoted to spying upon her sisters, whom she scandalizes by broadcasting the intimate items she discovers by such investigations.
But science and art are not natural enemies — rather, they are natural complements. Science reveals nature — art makes life livable in spite of those revelations. Science represents the accomplishments of man — art, his aspirations. Science moves slowly but surely toward the conquest of the air — but the Pegasus of art has for centuries sailed the skies. And as aspiration tends to become accomplishment, the art of today becomes the science of tomorrow. And yet, paradoxically enough, art begins where science ends, for the foundation of all art is science, whether that science be conscious or unconscious. Art is empirical — science, mathematical. Science seeks realism — art seeks illusion. But, for the tools to create illusion, art turns to science, the sturdy champion of reality.
This interdependence of science and art is nowhere more striking than in motion picture production. We cannot be really scientific in the attack upon our problems unless we recognize and evaluate the many artistic factors bearing upon the work at hand. So let us review the industry as it stands today.
The first year of active sound film production has been devoted largely to experimentation and to the struggle for survival of the fittest among technicians and their respective technics. Much of the production reaching the public screen has been produced hastily, with inadequate equipment and by inexperienced personnel. These handicaps have not been without beneficial result, however, for they forced experimentation. This sometimes resulted in the development of very useful equipment and flexible production methods, and re
* Audio-Cinema, Inc., New York City. 172